"Master Ruri, are you alright?"
Seeing Ruri walk out of the bathroom, Haruno hurried over, filled with surprise and relief.
She cast a subtle glance at the girl's lower body, noting that she walked with ease and her expression was normal; nothing strange seemed to have happened.
"I'm fine. Takuma-senpai told me everything. You did well."
The girl said, sounding like an old person.
Haruno's expression didn't change in the slightest, though she muttered to herself that she never expected to be praised like a child by someone so much younger than her. While finding it amusing, she also felt a twinge of sentimentality.
"By the way, where is Mr. Asakura?"
Haruno asked.
"He is putting on his pants."
Ruri replied.
Haruno: "?"
Did nothing really happen?
Thinking about it carefully, there was no physical discomfort. Aside from the fact that they hadn't performed the 'bond fusion,' it was also possible they were already like an old married couple whose models were long since compatible.
Haruno pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized that no matter what had happened between the two, it was none of her business, and any concern on her part was meaningless. With that, she completely let it go.
"By the way, both of my bodyguards were turned into snakes by Mr. Asakura... Well, while I can understand it, they have been with me for a very long time, and keeping them as snakes for so long is a bit... I was wondering, Master Ruri, if you could..."
Having decided to stop caring about the messy business between Asakura and Ruri, Haruno turned to plead with the girl.
"Sure."
Ruri nodded and snapped her fingers at the two snakes facing the wall.
Haruno breathed a sigh of relief, watching her two bodyguards with anticipation.
Then, the two snakes turned into two teacup-sized kittens, rolling around on the floor.
Haruno: "?"
No, no, no. While I said that staying as snakes wasn't ideal, I didn't mean that turning them into other animals was any better! Although Yukino would probably be ecstatic to see them like this, wouldn't it be better to just turn them back into humans?
Facing Haruno's incredulous expression, Ruri looked away, wearing an expression that said, "I can't be bothered to explain."
Actually, if it were the other way around—for instance, if someone else were turned into a cat by Ruri—Asakura could use the Magic Spell [Snake] to turn them into a snake, refreshing their state, and then dispel the spell to return them to human form.
But for some reason, the priority of Ruri's Magic Spell [Beast] was not as high as Asakura's Magic Spell [Snake]. Even if she used [Beast] to overwrite the snake effect, dispelling the spell wouldn't turn them back into humans; they would remain in the form of snakes.
But at least the subject wouldn't want to eat frogs after returning to normal—at most, they would have a double appetite for mice—which counts as a good thing... right?
Seeing Ruri's attitude, Haruno knew she wouldn't be able to beg her to change her bodyguards back on her own, so she could only sigh helplessly.
At this moment, Asakura, having finally finished putting on his pants, walked out.
"Mr. Asakura."
Haruno bowed her head respectfully.
"No need for formalities."
Asakura waved his hand at her, putting on airs.
In fact, compared to Haruno's constant, beaming fake smiles, he actually preferred the way Yukino always kept a cold face.
Being expressionless is forgivable.
"Rather than that, tell me in detail about your previous experience."
"Actually, if I must say, I'm not entirely sure about the specific situation. Master Ruri and I were just at the hotel discussing follow-up cooperation with business partners of the Yukinoshita family when that strange fog suddenly appeared outside."
Haruno pondered for a moment, then wiped the smile from her face and answered seriously: "At first, I didn't pay any attention to it. I even thought for a moment that it was a special effect using dry ice or something by the hotel, since it is a world-famous hotel after all..."
"I felt it was strange, but I didn't sense any magic, so I could only assume it was an abnormal weather phenomenon."
Ruri added.
"After finishing the negotiations with the business partners, since Master Ruri seemed very interested in the fog, we went out for a stroll. But after walking for a while, we got lost in the mist... Well, I don't come to Osaka often, so I'm not particularly familiar with the terrain here. Plus, the fog was getting thicker, so we ended up in a bizarre place."
Haruno scratched her cheek in embarrassment and continued: "And then we encountered that monster."
"Siren Head?"
Asakura recalled the phone call Yukino had received back at the Campsite.
"Yes."
Haruno nodded.
She still remembered the scene at that time.
The fog had thickened without them noticing.
There was a damp smell of rust in the air, and the outlines of buildings were swallowed by the mist. In the distance, only shadows resembling crouching Great Beasts remained, and the footsteps of their group echoed on the deserted breakwater.
Then, the sirens blared.
The initial sound wasn't piercing; it seemed to be weakened layer by layer by the fog, dragging out a long, distorted tail, as if coming from deep underground.
She had instinctively stopped, but couldn't determine the direction the sound was coming from. She could only feel her chest tightening from the low-frequency vibrations. Thinking back now, that initial sense of unease must have started at that moment.
Then, the second siren followed, closer than before.
Although it wasn't anything worth bragging about, Haruno considered herself fairly knowledgeable and had some understanding of siren signals from many countries around the world.
But the rhythm at that time didn't belong to any familiar rescue signal; it was more like some kind of deliberate call.
Outlines began to appear in the fog.
First, two impossibly thin black shadows extended from the ground to the top of the fog, like dead tree trunks, yet they were moving slowly.
At that moment, Haruno suddenly realized that those weren't tree trunks or utility poles, but a pair of terrifyingly long legs!
Immediately after, the shape above them emerged—not a head, but a pair of rusty sirens, tilted and side-by-side, pointing in different directions as if searching for all prey at once.
The moment Siren Head fully appeared, all surrounding sound was sucked away.
The surging of the fog seemed to pause momentarily, and the distant city seemed to have been muted.
The body was ridiculously tall, its skin like wood smoked by fire, covered in cracks and nail marks. With every step it took, a dull echo reverberated from the ground.
It wasn't in a hurry to approach; it just stood in the fog, slowly turning its sirens, letting the sound diffuse in circles.
At that moment, Haruno felt as if her blood had frozen, and a profound sense of despair uncontrollably gripped her heart.
Did such a monster that defied biological logic really exist? Could it all just be a nightmare?
But the icy fog, so different from the height of summer, made her shiver uncontrollably; the bone-chilling cold was definitely not an illusion!
Everything was real, including the terrifying monster right before her eyes!
And then Siren Head was insta-killed by Ruri.
Even amidst the fog, Ruri's fearless back as she faced Siren Head left a deep impression on Haruno.
Perhaps that was the reason why, ever since then, she had inexplicably developed a blind faith in Ruri.
And then, there was the terrifying monster that appeared in the fog, The Birdwatcher, and Godzilla, who was summoned by Ruri.
"I see. I think I understand."
Asakura stroked his chin, pondering.
Although Haruno and Ruri's experience was quite unique, they weren't actually being specifically targeted during the whole process.
After all, it was obvious that the people eaten by The Birdwatcher were the unluckiest ones, and after the Great Beast, The Birdwatcher, appeared, it hadn't even noticed the two small fries on the breakwater...
So strictly speaking, the only thing they encountered in the entire fog that clearly attacked them with hostility was Siren Head, whom Ruri insta-killed.
In other words, this mist incident likely had nothing to do with Haruno or Ruri; they just happened to be in Osaka.
Was it a natural disaster?
Asakura didn't think so.
If the monsters that appeared this time were the kind of strange things that went beyond the established systems of existing horror films, he might have thought so.
But the monsters that appeared this time were all entities from the Monster Universe created by Trevor Henderson; this was clearly not a coincidence.
However, the Monster Universe created by that guy was clearly meant to be artistic concepts and didn't have many elements of urban legends. Even Siren Head, the most famous one, could at best be considered half an urban legend; it was impossible for them to manifest directly like urban legends, let alone on such a massive scale as covering most of Osaka.
Although he wasn't sure, Asakura guessed it was very likely that some cultists, or perhaps just young people who were particularly fond of Trevor Henderson's Monster Universe, had performed some kind of dark magic ritual based on records in ancient books, and through the magnification of the ritual, these monsters had finally appeared.
After all, there are even people who try to summon aliens, so summoning monsters out of curiosity or other brain-dead reasons wasn't incomprehensible.
And judging by the scale, the materials—or rather, sacrifices—required for such a ritual would definitely not be small. It probably required sacrificing at least a thousand people in a large building to cause an anomaly of such magnitude.
"...No, wait a second."
A sudden flash of insight hit Asakura, and he seemed to realize something.
"After Siren Head, were there any other monsters that appeared in the subsequent fog besides The Birdwatcher?"
"There should have been."
Because Haruno provided emotional validation to Ruri from time to time during her narration, Ruri, satisfied by the flattery, puffed out her small chest proudly and replied: "According to the feedback from the [Great Beast], it defeated several enemies."
"Then, besides The Birdwatcher, were there any other buildings destroyed by monsters?"
Asakura asked next.
Haruno thought for a moment and shook her head.
"Not in my impression. The only one severely damaged was the building attacked by The Birdwatcher... but whether that's actually the case remains to be confirmed by an official statement."
Asakura was just about to take out his phone when he realized that because it wasn't waterproof, he had left it on a shelf in the changing room and couldn't bring it out.
However, seeing his movement, Haruno immediately and considerately took out her phone and opened the news section on the internet.
After a day of chaos, the official Japanese government agencies had now set the narrative—a natural gas explosion! The cause of the building's destruction was a natural gas explosion!
The monsters seen by the people of Osaka, including Godzilla, were all a collective hallucination!
The people killed by other monsters (such as the wandering Siren Head) were casualties caused by debris falling from high altitude during the natural gas explosion!
There was nothing supernatural; everything was very scientific!
Science!
"They are just spouting nonsense."
Haruno's expression was ugly: "That building isn't some apartment; it's a super-high-rise commercial office building. There is no natural gas connected to it at all. The Osaka City Hall, in principle, doesn't allow such buildings to have natural gas pipelines installed!"
Then, she noticed that Asakura's expression had returned to a thoughtful look.
"Mr. Asakura?"
"As I thought... only one building was affected."
Asakura said softly: "Even though other giant monsters appeared, they didn't attack nearby skyscrapers but instead headed towards that building—"
"Is the person who summoned the monsters in that building?"
Haruno asked, frowning.
"I don't know either, but one thing is certain,
Asakura shook his head, "That building, I'm afraid, is the 'sacrifice' chosen for the ritual that is summoning this fog, or rather, these monsters."
"Wh—"
Haruno froze.
It wasn't that she was shocked by the murderer's inhumanity; after all, she had already thought that someone capable of causing such a major incident was probably not human to begin with...
She just found it a bit hard to accept—to be chosen as a sacrifice without any awareness or knowledge. If this happened to her or Yukino...
Unable to resist.
Even though she had felt this way many times before, this time the cold hard truth slapped her in the face: ordinary people have an unbridgeable chasm separating them from those with supernatural powers like Master Ruri and Asakura. The weight of mortal lives before them is no different from the life and death of ants on the ground.
"It's not that mysterious. As a sacrifice for a ritual, there needs to be a symbol of some dominion over the sacrifice itself—otherwise, if you tie someone to an altar to summon an evil god, and the evil god just pokes its head out, and the sacrifice shouts, 'I offer the person who drew the magic circle to Lord Evil God,' wouldn't you just be sacrificed yourself?"
Asakura said, "Regardless, the culprit of this incident must have something to do with that building."
He flicked his pajamas, and in an instant, they transformed into a long robe with a black base and red patterns. The Magic Club's emblem glowed brightly on the back. "Let's go take a look over there."