Chapter 44: That Was Yamata no Orochi

Arakawa Ward.

Flowing, rippling divine radiance erupted from the Yunhu Lake, sacred as a celestial being—Tsukumogami’s slash, though aimed at another world, made the lake blaze with brilliance, as if the light would burst forth from within it.

Boom!

Clouds churned wildly, chaotic and turbulent, sometimes surging into towering waves, sometimes rippling gently like a drifting boat.

Countless people screamed in terror.

The blade’s radiance was too intense—it threatened to burst through Yunhu Lake from that demon realm and obliterate reality itself. The entire lake swelled, its surface bulging as if something terrifying was about to surge out.

Then—

Like after a thunderstorm, the storm clouds dispersed, and the vast Yunhu Lake shattered apart.

A sliver of moonlight pierced through the cloud gaps and shone down.

The moonlight was soft.

Yunhu Lake vanished. The familiar starry night sky reappeared before the world, calm and serene as ever, as if the shocking spectacle had never occurred.

The livestream chat froze.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department conference room fell silent.

Countless people stared upward at the brilliant night sky, stunned, still lost in the aftermath of the awe-inspiring spectacle.

Long moments passed.

When they finally snapped back to reality, Arakawa Ward, the livestream, and the police conference room all erupted into chaos.

【Host, hurry to that glowing place! Go now, go! If you wait any longer, you won’t make it!】

【Guys, don’t stop sending gifts】

【Host, are you still standing there dumbfounded? Move! Go to that glowing place!】

Livestream viewers frantically typed.

Comments flooded one after another, revealing the audience’s desperate impatience—until the volume became so great that the system imposed a sending delay.

“Quickly find out where that glowing spot is, and pull up surveillance from Arakawa Ward…”

With unmasked emotional agitation, Director Takahashi issued one order after another.

“At all costs, suppress information about Arakawa Ward as much as possible.”

As he spoke—

Director Takahashi suddenly remembered something and hurried to speak again.

“Also, regarding the U.S. side…”

At that exact moment, hurried footsteps approached from outside the conference room. The door burst open, and Takahashi’s assistant rushed in.

“Director Takahashi, the U.S. side has called, asking about what happened in Arakawa Ward. They say, for the sake of bilateral friendship, they request full disclosure.”

“…“ Even Director Takahashi’s lips twitched.

Compared to the chaos in the livestream and police conference room, Arakawa Ward was even more frenzied.

People across Arakawa Ward, the moment they regained their senses, all turned their gazes toward one direction, eyes gleaming with wonder.

“There…”

They remembered clearly: shortly after the radiant light erupted in the Yunhu vision, a similar glow had also appeared in that direction of Arakawa Ward.

No other place in Arakawa Ward had shown any light.

Only that one place had emitted it.

“I remember that’s where the Sakurada Group’s building is,” muttered a man standing close to the glowing spot.

Immediately, he stepped forward, walking toward that direction—first slowly, then jogging, then sprinting, finally running full-out, legs pumping.

Not just him—people from all over Arakawa Ward were heading toward the glowing location.

Some rode bicycles, pedaling furiously; others sped away on motorcycles…

Although Tsukumogami’s slash had shattered the Yunhu vision, some had still seen the final scene.

Tsukumogami had not killed the innocent girl or the Sakurada Group’s underling.

Instead, he had slashed the ground before them—and from the earth, light erupted. Simultaneously, on the street where the Sakurada Group’s building stood in Arakawa Ward, an identical terrifying radiance burst forth.

Then, they witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Tsukumogami waved his hand, and the innocent girl and the Sakurada Group underlings vanished into the crack in the earth.

This scene shook them to their core.

They understood: Tsukumogami had not killed them—he had returned them.

So they had to go there, to be the first to ask the innocent girl and the others.

Tonight’s shocking transformation over Arakawa Ward left everyone with countless questions—perhaps the innocent girl and the others could provide answers.

…

In Tokyo, Japan, Arakawa Ward, the street where the present-world Sakura Flower Co., Ltd. building stood.

Here…

The ground was covered in blood, pools of it; broken limbs and corpses lay everywhere, along with intestines, organs, and brain matter scattered across the scene.

The sight was horrific—especially the most gruesome bloody scenes. Those who had not witnessed the Yunhu vision would have vomited on the spot.

Even so, their stomachs churned, faces pale.

A breeze blew.

The overpowering stench of blood hit their noses.

But if one looked closely, three living people could be seen among the corpses.

“It’s them! It really is them!”

Those present were thrilled—they recognized the three figures among the corpses: the innocent girl and the Sakurada Group underlings, identical in appearance to those seen in the Yunhu vision, without a doubt.

Ignoring the gore, many surged forward, rushing toward them.

These people were of all kinds: streamers, media reporters, ordinary civilians…

“Huh?”

As they arrived, everyone froze.

The innocent girl and the Sakurada Group underlings were in a daze, muttering incessantly, as if traumatized.

“Yamata no Orochi… that was Yamata no Orochi…”

“That was Yamata no Orochi… it was really Yamata no Orochi…”

“Yes, that’s right—it was Yamata no Orochi…”

The three whispered over and over, their eyes filled with shock.

Everyone stood stunned, pupils contracting—they didn’t know what the three had experienced, but they clearly heard their words: they kept repeating the name of a demon.

One of Japan’s three legendary demons: Yamata no Orochi!

…

In front of the convenience store.

After Kamikawa Mitsu returned the last three survivors to reality from his fabricated space—

He remained calm, as if nothing had happened, then glanced at the clock behind the counter.

“Time to clock out.”

Just as Kamikawa Mitsu was about to—

A cold system alert sounded.

Ding! Host has completed the script. Score: 90.

Ding! Script completed. Host may spend script points to acquire skills from the script’s main characters.

Ding! Please edit the script into a video and upload it. The system will score it based on its popularity. Final rewards will combine script completion score and upload popularity.

“90 points.”

Kamikawa Mitsu’s expression remained calm, unshocked—he had a rough sense of the scoring system and expected a score around 90.

Due to the shocking event over Arakawa Ward, no one cared about work anymore. After asking his boss, Kamikawa Mitsu simply locked the store.

He returned home.

After speaking with Kamikawa Chie, who had just come back…

As expected, Arakawa Ward was in an uproar; rumors spread wildly across Japan’s internet.

Kamikawa Mitsu did not rush to make a video.

He had a plan—now was not the time. He needed to wait until the event fully fermented and exploded across Japan before uploading.

He then played the role of an ordinary bystander, feigning shock over the Arakawa Ward incident, chatting with the equally stunned and excited Kamikawa Chie.

As they talked, Kamikawa Mitsu opened his system panel.

…

(Today’s fourth update. Just ask readers to drop more recommendation votes.)