Outside iji Shrine, the operation team failed to halt the vehicle driven by Tsuchimikado Yoshiharu.
Watching the ordinary private car disappear behind the Torii Gate of iji Shrine, the mbers of the operation team could only report their failure and iji Shrine's involvent in the matter to their superiors, feeling utterly deflated.
"iji Shrine is involved too? Damn it!" Kusanagi Ritsuko cursed out loud upon receiving the ssage. The situation had completely spiraled out of control with the involvent of deities. Although deities had interfered from the beginning, the fact that the two great ghouls of the iji Shrine, who were supposed to protect Tokyo, had now sided with the opposition made Ritsuko's mood terribly foul.
At the sa ti, a sense of powerlessness enveloped Ritsuko, filling her with intense frustration.
It was as if you put all your effort into a competition, yet no matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn't beat your opponent.
Affected by Ritsuko's emotions, the other mbers of her operation team also sank into dejection, deeply demoralized by the failure of their mission.
"Why are even the deities ddling in this affair? Shouldn't they remain above it all?" a mber of the operation team complained bitterly. Such complaints were unusual for these elite agents, but after two months of fruitless surveillance and action, they expected so results today. Instead, they faced a tide of events they couldn't prevent, crushing all their plans and pride under its overwhelming force.
Another team mber couldn't help but ask Ritsuko, "Captain, can you tell us what all this is actually about? Three of the tropolitan Police Departnt's most elite supernatural operation teams have been watching two ordinary people for a whole two months, doing everything possible to prevent their eting. And now deities are intervening... Captain, even if it's confidential, shouldn't we at least know what we're doing?"
"It's a national secret!" Ritsuko insisted on maintaining confidentiality, as the issues involved were indeed not sothing that ordinary mbers of the operation teams could comprehend.
In fact, Ritsuko herself would not be privy to the truth behind the affair if she weren't responsible for it.
The cold words "national secret" brought a wave of discouragent to the mbers of the operation team. As they all received governnt pay, they had to abide by its rules and refrain from inquiring into matters they shouldn't know.
Despite understanding this principle, their morale inevitably waned.
"If they et, it will trigger a mythic rebirth," Yamada Nobuyosuke stated as he entered Ritsuko's command center, disclosing to the team mbers information they were not supposed to know.
"Captain Yamada?!" Ritsuko looked at Yamada Nobuyosuke, puzzled as to why he would reveal such things to the operation team mbers.
"Even if you send soldiers to their deaths, they should be told why they must die, right?" Yamada said as he set his personal sword on the table and stuffed a half-eaten rice ball he found into his mouth. While chewing, he continued, "Besides, we're not soldiers; we're just policen."
"Mythic rebirth? But haven't deities always existed in Tokyo?" Yamada's explanation did not alleviate the confusion of the operation team mbers; in fact, it made them even more perplexed.
"The existence of deities and deities walking the earth are two entirely different concepts," Ritsuko explained, now that Yamada had let the cat out of the bag, she didn't mind elaborating further, "We know about deities because we are transcendental beings, but to ordinary people, deities are just abstract objects of belief, not real entities. Yet in the age of myths… we all know that was an era of gods and n coexisting, with deities moving among mortals, where slight disrespect could provoke divine punishnt.
The two individuals we've been ordered to surveil, the girl, died more than a decade ago; what you see now is her soul revived by a spell. So, when she ets that man, they will touch upon the taboo of life and death, bringing about the return of the mythical era."
"And this mythic era isn't the kind where benevolent deities protect their followers, but one full of demons wreaking havoc and widespread disaster," Captain Yamada added a final note, sending chills down everyone's spine.
Though they were born in an era when myths had truly beco nothing more than myths, due to the nature of their job, these policen had still encountered beings that could be connected to myths, such as demons and ghosts. They fully understood the terrifying consequences that would follow if the world reverted to that mythological state.
"But how could a dead person and a living one possibly cause such severe consequences?" Even while grasping the gravity of the situation, the operation team mbers still did not understand how two ordinary people could have such a dire impact.
"That's the real secret, which is not for you or even to know," Yamada shook his head, explaining the severity of the situation was his responsibility, but if he were to reveal the whole truth to the operation team mbers, the potential consequences were beyond what he could handle.
However, after learning of the severity and consequences, the operation team mbers could sowhat comprehend why an entire nation might interfere with an apparently simple romance between two ordinary people.
"But if that's the case, why don't we just close the Tokyo Skytree tonight? Aren't they going to the Skytree to see the night view? Wouldn't closing the Skytree solve the problem?" one of the operation team mbers suggested. Though shutting down the Tokyo Skytree for an evening would have significant implications, it seed trivial given the current circumstances.
Yet Ritsuko shook her head: "Closing the Tokyo Skytree isn't going to stop them from eting. Don't forget, the na 'Tokyo Skytree' doesn't just refer to the tower itself, but also the nearby Sumida River Park and Sensoji Temple across the Sumida River. That area is already a bustling district of Tokyo. Closing the Skytree would only change their goal from viewing the night scenery from the tower to visiting the night market at Sensoji Temple, which is aningless and even makes surveillance more difficult."
After explaining, Ritsuko turned her attention back to the Tokyo map in front of her, pondering how to prevent the event from occurring, when her cell phone in her pocket rang again.
"Found the strawberry you lost." The ssage brightened Ritsuko's eyes; it was indeed right to have taken extra precautions.
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