Chapter 55: The Style Seems a Little Off

“Amazing!” Qiao Qiao whispered in awe as he watched the dazzling lights and thunderous flashes in the neighborhood through his binoculars.

After firing a flash shock grenade, he reloaded another fragmentation shell—just in case. Although the upcoming battlefield for the priests would likely leave little room for him to act, since firearms could easily harm allies, Qiao Qiao decided to stay close to the sniper cannon for safety.

This was his first time witnessing spirit exorcists work in organized formations at such close range. If Onmyoji relied on individual strength and a host of shikigami to subdue enemies, then Shinto clearly emphasized the advantage of numbers.

Through spiritual sight, he could see that the entire neighborhood was enveloped by a massive magic array. Within this array, the flow of spiritual energy was controlled, preventing the monsters from drawing power from the earth’s veins or the ambient air to strengthen themselves.

Additionally, on the ground nearby, the priests formed groups of seven, their positions creating a formation Qiao Qiao couldn’t decipher, further influencing the flow of spiritual energy. Every so often, pure purifying power would burst from the array and shoot into the residential buildings.

The purification efforts of these groups filled in the gaps left by others, achieving an almost seamless coverage.

The residents had already been evacuated. Fire trucks and police cars surrounded the area, sealing it off and preventing ordinary people from entering—a standard procedure for official exorcism operations.

To the strange entities, police officers, firefighters, and even the Self-Defense Force were mere mortals, unable to assist in exorcisms and potentially susceptible to manipulation. In common understanding, bullets couldn’t exorcise spirits, but they could kill exorcists. There had been cases where policemen, influenced by vengeful spirits, fired recklessly and injured exorcists. Since then, protocols for dealing with supernatural disasters had evolved.

At this moment, the neighborhood was the spirit exorcists’ battlefield. Inside the residential buildings, a loud explosion heralded the appearance of a gigantic figure emerging from the smoke.

Qiao Qiao looked carefully: it was a tiger. Its body was not covered in lustrous fur but was riddled with sores, grotesquely decayed, with tentacles occasionally protruding from gaps in its muscles. The tiger was nearly the size of an entire floor, massive and imposing. Its eyes glowed red, seemingly bereft of reason.

“…Such dense demonic aura,” Qiao Qiao muttered, gazing at the creature. Must monsters always revert to such forms when returning to their original state? Was this truly a monster, or some descendant of an evil god?

He pondered. When at school, the Kamaitachi had also revealed its true form. Compared to this tiger, at least it appeared somewhat normal. Was there a difference here? Perhaps animal-shaped monsters and legendary anomalous monsters were not quite the same?

His thoughts wandered. If Suzuka returned to her original form, would she also appear like this?

While he was perplexed, two more figures appeared. One had three tails, most of its fur had fallen off, and countless eyeballs grew from its exposed skin, peering around. Its fox-like face bore six eyes, each shining with red light, making one feel as if they were falling into an abyss at a glance.

The other was covered entirely in dull scales, resembling a lizard wrapped in mucus—slippery, cold, and shadowy. Its unpleasant aura was amplified as it flicked its tongue.

“?” Were all monsters like this? Qiao Qiao recalled the materials he’d read before; whether texts or images, monsters returning to their original forms were simply larger animals, like Kumakichi and others. But these three before him—he wondered if they had crossed over from some world ravaged by evil gods. Their appearance was disturbingly Lovecraftian.

“President Ii, these monsters look rather odd, don’t they?” Qiao Qiao turned to Ii Masaharu beside him.

“Yes, indeed. The demonic energy emanating from them is quite unusual,” Ii Masaharu replied, gently waving his folding fan, calm amidst the crisis. However, many of the priests behind him looked unsettled, as if their sanity was being affected.

“Don’t worry. We’re professional exorcists; we can handle this,” Ii Masaharu assured them. Soon, the priests and shrine maidens launched their attack on the three monsters. No matter their appearance, monsters were still monsters—anomalies that could be eradicated by the proper methods.

The war between humans and monsters stretched back thousands of years. Over that long history, humanity had devised countless ways to fight. Even if these monsters were somewhat peculiar, they remained monsters.

Qiao Qiao watched as the hundred-strong force of priests and shrine maidens coordinated with the grand array to suppress the creatures. He was deeply moved. If he hadn’t sought help from President Ii and had tried to face the Kamaitachi alone, perhaps he might have succeeded by luck. But coming here afterward and encountering these three monsters—he might not have survived.

No matter the circumstance, one must never let their guard down. Sometimes, danger lurks in the most trivial matters. As an old saying goes, an ant’s nest can collapse a thousand-mile levee. Qiao Qiao reflected silently.

About half an hour later, the three monsters gradually shrank in size. At this moment, Tokyo’s night was deep. Just as the tiger and fox had diminished to nearly human size, they suddenly let out a roar.

Then, flames ignited across their bodies. Their spiritual energy was burning wildly. At the same time, the thick, filthy demonic aura produced by the burning energy poured into the lizard’s body. Sensing its companions’ final will, the lizard opened its mouth.

With a vile spurt, it expelled a mass wrapped in mucus and tentacles, shooting it skyward.

Simultaneously, the lizard’s body rapidly turned gray and pale, as if shedding its skin.

“Trying to escape?” Ii Masaharu prepared to act, but Qiao Qiao was faster. Almost instinctively, he raised his gun. The electronic scope quickly calculated the trajectory. The chamber was loaded with a fragmentation shell. Since the target was airborne, Qiao Qiao had no qualms—he pulled the trigger.

Boom—

The gun recoiled slightly, but the scope, mounted on a mobile rail, remained steady. Through the scope, Qiao Qiao watched as the shell traced a beautiful arc in the air. As it approached the indescribable mass, it exploded suddenly.

Countless steel balls and fragments blossomed like fireworks in the sky. At the center of the explosion, the mass took a direct hit. The spirit-infused steel balls triggered white smoke as soon as they touched it.

It melted like butter touched by a hot iron ball, disintegrating and collapsing in mid-flight. Losing its momentum, it fell.

Thud.

The mass hit the ground, no longer retaining its original form—just foul-smelling black sludge, sticky and wet.

Without giving it a moment’s respite, the priests and shrine maidens quickly contained it.

From afar, atop a tall building, Qiao Qiao witnessed this and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, nothing went wrong, or the civilians might have been harmed. He realized he was still immature, unable to handle things perfectly.

With that thought, Qiao Qiao lifted his head from the scope and looked at Ii Masaharu and the others.

“President Ii, should we now… hmm?”

At that moment, Qiao Qiao noticed that the priests who had been beside him were now standing several meters away, staring at him.

This guy is dangerous!