Tokyo: I can enlighten all obsessions

"No wonder..."

Kamiki Tetsu stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the pile of still slightly twitching flesh on the ground, lost in thought.

"I find it strange. This area is clearly classified as a high-risk zone of 'Calamity,' so why are these guys behaving like this...?"

He paused, as if he had caught the tail end of something amiss:

"This is so unacceptable."

"That guy who represents hearing was actually scared out of his wits by a simple, loud noise."

"They might even experience physical pain and fear due to the vibration, just like any other human being."

Kamiki Tetsu sneered and kicked at the pebbles on the ground with his toe:

"If it were truly a [Calamity] representing the five senses, it shouldn't possess such a basic weakness."

"Since ears are afraid of noise and eyes are afraid of pain... that means they are not unsolvable rules at all."

He raised his head and characterized the vengeful spirits:

"At best, they are just a group of [Third-Class Evil Spirits] that have developed the rudiments of rules."

"However, that's even stranger."

Kamiki Toru stopped what he was doing, turned around and ran his fingers over Saionji Ren's tattered haute couture suit.

Although he didn't say it, the expression on his face clearly showed the word "unbelievable".

"Since it's only this level of [evil spirit]..."

"Hello, Investigator Saionji."

Kamiki Toru pointed to the pile of mangled flesh on the ground, then to the wounds on Saionji Ren's body, his tone full of confusion:

"Even though you've been separated, you're still the elite force that the port area is proud of, aren't you?"

"They have the best budget, the best equipment, and the most professional training."

"And yet, this guy, who's so easily scared by a little noise, got beaten up like this?"

He recalled the "heavy price" and "sacrifice" that Ren Saionji had mentioned earlier, and his brows furrowed even more deeply:

"You even need to sacrifice lives... Isn't your fighting strength a bit too weak?"

A helpless, bitter smile appeared on Saionji Ren's pale face.

"This isn't the place to talk... Let's leave this area first and talk as we walk."

He endured the excruciating pain in his legs and, keeping close to the shadows of the corridor, began to carefully move deeper into the area.

Only after confirming that there were no unusual noises around did he lower his voice and explain in a dry tone:

"Indeed, if it were just a one-on-one situation, even with insufficient information, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

Ren Saionji took a deep breath, his eyes turning grim:

"But the problem is, after being forcibly separated by spatial displacement... I'm not facing just one."

He turned his head, looked at Shinki Tetsu, and said, word by word:

"It wasn't just that ear that attacked me."

"Hiding behind that guy, cooperating with it in hunting me down... was that monster representing the sense of smell."

"Um... excuse me, I have a question."

Walking behind, Kujo Hisana, like a primary school student listening to a lesson, timidly raised the hand that wasn't holding the gohei.

She carefully stepped over a collapsed beam, looking at Saionji Ren's retreating figure with a puzzled expression:

"If it's two against one... that's still strange."

"We've fought our way here, and apart from that big ear, we haven't even seen a nose hair."

The girl tilted her head and asked the most crucial blind spot:

"Where did that thing that represents the sense of smell go?"

"It didn't disappear, it ran away."

Ren Saionji leaned against the damp wall, catching his breath, his eyes filled with hatred for the cunning monster.

"Just one minute before you broke through the wall."

"That guy with the huge nose suddenly stopped attacking me."

He turned his head and gave a deep look to Kamiki Tetsu, who was walking at the very back, with his bloodshot eyes.

"It sniffed around in the direction you came from a few times."

Ren Saionji paused, his voice turning somber:

"Then without hesitation, I shook off the ear that was struggling with me and slipped into the ventilation duct to escape."

At this point, Ren Saionji's gaze lingered on Toru Kamiki's cheap, dusty suit for two seconds, as if trying to see through something, but in the end she didn't ask anything and just turned around and continued leading the way.

"It seems that on the way here... Kamiki-kun picked up something that made it feel desperate."

Upon hearing this, Toru Kamiki neither refuted nor explained.

He put one hand in his pocket, his fingers gently rubbing the cold, slippery "voyeur's eyeball" inside, and a slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Dogs have a pretty good nose.

He mentally labeled the guy who ran away, then shrugged nonchalantly.

"Perhaps they sensed the poverty and resentment emanating from me."

"That smell was truly devastating."

"Let's go."

The three maintained a subtle formation and began to advance deeper into the fourth floor along the seemingly endless dark corridor.

The air was filled with a strange smell, like moldy orange peel mixed with sewer sludge.

The old wooden floorboards creaked and groaned with every step, sounding particularly jarring in the deathly silence of the space.

"401, nobody's here."

"402, empty."

"403... There is only bloodstains left from a fight."

They kicked open three tightly closed iron doors in succession.

Each time, they were met only with deathly silence and the dried black bloodstains scattered on the tatami mats.

Those "residents" who were supposed to live here, or the investigators who were dragged into the mess, were all gone without a trace.

"...It's so clean it's almost unpleasant."

Kamiki Tetsu stood at the door of room 405, looking at the low table inside where hot tea was still placed, and scratched his hair in frustration.

The absence of a corpse also means the absence of those "ownerless" cursed artifacts.

If you can't access the equipment, you naturally can't activate the system's [Enchanting] function.

He originally planned to take advantage of the opportunity to recycle the relics and secretly "clean" those high-end official items into his own exclusive equipment.

Kamiki Tetsu silently left the room.

"...Let's go."

He lowered his voice and waved to the two people behind him.

In this seemingly endless, dark corridor, the three of them huddled close to the wall, cautiously making their way deeper into the corridor.

406, empty.

407 is also empty.

All that remained was dust covering the ground and an increasingly strong, sweet, fishy smell in the air.

Until we reached the door of room 408 at the end of the corridor.

Kamiki Tetsu's foot, which had just stepped out, suddenly stopped in mid-air before slowly retracting.

He suddenly raised his hand and made a "stop" gesture.

But he didn't need to remind him at all.

Because that sound had clearly penetrated through that thin paper sliding door and entered everyone's ears.

"Gurgle...smack..."

It's the sound of chewing.

Immediately following was a crisp sound.

It sounded like something hard breaking.

"Gurgle... Slurp..."

Then came a series of stirring sounds.

The sound was wet.

It's like someone is holding a water-soaked sponge and dragging it forcefully against the tatami mat.

Kamiki Tetsu didn't speak, but simply gestured for the two people behind him to be quiet.

He pulled the "voyeur's eyeball" from his suit pocket.

With a thought, the faintly glowing eyeball slowly floated up, like an invisible ghost, and silently slipped into the gap in the skylight above the door.

[Shared Vision - Now Open]

The field of vision in the left eye switched instantly.

There was no "monster's" body in the room.

It had no hands, no feet, and not even a torso.

Occupying the entire center of the room was only a huge, flesh-colored mouth.

It was like a piece of soft meat carelessly discarded on the ground, wriggling tirelessly.

An excessively thick tongue was protruding from that mouth, clinging tightly to the tatami mat, greedily licking the contents of the floorboards as if cleaning a plate.

The straight front teeth and wide molars were neatly arranged on the bright red gums, which were pale white.

As it chews, its flat teeth collide with each other, making a "click, click" sound.

"Click."

Suddenly, the sound of teeth clashing stopped.

The enormous tongue, which had been tirelessly cleaning the floor, seemed to sense a familiar presence and slowly and slipperily retracted into the depths of its mouth.

The room fell into dead silence.

Followed by.

Those two rows of pale, neat human teeth opened and closed, and that large mouth without vocal cords actually managed to squeeze out a murky human voice mixed with mucus by rubbing its teeth and moving its throat:

"……Eye?"

The enormous mouth slightly adjusted its angle, now facing the eyeball suspended in mid-air, its tone tinged with schadenfreude:

"Why are you so late?"

"The landlord... is very angry with you."

"..."

Faced with this question, the eyeball suspended in mid-air did not respond, but just stared at it lifelessly.

The air froze for a few seconds.

"Smack..."

The enormous mouth chewed again, as if savoring the strange pheromones in the air.

The rows of pale human teeth rubbed against each other, producing an unsettling "crunching" sound.

"The ear... is dead."

"The nose... ran away."

It muttered to itself, its voice growing softer and softer, more and more indistinct.

Suddenly, the large, fat tongue that had been unconsciously wriggling on the floor abruptly froze in mid-air.

"……wrong!"

The giant mouth suddenly opened to its limit, letting out a roar:

"You're not an eye!!"

boom--!!!

There was no warning whatsoever.

The red-painted iron door was instantly blasted away by a terrifying force. The twisted and deformed door panel, like a giant cannonball, carrying a cloud of wood chips and dust, crashed down on the three people in the corridor!

Followed by.

The enormous mouth, dragging its thick, wet tongue, roared as it burst out of the room!

But what awaited that roaring maw was a triple threat that had been waiting in full force.

"bring it on!!"

The girl's clear shout was the first to tear through the smoke and dust.

Although Kujo Hisana's face was still somewhat pale, she wielded the gohei in her hand with great force.

The three talismans that had been prepared were instantly burned up by the surge of spiritual power, turning into three heavy gray beams of light that accurately struck the fat tongue that had just poked out of the door.

"Shinto-ryu·Thousand-pound yoke—Reliance!"

"Huh?!"

The enormous mouth, which was about to wreak havoc, suddenly sank downwards.

The once flexible and slippery tongue was as if it had been filled with tons of cement, slamming heavily onto the floor with a dull "thud," causing the body, which consisted only of a mouth, to stagger due to inertia.

Next came the fury of the elite seeking revenge.

"You've made him look so disheveled..."

Ren Saionji gritted her teeth, ignoring the blood seeping from her ruptured abdominal wound, and formed an extremely complex hand seal.

Since the cursed implements are broken, let's use the filthy flesh and blood of this "spiritual obstacle" as a medium.

A savage red glint flashed in his eyes as he pointed a sharp finger at the monster whose movements had been slowed:

"The Wind of the Kamaitachi!"

*Sizzle!*

Several invisible wind blades suddenly appeared out of thin air, accompanied by a piercing sound as they sliced ​​open several deep, bone-revealing gashes on the large tongue, and black blood instantly gushed out like a fountain.

And with this perfect coordination of control and output.

A black figure, stepping over the blood and debris, rushed to the front of the monster.

The utility knife in Kamiki Tetsu's hand had already extended to its longest blade, with dark resentment swirling wildly on the edge, as if it couldn't wait to enjoy this feast.

The utility knife in Kamiki Tetsu's hand had already extended to its longest blade, with dark resentment swirling wildly around the edge.

"Since you've deliberately opened your mouth so wide..."

He gripped the knife with both hands and raised it high:

"That saves me the trouble of prying it open!"

puff! !

The black blade plunged deep into the base of the tongue, which was convulsing in pain!