Tokyo Detective Chronicles

The tunnel has no end.

Another thirty seconds passed.

One minute.

One and a half.

The tram sped through the darkness, and gradually, more and more people began to notice something amiss...

"Hualin," he whispered.

"Hmm?" Karin also abandoned her nonchalant demeanor, her eyes, hidden behind bandages, scanning her surroundings warily. "Isn't this tunnel... a bit too long?"

Just then, a sound came.

It wasn't the noise of a tram, nor the sound of wind rushing through a tunnel.

It was the sound of drums.

The first dull drumbeat came from the front of the vehicle, like striking a piece of water-soaked cowhide.

"Thump..."

When the first drumbeat sounded, the lights in the first carriage went out with a "snap".

The carriage was plunged into darkness, with only the emergency escape signs emitting a faint green glow. A middle-aged man sitting in the corner of the carriage stood up in panic, looking around.

Fushimi quietly closed his right hand with his five fingers, and between his fingers, he quietly picked up three talismans.

"Thump..."

Second tone.

The lights in the adjacent carriages also went out.

Darkness spread forward.

"What's going on?! Where are the flight attendants?!" the commuter shouted.

"Thump."

Third tone.

Darkness engulfed another train car...

On the glass windows, the white light of the tunnel emergency lights illuminates the interior of the carriage every ten seconds or so.

As the light swept across the tram window, blood-red handprints began to appear.

One, two, three... densely packed, as if many people were pressing their hands on the glass at the same time. The blood-red handprints grew larger and clearer, and the glass made a sound as if it could not bear the weight.

"Th-what is that...?" The office worker's voice trembled.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh—!" the female student screamed.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

Panic spread like wildfire, and unrest began.

The dull thud of an impact, the crisp cracking of objects falling to the ground, the rapid, almost suffocating gasps for breath... cries, screams, shouting...

They pushed and shoved each other, stumbling and trying to run forward.

All this chaos and noise interfered with Fushimi Iori's judgment. He stood on the door at the end of the seventh carriage, staring intently at the end of the carriage.

In a vision where color has already faded.

He saw something coalescing in the darkness of the first carriage.

That's not a physical entity, or at least not entirely.

It was a distorted, ever-changing outline, like countless limbs tangled together, or the prototype of some kind of multi-armed creature.

He could already smell it...formalin and the rusty stench of blood.

Fushimi glanced at the emergency stop button beside him.

Cannot be pressed.

We don't yet know exactly where the tram is. If we stop abruptly and get stuck in this tunnel, the situation will only get worse.

He now only hopes that the driver is still alive, has realized what has happened, and is trying to contact the control center or call the police.

"Thump."

The fifth drumbeat sounds.

The lights in the fifth carriage went out.

Fushimi saw that the distorted outline begin to move...

As the drumbeats quickened, the people in the front carriages didn't have time to run to the last carriage and began to huddle in the corners.

She covered her mouth tightly, not daring to make any further movements.

Some of them have already seen what lies deep in the darkness.

……

The next moment, the second-to-last carriage in front of Fushimi went dark.

Fushimi raised the talisman, no longer caring about hiding his abilities and traces of his existence in the mortal world from ordinary people, or any other laws and conventions governing psychics.

He truly hadn't expected that the other party would dare to attack him so brazenly inside the tram.

Fushimi could sense something crawling up from the third carriage.

The sound of limbs rubbing against the ground was sticky and dense, like a swarm of wet insects.

As another drumbeat sounded.

A talisman floated in front of him, moving without wind, and Fushimi chanted: "Bright Light".

The talisman transformed into a streak of crimson-gold fire, shooting towards the end of the carriage...

【Talisman lv3: 8743/10000 (Master level)】

A notification flashed through my mind: my experience points had increased by one point.

This type of talisman has no specific name; it is the result of Fushimi's three years of continuous improvement.

These are combat talismans specially made to meet his needs.

This mixed talisman paper, which combines seven or eight basic spells such as illumination, burning, healing, purification, imprisonment, explosion, and sealing, can produce different effects depending on the incantation recited by Fushimi.

Even so, the cost of a single talisman is more than ten times higher than that of the ordinary version, and it also results in a huge waste of performance.

But it was all worth it.

The battles of psychics often happen in the blink of an eye, when life and death hang in the balance. If they had to distinguish the effects of different talismans, they wouldn't have enough lives to survive.

A blazing line of fire pierced the darkness.

The terrified faces of all the passengers along the way were instantly illuminated, their distorted expressions frozen in that moment.

At the edge of the line of fire, that sticky outline was hit head-on!

"hiss--!!!"

A non-human scream exploded.

In the firelight, Fushimi finally saw part of the thing's appearance.

It was a grayish-white creature about two meters long, with a smooth, sticky body.

Its head is round, smooth, and protruding, with several mouthparts that open and close continuously and are covered with fine teeth. Seven or eight pairs of segmented appendages extend from both sides, with sharp claws at the ends.

Its body was covered in honeycomb-like holes, from which a thick, black liquid oozed out—it was utterly disgusting…

Fushimi couldn't figure out what it was at first glance, but he didn't have time to think about it now.

"Rosewood!" he hissed.

"They're here!"

As Huali called out, the shadows stirred at his feet, and a short-handled fire axe rose from the shadows.

The axe was heavy, its blade gleaming coldly, and its wooden handle was wrapped with a non-slip cloth covered with runes. This was one of the items that Huali usually kept hidden in the shadows.

Fushimi caught the axe; it felt heavy in his hand.

Undoubtedly, this is especially true when facing monsters more than twice one's size in a confined and complex environment.

Among enchanted melee weapons, the axe, with its sufficient weight, relative flexibility, and greater sturdiness, is clearly superior to weapons designed for human use, such as swords, spears, and halberds.

Almost simultaneously, the white light of the emergency lights flashed past the window again.

The lights in the sixth carriage went out with a "snap".

Darkness completely engulfed what lay ahead.

Only the seventh carriage was still lit, like a lonely island in the vast darkness.

The student couple scrambled in from the sixth carriage, but when they saw the axe in Fushimi's hand, they shrank back in fright.

"Squat in the corner! Close your eyes!"

Fushimi, too lazy to explain, gave the order directly, while reaching into his robes with his right hand and pulling out a handful of talismans, which he then scattered in all directions of the carriage without even looking at them.

The sky was filled with white talismans, as if a traditional funeral was being held... The white paper fluttered down and landed on the chairs, the floor, and the armrests.

Although the two students were so frightened that their legs went weak, their survival instincts made them scramble to a corner outside the carriage and huddle together tightly.

Just then, the emergency lights outside the window came on, and according to the pattern, the lights in the last carriage were about to go out.

"Thump!!!"

The seventh drumbeat was deafening.

The lights in the seventh carriage went out.

"roar!!!"

A roar, accompanied by the crashing sounds of sprinting and running!

The monster pounced on Fushimi in the blink of an eye, its several mandibles opening simultaneously to bite at Fushimi's head, not intending to give him any chance to escape.

Instead of retreating, Fushimi advanced, crouching low and sliding beneath the monster, his axe blade slashing upwards and striking the monster's jaw!

"Bang! Sizzle—!"

Thick, black blood spurted out.

The weapon's psionic energy imbued the monster with immense force, causing it to writhe violently and its appendages to claw wildly.

Fushimi rolled on the spot to dodge the sweeping claw, and at the same time slapped the ground with his left hand, instantly activating two talismans that had fallen to his feet.

"Imprisonment!"

A pale golden light burst forth from the talisman, binding the monster. Although it was only trapped for less than two seconds before breaking free, that was enough time.

Fushimi stood up, gripped the axe with both hands, stepped forward, twisted his waist, and exerted force!

The axe blade drew a perfect arc and cleaved hard into the two appendages on the side of the monster.

This strike gathered all his strength, and with the enhancement of the enchanted weapon, the axe blade embedded itself deeply into the slippery flesh, severing its two appendages.

"Roar—!!!"

The monster screamed, its body convulsed violently, and black blood gushed out like a fountain.

Fushimi quickly retreated to avoid the splattered blood.

The substance was clearly corrosive; it immediately emitted white smoke when it landed on the seat, and had an extremely pungent smell.

[Melee Combat Lv3: 9704/10000 (Master Level)]