Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

If the shield delays even slightly, the Bound Spirit could be completely stuck to the Reaper at close range—literally stuck.

"What should we do?" Yamanaka Yuka asked anxiously, like an ant on a hot pan.

"..." Yuri also wondered what to do. Was it time for him to rush up and hold onto the Reaper tightly to create an opportunity for his teammates? Could he hold on?

Wait a minute… calm down, think about it carefully. If he had this ability, why not cover his entire body? The Reaper is practically devoid of reason right now; he'll go all out for whatever he's doing, otherwise he won't do it at all. Besides, he has plenty of energy; there's no reason for him to just cover his mask with a shield. Furthermore, this ability is something he's never shown before. It's just a shield; is it really necessary to hide it as a trump card?

Reactivating the Eye of Magic, Yuri focused his attention on the mask this time.

This shouldn't be any different from last time. When observing the Reaper, Yuri did glance at the mask, after all, that's the most prominent feature of the current Reaper... unless the mask and the Reaper aren't one entity, or even have a significant barrier between them, enough to make them two different individuals in a magical sense.

—But the difference that appeared in Yuri's eyes was really big.

The mask was enveloped in a stable aura, undisturbed by the Reaper, maintaining its existence independently, with only a negligible connection to its wearer.

Yuri had never considered this possibility; he had always assumed that once the mask was put on, it became one with the wearer.

Runes of death appeared around the mask, and its power was undoubtedly classified as part of the mysteries of death. Perhaps Yuri could do something that would surprise everyone else.

Focus your will, completely sever the already fragile connection between the two, and then with just a slight push, let the mask's shield cover the side facing your face...

The mask bounced off, revealing a flat face beneath that was completely destroyed, with only a mouth remaining as a feature. It was impossible to recognize Minagawa Dojin's former appearance; his appearance was even worse than Yuri's cursed doll.

"Eh?"

"The mask fell off by itself?"

The sin-eater girl and the high school mystic noticed what was happening almost simultaneously.

Of course, what's even more attention-grabbing is the agonizing howl emanating from that thing that was once a Minagawa-do person, probably a harvester, but no one knows what it is now.

It seemed that its last shred of consciousness had vanished along with the mask; its writhing arms flailed wildly in the air, and its entire body began to spin aimlessly... If this thing, which looked somewhat like a half-melted snowman, could still be considered human.

"Yama, quickly use your silk thread to pull that mask over here." Akemi pointed to the mask that had fallen to the ground. "It's unlikely, but what if he picks up the mask that fell on the ground and puts it back on?"

It's unlikely, since the ghost's hand, which had been trying to break through the protective barrier and entangle the spirit after the mask fell off, stopped. This shows that it wasn't just a simple loss of sight. However, Akemi's suggestion was still valuable—pulling the mask over and controlling it was better than something else going wrong.

The mask offered no effective resistance. In fact, it flew into the arms of the sin-eater girl at a speed that exceeded Yamanaka Yuka's expectations, which almost made her jump up in fright. Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened, and the mask did not fly up and slam onto Yamanaka Yuka's face on its own. Everything was normal.

Bound Spirit and Yuri were still watching the thing that was staggering along nervously. It drew an arc, bypassed Yuri's position, and did not pass directly by Bound Spirit, heading towards... the vortex.

The spirit easily followed behind it, launching continuous attacks. No matter how much damage it suffered, it showed no intention of fighting back and simply continued to advance.

It's as if falling into a whirlpool and dissolving inside is its ultimate mission, for which it is willing to sacrifice everything.

At the same time, with the collapse of the spirit field, the ghosts outside began to pour in again.

Something was wrong. A sense of impending doom washed over Yuri.

"Stop it immediately! Quickly!" Yuri rushed out of the protective barrier, demanding of the spirit binder as he ran. He had already figured out the problem: "Minagawa Dojin is also a sin eater, and also a spirit binder! We can't let it fall into the vortex!"

It's too late.

The last bound spirit fell into the vortex.

190 Staggering to the finish line

At first, the vortex seemed to remain unchanged, but then it became quite unstable.

It's not that it was particularly stable in the past, but rather that it is now undergoing rapid morphological changes—the most obvious being the dramatic increase in the top radius and the drastic decrease in the bottom radius—the vortex that originally looked like a cylinder is quickly transforming into a cone.

Meanwhile, Yuri could see something preparing to appear at the bottom of the ghost vortex—was it a hole?

That's probably a hole.

Yuri's intuition told him that he couldn't let it actually take shape, or everything would become completely unstoppable.

"What...what do we do? Spirit binding? Yuri? Can you stop it?" Yamanaka Yuka was quite panicked, much more so than Akemi, who was anxiously looking around.

That's understandable; she should be fully aware of the current situation, while Akemi probably just intuitively sensed that something was wrong.

"Why are you asking me? Isn't that a gate to the underworld that's about to be completed? You have a way to open it, but no way to close it!?" Yuri retorted without hesitation. "Isn't this the specialty of the Sin Eaters?"

“Turning a faucet that’s already installed is easy if you just know the direction, but plugging up an exploding faucet is not something everyone can do!” Yuka Yamanaka unhesitatingly shifted the blame. “I don’t know, I don’t know how to solve this problem! I have absolutely no experience in handling this kind of issue!”

Do you think I have one?!

Yuri grumbled inwardly and began to think—the gate to the underworld hadn't opened yet, so there was still room for thought. Yuri only hoped to find a solution before it was completely finished.

Then a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Why bother?" came the voice of the spirit-binding creature.

"What did you say!?" The Sin Eater girl and the high school mystic exclaimed in unison, with Yamanaka Yuka perhaps being more expectant. She added, "You mean we won't be in any trouble if we don't stop it? The Reaper's ritual failed?"

No, I don't think that's the case, Yuri thought.

"No." The spirit-binding girl cleanly and decisively rejected her beautiful fantasy, then added a more detailed explanation, "The spirit field has dissipated, why not retreat?"

Yuri understood the implication from the very first sentence, and the spirit-binder actually said it without batting an eye.

Even without the black cloth, the helmet on the spirit's head still had a veil-like covering that prevented people from seeing its expression, but Yuri believed that if the helmet were removed and its expression revealed, the spirit's face would definitely show no remorse.

"Are you crazy? If we don't stop this, there will be huge casualties!" Yuka Yamanaka said fiercely. "And the consequences afterward are not to be underestimated. For the ghosts—they are still being filled in and ground up. Don't you think that's a big problem too?"

“Indeed.” Fuling nodded in confirmation of Fushen’s words, then began to shake his head. “However, this is not our fault. It is our duty to forge ahead, but we are not the instigators. We are also victims, and King Yama will not hold us accountable.”

"And what about yourself? Seeing so many people in danger, don't you feel you should help if you can?" the sin-devouring girl persisted. "Now, think about how to solve the problem!"

“Alright.” Fuling nodded. “This place is very dangerous. We should retreat quickly to a safe place and think things through carefully.”

"I see you still want to run away!"

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall."

It is said that the spirit and the body are of one mind and one body—this scene should really be recorded and shown to every guy who claims that they are of one mind and one body.

Considering that the spirit could continue the argument without additional power, Yuri cut off the energy transmission—just in time, he was almost out of energy himself.

If energy needs to be replenished, the most obvious option is still that vortex, but... if he recklessly rushes in, and the gates of the underworld suddenly open, Yuri might be sucked away in a flash.

"Excuse me for interrupting your heated discussion—how long until this Gate to the Underworld officially opens?" Mingmei asked a crucial question.

Yuri was trying to stop the ghosts that kept rushing in, but he wasn't efficient enough to stop them all by himself—he didn't really intend to kill them, but even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to stop them.

Perhaps if I and the bound spirits worked together to kill them? But convincing them to do that would be a troublesome matter.

"No more than fifteen minutes." / "At least five minutes."

The answers from the perspectives of "binding the spirit" and "binding the body" are two different directions, but fortunately they do not conflict with each other.

"If we start running now, we should be able to get out of the absolute danger zone in about a minute," Yuri estimated. For Yamanaka Yuka, who was in poor physical condition, the spirit could carry her.

No one objected, so Yuri continued, "Then I'll rush up now and try to disarm it at close range—please keep an eye on things while we think of another way!"

"Be careful, Yuri. Even I can sense how dangerous this thing is," Akemi said, stepping forward to give him a special warning.

"I understand, I understand—"

Yuri reached his hand into the vortex again.

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 atmosphere of the vortex had changed noticeably, but before confirming the change, Yuri focused on replenishing his energy.

After this period of turmoil, the power within him has been completely replaced. Not a single part of it is his original, purified, or lacking in lethality.

Very uncomfortable.

But we still have to do it; otherwise, we can't survive in the vortex.

First, the first step is to determine the condition of Minagawa-do, who has just fallen into this predicament—if he is still in any condition.

A minute ago, in his final moments, he plunged into the vortex and then seemed to melt into it, disappearing completely... But is he really dead? Where are the other two spirits he trapped?

If these problems can be solved, this vortex might be easily dismantled.

If only we could see how this vortex formed! Part of it is missing, the whole process is unclear, and we don't understand what's going on—if the spirit-binding could figure it out… forget it. Judging by his eagerness to run, even if he did, he wouldn't tell us. Other people's things are unreliable—Yamano Yuka and Kakizaki Akemi are the same; they have absolutely no power and can't help at all in this matter. Even if they seem anxious, they're essentially just hoping I'll solve the problem myself—not to mention the others in the inn; they can be ignored. They'll die, and they'll drag me along—

Yuri interrupted the negative emotions flooding his mind.

This couldn't have been something he came up with himself. Yuri isn't incapable of complaining, but it's already excessive to go all the way to Akemi, let alone drag other innocent bystanders into it?

I didn't feel this way when I ventured into the vortex last time. Is it because Minagawa-do just finished the last batch, or is it because the ritual was completed?

No, nothing seems quite right.

"Minagawa-do! Don't be so persistent!" Yuri roared silently in his heart.

Although he couldn't see the other's spirit, Yuri was almost certain that he was there, influencing the vortex.

"Die, die!" After Yuri calmed himself down, he could clearly feel a force within the vortex trying to bewitch everything that stepped into it. "Die!"

The voice made no attempt to respond to Yuri's questions; it simply spread anger and hatred.

Moreover, no "whole" Minagawado appeared in this vortex, but his resentment and dissatisfaction could indeed be felt within it.

Minagawa Toto has already been drawn into the vortex, but his hatred hasn't dissipated? It's like a ghost story. If possible, Yuri hopes he won't become the protagonist of this ghost story... killing his opponent only to find that the opponent isn't quite dead and turns around and attacks him instead.

Although this time the energy extraction was not as smooth as the last, Yuri still managed to absorb enough energy to meet his capacity. The next step was to quickly consume the remaining energy. Looking around, the ghosts were still filling in, so their target was them. He would forge the energy extracted from the vortex into a spiritual wall to block the ghosts from entering. This was Yuri's brilliant idea: to take the betrayal to the extreme and use the power of the vortex against the vortex.

The problem lies in the fact that "energy extraction is not as smooth as last time." Yuri is doing his best to extract energy from the vortex, but this time the vortex will snatch the energy back. If Yuri cannot concentrate on collecting energy, his own energy (assuming that the energy he grabs is his own) will be taken back.

Furthermore, while the spiritual structures Yuri constructed were certainly more robust than ghosts, they were not invincible, far from it. To prevent ghosts from getting close, Yuri laid out a complete circle around the vortex, only to find that the vortex was tearing apart the structures of these things. Unless he focused on maintaining their structures, these spiritual walls would be difficult to form, and even if they did, they would be torn to pieces.

Furthermore, the voice mixed in with the energy of the vortex continues to influence the thoughts of every ghost that is not yet completely dead or is about to die, and ultimately causes the spiritual essence extracted by Yuri to be "stained". Yuri, who has absorbed these spiritual essences into his body, is constantly affected by these voices. Although he will not go insane directly, he may begin to lose consciousness unless he devotes a lot of attention to resisting these voices.

So the question is quite obvious: how can Yuri focus his attention in three directions at the same time? Ultimately, does "focusing attention in three directions" really count as concentrating?

Even if Yuri gambles everything and abandons blocking out the voices that are constantly interfering with his mind, relying entirely on his own willpower to endure, what about the remaining two problems?

This can't go on, we need to call for help. Yuri, whose consciousness was fading, looked around.

The people nearby seem to have disappeared.

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 fear brought Yuri back to his senses, or perhaps it simply shifted his focus back to observing his surroundings.

—When Yuri saw Akemi carrying Yamanaka Yuka, walking around the vortex with a fairly large radius, while the spirits were rotating together at their positions relative to the vortex, the voice of "traitor" that had been echoing in Yuri's mind disappeared.

—It was changed to something like, “They’re fighting amongst themselves, you have to stop them immediately, only you can do it!”

It really is quite seductive, especially to Yuri who is already dizzy and disoriented—is this the same trick that makes ghosts lose their minds? Minagawa-do, so this was your doing after all.

But what were they doing? What was the point of all this spinning around? Yuri abandoned thinking about it and chose to trust them. What else could they do? Distrust them?

Yuri activated his split personality mode again, splitting off one part of himself to deal with the noise in his mind, while using the rest to deal with the vortex in front of him.

This is definitely not a good method, but it can be used as a workaround. Although it cannot be said that a complete theory has been developed, Yuri has figured out what this seductive rhetoric is all about.

At the very beginning, a massive influx of voices flooded into Yuri's mind. These voices were contradictory to each other, but a normal person (Yuri considered himself a normal person) could not hear, understand, and comprehend them all at the same time. This required the ability to converse with a dozen or so people simultaneously, something Yuri probably did not possess for the time being.

Then, these voices are actually still trying to play repeatedly in Yuri's mind—but Yuri can only hear the one that is most credible in the current situation.

This is because these voices do not possess sufficient consciousness—they are things Yuri himself created after absorbing the heterogeneous spiritual essence—Yuri himself is thinking negatively about things, and Yuri himself is trying to convince himself that "everything is getting worse."

Once he finds clear evidence that his previous idea was wrong, the voice will instantly weaken—because he will no longer accept this negative thought.

Conversely, another seemingly credible reason will emerge to replace it. This reason has existed before, but because it is not the most supported one, it has been ignored by Yuri.

Until Yuri finds a way to "purify" or "refine" the absorbed spiritual essence in an instant, all he can do is act irrationally, saying "I'd rather die than believe it."

Commonly known as self-hypnosis.

On the bright side, this at least means that there's no need for another heated debate with Minagawa-do; Yuri simply doesn't have the energy for that kind of activity right now.

Come on, Yuri! You've come this far! (Self-hypnosis in progress)

191 Endgame

Minagawa-do is probably really dead—all that remains is his malice.

If not, he should have already pounced out. Why would he rely solely on the effect of the vortex itself to clash with you?

Come on, Yuri! Are you really going to lose to someone you've already defeated?

Although the dead are not incapable of movement, such as the spirits and bodies that are spinning rapidly over there, Minagawa-do is completely dead, his soul scattered and his spirit annihilated, his entire being merged into this vortex—he can't even move, he doesn't even have self-awareness, he can't even interfere with the outside world—he is a dead man in the truest sense!

Are you going to lose to a dead man?

At this moment, after all the hardships and perseverance, with the dawn of victory just around the corner, will you lose to your opponent's final self-destruction?

Hang in there, Yuri, you can do it!

↑

After using various methods to encourage himself, Yuri persevered.