It was confirmed.
Kakeru Ryuen had finally confirmed it. Perhaps... no. There was a high probability that a realm completely unimaginable to mortals existed in this world.
This speculation, while making Ryuen's blood boil, also sent chills down his spine. Opportunity and danger—the two were inherently blurred. Licking his cracked, dry lips, a sudden glint of restlessness appeared in his eyes.
The kindness of the old Cult Leader. His own burning desire for the truth.
At this moment, Ryuen had no more hesitation. There was no turning back.
He stepped forward, crossing the threshold. Before him, the world blurred.
In the blink of an eye, the overlapping whispers in his ears ceased. The seemingly ordinary Cult headquarters had transformed into something eerie and terrifying.
A thick, almost viscous blood mist permeated the area, so heavy it felt as if it were about to condense into liquid droplets on his skin. Occasionally, a roar unlike any human voice could be heard from the depths. Occasionally, a hoarse, aged cry of pain would echo—sounding as if an old man was deliberately mimicking the cries of an infant. It sounded like a wild beast grinding its teeth, chewing on bone.
Sure enough… Ryuen silently pulled the heavy crowbar from his coat. The extraordinary environment left him with no room for wishful thinking. It was bizarre and deeply wrong. It was a place where no mortal could possibly survive.
Enveloped in the blood mist, even the seemingly intact walls of the building appeared to be sizzling and corroding. Against the backdrop of this eerie atmosphere, the surroundings looked dilapidated, like forgotten ruins. The bizarre visual impact made Ryuen feel inexplicably nauseous.
Just as he was about to duck into a blind spot…
"Ah… a little mouse. A lucky little mouse. Judging from your appearance, you've probably broken through your cognitive barriers, haven't you?"
Who!?
"Hmm... no need to be so wary."
From inside the main hall—a place that should have housed the Cult's statue and served as a peaceful place of prayer—the blood mist surged. An elderly man in a pristine white coat, resembling a mad researcher from a sci-fi movie, slowly paced out of the shadows.
"Don't worry. I won't touch you for now. Those old guys still need you as a tranquilizer. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kenzo Masuyama. As you can see, I am the true sponsor of the Visual God Cult."
Gripping his crowbar tightly, Ryuen's expression curled into an arrogant smirk.
A stinking old devil? His feet subtly shifted into a combat stance; he planned to beat this bastard into submission first before discussing anything else.
"Sigh... impatient little mouse. I advise you not to do this," Masuyama said casually. "Oh, by the way. I'm the only normal human here right now."
What did that mean? The old man's frankness actually made Ryuen feel a spike of unease, causing him to hesitate. But Ryuen understood his own value now. A tranquilizer. At the same time, he needed to stall. He wanted to obtain more information to facilitate the Fujiwara family's actions behind the scenes. Ryuen wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could thwart a supernatural syndicate's plan alone.
"Oh? I'm the tranquilizer for those old guys? Tsk… You're getting old and your eyesight is failing, old man," Ryuen sneered.
"Well, don't be so self-deprecating. I didn't understand it myself before, but now I do," Masuyama replied smoothly. "Overcoming your cognitive barriers is enough to prove your worth."
Cognitive barriers? "What the hell are those?" Ryuen asked.
Masuyama squinted and waved, signaling Ryuen to follow him.
They walked deeper into the building. Hidden behind the main altar was an underground passage. As Masuyama had claimed, it seemed he really was the only human guard here.
Ryuen silently observed his surroundings. The blood mist, the hidden passage... these definitely weren't here when he left earlier that day. Is this even possible? Such a massive architectural and environmental change in just a few hours?
Following the seemingly unsuspecting Masuyama, Ryuen repeatedly considered caving the old man's skull in with his crowbar. In the end, he refrained.
Intelligence. Without intelligence, Daigo Fujiwara couldn't mobilize the police or his political fixers. If the Fujiwaras didn't act, this unknown organization would completely consume the Visual God Cult. Fortunately, the old man didn't seem to have noticed the hidden button camera on Ryuen's coat broadcasting everything...
Perhaps the atmosphere between them was too boring, or perhaps Masuyama simply couldn't hold it in. He began talking to himself, or rather, chatting to keep his "guest" engaged. But Ryuen recognized the tone immediately.
The old man was "showing off."
Yes. Showing off. The satisfaction and pride radiated from his every movement. That condescending perspective during his monologue gave Ryuen a strange feeling. The old researcher had achieved something impossible and looked down on ordinary people. But standing high above the masses, he had no peers to confide in about his twisted achievements. So, he could only squat down and chatter incessantly to an "ant" like Ryuen to satisfy his own vanity.
This was a good thing. Ryuen didn't interrupt the villain's venting. He was painfully aware of reality: in front of such an evil, supernatural organization, he was indeed just an insignificant ant.
"I bet you're wondering the same thing, aren't you?" Masuyama mused. "Why did our world change so suddenly? Why do our eyes deceive us? Mr. Kamo was truly a great seeker of truth... He's the one who helped us understand the Truth of the World."
What truth? The underground passage seemed rather long, spiraling deep into the earth. Ryuen finally asked the question aloud. Curiosity, or perhaps a moth-to-a-flame thirst for knowledge, was stirring within him.
"Of course, it's a truth entirely different from our current scientific understanding," Masuyama said, his voice turning soft and strangely melancholic. It seemed he was recalling something profound, or perhaps lamenting human ignorance.
"Our eyes are deceiving us, but they are also protecting us," the old researcher explained. "According to our organization's research, the world isn't just home to the creatures we perceive. There are other things. But they live in places different from us—or perhaps, occupying the exact same space? This contradictory boundary is what we call Cognitive Impairment..."
They've always been there. They've always lived among humans. But mortals can't see them. Or perhaps mortals do see them, but the human brain's instinct for survival protects its sanity. The "strangeness" in their vision is violently rationalized and edited into something the human mind can comprehend.
This was the First Law the Black Organization derived after translating the forbidden text: Mortals cannot see. But the First Law had a "flaw." Mortals' cognition lacks "Knowledge" beyond scientific understanding. Therefore, they remain blind.
So what happens if a mortal acquires "Knowledge" beyond science? Of course, even if they acquire this Knowledge, they most likely still won't see the "Strange" entities. This is because of Aptitude. From a mystical perspective, it's called Spiritual Vision. Without innate Spiritual Vision, even correct Knowledge won't pierce the veil.
Unless... it's a special case like Ryuen's.
"Me? Special?" Hearing this bizarre revelation, Ryuen felt an eager, almost morbid thirst for the rest of the answer.
"Yes, little mouse, you are special," Masuyama chuckled dryly. "Those old folks... they have all merged into one, but they still remember you. It's because of them—oh, excuse me, now it's It. It's because of It focusing on you that you were able to break through the cognitive barrier."
Ryuen didn't hear the rest.
He was completely stunned, his brain freezing on the phrase "merged into one." It hit him like a physical blow, tolling in his mind like a death knell. In an instant, his eyes turned bloodshot. He gripped the heavy crowbar so tightly his knuckles cracked, and the violent, murderous danger in his gaze erupted.
Merged into one!?
Could someone explain what the fuck this bastard meant!?
What the hell did "merged into one" mean!?
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