Digital Devil Story: Warrior of the Demon City

by Aya Nishitani

  The ring started to fall apart. Irritated that disrobing was taking so long, they all jockeyed to be first to be absorbed into this otherworldly creature's veil--young and old, man and woman. The girl tied to the cross had already become completely obscured by the mob. People climbed over one another, and Nimura thought he heard the dull sound of bones breaking. As all the people that had made up the ring appeared to transform into a massive mountain of bodies, lights ran through the membrane of the amoeba.

  A low, rumbling roar that sounded as if it sprung from the very depths of the earth sounded, severing the last bare thread of Nimura's sanity. All the strength flowed out of his legs, and he fell to the ground on his backside; not being able to stand even if he tried, Nimura let out an incomprehensible wail as he started desperately crawling along ground, trying with all his might to get away as soon as possible.

  CHAPTER 5

  Isma had realized that the bizarre life form that had torn itself out of Ohara's belly was a temporary body for Set, who had been planning to take form by possessing Loki's child.

  According to his theory, summoning a demon via a computer would require creating a magnetic field with which to summon the demon and the processing of the demon's data to be materialized, both of which would have to be done at virtually the same time. If the magnetic field was weak, the point of connection between the demon's world and the Assiah world would narrow, constraining the amount of data that could be processed. On the other hand, no matter how powerful the magnetic field was, unless the digital data could be processed quickly and concisely, the demon would never be able to take form. It was quite possible that even a supercomputer would not be able to handle the massive amount of data that would be needed to materialize a high-ranking demon.

  Despite that fact, the high-ranking demon Set was able to to take form in the Assiah world, even if it was only in a makeshift body. Something must have added a great deal of power in setting up the necessary magnetic field for a summoning; this in turn would ease the restraints on the data processing.

  Isma was convinced that something was Yumiko. Most likely, the high concentration of biological Magnetite within her body had been a major player in creating the magnetic field for the summoning. The divine constitution that she had inherited from Izanami was nothing but a giant retention of that highly concentrated Magnetite. While meager in comparison to that of Yumiko, ordinary humans also retained some biological Magnetite. If enough of it was collected, it might be able to create a permanent overlap of the Atziluth and Assiah worlds entirely.

  Therefore, having already formed a contract with Set, Isma borrowed his power to summon many people and attempt to create a tower of human flesh. And everything was proceeding just according to plan. Even know the heavens split with a terrible thundering, and Set's most powerful servant, the great serpent Typhon, reared its head into the air as if slithering from behind a black curtain, knocking over the Soga Forest's trees as it went.

  "Typhon, welcome. Breathe deeply and take in the air of the Assiah world."

  Isma looked kindly at the enormous snake. "Take a look, your first victim awaits in the shadow of that tree."

  As Isma pointed to the copse where Officer Nimura was, Typhon vanished beyond the trees. Meanwhile, Set had transformed into a gigantic, vile pillar of flesh, his sinister, red glowing eyes at its peak darting all around the area.

  Typhon's presence is proof that the demon world Set rules is starting to meld with the Assiah world. Now all that remains is to gather more biological Magnetite and solidify the connection...

  Isma's eyes shimmered even brighter with madness.

  CHAPTER 6

  As Officer Nimura tried to crawl away and escape, the foul air around him started whirling around in a circle.

  What's that! What's going on...

  Still crawling, Nimura put his hand on the pistol holstered on his waist. A strange gurgling sound was audible high above him in the air. Looking up, he was struck speechless and forgot to draw his gun. An enormous serpent, its black scales glittering in the moonlight, had its red maw wide open, the end of its long tongue at the tip of his nose.

  CHAPTER 7

  The soft sound of the geigi's nails plucking the strings of a shamisen drifted from the Crane Room in the Takabayashi Pavillion located in Akasaka. Seated on the tatami floor, several men faced each other: Hamano, Minister of Foreign Affairs and aide to the Liberal Party Chairman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita, and Chief Secretary Ota. The three men appeared to be smiling and chatting amicably, but the fact that their chopsticks had barely touched the food in front of them belied the tension that was heavy in the air.

  With a whiff, the sound of the Shamisen stopped.

  "Could you leave us alone?" Looking at Hamano straight on, Ota spoke to the geigi. The moment she left the room, he bowed down and spoke again in a dramatic voice.

  "Mr. Hamano, I have a request of you from one man to another. In this autumn's Chair Election, please support my candidacy. Of course, after two years I will turn the reins over to you. I will never ask anything of you again so long as I live; please grant my request."

  "Well, this is a shame. I had been informed that the party had been wanting me to be elected Prime Minister this autumn, but without your consent things could get messy." Hamano's reply was cold and hardly accommodating.

  "So basically what you're saying is that we'll settle this in the election?" Ota's face clouded with anger.

  "Come on, you two, let's not get carried away now..." Fujita interrupted the men.

  "Mr. Hamano, Mr. Ota, either of you are perfectly qualified to take power. Well, of course, it is true that my faction would hold a lot of sway as to who gets the chairmanship this autumn..." Trailing off his attempt at appeasing the men, Fujita removed his glasses and slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose. Full of impatience, Ota and Hamano's sharp glares turned to the forehead of the composed Chief Cabinet Secretary.

  Putting on his glasses, Fujita looked back and forth, comparing the two men.

  "However...the Prime Minister has been thinking that he would feel better if Hamano won this autumn, and then Ota take over the post afterwards. I think it would be better for the party if Ota were to concede for the time being."

  Ota's lips started trembling at Fujita's words. At this point, he had thought that Shimazaki had somehow managed to persuade these two heavy-hitter politicians.

  "Mr. Ota, don't feel bad. I'm not trying to force you, but the Prime Minister has indicated who he'd like to be his successor directly." As Hamano's mouth continued to spout excuses, he started to get up. His blood boiling with humilitation, Ota stared down at the other man's feet.

  Right at that moment, in his peripheral vision he saw a white shape dart across the room.

  "Ooh!"

  All of a sudden, Hamano cried out and bent over, his face turning purple.

  "Mr. Hamano, are you all right!?"

  As Fujita ran over to Hamano, Ota clearly saw a small white snake coil around the Chief Cabinet Secretary's leg. Taken aback, Ota turned around and saw that the sliding door to the room was open a crack; in its shadow he noticed Shimazaki's face grinning psychotically, and a chill ran down his spine.

  CHAPTER 8

  The next day, the reporters in the Politics section of the Tokyo Daily were abuzz with the news that Hamano Masahiro, Minister of Foreign affairs, had pulled out of the upcoming elections.

  "Now where the heck did I stick that file on Foreign Minister Hamano?" The young reporter Motoyama dug through a veritable mountain of manila folders piled up on his desk.

  "Now Ota is a shoo-in for chairman," murmured the veteran reporter Watanabe while shaving. The phone in front of him had been ringing, ignored, nonstop.

  From behind a desk, Imura chimed in. "That guy's just been on a roll since passing the National Secrets Protection Act."

  "Don't you think this whole thing is Fujita basicall
y giving his approval of Ota in light of his ability to get that thing passed?" responded Watanabe.

  "So you think that Hamano abandoned his bid once Ota got Fujita's support?"

  As the two grizzled veterans chatted amongst each other, Motoyama picked up the still-ringing phone next to them. With a skeptical look on his face, he listened to the voice on the other end of the line for a while before hanging up with a curt "You want the Society section for that."

  "What's up?" Watanabe asked the question as if he wasn't too interested one way or the other.

  "Oh, it's just more people talking about recent chains of mass unexplained disappearances in Musashino ward. It's probably just a load of crap, though."

  "Come to think of it, I've heard that Tanouchi over in Econ hasn't shown up for work lately--doesn't he live in Mitaka city?"

  Not thinking of the disappearances any further, the two reporters headed out to interview the politicians they were in charge of.

  PART 5:

  CONFLICTS

  CHAPTER 1

  The rays of the noontime sun scorched the interior of the Demon Banishment Project room.

  Narukawa, who had been away from the Project for several days after having been called back by Chief Secretary Fujita, looked positively haggard as he approached the table where Nakajima and Feed were arguing about something.

  "Oh! You're finally back, Narukawa!" Feed stood up from his seat and arms apart, welcomed Narukawa almost as if to embrace him.

  "While you've been away, we've nearly pinpointed where the demon has been summoned. If you had come any later, it would have been too late; Nakajima was about to rush headlong into the demon's lair by himself, and I wouldn't have been able to stop him...."

  As Feed spoke, Narukawa looked at Nakajima with a complicated expression on his face.

  "Could you tell me where that summoning point is?"

  In response to Narukawa's question, Feed silently pointed to the monitor next to him. On it was displayed a map of Tokyo, the middle of which had a red light which was blinking profusely.

  "It's an area about two kilometers in diameter that overlaps Mikata City and Musashino City. Right in the dead center of that area, there's a wooded area known as the Soga Forest."

  "I see...By the way, Professor, Nakajima, I would like you to listen closely to what I have to report." Handing a file to the two, Narukawa's voice sounded unusually impatient as he began to speak.

  "In the past week, nearly ten thousand people have vanished from Tokyo, and that's only the those we've received notice of. Most of them are residents of Mitaka City, Musashino City, and Nerima Ward, but since yesterday there have been noticeable disappearances in Koganei City and Suginami Ward as well. Nakajima, when you were exploring those areas, did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

  "I did notice that there weren't a lot of people out, but since I was going out with Kerberos I had to do so in the dead of night, and I always assumed that was the reason I wasn't seeing anyone..."

  "Still, ten thousand people..." Struck by the sheer size of the number, Feed looked over and exchanged glances with Nakajima.

  "There have even been areas where as many as 2000 people have completely vanished."

  "I'm surprised it hasn't been all over the news," said Nakajima.

  "We've been doing everything we possibly can to keep it that way." So saying, Narukawa pulled a black-and-white photograph out of his pocket.

  "Professor, you probably have heard about this. This is a photograph that was taken from America's Far East Spy Satellite."

  In the center of the photo was an area that seemed to be wreathed in clouds. Feed groaned as he looked at it.

  "This is almost the exact area that we've pinpointed..."

  "This photograph kind of looks double-exposed." Just as Nakajima indicated, the center of the area in question looked indeed as if there were two different landscapes superimposed over one another.

  "I can't explain why it came out like this, but this is indeed the point known as the Soga Forest. We've already sent out several operatives from the station to investigate the area...."

  "This is way out of their league," spat Feed as he adjusted the photo in the light.

  "Indeed, just as you say, not a single one of them has come back. It would seem that as soon as they get close to the Soga Forest their radios and sensors just cut out."

  "How does the government intend to proceed?"

  "Well..." Narukawa looked away.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Yesterday at the cabinet meeting they decided on a 'watch and wait' policy."

  "What!?" Feed's white hair seemed to stand on end as he approached Narukawa.

  "I'll go and persuade Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujita myself. No, strike that--I want to talk to the Prime Minister directly. I see that unless I explain in detail the danger of the demons, these stubborn politicians will never realize the gravity of the situation."

  "Unfortunately that is impossible." Narukawa placed his hand gently on Feed's shoulder.

  "That wasn't the only decision the cabinet made. They ordered the New AI Project--in other words, this Demon Banishment Project--to be dismantled as of today."

  For several moments, Feed stood silently, his mouth agape. He couldn't understand just what it was that Narukawa was saying. Or perhaps it would be better to say that he didn't want to understand. Soon, in response to the cynical smile that had formed on Nakajima's face, he admitted to himself just how bad the situation had gotten and started speaking furiously in a mishmash of English and Japanese blended together.

  "Why the hell did he break his promise!? Just why did those politicians think I came all the way to Japan in the first place!? As arrogant as it may sound for me to say it, I came to save this country from being overrun by demons! They don't give me the tools or manpower I need, and now they shut down the project at such a crucial juncture--what are they thinking!? Nakajima, come with me to America. I'm sure my country will let you use whatever tools we need."

  Smiling slightly at the enraged Feed, Nakajima looked around the tense and chaotic room.

  "Thank you, Professor. But I still have the responsibility to rescue Yumiko. I'm sure she was hurt far more than she should have been over what happened to my mother; at this point I'm the only one who can save her."

  "Wonderful. Do you Japanese ever operate out of any other motive besides duty?"

  "...Perhaps love is a type of duty." Perhaps even thinking his own comment to be a bit corny, Nakajima hid his face as he turned on his heels and put his hand on the doorknob.

  "I'll come with you." Narukawa's voice echoed behind Nakajima.

  "....?" For an instant, Nakajima looked back skeptically at Narukawa's determined face.

  "I'm still a member of this project," responded bluntly, without adding the And I still feel strangely connected to you somehow that he was thinking.

  "Geez, you two are so impatient." At some point, Feed had taken a handgun out of the drawer in his steel desk.

  "A Smith & Wesson there, eh?...If anyone had known you had that, the Project would have been dismantled immediately," said Narukawa in surprise.

  "Now that the Project is slated for termination anyway, there's no need to hold back. Besides, the ammunition in this gun is a little bit 'special.'" Sticking the magazine in his pocket, Feed smiled mischievously.

  The elevator expelled the three men into the underground parking garage. Nakajima and Feed started to walk towards their car when Narukawa's arm shot out to stop them. As it did, Nakajima started looking around warily as if he had sensed something as well.

  "What's the matter?" Midway through his sentence, Feed was suddenly shoved aside by Narukawa. That instant, a bullet whizzed over Feed's head and buried itself in the concrete wall behind him, leaving a hole.

  "Looks like it's the Special Forces from the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Offi
ce, but I can't believe they'd actually shoot..." The second shot sped by Narukawa's face.

  Narukawa dove behind the Crown parked next to him, pulling the other two men with him. His hand already gripped a Walther PP Super.

  "I am Narukawa from the Second Unit of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Did you know that when you shot at me?"

  In response to his question a burst of bullets shattered the windshield of the Crown.

  "I've got orders direct from the Chief. It's nothing personal."

  "I know that voice--Saga, it's you, isn't it? Hear me out!" Narukawa started to stand, but Nakajima pulled him down. An instant later, dozens of bullets flew over their heads.

  "We don't stand a chance against those full automatic Berettas. And there are at least five of them." Still, Narukawa didn't loosen his grip on the Walther.

  "We're just wasting time fighting here!"

  "There's no other way out!" Before Narukawa had fully voiced his irritated reply, Nakajima had entered a command on his handheld computer.

  "Kerberos, go get 'em. Try not to kill them though."

  The demonic beast that leapt from the liquid crystal display gave a great roar and bounded over the ground in the direction of the gunshots. Moments later, the underground parking lot was filled with cries of pain and splashes of blood.

  CHAPTER 2

  The sun had already halfway set. The white Corolla that Narukawa had procured was driving westward down Ouma Highway. Afraid that they might be trailed, he had picked this car because it stood out the least.

  "It doesn't look like they've set up any checkpoints to look for us." Trying to cheer up the dejected Narukawa, Feed spoke wtih an optimistic tone in his voice.

  "If the've sent the CIRO special forces after us, it means they want to take us down in secret. However..."