Spark Squatterhouse – Evening
"I'm back…"
A young man with black-and-red hair and fiery amber eyes pushed open the door, his expression full of gloom and disappointment.
He had just confessed to a girl in his class—again.
And, as expected…
Rejected.
"Alas…" he sighed, shoulders drooping.
"You're back."
A calm but commanding male voice echoed from the living room.
Thud…
Footsteps rang out across the wooden floor. A man stepped forward, wearing a crisp white hunting uniform. His hair spiked like a hedgehog, with a single braid dangling near his ear. His presence was stern yet reliable.
The young man—Enmado Rokuro, disciple of the Exorcist House—lifted his eyes at the sight of the uniform. Then he quickly looked down, slipping off his outdoor shoes and muttering as he switched to indoor sandals.
"…Ryogo, was there filth nearby again? Dinner's almost ready. Can't we take care of it after eating?"
"No."
Tsubaki Ryogo's tone was sharp, cutting through the air. His urgency sent an invisible weight pressing down on the room.
"This isn't something we can delay. Eating can wait."
Rokuro blinked.
Even if filth appeared in the area, Ryogo was never this hasty. After all, most filth—low-level impurities—were hardly dangerous to ordinary people.
Only those of Snake level or higher posed a real threat.
Those rare ones could tear open the barrier of the Calamity Realm and drag people with innate spell power into it.
For Ryogo to insist like this…
This wasn't ordinary.
"Oi! Atsuke! Shinnosuke! Are you ready yet?!" Ryogo's voice bellowed down the hallway.
"Coming!"
"I found the charm to unlock the Calamity Gate—got it!"
Two figures rushed out from the corridor, both wearing the same white hunting clothes. Ezukasuke and Kuzaki Shinnosuke—fellow exorcists of the Seika Dormitory.
"Yo, Rokuro, you're back," Ezukasuke greeted casually despite the tension.
"Don't wait for us to eat. You'll go hungry," Shinnosuke added with a half-grin, but his eyes were sharp and focused.
Rokuro opened his mouth, confused, but the three were already moving in sync.
"We're leaving!" Ryogo declared.
The three men hurriedly slid open the door, bolted outside, and piled into the black business car parked at the entrance.
Its tires screeched as it sped off into the night.
Rokuro stood frozen, bewildered by the suddenness of it all.
Just then—
From the depths of the corridor, an elderly figure emerged.
His steps were slow but deliberate, his voice raspy yet calm, carrying decades of wisdom.
"Listen to Ryogo." The old man's tone left no room for doubt. "This is no ordinary case. It's a large-scale impurity outbreak. Over a thousand people have vanished in the Shibuya district."
Rokuro's eyes widened. "…A thousand?"
The elder nodded gravely.
"Yes. Every Onmyoji in Tokyo has been mobilized, even the exorcists from the private academy. Reinforcements from nearby cities are being summoned as well."
The words crashed into Rokuro's mind like thunder.
A thousand people gone. Even the academy's elite dispatched.
This wasn't just serious.
This was unprecedented.
...
Kyoto – Yin-Yang Bureau Headquarters,
Meanwhile, in the towering Yin-Yang Bureau of Kyoto—
Tsuchimikado Arima, the enigmatic head exorcist, leaned back in his chair as he read the report.
His usual playful smirk vanished.
The ever-mischievous gleam in his eyes hardened into cold calculation.
"Even if hundreds of snake-level or true snake-level impurities gathered…" Arima tapped the wooden desk with his fingers. "…it still shouldn't be possible to drag thousands of people into the Calamity Realm at once."
His mind spun through possibilities.
"They alone couldn't manage this scale… No. Someone is pulling strings behind the scenes. A mastermind, tampering with the balance of the two realms."
The tension in the room grew heavy.
Then, sharply, Arima called out:
"Mikage-kun!"
The sliding door opened.
A tall man with darker skin, robed in black, stepped inside and bowed respectfully.
"I am here."
Arima didn't waste time.
"Which of the Twelve Heavenly Generals is closest to Tokyo?"
Mikage closed his eyes in thought.
"…That would be Ikaruga Shimon-sama. He returned to Tokyo just yesterday. Family business, I believe."
Arima's eyes narrowed.
Even a Heavenly General like Shimon would find this dangerous.
If there truly was a mastermind, a lone General could be overwhelmed.
"…Wait." A sudden realization struck him. His lips curled faintly. "How could I forget?"
There was someone else in Tokyo.
Not a General, but an anomaly among exorcists.
Gojo Satoru.
With that man's ridiculous power, even if the mastermind revealed himself, the battle would be one-sided.
Arima exhaled, shoulders relaxing slightly.
"…Still." He tapped his fingers again. "Better to prepare for the worst."
Rising from his chair, Arima turned to Mikage.
His voice was calm but resolute.
"Send word to Subaru Mitejima and Seigen Amawaka. Use transfer charms and have them dispatched to Shibuya immediately."
"Yes, sir." Mikage bowed and left swiftly.
Arima leaned back, his smirk returning at last.
"Heheh… Gojo-kun, look how generous I am. Calling in reinforcements just for you. No need to thank me."
...
Shibuya – The Storm Approaches,
Meanwhile, Gojo Satoru, unaware of Arima's sly amusement, was already on the move.
His phone buzzed with the official summons, but he didn't need the order to know.
The air itself was screaming.
The pressure of countless impurities boiling within Shibuya.
A flicker of determination crossed his face as he adjusted his blindfold.
"Guess dinner will have to wait…"
With a light chuckle, Gojo's figure blurred and vanished—heading straight into the heart of the calamity.
...
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