# 602
Chapter 603: Beneath Divine Authority
“Then what? Have you heard of any other intruders?”
“No.” Amemiya Haruki shook his head. “Only rumors that they appeared, but I never saw one.”
“How many?”
“From what I heard, about two.”
“How far apart did they show up?”
“Half a year? Seven or eight months? I’m not sure.”
Lin Qiye fell into thought.
Cao Yuan had become the first intruder roughly two years ago, then every six or seven months another had arrived… If every intruder was a member of the Nightfall squad… did that mean at least two years had passed since Wang Mian with the white hair scattered them?
But why such big gaps between each person’s arrival? Where had the others been during the missing time?
The more Lin Qiye pondered, the murkier it felt.
“Later, where did that first intruder you saw go?” he asked.
“No idea. I went into seclusion for a while, and after that I never saw him again.”
Lin Qiye sighed in frustration.
The trail of Cao Yuan ended here, but at least he now knew the rest of the team had reached this country—some even earlier than himself. Where were they now?
Unable to speak the language, forbidden to use their Forbidden Ruins, evading both Oracle Envoys and police—surviving here was anything but easy.
“You’re a native. Why side with an intruder? Shouldn’t you be enemies?” Lin Qiye voiced his doubt.
Amemiya Haruki met his gaze, calm and prolonged, then spoke slowly:
“To me, there is only one enemy.”
“Who?”
Haruki lifted a hand, pointed at the night sky overhead. Cold killing intent shimmered in his deep eyes as he uttered a single word:
“Authority.”
Lin Qiye’s brows rose slightly.
Haruki turned toward the neon-lit skyline. “What do you think of this country?”
“Lively, prosperous, interesting.”
“Only that?”
Lin Qiye hesitated. Images flashed through his mind: the serial number branded on Yuzuri Nana, the Pure Land floating above Tokyo, the crowds kneeling in the street to welcome an Oracle Envoy…
“Also… pitiful,” he said quietly.
Haruki’s knuckles whitened around Rainfall Collapse’s hilt; veins bulged. Sorrow surfaced in his eyes.
“That’s exactly what the intruder said back then.
To me, this place is a marionette in gorgeous clothes and a smiling mask. However fine it looks, it’s still a toy pulled by strings… or not even a toy.
Beneath divine authority, the people here are simply too base.
Yet from birth they’re fed the lie that Authority is supreme. They never sense anything wrong; they take their abjection for granted… that’s the true tragedy.”
He drew a long breath and closed his eyes in resignation.
“This country is terminally ill. Only blood and blades can carve away the foul tumor called ‘Authority.’”
Surprise flickered in Lin Qiye’s gaze.
He had assumed that after four generations of indoctrination everyone here had grown numb and lost the will to resist. Clearly he’d been too absolute.
Even in such soil, a handful awakened, broke free of rigid thought, and dared to question the clash between divine right and human right.
What mattered most was that they had the courage to act on what the world called treason, pressing forward despite the cost.
“I understand.” Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully. “You saved me because, in Authority’s eyes, we intruders are ‘evil,’ and you rebels are also ‘evil,’ so we’re on the same road.”
“Our ideals may differ, but our enemy is identical,” Haruki agreed. “Helping you makes trouble for the Pure Land—that’s all I want.”
Lin Qiye chuckled. “No wonder they list you as a ‘Fierce Ghost’ with a ten-million-yen bounty… By the way, what exactly is a ‘Fierce Ghost’?”
“Being an outsider, it’s natural you don’t know the rankings.” Haruki explained:
“All wanted criminals are graded by threat into four levels: Yaksha, Hunting Sparrow, Fierce Ghost, and Ultimate Evil.
Yaksha are ordinary felons—murder, arson, violent crimes—priority targets for local police.
Hunting Sparrow are worse: mass murder, dismemberment, terror attacks, burning key sites, cult propaganda, or heads of vicious gangs. Their appearance demands large-scale police action, still within the force’s ability.
Fierce Ghost are different. These criminals can shake social stability on a large scale or wield extreme danger—able to raze districts and break order. Holders of the Nine Magatsu Blades fit here. Only Oracle Envoys can capture them; normal police pose no threat.
Ultimate Evil are defined as capable of ‘massive casualties,’ ‘undermining society’s foundation,’ ‘challenging Authority,’ or ‘destroying the nation.’ Unforgivable. When one appears, every Oracle Envoy unites and the nation mobilizes.”
“Ultimate Evil…” Lin Qiye murmured, eyes narrowing. “How many Oracle Envoys are there?”
“Seven.” Haruki paused. “Each stands at the pinnacle of his path. In this country, barring a few Magatsu Blade masters, they are the strongest beneath the gods.”
Lin Qiye recalled the white-robed Oracle Envoy he’d met—clearly a peak Klein, yet in some ways surpassing any Klein he had seen.
Not even a Human Apex could have severed White Slash.
And once labeled Ultimate Evil, you faced all seven at once?
Terrifying. Below Human Apex, no one could survive that.
“One more thing,” Lin Qiye said. “Forbidden Ruins can’t be used here, so how did you control all that rain just now? A forbidden artifact?”
“Forbidden artifact?” Haruki seemed unfamiliar with the term. After a moment he pointed to the deep-blue long sword at his waist.
“Do you know the Nine Magatsu Blades?”