Demon Capital Slayer

Chapter 8 The hand behind the scenes
Sitting alone in the center of the empty movie theater, Yu Jian relaxed completely and slumped back into the sofa.

At this moment, he held a large portion of popcorn in his left hand and a glass of iced cola in his right, while a large screen in front of him was showing the life story of the evil spirit Shinichiro Togo.

In this dreamlike world created by a cheat-like protagonist, defeating enemies with a sword not only grants physical enhancements but also has a chance to extract the memories of the defeated. The clearer parts of these memories are mostly limited to martial arts techniques, while everyday life fragments are blurry, like worn-out film reels.

It was through this mechanism and a 'little bit' of talent that he was able to acquire skillful swordsmanship in a short period of time.

Yu Jian would occasionally jokingly wonder if it was because he loved watching movies in his past life, especially midnight screenings when no one was around, that he had a cheat code that caused him to become like this after transmigrating.

To his surprise, the evil spirits he killed in real life were also within the range of the cheat's effect, and the memories he gained were even clearer. Could it be because the ones he killed were fresher?

This made him ponder the true nature of the "three-no cheat" (a cheat system).
Unfortunately, there was too little information, and no matter how much I thought about it, I was still clueless.

One can only sigh that this illusion truly lives up to its name as a dream of Asura. The rule that the victor plunders everything inevitably leads to endless fighting and bloodshed, unless one can restrain oneself with great willpower and thus transcend one's nature.

Refocusing his attention on the 'movie' itself, reading, going to school, being nagged by his parents, most of Shinichiro Togo's life was rather unremarkable.

He changed when he was fifteen.

He's gone mad.

Initially, it was simply academic pressure and transferring schools that led to a breakdown in interpersonal relationships. Unfortunately, some people are born unworthy of being human; they just happen to wear the skin of a human.

Watching Shinichiro Togo on screen go from abusing animals to smashing a primary school student with a hammer while his back is turned, I was struck by his lack of empathy. He even thought he was rebelling against oppression and injustice, so he wrote a lengthy criminal warning letter, claiming that the police would never catch him because they were all useless adults.

Is being oppressed a reason to bully the weak? Regardless of how going to school constitutes oppression, there are many ways to relieve stress, and harming others is undoubtedly one of the worst.

Yu Jian clenched his fist, a look of disgust on his face. However, wanting to know the real reason the other had become an evil spirit, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue watching.

Yujian is filled with curiosity and longing for the supernatural powers of this world, while also harboring an equal amount of vigilance and caution.

Pick up the remote, Yu Jian presses the fast forward button, and the picture speeds up.

Due to the extremely serious nature of the crime, the "useless" adults arrested Togo in just one week.

What followed took a bizarre turn: the main perpetrator was a minor, and with a diagnosis of mental instability provided by his lawyer, he wasn't sentenced to death but instead went to a juvenile detention center to serve his sentence.

The so-called juvenile detention center is a special prison used in Japan to manage offenders aged 15-21. Aside from the restriction on free entry and exit, it is not much different from a regular school. The graduation certificates issued are also valid as those from equivalent schools in society.

That's too good for that scumbag...

Yu Jian narrowed his eyes. He shouldn't have finished this guy off with just one strike; he should have used a thousand strikes to kill him slowly.

After serving his sentence and leaving the juvenile detention center, Togo collaborated with an unscrupulous publisher to publish a non-fiction autobiographical novel and held book signings all over the country. In public, he claimed that he was a victim of the system and that the exam-oriented education system was the cause of such pathetic youths as himself.

For the victims' families, this is undoubtedly the most unacceptable and despicable act.

Therefore, the value of a Class A driver's license is maximized.

On the large screen in front, Dongxiang is easily crushed into Dongxiang sauce by a dump truck.

*Clap clap clap*, Yu Jian clapped vigorously, his face expressionless. Congratulations, you've met your end.

This concludes the sinful life of a deranged serial killer. The film seems to be drawing to a close, but the scene doesn't immediately end.

"A very energetic dead man." Laughter echoed in the darkness.

Upon hearing this, Yu Jian couldn't help but want to complain: Are the words 'vitality' and 'dead people' really appropriate to put together?

As the image gradually came into focus, a bloated figure with blurred outlines looked down at the camera. Perhaps the evil spirit's memories had been tampered with, or perhaps the figure was deliberately concealing its appearance; from Togo's perspective, the person's appearance was not clearly visible.

The only thing that could be seen was a pale, skeletal hand floating in mid-air. On its wrist, index finger, and little finger were golden rings and wrist rims, which were connected by thin chains, outlining a peculiar golden triangle.

"Keep playing your game, you energetic little guy. Let me see how far you can grow!"

"Perhaps you'll be the next Amanojaku~"

He pressed a mark on Dongxiang's forehead, and the bone hand disappeared into the darkness, the voice fading into the distance.

Thus, the former serial killer, now a malevolent spirit, strikes again. Before being summoned by the Paranormal Society, it had already killed at least seven people through various means. It infiltrates the mortal realm each time through various online psychic rituals, including the relatively safe Gumihoshi ritual. An Amanojaku? Someone is conducting experiments…

Yu Jian quickly came to the above conclusion, and his brows furrowed even more.

This kind of thing is hard to trace. Nogizaka contacted the other party through the internet. The only offline connection was the delivery of materials. The relevant physical evidence had been destroyed in the previous ceremony, or rather, it was self-destructed.

If someone else were to perform the ritual, they would most likely die at the hands of the summoned evil spirits, thus eliminating the need to consider the issue of survivors.

With witnesses and physical evidence eliminated, the relevant departments will most likely treat it as an accident. They might even complain that laymen were haphazardly conducting spiritual rituals, causing them unnecessary trouble.

The mastermind behind this plan is cunning and completely indifferent to human life.

So, should we call the police?

Yu Jian hesitated. The Shura Dream, which he had regarded as a cheat code, now seemed quite suspicious.

He wouldn't suspect that time travel was also related to the mastermind behind it all. This matter involves time, space, and even parallel universes. If they really had that kind of power, why would they bother with evil spirits? Wouldn't it be better to just go straight to the moon?
But the Asura's Dream's act of extracting the souls and memories of the defeated...

Yes, just like my identity as a time traveler, it absolutely cannot be exposed.

Is he simply coming forward as a victim of a psychic ritual?

Before any answers were found, the film about the evil spirit Shinichiro Togo came to an end, and the Lonely Cinema began to disappear from the outside in.

When Yujian returned to reality, only a fleeting moment had passed. The remains of the evil spirit before him turned into a clump of grayish-white dust, but nothing else disappeared.

An exaggerated slash mark stretched straight to the end of the corridor. The strike, unleashed beyond its limits due to the recognition of the existence of supernatural power, was more powerful than expected, severely damaging the windows and floors of the old school building.

The deep ravine didn't look like a sword mark at all. The entire corridor seemed to have been cleaved by a passing Titan with an axe. Twisted and broken wood fibers were exposed to the air, and the metal window frames and brick walls were twisted and deformed.

More pressing issues lay before Yujian than the mastermind behind the scenes.

Should we compensate for this?
Cold sweat trickled down the boy's forehead. He didn't know how to react. Could he get away with just a cool, expressionless face?
Changes occurred again. The sounds of traffic gradually became clearer on the distant road, the black mist that shrouded the old school building faded away, and even the damage marks left by the sword were slowly disappearing.

From afar to near, it repaired the damaged parts as if time were flowing backward, until only a crack more than three meters long remained at the foot of the house.

Why did it stop...?

Yu Jian's eyes widened. Although he didn't understand why this was happening, he couldn't stop here! "Come on, let's repair another three meters, okay?"
Inside the classroom, Ruka Nogizaka's surprised voice could be heard.

"We're back?"

"So, what happened just now was the mortal world, and this is the present world?" Lily rested her chin on her folding fan, pondering silently.

"So, we're finally safe?" Sayaka was stunned for a moment, then suddenly hugged (or rather, strangled) Nogizaka Ruka's neck.

"Great!"

"Sayaka-san? Let go, I can't breathe." Nogizaka blushed and struggled to break free from the delinquent's embrace. He was no match for Sayaka in either height or strength.

"You bastard, it's time to hand over the money! Your wages plus compensation for emotional distress, not a penny less than 1500 yen!"

"Hey~"

The two were bickering, while Lily Fragrance came to Yujian's side.

Upon seeing the sword mark, she raised an eyebrow, revealing a knowing expression.

"It seems that the eternal world and the present world are both independent of each other and mutually influential."

“Perhaps so, but…” Yu Jian raised his hand to his forehead.

"Can't we try a little harder to mitigate this impact?"

(End of this chapter)