The moment they received the command, Oshima and Asakura began their preparations.
They retrieved four briefcases from the van parked behind them.
When the cases opened, they revealed black drones stored inside each one.
Yomi Isayama, standing to the side with Noriyuki Izuna, glanced at the drones and could vaguely make out Chinese labels covered by stickers in the corners.
Noticing Yomi Isayama's gaze, Oshima slightly raised his chin and said in a peculiar tone:
"Curse Technique Model 1 drone. Speed: 220 km/h. Weight: 2 kg. Endurance: 22 minutes. Can carry 500g curse technique bombs for precise suicide attacks. These are special drones provided exclusively to the Containment Department by Katabira Company."
Hearing this, Yomi Isayama remained silent for a moment, secretly taking another look at the so-called Katabira Company exclusive drones.
If she wasn't mistaken, the covered label in the corner should have read 'DJI Company'.
Even special supplies for these unique departments resort to rebranding?
Before Yomi Isayama could voice her criticism, the four drones quickly took off under Oshima and Asakura's control and headed toward the target location.
Just then, Asakura, who was operating the drones nearby, said to Yomi Isayama:
"If you have nothing to do, scout the surroundings. Make sure no one disturbs us, and prepare for the containment work."
"You can't possibly fail at such a simple task as lying back and collecting credit, can you?"
Hearing this, Yomi Isayama finally couldn't hold back:
"Don't be careless. The target is a pureblood vampire. Although we've used hallucinogenic toxins and prepared specialised curse technique rounds, the possibility of it retaining resistance still exists."
Upon hearing this, Asakura immediately sneered: "Do you think we haven't considered that?"
However, the moment her words fell, the right hand with which Asakura held the drone controller suddenly vanished.
"What?"
As excruciating pain flooded her mind, Asakura turned her head and stared blankly at her completely torn-off right arm, her pupils contracting to pinpoints.
Just then, an excited laugh came from the fountain to the right:
"My, my, I almost didn't hold back and crashed right into it... But speaking of which, did I tear off something? Never mind, it's not important."
Hearing this voice, Yomi Isayama turned her gaze. Beside the park fountain, she saw a nimble, leopard-like girl with emerald hair and blue eyes, casually tossing a severed arm to the ground.
"Who are you?"
In that instant, Yomi Isayama only had time to grip her sword hilt.
The next moment, Asakura's scream pierced through her mind.
"AAAAAAHHHH————-"
"My hand, my hand!!!"
Hearing the scream, Giada turned her head and glanced at the woman clutching her arm while wailing in agony, wrinkling her nose in distaste:
"How noisy."
"It's just a torn-off hand, isn't it? I held back enough not to rip your head off, you know?"
"You should understand, jumping over from the opposite building was quite troublesome."
'Opposite building?'
Yomi Isayama instinctively glanced at the nearest building, but the closest one was over 1 kilometre away.
Jumping from a kilometre away?
At the same moment, with a roaring sound.
One after another, ghostly blue fireballs the size of basketballs rained down towards Giada like machine gun fire.
The one launching this attack was naturally Oshima.
He had long since discarded the drone remote control, now holding a stack of talisman papers in his hand, his face dark as he shouted at Yomi Isayama:
"What are you standing there for? Buy me some time quickly, I'll restrict her movements!!"
Yomi Isayama immediately prepared to act upon hearing this, but the next second, with a thunderous crash.
The ground suddenly exploded, sending numerous fragments and dust flying into the air.
As the smoke cleared, Yomi Isayama barely had time to shield her face with her arm, crouch low, and thrust her sword sheath into the ground to brace herself, preventing herself from being blown over by the sudden gust of wind.
When she steadied herself and looked up, a massive, six-metre-tall deformed creature now stood where Oshima had been moments before.
A crimson single eye, a twisted shape reminiscent of movie aliens, and a gigantic monster covered in sharp spines along its arms and back emerged from the smoke.
As the smoke dissipated, Yomi Isayama looked down at Oshima beneath the creature's feet - now missing half his body, with only his chest and head remaining - and suddenly fell silent.
In this situation, with one person missing a hand, another half their body, and herself unable to even clearly follow her opponent's movements.
How are they supposed to fight this?
Cold sweat trickled down Yomi Isayama's face.
Just then, a puzzled voice reached her ears:
"Strange, the man beside you seems to possess no sense of self at all?"
Hearing this sudden voice, Yomi Isayama immediately tried to draw her sword and strike back, but when she tried to pull the blade free, powerful resistance blocked her.
Yomi Isayama's pupils contracted sharply. Looking down in shock, she saw thick, ink-black vines sprouting from her beloved sword's sheath.
The vines rapidly spread, almost instantly enveloping her entire body and trapping her within, as if Yomi Isayama had grown embedded within the vines.
Noriyuki Izuna received similar treatment, though compared to the vacant-eyed Noriyuki, the vines surrounding Yomi Isayama were notably thicker.
At that moment, cherry blossom petals drifted down beside the vines, gradually coalescing into a human form.
Then, Shizuka Hio emerged from within, clad in her pure white kimono. After glancing at Yomi Isayama, she turned towards the deformed creature nearby and said:
"It seems we're at a stalemate."
From within the massive, distorted creature, Takatsuki Izumi's voice emerged: "That wasn't what we were competing over?"
The enormous, grotesque creature extended its fierce hand, plucking Oshima's head directly from his body. Holding the severed head, it grinned viciously and asked:
"Shizuka, you can extract memories from this person's head, can't you?"
Shizuka Hio responded merely with a calm statement:
"I can, but what do you intend to do?"
At that moment, Takatsuki Izumi's manic laughter rang out:
"Of course, we'll find the mastermind behind this and go straight there to kill them!!"
"Not a bad suggestion."
Beside them, Giada, who was stepping on Asakura Rei's chest, stroked her chin with a face full of amusement:
"How about we compete later to see who can kill more enemies?"
Hearing this, Shizuka Hio said coldly: "You people are truly boring."
But despite her words, Shizuka Hio summoned plants that instantly engulfed Oshima's head.
Within seconds, she had extracted the memories she wanted:
"Ministry of Environment Abnormal Creature Containment Division, Director Hong Ruowang?"
"Hong Ruowang?"
Shizuka Hio murmured the name, then sighed softly:
"I think I'm beginning to understand why I've been targeted..."
Shizuka's soliloquy didn't capture Takatsuki Izumi's attention, instead making her tone turn playful:
"The Ministry of Environment... somewhat troublesome, it's an official institution..."
"Giada, what do you say?"
Hearing this, Giada raised her right hand high and said with a laugh:
"Of course, we charge right in!!"
The moment the words fell, immense magical power echoed through the sky with Giada's chant:
"Come galloping forth, Amashutorii————! Yoyo!"
The next instant,
The sky was shrouded in black clouds!