Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

Inside a room that was pure white from floor to ceiling, with no trace of any other color, the middle-aged man who had previously been chained beside Sharon was now drenched in cold sweat. His lips had turned blue and purple, and a whimpering sound escaped from his throat. It had already been twenty minutes since the disappearance of the malicious woman who had abducted him.

At first, during those twenty minutes, he was terrified. But after realizing that he hadn't been physically harmed, he managed to calm down for a short while. However, now—he was even more frightened than when it all began.

Because he had finally noticed: the chirping of birds that had been present in the forest was gone. The sensation of insects crawling across the rotting leaves beneath him had vanished. He could no longer feel the wind brushing across his skin. Even the voice of that cruel nun who had kidnapped him had disappeared entirely. Everything—all sound, motion, sensation—had completely ceased ten minutes ago.

Only now did he finally realize he was in a world devoid of sound, breeze, and fluctuation. And only now did he understand—the "sacrifice" that malicious nun had spoken of was real.

He had actually been sacrificed—most likely to the evil god that the nun devoted herself to.

Amaterasu-Ōmikami, please! If I've committed any sin, judge me with the law—not by sacrificing me to some evil god!

As he whimpered helplessly, deep in the subconscious of his mind, a phantom-like girl walked among the inner corridors of his consciousness. With a white headband and straight jet-black hair, wearing a deep navy school uniform, this illusory girl was, of course, a projection of Kasumigaoka Utaha's consciousness.

At this moment, she was diving deep into the man's psyche, using her newly upgraded hypnotic powers to conduct a high-level form of mental reading.

As if descending the steps of a spiritual staircase, scene after scene began to flash across her eyes.

There were memories of the middle-aged man playing catch on a park lawn with his son, both of them laughing joyfully. Then, a grim scene inside a dark warehouse, where a man covered in blood knelt and begged him for mercy. Next, images inside an upscale club, filled with middle-aged and elderly men—including himself—naked and entangled with bold, young women.

Throughout this descent, Utaha's gaze remained cold and unflinching. Not a single disturbing memory could sway her.

She stopped moving only when one particular memory caught her attention.

The memory showed a luxurious office.

The middle-aged man was standing and reporting to another individual.

"I've found it," Utaha murmured as she lifted her gaze toward the man seen from the perspective of the middle-aged target.

The man had a high hairline, a round and slightly plump face, relatively shallow wrinkles, and an upper lip adorned with a typical mustache seen on elderly men in Japan. On the surface, he looked like a kind and wealthy grandfather, radiating a certain benevolence common to the affluent.

But Utaha knew better. She remembered seeing this "grandpa" in one of the more depraved KTV club memories—standing at the very center of the debauchery.

She watched coldly as the middle-aged man reported to this seemingly kind elder. After listening for a moment, her phantom presence faded away from his mental landscape.

When Utaha opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Luo Shu's warm and handsome face.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Even though Luo Shu had used the system's ability to peer into the man's mind alongside her, he had only been able to follow her perspective. Unlike Utaha, he couldn't hear the man's internal thoughts. So he was still a little worried—especially since her dazed expression didn't exactly inspire confidence.

Could it be that Utaha had encountered some kind of mental contamination he hadn't noticed?

But to his surprise, Utaha stared at him silently for a moment. Then, her expression softened into one of peaceful happiness as she said, "I just realized—being able to open my eyes and see your face right away… is such a blessing."

Luo Shu was instantly filled with black lines. "So, basically, you're using my face as eye bleach now?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Utaha replied teasingly, sitting up from the sofa with a sly grin. "It just proves that your looks are a direct hit to the strike zone of your little believer here."

Luo Shu rolled his eyes, still not quite used to her flirtatious antics.

Just then, Utaha raised her hand and gently massaged her temples to ease the lingering spiritual fatigue. "Even though I planted a self-suggestion to suppress my reaction to disgusting images, I didn't expect there to be… so many of them."

During the earlier breakdown of the middle-aged man's psyche, she had already been diving deep into his mind for quite a while. Thinking back to all those disturbing memories—graphic abuse of women, manipulative cruelty toward others—made her feel sick.

She had expected the adult world to be dirty, but she hadn't realized just how naive her expectations had been. Compared to this, Luo Shu sneaking peeks at her earlier felt downright saintly…

"The man Sharon captured is named Yakushiji Ken. He's an executive of a subsidiary under the Yakushiji Group that handles military rations. He's Ryoko Yakushiji's cousin—and also a direct member of the Yakushiji family tied to True Celestial Astronomy."

When Luo Shu heard that he shared the Yakushiji surname, his expression turned contemplative. "So… who's the Yakushiji family member collaborating with True Celestial Astronomy to try and possess a demon's body?"

"Yakushiji Katsuhiko."

Utaha's expression turned bitter as she recalled the round-faced old man and said, "He's seventy-one years old this year. A senior executive at the police equipment company JACES, head of their pharmaceutical division. He's Ryoko Yakushiji's uncle—and biologically, he's also Yakushiji Ken's real father."

Luo Shu blinked at the words real father and then muttered, "Man, what a messy family."

He frowned. "So, this pharmaceutical exec wants a demon's body? I'm guessing that means something's wrong with his own?"

But surprisingly, Utaha shook her head. "According to what Ken believes, Yakushiji Katsuhiko undergoes regular health checkups, is attended to by medical professionals, and is healthier than any elderly man he knows."

"Huh?" Luo Shu raised an eyebrow. If he's in perfect health, why would he still want to become a demon?

Seeing his confusion, Utaha made a disgusted face and said, "From Ken's mental perspective, it seems that Katsuhiko has already indulged in everything the world has to offer. Now, he simply wants to become a long-lived woman—to experience the pleasures of the opposite gender."

"…Hah?"

Luo Shu was stunned. After a long pause, his expression twisted strangely. "So… he's just a pervert?"

"…Yeah, seems like it," Utaha admitted after a moment's pause.

Luo Shu fell silent.

He'd imagined a lot of motivations—maybe the guy was dying and seeking longevity, or trying to gain power through demonic transformation—but this? Wanting to turn into a woman just for the experience?

Truly a sight to behold.

"Did Yakushiji Ken's memories include the location of the demon seal?" Luo Shu asked.

"They did," Utaha confirmed.

"Where?" he pressed.

Utaha gave him a look, then softly parted her lips and said, "Chiba Prefecture!"