Haruga High School.
It was break time. Furukawa Kaoruko clutched her phone and leaned toward the girl seated in front of her, Mikami Natsu.
"Natsu, look! It seems like a terrorist attack broke out near us!"
Her tone was excited, eyes sparkling with curiosity. On her phone screen was footage of a large number of police officers clustered at the entrance of an alley.
To mobilize this much police force at once—it had to be major news. Whether or not they caught the culprit, tomorrow's headlines were guaranteed to be exciting.
Mikami Natsu turned her head slightly, glanced at the phone, and twirled her pen, one eyebrow lifting.
"A terrorist attack? In a place like ours?"
Something felt off.
Normally, wouldn't things like that happen in Tokyo? Big city, dense population…
Before she could figure out exactly where the footage was taken, Furukawa Kaoruko pulled the phone back, pouting slightly.
"What's wrong with our little town? Maybe the culprit just wanted to give the police a 'surprise.'"
"Anyway, the news is already spreading. Even though it's been blocked—can't even search keywords—come on, what era are we living in?"
"Hey, want to walk home together after school tonight? Fukuoka feels really dangerous right now. I bet the teachers will—"
Speak of the devil.
Not long after, the class bell rang and a female teacher pushed the door open.
Despite the police doing their best to seal things off, word of mouth spread faster than any blockade.
The school itself felt that it had little to do with the incident.
But if the police failed to catch the culprit and students were harmed as a result, that would be a mess no one could clean up easily.
So the teacher was there to remind everyone not to go anywhere alone after school.
"Yesss~~"
The girls' voices dragged out lazily, while the boys looked thrilled, eager to test their courage.
Some of the bolder ones were already whispering among themselves, planning to sneak closer to the incident site later as a dare.
This wasn't anime.
For these high schoolers, life was a dull routine of three points—home, school, cram school.
Now that something so thrilling—so exciting—had finally happened, how could they ignore it?
"Natsu? Are you listening to me?"
After the female teacher left, a male teacher came in to start the lesson.
Mikami Natsu stared at the blackboard blankly for a moment. Hearing Furukawa Kaoruko, she replied softly without turning around:
"Yeah, I'm listening. Walking home together, right? Sure."
She was a little scared too. Japan was small—anything that happened in the city was basically nearby.
A smile immediately bloomed on Furukawa Kaoruko's face, her eyes curving like crescents.
"Really? That's great!"
She'd wanted to walk home with Natsu for a long time. If possible, she even wanted to stay over—after all, it seemed like there wasn't anyone else at Mikami Natsu's place.
As a girl, who wouldn't like a girl overflowing with ikemen energy—soft yet cool?
"What a shame…"
Furukawa Kaoruko sighed inwardly.
"Natsu doesn't seem interested in me… no, not just me—even the boys."
"What kind of person does she like? If only she'd tell me…"
She felt a bit like a hopeless simp—but as long as she didn't confess and turn into a loser, it was fine.
Observe for now.
Too bad she wasn't good at sports, otherwise…
...
...
While Furukawa Kaoruko was full of melancholy, Yuhran wore a look of speechless disbelief.
This demon race guy was actually kind of considerate—he straight-up blew up a police car.
Yuhran didn't really care whether there were people inside. The moment he brought a demon into this world, he'd already prepared to divert all risks.
He took a deep breath.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the rest can be handed over to the police."
"If they capture him alive, I'll reappear and quietly purify him with holy light."
"I absolutely can't let him leak any information about me."
As Yuhran thought this through, his fingers pressed hard against the Gate Between Worlds tucked in his pocket.
After blowing up the police car, Shaton frowned slightly.
He'd noticed that his magic power was almost depleted.
Maintaining the shadow giant and forming shadow spears had consumed far too much.
He stared at Yuhran, grinding his teeth.
"This bastard…"
Why was a mere human so hard to kill?
No—he couldn't afford to waste any more magic power.
The two of them stared at each other in silence. Invisible currents seemed to crackle through the air.
Then—at the same moment—they both moved.
The demon race wasn't just powerful in magic; their physical capabilities far surpassed humans as well.
Shaton condensed pitch-black shadow claws and kicked off the ground hard.
His body shot toward Yuhran like an arrow loosed from a bow, bringing with it a slicing gust of wind.
Whoosh!
Yuhran's pupils shrank. He leaned back, barely dodging as loose strands of hair fluttered across his forehead.
"He switched to close combat? To save time?"
It was time to retreat.
At range, there was still some chance—but once he was caught in close quarters, he wouldn't even have time to cast magic.
As Yuhran flipped backward, Shaton's claw slammed into the already unstable building.
Crunch!
Like the final straw on a camel's back, the rebar snapped like tofu.
The small building collapsed with a thunderous roar, dust billowing into the sky.
Taking advantage of the dust as cover, Yuhran sprinted across the rubble and leapt onto the remaining second-floor platform.
From here, he had the high ground, a clear view, and a wall—possibly from a bathroom—for cover.
Even if he vanished here, it would be hard to spot. He immediately reached out, ready to open the Gate Between Worlds and leave.
Shaton smashed the falling debris with his claws and spun around violently, savagery flashing through his eyes.
The dust obscured his vision. He leapt high, trying to locate Yuhran and pursue—
And then, the next second—
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tranquilizer rounds.
With the obstructing buildings gone, the police finally had a clear line of sight.
In their view, as long as the enemy was human, there was no way he could withstand the power of science.
Caught completely off guard, Shaton's back was riddled with tranquilizer darts. His body stiffened violently.
Pain surged. After landing, he reflexively turned his head, disbelief filling his eyes.
"What the—"
Before the thought could finish, his vision went black.
His body swayed. He nearly collapsed, stumbling forward.
"No… how can I…"
"Damn humans!"
He was furious.
These ants dared to provoke him again and again!
Forcing himself to stand steady, he turned around.
As the dust slowly cleared, the police finally saw his appearance clearly—and their eyes widened.
C… cosplay?
Shaton spat, ripped the darts from his body, glanced at them, and twisted his mouth into a feral grin.
So that's how it is…
"Hmph."
He'd figured something out.
With a wave of his hand—
Countless black droplets condensed around him in an instant, dense as a torrential downpour, shooting straight toward the police.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
The battle between humans and the demon race erupted once more.
And every second of it was captured by reporters' cameras in the distance.
The journalists were stunned—some even stood there with mouths agape, forgetting to breathe.
This… this isn't…
A monster?!
At first, they thought it was just some hardcore otaku.
But now—creating matter out of thin air?
This was too absurd. They had to be dreaming. They had to be—
Smack!
One reporter slapped himself hard.
It hurt. His cheek burned red.
He stared at Shaton with unwavering intensity.
Promotion and a raise were waiting tomorrow.
This was—
A yokai!
Our great island nation actually has…?
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