Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

It shouldn't be out of fear of its power; one of the groups has at least two spirits slightly inferior to Yuri's, and if they swarm together, they should definitely win, at least that's what it seems.

So it's because of disgust? You simply don't want anything to do with it?

Under Yuri's tense gaze, the other person moved to his side and stood about two meters away.

Given the opponent's size, this distance is roughly equivalent to a single lunge.

At this distance, without needing to activate his special vision, Yuri could tell that the other person's condition was far from good. Just like their appearance, the flow of spiritual essence within their body was extremely chaotic. Furthermore, the fact that others could even sense the specific flow of spiritual essence within their body already indicated very poor control.

"You and I, two despised hybrid spirits, shall we keep each other company?" The voice sounded a little weak.

“I don’t mind you coming over, but what is a hybrid spirit?” Yuri thought for a moment. As long as the other party didn’t pounce on him immediately, it would be okay—even if he did pounce on him immediately, wouldn’t Yuri have the strength to fight him?

Furthermore, the fact that this hybrid spirit uses honorifics when speaking doesn't necessarily mean he's benevolent, but even if it's an act, it shows he likely possesses basic rationality. And having basic rationality means he won't act rashly here.

"...I didn't expect you to be even crazier than me." The hybrid spirit shifted slightly, moving to a position parallel to Yuri, and began to rest. "Hybrid spirit, you mean lunatics like me and you, right?"

Yuri didn't think he was crazy at all, at least not when no other voices were speaking in his head, but he did suspect that the person in front of him was insane.

"I don't think I'm crazy, do you think you're crazy?" Try to get the other person to say more.

"I didn't think I was crazy at first. I just devoured a spirit from a different race. How could it have any effect? ​​—" The hybrid spirit stopped talking and let out a sinister laugh. "Then I became like this, and I had no choice but to believe it."

Yuri now understood what a hybrid spirit meant, and he thanked the anonymous descendant of a certain fasun who died by the sea for his collection of books.

When spirits grow by devouring each other, they not only increase their power but also change their nature. If they devour spirits of the same kind, there will be no change because spirits of the same kind have basically the same nature. However, if they devour spirits of different kinds, an deviation will occur.

In most cases, such stray spirits can always find a new way out, after all, this world has all kinds of concepts. If a car spirit eats too many animal spirits and mutates, it might try to develop into a mechanical-biological spirit... Of course, this direction is just something Yuri made up on the spot, and no one knows if it will work.

However, some spirits fail in this process. What they eventually become is not stable enough to be a spirit, but at the same time, it is not chaotic enough to self-destruct.

These are hybrid spirits. Each hybrid spirit is characterized by being difficult to categorize, extremely chaotic, and suffering mental problems due to their own pain. Most also possess an exceptionally greedy nature. This isn't a defining characteristic of hybrid spirits, but rather that without such greed, it's not easy to consume oneself and become a hybrid spirit. Therefore, generally speaking, ordinary spirits tend to stay away from hybrid spirits.

However, there are indeed things in human stories that are completely mixed together, I think they are called chimeras... So, if you really eat yourself into becoming a hybrid, it might require more than just a little bad luck.

"Do I look like a hybrid spirit?" Yuri asked himself.

He had never considered this question before, but now he was comparing it with the knowledge of hybrid spirits in his mind.

Difficult to categorize, that's right. Extremely chaotic, no. Mental issues, though possible, shouldn't be apparent. Extremely greedy, still not apparent. Alone, that's right. Of all the information, two out of five; of the discernible information, two out of three. Conclusion: The guess of this hybrid spirit has some merit, but it's not very conclusive.

"What brings you here? Where are you going? I won't force you to say if you don't want to." Yuri didn't say anything rude.

“This isn’t my first time here, but I sincerely hope that the Train Spirit can help me this time. I don’t want to go on like this anymore,” the hybrid spirit’s voice was still weak. “I want to return to being a normal spirit, instead of… going on like this. My remaining time is dwindling. It’s hard for a hybrid spirit to find a corresponding resonance. Going it alone, I can’t obtain a stable source of spiritual essence. And if I keep consuming… even the little sanity I have left will be lost.”

Yuri glanced at the other person; he didn't seem particularly weak. "I think you're still eating in order to survive."

“That’s true, and with each meal I’m getting closer to death. Nobody knows what happens to hybrid spirits after they die. I think our situation will only lead to utter destruction.”

This seems a bit too forward for someone you don't know well.

Yuri himself is a habitual expert at speaking frankly with people he doesn't know well, but would an ordinary spirit reveal its weakness in this way?

"Would you say that to every new spirit you meet?" Yuri asked, his tone suggesting he was certain of the answer. "Or is there some other reason?"

"Of course not!" The hybrid spirit's voice instantly rose to a tremendous level, Yuri seemed to hear the echo in the air—then it lowered its voice again, "Forgive my rudeness, no, of course I won't say this to every spirit, I hope, I can, request your help!"

Although the hybrid spirit did indeed seem to be in dire need of help, and Yuri genuinely believed that its approach must have a reason... this request was clearly beyond Yuri's capabilities.

"Why do you think I can help you?" Figure that out first.

Although Yuri had a premonition that it was definitely not a reliable answer...

“Many spirits saw you appear from the Train Spirit—in the past, the Train Spirit never allowed hybrid spirits like us to board the train, and I dared not comment on that, but your appearance has given me hope—if you can persuade the Train Spirit, then you can definitely help me!”

It's obviously too late to say "I'm not a hybrid spirit" now. The other party didn't believe this claim in the first place, and saying it now will probably only be seen as mockery.

The hybrid spirit's eyes were filled with longing; if it were disappointed now, it might immediately go berserk.

Then, it will be crushed by Line 2, without a doubt.

Then, this is the first change Yuri brought to the Shadow Realm—a spirit came to him for help and then died.

Why did this bad luck have to happen to me? Yuri cursed his fate inwardly, but it didn't change anything.

"Why do you think the Train Spirit can solve your problem? If he has always avoided hybrid spirits, why do you think he would know how to... cure your condition?" To avoid the suspected potential manic patient in front of him exploding into a ball of spiritual energy, Yuri started to rack his brains.

The first plan is to coax him away, if he learns that the train spirit is unlikely to possess the means to cure him—

"I don't know, but the Train Spirit is the most disciplined of the high-level spirits, and he is the last hope I can find."

The first plan failed, and this guy is already desperately trying anything!

The second plan seems feasible. All you have to do is say, "Okay, I'll try to persuade him," then get back on the train and pretend to be dead, and never get off again. Anyway, Yuri is unlikely to visit the film industry a second time in the foreseeable future.

record it.

Yuri then continued to contend with the hybrid spirit before him.

Chapter 109 Journey to the Shadow Realm: A Soul Bound by Gravity

A few minutes later, Yuri was defeated.

You can't reason with a scoundrel—and even this scoundrel is starting to sense Yuri's attempts to evade responsibility.

"--Hmm... Before dealing with the train spirit, let me see how it goes? If I happen to have a way to solve it, then we won't need to trouble that person." Yuri found that the phrase "that person" was actually quite effective.

That's enough to fool this mixed-race spirit in front of me.

"You, you can solve this problem?" The hybrid spirit's eyes suddenly blazed with hope—even the four eyes on its wings opened at the same time, all six eyes staring at Yuri.

What's wrong with this guy?! He just suddenly did that?!

Yuri threw his frightened self into the trash can. "I can't guarantee I'll solve this problem. Your situation and mine can't possibly be exactly the same—but what if there are some similarities?"

In reality, they probably have nothing in common; Yuri doesn't even consider himself a spirit. But this one in front of him probably can't be explained away using this approach.

"No problem, no problem!" The hybrid spirit in front of him hurriedly said yes, as if a drowning person had grabbed a lifeline and couldn't care less about anything else.

"This might be a little uncomfortable, so bear with it. I may not be able to solve the problem even if I understand your situation, but I definitely can't solve it if I don't understand your situation," Yuri reassured him, and then began to focus on activating the Mage's Eye.

If it can be resolved by chance, then it will be resolved; if it can't be resolved, then we'll just run away using the backup plan.

Setting aside distractions, Yuri delved deeper into the mystery.

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.

A chaotic structure.

Under the Eye of Insight, the hybrid spirit before him revealed multiple layers, stacked one on top of the other.

The most fundamental thing is... it seems to be an eagle.

Yuri wasn't quite sure what kind of animal spirit it was; his creatures weren't very good at that, but at the most basic level it should be a bird.

Then, another important, or perhaps most cumbersome, component is a feline—judging from the stripes on its head, it should be a tiger.

You really can't tell from its appearance, Yuri thought. It's already good enough that it looks like a quadruped with a head that's a mix of features from various wild animals, not to mention the horizontal lines on its forehead.

Quickly regain your composure before wavering.

The other components are numerous, but not as complete; most are fragmented pieces pieced together onto the tiger's body.

Multiple cores emerged in the flow of spiritual essence, interfering with each other.

Contrary to expectations that complex observation would be required, Yuri could almost see through the structure of this hybrid spirit at a glance. —Of course, there might have been an element of its trying to cooperate, but the main reason was probably its extremely poor self-control.

It is indeed not far from falling apart and disintegrating on the spot.

There's a 90% chance the problem lies in the lack of fusion, and the reason for this lack of fusion is...

Yuri continued to observe, but found no particular reason.

Among the existing phenomena, the most likely cause is the reversal of strength and weakness. The basic level of the bird is not as good as the tiger that was added later, but it is not so weak that it is suppressed in reverse, and then it gets stuck.

Is it fusion or devouring? If it's fusion, then the fusion has failed; if it's devouring, then it's indigestion.

Yuri continued to observe carefully and felt that there were no more obvious problems.

drop out.

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.

"You were originally a bird?" Yuri asked the hybrid spirit to confirm.

To be honest, when Yuri first saw him walking over, he thought he was some kind of beast spirit mixed with others.

“That’s right!” Six eyes stared at Yuri with hope. “My lord, please save me! It’s been such a long, long time since I’ve flown! Even now, at the height of Tsukuyomi’s radiance, I can’t do it—”

"Wait a minute, how did I—" Yuri felt like the other party had suddenly leveled him up several times. Wasn't he just the Train Master's assistant before? As for not being able to fly... it's easy to understand. Judging from his size, he doesn't look like he can fly.

He seemed to be saying that it would be easier to fly with the help of moonlight, which had nothing to do with Yuri. As for calling Luna Tsukuyomi... that's probably just a matter of personal preference.

"Most spirits would guess I'm a beast, but you recognized me as a bird, which means—" The hybrid spirit, overwhelmed with emotion, seemed to choke, "—that I'm saved!"

No, no, no, don't immediately pin your hopes on something like this!

"What is your relationship with the tiger spirit? Did you absorb a tiger spirit in the past, and then get stuck?"

After Yuri said it, he immediately felt that it was very likely the truth.

“About a few hundred, less than a thousand days and nights ago, I encountered a severely injured tiger spirit. Even though it was severely injured, I didn’t intend to confront it—but it was determined to eat me as a source of sustenance.”

Yes, that's a normal start.

"In order to survive and seek revenge, I fought back bravely. Perhaps he was too badly injured, or perhaps he was just unlucky—he fell while passing through a trap that he could have easily crossed." The hybrid spirit's tone was quite calm. "Then I immediately realized that this was my chance to soar to the top... and then, just as you said, I found myself in this situation."

...Then there was silence, it seemed he felt there was nothing more to say about this matter.

Yuri moved on to the next step.

"I need you to lower your defenses so I can proceed with further operations—I must state beforehand that this is extremely dangerous. If I have malicious intent, you will be almost powerless to resist, and even if I have no malicious intent, I may still harm you if the operation fails. But if you want me to make changes, this is necessary—you can sense that I do not possess too much power, and if you resist fiercely, I cannot perform any precise operations on you."

That's not necessarily true, but if trying to help requires such a desperate effort, Yuri simply gave up.

"...No...no problem." The hybrid spirit hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.

Yuri rose from the stone chair and leaned towards the hybrid spirit... It would be best to make some contact. After thinking for a moment, he decided to grasp the claws protruding from the tips of the hybrid spirit's wings.

This should be the abnormal part, right? Birds don't expose their claws at the tips of their wings, right?

Yuri once again sensed the source of the problem.

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.

After making actual contact, Yuri discovered a large number of secondary cores in addition to the two main cores that had been previously identified.

These shouldn't be the key issues. Once the main problems are solved, I should be able to handle the remaining hybrid spirit myself.

The best approach is to directly promote the integration of these two aspects.

Yuri looked at them, imagining their merging...

No response.

It seems this problem isn't so easy to solve. Is it because these two can't be fused, or is Yuri's power insufficient?

Even if there's only the slightest loosening, Yuri would consider increasing investment in that direction, but he can't feel it at all.

After trying for a while, Yuri felt as if he had hit a wall that didn't react at all.

It's not working; Yuri is completely unable to move the core...

Consider this: is the very idea of ​​a mobile core flawed? This hybrid spirit might require a conceptual fusion, rather than a physical (spiritual) fusion.

Who understands conceptual matters? Next! Yuri might be able to manipulate the essence of the spirit, but fusion?

Option two: Since the two options are deadlocked, weaken one of them.

This is entirely possible; Yuri knows what to do in situations like this.

However, it sounds a bit like murder... Putting that aside, to do this, the energy flow between the two cores must be cut off, otherwise weakening one is equivalent to weakening both at the same time.

Even if they succeed, they will ultimately lose half...more than half of their power, Yuri is absolutely certain of that.

This matter should be allowed to be decided by the state.

Yuri moved his hand away, and after confirming that the hybrid spirit was still focused on him, he asked.

"Do you want to take a gamble? I believe it's possible to regain control of one of your two components by weakening a significant portion of your power. If you choose to gamble, you'll need to choose whether to weaken the eagle side or the tiger side."

Yuri simply handed the choice to the other party; these kinds of things must be agreed upon beforehand.

If Yuri were to choose, he would most likely keep the Eagle and weaken the Tiger... After all, Yuri particularly likes the concept of "his own," but it might not be the same for the spirits.

"Can't I... keep them all?" The hybrid spirit stared intently at Yuri. "Are there any conditions?"

...Yuri would have asked the same question too, but unfortunately Yuri couldn't satisfy him.