Midnight Occult Civil Servants (真夜中のオカルト公務員)

What are kyoshi?

Walking corpses.

You can ask Theo for the details when we're back outside.

We can get back outside, right, Sakaki-san?

Of course!

Right!

Shit! Who put this obnoxious ritual here?

Himeduka-san?

Kanoichi?

Hey, Chiyoda Ward's here.

Senda requested backup.

He said to pay you back for borrowing your new kid.

That's Reiji-kun for you. We're saved.

Himeduka-san, you really found a kyoshi ritual?

Yes. The stolen izuna tails in Aichi,

the stolen hair of the family god,

the fairy dust, the mermaid scales...

and the centuries-old grave dirt from Toyama Park.

It was all...

For the ritual to create the kyoshi...

The kyoshi?!

Theo, what are you doing here?!

Kyoichi! You're safe?

Y-Yeah, I guess.

What's that Another behind you?

I've never seen...

Long black hair...

Golden, shining beast eyes...

It's that thief?

He took Suzu-chan's hair?

How rare to see you with humans, Seimei.

I suppose it has been a long time, so I guess you've changed, too.

Well, it doesn't matter.

Now, Seimei... Entertain me.

#3 "Trickster with Amber Eyes"

Th-There's a ton of them!

So they're kyoshi?

Section Chief Yamashiro, are they okay?

I don't know.

But for now, we need to deal with this.

Seal all entrances to the park.

Don't let a single one out.

S-Seriously?!

Be careful, Miyako!

Kyoshi eat living humans!

No luck, huh?

Kyoichi!

Got it!

I thought we were dea—

It's safe now.

What was that for? I really thought I was gonna suffocate!

Kyoshi attack humans by sensing their breath.

So you kept me from breathing?

No luck. I can't get signal.

A barrier?

Probably.

If only I'd noticed sooner...

Um, what is a kyoshi?

You said something about walking corpses.

That's right.

They used to be human corpses.

Meaning even normal people can see them.

You could say they're artificial Anothers.

So, someone created them?

What differentiates them from zombies is that their bodies are still intact.

Why would you make something like that?

In China, the ritual was used to send those who had died

far away from their village back home.

Judging by their clothes, those bodies date back to World War Two.

Someone prepared the kyoshi ritual to use in the war,

but it was abandoned when the war ended.

And that Another used the bodies down there

and the materials he stole to finish it?

Sheesh...

Every country turns to the occult when they're about to lose a war.

And they just left this dangerous stuff down here!

So, is there a way to deal with them?

Sunlight.

It's night, and we're underground!

Flamethrower? Shotgun?

We don't have either of those!

Think for yourself a little, Seimei.

He's back!

He's just toying with us.

Hey, you keep calling me Seimei, but...

Seimei? What are you mad about, Seimei?

I told you...

I'm not this damn Seimei!

Oh, he snapped.

You're not?

You're not Seimei?

Really?

I see. I thought you were.

If that's not the case, oh well.

Well, if you understand now—

I'll just kill you, then.

I prepared all this for my friend, but it's gone to waste.

I don't like the fact that you resemble Seimei.

Die.

Shit.

I'm Seimei!

I'm definitely Seimei!

Right? Good.

Now we can play.

They're here!

Get back, you two.

They're half-human, so blows will work on them.

That won't get us anywhere.

Find the altar!

Th-The altar?

Keeping this many kyoshi moving would require a fairly powerful device.

The Chiyoda team above us will call for reinforcements.

While we wait for that, we need to find a way to stop the kyoshi!

Not bad.

This place is pretty creepy.

So this is where they were doing research on kyoshi?

The string's coming from this way.

String?

How do you think kyoshi move?

They've already lost their human abilities.

There should be no way for them to move at all.

Some strange power that emanates from the altar?

That's right. Negative energy. Yin.

I see.

So he's using these threads to supply the Yin energy the altar generates to the kyoshi?

Then if we cut them?

You can't.

You'd need something magically enchanted to do it.

Is this...

Yeah. The stolen hair from the house god.

If we can't cut the threads, we'll have to stop it at its source.

So unless we destroy the altar, we can't stop the kyoshi?

Okay. Let's go.

Will it be that easy?

Um... what is your goal here, exactly?

I don't know what all this is for.

Why get us involved in this mess?

If you see a big machine in front of you, don't you want to turn it on?

I just wanted to surprise you with it!

If I take it to the surface, I'm sure the humans will panic.

I-Is that all?

Yup.

He's just a child...

Like a child pulling a fire alarm.

All he's interested in is having fun and fulfilling his curiosity.

What are you, really?

Coyote, your friend.

I kept correcting you, but you kept calling me a "black fox."

How rude.

This is not a job for a guy who works at the ward office!

Call the cops! Or the riot police!

Weren't you always saying you wanted a big job?

I was wrong!

We're done!

Okay, all that's left is the Shinjuku entrance.

Are we going through them?

Look at that!

This is it.

Girls?

Threads coming from their mouths? Then...

That's right! They're the altar!

You said you were going to destroy the altar, right?

That means killing them.

Now, what will you do, Seimei?

May 14th

Threads?

I've heard there's several ways to control a kyoshi.

Threads that supply Yin energy to the bodies.

If we can cut them...

But, can we?