"New Family Head?"
Guren's first uncle, Hiei, squinted his eyes. However, a second later, he went wide-eyed after realizing something.
"H-How could this be? I already eradicated everyone with that bloodline... How?!"
A slip of the tongue from panic. Before he realized what he muttered, it was already too late.
"Eradicated?"
The other family head, a man with a topknot who was sitting beside Hiei, raised his eyebrows.
"Hiei, explain yourself!"
The priestess from before shouted in disgruntled anger. It seems like she, too, was a branch family head. The other branch family heads stayed silent, but their sharp gazes were piercing right through Hiei.
"Guh!"
Hiei, who noticed that he was suddenly in a pinch, gritted his teeth in mortification. His gaze kept wandering around, looking at Guren, then at me.
"Dead men tell no tales!"
He suddenly charged towards me, and another sword made of energy appeared in his hands. He was fast. Fast enough that no other heads were able to stop his actions in time.
The energy sword landed at my neck; however, it quickly dispersed like a mist.
"Wha-?!"
As he was reeling in shock, I sent a knee to his stomach, lifting him a few inches from the ground. Then, with a heavy step using my lifted knee, I rammed my shoulders right against his chest.
"Tetsuzanko!"
I shouted out of reflex. The effect of [Oath of Truthfulness] still remained, making my mouth quite loose. A loud cracking sound echoed as he was sent flying. Smashing a few walls as he flew away.
I sighed, as I could no longer see Hiei. Using energy methods against someone who could literally see energy 24/7 was like trying to hit a tank with a slingshot. It wouldn't work.
I didn't even need to guard, as I just placed a lump of energy along the sword's path. The energy sword, after passing through the lump of energy, dispersed due to the difference in density. Like a drop of ink in water.
"He's still alive, for sure..."
I muttered as he still didn't return after a while. The other branch heads were just staring wide-eyed at me. "A third-level brat sent a fifth-level master in one shoulder strike." If anyone told me something like this, then I wouldn't believe it either.
While ignoring the other heads, I scanned the direction in which I sent Hiei flying. But there's no sign of him.
"He escaped?"
That's the only logical result. I mean, returning here would just end up with him getting ganged upon by the rest of the branch heads.
"Will, you... really became powerful in a short while."
Guren was staring in awe. I felt a little ticklish, being praised honestly like that.
"Anyway, don't worry about first uncle for now. The other shadows are on his tail already; he can't escape."
A strange glint appeared in Guren's eyes. It seems like there's a deeper grudge between the two of them. But I'd rather not touch on that topic. I have too many problems to handle already; I don't have time to dabble in other people's matters.
Guren then cleared his throat and smiled as he addressed the rest of the branch heads.
"Anyways, there you have it. This man here, Will, is someone who possesses the true bloodline of the Seimei. You all should have already confirmed this, right?"
One after another, the branch heads nodded along. Some of them had bitter faces, while others were beaming with joy. It was quite easy to identify which one was an ally and which was not.
"Alright. So there are no objections to having Will as the new family head, right? Then, Priestess Harumi, please do the ceremony."
Guren was definitely rushing it. The other heads, who noticed what Guren was doing, let out a wry smile. Still, they too think that having someone with the true bloodline is better than Guren, who only holds the position because he is the only son of his father.
The priestess, wearing the same white and red shrine maiden attire, came before me and placed her right hand right above my head.
"Then, I'll start. You may feel a bit uncomfortable, but please don't move too much."
After her warning, she closed her eyes and began. The energy inside her body stirred, moving in a complex manner before finally reaching the hand she extended to my head.
A flash of light fell. Silence soon followed.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a black space. I can try to look around, but I can't move from where I am, seemingly stuck in place.
Ahead of me, blending in with the darkness, a round table could be seen. Around it, five sets of chairs were arranged in equal spacing.
"Hmm? You, how did you get here?"
A voice echoed, but no figure could be seen. It seems to be a part of my imagination, as I could hear the low growl of a tiger along with his voice.
"It's too early for him to reach here... He's like in the third stage right now, right?"
Another voice echoed. Although this and the first one sounded similar, the image I could get from his voice was different. It was like a tough and insurmountable mountain, spanning all the way into the horizon.
"It's probably Harumi's doing. That girl, she's growing stronger after every cycle, I tell you."
A third voice echoed. This time, I could feel nothing from it. It's like a plain voice and nothing else... No, that's not it. His voice contained not an image but a concept. It's the concept of balance, or yin and yang.
A tiger, a mountain(?), and yin-yang—I could more or less guess that these voices had something to do with my bloodline. However, I can't seem to raise my voice.
"Sorry, but as you can see, it's still too early for you to be here."
The yin-yang one said it with a sad tone. Then, an instant later, as if all the darkness was being sucked into a singularity, I blacked out. When I opened my eyes again, I was back where I was before, still standing in front of the priestess.
I looked around and noticed nothing much had changed from before I went to the black space. Did time stop during that moment? As I was spacing out, a loud noise echoed from outside.
A seemingly random guard, wearing white robes covered in blood, rushed towards the wide open door.
"T-The Luo are attacking!"
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