Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Alice felt no sorrow for the witch hunts in this world. After all, those who died were just some idealistic fools; dead is dead. If not all of them were wiped out, she might even personally deal with the aftermath—heretics were more hateful than heretics, and materialistic witches and idealistic witches could never coexist peacefully under the same sky!

Her thoughts moved quickly; in the eyes of the ghostly girl, less than half a second had passed. This was enough time for her to organize her thoughts and make the appropriate probes.

"You think she's the last one? Unfortunately, your history and knowledge are all wrong," Alice said calmly, looking down at the ghostly girl with a slightly arrogant gaze. "Your efforts are futile."

"No, impossible!" the little girl screamed. "Nirvana is an evil being that carries the resentment of all the dead witches in this world. She is the final and strongest witch! She will never become Nirvana until the last witch dies... absolutely not!"

[Looks like it's pretty close to my guess... Nirvana? Tsk, what a name. Idealistic fools are idealistic fools; I suppose what keeps it running is some Buddhist concept of karma and retribution.]

"Obviously, you've made a mistake. And your seal has already failed. She has escaped, and everything you've done has been in vain."

"No...no, it can't be. I clearly...did so much. So many people died...I, everything I did..." Her expression gradually became blank and vacant. Her inner defenses were on the verge of collapse. "Was it all meaningless...?"

At that moment, Alice infused her words with a magic that could penetrate the heart, delivering the final blow in her ear.

"You are worthless."

The next moment, the little girl, now a ghost, rolled her eyes and fainted. At the same time, several puppet strings pierced her body, invading her thoughts and memories.

—Now that her defenses have been breached, the mind-reading technique will no longer face any obstacles. Alice prefers a more direct approach to problems rather than slowly extracting information. Besides… controlling this ghostly young girl will allow her to achieve other goals.

A few minutes later, her brows furrowed slightly.

[It's slightly off from the plan, but... it doesn't matter. A little modification won't hurt. So, next, let's set up the position here, and once Saito is ready, we'll coordinate with Patchouli to fully commence the ritual.]

She lightly stomped the ground. Having manipulated the master of this place called Heavenly God Elementary School—which was actually a multi-dimensional space barrier—through the puppet strings, Alice could naturally also control the academy indirectly in this way. The puppet strings, representing her power, pierced the void, connecting to various nodes of this other-dimensional space along many invisible channels. She quickly found Zheng Zha and the others still wandering in a partitioned space, her gaze drifting to the inexplicably restless high school girl being protected by Zheng Zha and Zhao Yingkong.

"Kawakami Tomie... the body of the Nirvana Witch. I have to admit these idealistic magicians are quite capable; at least I couldn't create a physical body that could generate independent consciousness and still be determined to resurrect its original form. However..."

She reached out her hand towards the direction of the three people. A powerful wave of information immediately enveloped that area of ​​space.

"Now is the time to dream."

Author's Note:

........................

Ah... the tenth order, finally shipped. I feel completely unmoved... well, I'm still a little happy.

I want to give a special thank you to SuMOON Orange. I spent eight orders myself, and she sponsored two of them. Plus, she personally pulled the BX in the end… So, it seems only JK players can pull JK characters… _(:з」∠)_

In short, thank you very much. After I finish taking care of some miscellaneous things these next couple of days, I'll be in "paying back" mode and starting to update like crazy. I got caught in the rain during the Qingming Festival and have a bit of a cold, so I can ask for a sick leave... By the way, did anyone notice the change in the chapter title?

Section 19. Go and fetch the water!

Section 19

The air was thick with the smell of burning. Some of the objects were corpses, others were ruined buildings and houses. Burning vehicle wreckage was scattered everywhere, and several translucent scarlet tentacles, nearly a meter in diameter and tens of meters long, occasionally fell from the sky, smashing the troop transport vehicles that were firing at the hotel to pieces like destructive hammers.

The sounds of artillery fire, gunfire, crushing, crimson flames, and dying screams... This was the scene that greeted Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu when they arrived at the street near the Dolphin Hotel.

“The flames… killed so many people.” Xiao Honglu reached out and gently extinguished a flickering spark. He looked at the fourteenth-floor window of the Dolphin Hotel, its enhanced vision allowing him to see figures across a block.

“Saito Hajime… We didn’t come to this world to slaughter innocent civilians. There are plenty of ways to distract the police; there’s no need to go this far!” He clenched his fists, the crimson flames dancing in the street stinging his eyes. Old memories welled up from the depths of his heart, and these memories gradually drove his thoughts toward rage.

He disliked fire… or more accurately, he disliked fires. Before he entered the God Realm out of despair, a fire that engulfed his hospital had etched a very deep memory into his heart. Whenever he recalled that memory, his eyes would ache terribly, and his heart would pound as if it were about to stop at any moment.

Zhan Lan gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Xiao Honglu." Her voice was as steady as ever, almost without any ripples. "Don't let the scene before you blind you. For us reincarnators, things often develop in a more complex way than expected. Making decisions based solely on momentary anger often leads to regret later on."

She looked in the direction where Saito Hajime was.

“Saito Hajime is right there, and he contacted us beforehand. We also saw the relevant information on the police network. If you have any questions, just go and ask him directly. There’s no need to overthink it here.”

Xiao Honglu took two soft breaths.

"Yes, I understand. I was mistaken, Sister Zhan Lan." He gently rubbed his forehead. "Brother Saito must have his reasons for doing this. We should go and ask him directly."

Zhan Lan's suggestion was correct, and he didn't feel he had any reason to object. He lifted his foot, about to head towards the Dolphin Hotel. Just then, a figure silently appeared behind them—he immediately turned around.

"Zero, weren't you with them?" Zhan Lan nodded slightly and asked. The sniper who suddenly appeared behind the two of them also nodded slightly, which was a response to her greeting and question at the same time—the sniper's cloak fluttered slightly, and his already inconspicuous figure blended into the surroundings and quickly disappeared without a trace.

Soon after, a roadside water pipe not far ahead suddenly exploded, the scattered water vapor and ash dust mixing into a thin cloud obscuring visibility. By the time the Japanese police officers and Self-Defense Force soldiers who were trying to besiege the Dolphin Hotel reacted, two... or rather three people had already silently entered the Dolphin Hotel.

Without a doubt, the hotel staff, guests, and hired security guards had all fled when the fighting began. No one hindered their approach, yet even so, they still saw many corpses lying on the hotel's first floor. Some were shot, some were crushed and deformed by some immense force, and many more were slashed by invisible blades, their bodies broken into pieces of varying sizes.

Zhan Lan's gaze swept over the corpses, her face slightly pale from the nausea caused by the stench of blood, but her eyes remained expressionless. It was as if the remains were just expired, rotten pork. Xiao Honglu's gaze, however, grew increasingly hostile, and by the time the two entered the elevator—whether Lingdian had arrived or not was unknown—his eyes were bloodshot.

"Calm down, Xiao Honglu," Zhan Lan repeated once again.

“I understand, Sister Zhan Lan,” Xiao Honglu replied as always.

The elevator to the fourteenth floor took less than a minute to complete, and soon, the two, each with their own distinct feelings, arrived at the fourteenth floor of the Dolphin Hotel. A cold night wind gushed out from the cracked door, and Saito's thin figure stood on the windowsill, his five fingers occasionally swiping down, causing a huge tentacle to suddenly drop, striking a wrecked vehicle and igniting the fuel tank, followed by a violent roar.

"You've arrived?" Saito Hajime didn't turn around, but said directly with his back to them, "Zhang Heng has fainted, so I put him on that sofa over there."

“…I have a question for you, Saito-nii.” Xiao Honglu took a small step forward and asked. “Why did you kill these people? They…were not in our way. Even if there was a reason to do so, a deterrent approach with minimal casualties would have sufficed. There was no need to go this far.”

"I thought this would be a topic brought up by Zhan Lan." Saito Hajime's tone was neither happy nor sad. As a companion who had also arrived in the world of Ju-on II, even if there were doubts, it should be more likely that it was from your side.

“Precisely because we are companions, I don’t think this can be considered a problem,” Zhan Lan replied. Her words surprised Xiao Honglu, who looked at her with some astonishment.

"Sister Zhan Lan?"

“You may not have experienced the various crises caused by trust issues, Xiao Honglu, but I have.” She gently patted Xiao Honglu’s shoulder. “We are the Reincarnation Team, and our priority should be ourselves and our comrades. Moreover, some things did happen in Ju-on that really bothered me, and I think Saito Hajime, your decision should have taken that into consideration.”

“Heh.” Saito chuckled. “You’re right, I have indeed discovered something. Zhan Lan, I don’t know if you remember, before Kayako’s seventh wave of demons arrived, a large group of living people suddenly appeared around us, people that Kayako could devour… without reason, without warning, they just suddenly appeared around Kayako, as if their existence was solely to provide Kayako with food… I didn’t notice it at the time, but now… I think I’ve discovered something.”

The entire city was reflected in his eyes, and within his very vision, every corner of the city, every living thing, was shrouded in a faint black smoke. It gathered together, flowed along the earth's veins, and then surged outward from certain special openings, rising into the sky and transforming into a long black river.

"Is there really anyone still alive in this city?" Saito said calmly, looking at the police and Self-Defense Force personnel on the ground who were trying to shoot at him, as if he were looking at a group of ants.

"What...what do you mean?" Xiao Honglu frowned. "You mean the whole city is full of dead people? But they're all alive, breathing, and bleeding!"

“The opposite of the living isn’t necessarily the dead.” Saito shook his head, then lightly stomped the ground. A strange power surged forth, instantly obscuring their vision. “Forget it, you wouldn’t listen to an explanation now. You’ll understand for yourselves later.”

Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu fainted without resistance, and at the same time, a heavy thud was heard at the door—Patchori patted her magic book, which was two-thirds as tall as her, with the unconscious Zero standing at her feet.

Saito nodded slightly.

"The positions are all set up, Miss Patchouli. I'll take care of the outpost duties. Can you begin on your end?"

“Anytime is fine,” Patchouli replied.

The next moment, the grimoire in her hand suddenly opened. Just as she had done inside the Great Pyramid of Giza in the Transformers world, a massive magic circle silently unfolded, extended, connected to the black river in the sky, and then rapidly expanded outwards! In the blink of an eye, the magic circle, constructed from beams of light and black mist patterns, covered the entire city!

Events are reconstructed, history repeats itself. With the help of the curse that covers the entire city and the ley lines, a long-lasting dream is rapidly forming in the skies above the city.

The time is four hundred years ago, the place is most of the Japanese archipelago that has evolved from a dream. The events are the wars among the Japanese provinces and the death of the Nirvana Witch. With sufficient energy, past records will infinitely approach reality. So... it's time to have a good dream.

Author's Note:

....................................

Very good, the next chapter marks the beginning of the journey. Since this is an interlude, there is no end-of-chapter summary.

My stats have been dropping so badly lately... Ugh, I'll leave the monthly tickets and death threats for now, but at least give me some recommendation votes, you bastard!

The third stop: A four-hundred-year retrospective, war and demons.

Section 1: Death [This section is not good; it is recommended to skip it]

The scenery before Zheng Zha's eyes blurred, and an overwhelming drowsiness swept over him. He tried hard to stay awake, but his consciousness still became somewhat hazy.

When he came to his senses, the world before him had turned into pure white.

The earth was pure white, the sky was pure white. From one end of his line of sight to the other, everything was a flat, untroubled expanse of ground. He gently pressed his heels against the ground and found that there was still enough friction to keep him steady.

"What the hell is this..." he muttered to himself, increasingly puzzled by this inexplicable world—although only half an hour had actually passed since he arrived in the world of Ju-on, the doubts that arose in his mind were already more than after watching a horror movie.

This is where?

Why did it turn out like this?

What am I here for?

A rumbling sound came from afar. He saw the pure white earth in the far distance begin to ripple, a pale hill rising from the ground, then tinged with other colors. Gray rocks grew on the white hill, dotted with light or dark green vegetation. Light gray clouds floated on the mountaintop, accompanied by bursts of thunder. Torrential rain poured down on the pale ground, which immediately turned brownish-black as if it had been soaked, and trees and grass began to grow on the ground.

The grass multiplied rapidly, transforming into a grassland. Its coverage expanded dramatically with the thunder, crossing the ground where Zheng Zha stood in the blink of an eye. The surrounding air became humid, with a thin mist and fine rain pattering on Zheng Zha's face. He heard the sound of waves crashing, and when he turned around, a vast beach had appeared beside him without him noticing.

The greyish-green waves surged, crashing against the rocks that hadn't been there a moment before. A few crabs crawled around on the beach, blowing murky bubbles. A cool, damp breeze, carried by the temperature difference between the sea and land, swept across Zheng Zha's exposed neck.

"History is being rewritten and reconstructed; this world is not yet fully formed." A familiar voice sounded from beside Zheng Zha. He was startled at first and made a defensive gesture, but quickly relaxed and breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Margot Lloyd.” He turned his head and saw the blonde girl standing on a black rock, gazing into the distance. A cold wind tossed the short hair around her neck. He noticed that Alice's attire wasn't the kind of pretty dress he usually saw in the Main God Space, complete with a small shawl, beautiful but offering almost no protection. Instead, she wore a light, gray-black armor made of thin, unidentified metal sheets.

Except for the thin gloves made of a different material on the fingers, most of the girl's body was completely covered by this armor. A gray-black cloak, resembling wriggling tentacles, fluttered behind her in the sea breeze, and a sharp and dangerous aura spread around her.

That wasn't decorative armor; it was real weaponry, stained with blood and fire from countless battles. A single glance at Zheng Zha revealed at least seven cuts and burn marks on her left arm armor, and her tattered cloak was even more unsettling… He could vaguely see many blurry faces silently wailing at the edge of the cloak, and a thin, desolate, and unsettling black mist rose quietly.

“This is the armor I wore four hundred years ago during the witch hunt. Although it slightly hindered my spellcasting, it was necessary at the time… Its original form was completely destroyed during a long exploration of a secret realm, but here, I can bring it back to life.” Alice turned her head to look at Zheng Zha. “Why don’t you sleep a little longer? This memory world is not yet fully formed and cannot be used for the time being.”

“Four hundred years ago…? Tsk, Margot Lloyd… We should be comrades, right?” Zheng Zha looked at her, his expression gradually turning serious. “What exactly are you trying to do? What are you plotting? Didn’t we agree from the beginning that after entering the Ju-on world, we would deal with Kayako, and then try to develop the hidden side quests in this world and deal with the possible ghosts? Why did all sorts of strange problems arise as soon as the team split up? Not to mention those side quests that were triggered inexplicably, I was also trapped in a strange place. But what is this… memory world? Since you were able to bring me here, why didn’t you tell me anything!”

"I have absolutely no idea why we came to the world of Ju-on 2!"

"You want answers? Yes, I mistakenly thought of you, Captain, as one of my friends from four hundred years ago, so there are many obvious things I didn't express because I assumed you could easily draw the conclusions. That was my mistake, and I will try to correct it later." Alice glanced at him, her eyes devoid of joy or sorrow. Her mental state seemed to have transformed into a strange form the moment she put on this armor, a form as dangerous as a poisoned dagger.

And it's deadly.

"Actually, the process is quite simple. Kayako is too weak, so weak that it's not worth wasting time on her. Our goal this time is to refine the enhancement exchange of the main god so that the newly grown power can be effectively utilized. For this, we need enemies, we need many powerful enemies."

"Your experiences in Ju-on 2 were full of strange occurrences, and when you returned to this city, there were an abnormally large number of ghosts. After analyzing the situation, I quickly concluded that this city was sealing away a powerful enemy, and all the ghosts, including Kayako, were its offspring. If we cannot eliminate the root cause, we can only kill the ghosts' physical forms at most, not remove the curse as the main god requires. Therefore, I made a decision based on this."

"I couldn't find the sealed being's true form... or rather, the entirety of that form. So I decided to use the city's curse and ley lines as a foundation to construct a massive memory barrier, dragging all the reincarnators and all the ghosts and vengeful spirits into it. In this era, all the ghosts will appear in their most complete and powerful form. And as long as they are killed, the curse will be lifted. This is a strategy that can complete side quests and also maximize everyone's training. So, are you satisfied with this explanation?"

“…So that’s how it is.” Zheng Zha gave a wry smile. “So you had this planned all along. Damn it, couldn’t you have just said it directly? Why all the fuss… I’m not going to refuse.”

“Ah, yes, you won’t refuse. But that will introduce new variables into the plan.” Alice shook her head slightly. The puppet strings extending from her fingers instantly formed a massive black sword. “I must capture the sealed entity’s true form, and therefore all information must be kept secret. Captain, you should know that no intelligence acquisition is ever without a price, and now it’s time for you to pay the price.”

Before she finished speaking, she appeared in front of Zheng Zha like a shadow, and suddenly slashed down with the black greatsword in her hand!

"Wait! Margot—Damn it!" Zheng Zha's head hadn't turned yet, but his body, spurred by killing intent, moved first. He blocked the incoming black sword with both hands, his heavy demon-head broadsword deflecting it. However, the intense pressure emanating from the black sword caused him to stumble; in the contest of strength, he had actually lost!

He stumbled backward, but as he took his second step back, two gene locks within his body suddenly snapped open. The surge of power allowed him to regain his footing, and he immediately spun around and unleashed a sweeping attack.

"Think, you need to think, Captain Zheng Zha." Alice easily dodged the horizontal slash, clearing away the blade energy that followed. She had turned back after unleashing that strike, having no intention of continuing close-quarters combat.

"I am a witch, and while I am skilled in melee combat, my true forte lies in mid- to long-range magic. So why should I attack directly from the start?" She raised her hand, and several fiery snakes immediately pounced towards Zheng Zha. Following the flames came lightning.

"I don't care what you want to do! Margot Lloyd, are you insane?!" Zheng Zha roared angrily, his blood and energy surging, easily shattering the incoming flames and lightning. His body was covered with transformed innate true energy, and his demonized blood could ignite ghostly flames in his eyes. He stomped hard on the ground, and the grass behind him blasted open a crater several meters wide as if it had been bombarded by heavy artillery!

The air in front of him solidified into a block, and although it hadn't reached the point of breaking through, in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Alice.