Tokyo Detective Chronicles

Modern Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward, Fushimi Detective Agency

Rina Hoshizaki sat in front of the computer screen, her elbows resting on the armrests of her chair, looking dazed.

Of the three screens, two showed static, and the other displayed a map showing the location of Katsushika Ward. The only sound in the headphones was a continuous hissing static; there had been no response for almost two hours.

Her eyes were sore and painful that even blinking hurt, but she dared not close them for too long.

Subconsciously, I glanced at the shared fate array not far away, where one candle had already been extinguished, but the dark blue flames were still burning quietly. Then, for what seemed like the umpteenth time, I raised my hand to look at the dozen or so unanswered phone numbers in my hand.

The message interface of the chat software kept refreshing.

"It's okay..." she whispered, as if comforting herself, or perhaps speaking to someone else.

She was very worried.

I kept flipping through the files of the Third Hospital of Katsushika Ward...

However, she still kept her promise to Fushimi, locking all the doors and windows and not leaving the house even for a moment.

She also had to protect the candlelight on the ground; if the candle went out, Iori wouldn't be able to come back.

This is the only thing she can do right now.

Karin floated quietly behind the girl. She was clearly more composed than a young girl like Hoshizaki Rina. As long as the Fate Array was intact, it meant that Fushimi was still relatively safe...

Golden eyes peering through the gaps in the bandages were also fixed on the candle, remaining silent.

But a vague unease also lingered in my heart.

Time continued to pass.

【00:01AM】

"Ding-dong—"

Just then, the doorbell rang...

Rina Hoshizaki looked up excitedly, stood up, and the chair slid behind her with a screeching sound.

She turned to look at the entrance.

"Rina."

A voice came from outside the door; it was indeed Fushimi's voice.

Hoshizaki was stunned for a second.

Then she laughed.

My body, which had been tense for more than two hours, suddenly relaxed, and my eyes suddenly started to sting.

Why isn't he answering the phone? Did he break his phone?

Hoshizaki Rina trotted towards the entrance.

Huali also breathed a sigh of relief.

She floated in the air, watching the girl's back, and her expression under the bandages finally relaxed a little.

Fortunately, nothing happened while Fushimi was away.

Hoshizaki ran to the entrance and placed his hand on the doorknob.

At Fushimi's request, she locked the door from the inside, so even if he returned, the girl would have to open it.

But then, Karin suddenly felt dizzy... Hoshizaki Rina, whose eyes were inexplicably unfocused, had already placed her hand on the doorknob.

Just before he was about to turn the doorknob.

A sudden burning sensation came from my chest.

Hoshizaki lowered his head.

The talisman Fushimi had given her was now affixed to the skin below her collarbone, and the originally smooth paper surface now shimmered with a dark golden light.

Scalding hot.

"hiss……"

She gasped and jerked her hand off the doorknob.

Hoshizaki stood there, staring at the door, his body trembling instinctively, as if resisting opening it.

The voice continued outside the door.

"Rina? Open the door."

Why are you afraid?

But the voice outside the door was clearly Fushimi's...

At this moment, Huali finally regained consciousness.

She reacted quickly, and Hoshizaki felt the ground beneath her feet shake.

The next second, she was suddenly pulled backward by a force!

The shadow beneath my feet dragged me from the entryway back into the living room, away from that door.

Hoshizaki staggered to his feet and looked back.

The entrance hall was empty.

The door was still locked from the inside.

As she moved away from the doorway, Hoshizaki Rina heard a sound coming from the side... She turned her head nervously and looked out the glass door to the living room. Something had appeared beyond the mansion's walls...

Hoshizaki's spiritual vision wasn't enough to see Karin beside him, but he could vaguely see the strange anomalies outside the house.

It was a dark shadow.

Slender and blurry, it distorted in the dim yellow glow of the streetlights.

At first she couldn't see what it was, she just thought it looked like a crooked telephone pole or a tree that had been blown askew by the wind.

But the next second, the thing moved.

It moved slowly, as if peeking out from the other side of the wall.

Hoshizaki's pupils contracted, and he covered his mouth...

From Karin's perspective, the monster's image is incredibly clear.

It was a huge head.

The body proportions were extremely disproportionate... The head was as large as a door panel, while the neck below was incredibly thin, as if it might break at any moment.

The head was a smooth gray-white surface, and all facial features except for the mouth appeared extremely small.

Further down, there is an equally thin upper body and a huge, swollen lower body.

And a tail that is over ten meters long.

It swayed slowly behind it.

It exudes an extremely terrifying aura...

It was trying to pass through the barrier set up by Fushimi, and rustling sounds came from the courtyard.

Karin turned her head and saw the little monsters, all crowded in the courtyard, blocking the monster and the mansion.

This is definitely not something these little monsters and wandering spirits can handle...

But they still raised their hands, making a blocking gesture.

"Please leave... sir..."

"Please leave...please leave..."

The sounds were uneven, some high-pitched and some hoarse, but they blended together in the night, like some kind of ancient ritual.

But such pleas are meaningless.

The monster stretched out its hand.

The hand was also slender, but the long, thin fingers endured the burning of the barrier... and slowly reached in.

The moment your finger passes through the golden light patterns, it makes a "hissing" sound, like a red-hot iron being plunged into cold water.

It caught the frog demon.

"Croak—!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the courtyard.

Hoshizaki was finally able to see that the little frog demon was being pulled out of the barrier by his hand, struggled a couple of times, and then...

"puff."

The body was broken in two.

The upper body was shoved into that mouth, and the chewing sounds were so clear they sent chills down my spine.

His lower body was thrown back into the courtyard.

"Clatter".

It landed on the grass in front of the French windows, splattering a small patch of blood.

It seems like a threat...

Karin couldn't believe how easily this thing could pass through the barrier set up by Fushimi.

The shadowy figure paused after chewing on the half-body.

then……

"Bang!"

The hand that it reached into the barrier suddenly exploded.

The series of explosions began at her fingertips and spread upwards, segment by segment. Within seconds, her slender arm was blown to pieces, splattering blood and flesh everywhere.

The dark figure let out a hiss.

But soon, the flesh and blood began to wriggle at the severed end of the arm.

A few seconds later, a new arm grew out of the cut.

It's exactly the same as before.

Oh no… Karin immediately realized that this monster possessed some ability to delay the occurrence of damage it received.

If this continues...

Before she could figure out what to do, the monster grabbed a tree from her neighbor's yard and hurled it at the Fushimi family's house.

The tree trunks whistled through the air.

"Bang!"

It struck the barrier, causing the golden light patterns to vibrate violently.

Seeing that it had no effect, the monster had no choice but to reach out its hand again.

This time, it didn't reach for the little monster in the courtyard, but instead peered directly towards the mansion!

The doors and windows were destroyed by a tremendous force!

Glass shards flew everywhere, and a cold wind rushed in.

Just as Karin was about to lead Hoshizaki Rina to a corner, a vein throbbed in her forehead as she realized that the girl had suddenly rushed out on her own!

Just as she was wondering what the other person was up to, she saw Hoshizaki grab a candle.

Rina Hoshizaki runs very fast; as a former member of the archery club, her physical fitness is clearly quite good.

The monster's outstretched hand also reached in that direction.

The distance is getting closer and closer.

five meters.

Four meters.

three meters.

At the last second, he dodged the monster's grabbing hand, rolled twice on the ground while being pulled by the shadow, and finally crashed heavily into the wall.

A sharp pain shot through my back, and my vision went black.

"hiss……"