Not a detective

Page 85

Now that things have come to this, Asakawa Riku can't just shut Shinonome Suetsuki up; he can only do his job as a detective's assistant.

That's to give the detective a response: "What surveillance footage?"

“Security cameras, huh?” Mo Yue smiled with satisfaction. “Since they’re guarding this place so closely, the Wine Pavilion upstairs must have security cameras monitoring it. So they must have seen our antics just now. They knew we were looking for this place, which is why they made preparations in advance…”

The words had barely left his mouth when, almost simultaneously, two voices rang out.

"Then we can't let them get away with this."

"Then we can't leave them here."

Asakawa Riku and Chizuko's voices overlapped, and for a moment it was impossible to tell who said which sentence.

Asakawa Riku's words remained in place, but he himself disappeared.

"Fire!" It seemed that an officer among the soldiers gave the order, but it was too late.

The boy appeared directly in front of them, closing the distance with his overhead steps, then suddenly fell, his feet stepping over two gun barrels and pinning them to the ground.

In an instant, gunfire erupted on the ground, the ricochets causing their wrists to go numb. Asakawa Riku paid no heed to their feelings and knocked the two men at the front of the line unconscious.

The soldiers who followed were highly trained and were ready to take over firing immediately, but the narrow corridor gave the assassins perfect opportunities to operate.

Asakawa Riku raised his palms and lifted the muzzles of his guns again, and the bullets missed once more.

Then, with a swift right leg, he struck down a string of soldiers, one after another, with overwhelming force.

His movements were as fast as a ghost. Asakawa Riku had always firmly believed in one idea: a person may not be able to outrun a bullet, but as long as they can outrun the shooter, that's enough.

The more afraid he was of being shot, the sharper and more refined his understanding of disarmament and surprise attacks became.

"Repair it! Don't be afraid! It's just flesh and blood!"

The soldiers seemed stunned by the terrifying power and speed, but their commander rallied them and immediately gave new instructions.

One person's strength is ultimately limited, and the material of those bulletproof armors seems to be extraordinary; at least, Asakawa Riku felt something was off when he hit them.

Although the soldiers fell, new ones quickly took their place, slowly surrounding the boy.

They held up their rifles, unknowingly pointing them at Asakawa Riku's head, chest, and other vital points.

"These aren't just ordinary mercenaries... The Dongyun family really goes all out. You're all elites from special forces, the kind who've been on the battlefield and killed people."

Asakawa Riku had to stop what he was doing, but he was still smiling.

He could smell the scent of his kind; those who had been through many battles, those whose hands were stained with blood, gave off a completely different aura.

None of these soldiers were easy to deal with.

"There are six left here... plus a commander."

No one responded to Asakawa Riku's words; it was as if he were performing a monologue.

The gun barrels around him drew ever closer, almost touching his skin. Perhaps they were all waiting for an opportunity to subdue him, but it seemed like that opportunity was never coming.

This boy was clearly unarmed, and he was clearly being held at gunpoint; he should have been in a desperate situation!

Why is he still so calm?

"Firearms are very useful weapons. They give the untrained weak a chance to defeat the strong, breaking the long-standing balance of history. This is the great 'freedom,' breaking through the shackles of the powerful. From then on, even the weak among humanity have the power to resist. To be honest, even I am afraid of bullets, very afraid. Although I had rehearsed those shots in my mind countless times, it was the first time I actually used them. In fact, I was trembling with fear. Really, after all, this is a country where guns are prohibited. The guys I encountered before were just pretending to carry small pistols. There were very few killers who dared to actually fire. Thank you for your guidance; this is a valuable experience."

When it comes to crucial moments, Asakawa Riku becomes incredibly talkative, seemingly unable to stop talking:

"But do you know that by gaining the right to pull the trigger, you have lost all other rights? Because the human body is the most powerful weapon."

"...Don't listen to his nonsense. Shoot his hands and feet through, leave him alive for interrogation, that's enough!"

The officer roared the order to start, but Asakawa Riku took out something before he could.

In that instant, all the soldiers instinctively flinched, fearing that he might pull out explosives or grenades.

But that was not a weapon.

"These are the numbers on the chest piers of the tactical vests under the armor of all of you."

Asakawa Riku held up a stack of small pieces of cloth, like scraps of paper, six in total: "Although I don't know your names, nor do I know what this number means, it doesn't matter. All you need to know is... I confess, when you surround me and open fire, I might not be able to dodge all the bullets, but as long as my cerebellum, which controls my motor nerves, isn't injured, I can still act on my own. At least four of you six will die. And let me guess, none of you have studied the exact location of the cerebellum, right?"

He dropped each number from his fingertips, slowly rubbing and trampling it under his feet, a rare, arrogant smile on his face:

"So, everyone, would you like to try your luck?"

Winter of the Demons: Chapter Thirty-One Breakthrough

As soon as she finished speaking, Kazamatsuri Chizuko launched her attack from the other side.

Because they were in a narrow corridor, surrounded by two sides, it was a very unfavorable terrain with no way to avoid the bullets. The moment they opened fire, the bullets poured in.

Chizuko is an expert in exorcism. She has no experience fighting soldiers and guns, but her younger sister is behind her, which does not allow her to back down.

She was furious.

"Tsukumogami - Kara-san!"

A clear voice came from her mouth, and her hand, which had somehow grasped the red paper umbrella, opened with a whoosh and held it in front of her.

The umbrella's size varied, making it difficult to determine its exact dimensions, but it just happened to completely block out the entire corridor.

Despite being made of oiled paper, for some reason, all the bullets and gunpowder that hit it were inexplicably blocked by a barrier and fell to the ground.

They fired a magazine in quick succession, until the soldiers were astonished and realized something was wrong.

Chizuko shouted, "Cover your ears!"

In an instant, Asakawa Riku and Yukie were on the same page; they both knew what was about to happen, and Yukie immediately covered her ears.

Meanwhile, Asakawa Riku, who was being surrounded in the distance, covered his ears with a smile.

Then Chizuko jumped up and covered Shinonome Suetsuki's ears. The next second, Kiku let out a sharp scream and a shrill cry:

"Nine...ten? What about the tenth one...where's my tenth finger...!!!"

The ghost Kiku's ability is to cut off one of the fingers of anyone who hears her count from one to nine.

This is an ability that doesn't seem very powerful, after all, it's just a finger. Even if it causes disability, it won't kill you immediately.

However, once its range expands, it becomes a terrifying area-of-effect damage.

In that instant, before the soldiers in the corridor could react, they all heard the ghost's terrifying scream.

They didn't have time, nor could they cover their ears; the specially designed tactical headphones inside their helmets were there to amplify the sounds of footsteps and other noises around them...

At this point, it became the best medium for dissemination.

They instinctively tried to pull the trigger, but found that the guns in their hands wouldn't obey them.

Is the gun broken? Is it jammed?

That shouldn't be the case. Even if one gun breaks down, it's impossible for everyone's guns to break down at the same time.

Looking down, I realized that it wasn't the gun that was broken, but my "finger" that was broken.

Everyone's index fingers were empty, twitching repeatedly, spurting blood, trying to pull the trigger. The phantom limbs brought a false sense of touch, but they couldn't pull it at all.

Before I could even feel the pain, a bunch of index fingers slammed to the ground, like a bunch of worms writhing on the ground, looking utterly disgusting.

"What……!"

"What's going on—"

"Weird...monster!"

Some soldiers were startled and screamed in surprise, but most of them, being from elite units, immediately gritted their teeth and ignored it, switching hands to prepare to fire their guns with their left hands.

But this brief gap in the handover, this tiny gap, was more than enough for Asakawa Riku.

His figure seemed to tremble slightly under the light.

It was just a slight tremor; a regular camera wouldn't be able to capture it, and the naked eye would hardly be able to see his movement.

Any description seems inadequate; in short, before the soldiers even had a chance to switch weapons, they collapsed to the ground, completely disoriented.

Their chest armor had a horrifying dent, and he could have struck more vulnerable vitals, but it seemed he was just testing whether his fist could penetrate it.

On the other side, although Chizuko was a beat slower, her speed was enough to seize the opportunity.

The paper umbrella in her hand folded up, turning into a cane to support her body.

When she needs to use crutches, it means that the "mountain boy" under her feet has regained his freedom. This other shikigami doesn't look as conspicuous as Okiku, but it hides its power.

It's just pure power.

Mountain children can hide underground and suddenly emerge to disrupt a person's balance and center of gravity. This nature, similar to that of a groundhog, often makes them difficult to guard against.

Especially for these heavily armored soldiers, once they fall, it is difficult for them to get up again. The power of the mountain child is amplified even more in the mountains. At this moment, it destroys the soldiers' formation like a whirlwind. Together with Ajuku, they are in the air and on the ground. The invisible ghostly hand arouses both physical and psychological fear, and for a moment, screams of agony fill the air.

The Onmyoji only needs to stand quietly in place and wait for it all to come to an end.

"You...you people are definitely not normal!"

The last one was the squad leader, whose fingers had also been severed, and he was now holding the gun with his left hand.

Asakawa Riku slowly walked towards him. If it were just one person's bullet and gunfire, it would be impossible for him to hit. There was no need to be afraid.

He saw the commander secretly press a button on his clothes; although the movement was discreet, it did not escape his notice.

“You can’t call for reinforcements,” Asakawa Riku smiled. “Because it’s snowing in the mountains.”

"No...impossible, there's no such weather forecast."

The officer's psychological defenses were being crumbled bit by bit: "There's no snow forecast for the next two weeks!"

Asakawa Riku didn't need to explain too much to him. Once it snowed on Mount Oe, the narrow mountain roads were impassable for vehicles, helicopters couldn't fly into the mountains, and there was no way to do anything like rappelling. Those soldiers wearing heavy armor could hardly move an inch in the snow. They had to thank Yukie for providing the terrain advantage, otherwise these guys would have been really hard to deal with.

Ultimately, the officer's bullet went completely astray because at the crucial moment, "Yamawara" kicked the muzzle of his gun away, and Asakawa Riku stepped forward and pressed down on the guy's helmet.

He just swayed slightly.

At least that's how it appears on the surface.

The next second, that person lost consciousness and fell to the ground like the others, without a sound.

It appeared to be a gentle shaking, but in reality, it vibrated dozens of times in a second, with the head violently impacting the helmet and the brain violently impacting the skull.

A concussion of this severity will likely keep the patient awake for at least half a day, and even if they do wake up, it will cause severe brain damage and memory loss.

"Wow, that's amazing! It's like an action blockbuster!" Once it was all over, Dongyun Sueyue, who had been standing quietly in the same spot without getting in the way, finally shouted excitedly. She ran quickly with small steps, occasionally kicking the unconscious soldiers on the ground: "It was definitely worth the money to hire you. This is a scene that you can't even see in a movie theater."

"Brother, are you injured?" Yukie walked over and looked at Asakawa Riku with concern.

"I'm fine." Asakawa Riku smiled, indicating that he was not hurt.

At the same time, Chizuko whispered to the person next to her, instructing Kiku to scout the surroundings and find the location of the "monitoring room," and to destroy any machines she found.

The power they displayed during their intrusion and the content of their conversation must absolutely not be leaked.

She turned to the crowd:

"If I haven't missed anything, this should be all the security forces for the Dragon Palace. Now, it's time to explore."

Winter of the Demons: Chapter Thirty-Two Research Institute

The four of them walked along the corridor together, and sure enough, they did not encounter any other security personnel or soldiers along the way.

There were various rooms on both sides of the corridor, but none of them were occupied, making it seem like a "residential area".

Are the employees of Ryugu Palace currently working? Or perhaps they just heard the alarm and hid?

However, with such a strong blizzard outside, even if they ran, they could only reach the Jiutian Pavilion; they probably couldn't escape the mountain.

After walking for a while, I saw a completely enclosed gate, now lit up with a red light, which seemed to indicate that the area was under lockdown.

It looked exactly like the door to a bank vault. Asakawa Riku estimated that even if he wanted to dismantle it, it would take him quite a bit of effort.

Chizuko smiled and led them through instantly, without needing to worry about the password or permissions at all.

Ghost is so useful that Asakawa Riku even thought that robbing a bank would be easy for him. He's a dangerous guy.

After passing through that blocked gate, the view suddenly opened up.

It was a huge "office area". They were in a three-tiered staircase, and there were even two more levels dug out below, which shows how large this underground facility was.

As expected of the name "Dragon Palace Imperial Palace", it has a different feel from the ancient style and is much more technological.

There seemed to be a lot of technological equipment in the middle that he couldn't understand. Of course, it wasn't as exaggerated as a collider, but Asakawa Riku really couldn't recognize what those parts were.