Chapter 308: Director Takahashi and the Others Seek Rikui's Help

"Iori, Muroto Meijiang will handle things on her end, so it's time I started making moves on mine."

Kamikawa Mitsu's pitch-black eyes were deep as the cosmos, with stars faintly rising and sinking within, as if suns and moons wheeled and a galaxy of stars bloomed.

The first step—shaping Shira's persona—is complete; time to begin the second step.

"Kamikawa-kun."

Just as he was thinking, ahead of him came a figure with a bewitching, alluring posture, lotus steps swaying gracefully, every inch brimming with boundless charm—Rikui, cradling a fruit basket, walked toward Kamikawa Mitsu:

"I'm so glad you're all right."

Rikui was surprised—she hadn't expected to see Kamikawa Mitsu when she came to visit Iori. The worry about him that had been hanging over her heart was finally set at ease, and she let out a breath of relief.

Not long after.

A round of conversation.

"Rikui, you're here to visit Iori too, right? Chie is with Iori right now, and she happens to have something to give you. Go on in. I'm going to buy lunch—Rikui, have you eaten? If not, I'll bring you something."

"I'm fine, I've already eaten. I'll head in then."

Watching Rikui enter the hospital, Kamikawa Mitsu turned and went to buy lunch.

……

Noon.

In Iori's hospital room.

After lunch, Kamikawa Mitsu and the others didn't leave the room, chatting with Iori and the rest until now. Chie was like a machine gun, rattling on and on without pause, sharing everything she'd seen and heard in the other world.

The chatter only quieted down when the door opened and Matsuka Chiri walked in.

Unlike the dazed Matsuka Chiri they'd seen that morning, she was now perfectly serious, not a trace of her usual fuzziness, carefully and meticulously examining Iori's body and asking about her condition.

Kamikawa Mitsu, standing to the side, was surprised.

This was the first time he'd seen Matsuka Chiri in her working mode.

Who would have thought this sweet, airheaded big sister had such a side to her.

At work she was sharp and meticulous, inspiring admiration and awe, but in daily life she was genuinely scatterbrained, always forgetting this and that.

Now her bearing finally matched the elite-society-professional look she'd had when she stepped out.

"Matsuka-nee, let's go home together tonight. I brought a gift back from the other world for you."

Before Matsuka Chiri left the room, Kamikawa Chie called out to her.

"Sure."

Matsuka Chiri smiled.

At once, Kamikawa Chie and the others picked up their lively chatter again.

A long while later.

"Wow, so much happened while I was in the other world!" Kamikawa Chie exclaimed upon learning about the Spirit Register, excitedly saying: "No way, when we get home tonight I have to take a good look at the Spirit Register."

At this point, Muroto Meijiang, peeling an orange, said:

"And that's not all—there's something even bigger. Because of it, the government specially came to find Iori and me, and even sought out Rikui-nee."

Rikui's identity as a Void Demon was known not only to Chie and the others and the maids, but also to the government.

After all, the government had always been keeping an eye on Chie and the others, and they'd learned about Rikui by accident back then.

"Huh? They came to you? Oh, I get it—they wanted to borrow you to find me and Nii-san. They even went to Rikui-nee?"

Kamikawa Chie was surprised.

What on earth had happened that the government had taken the initiative to seek out Nii-san?

You had to understand—the government had never once come looking for Kamikawa Mitsu. This was a first.

"Because of a mysterious fog."

Iori laid out everything about the mysterious fog.

Once she finished, Muroto Meijiang beside her picked up the thread:

"That's the thing. At first the government came to me and Iori, wanting to find Kamikawa Nii-san and you, Chie, to ask for help. We told them we hadn't been able to get in touch with you. After that, they went running to Rikui-nee to beg for help."

Not long ago, the mysterious fog kept expanding, and every country was at a loss. Director Takahashi and the others had no choice but to steel themselves and come find Iori and the others, asking whether they'd managed to contact Kamikawa Mitsu and the others, and whether they were all right.

If they were all right, could they lend a hand.

And it happened that Chie had just sent them a message letting them know she was safe.

Iori and Muroto Meijiang, however, told the government they didn't know the situation of the Kamikawa Mitsu siblings, that they hadn't been able to reach them.

The reason was simple—they didn't want to disturb Kamikawa Mitsu and Chie's trip in the other world, and even less did they want anything to happen to them.

You had to understand, the mysterious fog was full of the unknown; who knew whether it held great danger within. Iori and the others didn't want, just to show off, to pretend they had ties to the supernatural, and end up costing their best friend and her brother their lives.

"And then what happened?" Kamikawa Chie looked at Rikui: "Rikui-nee, did you go to the mysterious fog?"

Rikui shook her head.

"The government came to me for help. At the time I wanted to refuse, but considering that now the gods have gone to the Primordial Battlefield to campaign, as a descendant of the experimental subject created by Lord Shuten, I too have the responsibility I ought to fulfill in protecting this world.

After all, you fear not ten thousand but the one in ten thousand. What if that mysterious fog is 'their side' taking advantage of the gods departing for the Primordial Battlefield, leaving Earth empty and unguarded by gods and demons, trying to slip in while we're weak? The consequences would be unthinkable.

After much deliberation, I agreed to go take a look at the mysterious fog.

After that I went to the Pacific region where the mysterious fog was located to inspect it. The mysterious fog had already covered that uninhabited island group and was spreading out beyond the sea.

Originally, I planned to enter the mysterious fog to take a look, but the moment I got close to it, I sensed an extremely terrifying fluctuation of power within.

That kind of fluctuation was too terrifying—I was no match for it.

Standing outside the mysterious fog and feeling that heart-palpitating fluctuation, I had a strange premonition in the back of my mind: if I entered the mysterious fog, there was a hundred percent chance of danger.

With no other choice, I had to go to the Void Demon Realm to seek help.

Just because I can't get in doesn't mean the Demon Lords, who are at the divine-tier level, can't. Whatever the case, they're beings at the Second Step of Divinity, so at the very least the danger of entering the mysterious fog would be less than mine.

In the end, I invited the Void Lord to help, asking him to go inside the mysterious fog and have a look around.

"The result was the same as mine — the moment the Void Lord reached the mysterious fog, he also felt that overwhelming, heart-pounding terror."

"The Void Lord didn't go in either?" Kamikawa Chie listened, utterly absorbed.

According to what Gui Kui had said, that mysterious fog was definitely no simple thing.

Gui Kui shook his head.

"The Void Lord, because this is the Shuten Douji's world, and because Kamikawa-kun had helped our Void Demon Realm before, planned to go in and take a look.

However, to be safe, the Void Lord had no intention of entering with his true body.

Instead, he sent his own shadow in — you can think of it as a clone.

In our Void Demon Realm, every Void Demon has some innate instinct. For example, I can devour others and obtain their memories; the Void Lord's ability, on the other hand, is shadows.

His shadow can separate from his true body and be used as a clone. Moreover, not only can the true body control the shadow, it can also share everything the shadow sees.

Although the Void Lord's shadow isn't as strong as his true body, it's at least at the Godly First Step, so exploring the mysterious fog shouldn't be a problem. After all, the mysterious fog is only thirty kilometers — for gods and demons, that's no different from taking half a step out.

But what happened next proved I was overthinking it.

The Void Lord's shadow entered the mysterious fog, and it had barely groped around inside for any length of time before it died."

……