In a video game, to find the truth behind a case, you're guided by in-game hints to collect clues step by step. When all the clues are put together, the truth is revealed.
But reality doesn't have in-game hints. Taking a few extra steps or missing a few can lead you to miss crucial clues, turning the entire puzzle into a disorganized mess.
This is exactly the situation Taichi and the others are in. If this were a story with a normal disaster plot, they would have completely messed up the script with Mordred and Raikou's strength and the exploration abilities of Kotoko's Yokai. A chain of interconnected clues? That doesn't exist. Even if it did, the group's chaotic, spontaneous actions would have completely disrupted it.
As a result, Taichi and his friends have yet to find the connection between the Visitors and the mastermind, nor do they know the motive behind this reckless act.
Why, What, Where, When, Who, How. Out of these five W's and one H, they only know that the Hannya-masked figure is the suspected culprit, and this culprit seems to be targeting people like Taichi who can maintain their physical form on the boundary between life and death. They know nothing else.
"If this were a detective story, then the culprit has already won."
"But if it's not a detective story, then finding the culprit and defeating them is our victory."
Taichi looked at the scene of the highway entrance, which was completely filled with Visitors, and sighed.
"None of us are detectives," Akane said with a shrug. "And the detective is watching from outside, looking horrified."
Outside the sealing barrier, a small boy in a suit and bowtie, wearing oversized glasses, stood there with a grim expression, his eyes fixed on the chaos and supernatural beings within the barrier. Not far behind him stood Ai Haibara and Professor Agasa, whom Taichi had just recently seen. It was a shame he couldn't see the other two detectives currently active in Tokyo, Saguru Hakuba and Kogoro Akechi.
"Um, can you four please get down first?" The Ittan-momen, who was being used as a flying vehicle, asked, struggling. "I can't hold on much longer."
"Are you saying we're heavy?" Ann asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not a physical weight; it's a spiritual torment," the Ittan-momen said, almost in tears. "The sheer authority Lady Raikou radiates is almost killing me."
"Oh, is it my fault?" Raikou said, gently touching her cheek and looking down at the Ittan-momen with a troubled expression.
"No! Absolutely not! It's my fault for being so useless!" The Ittan-momen was terrified, but it was even more afraid of offending Raikou, so it could only hold on.
"Master, how long can this sealing barrier last?" Raikou turned to Taichi and asked.
"Well, it consumed enough energy to prevent X from transforming for a short period of time. Even though it covers Shibuya and a few surrounding areas, it can last for ten days to half a month without a backup power source. The Visitors' efforts to drain it are pointless, since X anticipated this and set up countermeasures in the barrier. Not only are the Visitors' efforts negligible, but once the sun rises, the light will instantly replenish any lost energy." Taichi replied. "Of course, I also have the authority to remove the barrier after this is all over. X left me that permission."
"Prince X is truly a wise sage," Raikou, as one of the Heroic Spirits who witnessed X setting up the barrier, held him in high regard.
"...Taichi, you seem to know a lot about that Ultraman," Ann, the only person there who didn't know the full story, looked at Taichi with confusion.
"I met that Ultraman once before," Taichi said calmly. "He warned me about the barrier's purpose." It was pointless to deny his connection to Ultraman, as it would only increase suspicion. It was better to admit that he had communicated with him.
"Did that Ultraman even tell you his name?" Ann was quite interested in the Ultraman story.
"Not exactly. I just call him that because of the 'X' on his chest," Taichi said, showing he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "You have to keep this a secret. Otherwise, it'll make people jealous."
"Yeah, I get it," Ann said, nodding in agreement. "We're so close, and when I heard you met and talked to Ultraman, I was already jealous. I can't imagine how others would feel."
"Raikou, are you sensing anyone watching us?" Taichi turned to Raikou and asked. The reason he was so nonchalantly riding on the Ittan-momen's back was to lure the culprit out. But when he saw Raikou sadly shake her head, he sighed. They were in such a visible location, yet the opponent still wouldn't show themselves, which meant the culprit was very wary of the power that Raikou and Mordred had shown. Even with the two groups separated, the opponent still wouldn't take a risk.
"It seems the culprit has many flashy tricks, but their actual power is far inferior to Raikou and Mordred's," Taichi guessed. The barrier around Tokyo, the fog, and the Visitors that came with it were all things the culprit had created using methods Taichi and his group couldn't understand. Or maybe those things were already there, and the culprit just used a certain method to flip a switch that had always been "off" to "on"? There were too few clues to come to a conclusion.
"By the way, now that our location is so clear, why aren't the Visitors attacking us anymore?" Ann asked, unable to understand. "Didn't they attack us on sight before?"
"That's why I said the Visitors are like robots with pre-set programs," Taichi said, shrugging. "Before, their program was to attack all the living people inside the barrier who could move freely, but now, they're solely focused on draining the seal."
"However, this allows me to confirm one thing."
"The culprit definitely has a way to control the Visitors."