The first time Aono suspected Akiko Ishiyama was when he learned of her disappearance.

His suspicions were simple - with Tomie's ability, could he really take Akiko Ishiyama so easily?

It's not that Tomie is too weak.

Her supernatural characteristics of super-fast regeneration, inexhaustible wildfire, and spring breeze blowing and regenerating are a strong threat to the vast majority of transcendents.

However, just a brief contact with Akiko Ishiyama when she cleansed her soul, Aono could confirm that she definitely possessed a terrifying strength!

Spiritual control should be better than physical regeneration.

No matter how strong Tomie's regeneration ability is, as long as he has a flaw in his heart, he will not be an opponent of Akiko Ishiyama.

Another point of doubt is.

When was the ceremony in the corner of the meditation room arranged?

Don't look at Akiko Ishiyama at that time, she was a blind old woman, but her mental power has long been able to replace the visual effect to a certain extent, and she is even more acute!

- Just like Aono when he was blind.

Aono didn't believe that someone could quietly and unknowingly arrange such a strange ritual.

However, at that time, Aono was mentally distorted and misled, and even though he was vaguely aware of this, he could not say it clearly.

Instead, I noticed a subtle detail next to me.

The five wooden carvings disappeared.

Now that I think about it, I'm afraid it's not just that Hino Ayaka hasn't explained the information about the blighted believers to him for a long time, but the part about the blighted believers has also more or less deviated a lot.

For example, the time of that incident may not have happened ten years ago, but more than thirty years ago!

The night of the end of the believers was also supposed to be the day when Akiko Ishiyama's entire family was killed.

"The one who killed them should be the withered believers, right?"

Aono's gaze fell on the five bodies, their faces were peaceful, their breathing was steady, the blood in their veins was flowing calmly, and their hearts were beating regularly.

These signs undoubtedly indicate that they are all "alive".

They do have a physical body, but within that body it is empty.

Like a simple puppet, or a hollow porcelain vase.

Doesn't the word "empty" mean that they don't have any internal organs? But......

No soul!

Are they simply human? And without human consciousness and emotion, how ugly is it to say? It's just a few pieces of living flesh and blood.

"That's right."

Akiko Ishiyama nodded calmly? He said very contemptuously.

"But I'm not like that bunch of garbage."

"I am His chosen messenger, and I will ...... Can I use His power? to bring them back to life. ”

The beautiful woman's gaze fell on the puppet-like flesh.

Is that her parents, her husband? And daughters.

So far? It seems that everything is connected in series, and all of them have a most plausible explanation.

Akiko Ishiyama was once indeed a respected old-timer and made a great contribution to the transcendents of the Tokyo Rangers, but with the slaughter of her family? Her heart has already undergone changes that are imperceptible to outsiders.

Her personality has gradually changed because of this? A twisted obsession was born in her heart - she wants to bring her family back to life!

In order to achieve this obsession, Akiko Ishiyama is willing to pay all the costs, and therefore ...... Finally became one of the withered believers.

The dragon slayer eventually becomes an evil dragon.

It was never Tomie who controlled her, but she controlled Tomie, and even Tomie's regenerative ability—or rather? From the beginning, what was the purpose of Ishiyama's contact with Tomie? That's it.

Because of the endless flow of flesh and blood, she can regenerate the bodies of her family.

And after that? As long as the soul is brought back, their family can live together forever and happily.

Ayaka Hino next to her? Hearing Akiko Ishiyama's confession in person? She only felt that a certain example she had set for years had completely collapsed—and she finally remembered some of the memories that had been distorted before? It's like a coordinated work, deliberately smeared and covered up by someone with other colors with malicious intent.

And the only person who can do this is Akiko Ishiyama.

Even just now, Ayaka Hino still had the idea of "this Ishiyama mother-in-law is faked" and "maybe she was just manipulated".

But now, she understands the reality of the moment.

"How...... ...... like this"

Her eyes were glazed and her head hung down, as if a spirit had been directly sucked away - for a long time, Akiko Ishiyama was Hino's idol and role model, the kind of person she wanted to be, so it was no wonder that Aono's suspicion would have such a big reaction.

"Don't be sad."

Akiko Ishiyama chuckled again.

"For soon, even your pains...... will wither. ”

As soon as the naked woman's voice fell, the lines on the ground that were drawn from unknown materials lit up with a faint light.

Also abnormal, there are also Akiko Ishiyama's eyes.

Those jewel-like eyes seemed to turn into two deep pitch-black black holes, which could suck in everything they saw.

A special wave centered on her spread outward at an extremely fast speed.

Unstoppable sleepiness hits Aono, trying to drag him into a new dream.

He closed his eyelids in a drowsy manner, consciousness drifting away from his body.

But immediately, in the next second, he opened his eyes again.

"The same move won't work for me again!"

Qing Ye gritted his teeth tightly, no matter how strong the sleepiness was, it couldn't shake his will even a bit!

[You are under the influence of strong hypnosis! 】

【Judgment ......】

[Judgment ...... Succeed! 】

[You resisted the intense hypnosis with your willpower!] 】

Willpower, this attribute is not expressed in the nature of numerical properties on the panel, and it is obviously different from "intelligence (inspiration)", but it always really works, and perhaps it has some connection with "intellectual ceiling".

"Bang!"

The distance between him and Akiko Ishiyama shortened in an instant, almost nothing.

The fist was straight out.

Bone stubble and minced meat fly together.

For Akiko Ishiiyama's beautiful face, Qingye couldn't have any pity for the jade, and with an extremely savage attitude, he once again burst her face, especially the eye sockets, which couldn't be broken anymore.

However, the strange fluctuations did not stop because of this, and still affected Hino Ayaka and others at the other end.

"Useless ......"

Akiko Ishiyama's voice echoed back and forth in the space above the magma.

Even the voice itself has a bit of a treacherous and hoarse component.

When you listen closely, it seems that it is not a sound that should be produced by humans, but a murmur that comes from an informable existence.

Whether Akiko Ishiyama in her current state can be called a human is indeed a questionable thing.

"Wait for the end of the withering with peace of mind, and my happiness will bloom new flowers and bear beautiful fruits on it."

Even Aono couldn't tell where the source of the sound was.

The body under his fist no longer recovered in overspeed, and fell to the ground quietly, as if dead.

But Aono didn't think that Akiko Ishiyama would lose her body because of this.

Since she has mastered Tomie's ability, not to mention turning an aging body into a peerless young woman, even if she has created countless bodies as a backup, Aono is not surprised at all.

But on the other side, Kanda Yukie and them, although they were also temporarily invaded by sleepiness and almost entered a dangerous dream again, they barely stayed awake.

This is Aono's "mental mastery" at work.

In a rough way, he took responsibility for the fluctuations suffered by Xue Hui and others.

"Huh? Even you ......"

This time, even Akiko Ishiyama, who didn't know where to hide, was surprised by this.

In her cognition, even if Aono could resist the past, how could these ordinary transcendents compete with her abilities?

But this surprise only existed for a very short time, like smoke appearing briefly and quickly dissipating - probably without Akiko Ishiyama herself realizing it, her emotions were swallowed up by the inhuman part.

"Unfortunately, I'm not just targeting you."

Akiko Ishiyama spoke slowly.

Her words are unexpectedly numerous, and they are not at all the performance that a cold-blooded villain boss should have.

Aono can actually understand Akiko Ishiyama's current state of mind.

In other words, why many villains always like to say seemingly superfluous "nonsense" at the last moment is because they have the will to confide in others - this is not difficult to understand, even the exhausted social animals at work will want to share their lives on Moments, young children will cry louder in front of others, and if they find that crying is useless, they will stop and not cry.

Even villains who have been planning for a long time have things they want to share with others.

- On the other hand, it is precisely because they have been under pressure for a long time that they have no one to talk to, that they will say things that are insignificant to others to the victims when their goals are about to be achieved.

Usually, what is shared will be their motive for committing the crime, or a method worthy of pride and praise.

Akiko Ishiyama probably also has some of these human characteristics.

So she continued.

"All the people I have 'treated' will be dragged into this dream by me."

“...... All? ”

Hino Ayaka's eyes were confused, she hadn't recovered from the blow she had dealt before.

But soon, the expression on her face changed drastically.

"By the way, I seem to have made a little change to your memory, so I'm really sorry......"

Akiko Ishiyama obviously said words of apology, but no matter what, she couldn't hear even a little apology from this sentence, but only a bad taste.

"Now, you should be able to remember how many people this 'all' is, right?"

“......”

Ayaka Hino was silent for a long time.

It turned out that the number of people Akiko Ishiyama had "treated" was not the more than thirty people she remembered at all, but almost half of the Tokyo Rangers had such an experience, plus everyone in the night watch.

This number will not be less than two hundred!

"You...... What the hell do you want to do! ”

Hino asked, her eyes bloodshot.

If so many transcendents died as a result, the entire transcendent realm of Tokyo would be completely chaotic!

Now, just to solve all kinds of abnormal events, their manpower is already stretched thin, and they are very nervous, if they really bear such losses......

She gasped again, not daring to imagine such a picture.

"Didn't I already say that?"

Akiko Ishiyama's tone was smug and proud, as if she had done something to be proud of.

"Let them return to the final end of withering in advance, and become the nourishment for my happy future."

The only people who can say such things are crazy believers.

The thought that such words came from the mouth of Akiko Ishiyama, who had always been loved and worshipped, Ayaka Hino really couldn't accept it.

"Oh, really?"

Aono wasn't surprised by this, which was exactly what he expected.

As a result of their contact with them, the transcendents have more or less certain psychological and spiritual diseases, and if a transcendent being in this area is willing to solve these problems, there are countless patients who want her to help.

He leapt to his feet, moving upwards at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye.

Breaking through the hard, hot rock, he grabbed a piece of flesh that was only a head.

"Got you!"

That beautiful, moving face belongs only to Akiko Ishiyama.

It's just that at this time, a special substance has infected her body - this is the reason why she only has one head left.

The existence of that kind of "filth" can only come from the inner world.

It is an adjunct of this mysterious ritual!

He had been looking for the source of the sound just now, and sure enough, it was here.

"Do you think that will catch me?"

It was clearly a very beautiful face, but at the moment, it had an extremely ugly and distorted mocking expression.

Like a monster that is no longer human.

Aono didn't speak, he didn't want to share, and there was nothing worth sharing.

He jumped down, and under the combined force of gravity and recoil, he fell rapidly.

"Don't forget, I have ......"

Akiko Ishiyama's words, like a jammed gear, suddenly stuck in her throat, unable to speak again.

Aono could probably guess that it was her stand-in hidden in various places, or something so small that it was invisible to the naked eye, such as tiny pieces of meat and tiny cells, all of which began to die and lose their vitality beyond her control.

Not only that, but her fresh and beautiful face has also begun to produce frightening changes.

Muscles atrophied rapidly, skin quickly wrinkled, and withered like a lifeless leaf, clinging to her facial bones.

In an instant, the Pink Lady turned into a skeleton.

"Y-What did you do!?"

Akiko Ishiyama does still retain some of the emotions of human beings, and she is still afraid and surprised, which makes Aono a little surprised.

But what is there to say about a dead man?

"The corpse is talking."

He announced the fate of Akiko Ishiyama in this way.

The crazy head finally realized something, and roared at another being in its body.

"You can still control your body?"

"But in this case, you will die completely!"

"What's wrong with living as a part of me?"

But her angry roar was not answered, but she couldn't move, and her vitality was quickly drained away again.

Afterwards, the two of them fell into the hot lava together.