Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

30 minutes later.

In the streets of Beika Town, a black Santana driving on the left side cruised down the road.

Wearing a Bluetooth earpiece, Takina Inoue was in the driver's seat, her face serious yet slightly awkward as she asked, "Confirm the address on the envelope again."

She didn't seem very used to interacting with guys and had barely spoken a word to Luo Shu the whole ride.

"Beika Town, Block 3, No. 17. According to Kurumi, it's a European-style villa. The owners recently left for a work trip to Europe with their family, so the place is currently unoccupied. The jewellery store clerk apparently had some connection with the man of the house, so she delivered one of the artifacts here."

As Luo Shu finished relaying the information, a mumbling female voice crackled through his earpiece—Kurumi.

"Hey newbie-kun, you'd better enroll in driving school soon. Not knowing how to drive is a pain in this line of work."

"Thanks for the reminder. I'll sign up once we're back," Luo Shu replied, pressing his earpiece with a light smile.

"Oh? Unexpectedly obedient, are we?" Kurumi chuckled. "Want me to sign you up for our internal class? You could get a license in seven days if you're quick. And if you pass, you'll be the first one in our group with a license—aside from the Chief, of course."

"The first one...? Yeah, sure, help me register."

After agreeing, Luo Shu turned to glance at Takina, who skilfully turned the wheel and entered the district of Block 3.

"Wait... You're driving without a license?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Work habit," she replied with a straight face, clearly a bit guilty. "Avoids leaving a traffic record."

"Oh. Makes sense."

Before long, the black Santana stopped in front of a large, blue-and-white European-style villa with a spacious yard.

"We're here. Out. Stay alert," Takina ordered calmly. She still didn't talk much around Luo Shu, likely because they weren't yet familiar.

Luo Shu touched the SIG Sauer P226 strapped to his waist, took it out, opened the car door, and scanned his surroundings.

Seeing it was clear, he glanced at the black wrought iron gate in front of the villa, quickly estimating the wall next to it to be about 2.3 meters high. Then he shut the door with a "bang" and asked, "We're climbing the wall?"

"You cover me."

Already out of the car, Takina drew her pistol, stepped back a few paces, then dashed forward. At just the right distance, she jumped up, stepped off the wall mid-leap, and vaulted gracefully over it, landing in the yard with practiced ease.

Luo Shu couldn't help but admire her. But just as he was about to follow, he glanced at the gate, suddenly thought of something, and walked over to try pulling the inner lock through the bars.

With a soft creak, the gate opened.

Luo Shu stepped through and came face to face with Takina, who had just landed on the other side.

"....."

The air was thick with awkward silence.

Takina looked at him, clearly wanting to say something but choosing to hold it in. She simply adopted a tactical posture and quickly moved toward the villa's front entrance.

Pfft!

Kurumi's suppressed giggle came through the earpiece.

Luo Shu awkwardly adjusted his earpiece and hurried after Takina.

At the door, Takina said calmly, "I'll take the back. You go in from the front. We breach together in thirty seconds."

She then pressed her earpiece and added, "Kurumi, give us a countdown."

"Roger~"

"Understood," Luo Shu confirmed, watching Takina sneak toward the back as he stayed at the front.

Suddenly—

Creak...

He turned abruptly, gun at the ready, only to see the gate swaying in the wind. He let out a sigh of relief.

Then Kurumi's voice came again: "Adjust the chest cam. Can't see clearly."

Luo Shu quickly adjusted the button on his uniform—actually a concealed pinhole camera that streamed directly to Kurumi in the underground surveillance room at Lycoris HQ.

"Good. Also, breach in 3 seconds."

Bang! Luo Shu kicked open the door and entered with his gun raised.

At the same time, the rear entrance opened silently—Takina must've used a quieter method.

So she's handling the covert entry while I'm drawing attention on the front? Standard partner tactics?

Thinking this, Luo Shu moved cautiously along the hallway. It was already evening, and the corridor was dimly lit, with no lights on.

Being his first mission, Luo Shu was understandably nervous. He planned to check the living room first.

But after just a few steps, his eyelids twitched. His instinct flared—[Super Intuition] had silently activated, alerting him not to overlook something.

"I'm checking the shoe cabinet," Luo Shu whispered to Kurumi before stepping toward the large shoe rack at the entrance.

He pulled out the top drawer and searched—nothing. Then the second drawer.

When he pulled out the third drawer and ran his hand along the bottom, he felt something off.

"Hmm?"

"Found something?" Kurumi's voice crackled in his ear.

"There's a false bottom."

Luo Shu tossed the old, slightly musty shoes onto the ground and tapped on the drawer's base. The sound confirmed his suspicion.

He then felt for a seam, hooked his nail underneath, and carefully pried it open.

Sure enough.

Under the bottom panel was a hidden compartment.

Inside lay a flat, brownish sheet of paper with rough, weathered edges and strange, ink-black patterns that resembled runes. Luo Shu examined it closely—this had to be the artifact, an Abyssal item etched with demonic script.

"Seems like I found it..."

As he spoke, a click sounded—suddenly the hallway lights turned on.

Without hesitation, Luo Shu aimed his gun sideways on instinct, grabbed the artifact, and spun around.

A woman stood there.

Thick-soled shoes clacked on the wooden floor as she emerged from the living room and leaned against the hallway wall. Blonde, with long wavy hair, dressed in a deep blue nun's habit, she looked at Luo Shu with emerald eyes, her expression both amused and curious.

"Though I expected your type to find it, I didn't think it'd be hidden there... you've saved me some effort."

Her tone was playful, her presence imposing.

"Well done, officer," she said with a faint smile. "Now, if you don't mind handing over the demonic scripture?"

Seeing how confident she was even while staring down a gun, Luo Shu shifted to face her fully and muttered, "Talk about luck... just perfect."

As he moved, the camera on his chest captured her image and streamed it live.

Hiss!!

Kurumi's sharp inhale echoed in his ear.

"What the hell!? That's Sharon the Pure—one of the Seven-Star Hunters of the Demon Slayers! I thought she was deported!"

Luo Shu stared at the nun's shapely figure and deadpanned, "Talk about drawing the worst fortune..." (both figuratively and literally).