The wedding venue was set up in a special area deep within the hotel.
Vermilion torii gates and tender green maple leaves complemented each other, creating a solemn and sacred atmosphere.
Kagegaya Tsubaki knelt in the back row of the viewing seats, her eyes barely concealing her astonishment as she tried to keep her voice down.
“Wow… this is what a rich person’s wedding looks like?”
She looked at Kirishima Ren, who was wearing a white shiro-muku; under the large white hood, the bride’s face was faintly visible, pure as if she were a goddess untouched by worldly affairs.
Saori Saiyonji’s expression was solemn, each step steady and powerful. Beside her, Saori wore a black montsuki haori.
But her eyes kept darting around, observing the dignitaries all around.
Kazama Rin, though this was also his first time seeing such a scene, sat up straight with his hands neatly placed on his knees in order to maintain his samurai persona.
“Quiet down, the San-san-kudo is about to begin.”
Hanyu Suoluo pushed up his glasses and whispered a piece of trivia, “This is a Shinto ritual, symbolizing the contract between the bride and groom and the gods, and also symbolizing that the two are now connected by blood.”
To the priest’s long chanting, the shrine maiden slowly presented the sacred sake.
Saori Saiyonji and Kirishima Ren knelt facing each other, drinking the sake from the cup three times.
Watching this, Yuki Asahi, sitting in the front row, looked a bit dazed.
Imai Yayoi beside him seemed to notice his distraction and asked softly, “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.”
Yuki Asahi snapped back to reality, looking at his close friend who was reading the vows, a relieved smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “Just thinking… this guy finally made it to this point.”
After the ceremony, everyone moved to the huge banquet hall named “Orion.”
The style here was completely different from the shrine just now.
The chandeliers cast brilliant light, the white tablecloths were covered with silver cutlery and flowers, and the air was filled with the scent of expensive champagne.
The guests took their seats in order.
Yuki Asahi’s table, in addition to the old members of the Supernatural Club, also included the three juniors like Kazama Rin.
The emcee’s voice was warm and enthusiastic.
“Dear guests, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend Ms. Saiyonji and Miss Kirishima’s wedding…”
On stage, the newlyweds were cutting a huge seven-layer cake.
As the champagne tower was filled, the banquet officially began.
Exquisite French kaiseki dishes were brought to the table one after another like a flowing stream.
Sakizuke, hassun, mukōzuke… each dish was as exquisite as a work of art.
“I’ll dig in!”
Makino Yuzuha, who had been starving for a while, stabbed a piece of foie gras with her fork without any idol pretense and put it in her mouth, a blissful expression on her face.
Yuki Asahi picked up his wine glass and took a small sip of red wine.
In this space filled with laughter, blessings, and flattery intertwined, he habitually released his Chantui ability.
His eyes, emitting a golden glow, narrowed slightly as invisible mental tentacles spread out, covering the entire banquet hall, even extending to the kitchen and corridors.
Various emotions, like colorful patches, flowed into his mind. Blessings, vanity, boredom, envy, jealousy, and…
Hm?
His movements paused slightly. In this harmonious warm palette, a jarring black-red anger and malice stood out conspicuously.
The direction… the food preparation area?
“Predecessor? What’s wrong?” Watanabe Hitomi saw Yuki Asahi put down his wine glass and asked puzzledly.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
Yuki Asahi stood up, adjusted the hem of his suit, and said calmly, “I’ll be back soon.”
He walked through the lively crowd, avoiding a few politicians who tried to toast him, and with a quick movement, he disappeared around the corner of the corridor leading to the kitchen.
The corridor was carpeted with thick rugs, absorbing all footsteps.
The source of that malice was ahead.
The door to the food preparation room was ajar.
Through the gap, he could see a young waiter standing with his back to the door, in front of a large soup pot.
His shoulders were shaking violently, and he was clutching a small bottle.
“Damn… damn rich people…” the waiter growled through gritted teeth, his voice full of venom.
“Damn it… damn manager… damn rich people… Calling me a country bumpkin… saying I don’t deserve to work here… Today I’ll show you…”
He raised the bottle, about to pour it into the soup pot that was to be served at the end. A calm voice sounded behind him.
The waiter was so startled that his hand trembled and the bottle fell to the floor with a crack. It shattered.
There was no terrible gas, no explosion, only a pungent liquid with a bitter almond-like smell flowing out. It was the smell of a strong laxative.
The waiter turned around in panic and saw a man with long hair tied back, whose calm eyes were somewhat frightening, standing at the door.
“Who… who are you?! What do you want?!” The waiter grabbed a long bread knife from the side and waved it wildly, shouting with bluster, “Don’t come near! I’m… I’m not afraid of you!”
Yuki Asahi looked at this scene and his tense nerves instantly relaxed. He sighed and rubbed his brow in exasperation.
‘This is malice?’ To get back at the manager’s scolding, he put laxative in the soup, wanting to make the whole banquet look ridiculous?
He didn’t even look at the knife, just said flatly, “Put the knife down. If you clean this up now, I can pretend I didn’t see anything. But if you keep making a scene, when security arrives, you’ll lose more than just this job.”
The waiter looked at Yuki Asahi’s calm golden eyes and felt an intangible pressure making it hard to breathe. “I…”
With a clatter, the knife fell to the floor. The waiter collapsed to the ground, covering his face and sobbing, “I’m sorry… The wedding of the Alliance Party leader—even the security was mostly espers. I just… I was just so angry…”
Yuki Asahi shook his head. ‘Indeed, in a place like this, how could there be any real danger? Who would be foolish enough to attack a gathering of espers?’
“Clean up after yourself.” With those words, he turned and left.
When he returned to the banquet hall, the atmosphere had reached its peak.
On stage, a famous singer was performing, and guests were toasting each other.
Kagegaya Tsubaki waved a lottery coupon in her hand and shouted excitedly, “Predecessor! You missed the lottery draw just now! I got a premium SPA trial voucher!”
“Congratulations.”
Yuki Asahi smiled and sat back down. At that moment, the waiter brought the signature dish—a delicacy made from bluefin tuna.
The bright red fish meat was thinly sliced and arranged in the shape of a blooming flower, topped with a special dark green sauce, emitting an enticing aroma.
“This is the chef’s special ‘Deep Sea Love,’” the waiter introduced politely. “Please enjoy.”
“It looks delicious!” Kagegaya Tsubaki eagerly picked up a slice, dipped it in sauce, and put it in her mouth.
“Mmm! This sauce has a unique flavor! It’s a bit like wasabi, but with a strange herbal taste…”
“It is quite good.” Hanyu Suoluo also took a bite and nodded. He looked at Kazama Rin, who hadn’t touched his chopsticks. “Aren’t you eating?”
Kazama Rin replied with a pale face, “…I have a psychological trauma with tuna.”
Kagegaya Tsubaki gasped, then realizing she was too loud, awkwardly shrugged her shoulders.
Yuki Asahi picked up his chopsticks and took a slice of fish.
‘The little incident earlier made me self-deprecating—was I being too sensitive?’
He put the fish into his mouth without any suspicion.
The texture was tender, the sauce slightly spicy—truly top-class delicacy, worthy of being their signature dish.
Everyone at the table except Kazama Rin praised the dish.
Just then— Boom!
All the glass in the banquet hall suddenly shattered, and the huge crystal chandelier swayed and fell.
Crash!
The floor began to shake violently, the once flat floor cracking like a biscuit into pieces.
“Aaaaaah!” Screams erupted instantly, the once elegant guests thrown into chaos.
“What’s happening? An earthquake?!”
“No… not an earthquake! It’s underground!”
Yuki Asahi was about to activate his Chantui ability to check the situation underground.
However, just as he mobilized the energy within him—
Thump. His heart skipped a beat. Then, an indescribable numbness raced through his veins, spreading throughout his entire body.
“Ugh…” His knees gave way, and he knelt on one knee.
“Predecessor?”
Hanyu Suoluo behind him exclaimed and tried to reach out to support him, but found his own hands wouldn’t obey, and he slid limply under the table.
Watanabe Hitomi held onto the table edge, her face pale, her light red eyes filled with shock.
It wasn’t just them. In the entire banquet hall, all the espers… at that moment, all collapsed on chairs or the floor, as if their bones had been removed.
The energy inside them seemed to be sealed by something sticky, unable to mobilize even a tiny bit.
In contrast, the ordinary politicians, businessmen, and waitstaff, though terrified, were frantically running around, but their movements were completely unaffected.
And Kazama Rin, who had drawn his kendo sword and was on alert—seeing that he was unaffected, Yuki Asahi instantly understood.
The tuna… it contained a strange poison targeting espers.
He looked up at Saori Saiyonji, feeling slightly relieved— Saori was calming Kirishima Ren, then turned to give orders to the esper security around her.
There was still one Emergent Body, and many esper security— the situation wouldn’t be too bad.
However, Yuki Asahi made a quick decision. He gripped his hand, and with a flash of golden light, the Sword of Severing Illusions appeared in his hand.
The pale gray flame of fear ignited fiercely. Then, he cut open his own wrist, letting the flame surge into his blood vessels and boil inside him.
‘This poison was also a kind of ability, so using the pale gray flame that could dissolve abilities to detoxify it!’
Meanwhile, at the corridor in front of the underground cold storage, the Stitched One casually crushed an esper to death.
Behind it, a huge pit opened, and several Semi-Devourers swarmed out, charging at the esper security attracted by the explosion.
“Hehe.” Its hand reached into the huge gap on its abdomen and pulled out a piece of flesh that seemed alive, holding it in its hand.
“Come, Bug God, above you are so many delicious espers.”
The Bug God’s flesh writhed with sprouts. Without the Sealing Chain of Seoul to restrain it, it grew rapidly, and purple mist began to spread around.
In every dark corner of the hotel, Nasal Forms tore open reality dimension cracks, extending their teeth from within.
On the top floor of an office building far from the hotel, Sasaki looked at the purple vortex forming in the sky, his expression gloomy.
“Bug God? They have a Bug God?…”