Then, draw a smaller circle next to the Great Circle.
Agonizing screams erupted out of thin air as countless units of Source Substance converged from the two adjacent circles, revealing layers of malice from the Abyss.
Huai Shi hesitated for a moment, then with a slightly withered finger, he once again drew the final circle.
Instantly, a sound like thunder erupted, tearing through the silence both inside and outside the shrine. It even interrupted the sinister, terrifying chanting melody, and the earth shuddered violently.
Huai Shi moved swiftly, filling in the missing facial features.
Soon, a lifelike Q-version avatar of Little Cat materialized before Huai Shi. It immediately began to frantically drain his Source Substance. Only when it had siphoned off most of his reserves did darkness erupt from the avatar like a volcano...
「In Paradise.」
Little Cat snapped out of his astonishment, sensing a distant call.
After a moment's hesitation, he turned to look back at the silent Paradise behind him.
One by one, the lights in Paradise ignited, and the gates of the silent, ancient castle boomed open.
In the darkness, door after door swung open. Finally, a line of pitch-black shadows slowly emerged. Their silhouettes, shrouded in darkness, made it impossible to discern their features. Only pairs of eyes, shining with scarlet light, gleamed from the blackness, radiating furious and avaricious splendor.
Little Cat was dumbfounded.
"Hey, are you really this good to him?"
He stamped his foot in frustration, hands on his hips, eyes wide as he stared at Paradise. "You clearly don't run the household, so you don't know how expensive things are!" he exclaimed. "A token force would have been enough! Did you really need the entire Department of Justice to mobilize in full force?!"
A piercing whistle echoed from the depths of Paradise, like a response from the darkness.
After a long moment, Little Cat sighed and shook his head helplessly.
"Fine, have it your way," he said, waving his hand in resignation. "Good thing this is the last job. Otherwise, you'd eventually offend everyone... Hey, you guys remember to bring back some local souvenirs! Don't make the trip for nothing."
Thus, after a wait so long Huai Shi found it almost unbelievable, an ancient wooden door, adorned with patterns and reliefs from Hell, slowly rose from the darkness.
Merely looking at it, a chilling and painful aura washed over him.
Huai Shi swallowed and instinctively took a step back.
Then, he heard knocking from behind the door.
It was as if Fate itself were knocking.
Huai Shi mustered his courage, reached out, and slowly turned the knob. A hurricane burst forth from the darkness behind the door. Following it, a pair of pitch-black eyes appeared in the opening crack, staring intently at the nearby Huai Shi.
Merely being watched by those eyes, Huai Shi was paralyzed. Only above his head did the faint image of a small Crown appear, proving his identity.
After a long moment, as if finally granting approval, the shadow slowly nodded, its voice hoarse, "—Where is the pirate?"
Huai Shi let out a sigh of relief, drenched in sweat and barely able to stand, leaning against the open door. Hearing the question, he hurriedly looked back over his shoulder.
A finger shot out—BIU!—straight as an arrow, pointing into the darkness behind the torii gate.
A man of action, not words.
The shadow simply nodded, took a step forward, and emerged from the Dark Gate.
The ground roared, and cracks spread in all directions.
A crack split open on the torii, as if it could not bear the arrival of such a powerful presence.
Carrying something resembling a briefcase, the shadow pulled a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from inside his coat, put them on, then took out a document stamped with the seal of Paradise from the briefcase and casually stuck it to the torii entrance.
For some reason, he turned back to give Huai Shi a meaningful look.
Immediately after, he waved behind him.
As he moved forward, a column of dark figures marched out from behind the Gate of Hell in perfect unison, charging into the shrine with him.
The Department of Justice was in action!
The song and melody were torn asunder in an instant; the chanting voices vanished without a trace.
The entire shrine seemed to tremble under the power of the lead shadow. Countless shimenawa ropes shook furiously. The petrified flowers and plants in the courtyard shattered, releasing an unknown number of malevolent Evil Spirits that flew towards the dark figures of the Department of Justice.
The lead shadow sneered. He raised his hand, and the Evil Spirits rushing at him froze in place. With a scream, they disintegrated.
The terrifying monsters from Paradise strode into the shrine.
Like battle tanks, they charged ahead, smashing everything in their path.
Wherever they passed, all creatures and objects were crushed to dust by their horrific power.
The torii outside the shrine collapsed. The path behind it disintegrated. The purification basin, filled with poisonous liquid, crumbled. The old notice boards, plastered with announcements, turned to ash.
On either side of the worship hall, the divine retainers—blood-colored foxes on stone seats—opened their eyes. They swelled rapidly and lunged, only to be shattered into fragments under the trampling feet of the Department of Justice's dark figures.
The Dark Good Brothers, exuding a ferocious aura that declared 'Copyright Enforced, Gods and Buddhas Beware!', marched straight ahead, effortlessly slicing through obstacles and striking directly for the Yellow Dragon's den.
One punch shattered the Offerings Box before them. Another tore apart the walls of the worship hall. Darkness steamed from their bodies as they casually snatched the bloodthirsty sword phantoms leaping within the hall and forcefully crushed them.
From the Inner Shrine, surrounded by a jade rail, a venomous and heartrending scream suddenly erupted.
Huai Shi, lurking in the dark, was stunned. This Paradise Legion... isn't their ferocity a bit over the top?!
But he recalled the meaningful glance the lead shadow had given him just moments before.
Huai Shi spun around. He immediately saw that the lawyer's letter stuck to the shattered torii had, at some unknown point, ignited spontaneously and was already mostly burned!
Time was running out!