With the family jewels as hostages, the middle-aged man-or rather, the Pope of the Happiness and Peace of Mind Church-quickly chose to surrender.
From this point, it was also clear that the other party had no real ability to resist interrogation and was simply an ordinary person.
Through simple questioning, Asakura quickly learned the truth of the matter from him.
To put it simply, it was a trope similar to those popular doujinshi where a "middle-aged man wakes up to unexpectedly obtain a hypnosis app and begins a reckless second life."
However, reality is not the world of doujinshi after all. If one truly went too far and left behind many victims, the police would eventually follow the clues to their door.
That was why he established the Happiness and Peace of Mind Church, using religion to cover up the brainwashing abilities he had obtained...
"No, wait a second."
Asakura frowned and asked, "If it were a real hypnosis app, that would be one thing, but have you never once doubted this hypnosis ability that uses insects as a medium?"
"Is there a problem?" The other party instead showed a completely bewildered expression.
Asakura kicked him over, and with lightning speed, he stepped on the back of his head.
In that instant, countless semi-transparent nematodes crawled out from the middle-aged man's skin, acting like the tube feet under a starfish's arms. To a certain extent, they replaced the man's original motor functions, avoiding Asakura's heavy kick in a nearly bizarre manner.
"Eek!"
The girl with flaxen-colored long hair standing nearby let out a small cry of distress. It was unclear whether she was frightened by Asakura's ruthless style of attacking without a word, or simply by the man's currently eerie appearance.
"I feel... not so good..." A painful yet hollow groan came from the middle-aged man's mouth.
The skin all over his body seemed to be squirming. Even though Asakura's True Sight had not yet fully recovered and he didn't have X-ray vision, he could be one hundred percent certain that this man's body had actually been hollowed out by countless insects.
At this moment, his body was like a giant nematode nest. The internal organs and everything else had lost their original functions and were replaced by insects.
Probably even the other party's brain was already riddled with holes, and he just hadn't noticed because he was immersed in the fantasy dream the insects had woven for him.
He thought he was the master of the insects, able to manipulate them to realize his own filthy desires, and for this, he had let down all defenses and caution. The result was that he didn't realize he was actually the food for the insects; everything he did was merely to help these eerie insects find more flesh and blood to nest and multiply.
"I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news to tell you..." Asakura said to the middle-aged man.
"What... is it...?" The middle-aged man struggled to control his body, asking painfully.
"The good news is that I don't plan on burning your family jewels anymore..." Asakura said.
"The bad news is that your family jewels seems to have been gone from the very beginning."
The middle-aged man stopped speaking, only letting out a leaky, wheezing sound from his throat.
The insects emerging from all over his body made the man's physique look about twice as bloated as before. He lunged toward Asakura in a staggering, tottering run.
The result was just like the marble TV cabinet earlier; before he could touch Asakura, he slammed hard into an invisible wall.
Instantly, the middle-aged man was smashed into a bloody mess, splashing like a ripe tomato hitting the ground. Countless insects splattered out from his body, creating an unusually spectacular scene.
Asakura watched the scene unfold with indifference.
Though it was described as "a bloody mess..." upon closer inspection, the other party's body could hardly spray out much blood. Everything that should have been flowing in his blood vessels had been replaced by insects.
"Truly filthy fireworks."
He complained with a bit of disgust.
The girl nearby let out a scream of terror.
After those insects that splattered out from the middle-aged man's body lost their host, they surged toward the girl like a tide.
Having seen the miserable scene of the man being hollowed out by insects, the girl naturally knew how terrifying these creatures were. However, after taking a few steps back, she had already retreated to the edge of the wall. With no way out, she could only watch with a pale face as those insects swarmed toward her.
"Come to me." Asakura suddenly said to the girl.
The girl was stunned for a moment. She hesitated for a split second between the insects and Asakura, then immediately chose Asakura, who at least looked human.
She gritted her teeth and, like a fawn in the forest, leaped lightly toward Asakura.
She gritted her teeth and, like a fawn in the forest, leaped lightly toward Asakura.
She clearly looked very flustered, but that posture still gave off a graceful feeling, as if she were dancing a waltz.
Asakura reached out and caught the other party.
The next moment, fierce flames erupted from the girl's body.
"It... It's on fire?!" she cried out in alarm.
But soon, the girl discovered that the flames were not causing her any harm; there was even a warm and comfortable feeling. "This is unscientific... what on earth is being used as fuel?"
"Your integrity..." Asakura said. "After the burning is over, you will turn into a constitution where you'll do anything for just a hundred thousand yen."
"Hey, hey?! A hundred thousand yen is way too cheap, isn't it?"
"Just a joke."
Asakura glanced at her.
Although the girl's appearance was delicate and beautiful—not at all inferior even compared to Yukinoshita Yukino, and even superior in some aspects—she was just a trouble-magnet like Yukinoshita Yukino, so there was no need to pay her any attention.
Asakura stepped toward the doorway.
"Wait, wait for me!"
The girl hurriedly followed.
She noticed that those insects would instantly turn to ash with a pop the moment they touched the flames on her body.
At the same time, because there were too many insects now, the popping sounds were continuous, giving her a strange sense of satisfaction, similar to using an electric mosquito swatter in a place where mosquitoes gather by a lake.
"Save... save me..."
As they passed by the Pope of the Happiness and Peace of Mind Church, whose body had shriveled up and appeared to be nothing more than skin and bones, he painfully begged Asakura for help: "Money and power... my everything... I can give it all to you..."
"Regrettably, from the moment you surrendered to your desires and opened your heart and body to the insects..." the disgust on Asakura's face had vanished, replaced by a cold indifference, as he said, "you were already beyond saving."
After saying that, he pointed a finger. The door lock was melted, and the originally locked door was easily pushed open.
Two bodyguards at the door, whose bodies also showed signs of mutation, lunged toward Asakura, but in an instant, they began rolling on the floor in agony as their bodies caught fire.