"Mm, mm! Yotsuha is warm! Oh, and the Kami-sama..."
Mitsuha said, overwhelmed with joy, but just then, she looked up, her gaze sweeping past the courtyard, and saw behind the shrine's altar.
A bizarre alien stone statue stood there.
It stood behind the Miyamizu Divine Statue.
Instantly, Mitsuha felt as if she had been doused with a basin of hot water while standing in sub-zero snow.
The warmth of joy solidified before it could even rise.
Her pupils contracted.
"Mitsuha?"
Sensing her granddaughter's sudden, cold change, Grandmother Hitoha also raised her head in confusion.
"Grandmother, look at it and don't blink."
She saw the terrifying alien statue, and Mitsuha's voice rang in her ears.
"?"
She let out a soft questioning sound, but she obediently did as Mitsuha instructed.
This was not only out of trust for Mitsuha but also because, currently, Mitsuha was the true shrine maiden of the god at Miyamizu Shrine.
"Did the Kami-sama tell you something?"
While staring at the stone statue, Hitoha asked Mitsuha curiously.
"No... I just feel like it twisted the head off the Kami-sama..."
Mitsuha said with a trembling voice, her eyes wide open, absolutely terrified to blink.
She couldn't explain it herself; she just instinctively knew the moment she saw that thing that she absolutely must not blink.
Also, with it standing behind the divine statue, the image of her own deity having its neck twisted flashed in her mind.
It was quite terrifying and real.
Tick-tock...
The sound of the clock hands turning on the wall was particularly grating in the silent night. After a while, Hitoha, being elderly, couldn't hold on anymore.
She blinked.
Suddenly, she realized that the stone statue, which had been standing behind the divine statue, instantly moved to the middle of the courtyard, much closer to them.
"!!"
"Mitsuha, did you blink just now too?"
Hitoha asked in horror.
"My eyes hurt too much!"
Mitsuha said fearfully.
"Sister, Grandmother, I'm scared! I want to run!!"
Yotsuha was frightened by the ugly stone statue that had suddenly moved closer.
"We can't run; we won't outrun it. We can only look at it!"
Mitsuha said in a low voice.
"But I'm scared...."
Yotsuha said, crying.
"You have to stare at it even if you're scared!"
Mitsuha said sternly.
Just as fear was about to spread among the three elderly, weak women and children of the Miyamizu family, threatening to crush their will.
A voice rang out.
"Alright, you can blink now!"
Completely unwilling to blink, Mitsuha stared intensely at the stone statue while using her peripheral vision to look at the newcomer, finding him to be a handsome young man dressed in a casual, urban style.
Beside him, a flock of crows surrounded the stone statue.
"Who are you?"
"For the current phase, I'm still an official staff member—Hayashi."
Hayashi introduced himself lightly.
At the same time, he extended his hand, and countless crows landed in front of the statue, forming a metal shipping container to enclose the statue.
Mitsuha wondered if it was an illusion, but she felt that the inner walls of the container formed by the crows, which were holding the stone statue, seemed to be covered with dense, tiny eyes.
"Official staff member? For the current phase?"
Mitsuha subconsciously ignored the chilling sight inside the container. Realizing she was saved, she was first delighted but then asked a question.
"Why 'for the current phase'?"
"Because I plan to carve out territory and become an emperor!"
Hayashi said casually.
This made Mitsuha widen her eyes, thinking he was joking.
"Mr. Kazuma is your colleague, right? Is everyone at the Anomaly Management Bureau so... humorous?"
Mitsuha said with a forced smile.
"Kazuma is still sleeping comfortably in the hotel right now, and I'm not joking."
Hayashi spoke, but the movements of his hands didn't stop.
After containing the stone sculpture, red threads extended from the beaks of the crows, picking up the container. They flapped their wings, ready to fly away.
Jumping onto the container, Hayashi waved to Mitsuha and said.
"By the time you report to the bureau, I might have changed my outfit."
After speaking, Hayashi glanced briefly at the divine statue in Miyamizu Shrine, instantly seeing through its essence.
A Kami with great potential.
Its divine authority involves time.
But it wasn't as strong as him, and the Kami's power was also very weak.
At most, it could only transmit information through time, or at best, consciousness swapping... No wonder 173 easily twisted its neck and killed it.
"Wuu..."
For some reason, Mitsuha clearly felt that after Hayashi glanced at her Kami-sama's divine statue, she distinctly heard her own Kami-sama's wronged voice in her mind.
It seemed... her own Kami-sama was being looked down upon?
'How could I think that!!
I must not be disrespectful to the Kami-sama. Please forgive me, Lord Kami-sama!'
"You thought correctly, I was indeed looked down upon!"
Just as Mitsuha was repenting, the Kami-sama's voice rang out in her mind, sounding even more wronged.
Like a child whose pride was hurt by an adult... making Mitsuha struggle to reconcile the image of her long-revered, traditional Kami-sama.
—From a mature and steady elder to a wronged child?
...Putting aside Mitsuha's reconstruction of her faith in her Kami-sama.
After containing 173, the voice of Hayashi's Golden Finger rang out in his mind again.
[Congratulations on containing 173, The Sculpture]
[Ability extraction in progress...]
[Congratulations on drawing an ability...]
[Please select one ability from the following three.]
[Schrödinger Movement: Between existence and non-existence, it can appear anywhere when not observed. ]
[Hyper-Dimensional Body: Cannot be foreseen, cannot be revealed, cannot be destroyed. ]
[Petrification Touch: Any life whose neck you twist will turn into a secondary stone sculpture. The sculpture possesses abilities such as 'Residual' Schrödinger Movement, 'Residual' Hyper-Dimensional Body, and Illuminating Eye.]
Without much deliberation, Hayashi quickly chose the third ability.
Petrification Touch.
For him, who preferred violent suppression and direct confrontation of anomalies, Schrödinger Movement was only useful for travel or sneak attacks.
Does Hayashi need to sneak attack?
Hyper-Dimensional Body... sounds good, but what if he couldn't die?
Only Petrification Touch was somewhat useful.
Compared to the gains from containing 173 this time, what Hayashi was more concerned about was the video file attached to 173's neck.
He wouldn't watch it again, but the information inside roughly made him understand why the Foundation wanted to destroy humanity.
Or rather, the Foundation was still protecting humanity.
Protect the normal; eliminate the abnormal.
And the Foundation in this parallel world, the anomaly they were facing should be 5000?
An evil entity parasitic in the collective subconscious of humanity.
If Hayashi remembered correctly, according to the reports on 5000, after multiple discussions, the Ethics Committee authorized the decision to prevent "it" by extinguishing humanity.
This meant that even with the foundation's various bizarre methods and contained objects, they couldn't force 5000 out of the human subconscious.
Could it only be forced out through the darkest, most brutal means?
And 5000 is parasitic in the subconscious of all humans.
Furthermore, there is a theory that the reason 682, the Indestructible Lizard, is so hostile toward humans and has such a strong desire to kill them is because it can see this entity.
It should also be parasitic in the subconscious of the foundation personnel who leaked through.
Its contagiousness is much more terrifying than a zombie virus.
So, without a doubt, the human subconscious in this world has also been infected... Thinking of this, Hayashi suddenly felt things were a bit tricky.