Chapter 159 Death of the Prime Minister
Aso Makoto huddled in a corner of a large supermarket, hugging her knees tightly with her hands, her whole body trembling. She was surrounded by other refugees like her, their faces filled with fear and confusion.
Some people put their hands together and muttered something as if they were praying to God. Some people simply buried their heads between their knees, their bodies trembling. Occasionally, someone sobbed softly, but their mouths were quickly covered by others, for fear that the sound would bring about nightmares outside.
Outside, the sound of gunfire, explosions, and screams mixed together like a never-ending storm, hitting everyone's eardrums directly. The overwhelming sound should have been chilling, but at this moment, to these people in the shelter, it was like the sound of nature.
"Bang, bang, bang! Boom!" A burst of intensive gunfire was accompanied by a deafening explosion. The walls of the entire shopping mall seemed to be shaking slightly. Dust from the ceiling fell down. Several children sitting against the wall were frightened and burst into tears, but were quickly held tightly in their parents' arms and their mouths covered.
Aso Zhen's face was pale, cold sweat kept dripping from her forehead, her nails dug into the skin of her arms, but she didn't feel any pain at all. She stared blankly at the ground in front of her, her lips trembling slightly, and murmured softly: "Don't stop... Don't stop..." She was praying, praying that the gunshots and artillery sounds would never stop.
In the shelter, many people were just like Aso Makoto, too terrified to speak. They all understood that the sounds of gunfire were the Self-Defense Forces outside desperately trying to hold off the last line of defense against those monsters. Once the sounds stopped, it would mean that those hideous monsters had broken through the line of defense, and they would not be far from death.
Although the cessation of gunfire may mean that the Self-Defense Forces have eliminated the monsters, everyone is unsure whether the Self-Defense Forces can repel the monsters.
There was a large TV in the center of the mall, on which reporters were risking their lives to report on the riots in the city. Nearly half of Tokyo, a world-famous megacity, was in complete chaos, and the casualties caused by the riots were innumerable.
On the screen, there were aerial shots taken from a helicopter. The once bustling streets of Tokyo were now in ruins. Broken buildings and car wreckage covered every street, and there were corpses and blood everywhere. What was even more terrifying was that the monsters were wandering and hunting in groups in the ruins of the city, and their golden bones reflected a faint cold light in the night, as if the scythe of the god of death was flashing.
The picture flashed, and the reporter's voice trembled: "... these monsters are spreading rapidly. The police and the Self-Defense Forces have established multiple lines of defense, but..." The voice stopped abruptly, and the camera shook violently, as if the helicopter was suddenly hit.
Soon, the camera captured the figure of a safari. It spread its narrow periosteal wings and swooped down towards the helicopter like a giant bird. Its movements were extremely swift, and its sharp claws drew a cold arc in the air, aiming directly at the helicopter where the camera was. The reporter's shouting came in the noise of the electric current: "It...it's coming! Quickly - quickly, higher -!"
The picture shook violently, and the camera captured the face of Shou getting closer and closer. The hideous face was almost sticking to the camera, the golden bones were glowing coldly in the darkness, and the open sharp teeth seemed to tear everything apart in the next second. The helicopter began to take off rapidly, trying to get rid of its pursuit, but Shou caught up easily, it leaped suddenly, and pounced on the hull of the helicopter.
"Boom!" The picture was suddenly interrupted, and the entire TV screen turned into a snowflake. A sharp sound of electric current was heard, and the shopping mall instantly fell into silence. Only the "rustling" sound of the TV echoed in the empty space.
Aso Makoto raised his head in confusion and stared at the TV screen dully, but soon the snowflakes mixed with screams and electrical noises suddenly disappeared, and the picture became clear again.
This time, the camera was aimed at a large, spacious conference room. Behind the conference table sat the current Prime Minister of Japan, who was wearing a neat dark suit and had a solemn and determined look on his face. Behind him stood a row of stern-looking government officials and military representatives.
"Please rest assured, all citizens, the government will resolve this riot." The Prime Minister's voice was loud and passionate, transmitted through the screen to the ears of everyone in the shelter, trying to pull the desperate crowd out of the abyss of fear.
"The Self-Defense Forces have been fully deployed and will definitely be able to protect everyone's safety! Although these monsters are dangerous, our army is experienced and well-equipped, and we are taking the most effective measures to prevent them from spreading further."
Aso Makoto listened to the Prime Minister's speech, but her heart was not calm at all. The Prime Minister's face on the screen looked so determined and his tone was so powerful, but the gunshots, explosions and screams outside were echoing in her mind. The piercing sound was real, the shaking of the walls was real, and the devastated streets and corpses everywhere in the aerial footage of the TV news were also real.
In the small box in the lower right corner of the screen, the disaster scene was still playing: the scene of the helicopter crash had been cut out, and it was replaced by the scene of the Self-Defense Forces struggling to stop the attack on the streets. Soldiers in camouflage uniforms were holding rifles, machine guns, and even bazookas, constantly firing at the hunters who rushed towards them. Flames and explosions illuminated the night sky, but at the same time, more and more hunters poured out of the darkness. Their number seemed endless, and the troops were gradually compressed onto a narrow line of defense.
"There must be some reason behind these terrible monsters that we have not yet grasped." The Prime Minister continued, with a calm and firm strength in his tone.
"But I promise everyone that we will protect every citizen at all costs. Japan is a united country, and we will not be defeated by these threats!"
When he said this, he deliberately paused and looked at the camera with a firm gaze, as if he wanted to look directly at every viewer in front of the TV.
“Therefore, I call on every citizen to remain calm, follow the command of the shelter, and try not to panic. Our government and the military have made the most thorough plan, not only for our safety, but also for the future of the country - because we will never allow any enemy to trample on our land!
The Prime Minister's voice was sonorous and powerful, shaking everyone's eardrums. In the shelter, some people seemed to find some comfort after hearing these words, and began to nod and comfort themselves: "Yes, the government must have a way... The Self-Defense Forces have been dispatched, and we will be fine." Some people also prayed softly: "God bless, I hope what he said is true..."
But more people showed expressions of doubt and despair, especially those who had witnessed the hunting and massacre scenes with their own eyes. The confusion and horror on their faces did not diminish in the slightest.
Some even cursed angrily in a low voice: "Does he think that just a few words can stop these monsters? Does he understand the bombs and gunshots we are suffering from here?"
"The government should have taken action long ago!" A middle-aged man complained in a low voice, his tone full of suppressed anger. "Why are you saying these high-sounding words now? How many people have died in the city?"
Aso Makoto was still huddled in the corner, staring at the floor with empty eyes, as if the Prime Minister's words had nothing to do with her. She heard the whispers, arguments and sighs of the people around her, but her brain was in a mess and she could not hear the tiny sounds at all.
Just before the Prime Minister's speech was over, Aso Makoto heard gunshots coming from the screen. Soon the Prime Minister and other senior government officials on the screen began to panic. The picture on the TV screen suddenly changed drastically. The originally solemn conference room fell into chaos in an instant, and harsh gunshots and screams were heard from the screen.
The camera lens began to shake violently, and the determined expressions on the faces of the senior officials sitting at the conference table were instantly replaced by fear. Some of them could not even stand steadily and stumbled around trying to escape.
On the screen, several hunters broke into the conference room. They were wearing tattered armor that looked like they were stripped from ancient warriors. The bone armor emitted a bleak golden light, and their bone blades were as sharp as sickles, emitting cold light as they were swung. In an instant, several unarmed officials fell in a pool of blood. The hunters' movements were astonishingly fast, and their roars were mixed with the sound of blades tearing the air, as if the messenger of hell had descended, instantly turning this spacious conference room into a slaughterhouse.
"Shoot! Shoot!" A military representative rushed to the door and tried to command the guards to fight back, but as soon as he shouted, he was knocked to the ground by a hunter. The sharp claws instantly pierced his chest, and blood splattered all over the table and the floor.
The camera fell to the ground, and the lens tilted towards a reporter lying on the ground. His face was covered in blood, his eyes were desperate and fearful, his lips trembled as he muttered to himself: "Oh my God...how...how could they get here..." Soon, the reporter's body was also violently knocked over by a hunter, and the lens was stained red with blood, making it almost impossible to see the picture clearly.
The Prime Minister was still standing next to the podium at this time, but his composure had completely collapsed. His body was shaking violently and he shouted incoherently: "Protect me! Protect me quickly!" The bodyguards around him tried to stand in front of him, but several hunters had already pounced on him. One of them cut the neck of a bodyguard with a bone blade. Blood spurted like a faucet, splashing directly on the Prime Minister's face.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Several guards tried to stop the slaughter with pistols, but the speed and strength of those monsters were completely beyond their cognition. The bullets hit their bone armor, making crisp collision sounds, but failed to slow down their offensive at all.
A hunter quickly dodged and used its sharp bone blade to split the head of the nearest guard. Blood and brain matter splattered on the walls of the conference room. The scene was disgusting.
The Prime Minister's cries for help became more desperate: "No - no -! Save me!" His body staggered backwards until he was forced into a corner. He watched the hunters approaching him step by step, his eyes full of desire to survive, but this time, no high-ranking official could save him. The camera captured his terrified face and distorted expression, and the next second, his voice stopped abruptly, and a hunter's bone blade easily pierced his chest.
"Boom!" Accompanied by a huge explosion, the ceiling of the conference room was blown open, the picture was completely interrupted, and the TV screen once again turned into a messy picture like snowflakes.
After watching this horrifying live broadcast, everyone in the shelter fell into complete silence. Fear and despair spread in the air. Everyone's face was filled with disbelief and helplessness. Some people began to scream uncontrollably and even burst into tears. Others knelt on the ground, holding their heads in their hands and muttering something, as if they had completely lost their minds.
"Even the Prime Minister... Even the Prime Minister..." A middle-aged woman covered her mouth, her voice trembling. Her eyes were empty, as if she had seen her own end.
"It's over... We are really finished..." An old man shook his head, his voice filled with deep despair. His hands were tightly grasping his little granddaughter beside him, but his eyes had lost focus.
Aso Shin sat there in a daze, her body stiff with fear, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, her mind in a mess, the scenes of the past few minutes seemed to be engraved into the depths of her soul, unable to be erased. She thought that the government and the army were the last barrier, but now, even the symbol of the highest power, the Prime Minister, had fallen under the massacre of those hunters. Do ordinary people like them still have hope of survival?
The sound of gunfire outside suddenly became more intense, accompanied by huge explosions and the roar of buildings collapsing. The walls of the shelter even began to shake, dust continued to fall from the ceiling, and a faint smell of burning filled the air. Someone cried softly: "Are those monsters coming?" This kind of voice gradually increased, and everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit.
"We are going to die here!" A young woman screamed hysterically, pulling the clothes of the people around her and shaking them wildly.
"Run!" Someone turned around and tried to flee deeper into the mall, but soon discovered that they had nowhere to escape to. At this moment, a loud crash was heard from the entrance of the shelter.
The iron door at the entrance shook violently, as if some huge force was hitting it crazily outside. Then, there were the soldiers' loud shouts and continuous gunfire.
"Boom!" With a loud noise, the iron door was forcibly torn apart. A hunter's ferocious face appeared at the entrance of the shelter, covered in broken armor and bloody breath. Its golden eyes swept across the trembling crowd in the shelter, opened its huge mouth full of sharp teeth, and let out a roar that was enough to make everyone's heart break.
Screams suddenly rang out in the shelter, and everyone began to retreat frantically, but Shou had already started walking, slowly approaching the crowd, like the god of death coming.
Aso opened his eyes wide, with only one thought in his mind: It's over...it's all over.
Aso opened his eyes wide, as if his soul had been pulled out, and watched helplessly as the hideous monster slowly approached. His golden pupils were cold and ruthless, like a dagger piercing into everyone's heart. The screams in the shelter were mixed with gunshots and cries, and the entire space fell into disorder and chaos.
Some people knelt on the ground, crying and breaking down, while others dragged their children and tried to escape deeper into the mall, only to find that there was no way to retreat. Fear spread like wildfire, and everyone was struggling in despair. The scene was like hell on earth.
The hunter's bone blade made a harsh friction sound on the ground, and tiny sparks jumped on the floor. Its devilish smile became more and more terrifying, as if it was enjoying this desperate feast in panic.
Several Self-Defense Force soldiers rushed out of the ruins with rifles in hand, shouting, "Retreat quickly! Everyone retreat quickly--!" Their fingers were on the trigger, and bullets rained down on the hound, but to no avail.
The bullets hit its golden bone armor, making a crisp sound, but only leaving some small craters. The hunter was completely unmoved, it raised its head, roared, covered the direction of the gun with its bone wings, and then rushed towards the nearest soldier.
"No!" The soldier barely had time to react before the sharp bone blade pierced his chest, blood gushing out, staining the floor red. His body was thrown away, hitting the wall with a dull thud, and slid to the ground, lifeless.
Aso was completely frozen. The only sound she could hear was her own rapid breathing. Everything before her eyes seemed like a nightmare with no end.
Her body tried desperately to move, but it felt like it was filled with lead and couldn't move. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she didn't even realize she was crying.
"Damn, what the hell is this thing!" Another soldier rushed up, holding a flamethrower. The burning flames were like the wrath of hell, directly enveloping the hunter.
The raging flames engulfed the monster's body, but the hunter just let out a painful roar, then flapped its bone wings, and the flames were quickly extinguished. Black smoke surrounded its body, and large scorch marks were burned on its armor, but its speed did not slow down at all. It leaped up, pounced on the flame-breathing soldier, and cut off his head with a bone blade.
The head rolled to the ground, the soldier's headless body fell down, and the flamethrower was still spraying faint flames on the ground, reflecting the bloodiness and cruelty of this scene.
Aso bit her fingers hard to prevent herself from screaming. Her eyes subconsciously turned to the depths of the mall, trying to find a way to escape.
But the passages on all sides had been blocked by the terrified crowd. The crying, screaming, and shoving turned the entire shelter into a whirlpool of despair. Some people tried to approach the back door, but found that the iron gate had already been locked, and more roars of hunters were coming from outside.
"Boom--" There was another loud noise, and the glass curtain wall on one side of the shelter was suddenly shattered. A group of slender hunters with fierce eyes jumped in from the broken wall, and the bone wings behind them exuded a suffocating sense of oppression. They were like a pack of hunting wolves, slowly surrounding them and trapping the people in the shelter in the center.
"Run! They are coming in!" A man screamed, pushed away the people beside him, and rushed towards the exit without looking back. But just as he took a few steps, a predator pounced on him, and its sharp claws directly tore his back. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the man's body twitched a few times on the ground and became completely motionless.
"No - please don't kill me!" A mother knelt on the ground protecting her two children, tears streaming down her face. Her hands kept shaking as she tried to block the hunters approaching her.
However, the hunter did not hesitate at all. It swung the bone blade, and the screams of the mother and child stopped abruptly, and blood stained the surrounding floor red.
Screams were heard one after another in the shelter, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood. The hunters were as cold-blooded as butchers, they had no emotions, they just mechanically executed the killing, beheading everyone who tried to resist or escape.
Masao shivered and huddled behind the shelf, preparing to face death, but one second, two seconds... the sharp bone blade did not come. She raised her head carefully and found that all the hunters had stopped moving. Their originally crazy golden eyes became blurred, as if they had suddenly lost the desire to hunt.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. The survivors in the shelter were all stunned. Some of them covered their mouths with their hands, tears streaming down their faces, as if they couldn't believe that they had been pulled back from the brink of death.
"What happened?" Nono, who was outside the mall, poked her head out from behind the cover with a frown on her face. Her hand was still tightly holding the shotgun, and her eyes were full of vigilance.
Caesar also stopped shooting and observed the movements of the hunters calmly. They couldn't believe that these crazy monsters would suddenly let go of their prey.
The actions of these hunters changed completely. As if they were summoned by some invisible force, they turned around at the same time and ran towards the mall exit in mechanical and consistent movements.
The hunters that were still licking the blood put down the corpses, and the hunters that had pounced on people loosened their claws. No one tried to hurt anyone anymore.
"They...what happened?" Xia Mi widened her eyes, her voice filled with shock that was hard to conceal, and she almost forgot to change the bullets.
Masao heard the refugees around him whispering, "Is it a manifestation of the gods?"
"What's going on? Where are they going?" But her mind was blank and she couldn't think at all. The only thing she could sense was that the monsters were leaving at an unprecedented speed.
Just when everyone was puzzled, a TV in the corner of the shelter that had lost its signal suddenly lit up again. The screen was no longer filled with snowflakes, but a group of people carrying a giant shrine.
The Mikoshi is a portable shrine used in Shinto ceremonies, symbolizing the temporary residence of the gods. Usually during shrine festivals, the Mikoshi is carried out of the shrine and carried in a parade by believers and bearers, symbolizing the gods' inspection or blessing of the local area.
Mikoshi are usually made of wood and ornately decorated with gold leaf, carvings, and other traditional embellishments, with a decorative roof on which the deity is enshrined and a horizontal bar at the bottom for people to lift.
The image on the screen was blurry but shocking. The imperial sedan chair was decorated extremely gorgeously, exuding a solemn and mysterious atmosphere.
It was lifted high by dozens of people and passed through the devastated ruins of Tokyo. The surrounding buildings were in ruins, and the ground was covered with blood and debris, but the Mikoshima seemed completely untouched by the disaster, like a holy place isolated from reality.
There was a man sitting on the mikoshi. He was wearing a black robe and had a solemn expression, like the incarnation of an ancient god. His face was handsome, but his eyes were cold and ruthless. He slowly picked up a knife, and under the gaze of all the people in Tokyo, he cut his wrist. Bright red blood gushed out from the knife and dripped onto the floor of the mikoshi.
At that moment, all the hunters seemed to be struck by lightning. Their movements froze for a second, and then they all let out an earth-shaking roar.
"Roar--!!!"
Their pupils suddenly lit up with an unprecedented golden light, and all their attention was focused on the bright red in the picture, as if driven by endless hunger and desire.
They completely ignored everyone around them, even forgetting the threat of bullets and blades, and began running in a certain direction at a crazy speed.
"What are these guys...chasing?" Nuonuo stared at the screen, his eyes full of shock and confusion.
"He is... luring them?" Caesar whispered with a cold gaze. He looked at the man on the screen as if he saw some extremely dangerous existence.
"Is that Lu Mingfei?" Xia Mi swallowed. It was the first time he saw these hunters with such a unified and crazy expression.
Masao stared at the TV screen, her heart pounding and her lips trembling slightly. She recognized the man in the shrine.
His name is very famous in Japan, that is – Minamoto Yusuke.
The mikoshi in the picture continued to move forward, and the man's blood kept dripping. The bright red liquid seemed to carry some kind of magic, running through the entire Tokyo.
The background sound coming from the TV was noisy footsteps and the roar of hunters. Those monsters seemed to be crazy. Whether in the streets, buildings or sewers, they gave up all their targets and chased the direction of the mikoshi frantically.
(End of this chapter)
