Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

Inside one of the offices next to the police box, Luo Shu sat alongside Mika. With them was a stern-faced man in a sharp black suit, wavy dark hair framing his serious features. Upon seeing them, the man was the first to speak, greeting Mika politely.

"Mika-san, we meet again."

"It's been a while, Maki," Mika nodded in response, then turned to Luo Shu. "This is Shirō Maki, an elemental sorcerer specializing in carbon manipulation. He's the squad captain of the Special Assault Team—rank: Major."

Having introduced him, Mika gave Luo Shu's shoulder a light pat and said to Maki, "This is our new SDS member, Luo Shu. He's the one who discovered and repelled Sharon the Pure during the recent encounter."

"Oh? Is that so?" Maki looked at Luo Shu with some surprise and admiration, then remarked sincerely, "Looks like Chief Tachibana's found another genius."

Watching the exchange, Luo Shu moved his lips slightly but said nothing. After all, he was just tagging along with Mika as a newbie. It was enough for him to be seen and remembered—no need to do or say anything unnecessary.

After the brief introductions, all three of them put on shared communication earpieces and connected to Kurumi, who was in charge of surveillance feeds. Once connected, Maki took out a laptop and placed it on the desk. Six surveillance screens were displayed on it, waiting to receive live feed.

Just then, a remote order came through the earpiece—Tachibana Kirika's voice.

"Kurumi, pull up all surveillance across Beika Town. Once we locate the target, be ready to monitor them continuously."

"Roger that~" Kurumi replied lazily.

Meanwhile, inside the light truck, Kirika—sitting next to Inoue Takina and Chisato Nishikigi by the icebox—gave strict instructions. "Mizuki, make sure to adjust the temperature every three minutes while driving."

"Understood," Mizuki replied.

"Mika, did you bring it?" Misaka asked.

"I did." Back in the police office, Mika answered as he reached into the inner layer of his kimono and pulled out a roll of aged, yellow-brown parchment. He spread the ancient-looking map on the desk and took out a small glass vial filled with dark red blood.

Luo Shu immediately recognized it—it was the blood sample Kirika had extracted from the scene of Sharon's ambush.

Could it be...? Luo Shu's eyes glinted with realization.

Mika then dropped a single drop of the blood onto the map. Within moments, the blood seeped into the parchment. The old map responded by forming a full layout of Beika Town's terrain.

Noticing Luo Shu's curious gaze, Mika chuckled and explained, "Surprised?"

"A little," Luo Shu replied. While shocked, he had already guessed it was likely an abyssal artifact used to track Sharon.

"This is a Level 1 Abyssal Artifact, called the [Blood Map]. It's one of the rare tracking tools within SDS, and also the safest we've got. Its price is quite manageable—just a detailed city map provided weekly. To activate it, we need the target's blood from within the last 30 minutes. All things considered, it's a pretty handy tool."

Although Maki was already aware of the map's existence, he couldn't help expressing his envy. "Mika-san, sometimes I really envy SDS. You guys always seem to have these convenient little tricks for every situation."

"Yeah right," Mika muttered with a sigh. "Managing these artifacts burns through a ton of money. Over 60% of SDS's entire budget goes into maintaining them. And Chief Kirika still keeps trying to add more to the collection—she really should try to be a bit more considerate of the logistics department."

Shaking his head, Mika raised a hand to his earpiece and checked the map before reporting to Misaka, "Target is currently located in Block 3 of Beika Town—inside an unfinished apartment complex. Looks like it's one of her safehouses. There's a high chance of lethal weapons being stashed inside."

"Got it." Kirika replied. Then her voice came through again, issuing another order. "Maki, you're right there with Mika, aren't you? Immediately alert the Special Assault Team. Surround the target's location. If necessary, you're authorized to deploy mortars within the city."

"Yes, ma'am!" Maki snapped to attention and began issuing commands to the Special Assault Team right in front of Luo Shu.

"Uhh…" Luo Shu couldn't help but twitch hearing that they were considering mortars. That was way beyond what he expected.

And when Maki began ordering checks on Type-01 anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers, M24 bolt-action sniper rifles, and other heavy weapons, Luo Shu's scalp practically went numb.

With firepower like this, forget Sharon the Pure—even a tank would be reduced to scrap metal.

Not to mention, Sharon had already lost her strongest defensive asset—her veil—when Luo Shu took it earlier.

Realizing all this power could be summoned at the whim of just one person—Tachibana Kirika—Luo Shu fell silent.

"It's alright, Luo Shu. You don't have to worry." Mika noticed his unease and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "It'll all be over soon."

With a hint of solemnity, he continued, "Those secret organizations' biggest strength is their anonymity. When operating from the shadows, it's extremely hard to pin them down. That's why it takes experts to deal with experts…"

"But once they show themselves, once they emerge from the darkness—then we have plenty of ways to bring them down."

"So don't worry about Chief Kirika's team. With the Special Assault Team backing them, and with that thing she brought along—this operation's success is pretty much guaranteed."

Though Mika didn't spell it out with Maki present, Luo Shu understood clearly.

That thing—was the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.

He remembered briefly touching the blade earlier and using his system to identify it. The result:

[Item: Tentative Name: Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (Demi-God Tier)]

[A demi-god tier weapon storing immense anti-demonic power. Its suppression force is potent enough to temporarily seal off even the divinity of a demigod.]

[Primary Function: Releases sealing energy from within the blade, forcibly disabling all abyssal artifacts and sorcerers within a certain radius.]

[Secondary Function: ????? (Requires unlocking)]

[Side Effects:

Can only be wielded by a woman who is physically and mentally pure.Even under ideal conditions, the user can only wield the sealing power for 15 minutes. After that, she will be sealed within the blade as a soul-bound servant.The divine sword remains dormant at sub-zero temperatures, but after 30 minutes, it will acclimate and reactivate, generating a 30-meter radius sealing field that disables all items within—excluding ice-based objects rated at 4 or higher.]

Remembering this, Luo Shu couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kirika's earlier claim of it being a "Level 3" artifact.

She totally downplayed it. This thing was clearly Level 4 material. Kirika was obviously underreporting its specs so she could use it freely without scrutiny.

And now, knowing Kirika had pulled out such a weapon of mass suppression, Luo Shu gave up any hope of Sharon escaping.

Artifact sealing. Power suppression. In that state, Sharon would be reduced to nothing more than flesh and bone. And against modern weapons? That was a guaranteed death sentence.

Even with random gunfire, the odds of killing her were high. After all, Sharon's body wasn't yet superhuman to the point of shrugging off bullets—or mortar shells.

But then, there was a complication.

Sharon was still bound to Luo Shu through a demonic contract. And worse, she knew some of his secrets.

Would they silence her permanently? Or… maybe leash her instead?

Luo Shu's eyes narrowed as his thoughts began to race.