Chapter 710 Rotting Tree Roots
Kyoto, somewhere in a secluded, dim alley. Sunlight, cut by the tall, old buildings on either side, formed narrow bands of light that barely illuminated a small area near the alley entrance. As one went deeper, the light grew sparser, eventually swallowed by heavy shadows and the damp smell of mildew. Piled-up discarded cardboard boxes and overflowing trash cans emitted an unpleasant sour and rotten odor, and the walls were covered in mottled graffiti and wet water stains.
In this darkest corner, a shadow that should have been still suddenly rippled like water.
A faint dark energy light flashed and disappeared, as if it were an illusion.
The next moment, a slender figure, draped in a heavy black cloak, silently emerged from the distorted shadows. The hood of the cloak was pulled low, obscuring most of her face, leaving visible only a tense jawline and a lip devoid of color.
“I’m back…”
A whisper, so faint it almost blended into the cold, damp air of the alley, came from under the hood. Kazumi slowly raised her head, and from under the shadow of the hood, her jet-black eyes sharply scanned her surroundings—dark, damp, messy, a typical forgotten corner of the city.
But she paid no mind to it.
Her gaze quickly swept past the accumulated garbage at the alley entrance and turned towards the outside world.
Outside the alley, it was the usual scene of bustling traffic and hurried pedestrians in the capital. The sunlight was bright, the glass facades of tall buildings reflected dazzling light, and everything seemed prosperous and orderly.
However, beneath this seemingly ordinary prosperity, Kazumi keenly sensed an unusual tension. The police patrols on the streets seemed more frequent than she remembered, their gazes more alert, and the intervals between scanning pedestrians shorter. The police siren sounds occasionally heard in the distance also seemed more urgent than usual. An invisible, oppressive atmosphere, like a transparent film, hung over the city.
“This… is the outskirts of Kyoto?”
Looking at the completely unfamiliar streetscape outside, Kazumi made an initial judgment. She was very familiar with the central areas of Kyoto, but this was clearly not it. On the distant skyline, the iconic Kyoto Tower showed only a tiny tip, like a distant coordinate, clearly indicating her current location—a far-flung outer area of Kyoto.
This teleportation landing point was controlled by Uncle Fukada. It seemed that Uncle chose this place as an infiltration point after careful consideration. The defense forces in the outer areas were relatively weak, and the checks would not be as strict as in the central areas. For her, who needed to conceal her tracks, it was indeed a relatively safe starting point.
Just as Kazumi was carefully observing the environment inside and out, assessing the situation—
Suddenly!
The air beside her, which had been calm, suddenly produced a faint but clear energy fluctuation without any warning!
Kazumi reacted extremely quickly, almost instinctively. Her figure instantly retreated, disappearing back into the deeper shadows of the alley. At the same time, she crouched slightly, assuming a defensive stance, her right hand subconsciously clenched, and dense death energy silently gathered in her palm, ready to summon the [Black Coffin] or deploy the [Kimokado] at any moment.
The air in front of the spot where she had been standing suddenly dropped drastically in temperature! The moisture in the air condensed at a visible speed, turning into countless tiny ice crystal particles shimmering with cold light. As if guided by an invisible hand, these ice crystals rapidly gathered and shaped, forming a large area of constantly rotating and multiplying ice mist in the blink of an eye!
The ice mist rapidly contracted and solidified, finally outlining a blurry human silhouette. The ice crystals continued to stack and solidify, emitting a faint “crunching” sound, and finally condensed into a clear human form—
It was a young man with pale short hair and ice-white pupils. His facial features were handsome but expressionless, like the most perfect ice sculpture. A cold aura emanated from him, several times more piercing than the chill of this dark alley, as if the air around him was about to freeze just by him standing there.
“Lord Hyōshō.”
The moment she saw the figure, Kazumi’s tensed nerves relaxed slightly, but her vigilance did not completely disappear. She recognized this executive who had suddenly appeared—Muramasa Hyōshō. His ability was still so powerful that, at the very moment she appeared in Kyoto, he had arrived beside her in the form of the clone he had previously demonstrated.
Kazumi slowly lowered her guard, bowed her head slightly towards him, and maintained a respectful tone.
Muramasa Hyōshō’s ice-white pupils, devoid of any warmth, swept over Kazumi indifferently, as if merely confirming that an item was intact.
“Yes,” he said, his voice as crisp and cold as colliding ice crystals, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, “According to the organization’s rules, I am your recommender for executive. Therefore, I will convey the specific arrangements for this mission to you.”
He paused, his words direct and cruel, without any euphemisms. “But remember one thing. I will only be responsible for conveying orders, I will not provide any additional help, nor will I care about your life or death. After proposing your candidacy as an executive at the higher-level meeting, the reward I promised you has been settled. Do not harbor any unrealistic expectations towards me, nor make any unnecessary requests.”
His words were bone-chillingly cold, even carrying a condescending indifference, showing no regard for Kazumi’s safety.
“Understood, Lord Hyōshō,” Kazumi replied with her head bowed, her face showing no sign of displeasure or surprise. She had long known what kind of person Muramasa Hyōshō was. Aside from the emotional deficiencies caused by his abilities, he was not exactly an easy person to get along with as a superior.
The fact that he came to inform her of the mission according to procedure was already a sign of his adherence to the rules. Expecting him to provide protection or assistance? That would be a foolish dream.
Moreover, his strength was far superior to hers, and she could only show absolute obedience at this moment.
Muramasa Hyōshō seemed to pay no attention to her reaction and continued in his chilling tone, “The mission itself is simple. At the designated time, there will be a large-scale battle at the target location, and it will not be a quiet affair. You do not need to execute any complex plans. You only need to demonstrate your value and capabilities as much as possible amidst the chaos—kill enemies with one blow, or cause destruction on a sufficiently large scale. Let those who see the situation, especially the executives and high-ranking officials with voting rights, recognize that you have the strength to become an executive, and that will be enough.”
The implication was that whether she could survive and gain recognition depended entirely on her own abilities.
After speaking, Muramasa Hyōshō raised his hand, which seemed to be carved from eternal ice. In his palm, extreme cold energy rapidly gathered, and the moisture in the air was fiercely extracted, condensing into a dazzling ball of ice crystals that spun incessantly, refracting brilliant light.
And within that core cluster of ice crystals, a dark object, about the size of a palm, was clearly frozen!
With a slight flick of Muramasa Hyōshō’s wrist, the cluster of ice crystals wrapping the object shot towards Kazumi like a projectile, at extreme speed, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
Kazumi immediately reached out and caught it.
The moment the ice crystals entered her hand, a terrifying coldness, capable of freezing the soul, instantly spread along her arm, making her feel as if her blood were about to freeze solid! Not daring to delay, the pure death energy within her surged, and with a shake of her arm!
“Crack—!”
The hard ice crystals on the outer layer were instantly shattered into countless ice shards that scattered on the ground. And the item inside fell into Kazumi’s hand.
It was a dark wooden hand tag, carved from some unknown wood. The surface of the tag was covered with complex and ancient spiritual energy runes, which were currently emitting a faint, yet extremely repulsive, and at the same time, very familiar spiritual energy fluctuation to Kazumi!
“This item can help you silently pass through the energy shield outside the target area without triggering any alarms,” Muramasa Hyōshō’s cold voice sounded again, explaining the function of the hand tag. “As for how to deal with the defense forces inside after passing through the shield, that will depend entirely on your own capabilities.”
His white pupils gazed at Kazumi emotionlessly. “If you cannot even break through those defenses, then you are not qualified to talk about the position of [Executive].”
As his voice fell, Muramasa Hyōshō said no more. He nodded slightly at Kazumi, and then his entire body, constructed of ice crystals, began to rapidly disintegrate and dissipate from the edges, turning into the purest water vapor and cold air, disappearing completely into the dark alley as if he had never existed.
In the alley, only the suddenly lowered temperature, the ice crystal fragments on the ground that had not yet completely melted, and the dark wooden hand tag emitting ominous spiritual energy fluctuations in Kazumi’s hand remained, proving that he had indeed been there.
Kazumi stood in place, gazing down at the cold hand tag in her hand, her brow furrowed tightly.
She was naturally aware of the powerful composite energy shield outside Shikoku Gakuin, and could even be said to be quite familiar with it—because her alter ego, Mai Shinomiyai, as the formal successor of Kyoto’s Kuroyama Shrine, was a member of the psychic team involved in constructing and maintaining that shield!
This was a prime example of the current cooperation between psychics and the Heroes Association: psychics, skilled in using barriers and sealing techniques, combined their ancient knowledge with modern technological means to create this extremely efficient and stable defense system. Through Mai Shinomiyai’s perspective, Kazumi not only understood the principles and strength of the shield but also knew the deployment of many key defense points within the academy and the personnel shift schedules like the back of her hand.
What truly made her freeze in place at this moment, stirring immense waves in her heart, was precisely the hand tag given to her by Muramasa Hyōshō!
Based on the psychic knowledge and memories possessed by Mai Shinomiyai, Kazumi could clearly recognize that the runes carved on this hand tag were the key runes that resonated with the core of the Shikoku Gakuin shield! It could indeed temporarily open a safe passage for a single person through the shield without triggering any alarms or counter-attack mechanisms. With this item, Kazumi could easily pass through the defense shield that the Heroes Association had put so much effort into without paying any price.
But the problem was—this level of core key rune, along with its corresponding spiritual energy frequency and technological verification parameters, should logically be the highest secret of the Association and the psychic team! Theoretically, only a very small number of core technical personnel responsible for maintenance and the highest level of the Association would know about it!
How did Muramasa Hyōshō—or rather, the [Dark] Organization behind him—get something like this?!
“Hoo—”
Kazumi let out a long breath of stale air, forming a small cloud of white mist in the cold alley. She needed a little time to digest this shocking information.
This was not just a key, but a signal, proof—the extent to which the Heroes Association, or the psychic world closely cooperating with it, was infiltrated was likely far deeper and more serious than she had imagined!
She clenched the cold hand tag in her hand tightly, the edge of the wooden tag even digging into her palm.
After a moment of shock, her eyes regained their calmness and sharpness. No matter how big the internal problems of the Association were, that was not something she needed to worry about now. Or rather, in a sense, this was a good thing for her.
However, Kazumi now had no time to dwell on those thoughts. What she needed to do now was to utilize all available resources to achieve her goal.
In front of her, a sickly green [Kimokado] silently unfolded, emitting a strong death aura.
Kazumi gave one last look at the dark hand tag in her hand, a cold smile curving her lips. She murmured to herself in a voice only she could hear:
“It seems this building of the Association… is even more riddled with holes than I imagined…”
With that, she no longer hesitated. She took a step forward, her figure instantly disappearing into the deep [Kimokado].
The dim alley returned to silence, leaving only the dissipating cold air and the gradually melting ice shards, as if nothing had happened.
