Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Ping Shenglong nodded: "What's the reason?"

“The logic is simple. It couldn’t move before because of the seal. Now that the seal has been broken, if it still can’t move, wouldn’t it be a waste of time to break the seal?” Kurosaki’s tone was matter-of-fact.

"According to the law of conservation of energy. Don't look at me like that, I'm just saying, but the meaning is roughly the same. The sealed entity on Mount Fuji distributes energy to trigger the monster tide, so overall there is definitely some loss."

"Especially the cluster mode, it's a huge loss."

"If it were me, I would probably just bring out a few elite monsters to provide support, nothing too big."

"The main fighting force still relies on the main body."

"Of course. If it were really me, I definitely wouldn't come out. What would I do if I came out? Eat mushrooms? Unless I can't stay inside anymore and I'll get weaker and weaker, but judging from the situation, that's obviously not the case. If I really would get weaker over time, I would have died long ago after being sealed for hundreds of years."

"Actually, our biggest problem right now is that we don't know where this demon king's interests lie, and we don't have a way to communicate with him."

"Remember what I said before? For a demon king like this, using a method like the Giant Gate Water Collapse to break the seal is actually harmful to both itself and others. But it still did it, either simply to vent its anger or because it was profitable."

Ping Shenglong understood what he meant: "Does it benefit if more people die, or if there's a lot of commotion?"

After taking his last drag, Kurosaki nodded slightly: "If we use the concept of ghost stories, there is a possibility that this demon king is eating human emotions, mostly negative ones. That would explain why it would do this, manually creating its own food."

"But it's too low-level. That should be something from ghost stories. A demon king as outrageous as the Yamata no Orochi should absorb some kind of spiritual energy from heaven and earth."

Ping Shenglong casually guessed, "Perhaps it's because there's not enough food? There are many people in the countermeasures department who agree with the theory of spiritual energy depletion. Moreover, we don't understand many systems of mysticism yet, so we can't make any rash conclusions and assume that negative emotions are inferior."

Kurosaki opened his mouth, wanting to say something in rebuttal, but ultimately swallowed his words.

Ping Shenglong is right. Although he considers himself more reliable than those metaphysical experts, he is still just a dabbler when it comes to the real unknown.

I can't sleep.

The two sipped their black coffee, sorting through the scattered clues, their gazes occasionally drifting to the view outside the window of Mount Fuji, which appeared arrogant in the twilight.

The sky was already beginning to lighten before we knew it.

It was during this quietest moment before dawn.

Click.

A crisp sound of shattering glass rang clearly in their ears without warning.

Ping Shenglong and Kurosaki exchanged a sharp glance. Without a word, their long-standing working relationship allowed them to instantly get into the zone and rush to their respective monitoring equipment and communication stations.

Less than two minutes.

The piercing sound of air raid sirens ripped apart the morning tranquility of Fujiyoshida, Fujinomiya, and Gotemba.

These cities surrounding Mount Fuji, whose residents had been partially or completely evacuated, immediately entered a tense state of combat readiness upon hearing the alarm.

The troops, which had been waiting in advance, completed their final deployment, and countless dark cannon muzzles and missile launchers were all pointed in the direction of Mount Fuji.

In the forest, the densely deployed infrared monitoring devices were effective, and dots of light representing frightened wild animals appeared one after another on the screen, but the expected large-scale monster horde signal was never detected.

The summit of Mount Fuji.

The cinnabar characters on that grayish-yellow talisman had faded and become blurred.

With that cracking sound, the golden sand grains shimmering around the mountain suddenly collapsed and solidified inward, as if in a final struggle. The broken talisman ignited, leaving no trace of ash or smoke, and vanished without a trace as if it had been completely erased.

Rumble!

Freed from its final restraints, Mount Fuji unleashed its long-accumulated, violent power with a deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

The earth shook and trembled as scorching torrents of lava, carrying boulders, erupted violently from the crater, soaring into the sky.

In an instant, the sky was turned fiery red, and countless chunks of lava burning with blazing white flames were hurled into the sky, like fireballs falling from the sky, trailing long black smoke trails and making a dull thud, as they crashed down on the towns and cities around the foot of the mountain like a shower of flowers from the heavens.

"Target! Sky! Intercept! Intercept!!"

The anti-aircraft guns, which had been leveled and were ready to engage the ground horde of beasts, raised their barrels again amidst the piercing sound of their motors turning, and a dense barrage of metal bullets rained down into the sky.

Tracer bullets drew countless bright streaks across the dawn sky, weaving a vast net of fire.

However, little effect has been achieved.

The fireballs that fell from the sky ranged in size from as small as a truck to as large as a mobile house, and were exceptionally sturdy.

When anti-aircraft shells hit them, it was like pebbles being thrown into a furnace; they only sparked a few flames and were not enough to pulverize them or reduce the destructive force.

Boom boom!

Deafening explosions rang out one after another, and huge fireballs slammed into the city.

A modern high-rise building was pierced through in the middle, its reinforced concrete instantly collapsing and losing most of its support before collapsing to the side, kicking up clouds of dust.

The fireball continued its speed after piercing through the tall building, blasting a gas station flat with a loud thud, and then bursting into flames in an instant with a massive explosion.

Dense detached residential areas are as fragile as matchboxes; the wooden structures burst into flames under high temperatures, leaving behind huge charred pits that burn and emit thick black smoke.

A scene of heavenly fire burning the city.

But if that's all there is to it, it can only be considered a natural disaster, with the only problem being the complicated cleanup work.

What's truly terrifying are the falling objects.

In the center of one of the deep pits, the scorched soil suddenly arched up, and several long, black arms, seemingly made of viscous asphalt with twisted and bent joints, suddenly reached out and dug deep into the pit wall, dragging it forcefully.

Immediately afterwards, a huge and disgusting figure struggled to crawl out of the pit.

It resembles a mutated spider magnified countless times, with its main body the size of half a room. It is covered with an alternating outer layer of skin and carapace, with dark red lava-like light flowing through the gaps between them.

Supporting its massive body were not eight legs, but a dozen or so long, glossy black arms that had previously extended out.

These arms, like elongated, multi-legged centipede legs, support its bloated body that constantly drips slime. The head is a crying human head, which opens into four lobes in the middle, revealing a gaping maw filled with spiraling, sharp teeth.

"What the hell is this thing?! Unknown large-scale mutated monster detected! Location marked, attempt attack."

A swarm of suicide drones hovering high in the sky received the command, maintained a certain distance from each other, and swooped down.

Several explosions rang out, and the dense bursts of light instantly engulfed the terrifying spider monster.

But around the monster's massive body, visible red energy ripples spread out from the explosions. The shockwaves and fragments from the explosions collided with these ripples, causing the massive body to sway slightly, but it remained completely unharmed.

"That kind of shield again!"

In the command center, Leon lost control and slammed his fist on the stage, his face turning ashen.

It was this blood-red energy shield that completely defied reason that caused Kofu City's defenses to crumble within half an hour.

Is history about to repeat itself?

Despite their extensive research efforts during this period, the conclusion was that there was no more feasible solution than simply increasing firepower.

Muramasa Taki stared intently at the terrifying figure standing motionless amidst the smoke on the screen, its image gradually matching the pixelated graphics in the game.

This monster, along with other creatures that crawled out of the fire pits, varied in form but all exuded an ominous aura.

Their appearance bears a striking resemblance to the ancestors of the Doman family who merged with yokai atop Mount Fuji in the game "Yomigayo".

Even though it was absorbed and fused with Ashiya Dōman's main body in the ending, how can it still be summoned now?

The thought, "The Buddhist teachings in the game are quite effective against these kinds of monsters," popped into my head, but I quickly dismissed it. "But who in reality knows the true Buddhist teachings?"

She brought up the system screen and looked at her growth ability section.

Just yesterday, she achieved a basic growth, gaining the ability to see through enemy moves, which allows her to more easily anticipate their attacks.

But when facing a demon king of this level, one would need to be at least as capable as Daoman Xiaoche in the game.

If I could reach the intermediate growth level, I should be able to summon the Mystic Art of Exorcising Demons. That sword is effective against demons and monsters; it might even be able to pierce through a shield.

"It's broken! The shield is broken!!"

A nearly deafening scream of ecstasy suddenly drowned out the other sounds, drawing everyone's attention.

A young technician pointed at the screen in front of him, so excited he almost jumped up.

"where?!"

"Quick! Get it!"

Almost instantly, he was surrounded by people, and even Leon rushed over.

"No, don't push! I'll project it onto the main screen right away!" The technician frantically operated the system.

Switching home screen images.

A huge monster resembling the legendary Tengu, but with charred and tattered feathers, appeared to have ventured too far and found itself isolated in a crossfire network of several artillery positions.

A dense rain of bullets poured down on it, and the protective red light disappeared without a trace.

Without the protection of the shield, the monster's massive body did not last long. In just over ten seconds, it was torn apart by the steel storm, its flesh flying everywhere, and black and red blood splattering like rain.

It let out a mournful wail, and finally, under the continuous bombardment of countless shells, it crashed heavily to the ground and lay still.

Immediately afterwards, the enormous corpse disintegrated rapidly like ashes, transforming into a large mass of red matter that flew rapidly towards Mount Fuji and disappeared into the now-bright sky.

The command center erupted in brief cheers, but were quickly silenced by the image.

Anyone with eyes can see that something is wrong.

Have they really been eliminated?

Muramasa Taki hesitated, realizing that the way this dissipated was definitely not a simple death.

Is it recycled? Or is it consumed?

Leon didn't assign any superhumans to stand by on the front lines. To be honest, if such concentrated firepower couldn't stop them, it would be difficult for superhumans to defy fate.

Unless it's an enemy with a clear weakness that allows an extraordinary individual to make a breakthrough.

It's better to stay at the Tokyo headquarters, just in case something unexpected happens.

The players shared similar thoughts with Leon: most of the residents in those areas had already been evacuated, and the military also had a defensive line.

The closest densely populated area to Mount Fuji right now is Tokyo.

They must ensure the safety of Tokyo and cannot arbitrarily divert their resources.

If a situation similar to the monster tide were to occur in Tokyo, the consequences would be unimaginable. It would be a massacre involving millions of people, with casualties estimated to be in the millions.

Skyscrapers are no different from speed bumps; talk to them like they're hooves of monsters.

The roar of artillery fire from the front lines carried faintly through the mountains and valleys to Tokyo.

Although Tokyo has not yet sounded the alarm, many people have already gone to the civil defense facilities on their own initiative.

The roads were jammed with vehicles, traffic was paralyzed, and the air was filled with shouting and cursing. Most of the people on the verge of death were fugitives who had only decided to run away when they were about to die.

But this kind of road condition reminded them of various classic disaster movies.

Most of the first to die are unlucky guys like them who block the road.

So some people decisively abandoned their cars and walked to nearby refuge points, but this made the roads even more impassable.

Boom! !

A terrifying roar, far surpassing all previous explosions, erupted as if the world had just begun to open.

The loud noise did not come from a specific explosion point, but rather from the roar emanating from the entire Mount Fuji itself.

Immediately afterwards, a violent tremor ten times stronger than before suddenly spread outward from Mount Fuji, causing the glass curtain walls of skyscrapers in Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers away, to begin buzzing and cracking, and the chandeliers in the rooms to sway wildly.

Neon advertising signs were smashed down one by one, parked cars sounded their alarms, and the streets were filled with panicked crowds crying and screaming.

Some people looked up as the mountain shook, and in the direction of Mount Fuji, the billowing black smoke was obscured by the spewing lava, reaching a height of several thousand meters.

The sky was dyed a boiling sea of ​​blood, churning and forming a gigantic mushroom cloud that blotted out the sun, expanding upwards and with its top swirling in crimson.

This apocalyptic scene was clearly visible throughout Tokyo, and it was completely different from the eruption just now.

Many more people looked up in horror, their expressions instantly frozen.

Within the blood-red clouds, dozens, even hundreds, of massive lava boulders, trailing long tails, tore through the clouds and plummeted toward Tokyo.

"Mount Fuji! Mount Fuji has been completely destroyed!"

"Run!!!"

Thank you to "Unrivaled Under Heaven" for the donation.

Chapter 243: Streams of Flames

Woohoo——

Air raid sirens sounded in Tokyo.