"M-Mask?!"
Seeing Ye Xing's appearance that perfectly matched the urban legend descriptions, Hina was stunned.
After all that discussion earlier, the real deal had been right in front of them?
This Ye Xing... was the ghostly criminal from the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten incident and Kyoto Museum break-in, the urban legend known as Mask?
Whoosh...
A sound like rushing wind filled the air as the bloodshot eye outside retreated slightly, seemingly wary of Ye Xing's transformed appearance and unleashed aura.
This retreat finally allowed Yui Yuigahama and Hina Amano to see the evil spirit's full form through the window.
Its hair clung together like seaweed, dripping black, unidentified liquid continuously.
Where a mouth should have been, only a slit-like gap remained, crudely stitched shut with thread.
The faint, wind-like breathing they'd heard earlier emanated from this ghastly seam.
Two bloodshot eyes, brimming with malice and distortion, peered through the small window, locking onto the three figures inside.
At first glance, this evil spirit didn't seem particularly terrifying.
But when Hina Amano realised it was watching them from outside the window, she froze momentarily before her expression twisted in horror, her voice trembling.
"Th-this… this is the second floor…"
Given the height of Hina's apartment, the window was nearly five metres above ground level.
Which meant…
If the evil spirit's head was outside the window, its body had to be at least four metres tall.
An evil spirit of that size wasn't just unfamiliar to Hina, who had never encountered the supernatural before—even Yui Yuigahama, who had ventured into the Reverse World, had never seen such a monstrous entity.
Is this… like Hachishaku-sama… an evil spirit fused with a Gate?
Just as Hina and Yui were reeling in shock, the evil spirit outside did something that sent chills down their spines.
It…
Straightened its back.
In that instant, both girls realised their initial estimate of its size had been naive.
Now that it stood upright, all they could see was its waist, clad in tattered sackcloth.
The second-floor window, nearly five metres high, only reached halfway up its body!?
What the hell is this thing?
A giant evil spirit!?
"ROOOAAAR—!!!"
With the sound of threads snapping and flesh tearing, a deafening roar shook the entire building, reverberating through the air.
Hina and Yui collapsed onto the floor, overwhelmed by sheer despair.
"Come out."
Ye Xing's voice remained calm.
With just those two quiet words, two ghost hands—one black, one white—materialised instantly, cupping the girls protectively within their palms.
The next second—
BOOM!
A massive hand descended from above, crushing the dilapidated two-storey apartment into rubble.
The ghost hands, shielding Yui and Hina, had already whisked them away to safety a dozen metres away in the nick of time.
As they landed, Yui steadied herself, her eyes widening in disbelief at the ruins of the apartment.
"Ye… Ye Xing…"
She knew Ye Xing's primary ability was summoning those two ghost hands—one black, one white.
That was his Soul Materialisation.
But…
If both ghost hands had been used to protect her and Hina…
Then what about Ye Xing?
Yui's mind went blank, unable to process the thought.
Now outside, she and Hina finally saw the evil spirit in its entirety.
Standing roughly ten metres tall, it was the largest evil spirit the Supernatural Society had ever encountered.
Its body resembled that of a human, draped in a tattered, black-stained hemp robe.
Pale grey hands hung limply, each finger tipped with sharp, dark grey nails.
Its skin was also a deep grey hue.
An aura of death permeated its entire being.
Only those enormous, bloodshot pupils revealed a twisted, malevolent glare.
Even among evil spirits fused with Gates, compared to this monstrosity, the Hachishaku-sama that Yui Yuigahama had once encountered could almost be described as adorable.
"Yu-Yuigahama... what do we do?"
Though trembling with fear herself, Hina Amano bit her lower lip and forced out the question.
"I... I don't know."
Yuigahama shook her head, her eyes filled with despair.
Though not a psychic herself, as an internal member of the Supernatural Society, she had some understanding of evil spirits, the Reverse World, and the nature of phenomena like the Gate.
This was no longer the real world.
Ye Xing and Miko Yotsuya had once encountered a similar situation in that abandoned building.
When the Gate's opening exceeded a certain threshold, parts of the real world and the Reverse World would gradually merge.
In such a cursed domain, everything followed the laws of the Reverse World.
Whether one possessed spiritual power or not, they could "observe" it.
In other words.
Whether one was a psychic or not, they would become a target for evil spirits.
There were only two ways to escape.
First, leave the area affected by the Gate.
Second, directly eliminate the Gate causing the influence on this region.
Neither option...
Yuigahama stared at the evil spirit, whose size rivalled Sobu High School's main building, and sank into deep despair. She let out a bitter laugh.
"It's impossible."
Just then, the evil spirit's bloodshot pupils locked onto Hina Amano and Yui Yuigahama.
With a single step, it crossed from the railway tracks behind the apartment building directly in front of the two girls.
Then, the evil spirit extended its massive dark grey hand, eyes brimming with twisted murderous intent, and pressed down on them as if swatting ants.
A pair of ghostly hands—one black, one white—shot upwards to meet it.
After a brief struggle lasting mere seconds, they faltered, as if exhausted, and slowly fell alongside the evil spirit's colossal hand.
"Yuigahama, watch out!"
Hina's pupils contracted in alarm. Acting purely on instinct, she clasped her hands together, fingers intertwined, bowed her head slightly, and shut her eyes, pleading urgently.
"Please!"
The moment her words left her lips, a blinding flash of light split the pitch-black sky.
A bolt of lightning descended, striking the evil spirit's outstretched hand.
Boom!
The lightning arrived faster than sound.
Only after the evil spirit was struck did the thunderclap reverberate through the air.
"ROAR!!!"
The evil spirit howled in pain, retracting its hand.
Hina felt utterly drained, as if she might collapse at any moment.
Seeing this, Yuigahama quickly steadied her by the shoulders.
"Amano, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine."
Hina's breathing became laboured as she stared at the evil spirit not far away. Before she could even catch her breath, she was plunged into despair once more.
The creature hadn't sustained any serious damage.
The colossal palm bore only a charred mark, without even a single puncture wound.
Yui Yuigahama was equally horrified.
Even lightning from the heavens...
Couldn't harm this evil spirit?
Yui wasn't a psychic, so she couldn't accurately gauge the strength of this enormous evil spirit.
But she knew one thing.
She and Hina would probably die here today.
"Hmm..."
Just then, from the rubble of the collapsed two-storey apartment building, a figure slowly rose.
Ye Xing stretched lazily, his eyes filled with amusement as he gazed at Hina Amano and Yui Yuigahama in the distance.
"Amano-san, your ability is quite impressive."
This abnormally large evil spirit that had merged with the Gate indeed possessed formidable power.
But it was far from being strong enough that the black and white ghost hands couldn't even withstand one of its attacks.
Ye Xing had merely been conducting an experiment.
He wanted to see if Yui Yuigahama could awaken her Soul Materialisation ability under the pressure of dire circumstances.
Unexpectedly, while his original objective wasn't achieved, he'd gained an unexpected discovery.
Hina Amano's ability wasn't limited to clearing the weather - in the original storyline, she'd once summoned lightning.
Moreover, this wasn't the real world.
The fact that Hina could pray in the Reverse World and summon lightning proved one thing.
That weather-controlling deity (evil spirit) could influence not just the real world, but also interfere to some extent with the Reverse World.
Truly a worthy enemy to devour.
Of course, such considerations could wait for now.
Ye Xing's reappearance caused the towering evil spirit, which had been targeting Hina and Yui, to turn around; its twisted, hideous gaze locked onto him once more.
To this creature, compared to the half-baked Hina Amano and the ordinary Yui Yuigahama,
Ye Xing, with his immense spiritual power, was clearly far more tempting.
"Unlimited Blade Works."
Without waiting for the evil spirit to attack, Ye Xing initiated his killing move first.
As a professional exorcist, he could roughly gauge an evil spirit's strength just from a single encounter.
This abnormally large evil spirit before him had clearly devoured many of its kind.
Moreover, it had also fused with a Gate.
In terms of pure power, this entity was far stronger than Tamamo-no-Mae.
However, beings like Tamamo-no-Mae, who possessed the ability to communicate, weren't simply defined by Ye Xing as mere evil spirits.
Perhaps 'demon' would be a more fitting term.
As the words "Unlimited Blade Works" left his lips, thousands of weapons materialised in the sky once more, all condensed from pure black evil spirit power.
Ye Xing raised his right hand and gently swung it downward, softly uttering two words.
"Go forth."
The moment his voice faded, the thousands of evil spirit weapons in the sky descended upon the towering evil spirit like arrows loosed from their strings, striking with incredible speed.
Witnessing this scene, Hina Amano stood utterly stunned.
She turned to Yui Yuigahama beside her and asked incredulously,
"This... this is... the power of Mask?"
Yui Yuigahama's astonishment was no less than Hina's.
She, too, had never seen Ye Xing's Unlimited Blade Works before – this was her first time.
First exhaling in profound relief, Yui then smiled sweetly.
"Don't worry."
"Our captain is invincible."
Just as these words left Yui's lips, Ye Xing's voice suddenly came from behind the two girls.
"Since we have a moment, let me explain something."
Both Yui Yuigahama and Hina Amano started in surprise, realising Ye Xing had somehow appeared beside them without notice.
"Yuigahama."
Ye Xing looked at Yui, his voice carrying amusement, yet his eyes, hidden behind the mask, remained completely devoid of emotion.
"You should listen too. This is important."
"Yes, understood."
Pointing at the gigantic evil spirit that was roaring through its bloodied mouth while raising its arms to block the Unlimited Blade Works attacks, Ye Xing began his explanation.
"As you can see now, this is the ability of Soul Materialisation."
"Soul Materialisation evolves from the user's heart and soul – a special ability that can combat the supernatural, yet isn't limited to just that."
"Depending on the user's heart and soul, each person's Soul Materialisation manifests differently."
"As for how to awaken this ability, you can ask Dango – that is, Yui Yuigahama – about it later."
After finishing this explanation for Hina, Ye Xing turned his gaze back to the enormous evil spirit in the distance.
His Unlimited Blade Works, which initially comprised thousands of pure black weapons, had visibly diminished to fewer than a thousand.
Thick black Qi continuously emanated from the massive evil spirit's body, cancelling out the evil spirit power weapons.
"Can't penetrate its defence..."
Ye Xing murmured to himself as he began pondering.
A problem had emerged.
If he followed his usual approach of condensing evil spirit power into a single weapon, the spiritual power density would be higher, resulting in much greater single-point penetration.
But this evil spirit's colossal size – practically that of a giant – made that approach impractical.
It wasn't as if he could suddenly employ vertical manoeuvring equipment to strike at its nape.
That wasn't how this worked.
Yet when using Unlimited Blade Works, the individual weapons lacked sufficient penetration power to breach its defences.
Of course, these were merely secondary concerns.
Ye Xing was currently facing the most perplexing problem of his life.
"How long is this going to take to eat?"
Hearing these words, Hina Amano was utterly dumbfounded.
She turned to Yui Yuigahama beside her, lowering her voice with a complicated expression.
"When he says 'eat'...?"
"Yes..."
Yui Yuigahama shook her head helplessly.
"Ye Xing isn't like normal psychics. He can devour evil spirits to grow stronger."
"Huh?"
Hina Amano was stunned.
Such a thing existed?
Never mind the size difference between them.
A human... could actually devour evil spirits?
Is this even proper exorcism?
"You two should stay out of the way now."
Ye Xing pointed at the two ghost hands beside the girls and chuckled.
"Stand on them. Watch the battle from the sky."
When Yui Yuigahama and Hina Amano each stood on a ghost hand and were carried into the air, they were shocked once again.
It could fly?
And...
The two girls looked at the pure black railings surrounding them.
It even had guardrails?
The safety measures were quite thorough.
"ROAR!!!"
Meanwhile, the towering evil spirit had already swept away all its evil spirit power weapons.
It now felt like it had been chased and bitten by a swarm of mosquitoes for ages.
Not painful or itchy.
But annoying.
And the source of its irritation was that human in black clothes standing not far away.
Swat this guy.
Tear him apart piece by piece, then swallow him whole.
Thinking this, the towering evil spirit bent forward, landing on all fours like a beast, and pounced towards Ye Xing.
BOOM!!!
The ground shook violently.
Tens of metres of the street were crushed under its massive body, reduced to ruins.
Seeing this, Hina Amano paled and cried out in panic.
"Yui, the residents nearby—"
"It's fine."
Yui Yuigahama understood her concern and replied across the distance.
"There are no other humans here. I'll explain the details later."
Truth be told, the interference evil spirits could have on the real world was quite limited, even with the existence of Gates.
Normally, they couldn't destroy buildings or directly harm ordinary humans. They could only influence the real world through those whose hearts were filled with twisted desires.
But this towering evil spirit was different.
Its fusion with the Gate inside it had reached a level where it could merge the surrounding area directly with the Reverse World.
In other words.
This was essentially a freely movable haunted domain.
If they failed to destroy this evil spirit today, allowing it to continue roaming Kyoto...
Yui Yuigahama didn't dare imagine the disaster that would ensue.
Thinking this.
"Ye Xing!"
Yui Yuigahama looked down at Ye Xing, standing amidst the devastation, and shouted with all her might.
"You have to destroy this thing here!"
"Don't worry."
Kyoto's top exorcist, Ye Xing, delivered his declaration of victory.
"I'll win."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Hina Amano and Yui Yuigahama in the sky.
"Soul Materialisation is an ability rooted in the mind."
"Based on the characteristics of each person's true spiritual form, it extends further abilities according to the user's inner self."
"Of course, there are limitations. One cannot simply manifest any ability they desire."
"From my personal experience, once the basic power requirements are met, one must construct a coherent internal framework to derive abilities."
"It need not conform to the laws of the real world. Any self-consistent logic can serve as the foundation for creating abilities."
As Ye Xing spoke these words, the colossal evil spirit, seeing its attack had failed to kill its target, once again charged towards him on all fours.
Facing the twisted, hulking evil spirit, that familiar voice echoed once more in Ye Xing's mind.
[Finally decided to cast off all pretence and unleash your full power?]
[If the world has become this bizarre, why constrain yourself with so-called 'normalcy'?]
[Devour this evil spirit before you. Create a world worthy of being called normal in your eyes.]
[Here, call forth my true name.]
This time, Ye Xing didn't refuse.
He raised Onimaru Kunitsuna, laying the famed blade horizontally before him.
The powerful spiritual object that had submitted to him seemed to sense unprecedented excitement in this moment, its ink-black blade beginning to emit a melodious hum.
"Here, I call forth your true name."
As he spoke these words, the pure black mask on Ye Xing's face began to burn like hellfire, flowing like liquid.
Even the hem of his coat, previously swaying in the breeze, became completely still.
The surroundings grew utterly silent.
In the ears of Yui Yuigahama and Hina Amano, all other sounds vanished, leaving only Ye Xing's calm utterance.
"Annihilate all evil."
"The End of Eight Million."