I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 31 Miko

"Stop it!"

"We must stop that earthquake catfish!"

In the Metropolitan Police Department's operations room, Chief Inspector Takeya threw himself onto the control panel and roared into the microphone.

Bunkyo District.
This area is home to a large number of top universities, as well as private primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. While not all students there are necessarily from extremely wealthy or privileged backgrounds, they are at least from middle-class or higher families. These families generally have social connections and are not the kind of ordinary people who can be easily dismissed.

If the 'earthquake catfish' is allowed to wreak havoc in Bunkyo Ward, then he, as the Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner, should prepare to bow down and retire!
This was done with the full support of the Prime Minister's official residence.

Otherwise, the previous bombing raids in Arakawa Ward alone would have been enough to force him to step down.

"Can't do it!"

Faced with his orders,

The pilot of the armed helicopter of the 1st Division of the Self-Defense Forces on the front line also responded with angry curses.

"That monster can burrow underground, how can we stop it?!"

"Sir, we need tactical guidance!"

In island nations, the so-called 'tactical instruction' means calling in American troops to the battlefield.

For nearly 250 years since its founding, America has been almost constantly at war: the War of Independence, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
"The lighthouse still shines brightly, the United States' aircraft carriers set sail; the army of freedom marches out to the frontier, and war rages in foreign lands" is not just a joke, but a fact revealed by the piles of corpses.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Takeya."

However, the Lord of the Upper Kingdom was in the conference room, and Brigadier General Thomas shook his head.

"Although the Yokosuka base also had some 'bulldozer bombs,' by the time they were replaced and arrived, they were already gone."

That's too late.

Moreover, Brigadier General Thomas couldn't guarantee whether the bunker buster could kill the supernatural creature known as the 'earthquake catfish'.

These bunker buster bombs are America's weapon of choice for targeting underground facilities in the Middle East. However, the adversaries in Tokyo have not yet been suppressed to the point where they need to hide underground, so they are not equipped with many 'Spearman' hypersonic bunker buster bombs.

"Bastard, bastard!!"

He punched the control panel, startling the staff member next to him.

Ordinary flesh and blood are no match for metal. Blood flowed from the torn and bleeding finger bones, but Director Zhuya seemed oblivious, staring intently at the earthquake catfish that was constantly moving through the earth and heading towards Bunkyo Ward.

Extraordinary, extraordinary.
If he also possessed extraordinary power, why would he be in such a sorry state?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Hey?"

Of the three heading towards the Imperial Sakura School, Tenjou Eiryo turned to look at the street.

One after another, black luxury cars sped past like streaks of black arrows, leaving winding trails on the street.

Speeding, running red lights, honking loudly—these cars seem to be going crazy, announcing to other vehicles and pedestrians: Stay away from me!

What happened?

Class representative Nao was also incredulous.

This is Tokyo, and it's the heart of Bunkyo Ward!
Driving like that will almost certainly result in your driver's license being revoked.

He might face several more years in prison.

beep beep, x2
Just then, Akihi Yu and Amane Ei's cell phones rang.

"Little Leaf. What?"

"Yes, we're not far from the campus. Location? Great, shall we wait here?"

Compared to Tennyo Eiryu, who nodded repeatedly at the hurried words on the other end of the phone, Akihi Yu only had one reply after hearing her sister's words:
"Stay where you are, I'll be there soon."

"Yu-kun, what happened?"

In response to the class monitor Iai Nao's question, Akihi Yu turned his head and raised his chin towards the west.

"Terrorist attacks are spreading this way."

creak-

A few minutes later, a black sedan sped up and came to a sudden stop beside the three of them, leaving several scorch marks on the ground.

"Ying, get in the car!"

The car door opened, and Nagisa Ichiyo, who was usually as aloof as a flower on a high mountain, anxiously grabbed Tennyo Eiryu's wrist and dragged her into the car in a way that was almost like 'pulling and yanking'.

The next second, before the car door was even closed, the car suddenly accelerated and sped away, leaving squad leader Nao stunned.

what is happening?
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Rumble,

The earthquake catfish, in a 'rampage' posture, kept moving through the earth, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right.

Their actions seemed to have absolutely no pattern.

And whenever it emerges from the ground, cars, houses, parks, bridges—no matter what kind of building it is—collapse into ruins in the face of its massive size, resulting in a scene of utter devastation!
"Don't panic, everyone!"

"Don't crowd, don't run around, follow instructions—"

A large number of police officers arrived in Bunkyo Ward and are working to disperse the crowd.

Thanks to the frequent natural disasters in island nations, various emergency evacuation drills have been conducted from kindergarten to high school.

The crowd was relatively orderly, but wherever the earthquake catfish went, chaos ensued.

Rumble~~~
A massive black body 'swimmed' across the earth.
Cars are nothing more than floating duckweed in front of it, and houses are just larger pebbles. Wherever it goes, houses collapse and buildings crumble. Even though the giant black fish doesn't care about those ants, its every move is still a deadly crisis for ordinary people.

"Report! An earthquake catfish is approaching 'Royal Sakura Girls' High School'!"

"what?!"

In the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's operations room,

Director Zhu Ya staggered backward, as if she had been hit on the head with a stick, her head buzzing.

Royal Sakura Girls' High School
It was a typical elite girls' school, with most of the students being daughters of established aristocrats and newly powerful families. Many were only children. Director Zhuya couldn't even imagine what would happen if these daughters of privilege got into trouble; their deranged parents would probably tear her apart!

"Stop them at all costs!"

The director stopped midway through his sentence.

How to stop?
Unlike other self-defense forces in other places, they are just there to collect their wages and get by.

The First Division was already considered the elite of the elite, and their fighting spirit was also quite good.

But how can they stop a supernatural creature that can freely infiltrate the earth?
He jumped off the plane, pulled out his transformation device, and yanked the earthquake catfish out of the ground—

Like Hercules, how to lift your opponent into the sky and strangle them?

Glancing at the footage transmitted from the front lines, the earthquake catfish crashed through a building with a deafening roar, its massive body landing on the street and blocking a group of speeding black cars. Director Zhu Ya closed her eyes in pain.

Finished!

"Young Miss, run!"

A huge black monster crashed through the building and appeared, smashing into the street and blocking the way.

The middle-aged driver in a suit and sunglasses suddenly kicked open the car door, jumped out, and stared at the 'extraordinary creature' in front of him as he opened the back door.

That's right, he knew it was a supernatural being!

As the young lady's driver and bodyguard, the middle-aged man already knew about the appearance of the 'supernatural' from the master, but he didn't expect to face a 'supernatural being' so soon, nor did he expect it to be so terrifying. Boom!
The road was blocked by the collapsed building, and a large number of luxury cars were stopped.

Faced with danger, the young ladies of wealthy families lost all restraint, screaming or fleeing, or being helped away by drivers and bodyguards, or even dragged away.

"This is this"

Nagisa Ichiyo, who got off the train, was also stunned by the scene before her. Fortunately:

"Run, Little Leaf!"

As soon as she got off the train, Tennyo Ei saw the monster in front of her, grabbed Nagisa Ichiyo's hand without hesitation, and turned to run.

"Monster, look here!"

The middle-aged driver pulled out a pistol, released the safety, and aimed it at the giant blackfish.

boom! boom! boom!
Such incidents were not uncommon, and several drivers pulled out their guns and fired.

In an island nation where guns are prohibited, the fact that these 'drivers' can pull out a handgun in the street is enough to demonstrate the immense power and influence of the people behind them.

However, it was of no use.
brush,

With a sweep of his thick, bucket-like beard, the middle-aged driver was sent flying.

He crashed into the glass of a nearby shop, falling into it along with countless shards of glass.

The earthquake catfish continued forward, its massive body crushing the abandoned luxury cars. Amidst the mournful metallic groans, these luxury items worth hundreds of millions were reduced to a pile of scrap. If sent to a junkyard, they wouldn't even need to be compressed; the engine, body, and glass were completely mixed together, crushed into a flat iron disc.

The enormous 'earthquake catfish' seemed to have no concept of 'good and evil' at all, swimming forward and crushing everything in its path, causing the young ladies who were fleeing for their lives to let out the loudest screams of their lives.

almost
Snapped,

For some reason, a bulge suddenly appeared under the feet of Nagisa Ichiyo, who was being pulled by Tennyo Eiryu.

Suddenly losing her balance, the girl fell heavily to the ground.

"Ah~~"

"Little Leaf?"

Tennyo Ei, who was holding the other's wrist tightly, turned around and tried to help Nagisa Ichiyo up, but:
Although she was independent and self-reliant from a young age, she still had to lead a peer on her journey.
"Xiaoying, don't worry about me, let's go!"

Nagisa Ichiyo forcefully shook off the other person's hand and fell heavily to the ground. Her legs felt so weak that they didn't belong to her, but thankfully, she could still speak clearly.

"Let's go,"

"start running!"

"As long as you can survive—"

".No,"

The trembling Tiannv Ying did not turn and run away, but instead:

He stepped forward and stood in front of Nagisa Ichiyo.

"I am the sister!"

"If I run away today, I'll regret it for the rest of my life! That kind of life!"

What's the point?
brush,
He spread his arms to block his sister who had fallen.
The petite girl bit her lower lip so hard that it drew blood.

Grandpa, everyone else has a mom and dad, but where are my mom and dad?

Haha, well~~

The old man in priest's robes scratched his head, trying to continue to laugh it off, but faced with the little girl's repeated questioning:

'Xiao Ying's father is a very important person,'

My mother was a devoted woman, but unfortunately, she married the wrong person.

That's how it is. Don't worry, Xiaoying, Grandpa will always be with you.

However, a few years later, the old man who managed the small shrine passed away.

From then on, the little girl often ran to the vicinity of her 'father's' house and secretly observed the happy family of three.

Envy, jealousy, resentment, and unwillingness to accept defeat.
Until one day:
Want to play together?

Faced with her 'sister's' outstretched hand, the hesitant little girl ultimately chose to hold it.

It's so warm.
"Give me--"

Scenes from the past flashed through her mind, and a mountain-like shadow loomed close before her eyes. Tiannv Ying took a deep breath.

"Stop!!!!!"

Waves of sound spread outwards, resounding throughout the entire block.

? !
The sound wasn't loud, but it resonated in everyone's ears. Whether it was the young lady fleeing for her life, the driver, the bodyguard, the helpless armed helicopter pilot in the sky, or the soldiers and police rushing from afar.

"Stop!"

The most terrifying thing, of course, is the Metropolitan Police Department's operations room, which monitors the battlefield through countless surveillance devices.

Countless loudspeakers of all sizes simultaneously broadcast the same message, the reverberating sound waves causing chaos in the operations room. Everyone was shaken so badly they were almost unconscious.

"This is?!"

Staggering and half-kneeling on the ground, Director Zhu Ya used all her strength to lift her head and stare at the monitor screen.

On the screen, the once invincible 'earthquake catfish' has stopped!
On its opposite side:

brush,

A beam of light descended from the sky and landed on Tiannv Ying.

A white 'Chihaya' floated in and draped over her; a red 'Hihachima' wrapped around her waist and cascaded down like a long skirt;

A golden crown descended upon his head, gleaming brilliantly; on either side of the crown, branches grew out of thin air, adorned with blooming cherry blossoms, swaying gently and exuding a delicate fragrance.

Jingle bell~~
With long ribbons trailing behind it, the 'Kagura Bell', composed of three layers of bells, fell into her hand, causing the bewildered and confused Tennyo Eiryu, who was preparing to await her death, to lower her head.

Does this mean I am already dead?
She was familiar with these outfits because after her grandfather passed away, she became the 'Mikoto' of the shrine.

This is the 'formal attire' she wore during the annual memorial service.

but:

boom,

The mountain-sized monster in front of her started moving again. Without thinking, Tennyo Eir almost reflexively raised the Kagura Bell in her hand.

"Evil - retreat!"

brush----

A vermilion torii gate appeared out of nowhere in the sky.

To everyone's astonishment, the torii gate that had fallen from the sky pierced the back of the giant black fish with a soft thud.

"Woooooo~~~"

As the torii gate fell, the giant black fish's body immediately began to shrink and shrink.

Finally, it transformed into a 'miniature' creature only half the height of a person. No, compared to a normal catfish, it was still a gigantic creature.

The 'miniature' earthquake catfish swam to the feet of the 'dressed' Heavenly Maiden Eiryu and rubbed against her scarlet hakama like a puppy.

"what?"

"Good boy/girl?"

She patted the other person's forehead. Tiannv Ying looked completely bewildered, and three philosophical questions floated into her mind:
who I am? where am I? What am I doing?
(End of this chapter)