By this time, the little boy had already entered the woods and was exploring everywhere looking for his soccer ball.
However, in the very next second.
As if he had seen something terrifying, the little boy fell back onto his buttocks and scrambled backward using both his hands and feet.
Tears burst from the corners of his eyes.
His white pants also immediately became soaked in a large patch.
In the next moment, the little boy was lifted as if some force were strangling his neck.
He struggled violently, but it was completely futile.
Crack!
Accompanied by a crisp sound, his head lolled to the side, and bright red blood gushed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
His bloodshot eyes were still staring fixedly in Akuto's direction.
His eyes were filled with pure malice.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Not far away, the other children screamed one after another and scattered like startled birds.
"You see, from now on, these brats will know that place is off-limits, and they won't come here to play anymore."
"Words can't teach a lesson, but experience can teach it in an instant."
"If I hadn't stopped you, or if those boys had blocked someone else, what do you think would have happened?"
Miko watched this scene, biting her lip and falling silent.
"Put away your ridiculous compassion; brats are the least trustworthy creatures."
Akuto glanced at the corpse still floating in the air and thought secretly to himself.
"Given his nasty personality, if someone died picking up the ball for him, I wouldn't doubt for a second that he'd trick another person into going over to pick it up again."
"After all, if the ball is lost, he'd get scolded when he goes home, right?"
Silently returning control of the body to Miko, Akuto closed his eyes and began to doze.
Miko boarded the tram and headed toward the eastern suburbs of the city.
Looking at the sunset outside the window, Miko was silent for a while.
She seemed to have become accustomed to life and death.
At that moment, she actually felt that what Akuto said made a lot of sense.
"Am I being influenced... or do I really think that way..."
Miko touched her chest, her thoughts somewhat cluttered... The sky was getting late, only a final smear of orange remained on the horizon, and a few bright stars had already begun to twinkle.
Miko looked at her phone as she walked along a rural path, with large stretches of farmland on both sides.
The chirping of insects accompanied the fragrance of plants and earth, carried by the wind to brush against her cheeks, making one unable to resist taking a deep breath.
"Beep beep beep!"
"Little sister, where are you going?"
"Want a lift?"
"Say something, little sister!"
A truck pulled up alongside Miko; the man in the driver's seat was wearing a baseball cap and spoke to Miko flippantly.
Miko didn't want to pay him any attention, but the other party was relentless.
"Beep beep!"
Just then, from the driver's seat of a pink sports car behind the truck, a girl's head popped out:
"Honored One! Is that you?"
"Do you want a ride?"
Miko looked back and found that this girl was the one from the Exorcism Society who used the bear Shikigami.
That day she had been in a daze, but she vaguely remembered seeing her.
Glancing at the truck beside her, Miko walked silently to the passenger side of the sports car, opened the door, and sat inside.
"Honored One, I didn't expect to see you here."
"Ever since I saw you last time, I've been looking forward to meeting you again. By the way, my name is Enai Saionji, you can just call me Enai."
"Although it's a bit presumptuous, please take me as your disciple!"
Miko was overwhelmed by Enai Saionji's enthusiasm.
"Um... I don't have any plans to take on a disciple, sorry."
Hearing Miko's crisp and sweet female voice, Enai Saionji was stunned for a moment.
Then, looking thoughtful, she started the car and drove deeper into the path.
"Honored One, are you planning to take down the Card Society this time? Those bastards, I've wanted to deal with them for a long time."
"We will cooperate with you."
"Um... that's the plan for now."
Miko could only improvise; after all, she wasn't Akuto, so how could she know what Akuto was thinking?
"Vroom vroom!!"
Just then, several top-tier sports cars roared past Enai Saionji from the right.
"Do you have a death wish? Learn how to drive!"
Enai Saionji cursed indignantly, completely failing to notice that cursed markings were gradually creeping onto Miko's face beside her, and a second pair of eyes was slowly opening.
"By the way, Senior, this time we have gathered a total of 20..."
"Shut up." Akuto's emotionless voice rang out in the cabin, "Just drive."
Enai Saionji's delicate body trembled, and she shockingly stole a glance at Akuto from the corner of her eye.
"A completely different voice from just now, and the patterns on the face!"
"What's going on..."
Enai Saionji realized that this was the person who had appeared that night.
After that, Enai Saionji remained very quiet until she stopped about one kilometer from the destination.
There were seven or eight other cars here, but they were all quite low-profile, standard family-type cars.
"Enai, you're late."
Kishida Itsuki shook his head helplessly, really having no way to deal with this willful junior.
"Senior, I ran into this Honored One, so I'm a bit late."
Enai Saionji got out of the car, and Akuto stepped down at the same time.
The moment he saw Akuto, Kishida Itsuki's pupils contracted, and he immediately stepped forward and said seriously:
"Honored One, our Exorcism Society has gathered 20 people to cooperate with you..."
"Move."
Without giving him any face, Akuto pushed Kishida Itsuki aside and walked toward the brightly lit factory building in the distance with his hands in his hoodie pockets.
"Honored One."
Kishida Itsuki still didn't want to give up.
"We can help."
"Don't get in my way." Akuto looked back, his eyes emitting a crimson glow in the night:
"Or I'll slaughter you all."
"Hey, you bas—"
"Sato! Shut up!"
Kishida Itsuki barked out immediately, and Sato, who was just about to argue with Akuto, looked at his captain in bewilderment.
"Then we will wait here; you can call us anytime if you need anything."
Kishida Itsuki's attitude was perfectly in place.
Akuto was also too lazy to say more to them.
"Don't interfere in my battle."
After saying that, Akuto took a starting pose and then dashed out with a 'whoosh', turning into a streak of black light that disappeared into the dark night.
When he reappeared, Akuto was already at the entrance of the warehouse.
"Halt, password."
Two bodyguards in suits at the door looked coldly at Akuto.
Akuto spread his arms, middle and index fingers held up, pointing at the two bodyguards as he whispered softly:
"The password is... Dismantle!"
Thud!
Two fine heads fell to the ground with a thud, their faces still wearing expressions of disbelief.
Akuto walked into the warehouse with his hands in his pockets, strolling like an innocent young girl.
Inside the warehouse at this time, more than twenty people wearing black and white kimonos were sitting around an altar, each wearing a strange piece of paper on their face.
The papers were drawn with four patterns: Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds, and Spades.
They seemed to represent different statuses.
Among them, members with a heart pattern were the fewest aside from the diamond ones, with only 2 of them.
Most were Spades, there were also a few Club.
On the altar, a man wearing a Heart mask was holding up an infant, with a dagger in his hand, chanting some kind of prayer.
As soon as Akuto entered, a throbbing sensation appeared in his heart.
The finger is right here!
Cursed Energy slowly surged like a rising tide, gradually filling the entire warehouse.
At this moment, everyone looked at Akuto, and a strange silence fell over the warehouse.
Everyone could feel a suffocating sense of pressure emanating from the girl in front of them.
"Miss, I wonder what your purpose is in coming to our Card Society?"
"If you want to join, I'm afraid it will have to be another day."
"Join?" Akuto let out a low laugh and walked forward slowly.
With every step he took, the ground would crack because it couldn't withstand the pressure.
"Then let's play a game."
"If you can withstand a single strike from me, I'll join your trash organization, how about it?"
This sentence completely ignited everyone in the Card Society!
"Bakayaro!"
"Kill her!"
"Where did this wild woman come from? Kill her!"
Akuto slowly raised one hand, crooked his finger, and looked at them contemptuously.
"All of you, come at me together."
"You'd better make this fun for me."