Shinji Ikari, the pilot of Unit-01 during the Spirit Awakening Era

However, he didn't struggle for long. Isayama Mei, standing beside him, swiftly and decisively chopped off the vengeful spirit's head. The vengeful spirit was dealt with in the most direct way in an instant. The evil spirit, with its shattered body, had no chance to resist and simply disintegrated.

"To be able to take down a team that dared to charge into a place like this, I thought they had some skill, but they're just a small fry?" Izayama Mei frowned. They seemed a bit too weak. After all, in such a high-level hidden place, the enemy was only this strong? "Oh, so there was more than one! Suddenly I think your sister might not like this kind of place."

A classic scene in horror movies: countless hands tear the ground apart. The vengeful spirits were just the vanguard to attract attention; the rest of the vengeful spirits launched their attack from beneath the ground. This is probably the direct reason why this group was wiped out.

"It really is true..." Asou Yuu sighed. After entering, he remembered some things. There were several directions to enter Minakami Village, and this was the direction he had entered before. It was as if the interference spell of the god of disappearance had affected his power and was beginning to fade. His memories were beginning to return, and he remembered a series of things that happened after he accidentally entered this place.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't panicked at first. The power to conceal an entire village for decades must have been unleashed by a weakling. So, he was initially terrified and proceeded cautiously. Now, looking at the room they were in with his camera, he felt the resentment was too strong and he had no desire to come in at all.

However, as we all know, there is no place in the entire Minakami Village without resentment. After Asou Yuu entered, the other side was not in a good mood. All kinds of evil spirits came out to hunt down Asou Yuu. So soon, Asou Yuu, who had realized the reality, loaded the camera with bullets.

Ah, no, it's film, film... and then began a unique and unconventional village exploration trip!

As the rightful heir of the Aso family, he didn't need to use a prototype camera like the Amakura sisters. Although he wasn't as brilliant as his ancestor Kunihiko Aso, who directly invented exorcism equipment, he still understood his ancestor's ideas and restructured them. In a sense, he transformed the exorcism camera from a laboratory prototype into a handicraft, making it mass-producible. He then openly sold the blueprints to various organizations without a second thought.

The Yin-Yang Bureau and the Countermeasures Bureau owed him a considerable favor because of this. After all, the things they provided, even if they were the simplest and most basic, were still genuine and of high quality, greatly reducing the casualties among low-level exorcists.

Furthermore, after going out exorcising spirits with Shinji Ikari, Aso Yuu's biggest feeling was that the Type-0 film was a bit too powerful and too expensive. Some time ago, he created the Type-0 film modification himself. Although its performance was slightly inferior, it was much more affordable and easier to produce.

However, there were still quite a few troubles along the way. Perhaps because he was used to Shinji Ikari and Mei Isayama fighting side by side, this journey was really tough for Asou Yuu. Several life-saving items were lost due to his lack of caution. Now, looking back on the reason for his "stupid" death, Asou Yuu couldn't help but laugh and cry.

"You remembered?" Shinji Ikari looked at Yuu Aso's flickering eyes and smirked. "Let's go out first. We probably can't stay in this house anymore. It seems that after you, this spirit has been partially awakened. These guys just happened to run into the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons after they came in."

"Congratulations to them!" Izayama Mei spun his naginata, swiftly slicing up these pathetic fodder who had come to their doorstep. A mocking smile graced his face. Just because their overall strength was similar to theirs didn't mean that these guys could actually fight them. Besides, in terms of experience, they had all been to the Himuro mansion and were very familiar with these deadly tactics.

Aso Yuu came up with all this equipment precisely because they suffered terribly at the Himuro mansion...

The out-of-control Gates of the Underworld nourished the entire Ice Chamber mansion and attracted all sorts of evil spirits, whether intentional or not, from the vicinity; it was even more thrilling than this place back then.

So they easily pushed the evil spirits that had crawled out of the ground back down, and threw the corpses of the dead together, setting them on fire with the oil they had brought with them. What good could a corpse do in a place like this? It would either be possessed by a ghost or come back to life on its own. Either way, it would be a huge hassle, so they might as well just set it on fire.

"You've told me everything?" Asou Yuu shook her head, confirming that she had indeed remembered. "Let's go, there's still one spirit here that can be saved."

"Don't be so absolute. After all, who knows?" Shinji Ikari shook his head. Kurosawa Sae was both similar to and different from Himuro Kirie. Both maintained a degree of rationality; however, unlike Himuro Kirie, who developed a kind personality, Kurosawa Sae didn't possess that same helpful nature. Her attitude towards all outsiders was consistent: they all had to die!

As for Yae Kurosawa's spirit... where is Shinji Ikari supposed to find it? So maybe he really did run into her, and perhaps he could try to communicate with her. If she is truly an uncommunicative being, then Sae Kurosawa, with her geographical advantage, might be the strongest enemy this time.

"Hmm?" Aso Yuu and Isayama Mei exchanged glances. What does Shinji Ikari know? This guy likes to say a little bit and then keep it all to himself.

"We've packed everything up. We have over 30 talismans that we can use. I didn't take the camera, but we have three or four rolls of film. Here you go! It's not as rich as I thought." Shinji Ikari and Mei Isayama piled the corpses together, lit a fire, and then finished looting the loot boxes. They did find some usable items, but they didn't seem to be of very high value.

“There are some other things, but they’re too heavy for us to take. That’s fine.” Shinji Ikari shrugged and tossed a small knife to Mei Isayama, who pulled it out, examined it, and nodded to Shinji.

"We just received a radio communication; it seems to be from Shinji Ikari," a spirit medium from the Onmyōryō (Bureau of Yin and Yang) said quickly as he approached Izumo no Okuni, who was patting his stomach and burping.

"Hmm? A radio shouldn't be able to penetrate this layer of invisibility without sufficient power. It doesn't seem to be a small device he brought in." Izumo no Okuni nodded. Although she was somewhat surprised, she was still somewhat accepting of the situation. After all, it had happened before, except that the emergency distress call sent by Shinji Ikari that time was not a good thing.

"It seems he's asking... if there are any survivors," the exorcist said simply. "We tried to contact him, but we weren't successful, so..."

"So let's just wait and see, and wait for further instructions!" Izumo no Okuni said simply. "Shinji Ikari has more experience with this kind of situation than either of us." Izumo no Okuni said with a smile.

“Yes, I understand.” The exorcist didn’t ask any further questions or elaborate. Since Izumo no Okuni had made his decision, so be it. After all, there was another matter that was more important now. “The sorcerer’s tent is ready. Shall we activate the magic circle directly?”

"No rush, no rush. Let them launch their attack if they want." Izumo no Okuni waved her hand. Given their seclusion, no one knew the specifics of the situation inside. Acting rashly might inadvertently harm Shinji, so she decided to refrain from any action for the time being. "Any other news?"

"Yes, there are three women nearby who say they are... revisiting the place where they used to live."

"...Hmm? The important point."

There are twin sisters.

"This is terrible..."

Chapter 140 Good Deeds Reward

"I have to say, these guys are pretty rich." After smashing a blind, human-sacrificing evil spirit, Isayama Mei looked at the person lying on the ground. Unlike when he entered, this person looked like he had been dead for some time. A quick search revealed a portable exorcism camera produced by the Onmyodo, and a large amount of film, but judging from its usage, it hadn't actually been used before it was destroyed. "Those bastards from the Onmyodo, your film and camera are sold everywhere, and your share of the profits is too low!"

Hearing his teammate Mei Isayama say that, Yuu Asou smiled. Was he short of money? Well, he couldn't say that, or he might get beaten up by the furious Mei Isayama.

"It looks like... we've entered a dangerous zone." Shinji Ikari tilted his head and looked around. He had just encountered the Kiryu sisters, and to his surprise, the sisters' strength was obviously absurd. It seemed that after they had slaughtered a wave of intruders in the Kiryu mansion, their vengeful spirits had become even more ferocious. At least in Shinji's memory, the original Kiryu sisters didn't have such an interesting toy—a blood-soaked kitchen knife.

However, what surprised Shinji Ikari even more was what happened next: the vengeful spirit and the evil spirit actually stopped immediately after discovering the three of them.

The situation was as follows: Shinji Ikari had just launched his Purple Flame Bullet, leaving several houses half-paralyzed. On the other side, Mei Isayama, wielding his naginata, had just shredded a mage's vengeful spirit. Finally, the most discreetly focused Asou Yuu's camera shutter clicked incessantly, rapidly annihilating a large number of vengeful spirits. Isayama was merely responsible for cutting down any stragglers; in a sense, he was protecting Asou Yuu, the ADC (Attack Damage Carry), while he relentlessly delivered the damage.

It was under these circumstances that the Kiryu sisters encountered Shinji Ikari and his group. After staring at each other for a moment, Shinji took a step forward, and the Kiryu sisters took a step back...

Thinking, "You're all just kids, and since you're already here," Shinji Ikari took two steps forward, intending to keep the two vengeful spirits there. But the two girls immediately turned and ran away without the slightest hesitation. This scene stunned the three of them, and then Mei Isayama laughed rather unprofessionally. And in this rather eerie place, that laughter carried very, very far…

It seemed to have caught the attention of another girl who liked to laugh...

Of course, the girl who was wandering around didn't seem to be coming anytime soon, so Shinji and his companions could continue searching the corpses on the ground without restraint, happily looting their bags.

"There are spirits dressed in modern clothes?!" Mei Isayama was the one looting the bags. There were four or five people lying on the ground, Shinji Ikari was standing aside on guard, and Yuu Aso was looking around with a camera. Whenever he saw a spirit peeking out, he would snipe it. Ah, no, he would take a picture of its magnificent appearance!

"Perhaps an unlucky soul who wandered in here by mistake... Hmm?" Shinji Ikari immediately tilted his head and looked around. The story of this pair was another poignant tale.

Before the dam next to it was built, an investigator named Masumi Makimura was sent to collect information about the site. This unlucky guy accidentally wandered into Minakami Village and disappeared without a trace. His girlfriend, Miyako, followed him in while searching for her boyfriend.

The story had already been unlucky enough up to this point, but what happened next immediately elevated this misfortune into a tragedy. After entering Minakami Village, Miyako was fortunate enough to find her boyfriend, but this was the end of their good fortune. They were immediately met with a warm welcome from the vengeful spirits of the villagers, and in their terror, they could only flee in all directions.

To care for his frail girlfriend and to find a way to escape, Miyako stayed at the Osaka family home. Masumi Makimura went to the Kurosawa family home alone, where she was killed by Seijiro Makabe, who had become an evil spirit. Still remembering his girlfriend, he returned to the Osaka family home as an evil spirit and killed his girlfriend, who had been waiting for him in vain, with his own hands.

Compared to Himuro's mansion, where even the ultimate boss Himuro Kirie could leave behind a cute little one to help ordinary people, there really isn't a single good person in Minakami Village. Moreover, due to the Great Compensation, the aura of the Underworld has tainted the spirits of all the villagers, strengthening them into vengeful spirits. For ordinary people, or even lone exorcists, such a village is nothing short of a forbidden zone for life. Of course, at this point, someone like Gojo Satoru, who is overpowered, is expelled from the human race.

“It’s in that house over there.” Asou Yuu pointed to a building that looked better than the average villager’s house.

There was a house number on it. Shinji Ikari glanced at it and saw it read "Osaka Family." It really matched. Shinji shook his head. "Let's go. We're already here. Let us go in and scout it out. If there really is some unlucky soul trapped here, we'll try to save them if we can." Shinji shook his head. These guys were really a headache.

"Judging from the damage to the door, some idiot just broke in." Mei Isayama laughed happily. "Usually, people who do that are pretty confident, and the stuff they carry isn't bad." The high-value items she'd looted along the way had already made her quite a fortune, nearly ten million yen, which made Mei Isayama very happy, even after deducting the share she had to give to Shinji Ikari and Yuu Aso.

"As expected, it's another building shrouded in resentment. Just how many vengeful spirits are in this village?" After entering the gate, Asou Yuu let out a long sigh. Last time, he didn't even bother to enter these mansions with house numbers and names, which gave him the creeps. After being reminded by a kind young man with white hair, Asou Yuu did everything he could to get the key and hurried away. Who would walk obediently like a little girl? That would be foolish.

"So you're scared?" Asou Yuu's words made Isayama Mei's lips curl up. In this hidden place, where is there a safe zone? Wake up! This isn't a game. How is this any different from other places?

"I didn't expect to meet you so soon." Shinji Ikari sighed as he looked at the spirit in front of him. Although in the game's ending, theoretically the only good ending for Crimson Butterfly, Kurosawa Sae and Kurosawa Yae reunited and jumped into the Hollow together, amidst the overwhelming fluttering of red butterflies, all the spirits in Minakami Village seemed to be redeemed and regained their sanity, including this young couple.

But looking at it now, has this really solved the problem?

Not necessarily. In fact, the most likely scenario is... everything will remain the same! Although the spirits of Minakami Village regained consciousness for a time, after a long period of time, they will still have to face a very critical situation: as time goes by, the effectiveness of the ritual will decrease, and eventually... those trapped here will revert to evil spirits. This is basically the final fate of all spirits trapped in various hidden realms and secluded worlds, infected by miasma, resentment, and death energy, and ultimately transformed into malevolent spirits.

"Your boyfriend truly loved you. Even in death, he remembered you. It's just a pity that he ultimately became a vengeful spirit." Shinji Ikari glanced at Mei Isayama, who immediately waved her hand, saying, "You handle this kind of trouble. There are several bags lying in the lobby; she's very busy!"

Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes and went up, dodging the opponent's attack. He simply drew a cross on the opponent's forehead. Although he couldn't exorcise the spirit and send it to its death like he did on Mount Kintoki, in this huge ghost realm, no spirit can be reborn unless the Hollow is dealt with, he still slightly awakened the vengeful spirit's consciousness.

"Go to the afterlife! Don't waste your time here. In your next life, when you meet your boyfriend, give him a good beating." Shinji Ikari caught a stack of rebirth talismans thrown to him by Yuu Aso. Without being told, Yuu Aso already knew what Shinji wanted to do after hearing what he said.

Shinji Ikari casually stuck three or four talismans on Miyako's face. The talismans quickly burned to ashes, but Miyako's body also began to fade rapidly, turning into a wisp of spirit that dissipated. In the very end, Miyako clasped her hands together and bowed to Shinji Ikari in gratitude.

"Oh! Aso, this looks like an antique from your house." Before Miyako disappeared, she pointed in a direction. Shinji Ikari shone his flashlight on it and a smile appeared on his lips. Although he was a little surprised that she was here, there was no doubt that this was Kunihiko Aso's Spirit Camera Unit-01, which must have a huge attraction for Yuu Aso.

"It really is..." Asou Yuu took a picture of the camera first, and after confirming that there was no problem, she picked it up. Anyway, she had already picked up so much regular film that she was actually taking landscape photos, so she had more basic film than she could use.

The fact that a large portion of these people who came in bought the spirit camera shows that it is indeed very useful. Therefore, under such circumstances, it's easy to guess how terrifyingly valuable the camera in Asou Yuu's hand would be in the underworld; many well-off exorcists would certainly be willing to pay a high price to buy it.

"What a fruitful harvest! This good deed was well worth it!" Mei Isayama understood Shinji Ikari's actions. Miyako and her boyfriend were not from Minakami Village, and compared to the villagers, they were more innocent. So when Shinji Ikari performed the ritual for them, she didn't care. But now it seems that this camera has made a huge profit.

"It seems we need to be good people here, since there's a real lack of righteousness in this godforsaken place!" Shinji Ikari shrugged. He naturally wouldn't go back to ask for any share of his friend's things.

"Hmm?" Aso Yuu was playing with the old-fashioned camera when he suddenly noticed a scarlet butterfly flying past his eyes in the darkness.

"Um...can anyone hear us?" a weak female voice came through the radio. "This is Amakura Mio. Can anyone hear us? My sister and I need help!"

Chapter 141 Mio Amakura acquires the Spirit Camera

"Please! Help me! How did my daughters get in here! Please! Save them! Save them!" A woman knelt before several people from the Countermeasures Bureau, pleading loudly. The people from the Countermeasures Bureau looked at the woman with helpless expressions.

The Onmyo-ryo (Yin-Yang Bureau) just discovered that there were people active on the outskirts. They immediately dispatched people to block the way up the mountain. According to the information they found, the priests of Minakami Village have a strong connection with the twins. So when they found two girls who looked similar and were close in age, they immediately sounded the alarm. Since the Onmyo-ryo and the sorcerers had already begun to try to seal off the outskirts of Minakami Village, this task fell to the specialists of the Countermeasures Bureau.

To everyone's surprise, these three ordinary people, a mother and daughter, managed to evade the Bureau of Countermeasures' search. By the time the Bureau found them, their mother had already rushed out to ask for help.

Izumo no Okuni covered his forehead and sighed. He knew that when Shinji came out, he would definitely mock them loudly for not being able to handle even three ordinary people.

Without even guessing, Izumo no Okuni immediately thought of two possibilities. The first was that these bastards watching the show on the sidelines, whether for various reasons or simply to cause trouble, were trying to thwart the efforts of the three official agencies—the Onmyōryō, the Jujutsushi, and the Countermeasures Bureau—that had clearly begun to intervene and prepare to seal off Minakami Village, thus muddying the waters and profiting from the chaos.

Don't doubt it, what humanity has no shortage of is this kind of so-called clever people. They don't care about the lives of others. As long as they can benefit themselves, they will not hesitate to use all kinds of means to seize and plunder!

Of course, they don't care about the consequences at all. After all, cleaning up the mess is the government's job. If things really get out of control, they'll just walk away. Ironically, they often stir up various voices to criticize the government for wasting tax money and reducing the authority of three official and semi-official agencies, all to make things easier for them.

Another possibility is that the three of them are from a nearby village. When they were children, these kids used to run around and play in the mountains, so they should know many paths that most people wouldn't take. According to the mother, they had just taken a shortcut instead of the main road, so that's true. But as they walked, her daughters said they were going to play by the stream they used to frequent when they were kids.

As a result, after the countermeasures bureau found the mother, Amakura Shizuka, her face turned pale after understanding the current situation. As people who grew up in the nearby village, they had all heard from the village elders that there was a lost village here, and it was best not to come here, because every year there were reports of people going missing here.

The group rushed to the location where the girls had gone to search, but they had only gone halfway when the specialists' expressions changed drastically. They had actually seen the area marked by the disappearance markers, and the mother said that the two girls were already very close! She urged them to continue with her immediately!

The countermeasures bureau's specialist knocked the mother unconscious without a word, then sent her out. They contacted the Onmyoji Bureau and sorcerers working in the inner circle, asking them to quickly send people to search the area around the stream. The twin sisters you discovered have already rushed into the Hidden God Zone!

The exorcists from the Yin-Yang Bureau acted swiftly, rushing to the vicinity immediately. They indeed found the Amakura sisters, but could only watch helplessly as the two, guided by two red butterflies, rushed into the Hidden God Realm one after the other...

“Don’t cry. We already have an elite squad inside. If we’re lucky, they might be able to resolve things. However, since you know what’s there, you should understand that there’s really not much we can do right now. Sending people in is like sending them to their deaths.” Izumo no Okuni was starting to lose her composure. How did this happen? If it really was just bad luck… all she could do was hope that Shinji would manage to escape in time. “Pray to all the gods you trust, pray for the safe return of your daughters.”

"Kokoro, Mio, you must come back safely..." After being scolded by Izumo no Okuni, Amakura Shizuka slumped to the ground, sobbing and covering her face with her hands as she began to pray.

"Take her to the side to rest. Don't let her do anything foolish. It's already chaotic enough inside. Don't let her cause any more trouble." With a sigh, Izumo no Okuni glanced at his mother, who was on the verge of collapse, and obediently let the countermeasures bureau specialist pull her to the medical vehicle to rest.

"Who? Backup support?" Shinji Ikari gestured to the other two, then muted his microphone and gave a soft reply.

"Someone's here! Someone's here!" The Amakura sisters were overjoyed to find someone they could contact in this terrifying world. "I'm Amakura Mio. My sister and I were playing nearby and somehow ended up here."

"Huh?" Shinji Ikari sighed. It seemed this inevitable tragedy was bound to happen. He thought with his brothers outside, things wouldn't be so unlucky, but how could someone have slipped through so easily? He'd have something to talk about with Kumo no Kuni once they got out. Where are you now? Are you next to a house that's on fire?

"Yes! Yes!" Amakura Mio glanced at the house still burning fiercely beside her and nodded quickly.

"Are you... twins?" Shinji Ikari asked his second question.

"Huh? Yes, my sister and I are twins." Amakura Mio was puzzled for a moment, wondering why she was being asked this.

"Hiss, to make a long story short, this is Minakami Village. A ghost disappearance incident has occurred. We are a team hired by the Onmyōryō (Bureau of Yin and Yang) to conduct an in-depth investigation. We don't have many clues yet. The only thing we can confirm is that this village is full of vengeful spirits." As Shinji Ikari said this, a very obvious sound of swallowing came through the communicator.

"What should we do?" Amakura Mio, who had never seen such a scene before, looked anxious.

“Listen, fear is useless. These things won’t stay away from you because you’re afraid. On the contrary, they will be attracted to your fear. So now, take a deep breath and calm down. Girl, do you see those two small bags over there?” Shinji Ikari comforted them. Both girls had spiritual power, so they could use the camera without relying on special equipment like Yuu Aso.

"I see it, inside is... a camera?" Amagura Mayu took the package. Inside were the leftover items that Isayama Mei had left behind after licking the bag: an exorcism camera and basic film produced by the Onmyo-ryo, as well as some other miscellaneous things. With the mindset that he might be able to pick them up and sell them for some pocket money later, Isayama Mei packed them up and threw them aside.

"Yes, this is a tool for exorcising spirits. Do you know how to use an old-fashioned camera?" Shinji Ikari asked simply.

"I know how to use it, I guess." Mio Amagura took out her camera and looked around, but the blurry figures she saw in the camera made her instinctively flinch.

"Listen, we're going to deal with the core of this disappearance. Taking you along might only get you into bigger trouble. The most reliable thing for you right now is to stay nearby and not wander off. There's plenty of film in your bag, that should be enough for you. Understand?" Because Zero: Crimson Butterfly didn't have a truly happy ending, Shinji Ikari hoped that the Amakura sisters wouldn't follow the path he knew of in the so-called official ending, gradually descending into the abyss. Therefore, the best way was to keep the Amakura sisters out of the way!

"Okay! I understand!" Tenkura Mio nodded quickly, completely unaware that a red butterfly was slowly flying past her side. Her sister's eyes were glazed over, and her legs were unsteady. She seemed to follow the red butterfly without thinking.

"Good luck!" Shinji Ikari hung up the call. He sighed, hoping his words would be somewhat helpful. However, he figured that Sae Kurosawa wouldn't let Amagawa get away with it, because it was her obsession. She had been waiting for her sister here for a long time.

At this moment, Masumi Makimura, perhaps realizing his girlfriend had vanished, became quite violent. However, he was still a bit short of the task and was easily defeated by Mei Isayama in a few moves. Mei Isayama then used the spell on his naginata to suppress him, leaving Masumi Makimura unable to move for a while. It was only after Yuu Asou swiftly applied more than twice the number of talismans to his body that the investigator was finally sent away. When he regained consciousness, he looked very embarrassed, bowed to the two of them, and then disappeared.

"You think your instructions are useful?" Mei Isayama raised his naginata and asked Shinji Ikari simply, "The twins... what did the document we just found say again? It said the younger twin should strangle the older twin to achieve twin fusion, and then use that spiritual power to complete the ritual to seal the Hollow?" Mei Isayama spat directly, "A human sacrifice is a human sacrifice. Why all this nonsense? This kind of ritual, even if nothing happens, will cause big trouble sooner or later."

“Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, we’ll be lured there, so we really need to speed things up this time.” Shinji Ikari clenched his fist slightly. “While money is important, isn’t the point of becoming exorcists to prevent this kind of mess from happening again? Yuu, have you found any useful information?”

"I might have to ask that guy; he might know more." Asou Yuu put down the diary in her hand, shook her head, and lit it with a lighter. "May you meet again in the next life." This diary belonged to Miyako, and the last few entries recorded unusual information about the village, so it wasn't very meaningful.

"Let's set off then. We might have to race against that disobedient little girl." Mei Isayama swung his naginata, slicing open a wandering spirit.

"Yes, there are quite a few troubles here."

Chapter 142 The Path to the Void

"Hey, little guy, you're pretty good at hiding! Hand over the stuff!" Isayama Mei kicked open the paper door, revealing the Kiryu sisters behind it, holding a blood-dripping kitchen knife. Whether they were vengeful spirits or dolls, they stood there somewhat blankly, as if caught suddenly in a ghost-hunting game. However, their gloomy, eerie faces were unreadable, so they had no idea what the sisters were thinking. But right now, without a doubt, the aura emanating from them was one of cowardice and fear.

The reason is quite simple: in the small village of Minakami, Kurosawa Sashige is a powerful daimyo, and the relatively strong evil spirits are his retainers. Under such circumstances, facing a more powerful daimyo is an immense challenge for them.

In particular, Shinji Ikari and his companions seemed to be even stronger than them. The aura emanating from them, especially Shinji Ikari wearing the Divine Mirror that day, made the Kiryu sisters tremble as if a fierce god had personally descended upon them. Shinji Ikari even showed signs of wanting to chase after them, so naturally they ran as fast as they could.

But they never expected that Shinji Ikari and his group would come knocking on their door so quickly. They had learned something: to go to Hollows, Shinji and his group needed a key, and what annoyed them was that the key to Hollows had been divided into several parts.

Yes, classic RPG games repeatedly require you to run around the map to find items, and these items are usually on powerful characters. So you need to defeat all the bosses to open the door to the final ending. And a series of events during this process may lead to different outcomes, resulting in multiple endings.

Shinji Ikari and his companions were able to understand these things. As the only non-outsider spirit in the village who still retained his consciousness, Tachibana Juzuki was quite startled when he saw Shinji and his group of three. However, after listening to Shinji and his companions explain their purpose, he hesitated for a moment before telling them what he knew. After clarifying the information, they immediately began to act, not intending to split up but to solve the problems one by one.

Just as the Kiryu sisters desperately discovered, Asou Yuu had placed those automatic cameras all over the Kiryu house, greatly restricting their movement. Otherwise, they would have been mercilessly attacked in an instant by a barrage of cameras, forcing them to directly face the three men's encirclement. During this process, the two sisters had to split up and escape, which led to the scene where Isayama Mei kicked down the door and blocked their way.

At this time, however, Shinji Ikari and his companions were unaware that another little girl was searching for her older sister in the village and had tried several times to bring her back to the place Shinji had told them about at the beginning. However, each of their efforts was disrupted by the sudden appearance of Sae Kurosawa; otherwise, their actions to capture the Kiryu sisters might have been even more dramatic.

"Ah!" Seemingly realizing that it had nowhere to retreat and had to make a last-ditch effort, or perhaps it was already enraged and ready to fight Isayama Mei to the death, it let out a sharp cry and charged towards Isayama Mei.

"Hey, little brat, you're way too green to handle a knife." Tall and long-legged, and wielding a long weapon, Isayama Mei reversed the weapon, thrusting the hilt directly at the still-loli Kiryu sisters. They watched as the little girl, in a helpless rage, swung her cleaver, but because of the length of her arms and the cleaver, she couldn't reach Isayama Mei at all.

"Looks like... an evil spirit from elsewhere. Do you know how much someone hates you?" Izayama Mei lightly tapped her naginata, and flames ignited from her spiritual energy, burning directly along the handle and quickly engulfing the little girl wielding the knife. The outer skin was burned away, revealing a wooden skeleton beneath, which began to roll on the ground. "It's yours now. I think you have a lot to say to it." Under Izayama Mei's gaze, a figure coalesced within the flames, and this figure bore a striking resemblance to the doll rolling on the ground.

The doll in the flames stared at the human figure within, its mouth agape. Its burned face made the doll look terrifying. But clearly, the human figure in the flames was the real Kiryu Azami; her features were far more expressive than a doll's, and her anger was palpable.

Isayama Mei didn't say much, he simply pushed the other person to the ground.

The puppet possessed by the evil spirit before him had not only driven his younger sister insane but had also manipulated her into killing their father! Even if he had truly attained enlightenment after what had happened, he would undoubtedly be enraged under such circumstances. Mei Isayama had somehow encountered this wandering spirit, and the two immediately formed an agreement.

Mei Isayama helped her get revenge, but Akane Kiryu had to find the key that was kept at the Kiryu family's house. Akane Kiryu readily agreed to the price offered by Mei Isayama, which led to the scene before us.