Prime Minister's Official Residence.
One technique after another lit up in the sky, summoning monstrous beings that roared as they swooped down.
And directly in front of the swooping shikigami.
Krul Tepes, holding a blood whip in her hand, watched the charging shikigami with a look of boredom, her peripheral gaze locked onto the Onmyoji hiding behind cover:
"These fools, before hiding, did they never consider how idiotic it is to conceal themselves from a primogenitor?"
Crack!
The blood whip snapped through the air, directly exploding the atmosphere ahead and creating a conical sonic boom cloud.
Under the tremendous air current, the diving shikigami were immediately thrown into disarray, exploding mid-air one after another under the whip strikes.
Casually swinging the blood whip, Krul stepped closer to the Prime Minister's residence, then expressionlessly shattered a rockery with a whip strike, turning the Onmyoji hiding behind it into a bloody mist along with the debris:
"If you want to play hide-and-seek with me, you should at least stop your blood from flowing first."
After her sarcastic remark, Krul turned her head and glanced at the wildflower blooming beside the rockery, saying calmly:
"But speaking of which, is this really appropriate? Attacking a nation's official institution without higher-class orders, following me into this."
"It was you, Izumi and Giada who wanted to launch the attack, not me."
The wildflower spun its bud around, Shizuka Hio's indifferent voice emerging from within:
"Moreover, you and Giada only initiated this attack after learning from the minds of Ministry of Environment members that they possess the True Dragon Sorcerer Class. I simply couldn't stop you."
"I've already reported the relevant intelligence to the Supreme Chairwoman, following proper procedure. Therefore, I won't bear any responsibility in this matter."
Hearing this, Krul expressed surprise:
"You reported it to the Supreme Chairwoman? Not to the Demigod Director of the Hidden Management Department?"
"I thought that young girl was just a puppet without real authority. Apparently not?"
In response, Shizuka Hio showed no intention to explain. In her view, as a Familia candidate, Krul would understand the relationship between Lacus Clyne and Luo Shu once she joined the Familia, so she couldn't be bothered to explain.
As for why Shizuka Hio reported to Lacus... She couldn't very well say that after being consistently ignored by Luo Shu for so long, she worried her reports might be dismissed. Given Luo Shu's tendency to overlook her, this possibility wasn't unlikely.
Compared to Luo Shu, Lacus, who frequently responded to Familia inquiries within the Divine Pantheon, was clearly more approachable.
Noting Shizuka Hio's silence, Krul didn't press further. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and tentatively asked:
"Speaking of which, how is Takatsuki Izumi's situation? Has she found the Metropolitan Police Department's underground prison?"
"With the plants you control, determining everyone's situation shouldn't be difficult, right?"
In reply, Shizuka Hio's tone remained cool:
"Takatsuki Izumi has already breached the Public Security Bureau's blockade. It's estimated she'll need about five more minutes to locate the imprisoned ghouls."
Although ghouls were publicly declared extinct, that was merely the official statement.
Apart from the two groups of ghouls Luo Shu protected, the Japanese authorities involved in the ghoul eradication operation had also captured a batch for secret experiments.
For Takatsuki Izumi, ghouls independent from her and Yoshimura's influence simply couldn't be allowed to exist, especially not those being used for ghoul research.
If Japan's higher-ups were to undergo ghoulification as well, Takatsuki Izumi would go mad.
In her original world, it was precisely because the official higher-ups had turned into ghouls that life became so difficult for low-level ghouls like her. If such a scenario were to repeat itself in reality, she would undoubtedly lose her mind.
So even without Luo Shu's order, Takatsuki Izumi had already taken action. As for whether she would be punished afterwards, she couldn't care less at this point.
"Five minutes!"
Hearing Shizuka Hio's words, Krul sneered coldly. Gazing at the Prime Minister's residence being struck by bolts of lightning, she narrowed her eyes and said:
"So that means I don't need to hold back anymore here?"
Giada had located the Ministry of Environment's prison, Takatsuki Izumi had found the underground prison beneath the Metropolitan Police Department, and now it was her turn to deal with those ministers and the Prime Minister, seize their memories, and obtain information about the Class.
After all, when it came to seizing the Class, they could currently be considered allies on the same side.
"I should remind you that because of your assault here, the higher-ups in the residence have already begun evacuating from the rear."
Shizuka Hio spoke indifferently, then added:
"However, it seems your opponent has arrived as well."
Krul wasn't particularly surprised by this. She simply turned her head and glanced at the Prime Minister's residence, now engulfed in flames.
At the main entrance, a man dressed in black, tight-fitting clothing and wearing a helmet resembling a racing driver's emerged.
Seeing this, Krul twitched her nose slightly, then showed a hint of surprise:
"This aura? So you're working for Japan after all?"
Hearing this, Tatsuya Shiba remained silent for a moment before replying in a completely emotionless voice:
"I can sense the enemy's strength. Given the disparity between us, I estimate I can only hold them off for one minute."
It was unclear whether he was speaking to Krul or to someone connected via the helmet's communication device, but Tatsuya Shiba stated the fact that he could only delay for one minute.
"Hmm?"
Krul raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Based on her perception of the human body and the sense of danger emanating from Tatsuya Shiba, their strengths should be quite comparable. Yet now, he claimed he could only hold her off for one minute?
Instantly, Krul detected Tatsuya Shiba's trickery and realised something:
"I see. So the higher-ups of this country are trying to evacuate within this one minute?"
"Isn't that a bit too rushed? How about I speed things up for you and make it 30 seconds instead?"
Krul raised her hand, and with a thunderous roar, lightning descended from the sky. As if it were a tangible object, she grasped it, forming a spear composed entirely of crackling lightning.
Weaponising her familiars!
This was the unique individual ability of the vampiric breed belonging to the Third Primogenitor, Giada Kukulcan.
However, Giada had never publicly revealed that she could transform her familiars into weapons and lend them to her companions.
Gripping the sizzling lightning spear, Krul looked at Tatsuya Shiba with a faint, mocking smile.
In response, Tatsuya Shiba cooperatively spoke into the communicator inside his helmet:
"The opponent has employed abilities beyond conventional limits. Estimated holding time may not exceed 30 seconds."
The logistics officer in charge of contacting Tatsuya Shiba instantly reacted with: "???"
Are you fucking kidding me? Thirty seconds – who could possibly escape in that time?!
Most importantly, how was he supposed to report this to the fleeing Prime Minister and cabinet ministers?!!