# 654
Chapter 655: Yuzuri Kurotetsu's Scheme
The Yellow-Robed Oracle Envoy also seemed to sense something, his expression gradually turning gloomy.
Clang—!!
A crisp blade cry rang out from the rain curtain. A young man wearing a blue-gray floral pattern kimono appeared凭空 in mid-air. At his waist, a deep blue longsword was unsheathed, and in an instant, it swept through an arc, like a crescent moon slicing toward the Yellow-Robed Oracle Envoy's body.
The Yellow-Robed Oracle Envoy's reaction was extremely swift. He猛地 turned around, the yellow light emanating from his body instantly becoming blinding, transforming into two golden light wheels as scorching as the sun, circling his wrists as they collided with the blade that tore through the rain.
He dared to catch half of the 【Illusory Pupil】 with his bare hands, but he wouldn't dare catch this 【Rainfall Collapse】. After all, the destructive power of the former was nowhere near the same level as the latter.
The light wheels collided with the blade, and the raging wind scattered the rainwater suspended in the air around them. The Yellow-Robed Oracle Envoy stomped his right foot heavily on the ground, creating a massive deep crater, using the force to directly send Amemiya Haruki flying backward.
Amemiya Haruki's figure landed lightly on the puddle, rippling the water's surface. His gaze toward the Yellow-Robed Oracle Envoy grew grave.
"Number 2 Oracle Envoy, 'Heart's Calamity.'" he murmured to himself.
As a 【Formidable Ghost】-level wanted criminal, Amemiya Haruki had a profound understanding of the Oracle Envoys. Among all seven Oracle Envoys, Number 2's "Heart's Calamity" was the most troublesome. Though he had never faced the man directly in combat, he had heard about this Oracle Envoy from his master.
Back then, his master had clashed with this Oracle Envoy several times, and in the best scenario, they had only managed a draw... And his master had also wielded the 【Rainfall Collapse】 back then.
"Amemiya onii-chan..."
When Yuzuri Nana saw Amemiya Haruki appear from the rain curtain and execute that magnificent slash, her eyes were filled with shock and confusion.
She knew that Qiyue gege was very powerful, but she hadn't expected that "Little Jin" gege also had special abilities, nor that Amemiya Haruki was a hidden master... These days, were there no host clubs where you didn't need at least some combat power against Oracle Envoys to work there?!
Was the entire industry this impressive?!
Amemiya Haruki turned to glance at her. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no, I'm not."
Amemiya Haruki gave a slight nod, then turned his gaze to Little Jin. When he saw the golden bladeless sword in the latter's hand, he was stunned for a moment, then as if understanding something, complexity filled his eyes.
"So, you're the 【Illusory Pupil】's blade spirit."
Little Jin smiled helplessly. "The blade master told me to hide my identity in front of you all..."
"You're the blade spirit, which means Uncle Kyosuke is..."
"Mm."
Amemiya Haruki fell silent.
【Illusory Pupil】 was one of the two Magatsu Blades that Yuzuri Kurotetsu had possessed in the past. Since Little Jin was the blade spirit, Yuzuri Kurotetsu's identity was already abundantly clear... The manager of the Black Paulownia Club, Uncle Kyosuke.
Amemiya Haruki had met Yuzuri Kurotetsu before, but clearly, the latter had used the power of 【Illusory Pupil】 to hypnotize everyone who had seen him, erasing his true appearance and keeping everyone's impression of him停留在 "Kyosuke" at best. Even the existence of the Black Paulownia Club wasn't entirely real.
The question was: was Lin Qiye, Yuzuri Nana, and his own entry into the Black Paulownia Club a coincidence, or...
According to what Lin Qiye had said, he came to the Black Paulownia Club because in a remote alley in Dotonbori, he had met the kind-hearted Uncle Kyosuke who was about to deliver food to Yuzuri Nana. The man brought Lin Qiye back to the club, and after Lin Qiye finished bathing, Uncle Kyosuke was stunned by his beauty, offering him a high salary while painting an enticing picture, thus keeping Lin Qiye there. Yuzuri Nana stayed on as well.
If the letter received by Kogahara Tsukasa was really sent by Yuzuri Kurotetsu himself, then Yuzuri Nana wasn't actually part of his scheme, and he would never have dragged his own daughter into this dangerous whirlpool. After he used the power of 【Illusory Pupil】 to fake his death and escape from the Oracle Envoy, this game had been set in motion. Those involved in this scheme should have only been Yuzuri Kurotetsu, Kogahara Tsukasa, the Kurodorobu Group, and at most Amemiya Haruki himself.
But Kogahara Tsukasa, through the Takatsuki family's secret channels, had somehow found Yuzuri Nana's whereabouts, forcibly dragging her into the scheme, and even pulling in a Lin Qiye who appeared out of nowhere... His own daughter had been dragged into this whirlpool. Yuzuri Kurotetsu's instinctive reaction should have been to protect her.
With that in mind, Lin Qiye and Yuzuri Nana "happening" to enter the Black Paulownia Club made perfect sense.
Perhaps from the moment the two of them entered Osaka, Yuzuri Kurotetsu had been watching them from the shadows. Even after the mountain bridge was severed, he had followed Yuzuri Nana all the way to Dotonbori, then pretended to accidentally discover her and brought her into the club to stay.
To Yuzuri Kurotetsu, keeping his daughter by his side amid this chaos was the safest arrangement.
Now that Amemiya Haruki thought about it carefully, his own experience joining the club had been too smooth as well—getting the flyer from the ramen shop owner, going for the interview, being accepted without a hitch, and even receiving a generous salary...
If he believed that Yuzuri Kurotetsu hadn't manipulated things behind the scenes, he would be fooling himself.
But what was his purpose?
If the ultimate destination of this scheme was truly, as the prophecy foretold, the 【Pure Land】, then Yuzuri Kurotetsu's goal should be the same as Lin Qiye's—the fifth of the Nine Magatsu Blades, 【Black Rope】.
This blade had always been in the Kogahara family's possession, and Kogahara Tsukasa had been staying in Tokyo. Tokyo lay beneath the 【Pure Land】, so Yuzuri Kurotetsu didn't dare act rashly. Thus, he used a letter to lure Kogahara Tsukasa to Osaka, setting up a killing trap here.
【Illusory Pupil】 wasn't a combat blade. When he released his killing intent, Kogahara Tsukasa would definitely awaken from the hypnosis and activate 【Black Rope】. A battle between Magatsu Blades would certainly attract the attention of the Oracle Envoys, at which point Yuzuri Kurotetsu's faked death would be exposed. Therefore, he needed to use others as weapons.
Amemiya Haruki didn't know which "knives" Yuzuri Kurotetsu intended to use in this scheme—perhaps the Kurodorobu Group, perhaps himself... But in any case, his purpose should have already been achieved.
Through Amemiya Haruki's meticulous reasoning, the truth was gradually surfacing.
The question now was: where exactly was Yuzuri Kurotetsu?
"Where is he?" Amemiya Haruki asked Little Jin.
Little Jin, of course, knew who "he" referred to. "He's been trapped in the Mirror World by the Number 6 Oracle Envoy. They're still in the middle of a fierce battle."
"Number 6 Oracle Envoy?" Amemiya Haruki's brow furrowed. "Yuzuri Kurotetsu had a blade with him, didn't he?"
"No... He was just about to pick up 【Black Rope】 when the Number 6 Oracle Envoy sealed him inside. 【Black Rope】 also fell into the Oracle Envoy's hands. Now he only has my sword sheath." Little Jin said苦涩ly.
Amemiya Haruki was silent for a moment. "I understand. Go help him... Half of the 【Illusory Pupil】 cannot possibly defeat the Number 6 Oracle Envoy."
"Can you handle Number 2 alone?"
"Maybe not." Amemiya Haruki turned his head, looking at Yuzuri Nana who stood茫然 nearby. He slowly spoke, "But I think there should be another Magatsu Blade master here..."