"Five seconds?"
Soichiro Yagami's brow furrowed deeply as he spoke sternly.
"Are you threatening the Metropolitan Police Department?"
If last time Soichiro Yagami had lacked confidence, this time was completely different.
Aside from the several SWAT teams currently in the main exhibition hall, there were also snipers, heavy weapons squads, dozens of riot police vehicles, and over a hundred regular Metropolitan Police Department officers stationed outside the Kyoto City Museum.
This deployment could truly be called an all-out effort - the only thing missing was helicopters.
Five seconds to take out all the heavily armoured, shield-wielding, experienced SWAT officers on site?
Unless it was seeing ghosts.
"Chief Yagami, you've misunderstood. I wasn't threatening you."
Ye Xing shook his head, speaking calmly.
"Verbal threats are ultimately meaningless."
"I was merely..."
"Informing you."
Before Soichiro Yagami could respond, Ye Xing's figure blurred as he charged towards the SWAT officers standing to the left.
No orders needed to be given.
Seeing Ye Xing approach, the officers reacted with trained precision - planting their tall riot shields as cover with their left hands while their right hands drew pistols, aiming and firing at the charging figure.
"Shield."
With this single word, black evil spirit aura coalesced in Ye Xing's left hand, forming a riot shield.
Bang!
The bullets struck the shield's surface without even creating ripples, failing to slow Ye Xing's advance by even half a step.
By then, Ye Xing had already closed the distance.
Several muffled impacts - so rapid they sounded simultaneous - and he'd thrown punches that sent both the officers and their grounded riot shields flying several metres away.
"Four."
The entire process took one second.
Soichiro Yagami's eyes could barely track the movement. When his vision cleared, several officers already lay defeated on the ground. This unbelievable sight made his pupils dilate in shock.
When had that large black shield appeared in the man's hand?
Experienced, fully-armoured SWAT officers - defeated instantly along with their shields?
Even close-range live ammunition couldn't stop his advance!?
Soichiro had only ever known one person with such terrifying physical capabilities.
The Metropolitan Police Department's strongest human monster - Seishu Akoya.
"Spear."
Ye Xing's movements didn't pause for Soichiro's astonishment.
The black shield in his hand morphed instantly into a nearly three-metre-long spear, which he hurled towards another group of shield-bearing officers.
The terrifying force behind the projectile was impossible for ordinary humans to withstand, even through shields.
After another dull impact, two officers behind their riot shields were smashed against the wall behind them, collapsing unconscious.
"Three."
Ye Xing's softly spoken countdown made Soichiro's heart tremble.
"Chains."
A black chain extended out, coiling like an agile python to strike several officers' chests in succession.
Even through their heavy bomb suits, the shocking impact instantly rendered them immobile.
"Two."
"Hammer."
For the final officer, Ye Xing materialised a polehammer. Dodging bullets with several quick movements, he closed the distance and raised the weapon single-handed.
The officer instinctively crouched, raising his riot shield overhead for protection.
Crash!
The hammer's impact against the shield made the entire museum tremble.
The special police officer hiding below, though physically strong, was ultimately just an ordinary man. The terrifying force of the impact had split open the webbing of his right hand, causing it to bleed.
As he involuntarily released his shield, his face contorted in pain. The next thing that appeared in his vision was Ye Xing's left hand.
Thud.
Ye Xing pressed his left hand against the officer's riot helmet, not even shifting his gaze, and casually slammed it against the nearby wall.
The violent impact instantly rendered the man unconscious.
As the officer's body slowly collapsed to the ground, Ye Xing's gaze turned towards Soichiro Yagami standing there.
"Exactly five seconds, Chief Yagami."
At this moment, Soichiro Yagami stood dumbfounded, his pupils reflecting sheer terror.
His right hand rested on the gun at his waist, trembling slightly, unable to draw it.
What kind of joke was this?
A dozen fully armed special police officers had been taken down by this man in mere seconds.
Even if he drew his gun and pulled the trigger, what difference would it make?
Soichiro steadied his emotions, casting a complicated look at the fallen officers before turning to Ye Xing, whose black mask concealed any flicker of emotion in his eyes. He spoke in a low voice.
"This... wasn't even your full strength, was it?"
Soichiro could tell that Mask hadn't exerted his full power.
Judging by his movements just now, he had even held back.
Moreover, Soichiro had never forgotten the tall, ghostly woman in white he'd seen that day in Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten's teaching building.
Killing all Metropolitan Police Department personnel...
Soichiro could now confirm this wasn't an empty threat.
Mask truly had the capability to do it.
This guy...
Was he even human?
Or was the face beneath that black Mask actually the true form of an evil spirit?
"Chief Yagami, let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
As Soichiro uttered these words, at the other end of the corridor...
"Got it!"
Hearing the crisp click from the mechanical lock, Miko Yotsuya exhaled in profound relief.
With the sound of turning mechanisms, the heavy metal door slowly swung open.
Before Miko appeared a roughly ten-square-metre room with walls entirely constructed of wood, exuding an archaic traditional atmosphere.
Inside was only one item.
A long sword and its wooden scabbard, separately displayed on the central wall.
"This is... Onimaru Kunitsuna..."
Finally seeing this legendary blade of Japan with her own eyes, Miko's emotions were indescribable.
Excitement, nervousness, awe.
As a child, she'd visited museum exhibitions with her parents and seen several famous swords before.
But viewing them through glass was fundamentally different from this.
Now she needed only to take a few more steps to personally touch this blade once wielded by historical figures like Hojo Tokimasa, Nobunaga Oda and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Yet one thing struck Miko as particularly unexpected.
After the metal door was opened, all the golden particles floating in the air—visible only to psychics—were absorbed into Onimaru Kunitsuna's blade without leaving a single trace.
It was almost as if...
Onimaru Kunitsuna had been using the spiritual power it emitted to guide her and Ye Xing.
Meanwhile, inside the main exhibition hall.
"Finally open."
Ye Xing murmured to himself before extending his right hand sideways, palm upturned, and softly uttered:
"Come."
Before Soichiro Yagami could react, he witnessed a sight so astonishing it would be etched into his memory forever.
As soon as Ye Xing spoke those words, a sharp whistling sound pierced the air.
A longsword of ancient make—dull and devoid of lustre—shot through the air like an arrow from a bow, landing instantly in his right hand.
Accompanying it was a wooden scabbard that seemed possessed of its own will, attaching itself automatically to Ye Xing's waist.
"This is!?"
Staring at the longsword in Ye Xing's hand—identical in appearance to the one displayed in the exhibition case—along with its wooden scabbard, Chief Yagami stumbled back two steps in shock.
"So... this is the real one?"
Chief Yagami had heard tales before.
That weapons could develop sentience and choose their masters—so-called 'spirit weapons'.
That they couldn't be wielded by anyone unacknowledged.
But weren't such stories, like those about spectres or gods, just fantasies concocted by humans?
Could Onimaru Kunitsuna truly possess intelligence!?
And moreover, had it recognised this Mask before him as its master?
"You... you actually gained Onimaru Kunitsuna's recognition!?"
"You're mistaken, Chief Yagami."
Ye Xing slowly clenched the fingers of his right hand, levelling Onimaru Kunitsuna before him as his left palm glided along the blade.
The previously dull, ordinary-looking steel underwent an unimaginable transformation upon his touch.
The entire blade turned into a profound black.
A faint ringing—like the excited cry of a sword spirit—echoed through the exhibition hall.
Ye Xing locked eyes with Chief Yagami and enunciated each word clearly.
"Onimaru Kunitsuna has gained my recognition."
Chief Yagami now understood.
The item in the display case had been a flawless replica.
The blade in Mask's hand was the true Onimaru Kunitsuna!
Gritting his teeth, Chief Yagami thought angrily about how the Kyoto City Museum staff had even deceived the Metropolitan Police Department, claiming the exhibit was the genuine Onimaru Kunitsuna.
He'd definitely be holding someone accountable for this later!
"Chief Yagami."
Ye Xing moved Onimaru Kunitsuna to his side, where—without any visible action—the blade slid smoothly back into its wooden scabbard.
This sight stirred complex emotions in Chief Yagami's heart.
Onimaru Kunitsuna—the famed blade once wielded by Hojo Tokimasa, who ushered in the samurai era, by Nobunaga Oda, known as the Sixth Satan, and by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan.
Now it bowed in submission before this man.
Chief Yagami felt a tumult of emotions, uncertain how to respond.
"Let's make a deal."
Hearing Ye Xing's words, Soichiro Yagami frowned deeply.
"A deal? How could the Metropolitan Police Department possibly make deals with criminals?"
"Crime?"
Ye Xing smiled disdainfully.
"Are you suggesting that you and the so-called Kyoto City Museum are more qualified than Onimaru Kunitsuna itself to decide its fate?"
Soichiro Yagami opened his mouth but found no words to retort.
This question touched upon ethics.
An Onimaru Kunitsuna without sentience was merely an antique, an object.
But one with a spirit that could choose its own master—could that still be considered an object?
Existing laws did not have provisions for such cases.
There truly was no rebuttal.
Seeing Soichiro Yagami's silence, Ye Xing pointed at the replica Onimaru Kunitsuna displayed in the showcase.
"Chief Yagami, if I'm not mistaken, the Metropolitan Police Department isn't aware that the Onimaru Kunitsuna in there is just a replica, are they?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"My meaning is simple."
Ye Xing's tone was calm.
"Today, no matter what, I will take Onimaru Kunitsuna with me."
"You have only two choices, Chief Yagami."
"Either sacrifice the lives of all Metropolitan Police Department members in the most spectacular mass martyrdom in Japan's history to try and stop me."
"Or..."
Ye Xing met Soichiro Yagami's gaze and spoke in a slow tone.
"The Metropolitan Police Department remains unaware that I have already taken the real one. After all, in your understanding, the one in the showcase is the genuine Onimaru Kunitsuna."
Soichiro Yagami understood the suggestion in those words.
Mask was implying...
That he, as the on-site commander, should put on an act.
Though he already knew the showcase contained a replica,
if he pretended ignorance, he could explain to the Kyoto City Museum that the Metropolitan Police Department had protected the so-called "genuine" item, even if the real one had been taken.
This approach would save the lives of his officers while fulfilling their duty—a perfect solution.
Anyone else would have agreed immediately.
But Soichiro Yagami was a man with morals so high they bordered on obsession.
Faced with Mask's proposal, he was deeply conflicted.
"Why offer such terms? What do you want? For me to open the Metropolitan Police Department's perimeter so you and your accomplices can escape?"
At this question, Ye Xing shook his head.
"Chief Yagami, I'm merely giving the Metropolitan Police Department an opportunity."
"Killing you and weakening the department holds no benefit for me personally."
"You may find it hard to comprehend, but the true nature of this world isn't something ordinary people like you can glimpse."
"Our ideals differ. Our goals differ. Our methods differ."
"But I know you're a man of strong justice."
"If I killed you, I can't guarantee Kyoto's next Director of Criminal Investigations would be like you. For me, that's an unnecessary risk with no upside."
Ye Xing wasn't lying.
Soichiro Yagami was indeed inflexible, obstinate to the extreme.
However, as the Metropolitan Police Department's Director of Criminal Investigations, his contributions to reducing crime in Kyoto were undeniable. Crime rates decrease, and so do the number of criminals and victims.
The number of evil spirits and the frequency of Gate appearances would sharply decline as well.
From this perspective.
The Metropolitan Police Department could actually be considered an ally.
Rather than killing Soichiro Yagami over minor conflicts and replacing him with a criminal affairs director whose temperament was unknown and whose diligence couldn't be guaranteed...
Ye Xing preferred seeing the man remain in his current position.
"You..."
Soichiro Yagami clenched his teeth, his eyes flickering uncertainly, his expression torn.
Cooperating with a criminal?
What kind of joke was this!?
Could that still be called justice?
And yet...
Even Onimaru Kunitsuna - the famed blade that had witnessed several major upheavals in Japan's history, passed down for centuries, and previously wielded by notable figures like Tokimasa Hojo, Nobunaga Oda, and Hideyoshi Toyotomi - had acknowledged Mask as its master.
Did he, a mere Director of Criminal Investigations for Kyoto's Metropolitan Police Department, truly have the right to question such a being?
After a long silence, Soichiro Yagami looked at his subordinates, who had been subdued but not fatally wounded, heaved a deep sigh, and finally made his decision.
"I can cooperate to help you leave. What should I do? Order my men outside not to shoot and clear a path for you and your companion?"
"No need for that."
Ye Xing stepped forward and patted Soichiro Yagami's shoulder amiably.
"That would be too obvious. If you got removed from your position by higher-ups, everything I just said would be wasted."
"Then...?"
"Listen to me, like this..."
...
When Miko Yotsuya emerged from the corridor with Hyakume and the pale ghost hand in tow, she saw Ye Xing speaking to someone.
And Director of Criminal Investigations Soichiro Yagami was listening like an obedient student, nodding along in agreement.
Miko froze.
What was this situation?
Ye Xing had demonstrated this enemy-to-ally skill before.
Whether it was Hachishaku-sama, Tamamo-no-Mae from the Reverse World, or that Goat-Headed Deity from the shrine, all had signed contracts to become his allies.
But even the Metropolitan Police Department's Director of Criminal Investigations had switched sides?
Wasn't this getting a bit too absurd!?
Even succubus physiology shouldn't work on the same gender.
"Prepare to withdraw."
Miko nodded obediently. Though puzzled, she chose not to question him now.
"Ready?"
At Ye Xing's query, Soichiro Yagami took a deep breath and nodded gravely.
"Ready. Begin."
The next moment, Ye Xing drew a black pistol from his coat, pressed it against Soichiro Yagami's temple, and led a stunned Miko straight out the museum's front door.
His left arm held Soichiro Yagami in a chokehold, right hand gripping the gun.
The same stance, same hostage.
Even the gun was the same one from last time.
"Your Chief Yagami has been taken hostage."
"If you want him alive, don't make any sudden moves!"
Soichiro Yagami played along perfectly, putting on an expression of reluctant resignation mixed with wariness as he shouted to surrounding officers:
"Nobody shoot! He's wired with explosives!"
Miko was dumbfounded.
Bloody hell.
You two, are you in sync or something?