Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

His pace, which had just quickened, came to an abrupt halt.

Very well, now he knows where all those rats went—their dwelling is surrounded by a large number of rat spirits.

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.

Although he really wanted to rush in immediately, Yuri didn't actually do so right away.

He hadn't forgotten that Akemi was a little faster than him at running.

If she had noticed in time, she could have broken through the encirclement or jumped out of the window before she was completely surrounded.

Yuri looked up at the window, where rats were also clinging to it. Here, like Yuri, they could attach themselves to walls where corresponding spirits resided.

Through the window and the transparent swarm of rats, one can see the curtains half-drawn on the inside and the lights on the ceiling.

I didn't see anyone inside... Could they already be lying on the ground?

Yuri took a few steps back to another building opposite Mingmei's residence and began to float upwards along the wall. He believed that once he reached the same height, he could see more as the angle changed.

Indeed, through the gap in the curtains, Yuri could see a standing figure that moved, but he couldn't make out what it was doing. The curtains and the swarm of translucent rats floating above them both obstructed his view.

It didn't look like it was fiercely fighting with the rats, but the possibility that it was struggling to hold on couldn't be ruled out.

Yuri returned to the ground and decided what to do next.

In short, charge in.

This swarm of rats was the largest Yuri had ever seen; they piled up on the ground, likely filling the stairwells and covering the building's exterior walls.

It seems that, for some reason, Akemi's residence has attracted all the rats in the neighborhood—she may simply not want to go out, but Yuri thinks it's more likely that she's been trapped inside.

There are two entrances: the main door and the window.

The advantage of windows is that the straight-line distance is shorter, but if you make a mistake, you'll probably be surrounded by rats.

The main entrance was also surrounded, but the space inside the corridor was even smaller, so the rats' numerical advantage could not be fully utilized.

After comparing the pros and cons of the two routes, Yuri decided to take the window route.

There might be fewer rats in the stairwell, but it's a do-or-die situation, since you can't move freely if you're stuck in the stairwell.

If he fails to get through the window, he can rush back.

After observing the distribution of the mice, an optimized solution popped into his mind.

The rats were concentrated on the ground, in the hallways, and on the walls from the ground to the windows.

Mingmei's residence was not on the top floor; there were several rooms above it.

It's not that the mice didn't go that way, but indeed, fewer mice went upwards. If they were thinking, it would mean they didn't believe they needed to go to higher places.

This means that if Yuri goes around to the side of the building away from the rats, then climbs over the entire building to the roof and rushes towards the window from above, this step will encounter less resistance.

After checking it again, Yuri found no problems with the plan.

The first step is to go around to the side of the building, while avoiding attracting the rats' attention.

Therefore, he needs to go around in a large circle.

The first step of the plan was a success; there were indeed not many rats on the side of the building, and it seemed that they were all concentrated in one place.

Perhaps the number of rats wasn't as many as he initially thought.

The second step is to go to the rooftop. You need to be quick and try to avoid attracting the rats' attention.

"I knew things wouldn't be that easy!"—Yuri encountered another unexpected situation; the swarm of rats began moving towards him the instant he peeked out from the rooftop.

Perhaps not all the rats reacted immediately, but if it dragged on any longer, the number would definitely increase.

Without further hesitation, he quickly descended the floors and rushed into the swarm of rats that were attacking him.

The plan to open both layers of the protective barrier simultaneously failed, but at least one of them was opened.

Yuri's momentum is slowing down.

Unlike the rats I encountered on the street, which were only one layer high, these rats had been gathered here for a long time, meaning they were actually stacked on top of each other.

Yuri was now essentially trekking through a sand dune made of rats, and every time he stopped for a moment, a new rat would bury his legs even deeper.

Yuri recalled a conclusion he had drawn long ago.

Spirits do indeed have advantages in many ways, including but not limited to not eating, not drinking, not breathing, not resting...

There are also spirit rats.

So even if they are stacked together, they won't crush each other or suffocate.

"Get out of my way!" Yuri screamed inwardly as he struggled forward, the resistance growing stronger, but he was not far from reaching the window of his dwelling.

The mice did not respond to Yuri's inner voice; they continued to swarm around him.

He continued his trek, ignoring the constant warnings of injury—humans would call this pain, a signal to stop—but Yuri had no organs to feel pain; he simply needed to stop monitoring his condition.

"Get out of my way!" This time Yuri really shouted it out.

The mice didn't react, and even thought they could take the opportunity to launch an attack—one mouse jumped up and rushed towards Yuri's mouth, then shattered on Yuri's teeth.

It's a good thing it died young. Yuri felt like he could actually eat a few rats alive now, and maybe even replenish some of his spiritual essence while venting his anger.

He arrived—just as he was about to be buried alive by rats, he reached Mingmei's window.

Next up is the final exam, something he had been ignoring before, but now he has to face.

He had his foot on the window; with a push, he could enter the room.

down.

This means burying yourself completely in the rats and entering the "ground," which is the window.

Yuri had previously avoided the question because part of him told him that burying oneself in a pile of rats was a disaster in every sense of the word.

Strangely, when the moment came, that part stopped speaking. Yuri now wished he could grow claws and fight like a wild beast. If he didn't have claws, teeth would do—although a spirit's teeth aren't the hardest part of its body, they're still quite sharp.

No time for overthinking, let's go!

Chapter 82 Safe Position

Yuri struggled through the swarm of rats, feeling attacks all over his body—a warning sign, especially considering he had already forced himself to block them out once… this was probably a particularly dangerous sign.

But it's obviously too late to turn back now.

One piece of good news is that the structure of rat colonies makes it difficult for them to truly and forcefully resist the impact of other forces.

The second piece of good news was that Yuri felt as if his feet had been pulled out of a swarm of rats after passing through the window.

Without thinking too much about what this meant, but with the resistance obviously much less, he seized the opportunity and made a desperate effort, rushing sideways into the house in a disheveled state.

Before he could even adjust his posture and stand up, the high school girl, who was on high alert, punched Yuri in the stomach.

Yuri hurriedly dodged, but the current situation made it difficult to evade. He dodged the first attack, but couldn't avoid the second one that followed.

The high school girl's other elbow stopped in front of Yuri's face.

"Yuri? It's you?"

It's not that Yuri didn't think of this possibility at all, but he almost suffered a loss even though he was nearly seriously beaten up.

"Of course it's me, what are you doing—" he said, his voice laced with the anger of someone who had almost been taken advantage of.

"Oh, I thought their leader finally couldn't hold back and personally broke in through the window." Mingmei relaxed her posture.

"Don't you remember anything when you see this outfit? —" Yuri pressed on relentlessly, those two moves just now were truly terrifying.

"...If we're starting with the feet, I really can't think of anything." Akemi was also a little embarrassed. "By the way, why didn't you call when you were coming back?"

...Of course, it's because I'm worried you're being eaten by rats and won't be able to answer the phone, so I'm distracted.

Yuri couldn't say this, especially since he had already noticed that there were no rat spirits in the house.

If he had made the call earlier, there wouldn't have been such a rush. Although it's unlikely that he could have dug out any more information (that robot spirit seems to be very tight-lipped), at least Yuri would have had more time to think.

Or perhaps they'll have to deal with even more rats because it takes longer? That's also a possibility.

"Anyway, it seems safe here for now. Were you injured when you broke through the rat swarm? You look..." Seeing that Yuri did not answer, Akemi naturally ended the previous topic and moved on to the next one.

"..." Yuri then began to examine his injuries again, and found that he was covered in minor wounds. It seemed that even with the shield, the rat swarm would have to work hard for a while to inflict serious damage on him.

Conversely, even with the shield, he only suffered minor injuries; without the shield, he would probably have lost half his life.

"It will recover quickly as long as it consumes some energy, so don't worry." Yuri knew that his current appearance wasn't very good.

"That's alright, there are just too many rats."

"..." Yuri had a question, something seemed off, but that wasn't the point right now, he could leave it for later.

I looked around at the surroundings, especially the stone lantern that was originally in the place of the moved coffee table, as well as the rings and runes drawn around the stone lantern.

It's different from the one I remember, but quite similar.

"Is this an anti-spirit array?" Yuri asked, pointing at the ritual with certainty.

“That’s right, it’s the kind I’m used to, very similar to the one you saw last time. I’ve already explained why.” Mingmei’s voice carried a hint of arrogance. “Although it might not be able to stop stronger opponents, it’s quite effective against weak spirits like this—the key is that it’s universal.”

"Then this stone lantern is... an energy source?" Yuri observed it for a moment and was certain that the stone lantern was disseminating energy into the magic circle.

“That’s right, after all, there are just too many of them—although the magic circle itself is difficult to wear down by direct attacks, it’s only difficult. With such a large number, it’s best to ensure that it can be replenished after it’s worn down.” Mingmei sighed, her voice lowering. “There are just too many of them. At first, I tried to stand inside the magic circle and attack from the outside to drive them away, but…”

But? Yuri waited for Akemi to continue.

"But regardless of the potential weakening effect of being frequently traversed by things with supernatural effects, if I attack ten times and get bitten back once, I will ultimately lose out. The same goes for ranged weapons. It is certainly very safe to throw things after infusing them with spiritual essence, but I can't withstand it."

And so the two sides remained locked in a stalemate.

"Would being passed through by something with supernatural effects really cause weakening?" Yuri wondered. "If the design wasn't intended to block those things, then it shouldn't cause wear and tear, right?"

Akemi looked back at her as if she were a novice.

“As I said, this is a general-purpose one – the result of trying to manage everything is that it is particularly easy to wear out, because everything will have an impact. For example, this magic circle can also actually block ghosts.”

"Did my entry have any negative effects...?"

Yuri glanced at the light membrane from inside the room but didn't notice anything unusual.

"Of course it was generated, but it was compensated for by the new energy injection. Otherwise, why would I put the shrine here?"

Akemi's reply was somewhat impatient, but Yuri understood and could tolerate it.

So it seems that the plan to only extend one hand, or extend a spirit-infused wooden stick, has failed before it even began. Akemi has already tested it.

Yuri had no memory of the shrine's state before leaving, but compared to yesterday, the shrine didn't seem to be much different now.

The consumption is not very fast.

"What are you looking at?" Akemi asked Yuri, who was staring at the stone lantern without saying a word.

"I'm estimating how much longer this can last, you know?"

"It's been more than twelve hours, but less than twenty-four hours, most likely around twenty hours—what's wrong?" Akemi looked at Yuri, whose eyes were widening. "What's with that expression?"

"I was just expressing my admiration for your accuracy." Yuri carefully swallowed the question he was about to ask: "How did you arrive at such precise numbers?"

"Yes, I'm in excellent condition right now—although I'm still stuck in the house."

"Does that also include being able to see the parts of particularly weak spirits?" Seize the opportunity and ask that question.

In Yuri's memory, Akemi seemed to be unable to see particularly weak spirits.

As a whole, the rat swarm is a formidable opponent for Yuri, but fundamentally, it is still just a group of many weak spirits that have not been completely integrated.

If you can't see one, then you can see many when they're put together, right?

In Yuri's estimation, Akemi might sense a large amount of spiritual energy and realize that many small spirits were outside preparing to launch an attack... all of which are perfectly normal. But figuring out that these are rats, and all of them are rats, seems too obvious.

It's unlikely that Mingmei's abilities would suddenly improve, so is there something special about this incident? Figuring this out might be helpful.

Of course, if Akemi's abilities suddenly improve, that would also be a form of help.

First, confirm the situation.

“I don’t think this necessarily means my abilities have improved—after the resonance has increased, the spirits can naturally manifest more and more clearly. For spirits that can control themselves, this is an option, but do you think they look like they can control themselves?”

Not at all; they look like they just want to eat a big meal and a ton of food.

Akemi didn't rule out the possibility that her abilities had improved, but her reasoning was also quite reasonable—the distance between the two sides was shrinking, but even if Akemi didn't go over, the rat swarm was indeed approaching.

"Then, tell me quickly what you've gained this time—what did you see outside?" Seeing that Yuri didn't intend to continue asking questions, Akemi began to ask about something that wasn't immediately on her mind.

This is certainly important as well.