Although Natsumi Suga was complaining internally, she still forced herself to continue walking slowly toward the school building with Ye Xing and Soichiro Yagami.
To say she wasn't afraid would be a lie.
After all, these were vicious criminals who dared to openly invade a high school, take over twenty high school students hostage, and were armed with guns.
Based on Natsumi Suga's experience, criminals like this usually have some mental issues and never plan to leave here alive.
Even so, she still followed along.
Ye Xing had helped her so much - how could she refuse when he needed assistance now?
"After we enter the building, just follow the normal interview procedure, understand?"
Hearing Ye Xing's words, Natsumi Suga took a deep breath, trying her best to remain calm.
"Yeah... I understand."
Ye Xing was curious about one thing.
He couldn't sense any evil spirits' presence, which had two possible explanations.
First, a new type of evil spirit had appeared, more advanced than Shuten-dōji, Hannya, and the Sunny Doll Killer, capable of completely concealing its evil spirit power within a human vessel - even he, the strongest exorcist, couldn't detect it.
Second, evil spirits truly weren't involved in this incident.
But if that were the case, it would be strange.
Even mentally unstable madmen shouldn't commit acts like taking guns and openly holding students hostage in a school - it was like seeking death.
Madness doesn't mean being illogical.
Ye Xing wondered what could possibly drive these people to such behaviour.
The three of them entered the school building together. As they climbed the stairs and reached the turning point, they saw two men holding guns and wearing masks staring intently at them.
"Chief Yagami."
One of them raised his handgun, aiming at Soichiro Yagami. His eyes, bloodshot from lack of rest, revealed a wild intensity.
"To walk in like this - you're certainly brave, and very foolish."
Facing the dark gun barrel, Soichiro Yagami merely frowned slightly, showing no trace of fear as he spoke in a deep voice.
"Since I'm already here, before killing me, shouldn't you at least negotiate first and let me see the kidnapped students? If we can't reach an agreement, you can always kill me afterwards. After all, my life is already in your hands."
Hearing these words, the man slowly lifted his index finger from the trigger.
"Hmph, come over here."
Although Soichiro Yagami was rigid in character and sometimes appeared overly reckless, even engaging in gambler-like behaviour, his psychological resilience was truly formidable.
After all, he was Light Yagami's father. While this father-son pair seemed completely different on the surface, they shared remarkable similarities beneath the surface.
Moreover, Soichiro Yagami had already become the Criminal Affairs Director of the Metropolitan Police Department even before receiving Mask's assistance.
Reaching such a position in his early forties marked him as exceptionally promising - how could such achievement be merely nominal?
Led by two men in suits, Natsumi Suga, disguised as a reporter, Soichiro Yagami, and Ye Xing, who was carrying a camera with such convincing acting, utmost professionalism, and continuous adjustment of filming angles that he seemed like an actual professional cameraman completely immersed in his performance, entered a classroom.
The moment they stepped inside, Soichiro's instincts as Criminal Affairs Director immediately began gathering information about the scene.
'The kidnapped students... about twenty of them, they all seem to be here.'
'That golden-haired twin-tailed girl who looks mixed-race must be Eriri Spencer Sawamura.'
'Enemies... seven of them, all holding firearms. Judging by their grip, they're not amateurs but professionally trained.'
'Curtains drawn to prevent sniper fire... very cautious.'
'Their guns already have safety catches off. Ensuring the students' safety comes first - better not provoke them.'
With just a quick scan, Soichiro had reached his conclusions.
He looked at the unidentified individuals wearing wisdom masks before him and spoke in a deep voice.
"With such a large-scale operation, your objectives must extend beyond simply kidnapping a few high school students, I presume?"
Just as one of the men wearing a mask was about to speak, his gaze suddenly fell upon Natsumi Suga standing behind Soichiro, who appeared slightly nervous.
"You... that independent media writer, what's your name... Suga..."
Though quite frightened by the guns these people were holding, Natsumi Suga mustered her courage and replied with forced composure.
"Na... Natsumi Suga."
"Ah, yes, Miss Natsumi Suga."
The man nodded, glanced at the camera on Ye Xing's shoulder, and slowly asked.
"Is this being televised live right now?"
Ye Xing nodded without hesitation.
"Yes, that's right. The ratings are very high - practically the entire Kyoto city is watching."
Lies, nothing but blatant lies.
"The entire Kyoto city... is watching..."
Hearing these words, several men wearing prajna masks - their expressions unreadable - revealed barely containable excitement in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Eriri, who had been curled up in the corner, upon hearing that the camera was connected to a live broadcast, first gritted her teeth lightly, then sat up straight, smoothed her skirt, and even raised a hand to tidy her hair.
She absolutely didn't want the entire audience of Kyoto to see her panicked and trembling in the corner—that would be far too humiliating.
"Please explain the purpose of your actions..."
As a professional journalist, Natsumi Suga often conducted interviews, but this was her first time interviewing vicious criminals face-to-face.
"Our purpose?"
One of the masked men stepped forward slowly, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with fanaticism as he stared directly into the camera lens, his voice trembling with excitement.
"This world needs purification! Not by humans, but by a higher existence!"
"A higher existence?"
Before Natsumi Suga could respond, Ye Xing showed interest.
"Don't tell me you're some kind of cultists or something?"
"Cultists?"
Hearing this term, the man shook his head, his tone filled with madness.
"We are the chosen ones, selected by the gods to purify this world!"
"This world has rotted to its core. Those who share our beliefs... can join us in purifying this world!"
"And this operation is merely..."
Just as the man was about to continue, Ye Xing suddenly interrupted.
"Hold on a moment, let me ask you something. Which specific god are you talking about? Does it have a name?"
This abrupt question left the man momentarily stunned, and he hesitated before replying.
"Which specific god... The gods only deliver revelations; why would they easily reveal their true names?"
"How do these revelations come then?"
"The recent continuous heavy rains, the earthquake in Kyoto City—these are all divine revelations, proving that this world has reached the point of rebirth and reshaping..."
"So you're just deluding yourselves after all this time?"
By this point, Ye Xing had already set the camera down on a nearby table, his face full of boredom and impatience as he waved a hand to cut the man off.
"How utterly dull. I thought you were genuine believers of some deity, but you're just social outcasts committing these insane acts to prove your own existence. So mundane, so tedious - what a waste of my time."
"You... you..."
Upon hearing Ye Xing's words, the several men in masks and armed with firearms all wore furious expressions. The one who had been giving the interview earlier directly raised his gun barrel, pressing it against Ye Xing's forehead while letting out a mad, sinister laugh.
"Since you're questioning our deity, we'll make you the first sacrifice before all the citizens of Kyoto!"
"Heh."
Feeling the cold metal against his forehead, Ye Xing merely chuckled softly.
"Idiots, the camera isn't even connected to any signal."
Thud.
With a dull impact, everyone present could only see an afterimage flying backwards.
The several armed thugs turned to see their companion slammed against the hard wall, his entire body gone limp and deformed. Beneath the ferocious prajna mask, a trickle of blood seeped out - clearly his bones were broken and internal organs damaged, leaving him without breath.
"Really now..."
Ye Xing shook his head, wearing an expression of deep disappointment as he murmured to himself.
"I was hoping you'd give me something big, but after all this fuss, you just delivered a pile of crap. So disappointing."
The feeling in Ye Xing's heart at this moment could only be described with one word.
Disappointment.
He had originally thought this kidnapping case targeting Toyogasaki High School must be hiding some earth-shattering conspiracy behind it - perhaps some highly intelligent evil spirits disguising themselves as so-called deities, using humans as tools to launch terrorist attacks.
Or maybe, it could be some new variety of prey that could completely conceal its evil spirit aura, superior to even the likes of Shuten-douji and Hannya.
But in the end, it was just an ordinary kidnapping case?
Boring. So utterly boring.
"You bastard..."
Seeing their companion die before their eyes, the men wearing masks retreated several steps, fear showing in their eyes as they instinctively raised their firearms and pulled the triggers aimed at Ye Xing.
Bang, bang, bang!
The continuous gunfire made Eriri, crouching in the corner, feel like her ears were about to be deafened.
She instinctively closed her eyes, not wanting to see the bloody scene of that handsome boy her age being turned into Swiss cheese.
But after a few seconds, what reached Eriri's ears were the thugs' voices filled with disbelief.
"This... this can't be... you..."
Eriri opened her eyes to see Ye Xing still standing there perfectly fine, with only some scattered bullet casings littering the area around him.
"You bastard..."
The several armed thugs were completely stunned by this sight.
"You... you're not human at all..."
"Heh."
Ye Xing single-handedly lifted the heavy camera nearby and chuckled lightly.
"Merely bullets - how could they compare to a body tempered through countless trials?"
"Chief Yagami, please take Miss Natsumi Suga and the hostages out first."
Ye Xing walked slowly towards the several cultists standing there, carrying a heavy camera in one hand, and spoke softly.
"Since I've come all this way, I should at least have something to eat."
"Alright... I understand."
Soichiro Yagami could probably guess that Ye Xing intended to do something.
However, compared to stopping the other party from taking the law into their own hands, prioritising the safety of the hostages was clearly more important.
"Quickly, everyone, follow me!"
Under the leadership of Soichiro Yagami and Natsumi Suga, the more than twenty Toyogasaki High School students immediately stood up and began evacuating from the classroom.
"Don't run!"
One of the cultists, seeing the hostages they had worked so hard to capture now escaping, revealed a fierce glare in his eyes. He immediately raised his firearm, aiming at the golden-haired twin-tailed girl who had her back turned to him. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he felt a gentle breeze beside him.
Bang!
Hearing the loud noise from behind, Eriri couldn't help but glance back.
And what appeared before her eyes...
Was the gruesome scene of the cultist's prajna mask-clad head being deformed by the heavy camera, and Ye Xing, stained with blood yet still wearing a smile on his face.
At this moment, Eriri had a feeling.
Perhaps compared to those armed thugs, this boy, her own age, was the truly dangerous one?
With her last glance before running out of the classroom, what Eriri saw was Ye Xing's blood-stained...
Sobu High School uniform.
"He... is a student from Sobu High?"
...
Meanwhile, standing at the school gate like a stone statue, Shizuka Hiratsuka watched Soichiro Yagami and Natsumi Suga lead more than twenty students running out of the teaching building. She first breathed a sigh of relief, but after looking carefully and realising Ye Xing wasn't among them, her heart tightened with anxiety again.
"Chief Yagami!"
Ignoring the police officers around her, Shizuka Hiratsuka forcibly broke through the security line and ran up to Soichiro Yagami, asking anxiously.
"Where's Ye Xing? Where is he? He couldn't have gotten into trouble, could he? Say something!"
Soichiro Yagami sighed, his expression full of helplessness.
"Young lady, you haven't given me a chance to speak, how can I answer?"
Then, looking at Shizuka Hiratsuka, whose eyes were filled with anxiety, as if she wanted to rush into the scene immediately, Soichiro Yagami comforted her.
"Don't worry, he's fine... Right now..."
Soichiro Yagami's expression turned somewhat complicated.
"Not only is he fine, but he's also probably quite happy right now."
At that moment, a police officer ran up to Soichiro Yagami and asked.
"Chief Yagami, should we send people in?"
"No, not yet."
Soichiro Yagami waved his hand and spoke in a deep voice.
"Wait for my command before taking action."
"Understood."
After saying this, Soichiro Yagami dispatched several police officers to speak with the rescued students and their parents.
They were to say that the case was still under investigation and that relevant information absolutely must not be disclosed.
In other words, a gag order.
Other matters weren't important - as long as the students were safely rescued, the outcome was good enough.
The key point was... this time, Ye Xing wasn't appearing as Mask, but was personally involved in this incident.
After arranging everything, Soichiro Yagami sighed helplessly, thinking to himself that as both the chief of criminal investigations and head of the Special Operations Group, it sounded quite impressive, but why did he feel like in almost every case, he ended up playing the role of covering up that kid's tracks? In the end, without doing anything, he'd inexplicably gain another merit?
It was good and all, but it lacked that thrilling excitement - he felt like he was just coasting along.
Soichiro Yagami shook his head, dismissing the thoughts from his mind, and entered the school building alone once more.
As soon as he reached the third floor where that classroom was located, he immediately smelled the thick, metallic scent of blood hanging in the air.
Soichiro Yagami frowned slightly and walked slowly to the classroom doorway. The scene that met his eyes shocked even this veteran detective.
The once-clean, tidy classroom floor was now splattered with sticky blood.
The opaque curtains covering the windows were stained with unidentifiable chunks of flesh.
Lying in the pools of blood were the twisted, deformed corpses of those thugs - bodies with multiple indentations, some with flesh torn open to reveal stark white bones, all bearing tragic deaths.
And in the middle of this hellish scene stood Ye Xing, casually holding a camera with one hand, even humming a tune cheerfully, his face showing pure pleasure after having vented his emotions.
"You... went a bit too far, didn't you..."
Hearing Soichiro Yagami's words, Ye Xing responded indifferently.
"I've never shown mercy towards non-human evil beings. In your eyes, Chief Yagami, they might appear human, but in my view, they're just disgusting, twisted creatures."
Soichiro Yagami's expression was complicated. He didn't know how to evaluate this, nor did he want to. After a long silence, he finally just sighed and said.
"Thank you. I'll handle the traces at the scene, and I won't record your involvement in this incident."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Chief Yagami."
Ye Xing smiled and patted Soichiro Yagami's shoulder, wiping the blood from his hand on the other man's white shirt in the process.
"That kid..."
Watching Ye Xing's retreating back, Soichiro Yagami suddenly noticed something.
Why did you take the murder weapon with you?
...
Meanwhile, before Ye Xing could even reach the staircase, Onimaru Kunitsuna - dressed in black mourning clothes like a widow - suddenly appeared before him.
Without even waiting for Onimaru Kunitsuna to speak, Ye Xing smiled and handed over the camera.
"I know what you want, take it."
"Thank you, master."
Onimaru Kunitsuna took the heavy, shoulder-mounted camera, narrowed her eyes, her gaze revealing unconcealed killing intent as spiritual power erupted around her, shattering the camera into fragments like wood chips.
"Only I can be Master's regular weapon. You outsiders are all just disposable tools."