Kenji Sakata practically sprinted into the dilapidated building.
The moment he stepped inside, a heavy scent of blood mixed with the smell of something charred hit him, making him wrinkle his nose in distaste.
Half of the building’s walls and ceiling were gone, allowing sunlight to stream in unobstructed, illuminating the horrific scene inside with terrifying clarity.
On the floor, a bizarre magic circle drawn in blood had not yet completely dried, appearing as a nauseating dark red.
Two corpses wearing the white robes of the Beautiful Hope Church lay beside the array; one had its chest hollowed out, while the other was missing its head.
Red and white matter was splattered across the remaining walls, looking like an abstract painting of horror.
Several men, also dressed in police uniforms, were busy at the scene.
They were skillfully and carefully placing forged evidence, such as syringes and bags of white powder, next to the corpses.
Seeing Kenji Sakata enter, one of them hurried forward to report, “Police Inspector, everything is almost arranged. As long as the forensics side cooperates and issues a report of drug overdose and internal infighting, this case can be closed.”
The Beautiful Hope Church’s tentacles had long since taken deep root in the business, political, and police worlds.
This live-streamed human sacrifice accident had rattled the nerves of many high-ranking figures.
The upper echelons had reached a consensus: this matter had to be suppressed at all costs, and the whereabouts of the Oni girl calling herself [Ibaraki Doji] had to be sought with full effort.
The emergence of supernatural power had made many of the powerful and wealthy restless.
To them, the deaths of a few replaceable ants were nothing; what mattered most was the power capable of overturning the common logic of the world.
Kenji Sakata waved his hand impatiently.
Looking at the bloody scene, a wave of irritation rose in his heart.
“Hurry up! That crazy woman from the Daily Times is watching outside. Don’t let her catch any evidence!”
He pointed at the corpses on the ground and began to give instructions without allowing for argument.
“There are three relatively complete corpses here, two men and one woman. For the woman… say she died of a drug overdose during an orgy.”
“For these two men, say they were caught in a love triangle and killed each other.”
“As for the one who disappeared along with half the house… write him down as missing in the report. Act like he doesn’t exist!”
Not a single police officer present raised an objection to this practice of turning black into white.
Those sent here to handle the aftermath were all similar to Police Inspector Sakata; they had countless ties to the Beautiful Hope Church and naturally knew how to gloss over the truth for a facade of peace.
“Yes, Police Inspector!”
Everyone responded in unison, and their movements became even faster.
Just as Police Inspector Sakata finished his lecture and was about to do another patrol to ensure everything was foolproof, a crisp, pleasant, yet somewhat childish laugh suddenly rang out from above.
“Yahahaha!”
“This is truly something. Even a true Oni like myself cannot compare to you all when it comes to speaking ‘ghost stories’.”
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly entered the ears of everyone present as if it were being whispered right beside them.
As if under a binding spell, their necks moved stiffly, inch by inch, as they slowly looked upward.
“From what I know, a maiden offered to an Oni God must be a pure virgin.”
Under the sunlight, a petite figure was floating in mid-air.
She wore a magnificent golden kimono, and her brilliant blonde hair fluttered in the breeze.
Her snow-white skin was almost transparent in the sunlight.
Atop her head, a pair of formidable crimson horns declared her non-human status.
Those bright golden eyes were looking down with interest at the group of panicked mortals below.
More importantly, she was barefoot, stepping on the void.
Her body was surrounded by a circle of Purgatory Hellfire that resembled a boiling oil pot, emitting a heart-palpitating, scorching aura.
The police officers present had all seen the interrupted live broadcast through various channels last night, as well as the face captured in the final moments of the camera recording.
How could they possibly fail to recognize her!
“Oni… an Oni!”
“It’s Ibaraki Doji!”
After a brief, dead silence, terrified screams exploded within the ruins.
Like they had seen a ghost, the officers dropped their tasks one after another, scrambling backward and clumsily drawing the handguns from their waists, aiming them at the impossible figure in the sky.
They never imagined that in broad daylight, an Oni could manifest in this world.
“Umu, umu.”
Facing the dozen or so black muzzles below, the blonde loli floating in mid-air seemed completely unaware she was being targeted by lethal weapons.
Instead, she nodded with great satisfaction, as if responding to the calls of her believers.
“Indeed, it is I, the leader of the Oni of Mount Ooe, Ibaraki Doji.”
Her golden slit pupils swept across the terror-stricken faces below, finally landing on the leader, Police Inspector Sakata.
The corners of her mouth curled into a playful smile.
“I seem to have heard you officers saying some very strange things just now? Something about… the sacrifice offered to the Oni of Mount Ooe being a promiscuous slut?”
Her voice was still childish and pleasant, but the content of her words made every officer present feel a chill rise from their spines.
Kenji Sakata stared fixedly at Ibaraki Doji’s figure, his heart drumming frantically in his chest.
Fear was like a cold hand tightly clutching his heart.
But at the same time, another, more seductive voice rang in his head.
The Beautiful Hope Church cadres had promised him when they contacted him that if he could capture Ibaraki Doji alive or bring back her corpse, then his promotion to police superintendent would be a given.
It might even be possible for him to become a chief police superintendent in the future and enter the true upper echelons of the Metropolitan Police Department.
chief police superintendent!
If he could become a chief police superintendent, it would mean a leap in social class and a complete turning of the page in his life!
His extreme thirst for power overrode his fear of the unknown within just a few seconds.
“Stop playing tricks here!”
Police Inspector Sakata bolstered his courage and shouted sharply at Ibaraki Doji in the sky.
He forced himself to believe that everything before his eyes was just some unknown hoax.
“The Oni of Mount Ooe is nothing but a myth and legend from the Heian Period! You must be using some clever tricks we don’t know about to put on a show!”
While psyching himself up, he roared at his subordinates.
“Everyone, stay steady! She’s only one person! We have over a dozen guns! Come down and surrender immediately, or we will open fire!”
He hissed with all his might, tightly gripping the gun in his hand as if that piece of cold metal could bring him a sliver of courage.
Hibiki, playing the role of Ibaraki Doji, almost laughed out loud in his heart.
This guy was a perfect stage prop.
Arrogant, stupid, and full of greed—he was the best candidate to deliver himself to the door to help Tachibana establish his prestige.
“Really, you mortals… tell more lies than even an Oni.”
Ibaraki Doji pouted unhappily, appearing very annoyed by this disrespectful attitude.
“Don’t you even intend to answer my question? Enough, you have no manners at all.”
She shook her head, looking like she couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on them.
She slowly raised her right Oni claw, which was pitch-black and strangely shaped.
Seeing this movement, the pupils of all the officers contracted to the limit in an instant.
They had all seen the recording left at the scene!
They knew what this movement meant!
That giant Oni hand appearing out of thin air, burning with Purgatory Hellfire, could crush even a reinforced concrete building with a single strike!
“Fire! Fire!!”
The fear of death completely overwhelmed everything.
Police Inspector Sakata couldn’t even maintain his surface composure and let out a scream that broke his voice.
Following his command, the instinct for survival made every officer pull their triggers.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A dozen handguns spat fire at the same time, and a dense rain of bullets formed a net of death, blanketing the petite figure in the sky.