Chapter 31: The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

"Split the screen and show me a live feed of the current situation in Arakawa Ward," Director Saito ordered.

"Got it!"

Fifteen seconds later.

On the conference room’s large screen, the image split in two: one half showed Yunhu, the other Arakawa Ward.

"This..."

A government official shot to his feet, knocking over his chair.

The room fell into stunned silence.

On screen, Arakawa Ward was shaking: trees toppled, uprooted; buildings swayed like tiny boats in a storm, on the verge of capsizing.

The situation was dire—chaotic, filled with people fleeing in terror, traffic jammed solid.

"Exactly the same."

The intoxicated official shook his head, trying to clear his drunkenness, switching his gaze between the two screens.

Ignoring the chaos in Arakawa, the Yunhu footage matched the earthquake’s pattern in Arakawa perfectly.

Identical streets. Identical quake conditions.

Trees fell in Yunhu—at the exact moment their counterparts in Arakawa fell.

The lamppost in Yunhu snapped—so did its counterpart in Arakawa.

"Could the Yunhu footage be a mirror, reflecting Arakawa’s reality?"

"No... perhaps the world in the lake is the real one. After all, Yunhu has no people—if it were just a mirror, why aren’t others reflected?"

Inside the conference room, two factions argued.

As the crowd debated fiercely, each clinging to their own view—

The intoxicated official, who had not joined the discussion, sat slumped in his seat, listening idly, then glanced at the screen—and turned pale, letting out a shriek.

"What the hell is that?!"

Everyone froze, following his gaze to the screen.

In an instant—

The conference room fell utterly silent, not even a pin could drop.

"My God!!"

"I must be dreaming?!"

Each person felt their scalp explode; a bone-deep chill surged from their soles, racing upward to their skulls, piercing their crowns, freezing their souls, shaking them uncontrollably.

At that moment—

Beneath the twilight sky, on the street outside the Sakura no Hana Corporation building.

Mizuno Yuichi and the others were terrified, faces pale with dread.

In this familiar yet alien place, the sudden earthquake filled them with unease.

"Don’t panic—it’s just an earthquake..."

Sakurada Wenzhi shouted. In this unknown place, the crowd must not scatter—once they did, things would only worsen.

"Yes, just an earthquake. Don’t panic. Our location doesn’t seem to be the epicenter."

Yamazaki, the CEO, quickly added his voice.

They struggled to calm themselves, to quell their panic.

Don’t be afraid—we’ve faced so many strange things, even ancient cities. What’s left to fear? Stay composed!

Right!

Composed!

As they encouraged one another and the atmosphere of fear began to ease, they suddenly shivered.

Not from fear—but from cold.

"Huh?"

There was no wind, yet fog began to rise—thin and thick in patches, like dry ice mist, spreading from all directions.

The thin mist crept to their feet, their sides; a bone-chilling cold struck them.

Everyone trembled, skin and bones trembling with dread.

The fog was freezing—cold enough to pierce the marrow, cold enough to make the soul frost over.

An unknown fog had appeared.

Their hearts, already fearful, grew restless again.

Of all things, humans fear the unknown most—especially unknown places, unknown situations.

Now, Mizuno Yuichi and the others were in an unknown place, facing an unknown situation—both of humanity’s greatest fears, fully realized.

They were terrified.

"Don’t—"

Sakurada Wenzhi tried to calm them again, but the moment he spoke the first word, terrifying, hair-raising sounds came from all directions—above, below, far off.

Like the wailing of hell’s underworld, a million vengeful ghosts screaming, countless demons roaring, shaking the heavens, shaking the nine skies.

They looked.

Breath stopped. Blood froze.

Each person’s eyes glazed over, pupils dilated, color drained away—leaving only one expression: terror.

In that moment—

They abandoned all self-reassurance.

Compose myself, my ass!

There’s no way to stay calm!!

All they wanted was to cry, to scream, to curse, to curse the heavens, to hate heaven and earth—for why them? Why not someone else?

But as they stared at the scenes around them, they couldn’t make a sound.

Because they knew—if they made a noise, they’d be dead for sure.

Boom.

The earth throbbed like a heartbeat, shaking violently again and again.

Each tremor sent invisible terror rippling upward, rolling through the sky, making the sunset sway, stars flickering and dying.

This sight was staggering—as if the earthquake’s shockwave was so vast it affected the sun, moon, and stars, threatening to shake them from the heavens.

At this moment—

The thin mist had spread across the streets, filling every alley and lane, filling the sky and earth, turning the heavens gray, dimming the twilight, as if this world had entered its final days, on the verge of annihilation.

From all directions—even the sky—

Countless figures surged forward, flying from the horizon, rushing from afar, arriving in unison.

Too many. Too many silhouettes—too countless to number.

In this empty, eerie street, in this silent city, seeing human figures should have been comforting.

But Sakurada Wenzhi and the others felt no relief.

Because they knew: humans couldn’t fly, couldn’t be larger than small mountains, couldn’t possibly—

The fading sunlight, soft and golden, fell upon the figures.

Sakurada Wenzhi and the others saw them clearly.

They were terrified, trembling uncontrollably, panic so intense they felt they might faint, might drop dead.

They weren’t mistaken.

Those figures weren’t human.

They differed from humans too greatly...

"Y—yokai!"

Mizuno Yuichi screamed inside his mind.

Everyone was terrified, their guts churning, hearts on the verge of cardiac arrest.

They were certain—these were yokai.

Because these yokai looked exactly like the creatures described in Japanese folklore.

Flying heads, bone women, kappa, blue monks, one-wheeled carts, hundred-eyed demons, snow women—all of them.

Every one could be matched to a figure surging toward them.

And these familiar yokai were only a tiny fraction of what appeared.

The rest—they didn’t know their names.

But without doubt, they too were yokai.

Countless yokai, as numerous as stars, surged forward, their kinds too numerous to count, all converging upon this twilight world.

This sight stunned countless onlookers.

At dusk—the moment between day and night, when light and darkness mingled in chaos.

Thousands of yokai filled the sky and earth.

Demons roared, grotesque and terrifying, their demonic aura surging, shaking the sun and moon, making the stars tremble as if about to shatter and fall.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters fell utterly silent.

People fleeing Arakawa Ward froze in terror, forgetting to run.

"This... is Hyakki Yagyō!"

Sakura Fumiyasu completely lost his composure, panicking like an old man who had learned all his children were dead, filled with despair and horror, unwilling to believe the reality.

……

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