Anime Multiverse: Building a Pantheon from Scratch

"Danger is approaching?"

Yakushiji Katsuhiko's temples pulsed violently, thick veins bulging on his forehead, making him look as though he were suffering from some kind of vascular disease. But in truth, it was simply a demonic sense reacting to the looming threat.

Yes—Yakushiji Katsuhiko was a demon. Not of some noble bloodline, but even so, he had relied on the innate traits of his race to escape countless dangerous situations. And now, once again, he could feel danger creeping closer.

Without wasting a second, Katsuhiko pulled out a disposable contact phone and dialed Yakushiji Ken.

"Ken-kun, that target you mentioned—he's heading my way, isn't he?"

"Yes, Uncle. Based on my estimates, he should arrive in about ten minutes."

Ken's tone was polite and composed, showing no signs of any issues. But Katsuhiko wasn't convinced, especially as the sense of danger kept growing stronger by the second.

Is it because that SDS member who stole the Heart of the demon is closing in on me? That was entirely possible. After all, this was someone who had wrested the heart from Sharon's grasp. Feeling a deadly threat from such a figure was only natural.

However, the task Katsuhiko had assigned Ken was merely to draw the target near—he would observe from the shadows and decide whether to launch a sneak attack.

So then... was my location leaked?

"Leave immediately using the planned escape route. Don't alert anyone. Follow the original withdrawal procedure. I'll contact you at midnight. If I don't, proceed with Contingency Plan B."

After issuing swift instructions, Katsuhiko ended the call and turned toward the man lying on the bed.

"Was it you?"

His gaze was sharp as he looked at the middle-aged man, who was now stripped to only his white undershirt, his suit and trousers removed.

"What do you mean—was it me?"

Yukinoshita-san, gritting his teeth for the sake of his wife and child, tried to endure the humiliation. He gave a confused response, determined to play dead and endure like a pig headed for slaughter. What now? Is this twisted pervert back to his old tricks again?

Katsuhiko's eyes narrowed with a murderous gleam, but he quickly suppressed his killing intent.

Murder wouldn't solve his problem. The sense of danger was intensifying. He didn't have time to waste.

Priority now is to evacuate the base... No. I've already been surrounded.

At that moment, Katsuhiko finally sensed the presence of numerous humans—close, and many of them. It felt like he was completely encircled.

Concealment techniques? Or abyssal tools capable of masking presence?

"What a clever trick," he muttered through clenched teeth, then chuckled. "Looks like SDS really has some talent."

Yukinoshita-san could only watch, utterly bewildered, as the man before him waged psychological warfare with invisible enemies. What the hell is this guy even talking about?

But before he could process anything further, Katsuhiko suddenly jumped off the bed, tore off his own clothes, and grabbed Yukinoshita-san's discarded suit from the floor, slipping it on with practiced ease.

"What are you doing?!"

Yukinoshita-san instinctively shouted, only to have his pupils shrink in horror as he watched Katsuhiko's appearance morph—bit by bit—into his own.

"H-How...?!"

In a flash of realization, Yukinoshita-san abandoned all sense of shame, rushed to the window behind the curtain, and without hesitation, flung himself through the second-floor glass pane.

Crash! Glass shattered as he plummeted onto the lawn below.

He wasn't an idiot. The moment the other man took on his appearance, it was clear he intended to assume his identity. If that happened, not only would his wife and child be in danger—he himself would be expendable.

Faced with such a threat, Yukinoshita-san chose the only path left to him: escape.

Jumping from the second floor might kill him, but staying behind would certainly seal the fate of his family—and hand Katsuhiko the perfect cover.

"Damn it…"

Katsuhiko's expression shifted, thrown off by the man's unexpected desperation. He hadn't expected him to have that kind of courage.

The plan to impersonate him and use him as a scapegoat was now completely ruined.

Fury surged through him, both from being foiled by a "mere insect" and from his carefully crafted plan falling apart. He was about to chase after him when, suddenly, a bolt of intuition struck.

Without thinking, he threw himself sideways, hugging the wall.

In that very moment, the wardrobe exploded in a cloud of shattered wood, spraying brown mist into the air.

A split second later, the sound of a sniper rifle rang out.

Someone had opened fire into the room the moment they saw someone leap from the window—firing through the curtains blind yet timed with terrifying accuracy.

Even through the veil of cloth, the sniper's instincts had been deadly. The threat Katsuhiko sensed around his temple now made sense—whoever was outside, they were no amateur.

"Shit!"

Katsuhiko rolled along the floor, and with a loud bang, burst through the door with his superhuman physique, charging into the hallway.

Only then did a shrill cry ring out from downstairs.

Clearly, the mother and daughters in the living room had found Yukinoshita-san lying on the ground outside.

Realizing the women were downstairs, Katsuhiko's eyes flared with killing intent and he moved to follow.

But before he could descend, a sudden warning bell rang in his heart. He pivoted mid-step, launching himself toward the adjacent bedroom.

At that very instant, five or six slashes tore through the second-floor corridor—walls, doors, and floorboards alike—like blades had raked through them.

"Wind magic?"

With his vast experience, Katsuhiko instantly identified the technique and its source.

"The Fuga Clan?"

"That bounty on the dark web—did they take the job?"

He didn't have time to think. Darting back into the corridor, it wasn't about recklessness—it was about exploiting a weakness.

Wind blades required compressed wind elements to form. Outdoors, this wasn't a problem, but indoors, there was a cost: the elemental density in a confined space dropped fast.

There was even a risk of suffocation. But more importantly, after a burst like that, the caster couldn't form another powerful strike anytime soon.

That's why Katsuhiko didn't jump out the window like Yukinoshita-san—he made for the stairs.

Charging down to the first floor, he saw the sliding glass door to the yard already open, and the three women huddled around Yukinoshita-san.

At that moment, the air inside the living room began to swirl again, forming wind blades—but noticeably slower this time.

Now fully aware of the wind mage's presence, Katsuhiko wouldn't give them another chance.

Spotting the unstable formation of wind, he immediately altered course, charging not for the door, but toward the wall itself.

As he moved, his body began to swell. Muscles bulged unnaturally. His skin darkened rapidly, turning a deep, demonic violet.

His human head morphed into something thinner and more alien—demonic—and a pair of beetle-like antennae sprouted from his skull.

He was going to power straight through the blades—ram his way out.

BOOM!

The wall crumbled under the force of his charge. He burst into the yard, then leapt over the three-meter-high iron fence, landing hard on the asphalt road outside. Eyes scanning quickly, he turned toward a sewer route he had pre-identified.

But the moment he stepped outside—

A fiery, commanding voice rang out:

"You really did come crawling out, just like that guy said… Well then—time to die, demon!"

"——Manifest! Enraiha!!"

At that voice, Katsuhiko's pupils contracted violently. He immediately tried to leap toward the direction his instincts labeled 'safe.'

But it was already too late.

Chains made of wind snapped onto his body like lightning, shackling him in invisible bonds.

This power… this speed… this isn't like before at all!

They were playing weak just now?! I've been deceived!!

Realizing he'd been tricked, Katsuhiko opened his mouth, attempting to utter a demonic incantation—a profane spell meant to damage the enemy's psyche and give him an opening to survive.

But before he could speak, a razor-sharp wind blade, as if it had anticipated everything, sliced clean through his throat.

"Kh—!" Katsuhiko only managed a hoarse choke as his pupils dilated violently.

I was too slow, he assessed calmly.

And then, fire filled his vision.

As his bisected body began to fall apart, Yakushiji Katsuhiko's eyes met those of the crimson-haired girl standing before him.

"…The Kannagi clan… and that wind mage in the shadows… I'll remember you all."