Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

"This sounds like a nightmare already!"

Chisato Nishikigi glanced over the map of Chiba City, looking at the 22 red dots marked on it, and instantly grumbled in frustration. "There's no telling if the target is even in Chiba City. If he's in some other district of Chiba Prefecture, are we supposed to comb through every single one?"

"That's exactly what we'll be doing," Hilda replied, her tone heavy.

"Our opponent is cunning. It seems he can control low-grade demons and uses them to move around the city, deliberately scattering our focus and misleading us."

"Hah. With that kind of tactic, I wouldn't be surprised if someone familiar was backing him."

At those words, Mika frowned deeply and asked in a low voice, "Are you suggesting another organization is behind Katsuhiko Yakushiji?"

Mika didn't have much prior knowledge about Katsuhiko Yakushiji—what little he knew came from the intel Luo Shu had brought with him. According to the file, Yakushiji had previously collaborated with the Celestial Astronomy, but that relationship had apparently fallen apart.

Could it be that Yakushiji had formed new alliances—possibly even with a secret group the Third Operations Unit had tangled with before?

"That, I can't say for sure." Hilda sat directly on the edge of the conference table and stared coldly at the electronic map. "Instead of worrying about that, we should focus on locating the target. Don't forget—only the target and a handful of close associates know where the demon is sealed."

Actually, I know too... thought Luo Shu silently, standing at the back of the group.

Thanks to Kasumigaoka Utaha's mind-reading of Katsuhiko's younger brother, Luo Shu knew the location of the demon's seal. But the problem wasn't just whether he wanted to share that information with SDS—it was how to do so in a way that made sense.

He couldn't just shake a tortoise shell and a bronze coin and declare, "I divined it!"

Not like there's an Abyssal Artifact that works that way...

"So, in the end, our top priority is to capture Ryoko Yakushiji, right?" Chisato interjected, raising her hand enthusiastically.

Inoue Takina froze and corrected her in exasperation, "It's Katsuhiko Yakushiji, not Ryoko! That's not even the right gender, let alone the same person!"

"Oh? My bad," Chisato scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I mixed it up with that Ryoko Yakushiji—the one always butting heads with Big Sis."

Luo Shu rolled his eyes at her and sighed. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Still, couldn't we try extracting intel from the Yakushiji family itself?"

"We've already got people on it, but so do various factions within Japan's government," Hilda said, her tone laced with irritation. "Don't let the size of this country fool you—there are a lot of players here."

"So in other words, no hope of getting direct intel from the Yakushiji family anytime soon?" Mika stood with arms crossed, staring at the map where three red dots had disappeared since earlier—targets that had likely been eliminated by members of the Third Operations Unit.

Still, that left 19 red markers just in Chiba City alone. And with the rest of the prefecture's map yet to be fully surveyed, those few removals were like trying to douse a wildfire with a teacup.

On the side, Mizuki Nakahara asked nonchalantly, "What about requesting assistance from the American military?"

"Not an option," Hilda answered bluntly. "Or rather, pushing for more reinforcements would only cause trouble for Her Highness."

At that, Hilda's voice took a colder turn. "Locking down an entire prefecture in Japan has already put Her Highness in a tough spot. If things escalate further, I'll have no choice but to request a full withdrawal."

Luo Shu, still unclear about who this Her Highness was, overheard Chisato's quiet murmur beside him: "Hilda really is one of those die-hard Lacus Clyne fangirls, huh?"

Fangirl? Luo Shu blinked, finally beginning to understand the shift in Hilda's tone.

But wait... did this mean the SDS's Third Unit captain was some kind of fanatic for their commander-in-chief?

Was this HQ secretly running a cult?

"In any case," Hilda said, rallying the room again, "for the rest of the weekend—including today—I want everyone from the Tokyo branch to give their all in helping us locate the target. That's all!"

She turned to Mika. "You handle your team's assignments. Sound good?"

"Understood." Mika nodded. He turned to Luo Shu for a moment, then glanced across the others. "Takina, Chisato—stick to your previously assigned teams and begin a sweep of Chiba City."

"Roger that." Everyone gave a nod in unison.

After collecting walkie-talkies and encrypted communication phones, Luo Shu followed Inoue Takina into the elevator that would take them to the underground parking garage.

Once everyone had left, Hilda gave Mika a surprised look.

"That kid... he's the wind-user that that bastard Tachibana tricked into joining us, right?"

"Tricked? Well... that's about right," Mika replied with a helpless smile.

"You're seriously not giving him a heavier task?" Hilda frowned, confused. "He's a reconnaissance-specialized wind sorcerer. If he really put his back into it, I bet he could clear all the potential targets in Chiba City today alone."

"I know what you're thinking," Mika replied, his expression neutral. "Yes, it's a heavy burden, but it would get the job done. That said..."

Mika shot Hilda a knowing look before continuing, "Miss Lacus contacted me before the mission."

Hilda's expression instantly shifted. "What?! Her Highness actually contacted you—you damned creep?! What if she catches your disgusting perversions and gets contaminated?!"

"I'm not letting that one slide," Mika said irritably, glaring at her. "If we weren't in the middle of a mission, I'd take you to the sparring ring right now."

"Hah! You?" Hilda sneered, then impatiently added, "So? What did she say?"

"...Nothing much." Mika paused and then said with a complicated look, "She just told me not to force Luo Shu into the mission."

"I still don't understand why she'd let go of such a quick route to solving everything, though."

"...Yeah, sounds like something Her Highness would say." Hilda looked like she understood instantly, then clicked her tongue. "But really, you're the one confused? I'm the one confused here! Wasn't that kid lured in by Tachibana right under your nose?"

Mika suddenly had a realization. "...She's worried that forcing him into something too dangerous might cause resentment or psychological backlash?"

"So that's it. That's why Miss Lacus said she'd come in person."

The moment he said that Hilda's voice shrilled in the conference room:

"WHAT?! Her Highness is coming here in person?!"

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!"