Mutagen

The invading Demons and the brave Onmyojis clashed in a heated battle of life and death. This scene on the frozen river was such a rare sight that one would not even see in anime and movies. In fact, Mark was pretty sure he had not seen any of this kind in any existing media.

And looking at the festival-like scene below, the movie titled The Great Yokai War that Mark mentioned earlier was the closest, although it did not involve Onmyojis. As for actual battles between Demons and Exorcists, it could barely be called a war. Most of the time, there was only one powerful Demon. Even if there was an army of Demons, the Exorcists fighting them were either a single person or just a group of student Exorcists.

As for a full-blown war, Mark had never seen such. 

Added the strong cold winds and harsh snow, monster-like Demons hitting the barrier, and Onmyojis with fluttering robes fighting the enemies with their prided abilities. It was quite a sight.

That was why it was not wrong to say that he was enjoying the show, although it was a little blurry due to the harsh weather.

It was very Demon-like of Mark, considering that most of the Reclaimed City were now enveloped in chaos and fear for the same things he was currently enjoying watching. The worst part for the residents of the Reclaimed City was that due to the plans the three leaders concocted and the song that rendered any innocent people around the coast fall unconscious, everyone not involved in the plan had no idea what exactly was happening.

On the good side of the events currently unveiling, the traitors plotting within the Reclaimed City were in the very exact same confusion as the other innocent people in the city.

The plan during the invasion was supposed to be flawless. All the actors needed to do was follow the script strictly to every word.

But now, following the script meant nothing. And there was no chance to adlib since everything just went straight to chaos.

***

On the frozen river, the Onmyojis clashed with the Demons. In terms of numbers, the Demons were at a huge advantage. However, even though their numbers were huge, most of the Demons were weak individually. Many of them were in the category of simple Yokai born from inanimate things. These kinds were tricky opponents for regular humans but a piece of cake for the experienced exorcists.

On the waterfront of Kachidoki\'s docks, Tsubasa and the [Yuki-Onna] fought fiercely.

As both were masters of manipulating their respective elements, the two did not exchange kicks and punches. Instead, their battlefield was a torrential storm of lightning and ice.

[Yuki-Onna] was an iconic Yokai in myths and legends, even passed on to modern media. As a Yokai, a [Yuki-Onna], or Snow Woman, was within the boundary of an Elemental Spirit and a Demon by human beliefs. An Elemental Spirit of ice and blizzards living in snowy mountains, but also a Demon sucking vitality from her male victims.

The myths portrayed [Yuki-Onna\'s] encounter with a man. She let go of him in exchange for a promise not to tell anyone of her existence. However, after the man married and had children, he broke the promise and told his wife. And by a twist of fate, that wife was actually the very same [Yuki-Onna] in disguise. Fortunately, for the sake of their children, she did not kill the man.

And here, different iterations branched from culture to culture.

A story said that the [Yuki-Onna] returned to the mountains. Another story told that she melted in front of the man and died. 

Then... Was this [Yuki-Onna] in front of Tsubasa the same one in the myths?

Unexpectedly, the likelihood was very high.

It was because, compared to most of the Demons in this invasion, she clearly stood out. Her attacks were powerful, and her presence alone made it hard to ignore her.

TEKE! TEKE! TEKE!

As if the [Yuki-Onna] was not enough, the sticky sound of a pair of bloodied hands being used to walk echoed despite the strong blizzard wind.

CRASH!

The barrier of another Onmyoji shattered like glass as the owner of the bloodied steps attacked. Fortunately, the Onmyoji managed to dodge. And the enemy that attacked him was a teenage female with only the upper half of her body.

A [Teke Teke].

The same as the [Yuki-Onna], this [Teketeke] carried a formidable presence. Although she could only pounce and use her claw-like nails to attack, her attacks were strong, and her speed was outstanding.

Two other Onmyojis joined the one fighting the [Teketeke]. Yet, they could only put the fight to a draw despite the three\'s good coordination and teamwork in fighting the half-bodied girl before them.

It looked like Gar\'Vlam found some powerful subordinates. Furthermore, they were literally the stuff of legends.

And that was why they were powerful.

If there was one trait that was similar between Demons and Gods, it was the fact that belief and worship empower them. 

Both the [Yuki-Onna] and the [Teketeke] were legendary figures whose stories were passed a very for a long time. And since they had also been the stuff of modern entertainment, the belief was spread further than just their origin country.

That belief in the two\'s existence made them far more powerful than they used to be. And now that they came out to fight, they could finally unleash the powers that no one had been able to see before.

The defensive battle over the frozen river was slowly heating up, thawing the cold wind and snow of the blizzard.

But then...

VRRROOOOM!!!

Amidst the strong winds, the sounds of vehicles braving the blizzard could be heard. A convoy of eight armored cars was heading straight to the docks of Kachidoki.

Almost the entire coastline facing the ruins of Tokyo was under attack. But out of all places, these vehicles headed straight to Kachidoki. And it was not the Defense Forces. In this case, there was only one group who could possibly own those vehicles.

On the top of the building where Mark\'s group watched, they had a clear view of the coast and Kachidoki\'s docks. As such, they could see when the familiar appearance of Mitsui Keiji alighted from one of the vehicles. Following Keiji, everyone in the cars also stepped out, armed to the teeth with both guns and swords.

They prepared to deploy to the battle, taking out their weapons from the compartments of their vehicles. At the same time, Keiji was already looking around the scene. It was unexpected, but his expression was clear. He looked like a brave hero jumping into the fray to protect his home.

While watching Keiji, Mark squinted his eyes with a frown and a shrug.

"What an actor."

Mark murmured.

Keiji looked perfectly fine on the outside. However, his head was currently in utter chaos as multitudes of thoughts stampeded like wild horses. As their nefarious plan did not include an unexpected intervention like this, he was trying to find a way to mend things up without getting too suspicious.

Done with their preparations, Keiji grabbed his precious sword and led his team. They reached the docks and saw the priest maintaining the barrier on this segment.

And there, an unexpected sentence came out of Keiji\'s mouth.

"We\'re here to help!"

Keiji called out to the priest.

And behind Keiji, his group had half of them surprised while the rest seemed eager.

Mark monitored everyone\'s mental fluctuations. And there, Mark could not help but commend how scheming and ruthless Keiji was.

Within the group that Keiji led to the docks, only half were traitors. The other half were people who genuinely wanted to help defend their homes. But Keiji clearly did not need those people. In this case, these people were bound to be doomed as they were deemed as a necessary sacrifice for the traitors.

Furthermore, the eagerness of the innocent half would overshadow the uncertainty of the traitors in the eyes of those who would see them. The likelihood of them being suspicious in this regard was drastically lowered.

But still... What was Keiji planning?

Keiji could have killed that priest maintaining that segment of the barrier and let the Demons through. Although it would definitely be noticed by the other members of the Temple present in the area, it would be late for them to respond.

Why would Keiji call out instead?

"Move out!"

Keiji did not wait for the priest\'s reply and urged his team to move. He then jumped through the barrier as if knowing it would not stop humans at all. Although baffled, his men followed closely behind him.

The priest was taken by surprise due to Keiji and his group\'s actions. Unfortunately, there was nothing much he could do to stop them since he was maintaining this segment of the barrier. The only thing the priest could do was to inform those outside that someone had come to help.

Yes, the priest had no idea he let a traitor pass through. He could not be blamed, though. While the members of the Temple were informed about the incoming invasion, the inner workings of the invasion were only known to those above. As such, lower-ranked priests and maidens were clueless about the ongoing schemes behind the invasion. The only thing they were informed of was to keep the barrier up and protect the Reclaimed City.

Tsubasa received the information about Keiji and his group through her [Comunication Talisman]. She could not help but get a little distracted, almost getting her stomach punctured by another icicle attack from the [Yuki-Onna]. And since she was fighting just straight away from the docks, it did not take long before she saw Keiji and his group charging into battle.

But surpassing the expectations, Keiji engaged in an actual battle against the Demons. Showing his skills with the Katana, he swung his sword and killed a small Demon in front of him.

And following Keiji\'s kill, his team charged in guns blazing. Guns were not exactly effective against many kinds of Demons. However, it did not mean that guns could not hurt them.

The guns would serve as a good distraction in this battle while the Onmyojis finished the Demons using their exorcism techniques.

Well, only if the entire team that Keiji brought knew how to properly follow orders.

Unfortunately, no. Worse, the innocent members that Keiji brought were prone to having hero complexes.

One of them saw the three Onmyojis struggling to fight the [Teketeke].

"I\'ll help!"

The man shouted as he charged with his gun into the battle of the four.

And, of course...

"Don\'t get close! Fall back!"

One of the Onmyojis shouted.

In response to the warning, the hard-headed idiot began shooting at the half-bodied woman. There, the [Teketeke\'s] attention shifted to the idiot.

And before he knew something could do anything more than the volley of bullets he fired, he felt something was off.

The half-bodied woman vanished before his eyes, and his sight seemed to have sunk all of a sudden. No, his sight did not sink. His body was falling down the frozen river. His upper body, to be exact.

As the man fell to the ice, he finally noticed that he lost the feeling of his legs. And then, with a thud, he saw his own waist land in front of his face.

Only then the man realized. His body was sliced into two, by his waist, just like how the body of the [Teketeke] was only her upper half.

Coldness enveloped the man\'s body as he bathed in his own warm blood and guts.

The first death of the humans in this battle did not come from the Onmyojis but was a hard-headed extra that Keiji brought with him.

Those innocent members of Keiji\'s group stared in shock as they saw the sudden death of their comrade.

As for Keiji, he stared at the dead body with a frown. He was not lamenting about the fact that one of his members died. He was lamenting that he died too early before anyone else could witness their "sacrifice" in this battle.