Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

It's not that we can't make up for it immediately, but doing so would be too protracted.

Yuri chose another approach. He spoke into the phone one last time, "I'm on my way to her now. How long will it take you to get to that area?"

The plan to divert attention from the problem was quite successful.

"Five minutes—will something happen to her in these five minutes?"

"Probably not—but I'm not sure! Please hurry! I'm hanging up now!"

Yuri hung up the phone before the other party could respond.

Ten seconds later, the phone didn't ring again, so it seemed the plan had succeeded... Let's not think about the scolding we'll get afterwards.

Yuri handed the phone back to Akemi and signaled that they could set off.

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.

With Yuri desperately trying to balance the kite, the makeshift kite barely managed to take flight.

He overestimated himself in one aspect. He was indeed strong, but he had no weight, so when he changed the angle at which he was hanging, the kite did not move with him.

If he hadn't quickly adjusted his plan, turning his own movement into the movement of the bulging skin, and by adjusting the angle of the skin between different sections—that is, whether it was bulging or not—to change the kite's angle from diagonally forward to diagonally backward, he would be dragging on the ground by now.

Mingmei was focused on driving and didn't have the energy to look back, so she didn't see this thrilling scene—but the root carving friend on the back seat protecting the shrine and the rope connection point should have seen it. Yuri couldn't see its expression, but he could reasonably guess... its expression was probably one of despair.

The rope that Mingmei carried was not long enough, only about six or seven meters long. However, after Yuri "borrowed" someone else's car cover and made some modifications, it has now been extended to more than twenty meters.

For compensation, please contact the Rat King.

This rope—or rather, this strip of cloth—doesn't look very strong and could easily tear in the middle. Having Yuri reinforce the entire line would consume too much spirit essence.

In the end, everyone decided to pray beforehand to settle things. Yuri himself prayed to the heavens, not knowing whether the heavens could hear him or not.

In any case, there was no sign of the rope breaking for the time being, and Yuri took off as planned.

As planned, Mingmei rushed into the swarm of rats.

Although worried, Yuri had nothing else to do. Because the cloth strips weren't infused with spiritual essence, the rats showed little interest in them, and they couldn't climb up the strips without any spiritual energy.

The spirit of the root carving was circling around, swatting at the rat that jumped up, while Mingmei had time to kick away the advancing rat while driving. The two cooperated well—at least they didn't interfere with each other.

Yuri turned his attention to the landfill and began to observe it.

This time the altitude was nearly half that of the previous one, but the distance was more than half that of the previous one.

It has advantages in angle and distance, but its stability is a bit lacking. However, it's still fine for a general look.

Yuri noticed that the spirits in the junkyard were clearly divided into two parts.

A group of them were swarming out, trying to join the fun of chasing down a motorcyclist. They were covering each other and moving slowly, but overall they were moving. Among them were countless small, weak mouse spirits, as well as some large, promoted mouse spirits.

The other part appears as steady as a mountain in contrast to them—although a closer look might reveal no movement, they are generally standing still.

A group, about twenty or thirty large rat spirits.

They're too far away to tell if they're the same weaklings as the ones sent out. We can only judge by their size; they should be at least level two.

Moreover, they are mostly stronger than those outside. No specific analysis is needed; just look at what they have in their hands.

They are armed. Although Yuri isn't sure if these weapons are part of their bodies or if they were somehow bestowed upon them by spirits, and although the configuration of these weapons isn't uniform (for example, one large rat in a corner appears to be equipped with two shields), and although they don't necessarily use them (Yuri probably doesn't either). But they are armed!

Moreover, most of them were equipped with long spears, which are rod-shaped objects.

Yuri felt a chill run down his spine when he recalled that he had actually planned to rush in through the front gate.

If you actually did that, you'd probably get stabbed to death.

There was no Rat King in sight... Correction: There wasn't a single rat that looked like the boss.

Yuri had previously considered what the Rat King would look like, imagining three possibilities: either a gigantic rat several stories tall, a humanoid spirit about the size of a human with rat-like features, or a large aggregate of rats stuck together.

None of these three things appeared in Yuri's field of vision. The most likely suspect in his field of vision now was a black mist surrounded by the Rat Spirit Guards.

Yuri couldn't see through the black mist from the kite and couldn't know what was inside... He probably wouldn't be able to see it clearly even if he got closer.

From another perspective, Yuri could clearly see that this black mist was located right in the center of the Shadow Gate, and it was being specially guarded. The power emanating from it also indicated that it was not an empty shell. If it weren't the key point in this situation, Yuri would have swallowed the kite.

Before he could proceed with further analysis, Yuri's perspective shifted dramatically, forcing him to stop observing and focus all his efforts on maintaining the kite's balance.

Once he regained his attention, he immediately realized the problem—Mingmei had entered the street where the landfill was located and was turning around.

That's right, her plan was indeed to circle around the area a few times, trying to lure the rats away as much as possible, and then use her own predicament to pull people out...

However, going in circles requires turning.

Now that the kite has been added, she still has to turn around.

The hastily made kite revealed several weaknesses, including an unstable center of gravity, a flimsy structure, and heavy weight—if Yuri hadn't immediately begun to desperately try to salvage it, the kite would probably have crashed straight to the ground.

Fortunately, even after the kite's height dropped by half, Yuri managed to maintain its direction. Now, driven by the wind, it drifted towards the side of the street away from the garbage dump.

If the wind direction doesn't change in the coming period, the best time to parachute would be when the wind turns to the opposite side. When Minmei passes by the junkyard, the wind will blow Yuri over the junkyard, and then he can cut the connection point and start falling downwards.

Before that, we should observe as much as possible—this road is a long loop, and it will soon leave the area that is easy to observe, so we need to hurry.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Scamming Aunt

Luck hadn't completely abandoned Yuri. Before the junkyard disappeared from his sight, he witnessed the rats' transformation—a group of rats passed through the black mist, and then the mist emerged, like sea urchins extending their tentacles—and some of the rats touched by the mist turned into large, upright mice.

Shouldn't we give them more formal names? Yuri felt like he was calling them by different names every time.

Now is not the time to do this kind of thing. Although I had been reasoning this way before, this is the first time I have actually confirmed it with my own eyes.

The newly formed Level Two Rat Spirits moved somewhat chaotically, seemingly quite confused, but quickly, within half a minute, they dispersed and moved outwards on their own. Some of them were followed by the weaker Rat Spirits, forming the small groups Yuri had seen earlier, while others merged into the group chasing the motorcycles.

At least the former were very likely given some kind of order after being promoted, otherwise there would be no reason for them to move away in a particular direction.

To put it another way, although Yuri hasn't directly fought these promoted rats yet, judging from Mingmei's report, this promotion didn't really give them much power, only raising them to the weakest level among the second-tier spirits.

The Rat King probably thought that helping them cross this threshold was enough, and there was no need to spend extra resources to further enhance their power. After all, being able to advance a level was already a remarkable achievement... Yuri still didn't know how to increase his own ability level.

Meanwhile, the rats' pursuit of Mingmei has not stopped, but because rats are constantly being generated in the landfill, it is likely that the reduction in the number of rats in the landfill will stop here, unless other changes occur.

On the other side, Akemi was still carrying out her plan to spin twice and then slow down. Yuri, who was about ten meters away, could only think of a way to remind her of this by shouting loudly.

But the rats will hear it too—they don't seem to have noticed yet that there's someone in the sky, or at least they haven't shown it, but they'll hear it if that shout comes down.

Yuri's hesitation quickly disappeared, not because he had come up with a good solution, but because a sudden fluctuation behind Minmei's motorcycle caught Yuri's attention.

Just as he was trying to analyze the fluctuations, a figure swiftly appeared on the back of the motorcycle, almost pushing the root carving friend off the motorcycle. Yuri saw it clearly; the root carving friend was basically halfway off the motorcycle at that moment. The reason the other half didn't fall off was probably because its anchor point was still in the trunk, giving it a dragging force.

He almost cried out in surprise, but of course, he immediately recognized her... Hey, isn't this Ms. Murakami Akisa? Her clothes had changed, and her aura had changed a lot, but her figure was the same. In addition, Yuri had indeed expected her to suddenly appear, so he reacted in time.

A few minutes had passed since the call, I'm not sure if it was exactly five minutes, but it should have been around that.

The reinforcements arrived, though they were obtained through a combination of deception and trickery.

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.

Soon, the two below engaged in a conversation. Too far away, and with the wind interfering, Yuri couldn't hear what they were saying, so he focused his attention on their movements and postures.

These two psychological expressions aren't as direct as verbal ones, but Yuri could tell that neither side was behaving well. Another noteworthy point is that Aunt Akemi, who suddenly appeared in the back seat, was squatting rather than sitting.

She didn't hold onto anything, yet she was still able to maintain her balance on the moving motorcycle. It seems that Akemi's physical abilities are indeed hereditary.

Or perhaps all werewolves are like this? It seems that no legendary werewolf has physical abilities that are merely comparable to humans.

After the conversation ended, Ms. Qiusha, dressed in sportswear that allowed her to move around easily, looked up at Yuri. Although Yuri couldn't be sure what the other woman's expression was because of the distance, he could feel the murderous aura. Meanwhile, the spirit of the wooden stake that had been occupied and was hanging on the back of the car was trying its best to curl up into a ball.

It seems that the murderous aura is very likely real. Fortunately, Yuri is far away from her and will not have to bear her wrath immediately.

Soon, Ms. Qiusha jumped off the motorcycle without hesitation.

Yuri's first thought was that their talks had fallen apart, but he quickly realized what the other party was doing.

The werewolf revealed its claws.

It wasn't easy for Yuri to see the whole picture from his angle, and keeping up with Ms. Akisa's speed took a lot of his energy, but even so, he didn't miss the scene where Murakami Akisa's hands transformed into beast-like claws.

Even if he missed it, the rats that were casually shooed away would remind him to remember.

The rat swarm was suddenly met with a fierce attack, and some of the rats began to shrink back—at least the first few did.

Then Murakami Akisa turned and ran, jumping back onto the back of the motorcycle.

This process was repeated three times within one minute.

To be honest, if it weren't for the rats still popping out of the junkyard, Yuri would have been willing to come down herself and let the two of them consume the rat population.

It seems safer than Yuri's airdrop... a suicide attack.

The motorcycle changed direction again. This time, Yuri had some experience and adjusted the kite's trajectory in advance, so he didn't lose too much altitude.

The rat swarm pursuers changed tactics, or rather, the weakest rats were so frightened that they wouldn't dare to advance without sufficient numbers. Now, the humanoid upright-promoted rat spirits rushed to the front.

Akemi and Akisa seemed to be arguing about something. Yuri still couldn't hear the whole thing, only snippets. Clearly, they had raised their voices during the argument.

“Mingmei…leave immediately…” “…You…won’t see me off…” “…Listen to me!…I’ll force you…”

Well, these few words are enough. From what Yuri heard, Murakami Akisa seemed to be trying to persuade Akemi to leave quickly while the rats were hesitant to move forward. Akemi, of course, was unwilling and told him to leave if he wanted to. Then Murakami Akisa implied that she would use force to take Akemi away.

That makes sense, but if she succeeds, all the effort that Akemi and her group have put in during this time will have been for nothing, so Akemi will definitely not agree.

During the argument, the mice caught up from behind.

Although Yuri believed that Minmei could easily shake them off by flooring the gas pedal, Minmei did not do so.

Ms. Murakami Akisa jumped down again, and if Yuri wasn't mistaken, she also stepped on the root carving, but that's not important.

The important thing is that she has started to fight against the advanced rat spirit, and this time she does not have an overwhelming advantage.

Yes, the large rat spirit is still far from being her match, but compared to her previous sweeping victories, her current opponent is capable of stopping her offensive.

Although they could only hold out for about ten seconds, they did manage to slow down Murakami Akisa's pace, and the other rats weren't idle either, all swarming in to attack.

The fight between the two involved no sophisticated techniques, appearing similar to Yuri's style, with at most some instinctive parries (and the rat couldn't deflect Qiusha's attacks, while Qiusha lacked the extra limbs to specifically defend against the rat's attacks). Speed ​​and power were the main factors in this relatively primitive form of combat. The fighting skills displayed by both sides were inferior to those of Minmei.

However, Yuri believed that ordinary fighting techniques could not make up for the difference in physical strength between humans and werewolves... If Yuri himself were to face Murakami Akisa, even if he knew from which direction and in which way she would attack, he would probably just have to take a beating all rounds.

A minute later, as the four leading large rats were killed, the rat swarm began to shrink back again, but Yuri also saw that Murakami Akisa had been hit several times.

The rats had tried their best. If it were Yuri, he might have been able to hold out for a minute without being killed, but if they wanted to fight back, there was simply no way.

The damage caused by the rats did not affect her actions in any way, but the damage itself should still exist, just too weak to be ignored.

Yuri realized that this was probably why the werewolves thought they should wait until everyone was gathered before launching an attack.

If their skill level is the same as Murakami Akisa's, then they would probably have a hard time breaking through when facing dozens of large rat spirits wielding weapons, and would then be overwhelmed by the rat horde.

Of course, being overwhelmed by the rat swarm doesn't mean they've lost. Even Yuri can manage to traverse swarms of rats to some extent, let alone the werewolves. However, under these circumstances, they probably wouldn't be able to continue their breakthrough, especially if the Rat King only replenishes the rat population without taking any other action.

The Rat King is, after all, a powerful spirit, and it's impossible for it to only know one move. It doesn't need to know many moves. Even if the Rat King just uses the energy balls that Yuri saw before to hit a few times, it could still cause casualties under these circumstances.

On the other hand, as a free agent who travels around, Murakami Akisa's strength is unlikely to rank low.

Shortly after Yuri reached this conclusion, the kite's angle changed again as the motorcycle turned, and Yuri hurriedly adjusted the angle.

He had to get this done as quickly as possible. If the kite couldn't quickly return to its normal height, the rope below might get caught on the building, and then it would be game over again.

Why didn't we think of so many problems beforehand? I thought I was so smart! Yuri cursed himself inwardly.

"Why didn't you think of so much trouble beforehand? Do you think you're so smart?!" Murakami Akisa's angry rebuke came from below almost simultaneously.

“We anticipated the trouble, which is why we’re relying on you—it seems the rat swarm is preparing to encircle us from both sides, so this round will be the decisive moment—Yuri!” Akemi raised her voice as well.

Yuri looked ahead down the street and, sure enough, a swarm of rats was rushing towards them.

Mingmei is holding on, and the situation has deviated from the original plan.

Her original plan was to run several laps, with the rats following behind instead of some emerging from the front. Now it seems Mingmei underestimated the sheer number of rats; the rat spirits pouring out of the junkyard were endless, enough to cover the entire running route.

It's best not to tell Ms. Qiusha about this.

"Just this once!" After saying a few more words, Ms. Murakami Akisa raised her right hand towards Yuri, clearly making a horizontal fist with her thumb extended... then forcefully turning it so that her thumb was pointing downwards.

Does that mean you should descend faster in a bit? Yuri wasn't quite sure what the gesture meant, but he guessed it was something like that.

No problem, there won't be a next time anyway, Yuri nodded vigorously in response.

The three below, including the almost forgotten root carving friend, ignored him.

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.

Mingmei continued driving forward, and she could feel the speed gradually increasing.

It's definitely because there's no longer any need to slow down and buy time. The number of rats can only increase, so there's no point in delaying.

That's why they quickly rushed into the center of the oncoming swarm of rats.