Behind Oshima and Smith stood a man wearing white robes. On his head rested a solemn black hat, and his frame was lanky and shriveled. In contrast to his benign appearance, however, he radiated a powerful aura that placed great pressure on them.
“Kannushi (Master of Divinities)?”
Looking at the old man who suddenly appeared, Oshima subconsciously shouted.
The old man was wearing Shinto clothing, but after looking at the old man’s clothes closer, Oshima sucked in a cold breath and said, “Chief Priest!?”
The old man, who looked like a Shinto priest, was wearing the same clothes as the priests of the Ise Grand Shrine. These holy men had the highest position of serving the three Gods of the Shinto religion in Japan.
After a moment’s confusion, Oshima was shocked. The old man who looked like a chief priest appeared unnoticed in the heavily guarded U.S.-Japan Joint Operation Headquarters. Even the most foolish person could guess that the old man was an extraordinary person who had mastered mysterious powers.
In Japanese culture, those who were known for their grasp over mysterious powers were onmyojis, shrine maidens, Shinto priests, and many others. However, the modern priests were more of a position and did not have any extraordinary powers. After the appearance of the dragon and Cthulhu, the Japanese government had investigated these priests in detail.
And now, after the appearance of the suspected Chinese qi refiner, he did not expect that a real Shinto priest would appear in Japan. It was obvious that Oshima trusted this person, who was closer to his country’s culture, than the mystical Chinese individual.
It was only at this time that the guards around the area noticed something was wrong. When they turned around, they noticed the stranger that appeared. Several guards stirred and loaded their guns, but they were immediately stopped by Oshima.
“Your Eminence, have you appeared here to help us solve this crisis?”
In Japan, seniors and juniors had a strict hierarchy. Oshima unconsciously bowed and respectfully addressed the old man as ‘your eminence’.
Although the Shinto priest did not show any supernatural power, just the fact that he could appear inside without anyone noticing already proved that he was not ordinary. Moreover, his previous remark seemed to be explaining the relationship between superhumans and mortals.
The priest nodded, shook his head, and said in a milder tone, “I wanted to solve this crisis by myself, but I couldn’t fully ‘return’ yet, so I deliberately asked my good friend to help me.”
Saying so, the priest looked at the picture on the table, which was the mysterious old man who appeared at the scene at the airport earlier.
Oshima took a closer look. The Shinto priest’s image truly looked strange, as if he was a hologram and not physical. This might be what the Shinto priest meant by being unable to ‘return’.
At the same time, Oshima also realized that the old man was invited by the priest. Seeing the cold expression on the Shinto priest’s face, their relationship should be very good.
For a moment, Oshima felt that something was strange. China and Japan had a complex relationship, after all.
Back during World War II, China accumulated a lot of hatred against Japan, but during the latter half of the last century, two great men led China and substantially improved Sino-Japanese relations. Things got worse again at the beginning of the 21st Century, but they were getting better again recently. Indeed there were countless ups and downs during the process.
At this point, the Shinto priest suddenly looked at Smith. With a stiff and cold tone and a lean body, he asked, “Do you believe in God?”
Smith could clearly feel the coldness coming from the Shinto priest’s gaze as if he was trapped in an ice cellar. His teeth chattered as he nodded reluctantly, “I-I am a faithful follower of the Lord.”
The Shinto priest continued to stare at him, making Smith feel pain. Just when Smith suspected that he was going to be frozen to death by this old man, the old man closed his eyes, “Forget it. You are just a mortal. There is no need for me to do anything”
Smith was drenched in sweat. He was able to experience firsthand the terror of these superhumans. He had seen the old man at the airport through a video and felt that he was outrageously powerful, but only through real contact was he able to feel the true horror of these superhumans.
This odd, shadow-like Shinto priest had almost killed him with a look!
Oshima, at the side, was overjoyed. Just as he had expected, this Shinto priest had mysterious powers. Perhaps it was as the Shinto priest had said, superhumans would not come into too much contact with normal people, especially governments, but at the same time, it was impossible for them to not come into contact at all. Being able to learn some mysterious knowledge from the priest’s mouth was good enough.
At the same time, Oshima also had a bit of understanding and probably guessed how the forces of these superhumans were formed.
They were distinguished by culture!
East Asia, which was China, Japan, and Korea, all traced back to the same origin, so these people might have a closer relationship. On the other hand, Western culture might be another system and they might view each other as enemies.
Oshima felt that this was how things were.
Ordinary people were hostile to others because of politics, geography, and economics, while superhumans were on a grander scale, fighting due to culture!
For a second time, Oshima only felt confused and worried. He wondered how the future international situation would change with the existence of these supernatural powers.
While Oshima’s imagination ran wild, the Shinto priest opened his eyes again and folded his hands. His thin body seemed like it would fall with just a breeze, but his spirit was extremely high!
The Japanese and Americans in the room were staring at the priest. The Japanese side even stepped a bit further from the Americans.
They could feel that the Shinto priest was disgusted with ‘Catholicism’.
“You need to ask my old friend for help…”
The slim Shinto priest lowered his eyes and said, “The high priest of the evil god has appeared.”
With the priest’s words, the others subconsciously looked at the display. In the next moment, all of them went pale. In the real-time satellite display, an even larger, more terrifying deep one appeared from Tokyo Bay. it looked like the king of the deep ones as every monster was kneeling to it.
“These servants of the evil god are making a ritual. They want to get the attention of the evil god, to make the evil god look at this world. If the will of the evil god descends, everyone in the city would be corrupted. Under the will of the evil gods, they will become crazy degenerates.”
The Shinto priest said coldly and ruthlessly as if he did not care about the life and death of these ordinary people like what he said — mortals to mortals and divine to divine.
These superhumans who had mastered mysterious powers seemed to no longer be Homo sapiens.
But the others who heard his words immediately panicked.
What did it mean for all of the people of Tokyo to become deranged monsters? That would mean around 30-40 million monsters!
Cthulhu was a descendant of Yog-Sothoth. It was known as the Great Dreamer, the Lord of R’lyeh, the Great Old One. Anyone who came in contact with it was known to give themselves up to complete madness.
Although everyone doubted whether this kind of esoteric evil god really exists, doubted that it was able to really make 30 million people go crazy, no one dared to ignore it.