The Oni Mask.
One of the magical artifacts from Jackie Chan Adventures.
There are ten in total.
The ten masks possess the magic to endlessly summon countless Shadowkhan, and they also transform the wearer into a demon and enhance their physical abilities.
The physical enhancement wasn’t anything new.
But the Shadowkhan were a supremely useful type of servant.
—The soldiers of the Shadowkhan could transform into shadows and move freely through any floor or wall.
They moved silently in the world of the shadow-space, possessed agile skills and martial arts, and had the ability to create weapons from shadows.
Because they were made of shadow, they never needed to eat or sleep.
The mask Valmont had sent was the Nija Mask, corresponding to the Ninja-khan.
According to the plot, shouldn’t this thing be in Shendu’s palace in Hong Kong?
How did Valmont get his hands on it?
Russell’s thoughts were a bit jumbled.
[Don’t worry about such details.
What you should be thinking about now is how to gain control of the Ninja-khan through this mask.]
The detector’s words pulled Russell’s mind back to reality.
Let’s see, how did Shendu control the Shadowkhan again?
It was with a spell, he seemed to recall.
But he didn’t know it.
Russell fell into deep thought.
When it came to the mystic arts, he couldn’t claim to be an expert; in fact, he knew next to nothing.
[Shouldn’t you be torturing Shendu right now?]
[It’s time for that old scoundrel dragon to drop some gold coins!!]
A good point.
But how does one torture a demon that has been turned into a statue?
Russell once again fell into deep thought.
“Boom—”
A petite young girl was using the Dragon Talisman to blast a massive rock in the mining area.
“Megumin, I wanted to ask, how do you Crimson Demons usually torture demons?” Russell walked over to her and asked.
The Crimson Demon Clan.
A clan of chuunibyos.
They were once considered mortal enemies by the Demon King, and even the gods would get a headache just hearing about them.
“Ah…
what do you mean, ‘torture’?” Megumin did not like the sound of that.
She put down the talisman in her hand, placed her hands on her hips, and arched her eyebrows, seemingly about to defend the honor of her clan.
“My clan has never done such a thing!
Our interactions with demons are limited to summoning them a few times when we’re bored to try and form master-servant pacts, test some potions on them, and run a few experiments, that’s all!”
The Crimson Demon Clan really was in a class of its own when it came to being inhuman.
No wonder the Demon King always looked like he wanted to slaughter their entire clan and scatter their ashes.
“Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I need to ask about.”
“…” Megumin’s watery eyes couldn’t help but widen slightly.
She thought for a moment, seemed to realize a small problem, and quickly put on a stern face, picking up the talisman to get back to work.
This topic could not be pursued any further.
If it went any deeper, the already terrible reputation of the Crimson Demon Clan would probably be dug another few dozen meters into the ground.
“Ahem, I can give you a raise, my dear Megumin.” Seeing that Megumin didn’t want to talk to him, the young man coughed lightly.
The girl’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Ahem, Boss, is there something you require?” A smile quickly bloomed on her delicate little face, her canine teeth showing slightly, making her look quite charming.
“I need to know how to command the legion of the Shadowkhan General within this mask without wearing it.” Russell picked up the mask and placed it in front of Megumin.
“Extracting the magic from a sealed demonic item?
Hmm, that sounds pretty difficult.”
“But if it’s just a matter of making this demon’s subordinates misjudge, that’s quite simple.”
“Hmm, you just need to carry this mask with you, and also carry a magic tool that shares its aura,” Megumin said after studying the mask for a moment.
“Huh?” Russell was shocked.
Megumin actually knew how to utilize the Shadowkhan?
Dammit!!
Wasn’t this girl just a single-use cannon and a Dragon Talisman amplifier?
“What’s with that look?!” Feeling Russell’s gaze, Megumin’s hair stood on end.
“I graduated first in my class from the Crimson Demon Village!!”
In a clan of arch-mages where everyone was a hero candidate, graduating at the top of the class meant Megumin was genuinely talented.
It was just a pity her brain was a bit wired wrong, causing her to pour all her magic into Explosion spells.
If this girl’s mind were even slightly more normal, her life would have been a high-fantasy adventure story.
“Ahem…
I just realized you might be even smarter than I thought,” Russell coughed lightly and said.
“I have always been a genius,” Megumin said, puffing out her chest.
Then she poked the mask beside her.
“A tool to share the aura of this demon mask…
hmm, my dad can make a tool of that level.”
A polite yet awkward expression immediately appeared on Russell’s face.
Hyoizaburoo.
Megumin’s father.
His magical power was considered quite strong even among the Crimson Demons, but because he often invented bizarre magical tools, his family was very poor and often went three days without solid food.
He was called an eccentric even in the Crimson Demon Village, where everyone was a chuunibyo.
Would it really be okay to have that guy make the tool?
Seeming to notice the change in Russell’s expression, Megumin couldn’t help but laugh nervously.
I almost forgot that Russell is a prophet with an ability like future-sight.
There’s no hiding my dad’s idiotic ways.
“…Dad might be a useless bum, but if Mom is standing by his side, he’ll curb his creative urges,” Megumin added hastily, wiping away cold sweat.
“Hmm, the quality doesn’t really matter.
You’ll be the one using it, anyway,” Russell said with a smile, looking at Megumin who seemed to not even trust her own words.
“We’re all managers in this company.
It’s fine for managers to do some grunt work in the early stages, but later on, we’ll definitely find others to do the work.
Hmm, the Shadowkhan are meant to be your grunts.”
“I’m not on the front lines of the construction site.
The Oni Mask will most likely be held by you or Naruto.”
Ah!!!
Megumin’s eyes widened.
If that old man messed something up, wouldn’t she be the first to suffer?
“I’ll definitely watch Dad with Mom!” Megumin seemed to be fired up.
Hmm, good.
Very spirited.
Russell nodded in satisfaction.
“Then, I’ll leave the matter of creating the tool to control the Shadowkhan to you.”
Adhering to the sage principle of “if it works, use it to death,” Russell placed his hands on Megumin’s shoulders with a grave expression.
“Urgh…” Megumin wiped the sweat from her forehead.
This had to be done perfectly, or she might be doomed.
Then, as if remembering something, he transferred the red packet Valmont had given him to Megumin.
“Although you can already provide me with a tool to control the Shadowkhan, I’m still entrusting Shendu to you.”
“I want you to take him back to your hometown and thoroughly interroga—have a good chat with him.
Make him spit out every summoning spell he knows, preferably every single magic spell he’s aware of.”
Theoretically, Megumin could already solve the Shadowkhan problem.
But there should still be plenty of juice to squeeze out of that old bastard Shendu.
Just because he had a few gold coins in his hand didn’t mean he should skip torturing the old dragon.
When gold coins needed to be dropped, they had to be dropped.
“That old geezer Shendu looks pretty stylish.
Maybe putting him on display in your village could earn you a little extra cash?”
“Okay!!” Hearing there was extra cash to be made, Megumin’s spirits lifted.
Russell watched as Megumin returned to her world.
But when he turned around, he saw the not-yet-fully-blasted quarry and the Dragon Talisman Megumin had left on the table when she departed…
What was he going to do about this work?
Russell fell into deep thought, then looked towards Naruto not far away.
Naruto will just have to suffer a bit more.
I’ll bear the infamy.
—o—