This was the first time Usami Reiko and Sakai Takashi had taken a man-powered elevator.
To put it simply, several people sat in a basket while others pulled on it to ascend or descend. At most, the Ritual Institute's man-powered elevator was just more ornate and stable.
Perhaps, when he was at home, he could set up a small basket to play with his son.
"You don't even have a girlfriend, stop dreaming."
Usami Reiko sneered. Under Sakai Takashi's side-eye, she lit a cigarette with a'snap.'
The red spark slowly sank into the deeper darkness.
"Director Usami..."
Amidst the friction of the rope on the bearings, the group descended. The eerie dark space gave an illusion of stillness, where even the slightest sound of breathing could travel far.
White Torch suddenly spoke, turning hesitantly toward Usami Reiko. "Director Usami, about Yoshino..."
"No need to say it."
Usami Reiko coldly interrupted White Torch. The latter seemed a bit awkward, the facial muscles of the tough man twitching slightly.
"I believe that the deaths of Nagayama Keiichiro and Yoshino Kenichi are indeed related to me."
Sakai Takashi's eyes widened in surprise.
White Torch explained indifferently, ignoring the woman's increasingly stiff expression. "When the support signal was received, there were indeed no more teams on standby."
"My authority was not enough to order field teams currently on missions to return.
In that situation, I misjudged the urgency and danger of the 'request for support' signal."
"Otherwise..."
White Torch's voice was low. "Otherwise, I should have gone alone. I think if I had gone, they would have most likely survived..."
The man clenched his fist, a crisp sound popping between his fingers: "If Department Head Usami Reiko harbors hatred for me because of this, it is only natural."
"However, please bear with it a little longer."
"My life must be used on the path of confronting chaos."
White Torch's expression remained unchanged—these words, too, were spoken as if reading a prepared script, calm and without fluctuation: "After the Ritual Institute produces a new 'Judgment' level..."
His thick, round finger tapped his own heart, then pointed at Usami Reiko.
"My life will be yours."
As his voice fell, there was silence.
The ropes continued to rub relentlessly, and the manual elevator swayed slightly, seemingly about to arrive.
Usami Reiko was silent for a long time, then let out a scoff.
"You truly are a complete soldier."
The woman, after this evaluation, said nothing more, as if it wasn't her who, days ago, had been furious and shot the man repeatedly.
"I have my own plans. Keep your life for those foul pigs."
With that, Usami Reiko turned around, not intending to bother with White Torch any further.
Bang.
A violent jolt.
The elevator landed.
White Torch nodded at Usami Reiko. After the apology, he seemed to have shed a burden, pushed open the waist-high door, and walked out.
"Are you alright?"
Sakai Takashi leaned over and patted Usami Reiko's back, a faint tremor coming from his palm.
The woman lowered her head: "I'm fine, let's go. Now is not a good time to express personal feelings."
Following the path to its end, they found a huge, air-raid-shelter-like space.
Boxes were neatly stacked into cubes in the corners of the rock wall. A dozen men and women, with iron collars around their necks and their hands and feet restrained, sat disheveled not far away, their faces all bearing the same expression.
Dull and hopeless.
Sakai Takashi looked around curiously. In the office area at the bend of the rock wall, a researcher in a white coat came forward, pushed up his glasses, and respectfully saluted White Torch.
Clap!
White Torch nodded: "Activate special item C-001. If these two and I rush over, we should make it in time."
The true mystery of the 'secret rite' finally unfolded before Sakai Takashi's eyes—
It was a giant clock.
A highly mechanical metal creation, with gears and copper rods all exposed on the surface. Rings of golden patterns were etched along the edges, and a net-like pattern slowly expanded and contracted in the man's vision.
They were alive.
The second hand ticked forward, its brass-colored metal casing barely concealing the core part.
Usami Reiko looked at her wristwatch, then at the secret rite.
Strange, this clock only has six numbers... As if understanding the confusion of the two behind him, White Torch explained: "Although the 'secret rite' is clock-shaped, it does not record time."
"Its back can set a range," the man pointed distantly at the second hand: "The second hand starts moving, indicating a large-scale mystery has appeared within the set range."
Then, he gestured across the minute hand and hour hand: "The minute hand's scale represents the energy level; and the hour hand represents the type."
Sakai Takashi suddenly understood, "So, the '2' on the minute hand represents the second energy level...?"
Second level.
"This is its first independent judgment."
"Level two is probably a small-scale regional disaster."
The researcher who had just left returned, followed by two armed guards who were pushing and shoving the disheveled, chained people Sakai Takashi had seen earlier.
The middle-aged researcher pointed to the minute hand: "After C-001 successfully arrived, we internally tested it several times. The second energy level is roughly a medium-small ritual, the mysterious string waves are not strong, and after the stimulation intensity test—"
He paused, and under the utterly silent gaze of the three, the researcher pushed up his glasses and rephrased: "To put it in more common terms, it's probably the destruction caused after White Torch activates a mystery."
"The intensity of a second-level ritual is about this much. The three of you will be fine."
"The opponent will at most have one Ritualist and a few Contactees."
Sakai Takashi nodded, half-understanding.
"As for the 'type' on the hour hand, we haven't fully tested the results yet."
Speaking of the hour hand, the middle-aged researcher looked a bit troubled, "After all, mysteries only appeared a year or two ago. We don't have any reference experience or data at hand."
White Torch was not interested in this.
He turned his head and spoke to Reiko and Sakai Takashi: "These don't mean much to you. You just need to know what the third type indicated by the hour hand represents."
"Type Three: Chaos Ritual."
The researcher glanced at White Torch, said nothing, waved his hand, and had the two guards escort the man to the secret rite.
"These are all death row inmates." White Torch was referring to the ones in front of him, and those who were chained when they first came in: "Activating the 'secret rite' requires a price."
"Mr. White Torch always has that calm demeanor."
The researcher smiled as he unlocked the death row inmate's handcuffs, teasing him as he worked, his half-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, his fox-like eyes narrowing into crescents through the lenses: "Even though you're the highest-level Ritualist."
White Torch stared at him expressionlessly: "I'm not strong enough."
"Oh, what a terrifying thing to say."
The male death row inmate seemed a bit resistant, struggling to break free from the guards' hold.
"Do you want to refuse?"
The middle-aged researcher did not forcefully use violence. He slightly dismissed the two guards, walked up to the death row inmate, and with a sly smile, said: "No matter the cost, as long as you survive, your sentence can be commuted."
"Or are you going to refuse this opportunity and go back to prison, waiting for next month's execution?"
The dripping sound of water fell from the rock wall, landing on the guards' military boots.
The death row inmate struggled, then slowly lowered his head.
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