“Wait… was that the Shadow Queen just now?!”
“... She was carrying Jun too. I wonder what’s going on?”
Ichiro and Tsutomu commented after just having witnessed someone fly out of the Royal Kage Castle and immediately disappear into the distance.
Beside them, the other students had just made it back from having distracted some of the guards to help Jun previously.
“Woahh, I’m so jelly of Junjun! She was being carried like a princess by the Shadow Queen herself!!” Emi pouted as she covered both of her puffed up pink cheeks.
“I’m really worried… Should they really have gone alone?”
“Should we… go after them?”
While Yasuto furrowed his brows in thought, Zenga surprisingly suggested to follow and help the two heading into the Shadow Valley.
“There is no need.” Mai said coldly while taking a step towards the raging crowd, still attempting to charge into the Kage Castle.
“What are you talking about Meimei?! What if-”
“They aren’t alone.”
“?!”
Mai quickly cut off Emi, surprising everyone.
“What?” Even Tsutomu and Ichiro were taken aback.
“We have our own tasks here, do we not?” The sharped-tongued girl turned around and looked at her friends, showing off the sharp needles between her fingers with a nasty smile. “Let’s go. These annoying imbeciles are in need of some harsh punishment.”
**👑**
Inside the Throne Room of the Royal Kage Castle.
“...”
“There they go.”
Having just witnessed the same thing as the people outside, Munisai glanced back to see Hachi walking up to him, his glaive no longer held upwards, but forward in front of him.
Even though Munisai hadn’t directly looked in that direction, Hachi knew he was thinking about Taiga and Jun after they left.
“But we have enough on our hands as it is.” The Commander of the Royal Guard said as more and more enemies rushed into the throne room, pushing against the guards, “How come so many are joining the revolution, even some of my guards?”
“You are right, this is too odd. Some of the faces I recognize wouldn’t do this, but…” Munisai trailed off as he narrowed his eyes at the revelation he was coming to, “some of them don’t seem to be in their right mind.”
Amongst the villagers and guards that were pushing forward, some had plain expressions, as if they were staring into the distance. It simply wasn’t the expression of someone fighting for a cause.
“Hmmm, so there is some kind of master manipulator at play here… Another Sign ability perhaps?”
“Very likely…”
“!”
Munisai drew his blade and moved his crutch forward towards Hideyoshi and his lackeys. They hadn’t just been standing in place watching, but their numbers seemed to have increased too.
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“I would like more than anything to be wrong about this… but am I right in assuming this is Kojiro’s doing?” Munisai furrowed his brow as he addressed the old cunning man.
“Hah! So, you finally realize it! I have fooled you all for the last twelve years!” Hideyoshi scoffed, puffing up his chest, “Although it was not only by my own efforts, I cornered the Great Powers of this clan!”
“...” Hachi simply waited. He knew that In moments like these, it is beneficial to let the guilty talk when they believe they have the upper hand.
“Through sickness and misfortune, we pushed the clan into forming a revolution of this size against the Shadow Queen! All while hiding my grandson’s true nature, to use it for my gain while you were all clueless!”
“Have you ever considered that it wasn’t so much that we were tricked, but that we chose to turn a blind eye?”
“Huh?! What drivel are you spouting, Munisai?!”
“What kind of friends would we be if we abandoned the son of our dear friend?”
Munisai clenched the handle of his sword. Having to go up against the family of his dear departed friend couldn’t sit right with him.
She had tried to help him during the invasion of the clan, to help his sister. If anything, he was indebted to her. He had genuinely wanted her son to become a member of the clan, to become an upstanding swordsman she could be proud of…
Sasaki… forgive me for this… I had hoped for a better future… He thought to himself with squinted eyes.
And yet, things had once again developed against his hopes.
“Lies, Munisai! Are you saying you knew he was a Hyking all along?!”
“No.” Munisai took another step forward, shadows twisting under each of his movements, “Knowing would’ve forced us to act, so we simply didn’t push the matter as much as we should have. But now…”
Among the chaos erupting around the throne room, guards fighting guards, villagers fighting villagers, a sudden silence took over the entire surroundings as everyone froze in place.
“?!”
“Now you have pushed the limits of our patience.” Munisai glared as shadows suddenly burst forth around him, “You wished to go up against the Great Powers of the clan, then allow this old handicapped Sword Saint to grant that request.”
Munisai paused, then looked directly into the old man’s eyes.
“In your daughter’s… in Sasaki’s stead, I shall put an end to your little revolution.”
“You!! How dare you still speak to me that way! You think this is all I have planned?! Behold…!”
As Hideyoshi gestured, some of the newly-joined lackeys behind him walked forward. They had been wearing outfits that seemed all too suspicious, and for good reason.
“!”
“You thought we only prepared a revolution, but we sought some outside help as well!”
“Hideyoshi!! What have you done bringing them in here?!” Hachi bellowed with furious eyes.
As more and more lackeys showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, they took off their coats to reveal themselves. Their numbers were increasing beyond just a simple few dozens, quickly reaching at least fifty.
Fifty enemies that radiated the stench of battle, if the wide grins on their faces didn’t make it obvious.
They were all clad in battle gear, each holding their own weapon. It was obvious they were ready for a war from the start and were simply hiding amongst the villagers.
Munisai and Hachi immediately recognized them as adventurers. However, what made their eyes widen in shock were the adventurers' crossed-out royal clans tattoos, and especially the golden flower mark.
It made it very clear that these outsiders belonged to an infamous new guild. A guild Munisai and Hachi had ignored the name of, pushing it deep into their guts.
The Golden Garden Guild.
The one led by…
“Yes, that look in your faces is priceless!” Hideyoshi opened his arms wide, “The Coin Masters send their regards!”
“!!”
To Munisai and Hachi, that name held a lot of weight. The memories of their past trauma came rushing in as soon as they heard it.
The memories of their last defeat, their past failure.
The memories of Terumi’s glowing smile.
The sight of her at the end…
Hideyoshi had hoped to take them off guard by that revelation, having already sent his lackeys to attack them while they froze in place, but what he didn’t account for…
SLASH!
WHOOSH!
“Grugh!!”
“W-what is that…?!” Hideoshi let out as blood splatter flew faster than the shadows.
He had just witnessed why the two in front of him were considered the strongest in the clan. It made him realize the blunder of his actions.
Mentioning the name of the ones they had forced themselves to forget about, to let go of their vengeance and not pursue their source of grief for the sake of the clan.
The raging fire within the Sword Saint and the Commander of the Royal Guard, the gnawing flames that had burned endlessly for the past fourteen years.
Now, finally, the two had the means to let out some of that pent up frustration.
And it took form in a dozen adventurers lying lifelessly around them. It had only taken one move of their blades each, not even giving the enemies a chance to use their Signs, their powers, in that split second.
And then the two of them raised their heads to glare at the man hiding behind the rest of the hesitating enemies.
Hideyoshi fell backwards on his behind, his teeth violently clattering against each other. He felt something hot run through his pants as he froze in place.
“G-get them !!”
With that, the rest of the enemies rushed at the two of them.
WHOOSSHH!
“?!”
However, just before the enemies could reach the two strongest, shadows suddenly erupted once more from beneath them and covered most of the surroundings around them.
Remnants of those shadows gathered together to form emblems in front of two’s foreheads.
While the Sword Saint’s looked black with a blue outline, the Commander’s was black with a purple outline.
The sight of them made the adventurers tremble for a second, before calling upon their own Signs and continuing their charge.
With their Pathbreak activated, Munisai and Hachi took their fighting stances side by side.
There was no need for them to hold back.
If the enemies decided to attack the clan, they should have known who they would have to go up against.
The Great Powers of the Kage Clan.
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Special Illustration:
image [https://i.imgur.com/kQbqBXW.jpeg]
image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]