[Third Person POV]
"What about the yokai?" Monet asked. "Isn't it still a danger to everyone? What if it escapes?"
"Well, even if it did, it would be weakened, but our clan's elders have been working on a ritual to strengthen the seal. It's close to finished, but unfortunately, the key parts are incomplete," Yutaka explained. "Worse, the elders who were working on it put it on pause when the disappearances started. Now that they're gone, it probably won't be finished."
"Things will be fine," Hanako assured. "The gashadokuro's seal is still as strong as ever. The new seal was merely a precaution due to the clan's situation. The elders wanted something to ensure that the seal would survive even if the clan didn't."
Hajime nodded in understanding. Most people would try to make backup plans to avoid complete annihilation if they could.
At the very least, they would try mutually assured destruction for their attackers.
Bidding farewell to the two, Hajime and Monet headed back to town, walking so they could talk on the way back.
After ten minutes of walking, they finally reached town.
The two did a bit of shopping, buying some of the local goods.
Stopping at a food stall, the two ordered some yakitori before continuing to walk around town, taking in the sights of a place that felt trapped in feudal Japan.
Even though things like street lamps, which were more modern, lined the streets, the rest of the city felt like an old picture.
As the city was entirely dedicated to magic, technology was less needed in day-to-day life.
While Hajime saw phones and scooters, cars were nonexistent, letting people walk the streets as they would have a century ago. Itose was generally closed off from the rest of the country, so transportation was rarely needed.
There was a minor cab service run by the town for those who wished to go out, but it was currently closed. The guards were on high alert after Yutaka's kidnapping, which meant that the only way to enter and leave the town was on foot.
Heading to an inn and renting two rooms for the night, Hajime bid Monet good night before turning in early.
Upon entering her room, Monet took out some of the books she bought, got into bed, and began reading.
-----
Meanwhile, outside Itose, dozens of figures had gathered.
"Jiro, how many people are still out?"
"Um... about 30 or so, Hisao. I've received word they've had a slight delay, but will be here soon."
"And the prisoners?"
"Sedated and bound."
"Good. Though they won't get full pay for this."
"Yes, sir."
"Now," Hisao said, his deep, booming voice grabbing the attention of everyone. "I've brought you all here to distract the town from my plans. All you need to do is deal with the guards and townspeople. Do whatever you want. Just keep everyone away from the shrine."
The assorted mercenaries cheered, while Hisao's workers were much more serious, knowing what their boss had planned.
He hadn't told anyone apart from them what the true goal was. The fewer people who know the plan, the less likely it is to spread, after all.
If the thugs they hired knew the target was an ultimate class yokai, most of them probably would've stayed behind.
"Alright, all of you start going towards town. I want the entire place to be in chaos!"
The excited men charged at Itose, running as fast as they could. Each one had been told they could go wild once inside, so almost no one wanted to be stuck dealing with the guards.
As they reached the gate, several of them used spells, which smashed it open.
The noise alerted the guards, drawing the few who were there into combat with whoever was nearby. Unfortunately, the numbers weren't in their favor.
While some of the guards were distracted by their fights, someone else came up behind them and killed them.
The other guards were busy patrolling the streets, allowing the men to surge into the town.
The commotion they made was fast and loud. When they blew open the gate, it had already alerted dozens of people, waking up several who were asleep. A few guards who were patrolling nearby rushed over, but seeing how many people were attacking, they carefully stayed back, waiting to strike while any of them were distracted.
The guards were between low and mid class, outmatching most of the intruders, but with so many running around, even they would struggle to deal with them all.
In the meantime, Itose had already erupted in chaos.
Buildings were set on fire, bodies were dropped into pools of blood, and fighting was occurring nearly everywhere.
Some civilians had joined the fighting, using whatever magic they knew; compared to those thugs with actual combat experience, it didn't help much, but it slowed many of them down.
As Itose exploded in conflict, the noise eventually woke Hajime and reached Monet.
Hopping out of bed, the two exited their rooms, looking at each other before heading downstairs and outside.
As they stepped out of the inn, they saw pure mayhem.
"Monet, I know you're weak to fire, so I want you to fly over the town and provide support. Attack anyone suspicious, and if possible, try putting out the fires by melting your snow."
"Yes, Hajime-sama."
Taking off to the skies, Monet did as he commanded.
Whenever she saw someone in a cloak attacking, she would create a giant snowball and throw it at them.
Disoriented by the weight, cold, and sudden attack, it allowed the townspeople and guards to deal with the attackers.
Thanks to Monet's interference, the guards regained the momentum and attacked the intruders directly. As Monet saw the guards' morale rise, she turned her focus to the larger issue: the fires.
Though only a few scattered buildings were burning, most of the city was built using wood. If the fires raged on for too long, they would eventually spread until they covered the whole town.
Since eating the snow fruit, Monet hadn't been one to like the heat. Sure, she wouldn't mind hot food or lying out in the sun, but compared to before, it just felt different.
Where before she would've enjoyed it, now it was a slightly unpleasant activity. Her sense of temperature had been flipped. It was why she could enjoy going out in so few clothes in the middle of a blizzard, because she was now part of it.
She especially tried to avoid fire whenever she could. It was why she left those four Straw Hats to Brownbeard's crew when she saw them on the burning side of Punk Hazard. It was unbearable to stay there.
Now hovering over one of the fires, Monet resolved herself to deal with it. She couldn't avoid fire forever. From what she'd learned of this new world, fire was one of the most common magics available, and even most weapons relied on it to work in some way.
Even if the weakness was innate to snow, she could at least find a way to deal with it.
Hajime had already told her a few ways she could use it to combat heat.
One idea was to cover her target with snow, using a constant stream of cold to lower the temperature, and even try freezing the melted snow. If she focused on that, she might be able to manipulate ice like Aokiji.
For this, though, she would use a better idea: suffocation. If the fire were constantly covered in snow and water, unable to receive oxygen, it would eventually go out on its own.
Immediately, a small blizzard formed, quickly dropping the temperature around the fire, followed by a barrage of snowballs.
The constant onslaught slowly shrank the fire, bit by bit, until it was finally put out.
Monet was sweating from the difficulty of the task, but smiling at having found a way to deal with fire.
Though Hajime had told her he would help her deal with that weakness, she knew it would take time. Hajime had already said to her that his power was random, and even if he were lucky enough to get something that removed weaknesses, she would insist he use it on himself first.
After she finished with the first fire, she flew over to the next one, ready to put it out as well.
-----
After separating from Monet, Hajime was very busy.
For now, he was still restricting himself to fighting like Doflamingo, but he did allow himself to use waterbending and iryojutsu to heal the wounded.
Hajime sent a string clone ahead of him to fight intruders or rescue others, while his main body stayed back to heal everyone.
His string clone wasn't able to use those abilities since it was just a pile of string, so Hajime could only use it for this.
The string clone encountered a few rogue magicians, dispatching them with a few string slashes. The clone was far weaker than the original body, but because it could use the string in its body as a weapon, its strength was far above that of any intruder it came across.
String attacks were practically invisible, and even those who could see them couldn't react fast enough.
While all the chaos was going on, Hisao took his subordinates with him toward the Masshirona shrine, slipping past everything unnoticed.
As they arrived, they felt the two presences inside.
"Hehehehe," Hisao chuckled. "Those fools have no idea how doomed they are. They've sat on such a valuable prize for centuries and never once tried using it.
Jiro, set up the ritual. I can't afford to have it messed up in any way.
Dai, keep Jiro safe and don't let anyone near the circle. If it activates preemptively, we'll have done all this for nothing.
Midori, you grab those two fools, bring them back here, and prepare to free that yokai."
"""Yes, Boss!"""
The three immediately got to work.
Dai's job was both the easiest and hardest. Keeping out any humans and animals was extremely easy; no humans were nearby except for those from the Masshirona clan and them. For animals, all it took was a strike from his kanabo to remove them, and that was only for those dumb or curious enough to come near.
The hard part was the bugs.
Over the hundreds of years they've lived here, the bugs have had countless generations, each of which eventually evolved some magical ability, no matter how minor. That created an issue, since their magic enabled them to trigger the ritual, even if unintentionally.
Dai's senses were so strong that each time a fly or ant got anywhere near the ritual circle, he obliterated them before they realized it.
Though Dai's behavior was distracting for Jiro, he had no issues setting up the ritual. Their boss had been preparing for this for years, so he had long since memorized the spell by heart. Beside him was the catalyst for the ritual, a bracelet emitting a strange aura.
Midori entered the building and found two people lying in their beds. Taking out a small vial, he opened it and stuck it right under each of their noses. The chemicals inside would ensure neither would wake up for a few hours, giving them plenty of time.
Hisao, meanwhile, was standing on top of the shrine gate, watching the town burn in the distance while his subordinates finished their tasks.
"Soon," he muttered. "I will finish you."
__________
Author's Note:
Hazbin Hotel season 2 was insane. It's already got me excited for season 3.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you all next time!