SCIAW: Chapter 109/112

Chapter 109: Versatile

"It's… really hard to tell if that's a man."

After observing the illusory figure for a while, Hayasaka, an expert in disguise and casual wear shook her head slightly.

She had only noticed the discrepancies because Amamiya Ren had mentioned that the mysterious woman was actually a man.

"There's a faint Adam's apple, but that's not definitive, some women naturally have one."

"The breast shape looks slightly… off, but that could be from plastic surgery."

"Physical and cosmetic fillers can create that unnatural symmetry."

"And then there's the height, she's much taller than the average woman."

"But without context, I'd have assumed she was just a statuesque beauty."

Hayasaka was impressed.

She'd dealt with disguises her whole life, but this level of detail was rare.

Even with her trained eye, she would've been fooled if she hadn't known beforehand.

"Yeah… it's surprisingly convincing," Maria agreed.

"Without Amamiya's insight, I never would've guessed."

"But if he went to such lengths to disguise himself… his hatred must run deep."

The male avenger had clearly spent months, if not years preparing for this.

But…

"He doesn't deserve sympathy."

Ren's voice broke the silence with icy certainty.

"His father trafficked drugs. He wasn't some innocent victim, he was a willing accomplice to that world."

"And just because his family was killed by other criminals, we're supposed to feel sorry for him?"

"Drug trafficking is a choice and anyone who makes that choice deserves what they get."

His disdain was palpable.

Fujiwara blinked in surprise.

"But… he never sold drugs himself, right?"

"I'm not denying that his revenge is justified."

"But I'm not going to sympathize with him either."

Ren leaned back slightly.

"His father built a life on the suffering of others."

"And he didn't stop him. Didn't turn him in. Didn't cut ties."

"He was fine with the dirty money until it backfired."

His eyes narrowed.

"To me… his death in the original story was a fitting conclusion."

Maria tilted her head.

"How did he die originally?"

"He burned himself alive after killing the drug dealers."

"He knew his revenge was righteous but also illegal."

"So after completing his revenge, he chose self-immolation as his final act."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Fujiwara exhaled softly.

"I guess… that's justice, in a way."

"He killed monsters… but didn't want to become one."

Ren nodded.

"Exactly."

"I'm not saying his pain wasn't real. Or that his rage wasn't justified."

"But the moment he chose revenge—he accepted the consequences."


---

"Hey, Amamiya…"

Fujiwara shifted closer to him.

"Do you really hate drugs that much?"

"I despise them."

Ren didn't hesitate for even a second.

"Of all the vices in the world—pornography, gambling, and drugs—I hate drugs the most."

"Pornography hurts those who fall into it."

"Gambling destroys families."

"But drugs? Drugs destroy entire communities."

"Porn can be avoided. Gambling can be quit."

"But drugs… drugs never let go."

He clenched his fists.

"Drugs don't just ruin the addict."

"They devour their family, their friends, and everyone they touch."

"I don't just hate drugs…"

His voice turned cold.

"I hate the people who sell them."

Fujiwara swallowed nervously.

She could feel his contempt, like a poisonous mist radiating from his very soul.

And she understood why.

As a child of privilege, she'd been warned about drugs her entire life.

Her family drilled the dangers into her from an early age.

So had the families of every other young lady present.

They might not have grown up on the streets, but they knew how easily even the wealthiest could fall if they let their guard down.

Hayasaka broke the silence.

"Honestly? I agree."

"My family worked for a rich family in Europe once."

"They had a son who got hooked on meth."

"He went from a straight-A student to a violent mess in months."

She folded her arms.

"Drugs don't care if you're rich or poor."

"They destroy you either way."

The room fell into uneasy agreement.

"So… what happened to the revenge-seeker?"

Fujiwara broke the silence with a curious tilt of her head.

"Now?"

Ren considered it.

"Well, the drug dealers he wanted revenge on have been captured."

"His targets are gone."

"He's probably just sitting somewhere, conflicted."

Fujiwara blinked.

"Wait… he became a doctor, right?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe he became one to prevent more families from suffering like his did."

"But now that his revenge is impossible…"

Ren shrugged.

"I think he'll just keep being a doctor."

"That's not a bad outcome."

"Better to heal the sick than hunt ghosts."

He glanced at the clock.

29 minutes since the community center raid ended.

The mountain assault should be underway.

"Looks like it's time for me to go."

He stood up.

"I'll head to the back mountain to check the situation."

"Wait, alone?!"

Fujiwara jumped to her feet.

"I'll be back soon."

"Just sit tight and trust me."

And with that—

He vanished.

His body dissolved into thin air, leaving behind only a faint, shimmering ripple.

Fujiwara gasped.

"Whoa! He just disappeared!"

She ran to the spot where he had stood and waved her hands around.

"He's really gone!"

"It was like… magic!"

She turned to Kaguya.

"Kaguya, can you do that?"

Kaguya shook her head.

"I can merge with elements… but I can't vanish like that."

Fujiwara stared at the empty space with wide eyes.

"Just what kind of power did Amamiya get?"

"He seems… way too versatile."

_______
Chapter 111: Lair in the Back Mountain

After leaving the hotel, Ren swiftly made his way toward the back mountain.

Blending into the surrounding environment like a chameleon, his form became indistinct, a technique that only a Sequence 7 Magician could possess.

For now, he was borrowing this power through Sefirah Castle, temporarily granting himself this ability.

Has my control over these abilities improved?

The connection between Sefirah Castle and himself had clearly strengthened.

This growing synchronization directly affected his authority over the Castle's abilities.

If he could raise this adaptability to a higher level, he might even break past the limitations of certain sequences.

But that takes time.

He was already progressing faster than expected. It had been less than two weeks since he obtained Sefirah Castle, and yet his grasp over its powers had grown significantly.

One… two… three…

Ren counted softly to himself, feeling the gradual increase in his resonance with the Castle.

No rush. Time will handle the rest.

Moments later, he arrived at the outskirts of the back mountain.

The sentry post ahead came into view.

The glass window of the sentry box was smeared with dried, crimson blood. The outdoor surveillance camera had a bullet hole clean through it, rendering it useless.

That was fast.

The assault force had moved with surprising efficiency, brutal and decisive in their actions against the drug dealers stationed here.

Ren didn't even need to check the bodies to know that the shots had been precise: clean headshots, one after the other.

What's with this level of aggression?

Was it because of the girls' identities? Did Fujiwara and Saginomiya's presence rattle the higher-ups enough to push the police to act this aggressively?

That seemed like the most logical explanation.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought, and proceeded into the dense, shadowed forest of the back mountain.


---

The towering trees blocked most of the moonlight, casting the area in an eerie twilight. The underbrush seemed untouched, yet Ren knew better than to trust appearances.

The drug dealers here were no amateurs.

Ground-level traps.

Ren's gaze shifted upward toward the thick branches overhead.

Much safer.

A burst of crimson fire ignited beneath his feet, propelling him effortlessly into the canopy. From there, he advanced swiftly, leaping from branch to branch like a shadow.

The faint glow of his flames occasionally flickered through the leaves but vanished before any ground-based observer could trace it.


---

Sniff.

Perched on a branch, Ren sniffed the air.

Immediately, his face twisted in disgust.

The hell is that?

The stench was overwhelming, like rotting garbage left in the sun for weeks, combined with stagnant sewer water.

He instinctively retrieved a mask from Sefirah Castle and strapped it on.

The improvement was marginal.

From his vantage point, he noticed that the advancing police unit had already donned gas masks.

Mental note: stash more gas masks in the Castle.

A thin mist seeped from his body, forming a protective barrier that filtered the foul air entirely.

Ren settled on the branch, crossed his legs, and conjured a familiar object: his diary.

Balancing it on his lap, he began to write.


---

[The Metropolitan Police Department's special forces are moving faster than expected.]

[They didn't hesitate at the sentry post, headshots all around, cameras destroyed in seconds.]

[Could it be that the mention of Fujiwara, Shinomiya, Saginomiya, and Sanzenin pressured them into this? If so, who?]

[Hmm… Fujiwara or Saginomiya seem like the most likely candidates.]

[Fujiwara's family has deep political ties. Her great-grandfather was a former Prime Minister, and her father is a prominent figure in politics. Her mother's a high-ranking diplomat. That level of influence could certainly push the police into overdrive.]

[Saginomiya, though… she's a different kind of asset. The strongest miko of the modern era, apparently. If the higher-ups truly believe she can handle supernatural threats, they might have insisted on extra precautions.]

[Fear does that to people. It forces them to move, even when they'd rather cling to their wealth and power.]

[But ironically, Saginomiya never even sought that power. It came to her naturally.]

[I guess some people really are favored by fate.]


---

Piu!

The sharp crack of a suppressed gunshot snapped Ren out of his thoughts.

A drug dealer collapsed with a dull thud, blood pooling beneath him.

His corpse lay sprawled in the dirt like discarded trash, devoid of dignity.

Ren's expression remained impassive.

A misty, gray eye appeared beside him, hovering in midair.

The spectral eye rotated slightly, fixating on the lifeless body below.

Sunken cheeks. Hollow eye sockets. Pale skin.

Classic signs of chronic drug abuse.

No sympathy. He chose that path.

The special forces advanced swiftly, eliminating several more targets with similar efficiency.

Ren tracked them silently from above, shifting branches with each step.

Eventually, the unit reached a cluster of makeshift buildings hidden within the forest.

Ren crouched low and observed the scene.

The structures were made of temporary materials, corrugated metal sheets, wooden planks, and plastic tarps. Despite their haphazard appearance, the worn state of the materials suggested they'd been here for a long time.

This place isn't new. It's been operating for years.

Roughly twenty or thirty people had likely lived here, if not more.

___________
Chapter 111: No Humanity

The leader of the special forces quickly confirmed that they had found the drug dealers' base hidden in the back mountain.

"First, locate the surrounding surveillance."

"Split into three teams and advance from three different directions."

The team swiftly divided into three units, each moving into position to ensure a synchronized, three-pronged assault. Their objective was simple: encircle the drug dealers and eliminate all resistance.

These special forces were well-trained. In just a few minutes, all three teams had reached their designated positions.

"Commence the operation!"

With the leader's command, the three teams advanced simultaneously toward the target.

Biu!

The soft crack of a suppressed pistol shattered the silence.

"Shit! We're under attack!"

The panicked shout from within the base sent the entire drug-dealing operation into a frenzy.

However, the drug dealers, armed with pistols, were met by a coordinated volley of submachine-gun fire.

Tat-tat-tat!

Bullets tore through the night, and the drug dealers fell in heaps, their bodies riddled with holes before they could even identify the enemy.

"Watch out! They're using submachine guns!"

The dealers had assumed their attackers were regular officers with standard-issue pistols. But now they understood the truth, they were facing a professional elimination team.

And there had been no warning. No time to prepare.

While the surviving dealers scrambled for cover, the special forces prepared their next move.

"Stun grenades, ready."

From three sides, the teams lobbed stun grenades into the drug lab's entrances.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The enclosed space amplified the concussive blasts.

"Aaaahhh!"

The white-hot flash disoriented the drug dealers, while the deafening noise left them writhing on the floor, clutching their ears.

After a brief five-second wait, the teams stormed the building.

Another round of gunfire followed.

The noise ceased. The resistance was gone.

The team's leader activated his comm unit.

"Command, we've secured the drug lab."

"We've neutralized all hostile targets. Preparing to expand our search perimeter."

"Understood," came the reply.

"Leave two teams behind to secure the lab. The rest of you spread out in three-man squads and sweep the surrounding area."

Orders given, the team dispersed, moving into the forested terrain to ensure no one escaped.

Hidden among the branches of a nearby tree, Ren observed the scene with mild detachment.

As expected.

Wild drug dealers stood no chance against elite professionals. Their outdated pistols were laughable compared to the firepower these special forces carried.

Still, he didn't move right away.

Instead, he retrieved his diary and jotted down a few lines:

[Just as expected.
A ragtag group of drug dealers is no match for a professional tactical unit.
The difference between pistols and submachine guns is like night and day.
And the stun grenades? Absolutely devastating in that confined space.
Honestly, this fight was over before it started.]



Closing the diary, he leaped from the branch.

A burst of gray mist surrounded his figure, distorting his presence. The hidden officers stationed around the lab never even noticed his approach.

The ground was slick with blood.

Bodies lay sprawled on the dirt floor, eyes wide open in death.

Amamiya Ren didn't feel much sympathy.

These men had willingly destroyed countless lives for profit. Dying here was a mercy.

Stepping past the corpses, he reached the lab's inner sanctum, a space separated by thick plastic sheeting.

The plastic barrier was intact. To get in, one would have to tear it open.

But Ren didn't need to tear anything.

He retrieved a pair of gloves from Sefirah Castle, placed his palm on the barrier, and manifested a door.

The ethereal doorway shimmered for a moment before swinging open. He stepped through and entered the hidden chamber.

The sight inside made his stomach churn.

Dozens of bodies lined the laboratory tables.

Some were reduced to rotting husks, their skin sagging over exposed bone. Others were fresher, though their lifeless expressions spoke of horrific suffering.

And among the dead… some were still breathing.

The stench of decay was overwhelming. Only the gray mist shielding Ren's senses prevented him from vomiting on the spot.

He clenched his jaw and surveyed the victims.

There were men and women. Elderly individuals. And—

Children.

A wave of cold fury washed over him.

The bodies of two small children, no older than six or seven, lay strapped to the tables. Their veins had been punctured repeatedly, test subjects for the drug dealers' twisted experiments.

"These bastards… they really have no humanity."

He forced himself to look away and took stock of the surroundings.

Each body had a tag beside it, marked with various chemical compositions and test results.

The drug dealers had been experimenting on living humans to develop new substances.

Ren's fists tightened.

He examined the faint spiritual signatures in the room.

The strongest resentments came from the child-sized corpses, but he could feel four others clustered nearby.

He followed the sensation to a side table.

There, laid out in a row, were the bodies of two adults and two teenagers.

The entire family had been slaughtered.

Ren's mind raced.

Tsukikage Island was a small, close-knit community. If a family of four had gone missing, the parents would have raised the alarm. Villagers would have posted notices.

But there'd been nothing.

Not a single flyer.

His eyes narrowed.

These victims weren't kidnapped while walking the streets.

They were likely sold out by someone they trusted.

The realization deepened his disgust.

He scanned the corpses again and noticed something even more disturbing:

The father's body bore signs of long-term drug exposure but his clothes suggested he'd once worked a respectable job.

A police informant?

Possibly. Or perhaps just someone who asked too many questions.

The child on the table stirred.

His heart nearly stopped.

The boy's body twitched once… twice… then lay still again.

No breathing. No pulse.

It wasn't life.

It was the spiritual residue of the child's trauma, manifesting as a vengeful spirit.

They died terrified.

And that fear had kept them trapped here.

"Damn it."

Ren couldn't save the dead. He wasn't capable of reversing time.

But he could release these spirits.

He owed them that much.

He knelt beside the table, extended his hands, and summoned the gray fog.

The haze swirled over the bodies like a thin, protective shroud.

The spirits, sensing his intent, drifted toward him—weak, exhausted, and clinging to the trauma that had defined their final moments.

"You've suffered enough," he whispered.

The fog thickened, surrounding the spirits entirely.

Then, with a soft shimmer, they were gone.

The laboratory felt lighter.

The air, though still heavy with death, no longer throbbed with unseen anguish.

Ren stood.

The walls were still lined with formula sheets and production records.

He considered taking them… but what would it accomplish? The police would find them soon enough.

And his priority wasn't drug formulas.

It was stopping this from happening again.

He turned toward the plastic barrier, conjured another door, and stepped out of the lab.

The special forces remained on high alert nearby.

Ren cast one last glance at the blood-soaked ground.

"Drug dealers don't deserve sympathy."

And with that, he vanished into the shadows.

_________
Chapter 112: God's Hand

[These vermins truly have no humanity.]

[They deserve to be pinned down and destroyed.]

The diary was updated with these two simple lines.

There were no elaborate descriptions, no vivid details. Yet, those few words felt heavier than any emotional outburst could convey.

The three girls reading the diary fell into silence, each feeling an unshakable weight in their hearts.

"Amamiya-san must've seen something in the back mountain," Kaguya concluded, her voice soft but certain.

"Yeah... and judging by how little he wrote, it must've been awful."

Ran instinctively understood that whatever Ren had witnessed was beyond the threshold of what he wanted them to know.

"He was looking for the cause of the evil spirits' birth," Nagi added thoughtfully. "If he's seen it now, it must be horrifying enough that he didn't even want to describe it."

The three girls exchanged uneasy glances.

They were curious, but also afraid.

What had he seen? What kind of scene was so unspeakably disturbing that even Ren, who had remained calm through everything, refused to describe it?

The oppressive silence was broken by Nagi, who shifted her gaze toward Saginomiya Isumi.

"Isumi, as a shrine maiden, you've seen evil spirits before."

She hesitated. "Do you know what their birth is like?"

Isumi's shoulders tensed at the question.

Her gaze drifted toward the window as if searching for a way to avoid answering.

She knew all too well what it looked like when evil spirits were born.

It was the manifestation of pure human malice.

The kind of despair that could twist even the gentlest soul into something grotesque and unrecognizable.

Evil spirits weren't formed from simple sadness or anger. They needed unimaginable trauma, the kind that stripped away a person's humanity and left only an echo of their pain behind.

"Isumi?"

Before she could respond, her eyes widened.

Something had changed.


---

Isumi rushed to the window, her breath caught in her throat.

Her spiritual vision sharpened, and what she saw made her heart freeze.

High above the island, the sky seemed to warp and twist.

A massive cyclone of mist formed in midair, swirling like an unblinking eye.

From within the cyclone, an invisible hand emerged—vast, shadowy, and suffused with a suffocating sense of authority.

The hand moved with deliberate slowness, fingers outstretched.

The evil spirits that had been floating aimlessly above Tsukikage Island reacted instantly.

They tried to flee.

Tried to escape that hand.

But the hand gave no mercy.

It grasped them all with ease, tightening into a fist.

The sky trembled.

The evil spirits let out soundless, desperate wails.

And then—

Crack.

The hand squeezed, and every spirit within its grasp shattered into mist.

The suffocating resentment that had lingered over the island for so long was obliterated in a single instant.

As the mist dispersed into nothingness, the hand slowly retracted into the cyclone, which vanished like smoke.

The oppressive weight in the air lifted.

But the image of that hand remained burned into Isumi's mind.

She stood frozen by the window, heart racing.

"That... was Amamiya-sama's power..."

Her voice trembled with awe and fear.

She had never seen anything like that before.

That hand hadn't simply destroyed the evil spirits, it had erased their very essence, undoing them from the fabric of the world itself.

Power beyond comprehension.

Power beyond logic.

Power beyond anything she'd believed possible.


---

"Isumi?"

"Isumi, are you okay?"

Nagi's worried voice finally pulled her back to reality.

She blinked, turning toward the others, who were now gathered around her.

The window behind her revealed nothing but a clear blue sky.

No one else had seen the hand.

Only Isumi.

"Isumi, what did you see?" Nagi pressed gently.

"Was it something terrifying?"

Isumi hesitated.

"No," she finally said. "Not terrifying… just… overwhelming."

Her mind struggled to find the right words.

"Amamiya-sama has acted."

"He eliminated all the evil spirits floating above the island."

"What?!"

The girls' shock was palpable.

Sonoko and Ran exchanged wide-eyed glances, their minds immediately recalling the swarm of spirits that had once crowded the sky.

Just seeing one of those spirits had left them shaken.

To imagine that Ren had single-handedly destroyed them all…

"Wait, wait, wait," Sonoko stammered. "All of them? Like, completely gone?"

Isumi nodded.

"Yes. I saw it happen."

Maria stood and adjusted her glasses.

"Isumi-san, could you explain in more detail?"

Isumi took a deep breath.

"Above the island, a massive vortex appeared. From that vortex came an invisible hand. It gathered every evil spirit on the island into its grasp… and crushed them. Completely."

She shivered. "The moment it appeared, my spiritual power was suppressed to the point that I could barely breathe."

A god-like hand, descending from the sky to pass judgment.

"That…" Nagi's voice broke the silence. "That doesn't sound human."

Isumi's expression darkened slightly.

"It's not," she admitted. "It felt… absolute. Like an authority that even evil spirits couldn't resist."

Her fingers trembled as she remembered the suffocating sensation.

"I've never seen or heard of a power like that before."

The weight of her words hung in the air.

The girls' minds swirled with confusion and unease.

Even if they couldn't visualize the scene, their minds filled the blanks with terrifying imaginings.

They knew that if they had witnessed that moment directly, their minds might have shut down entirely.