Walking through the dark tunnels, there is only a temporary borrowed flashlight as a light source.

In Aono's heart, he suddenly figured out something.

It was as if a meteor was passing through the sky, and it was as if some existence that had been ignored until before finally appeared, and was immediately captured by Aono.

But at the same time, it also brings greater doubts.

Aono asked Ayaka Hino.

"Senior Caixiang, do you have more detailed information about the group of believers you mentioned earlier?"

“...... Huh? ”

Suddenly hearing Aono's question, Hino Ayaka also seemed a little surprised.

The only vivid right eye reveals a bit of confusion.

"Huh? Didn't I explain this in detail? ”

She muttered to herself, her lips moving slightly.

seemed to feel that something was wrong, but this "abnormality" didn't cause her to pay too much attention, and she just thought that she was negligent for a while.

"It must have been ten years ago, right?"

Ayaka Hino recalled the contents of her memories and told Aono as briefly as possible about what she remembered about what had happened.

It is estimated that it will take some more time to advance in this tunnel, and it is also appropriate to take advantage of this time to have a better understanding of possible enemies.

"There's a very unusual group of believers who call themselves withered believers."

"The so-called doctrine is quite pessimistic, such as 'everything in the world is destined to wither, and the end of everything is death', in fact, this sentence cannot be said to be wrong in any seriousness. The end of everything is destruction, and life is doomed to death. ”

"It's just that this view is not so normal as a sect."

At this point, we came to a fork in the road, and the inside of the lava tunnel was not a straight passage - after all, it was a natural tunnel, not an artificial construction, and it was not surprising that there would be a complex and diverse terrain.

Ayaka Hino stopped for the time being.

In the current situation, the division of troops is undoubtedly an unrealistic and irrational act.

It's like in a horror movie, where the protagonist and his party explore in a haunted house, and the action of finding them separately is undoubtedly a dead act.

Finding the right path, then, is the problem that needs to be solved now.

Before Ayaka Hino could ask, Aono pointed to the passage on the right.

"Go this way."

In this place, the residual breath of Tomie is already very obvious.

For Aono, who was familiar with this aura, and even had some of Tomie's blood in her body, it was easy to find her location.

After walking towards the passage to the right, Aono waited for Ayaka Hino's next description.

But she didn't speak again.

"Saika senior? Read on. ”

"Huh?"

Ayaka Hino tilted her head, puzzled.

"What's next?"

And Qingye, who heard this, was covered in sweat and hair standing on end, and a stronger sense of abnormality swept through his heart.

"A message about the withered believers."

Rao was like this, and there was nothing unusual in Aono's expression.

"Oh...... By the way, I was talking about this. ”

Ayaka Hino blinked, thought for a moment, and said apologetically.

"Look at my brain, it's not easy to use."

"Alas, I'm old and useless......"

Aono clearly understands that this is by no means something that forgetfulness can explain.

Before answering the question, Ayaka Hino was like a sluggish machine, pausing for two or three seconds, as if there was a special power that distorted her cognition and temporarily "forgotten" the topic just now.

Not only that, but Aono also found that neither Kanda Yukie nor the swordsman showed any awareness of this.

In other words, if it weren't for Aono reminding him again, there is a great chance that this topic would be ignored again.

This is probably the reason why Aono was not able to learn the information of the believers before.

At the same time, on Aono's panel, there was no hint at all.

It's an anomaly of the abnormal!

Aono concentrates his attention to the extreme, refusing to let go of any details.

"In the beginning, the blighted believers behaved normally and did not engage in any special activities."

"So much so that when we first received the report, we couldn't classify them as the X Sect, and they had nothing to do with the transcendental, but just a religion with strange teachings. In Japan, there are still many such small religions. ”

"We can't arrest them without any reason or evidence. At that point, we were just watching and paying a little attention. ”

Ayaka Hino sighed, as if she was regretting her decision.

If more surveillance had been put in at that time, perhaps what would not have happened later.

"By the time we found out about their first case, it was too late."

"Their leader, out of nowhere, received a special ritual."

"It's the kind I've seen in Granny Ishiyama's room."

"They tried to summon the gods with rituals so that they could have a better life after life withered."

Aono listened carefully: "I see."

Looking at many religions in the world, there is actually no shortage of such a doctrine - as long as you believe in such and such a god, you can ascend to heaven after death, or go to the Western Elysium, or be in the immortal class, and not fall into hell and suffer a lot of suffering and suffering.

In the final analysis, people are mortal.

No matter how much scenery you see along the way, no matter how beautiful you experience, the end will not change.

And there is only one, and that is death.

Only death is eternal—this is in keeping with the teachings of the Blighted Sect.

However, when it is difficult for people to change the miserable situation of reality, they put their minds on the gods and Buddhas, trying to obtain "beauty" and "happiness" after death, so as to obtain spiritual comfort.

The birthplace of Buddhism is in ancient India, not without reason.

The people at the bottom could not change the oppressed reality of the lower castes, so they could only hope to live in Elysium after death.

It's a great tool for rulers to dispel people's real-life revolt.

All in all, the Blight sect is actually not fundamentally different from other religions.

But what they are praying for is a terrifying being from the inner world!

Generally speaking, any existence in the inner world, even just those weak low-level creatures, is extremely harmful to ordinary people.

Most of the gods that many X-cultists believe in are unlikely to have a real relationship with them.

It's like ants lining up on the ground and marching in a queue, which does have the potential to attract people's attention.

But what awaits the ants may not be fine crumbs and friendly stares, but a pot of boiling hot water.

Believing in Them often doesn't end well.

It is more likely that people will drive themselves into madness, or that they will become their food.

But then again, most of the X-cultists who will believe in them themselves are also people with abnormal brains, and they complement and smell like them.

"The first few cases that were discovered were the product of a failed ritual."

Ayaka Hino continued.

"All we saw was the miserable dead, and some strange lines, like ...... A pattern of a withered flower. At that time, we didn't even classify this incident as a case in the religious realm, but as a case of serial murder. ”

"Similar to Jack the Ripper, they leave special marks to prove that they committed the crime."

"But we were soon at the scene of the crime and ran into that kind of thing."

“...... That kind of thing? ”

This time, it was Kanda Yukie next to him who asked questions.

"It's a remnant of a mysterious ritual."

Speaking of which, Aono and the others all had the impression that this could only be the remnant of the "dirty" in the corner of Akiko Ishiyama's room.

Kanda Yukie asked again, "The ceremony was successful?" ”

"No, it didn't work out."

The young woman shook her head.

"As I said before, there are three strict conditions for that ceremony."

"But if the conditions are not fully met, that kind of residue can also be generated. Just sealing those things would have cost several of us the sacrifices. ”

"We have only just fully realized the nature of the incident, and it is not at all what we originally thought!"

"Under the leadership of that Lord, we made great sacrifices to wipe them all out."

Neither Aono nor Kanda Yukie had any doubts about the title "that adult".

Because his identity is very clear, among the transcendents of the Japanese Kingdom, there is only one person who will use this title to refer to.

It's the remaining S-class transcendent in Japan!

He is also the strongest in Japan!

However, his identity and strength are too special, and it will take too much space to tell about it, so I won't talk about it here for the time being.

"The reason why our Einsatzgruppen lacks the backbone and high-end strength is because in that incident, too many gifted transcendents died, which caused a considerable fault line."

Ayaka Hino told regretfully.

It seems that he is reluctant to recall the situation at that time, which shows the tragic extent of the sacrifice at that time.

"Well, I have one more question."

Aono suddenly stared at Ayaka Hino, and his tone was serious.

"Please."

Hino Ayaka seemed to be dyed by this momentum, and replied solemnly.

"Was Akiko Ishiyama involved in that incident?"

"Granny Ishiyama?"

The cold and beautiful woman was stunned, she didn't expect Aono to ask such a question.

And the idea exposed by this question is actually very clear.

"Were you suspicious of her?"

Her expression was unusually angry, probably angry because of Aono's suspicions.

Intellectually she could understand the suspicion, but emotionally she could not accept it.

"Granny Ishiyama can never be one of the believers!"

"She saved a lot of people in the Tokyo Rangers, including me."

Hino Ayaka said solemnly, trying to dispel Aono's suspicions.

"She has a life-saving grace for us, and in that kind of situation, it was Granny Shishan who took action to cure those people."

"Yes."

At this moment, even the swordsman, who was silent and had only his own sword in his eyes, nodded in agreement.

"Granny Shishan, she is a good person."

"I ...... too Think so. ”

The little girl tugged at the hem of Aono's clothes and said softly.

Even if Kanda Yukie and Akiko Ishiyama spent an extremely short time together, and felt that she was a little fierce, but in the eyes of the little girl, Akiko Ishiyama could not be a bad person anyway.

"I'm just asking if she was involved in that incident."

Aono ignored their reactions and asked again.

"Yes, but not as a combat member."

Ayaka Hino replied categorically.

"The incident happened more than 10 years ago, at that time, Granny Ishiyama had not yet re-emerged from the mountain, but only as a medical staff to treat the mental trauma of the team members."

"That's true."

The swordsman said the same.

"Okay, I got it."

Aono stopped asking questions and walked silently in the tunnel.

My mind is analyzing all kinds of potential possibilities.

But on the other hand, Hino Ayaka suddenly discovered a problem.

"That's right, Aono-kun."

"According to you, Amamiya Ren went to look for Akiko Ishiyama alone yesterday?"

"That's right."

Aono admits it frankly.

"But...... If she was going to do something like that, why didn't you go with her? ”

Ayaka Hino said in an uncertain tone.

"Aren't you friends? Even if you don't send Tomie to the last side, you should always bring Amamiya Ren back, right? ”

Aono stopped in an instant.

Even with Kanda Yukie, he was shocked.

The little girl frowned and muttered softly.

"yes, why didn't we think about giving her one last ride?"

Kanda Yukie searched in his memory and quickly found the answer.

"Tomie seems to have said that she doesn't want us to see her in the end, she has to face it alone."

Hearing this, Aono's brows not only did not loosen, but became more compact.

Did she really, ever say such a thing? ’

Looking through the memories in front of him for three days, Aono seemed to be really in a corner, and turned out words with similar meanings.

There was also a beautiful and vague face, as if it was very formal to express this meaning to him.

And out of some shame, it seems that he has no obligation to take care of his friend's sister, so he is unwilling to face Tomie?

Or is it because Tomie didn't contact herself, so she simply regarded this as her own business and didn't want to get involved?

Wrong!

Aono resolutely denied it.

That's not true!

Even if these excuses sound plausible, it seems likely that they are.

But a voice still rings in my heart like a bell.

If it were me, I would definitely go with her! ’

Aono thought.

He definitely won't run away - since Tomie hasn't run away, why is Aono like a coward who doesn't want to look at her end?

With a clear and affirmative recognition of this, see through your own heart.

Just as the sun dispelled the haze and the ice and snow melted under the flames, the vague fragments and words that seemed to be there were all emptied and disappeared in an instant.

It's like it never happened.

More precisely, they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Those existences are just fragments of fragments that he actively made up in his brain and used to explain a certain conclusion.

With his memory, how could there be a "fuzzy" situation?

Enlightened.

Wide sea and sky!

Now, Aono can say with certainty.

"She didn't say anything like that."

Sure enough, even my mind was distorted unconsciously. ’

Aono's eyes were clear, and he looked into the deep tunnel in front of him.

As they went deeper, the temperature in the tunnel was no longer as cold as it had been at the beginning, and a slight warmth began to seep out.

'Come, let me see what you are!' ’