Chapter 273 - 269: Can Only Hold It Back

Chapter 273: Chapter 269: Can Only Hold It Back

"Damn it! This is a Magic Power reaction! The thing inside isn’t an ordinary Demon!"

The three reserves’ arms burned intensely. Some of the Magic Power had already flowed to their heads, allowing them to vaguely perceive the ominous Magic Power from the distant building.

"Shit!! If the East Great Capital police fail, can we even stop it?"

"We have to try and stop it first! Contact the association for reinforcements!"

A precious Sound Transmission Flower Seed was clutched in Hanato Doichi’s hand. A dozen or so seconds later, the seed crumbled into dust.

Although Magic Creatures with awakened Magic Power varied in strength, they were often bizarre, possessing all sorts of strange abilities. The three could only brace themselves and prepare for battle.

This was especially true for Hanato Doichi. As a citizen of Japan, he desperately didn’t want to see a major disaster strike the East Great Capital.

After sending the distress signal, the three reserve members of the Silent Knight Order prepared to risk it all tonight.

The Demon was still an unknown, but it was very likely a high-level Magic Creature.

They weren’t overestimating their abilities, trying to be a mantis stopping a chariot. Instead, they intended to use all their strength to gather intelligence, and hopefully save a few police officers to get a clear picture of the situation.

Clashes between Magic Power were incredibly dangerous. Unless one side had an overwhelming advantage, anything could happen.

Magic Controllers in the association were incredibly rare. If the person sent couldn’t get firsthand information—or worse, if they were to fall here—it would be a great loss for Dawn.

HUFF... HISS... HUFF...

Their breathing grew louder, the sounds drawn out longer, the intervals between breaths widening.

The air around the three of them stirred as if a slight breeze had picked up, driven by their breathing.

The temperature of the air exhaled from their nostrils gradually rose, and their skin began to take on a reddish hue.

CREAK... CRACKLE... POP...

Their bones and muscles made minute creaking and popping sounds.

They were already priming their bodies, ensuring they could enter the fight in peak condition at a moment’s notice.

Even though they could get into a combat state in a short time if a fight broke out suddenly, sometimes the slightest delay could make all the difference.

Every member of the Knight Order who had gone through hellish training understood this principle, unless you had an overwhelming advantage or had truly reached the Soul Burning Realm of a Silent Knight.

They pressed their arms to their faces. A portion of the moss-like growth on them detached and reformed over their features into an ink-black, half-face mask.

"Let’s go. Time to give them a hand!"

On the overpass, the six who had already decided to retreat were hastily preparing to flee, even scheming about who they could snatch a phone from to warn the police about the danger inside the building.

Harano Shihi, who had thrown up several times and was still shaken, felt the most pressure.

The others still only had a vague idea of what was going on. Only he understood what kind of monster was in that building. He was even pessimistic enough to believe he’d definitely be the first one caught by the Demon.

But just as he ran to the bottom of the overpass and was about to get into Matsuda Yumi’s car, Harano Shihi suddenly stopped.

He shook his head, but a burning sensation remained.

He turned and looked toward the television station building—or more precisely, his gaze slid past the building, toward the other side of the police cordon.

The chilling sensation in his body even faded a little. An inexplicable urge to go and see what was happening stirred within him.

...

The continuous gunfire from within the building had long since alerted the police officers stationed outside and the assault team members who were resting.

The chaos on the radio had put everyone on high alert.

BOOM! BOOM!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Near the stairwell on the third and fourth floors, two explosions rang out, shattering the glass curtain wall of that section of the building.

On the ground below, the police ringing the perimeter all raised their guns, on guard.

A minute or so later, Kumamoto Taro’s voice came over the comms.

"Turn on all the headlights! All cars in the cordon, point your fronts toward the building and turn on all headlights!"

Not long after he said this, accompanied by gunfire, a dozen or so surviving police officers and assault team members, along with two or three researchers, burst out of the building’s main entrance.

The first thing they encountered was the intense glare of the headlights.

But Kumamoto Taro had miscalculated one thing. Though the headlights were bright, the light was too direct, causing everyone to cast a long shadow behind them.

Four or five dark figures stepped into the shadows of several assault team members, instantly transforming into swift phantoms. The people outside only saw a flicker of black, and then four or five of the assault team members were headless, leaving only their bodies spouting fountains of blood.

"Get down! Fire!"

Kumamoto Taro roared. The first part of his command was for the people around him, now that he finally realized the problem; the second part was an order for the officers outside.

RAT-TAT-TAT... DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA... BANG! BANG!

The light and heavy weapons outside all opened fire in a sweeping barrage. Combined with the perimeter snipers, the curtain of bullets instantly splattered the four or five dark figures, which burst into black ichor. The powerful kinetic energy either blasted them back into the building or splattered them against the walls like piles of mud.

A dozen or so seconds passed. Kumamoto Taro and the people with him shakily got back to their feet.

They looked back inside the building as they slowly retreated.

’Is it over for now?’

But in the Perception of the three Silent Knight reserves, the burning in their arms only intensified.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

With three muffled thuds, their heavy steps leaving faint scuff marks on the road, three figures shot like the wind through the police cordon, arriving beside Kumamoto Taro and the battered assault team members.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three heavy punches seemed to make the air explode, kicking up a hot wind. By the time Kumamoto Taro and the others could react, three large figures now stood between them and the building.

Several Magic Silk Threads that had been shooting toward the assault team members were knocked back toward the building by the pressure of the punches.

"Get back! This isn’t a Demon you can handle, at least not with these weapons!"

Hanato Doichi didn’t turn his head. His roar was clearly heard by everyone. Then, he and his two comrades stood ready for battle.

In their vision, now filled with Magic Power, countless black threads could be seen writhing on the building.

"What is that thing inside? A spider?"

"Don’t get distracted! Here it comes!"

The words had barely left his lips when three dark figures slid along the trio’s own shadows to appear before them, a sharp thread glinting coldly in their vision.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

To Kumamoto Taro, who was still stunned, the three unidentified figures blurred, leaving afterimages in the headlights as they appeared before the building’s awning. Three impact sounds rang out at almost the exact same moment.

The bizarre black monsters burst like shattered water balloons, exploding into countless globs of black ichor that were then blown back toward the building in a fan-like arc by the airflow from the punches.

After shattering these three ink-black monsters, the heat flowing through the trio’s bodies surged again. The air around them seemed to shimmer and distort with a faint heat, looking like the air above a hot road in summer under the car headlights.

Faint Magic Power steamed off them. Their bodies were even more bulked up than usual, with immense power held in reserve, hidden within every muscle. Those nearby could even hear the powerful flow of blood in their veins.

HUFF... HISS... HUFF...

Their breathing sounded like a soft, whistling wind. A brief quiet fell over the area.

Hanato didn’t turn around, his voice low as he spoke.

"Are you from one of Japan’s special divisions? Then you must understand the situation. Evacuate, now! We can’t hold out for long!!"

"Also, as a witness, tell me now—what exactly is inside there?"

In this extremely tense moment, some of the police officers even pointed their guns at the trio of Hanato Doichi, Zuo Zhongqiu, and Clooney. This annoyed Clooney and Zuo Zhongqiu, but they didn’t dare let their focus waver.

A shot in the back at a time like this could mean the difference between life and death.

Thankfully, Kumamoto Taro finally snapped out of it. He shouted at the officers who were aiming their guns incorrectly, took a few seconds to process the situation, and then yelled toward the three mysterious superhumans.

"We don’t know what it is either! It might be some kind of infection. Some of our own men attacked us without any warning!"

As he said this, Kumamoto Taro suddenly remembered something.

"No, wait, there is a sign! It’s vomiting! Before they change, they vomit!"

Hanato Doichi turned slightly, glancing at them from the corner of his eye, revealing a face half-covered by a strange mask.

"You must evacuate all civilians centered on this location! The faster, the better!"

"It seems to be wary of the three of us right now, but once the Magic Power we’re using to confuse it runs out, that will change!"

His words were slow and contained many things they couldn’t understand, but the listeners could clearly feel the pressure behind them. This was a side effect of the intense spiritual fluctuations from high-quality souls of the same species.

In the current association, not everyone could be granted Magic Power. Precious Magic Power was naturally treated as a treasure, but right now, the trio could only use it as a means of intimidation.

"Only Magic Power can fight Magic Power." This phrase, widespread in other worlds, wasn’t entirely correct in the eyes of the rigorous Earthlings—a mushroom cloud would certainly disagree—but there was some truth to it.

By actively flaring their Magic Power, the three had indeed managed to temporarily bluff the Puppet Demon Spirit.

But this was merely a bluff against a powerful, unknown Demon.

For reserve trainees of the Knight Order to go head-to-head with a Magic Creature was almost the same as confronting one of the association’s Magic Controllers. They had absolutely no chance of victory!

’An infectious or parasitic type? It can’t be only as strong as what we saw before!’

Hanato thought for a moment but didn’t say anything more to remind Kumamoto Taro. He trusted that a special division of a country would definitely think to quarantine and inspect the people who had escaped.

Before he could think any further, several black threads in his field of vision suddenly twisted together and shot toward them.

The three leaped away without a second thought.

In the silent chill.

The retreating police officers watched as the three figures in front of the building became three afterimages, darting back and forth, while the granite tiles of the plaza were continuously ripped up or pierced with holes.

Occasionally, they would see the trio strike back, causing the air to crack with explosive sounds.

But they couldn’t see what the trio was fighting at all.

Kumamoto Taro felt a wave of lingering fear. If that thing had attacked them with this kind of power earlier, none of them would have escaped.

Hanato and the others had obviously realized this as well. This Demon seemed to enjoy toying with its prey.

"The thing inside is a Demon that makes puppets! Watch out for its Puppet Strings and withered monster hands...!"

Matsuda Yumi’s car had circled around to the area by now, and Harano Shihi shouted at the three Superman-like figures before the car had even stopped.

"The Puppet Demon Spirit!!!!"

A case file he had read some time ago suddenly flashed in his mind.

At the same instant, several black threads of Magic Power shot toward Matsuda Yumi’s car.

BAM! BAM!

Hanato Doichi and Clooney vanished from their spots simultaneously. One used a knee, the other a fist, unleashing their strongest attacks on the threads.

BOOM!

Matsuda Yumi gripped the steering wheel tightly. The car didn’t move, but from experiencing the clash of Magic Power at close range, she felt as if she were about to be blown away by the wind.

"Go, now!!!"

After intercepting the threads, Hanato Doichi only had time to roar at them before he and Clooney rushed back to the side of Zuo Zhongqiu, who was struggling to hold on.

Zuo Zhongqiu had bitten down on a Sound Transmission Flower’s seed and was relaying information about the Puppet Demon Spirit while dodging and fighting.

Matsuda Yumi slammed on the gas. The car scraped precariously against the roadside greenery as it shot away again. The police cars at the perimeter also pulled back.

Their words had stirred up a hornet’s nest. In the rearview mirror, the area in front of the building had been reduced to a chaotic wreck in a short amount of time.

The ground was constantly being torn up and blasted apart, the greenery and stone surfaces were being sliced as if by blades, and the mysterious figures were moving too fast to be seen clearly.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

A dozen or so rockets launched from rocket launchers flew into the first, second, and third floors of the building.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

The high-explosive warheads detonated in a symphony of fire and light. Countless windows shattered, creating a downpour of glass shards.

HUFF... HUFF... HUFF...

Thanks to this wave of assistance, Hanato and the other two were able to catch their breath for a moment.

But they didn’t dare lower their guard in the slightest. If this was truly the Puppet Demon Spirit, the most terrifying moment would be when it stopped playing around.

Judging from the Magic Power reaction, which hadn’t weakened at all, the rockets had either been completely ineffective or had missed their target.

’Let’s just hope it wants to play for a little while longer...’