Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

The rats attacked everything they could reach on the motorcycle indiscriminately. It seemed that with their numerical advantage and the presence of a leader, they possessed an overwhelming amount of courage, enough to make them forget that they were still quite vulnerable.

To ensure Akemi's safety, Murakami Akisa didn't actively try to eliminate the ringleaders; only one that tried to pounce on Akemi was thrown over the shoulder from front to back of the vehicle. This encouraged the rats to continue their attack, since it seemed the enemy was already overwhelmed and powerless to fight back (which might indeed be true).

The root carving is in the worst condition, but it's clear that it can at least hold on until it reaches the vicinity of the landfill.

Alright, now there's only one person to worry about, and that's Yuri himself.

Yuri turned his attention back to the kite.

After a final inspection of the kite's structure, even with prior improvements, there was still some deformation... It should still be usable, but Yuri, still not entirely reassured, reinforced the frame strength once more.

Although the rest of the plan had been largely disrupted, it was eventually managed to get back on track as originally planned.

Next, as Yuri approaches the top of the junkyard, he should untie the wooden structure connected to the rope, remove the hook instead of the rope, and then, in his glider-transformed kite, plummet down as fast as possible.

The original plan was for the werewolf to try to distract the rats at this point... but judging from the situation below, the so-called distraction will probably just involve letting out a shout.

On the bright side, this shout had a wide-ranging effect.

The heroes mentioned in the story mostly made up their minds long ago when they persevered. Now Yuri has a slight doubt: could there be an element of "it would be too embarrassing to go back like this" in their determination?

Now he's starting to wonder if he's gotten to this point because he's too concerned about saving face.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: A Fleeting Moment

Ignoring Yuri's eager expectations, Ms. Murakami Akisa did not do anything unexpected, such as transforming into a giant wolf several meters tall and tearing down the rat swarm, the rat king, and the garbage dump wall. Instead, she simply howled, just as she had expected.

The effect was not as good as expected. The rat swarm seemed somewhat chaotic, but it did not collapse as quickly as it had the first time they saw it.

Yuri clearly remembered the last time the rat swarm exploded due to the interference of the wolf howls; unfortunately, it didn't repeat itself this time. The main target of this attack, the weak rat spirits, hadn't become stronger; although their numbers were greater, their density wasn't significantly different.

If it was an area centered around Murakami Akisa that was cleared out, he could understand it. In that case, the attack did not target the area based on its range, but rather spread out a certain amount of energy, scattering the rat swarm while continuously consuming it until the effect finally disappeared.

This time it was different. Over a fairly large area (likely no smaller than before), the mice showed signs of shrinking and confusion, but hardly disappeared.

What's the difference between these two instances? Yuri may have misunderstood the workings of this move before. If it wasn't the sound itself that dispersed the spirits, then what did the sound alter to eliminate the rat swarm, or was it because the rats absorbed some of the power—

As he pondered, the werewolf below made the same move as before, turning his fist from a horizontal clench to a thumb pointing downwards.

Ah, the meaning is clear: this is urging Yuri to take this opportunity to go down quickly.

From the moment Yuri saw this scene to the moment his kite began to plummet, only ten seconds had passed.

For the first three seconds, he tried to open the latch.

Three seconds later, I realized that the latch had deformed and would be difficult to separate under the stress at this moment.

Two seconds later, he tried to untie the rope and realized that this was even more troublesome than the lock.

In the last two seconds, he pulled out the shadow knife and directly destroyed the lock structure.

As Yuri began to fall, he glanced back at the direction the motorcycle had taken one last time and realized that after he had broken free, they were also cutting the rope there.

Well... given Murakami's mindset, the fact that she didn't cut the rope and turn herself into a kite with a broken string while she was messing around is probably considered excellent treatment.

Let's turn our attention back to the interior of the landfill.

It's not that Yuri has the time to focus on the outside when there's only a dozen meters of descent space; rather, the rats in the junkyard haven't reacted to anything from above.

For a moment, Yuri couldn't think of any reason other than "they really didn't notice." If that were the case, all he had to do was descend from the sky to the top of the Rat King's head and activate the token to accomplish this great feat.

Yuri's intuition told him it wouldn't be that easy, but he didn't encounter any problems.

The descent speed is increasing, and directional control is becoming increasingly difficult.

Ten meters. The rats seemed to react, but still showed no intention of defending the sky.

Eight meters. Yuri had switched the token to an activation-ready mode ahead of time.

Five meters. At this distance, Yuri felt he could already see something beneath the black mist—

five meters.

five meters.

The descent has stopped.

Yuri was shocked. He didn't feel like he had hit anything, nor did he feel any discomfort from the sudden stop, but the distance in front of him showed no signs of shortening.

If the Rat King somehow managed to hover in the air, then a swarm of rats would surely follow—Yuri, recovering from his panic, quickly tried to adjust his posture to protect himself, or at least reduce the area to be attacked…

Then he found himself unable to move; his consciousness and vision continued to function, but his limbs were completely immobile.

Ah, this feeling... it's a bit like I'm doomed.

He scanned his surroundings in despair, then noticed that the rats had also stopped moving. Yuri couldn't sense their inner thoughts, whether they were confident or panicked like him, but at least outwardly they were just as frozen as he was.

What exactly is going on?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Everything around seemed to have stopped moving; nothing in Yuri's field of vision was still changing, not even the drifting black mist.

Amidst the stagnation, Yuri began to make preparations in silence. He did not believe that this stagnation would be permanent, or at least he refused to consider such a possibility.

So of course, we must be prepared at all times. Once time starts to run again, Yuri will crash down and activate the token. This is a set procedure.

However, on the other hand, if someone stopped time... what would they do? A normal person wouldn't stop time just for the sake of stopping time. Yuri's initial plan was to unilaterally stop everyone else's actions and then take the opportunity to do something himself, but he hasn't seen anyone else act.

Could it be that they're making a move against Akemi's group outside? Yuri peered outwards with his all-around perspective.

Yuri can't see the whole picture outside now, but he can still see a head—the head of Ms. Murakami Akisa, who is standing on the back of Akemi's motorcycle.

It appears she has stopped and has not been attacked.

That's reassuring, but it also makes the situation even more uncertain.

Could it be that someone nearby stopped the battle, and Yuri and his crew were innocently caught in the crossfire?

Think, think quickly, because there seems to be nothing else to do besides thinking.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

About fifteen minutes passed... It seemed ridiculous to be counting time during a time stop, but at least Yuri had counted almost a thousand in his mind.

He could guarantee that the first hundred would be spaced at the same intervals, but for the later ones, he could only say he would try his best.

The surrounding environment still seemed unchanged, and he began to feel uneasy. Now he even somewhat hoped that the rats around him would move, even knowing that their actions would certainly not do him any good.

It's not that he's in a lot of physical pain. In fact, he can feel absolutely nothing if he stops looking around (commonly known as closing his eyes). But this state of complete silence and inability to do anything is causing him great mental anguish.

He tried to enhance his senses, attempting to find anything nearby that hadn't been frozen in time... but failed. His outer spiritual essence couldn't sense the movement of air. Even if he wasn't sensitive to touch, wasn't it a bit much to not be able to sense anything no matter how hard he tried? The idea that even the air was frozen in time seemed reasonable, but something was wrong... something seemed off.

After scanning the entire area many times, the increasingly anxious Yuri finally noticed something different.

If he weren't without tear ducts and unable to move, he might have cried tears of joy.

In his field of vision, it seemed that the position of Ms. Murakami Akisa's head had shifted slightly on the street outside the wall... but it was probably just an illusion. Yuri had heard of the feeling of joy and fear coexisting, and he had wondered what that feeling was like back then; now he understood.

In any case, this greatly encouraged Yuri, or rather, it became his last straw. Elsewhere, things were almost certainly unchanged, but here, things could change.

He then focused intently on the direction of the werewolves outside, not daring to lose focus for even a moment, for fear of missing any subtle changes.

After about five hundred counts—Yuri had even abandoned steady counting in order to concentrate, and now he could only anticipate the movements on the outside—Murakami Akisa turned her head a few more times, and now her other eye could be vaguely seen.

That's right. At the beginning, you could only see one eye. In other words, during this "time stop," other people or things were still moving, just very slowly. Yuri being able to see Akisa Murakami slowly turning her head is proof of this.

Yuri breathed a sigh of relief; at least it meant he wouldn't be suspended in mid-air forever.

So what about his own side? Was there really no change at all, or had he simply not seen it because he had given up thinking before? Encouraged, Yuri turned his attention back to this side and began to compare it with the images stored in his thinking center.

Nothing on the scene could match Murakami Akisa's speed; Yuri's own kite with its broken string was perhaps the only contender, and it would almost certainly lose. Considering that other options would only make things worse, Yuri simply focused his attention on the kite.

The height above the ground seems to have changed, yet it also seems not to, but the kite's skin has likely changed, as the degree of bulging appears to have altered.

There was more than one piece of evidence; this "time stop" did not actually stop time. Yuri calmed down and waited for the kite to finally hit the ground.

It will reach its goal sooner or later.

...Is that right?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A year later, Yuri realized that his spiritual essence could still be used normally... There was a strong sense of sluggishness, but it could still be mobilized.

The sluggishness reinforced himself, strengthened external objects, and created shadow objects that rose in sequence. Yuri activated his shield, but nothing beyond the shield's effect occurred. If the shield could have prevented this power from affecting him, Yuri would probably have missed a crucial moment.

He tried to concentrate on observing the black mist, but no matter how hard he tried, the black mist just looked like black mist. He analyzed the characteristics of the black mist itself. This mist was actually a kind of spiritual substance that was almost materialized. It looked like mist, but it was actually just the effect of the slow evaporation of the edges.

Then it was gone.

Yuri couldn't see what was beneath the black mist—this was an inherent weakness in his observational abilities; if he couldn't see, he couldn't observe.

Ten years later, Yuri began to ponder why he could still manipulate the Spirit Essence. This time-stopping phenomenon did seem somewhat imperfect, but if Yuri were to extend the time he normally spent concentrating on using the Spirit Essence to that extent, he should experience not sluggishness, but stagnation. Could it be that the Spirit Essence wasn't an objectively existing, tangible substance, but rather an ethereal energy? What exactly was the Spirit Essence?

Another possibility suggests that Yuri's reaction time is usually too slow—the current Yuri is able to think for a considerable amount of time within a normal few seconds, which is why he can effectively make the most of the time that would otherwise be wasted when he can't react in time normally.

So, what are some ways to make use of this extra time? For example, how about taking this opportunity to reflect more on some questions left over from the past?

A century later, Yuri felt he was almost at the point of understanding the meaning of emptiness—why was there still about three meters of black mist ahead? At this rate, it might take the entire history of human civilization to cross those mere five meters—what kind of time stop is this, lasting so long?

Of course, Yuri, who was internally screaming, knew perfectly well that he had never grasped the concept of emptiness. This was evident from the fact that, in his perception, the same amount of time was being stretched out increasingly longer. If he were truly devoid of joy and sorrow, this phenomenon shouldn't have occurred.

If falling the same distance is considered to take the same amount of time, then these three periods of time should actually be close. In other words, the problem lies with Yuri himself; in his perception, the three seemingly close periods of time are already vastly different from each other.

He didn't actually count the seconds to calculate how much time had passed in his mind—he was too anxious to patiently count a thousand times, so the so-called year or ten years were just figurative numbers.

This is worse because it means he is becoming even more impatient, and if there weren't a seemingly attainable goal ahead of him, and there was no turning back, he really doesn't know what he would do.

Oh, actually there's an even more critical part to it, Yuri thought. According to the principles of physics, Yuri's falling speed should be increasing, which means that what he thought was a longer time should actually be shorter... Thank you, Minmei, thank you for your book, which made me realize just how bad my situation really is.

We need to find other ways to use our time, such as setting up future plans in our minds.

The idea was good, but Yuri stopped before he could even begin. He knew he couldn't stick with it; he'd tried several times already. The more anxious he became, the less he could concentrate on anything; the less he could focus on a particular thing, the more he'd dwell on the present, leading to even more anxiety—a vicious cycle.

His excuse for comforting himself was that if he really got absorbed in something, he would likely miss the best opportunity to react when time suddenly stopped... and then be killed by a thousand rats.

Given the reality, this excuse might actually become true. Yuri almost had the illusion that it wasn't that he had tried and failed, but that he genuinely had something to worry about that prevented him from giving his all... Deceiving himself helped alleviate his immediate anxiety.

From the time Yuri took down the kite, less than twenty seconds had passed in total.

Chapter 100 Rat King

Some time after Yuri began mentally calculating prime numbers, he experienced another change.

A sense of being watched, as if someone is observing you.

Is he finally starting to hallucinate? Yuri had considerable confidence in his mind, but even now he wasn't sure if his judgment was reliable.

We should immediately begin a full-scale search for the source of this "gaze," which might solve the problem.

There were still about two and a half meters to the black mist. Based on previous experience, his sense of time might... Yuri stopped thinking about this terrible future. In short, if there was a chance to avoid this scene, he would be very, very, very happy.

“Truly resilient.” An aged voice appeared in Yuri’s mind. “But this will only bring you more torment.”

"Who are you? What kind of evil magic did you use?" Yuri had indeed considered what he would do if the person who created this time-stop appeared in front of him, but this was too sudden. The only one who knew Yuri's situation perfectly well was probably the one who initiated the time-stop; no one else would.

Furthermore, why would this person suddenly appear at this point?

"Why should I tell you? You can guess for yourself." The aged voice was laced with malice. "You've gone through so much trouble to get to this point. If I just tell you the answer, wouldn't all your hard work be wasted?"

"The Rat King, is it?" After a moment's thought, Yuri realized who was harboring such malice towards him and yet possessed the power to do such a thing.

Ultimately, when an anomaly suddenly occurred during the charge against the Rat King, there was no need to ask who the prime suspect was.

“You’re not particularly stupid, by the standards of a low-level spirit. It’s just a pity you’re so presumptuous. Rat King, that’s your code name, isn’t it? Do you really think you can guess your opponent’s real name so easily?” The aged voice kept its pace steady. “But it’s mostly correct. I am the one who controls these rat spirits in front of you.”

"True name?" Yuri didn't expect an answer, quickly recalling the knowledge from the book... True name, he was certain he had seen this word before. The book described a true name as a magical name with power, which was said to be protected by both supernatural beings and mortal wizards at all costs—"

"Ah, if you believe that a true name is something with magical power, something that can be summoned without any processing and produce an effect... I'll be disappointed." There was a hint of sarcasm in the voice. "A true name is one's real name, one's actual name. There are indeed things that can be connected through one's real name... but this is definitely not the effect of the real name itself, but rather psionic energy."

"You mean magic."

Yuri's casual remark was met with a fierce backlash.

"Have you gone mad from being a servant to some magician? Why are you suddenly talking nonsense?" The old voice paused for a moment, then softened, "Indeed, judging from your condition, you've definitely been altered beyond recognition by the magician..."

"What nonsense am I talking about?" Yuri couldn't figure out what the problem was. Was it related to magic?

"How can magic be compared to psychic energy? I've seen those sorcerers; their so-called magic is nothing more than borrowing external power. They are still mortals at heart, and this disconnect makes them feel overwhelmed." The Rat King seemed to have taken a talk.

"—What kind of magic are you talking about?" Yuri was somewhat skeptical. The psychic energy it was talking about now seemed quite obvious—something that spirits, ghosts, and other supernatural beings (and possibly other supernatural beings) would instinctively use.

Incidentally, Yuri doesn't seem to have any psionic abilities; he's gotten used to being an aberrant spirit.

While it's almost impossible for the Rat King, given its strength, to be largely inexperienced—meaning it's almost impossible for it not to know the difference between Awakened Ones and other wizards—what if that's the case?

"Of course it's the magic of the Awakened—the magic of mortals who call themselves Awakened. Just like you thought, isn't it?"