A bit later, inside Shitennō-ji Temple.
"The water keeps getting deeper."
"Has the drainage system failed? This is troublesome."
"Let's evacuate first."
Staff and some of the monks inside Shitennō-ji were frantically using wooden buckets and other containers, desperately trying to stem the rising water.
The results were less than satisfactory.
This rainstorm had arrived too suddenly, with an abnormally heavy downpour. Shitennō-ji, being an ancient structure, had an outdated drainage system despite multiple renovations, and it seemed to have developed some malfunction, causing the water level to rise steadily, nearly reaching knee height.
"Have you made the call?"
"Yes, but they said the heavy rain is blocking traffic, so they can't come to help."
"I see... then there's nothing to be done..."
Watching the rising water, the staff member shouted to the monks who were bailing with wooden buckets.
"Everyone, it's becoming dangerous! Evacuate to higher ground first!"
Most monks nodded at this, following the staff as they waded through the water to retreat.
Any sane person would make the same choice.
If Shitennō-ji flooded, it flooded—Osaka City Government would allocate funds for repairs later. But if lives were lost, they'd be gone for good.
Perishing with the temple?
Think this is some Titanic reenactment?
If Buddha could speak, he wouldn't advocate such meaningless sacrifice.
In the end, only about a dozen monks remained inside the main hall, sitting cross-legged on cushions already soaked by the encroaching floodwaters.
They sat quietly before the tall statue of Buddha, while outside, fierce winds battered the structure, causing the wood to creak and groan. Combined with the occasional blinding flashes of lightning and the deathly silence, it formed a profoundly eerie scene.
A few minutes later, from outside the main hall, came a series of faint yet distinct footsteps, overriding the sound of falling rain, as if stepping directly on their hearts, growing steadily closer.
As a figure in a black coat, wearing a black mask and holding a long, dark blade, appeared at the hall's entrance amid a sharp flash of lightning, the elderly monk with white eyebrows, seated closest to the Buddha statue, lifted his head and met Ye Xing's gaze, his tone exceptionally calm.
"Mask... you've come, as expected."
"You knew I was coming?"
Ye Xing swung the Onimaru Kunitsuna in his hand, a hint of laughter in his voice.
"All sitting here obediently waiting to die? Quite the resolve you have."
The elderly monk replied impassively.
"It remains to be seen who will emerge victorious."
"Oh ho, you're quite the scholar, aren't you?"
Ye Xing walked forward slowly, drawing a pure black pistol from his chest.
Hearing his footsteps, the dozen or so monks sitting in a circle suddenly began chanting incomprehensible sutras.
Bang.
Ye Xing approached and pressed the gun barrel against a monk's bald head, pulling the trigger without hesitation.
Blood splattered onto his clothes but was instantly devoured and erased by black flames.
"I have a question I'm quite curious about."
Ye Xing continued walking around the group of monks, pulling the trigger with each bullet piercing through a monk's skull, while calmly looking at the oldest monk, who appeared to be the abbot.
"To manage a famous temple like Shitennō-ji, even if you're not an enlightened master, you should at least be an awakened transcendent. Why would someone like you collaborate with evil?"
Watching the monks die one by one, the old monk didn't even blink, merely continuously rubbing the prayer beads in his hand as he slowly spoke.
"Benefactor... it is you who is creating karma through killing now."
"Oh? Moral blackmail?"
Hearing this, Ye Xing not only showed no hesitation but even seemed to become more excited.
Originally clean and efficient with single headshots for the monks, after hearing the old monk's words, he adopted crueller methods for the remaining few.
For each monk, Ye Xing now fired four shots into their limbs first, then delivered a shot to their most vulnerable area, enjoying their screams of pain without granting them a quick death before moving to the next target.
"Since I'm creating killing karma..."
Amid the monks' screams, Ye Xing looked at the giant Buddha statue behind the old monk and whispered softly.
"Then why hasn't your worshipped Buddha, or any god, come out to stop me?"
Seeing the old monk remain silent, Ye Xing shook his head, not concealing his disdain and contempt in the slightest.
"I hope there are no so-called deities in this Shitennō-ji. If there really are any, and they would watch you people fall to this extent while tolerating their temple being filled with evil spirits, then I should eliminate them along the way too."
"And since you don't seem to know, let me mention this."
Ye Xing looked at the monks' corpses on the ground, shaking his head with a light laugh.
"I don't like killing people, but you creatures are no longer human - just disgusting, twisted things that make me sick."
"You have already taken the evil path."
The old monk sighed slightly, assuming a sorrowful and compassionate expression before slowly speaking.
"You wish to know why we cooperate with the so-called Great God Izanami?"
As he spoke, the old monk's robe suddenly bulged, as if something beneath it was trying to break free of the robe's constraints.
Meanwhile, veins like small snakes swelled violently across his body surface. His previously half-closed, kindly eyes suddenly bulged to the size of bronze bells, with both eyeballs showing signs of detaching from their sockets.
In the blink of an eye, the old monk's body abruptly swelled, becoming as large as the Buddha statue behind him. His skin turned pitch black with pale golden patterns, while two additional grotesque heads with wide-open eyes sprouted beside his original one. From his ribs and waist, four thick, vein-bulging arms extended.
"Fusion, Fierce-Eyed Vajra."
Watching the old monk whose form had instantly expanded, fused with Soul Materialisation, and transformed into a three-headed, six-armed monster—so tall his head nearly touched the hall's ceiling—Ye Xing merely shook his head, expressing slight disappointment.
"I thought it would be something more novel, something that sounded nobler. In the end, it's just about wanting to become a Buddha yourself, isn't it?"
The old monk stomped a foot on the ground, causing the entire hall to tremble.
"I am... the true Buddha now!"
"No, you're merely a malevolent entity about to be slain by me, nothing more."
Ye Xing shook his head, watching the old monk stride toward him step by step. With Onimaru Kunitsuna held in his right hand, he lightly drew a cut across his left palm.
As a trace of red appeared in his palm, a golden bolt of lightning descended from the clouds in the sky.
From skeleton to flesh and blood, in just a few breaths, a giant encased in white skin, with the lower half of its face revealing bright red flesh, materialised before the old monk.
"Now, I am the War Hammer Titan."
The three-headed, six-armed monster let out a piercing roar, charging directly at the giant Ye Xing without any regard for potential damage to the surrounding hall.
Facing the old monk's imposing charge, a long-handled hammer, as if crafted from crystal, instantly materialised in the hands of Ye Xing's giant form.
Thud!
Like playing whack-a-mole, Ye Xing gripped the hammer's long handle with both hands and swung the spiked head toward the old monk's head.
However, the strike didn't land directly, instead being blocked by the two uppermost thick arms of the opponent.
"Petty tricks."
The old monk snorted lightly, his face resembling the Fierce-Eyed Vajra at Shitennō-ji's gate but even more twisted and ferocious—radiating undisguised killing intent.
"Die!"
The old monk shoved the hammer aside, his massive body charging toward the War Hammer Titan with the ground shaking beneath him. All six arms shot out simultaneously: two seized the War Hammer Titan's head, while the other four, fingers curled into claws, plunged directly into the giant's flesh.
"Die! Just die!"
With the three heads on his shoulders contorted into ugly, snarling visages, no one would ever believe he was any kind of deity.
Miko watched as Ye Xing seemed frozen in place by her presence. The old monk's six eyes gleamed with excited bloodlust. His two hands, originally resting on the War Hammer Titan's head, shifted downward, fingers piercing directly into the flesh of its neck as if trying to tear Ye Xing's head off by force.
At that moment, the War Hammer Titan's body suddenly transformed - from its original flesh-and-blood form, instantly crystallising into the same material as its long-handled hammer.
The old monk, who had intended to tear it apart violently, found his six hands trapped within the suddenly crystallised Titan, unable to pull them out easily.
Then the old monk suddenly noticed a long white tube extending from the back of the Titan's head, connecting all the way outside the main hall.
His pupils contracted in shock, disbelief spreading across his face.
"Could it be..."
Before the old monk could finish speaking, accompanied by another golden lightning strike landing in the main hall, a creature much shorter than the War Hammer Titan but far more agile and swift leapt onto his shoulder. With thick, bony teeth and jawbone armour, its sharp claws pierced his black skin, adorned with pale golden scripture text, as its mouth opened to an exaggerated angle far beyond human limits, rapidly biting toward the old monk's central head.
"No... no!"
Facing the approaching giant maw, the old monk's originally ferocious, wrathful vajra-like expression gave way to fear.
More bizarrely, only the central head displayed this fearful expression, while the other two heads on either side maintained their twisted, fierce countenances.
Crunch.
With the sound of shattering bones, Ye Xing, in his Jaw Titan form, unhesitatingly bit off the old monk's head, chewing it thoroughly before swallowing.
"Not bad, the flavour is acceptable, but lacking the most essential soul... It's like barbecue without dipping sauce... lacks depth of flavour."
Watching Ye Xing perched on the shoulders of the three-headed... no, now two-headed six-armed great Buddha, tearing and biting while offering culinary commentary, Hina Amano, who had been hiding outside the main hall, was completely stunned.
Seriously...
Was it necessary to be this brutal?
Actually eating it raw?
The two-headed six-armed giant twisted its body, attempting to resist, but with all six arms trapped within the crystallised War Hammer Titan and unable to free them, it could only emit agonised roars from its two remaining heads.
Only one phrase came to Hina Amano's mind to describe the scene before her.
Being eaten alive.
...
Meanwhile, across the entire city of Osaka, people witnessed the strange golden lightning descending from the sky, naturally including all members currently executing their plan.
"The second Gate."
Miko Yotsuya's gaze didn't linger on the sky. Instead, she drew Mikazuki Munechika from her waist, and with a pale golden blade flash, shattered the wooden Gate before her into fragments, watching it dissipate into black smoke.
She didn't show a satisfied smile. Instead, her golden eyes revealed traces of concern.
The process of eliminating these Gates...
It was proceeding far too smoothly, so much so that it felt suspicious.
According to Rio Futaba's analysis, since there were so many Gates in the bustling city centre, there must be psychics lurking nearby. Otherwise, when the mastermind behind this wanted to destroy the city, who would serve as the pawns to create mass death and negative emotions, inducing the Gates to open significantly in an instant?
Miko Yotsuya was responsible for the three Gates in the areas with the highest foot traffic, which also meant they were the three most crucial Gates in the mastermind's plan.
And now, even the second one had been removed, yet she hadn't encountered any obstacles.
No psychics, no evil spirits, not even the most common spectres.
This was too strange...
Thinking this, Miko Yotsuya took out her mobile phone and dialled Rio Futaba's number.
"Rio, everything's going smoothly on my end, so smoothly it feels abnormal. How about your side?"
"It's the same here."
"As I thought... something's not right..."
...
Meanwhile, in the most remote area.
"Hmm... once I finish this, the mission will be complete, right?"
Kazusa Touma looked at the wooden door before her and the desolate surroundings, her expression calm without any trace of fear.
"Play the melody, Kinnara..."
Just as Kazusa Touma's words reached halfway, an eerie, chilling female voice that sent shivers down one's spine sounded in her ear.
"You... don't you want to gain more?"
Kazusa Touma quickly turned around and saw a woman, draped in a large priestly robe, her face obscured by a hazy mist that gave off an unnerving sense of terror. She was floating there silently, her feet not touching the ground.
She didn't speak, merely watching the other.
Seeing this, Izanami continued in that same eerie, chilling voice that seemed to possess a captivating magic.
"Follow your heart, submit to me, and I will give you everything you desire."
"Everything I desire...?"
A hint of confusion appeared in Kazusa Touma's eyes. Without even summoning her soul's true form, as if entranced, she slowly walked towards Izanami.
Noticing this, Izanami pressed on with her temptation.
"As long as you obey me and become my believer, you will gain more, possess more, and even have everything. All that you desire, all the goals you wish to achieve, will be obtained and realised with ease."
"Re... really..."
"Of course it's true."
Izanami extended her hand towards Kazusa Touma, watching as the other gently placed her hand on her wrist. A trace of laughter crept into her voice.
"Next, you only need to call out my name, and then..."
"Sorry."
Suddenly, Kazusa Touma's fingers closed, gripping Izanami's wrist firmly. The confusion in her eyes vanished, replaced by her usual cool demeanour.
"Everything I want to obtain..."
Kazusa Touma spoke these words while executing a perfectly standard shoulder throw, slamming Izanami's body heavily onto the ground. She then raised her foot and, without hesitation, crushed the other's face, which was shrouded in misty vapour.
Thud!
Watching as Izanami's body dissipated into black smoke, Kazusa Touma spoke softly.
"Friendship, family bonds, romantic love... I've already obtained everything I want now."
Even Rikka Sakuragawa, who had dispatched Izanami to wait here while being in another city, probably never imagined that there truly existed someone in this world completely free from desires and utterly immune to Izanami's temptations.
Although other members would likely have been able to regain their clarity here, too - after all, those who awaken Soul Materialisation are all people who have confronted their true inner selves and possess resolute willpower.
But whether they would remain completely unswayed like Kazusa Touma from start to finish, even turning the enemy's scheme against them, that was another matter entirely.
What Kazusa Touma wanted was simple.
Friends - she had them. Not just Setsuna Ogiso, but also Yukino Yukinoshita and the members of the Supernatural Society were all her friends.
Family bonds? After resolving the conflict with her mother, this emotional knot had been untied, too.
Romantic love... This needed no elaboration. From the moment Ye Xing gave Kazusa Touma that pillow, she had already possessed it.
Kazusa Touma - Resolute Willpower Edition, Immune to Illusion Techniques.
"The plan failed..."
Just then, several figures suddenly approached rapidly from a distance.
They examined Kazusa Touma standing there, their eyes revealing twisted, maddened greed.
"Perfect. This way, we can devour you, the isolated one."
Kazusa Touma slightly furrowed her brows, slowly clenched her fist, and took a deep breath.
Just as she was about to summon her soul's true form, the sound of ringing bells suddenly resounded throughout the area.
A petite girl wearing a Miko outfit and holding a paper umbrella appeared beside Kazusa Touma.
The Matchmaking Deity looked at the several psychics showing greed and murderous intent, her cute face displaying obvious anger for the first time as intense spiritual power fluctuations erupted around her.
"I won't allow you to destroy the bonds recognised by this Matchmaking Deity!"