Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

We must change our approach.

Yuri saw the light switches on the wall, and with his will, he turned them on, turning off all the lights.

Several hours have passed, and it is now evening. The room is dark after the lights are turned off, and the guests unconsciously quicken their pace.

Although Yuka Yamanaka suddenly turned her attention to the switch with a start, thinking it might be the work of the monster above... at least it seemed that all the guests could be evacuated before the strange aggregate above appeared.

139 Ghost Aggregate

After seeing the guests off, Minagawa and Hirosaki closed the door. Before closing it, Minagawa hurriedly made a few gestures towards the inside of the house. Yuri couldn't understand what he meant, but Yamanaka Yuka nodded vigorously.

The direction of the yin wind has become completely chaotic, turning into multiple cyclones—the spirit field has been thoroughly disordered and can no longer provide the effect of restricting the activities of ghosts.

Initially, the spirit field's erroneous reaction may have caused the ghosts to gather and transform into this thing, becoming the source of the threat—but it also restricted the thing's movement. Now that the spirit field is in disarray, the spirit field that prevented it from moving around is gone, but it has not spontaneously collapsed as a result.

Perhaps due to the repeated provocations, his hatred was quite high. Once he was freed, the aggregate lunged at Yuri. Fortunately, a shield blocked him in time, preventing him from being caught off guard and directly hit.

Yuri had to stop using his magical vision, which he had reactivated in his last moments, and instead focus on dodging. He had hoped to use this opportunity to find the opponent's weakness—judging from the structure, the opponent's connectivity shouldn't be as high as the hybrid spirit he had encountered before. If he could find the key point and strike hard, he might be able to break it apart.

However, there isn't enough time, especially when the other party has no intention of cooperating.

The spirit-binding "strategist" who had nearly killed Yuri with a few blows had already entered the battle and was holding his own. However, his attacks were hesitant, prioritizing self-defense over inflicting damage on his opponent, causing him to miss several opportunities.

To put it bluntly, there were several opportunities for him to make a big, sweeping cut, but he always stopped halfway and switched to a weaker motion—it felt like he was peeling a walnut with a fruit knife.

"Go all out!" a voice inside Yuri screamed angrily.

Of course, he could completely understand why they didn't go all out—clearly, this spirit-binding—or rather, the one who orchestrated it, Ms. Yamanaka Yuka, was still thinking about saving these ghosts.

Yuri dodged the impact of the aggregate, watching it crash into the wall and bounce in another direction.

If the only cost is hiding for a while to complete the rescue, Yuri isn't unwilling to cooperate. However, does she really know how to rescue a ghost in this state? It doesn't seem likely.

The ghostly aggregate abandoned its pursuit of Yuri and instead headed towards Yuka Yamanaka. Yuri did not follow, but remained where she was, waiting to see how she would react.

The Bound Spirit swiftly positioned itself between the Sin Eater girl and the ghost aggregator, increasing its attack frequency to force it back. However, after circling in the air, it pounced again.

Since nothing seemed amiss, why bother charging ahead and scouting ahead? Yuri even took the time to turn the lights back on so he could better observe the battle.

This ghostly, spherical aggregate could fly freely indoors, but the room was only about five meters high, while the spherical aggregate itself was nearly two meters in diameter—so it was likely just normal hovering for it.

Although none of the faces that were shown were simply howling and didn't seem to be acting rationally, they should have a relatively clear collective judgment.

As evidence, during yet another attack by the aggregate against the spirit binder that was repelled, Yuri risked approaching the aggregate's back (if the sphere had a back), and the aggregate immediately turned to pounce on him without hesitation. After he took a few steps back, the spirit binder rushed over quickly, feigning a fierce attack, which again drew the aggregate's attention back—again without hesitation.

If this aggregate did not have a unified consciousness to guide its actions, it should have become chaotic due to its inability to decide which enemy to attack first, or at least experienced significant stagnation. However, this did not happen, indicating that their degree of integration is quite high.

Furthermore, they do not have the concept of "behind" or "front"—they can react to anyone who approaches from any angle, and the angle from which they rush toward Yuri or the spirit binder is different each time.

Of course, a relatively clear judgment is not necessarily correct. According to Yuri's observation, this aggregate was no match for the Bound Spirit, so turning directly into the Wind would greatly increase his chances of survival (although Yuri, who was closer to the gate, would not allow this to happen). But it completely disregarded this possibility and continued to relentlessly attack everything else that approached it, such as the Bound Spirit and Yuri.

It doesn't want to escape; it only wants to cause harm.

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.

The war of attrition lasted for a minute. The material (and energy) consumption was close to zero, but the mental consumption was very significant.

This monstrous amalgamation of ghosts, which might seem commonplace in horror movies, possesses greater raw strength than Yuri, but its technique and intelligence in utilizing that strength are practically nonexistent; it only knows how to pounce and tear things apart with its bare hands and teeth. Unless caught off guard or suddenly unleashing some new ability, either Yuri or Yuka's spirit-binding technique could defeat it; victory is only a matter of time.

It's somewhat like the hunter who was already significantly weakened back then has been made even more stupid, but Yuri is no longer the Yuri of the past.

It wasn't entirely without its advantages over the hunter—Yuri had seen it tear apart a wreath it had brushed against during a dive—and it could materialize, at least here. Fortunately, this didn't significantly impact the battle; Yuri was no longer easily forced to flee.

However, saving these ghosts would be much more difficult. The patients refused to stop for observation and would even launch fierce attacks on the doctors. In such a situation, any attempt to rescue them would require overwhelming power.

Perhaps complete synchronization with the bound spirit would suffice? Yuri dismissed the thought. Leaving aside the issue of strength, could he and this bound spirit achieve perfect synchronization on their very first battle together? Impossible. When he and Akemi fought side-by-side for the first time, he still took several punches from Akemi; wouldn't this spirit take several cuts instead?

Taking advantage of a sudden attack by the ghostly aggregate, Yuri dodged and arrived on the same side as the bound spirit. Without attempting to return to his original position, Yuri bypassed the bound spirit (without being obstructed) and approached Yuka Yamanaka.

Meanwhile, the sin-eater girl, who has been silent until now, is drawing circles and casting spells on the ground.

If Yuri hadn't seen the magic circle drawn by Mingmei, he would have been truly intimidated, but now, looking at this circle, he felt... "Are you sure this thing works?"

It was clear that the magic array was not working properly, and some parts were not done correctly. It looked more like a barely usable setup.

“It’s useless before the talisman is placed, Yuri—is it still getting stronger?” Yamanaka Yuka didn’t even turn her head.

Yuri answered without turning his head, "No, it's actually no match for your spirit binder—you haven't let the spirit binder cut it down yet, are you trying to save them?"

“Yes, my spirit doesn’t support my opinion. He believes we should eliminate them without hesitation… But I asked him not to rush into killing while maintaining the upper hand.” Yamanaka Yuka sighed and turned her head. “Your expression… does it mean you disagree?”

I certainly didn't agree with it much.

"Tell me how you plan to save them. Just say it directly. Given the intelligence this aggregate has shown, I don't think it can understand what you're saying at all."

“Of course, it’s a restoration ritual. As long as I set this up in each of the four corners of the room and activate them together, the spirit field can be brought back to normal… at least that’s how it’s designed—a normal spirit field suppresses the rampage of ghosts.” Yamanaka Yuka paused for a moment. “It may not work for this, but we have to try.”

"What if the pile of stuff you put in before you even start it gets smashed?"

The magic circle drawn on the ground is not so easy to completely erase, but the talisman floating on the surface looks like it can be easily swept aside.

“Then it’s over. The only option is to reconstruct. The talismans on my body aren’t unlimited. I’ll run out of resources after reconstructing twice… Now, make way, I need to go to the next spot…” Yamanaka Yuka crouched down and moved along the wall. “But you still don’t need to interfere. Our society is already in a very bad state. Now you just watch how we fix it.”

She said "we"? It seems the other two aren't necessarily going to stay forever.

Yuri simply followed behind her, watching the battle between the spirit-binding entity and the ghost aggregate.

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.

In the few minutes of fighting, the aggregate's offensive became increasingly reckless, while the bound spirit's restrained fighting style became increasingly disadvantageous. After all, the aggregate could attack without restraint, while the bound spirit not only could not inflict much damage on the opponent, but also had to hold the opponent's aggro and prevent the opponent from interfering with the bound spirit's process of moving and setting up the formation in the four corners of the house.

However, the spirit-binding creature did indeed complete the task very well, and according to Yuri's observation, although the opponent's attacks became increasingly fierce after being given leniency, it still did not inflict any effective damage on the spirit-binding creature.

The aggregate launched an attack, but was forcefully pushed away by the spirit. The aggregate then turned around, and the spirit dodged and deviated from its charging route, launching an attack from the side to disrupt its pace. When the aggregate tried to bypass the spirit and rush towards the direction where Yuri was watching (where Yamanaka Yuka was also setting up a magic array), the spirit would take a few more steps closer to draw its attention back.

Yuri didn't offer any direct help, but his standing with Yamanaka Yuka should have been somewhat beneficial, avoiding the problem of the spirits protecting multiple directions simultaneously.

In short, if this approach fails, it's a flawed tactic; if it succeeds, it's a brilliant decision. And right now, the situation is developing in the direction of a brilliant decision.

It's unclear whether the spirit binder agrees or not. Yuri hasn't heard his voice yet, and just like when they fought, he remained almost completely silent.

Yuka Yamanaka had reached the second corner of the ceremony setup—opposite to the initial position on the vertical axis, still far from the main entrance. Her ceremony seemed to be nearing completion; the setup was progressing faster, yet the number of mistakes hadn't increased—perhaps she was getting more skilled.

Yuri's careful observation of the ghost yielded new insights—although his plan to find the ghost's structure failed, as the aggregate's structure was too complex and the other party showed no willingness to cooperate with his examination, making it impossible for him to find a core point—he did find a characteristic by clumsy means, the meaning of which he did not know.

He compared each ghost in his mind with the aggregate before him, and found that two ghosts were missing. Not only were their heads not visible, but no part of their bodies was exposed.

The cult leader... and one of the first two intelligent ghosts.

Thinking back more carefully, at the very beginning, when it was spinning in the eerie wind, an intelligent ghost was calling out... but Yuri doesn't remember what the other ghost was doing.

And the ghost that was doing something unknown was the one that hadn't shown itself outside at that moment.

His suspicion level is off the charts, but unfortunately, it's unlikely that we can find him out and ask him what really happened before we bring the aggregate under control.

The second small ceremony area was set up and checked one last time. Yuka Yamanaka then prepared to move to the third ceremony area.

Everything is moving in a positive direction.

As long as there are no other problems, then...

—The door was opened.

Oh no, not at a time like this.

Yuri's first thought was that things were going to get bad, and he instinctively wanted to get closer to the gate to stop the possible escape of the aggregates, but he quickly realized that he didn't have to do that.

If he were to do that, he would be much farther from the gate than that aggregate.

The spiritual energy covering Minagawa-dojin was like a materialized armor. The moment Hirozaki opened the door, he seized the opportunity and rushed in, leaping up and slamming his hands together at the aggregate... along with the gauntlet-like spiritual energy that formed on his hands.

The ghostly aggregate, caught off guard, took the full force of the attack and suffered some damage... but it didn't seem particularly serious.

Minagawa landed on the ground and quickly took a few steps back. "Katsuya, close the door quickly! It's more durable than I thought!"

Rather than tough, it was more flexible. Yuri could clearly see the aggregate deform when hit, showing amazing elasticity and absorbing part of the impact with its size.

In plain terms, this attack didn't hit its mark.

Besides, there was really no need to close the door; they never intended to escape... Yuri swallowed his criticism. A spirit binder could solve the problem, and adding a sin-eater would solve it even better. Hirosaki Katsuya, an ordinary person, might be a little less capable, but since he dared to get involved, he must have a way to protect himself...

He must have had a way to protect himself, right? After closing the door, he locked himself inside as well. As someone who frequently deals with ghosts, would he do that if he didn't have a way to protect himself?

Yuri decided to continue observing, as now was the best time to deepen his understanding of the sin-eaters.

140 Difficult to hold back

The battle situation was not entirely unexpected by Yuri. Indeed, after the new forces joined the battle, the losses suffered by the aggregates increased sharply. However, due to the need to hold back, the battle did not become any more exciting.

It was still a situation where two people were fighting a composite entity with hesitant hands. If only the number of hits was counted, the Sin Eaters were far ahead, but in terms of momentum, it seemed as if the composite entity was suppressing them.

Minagawa's basic qualities—that is, disregarding skill—are no less than Yuka's spirit binder, but his skill level is far inferior. While this could be explained by different fighting styles, he has already suffered multiple injuries, and the spiritual armor covering his body has developed cracks. If you only look at him, it's not a big deal, but compared to another spirit binder who is equally frustrated yet at ease, he is significantly inferior.

Upon closer reflection, this might not be entirely fair, since the spirit binding had been going on for quite some time, while Minagawa hadn't had time to adapt to the opponent's tactics... but the gap definitely exists.

It's worth noting that, according to Yuri's observation, this spiritual shell wasn't entirely composed of Minagawado's own power; another spiritual energy connected to him could be clearly sensed on it. In the magical vision, he was overlapping with another sturdy figure, both moving in the same manner—though, in reality, only Minagawado's own footsteps were actually in effect.

That must be his bound spirit, and this is a kind of fusion.

Although the specific process is still unclear, it seems that Minagawa chose to control the power of the bound spirits himself, rather than letting them fight freely. Compared to Yuka Yamanaka's fighting style, he has one less weakness in the physical body, but his own skills are somewhat hindering the bound spirits.

Objectively speaking, his fighting skills didn't seem entirely haphazard; he probably had some training. However, against a spherical monster with a dozen arms, a dozen legs, and several open mouths, fighting skills were less effective than weapon skills. Furthermore, he clearly evaded attacks when they weren't necessary. He would dodge attacks that he could easily withstand, or strikes that were bound to miss anyway.

This is different from the spirit that fights alone. That spirit can distinguish which attacks will hit and which will miss, but Minagawa Dojin cannot.

Ultimately, it was a lack of experience... Of course, normal people wouldn't have any experience fighting against such a collection of ghosts.

On the other side, Hirosaki Katsu also wisely refrained from rushing in directly. Instead, he stood by, clenching his fists and watching the battle intently. This was similar to Yuri's approach; not causing trouble was a form of help.

Although he can come into contact with spirits, he has no supernatural skills and can only rely on courage and fate to avoid danger... Yuri felt that he shouldn't be expected to have too high expectations of him.

In any case, it seems that the decisive factor is still Yamanaka Yuka, who is working hard to set up the magic array behind her. She is almost completely unaffected by the outside world and is fully immersed in it.

If someone like Yuri were to attack her at a time like this, something bad would definitely happen. Of course, Yuri wouldn't do that, but her trust in others felt a bit excessive to Yuri—not that trusting others is bad, but even if someone has no hostility whatsoever, something could still happen due to their abilities.

Although Yuri, even in his magical visual observation state, was powerless to react quickly to reality... perhaps he wasn't even qualified to say that.

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.

Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned, and here comes the unexpected. Yuri stared at a corner of the aggregate.

There, a figure was entangled with the aggregate.

When Minagawa was caught off guard, he was grabbed by the aggregate's arm. It was hard to tell where it grabbed him initially, but it was probably his shoulder or waist. The reason it was hard to tell was that after being grabbed by the first hand, several more hands immediately followed.

His spiritual shell was still intact and seemed capable of withstanding further attacks, so Yuri decided to take a relaxed approach. While he was being captured by the aggregate, he also attracted a significant portion of its power, giving the bound spirit more room to maneuver. It seemed the bound spirit would rescue him soon.

Moreover, he himself is working hard and is trying to do something he has never tried before—pulling out a specific ghost from the aggregate, like pulling out a radish.

Yuri hadn't really thought of this method, because... judging from the way the Sin Eater and the Aggregator were tug-of-war, it would require considerable strength. The Sin Eater that pulled out the upper body of a ghost was instantly met with a fierce attack from the ghost, and as soon as it loosened its grip, the ghost burrowed back in.

Or should we say they were taken back? The self-awareness of these ghosts has been completely suppressed.

This tactic might work, if we had enough power... but the problem is we don't have it.

Just as Minagawa was trying for the third time to pull out a ghost, Yamanaka Yuka completed the third magic circle she had set up, and she was getting up to do a final check.

In this critical moment (for the aggregate), it finally made a new move. — Yuri would rather it never come up with anything new, but he couldn't control the aggregate's actions.

An energy was gathering within the ghost aggregate, and although it was unclear what it was doing, it was definitely preparing to cause some trouble.

"Everyone be careful! This thing is concentrating its energy!" Yuri also called out in support.

Taking advantage of the other's distraction (?), Minagawa disassembled himself and quickly retreated. Unfortunately, he was also the only one who reacted in time... Yuri never expected that he would trust his words so much.

Perhaps it was because he was so close that he felt it too?

Then, a sound wave resounded throughout the entire venue.

"Go to hell! Die ...

Yuri's shield activated instantly, mitigating the damage from the attack, but in his haste, the spells he had prepared only managed to cover himself and were still not enough to completely block the effects of the roar.

This is not just sound waves, or at least not just sound waves—there is some chaotic force mixed in with these words, intending to lead Yuri to death…or self-destruction and madness? In short, it is something like that. The shield that Yuri has erected is the same as before, able to block out this interference, but what about those who are not protected by this shield?

A quick glance around.

Yuri is in the best condition; he may have suffered some damage, but it doesn't affect his mobility. Yamanaka Yuka's spirit is in slightly worse shape; although she wasn't prepared, she still managed to shield herself with her weapon in time… It's hard to say what effect this had, but aside from a sudden retreat, she seems unaffected. Minagawa Dojin didn't create enough distance but was prepared; his situation is similar to the spirit's—he looks somewhat dizzy, but nothing serious seems to have happened.

The other two were in a worse state. Yamanaka Yuka and Hirosaki Katsuki both grabbed the wall to avoid falling to the ground, seemingly unable to move for a moment.

Of course, the aggregate itself was in the best position, and it immediately chose its next target—Hirosaki Katsuya, who was in a state of immobility.

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.

Yuri moved forward quickly, trying to block the aggregate's advance, but he was too far away—Minagawa-do had already blocked the aggregate's path as soon as he started moving.

Then... he was almost helplessly pinned to the ground by the aggregate, with only his head and one hand showing—his dizziness seemed to be a huge hindrance, but the thick layer of spiritual matter was still protecting him from the attack.