"My apologies for the spectacle." Kaede said, returning to the inner room and sitting with a hint of embarrassment. "Since giving birth to Momiji, my health has weakened, and my control over the clan has slipped."
"I never imagined we'd have so many traitors."
The Sacred Mountain's Tengu numbered around 30,000.
Kaede and Momiji commanded a force of nearly 6,000, the Crow Tengu Corps, the clan's true elite, wholly loyal to them.
Of the remaining Tengu, 20,000 were ordinary clansfolk, unaware of the high-level power struggles, families of the Crow Tengu Corps.
That left the hawk faction, numbering no more than 4,000.
Half of them were dove faction Tengu, aligned with Kaede and Momiji.
Their views were conservative, valuing bloodline and freedom but not resorting to betrayal like the hawk faction.
"Two thousand…" Damien mused. "I've heard they claim pure Tengu blood, noble lineage. Is that true?"
"Heh." Kaede scoffed. "Pure Tengu? Nonsense."
"For us majin, bloodline matters, but developing it is what counts."
Bloodline was crucial... without it, evolution was a pipe dream.
But for evolving majin, did the type of bloodline matter that much?
Take goblins, with their faint fire elemental bloodline.
Even diluted, they could theoretically evolve into a Elementals Lord of Fire, a true Demon Lord.
In theory.
In reality? Evolving a goblin to that level was absurd.
Even Damien, deliberately nurturing goblins, couldn't achieve such a feat.
From a few hundred magicules to a million?
A goblin like that would be one in a billion.
If a goblin did become a Elementals Lord, was it about bloodline?
No, it was the goblin's extraordinary talent and luck!
With such potential, any bloodline would carry them to the peak.
At that level, the bloodline didn't define them... they defined the bloodline.
Their existence proved goblins could be that powerful.
In short, having a bloodline was enough.
The hawk faction, blind to this, would never produce true powerhouses.
"They think the God of the Mountain's power comes from nowhere." Kaede said. "They don't know my mother burned her life force for me."
"And I spent 300 years refining Momiji's soul to its current state."
The subsequent naming drained Kaede's strength entirely.
Generations of elders sacrificed their lives to produce Momiji, a Special A-rank.
That was the grueling reality of majin climbing the ranks on their own.
Momiji hadn't worked hard for it.
But Kaede had poured her entire life into her.
What did the hawk faction think?
They believed Kaede's lineage, built on generations of sacrifice, belonged to them.
Taking without effort had its limits!
"Sigh…" Kaede said. "It's my fault for neglecting discipline."
"As the clan's external representatives, they dealt with the Elves and Western humans for years."
"Over time, they picked up bad habits."
"I see." Damien said, understanding.
He'd wondered how reclusive Tengu could produce such schemers.
They'd been corrupted by Western nobles' ideologies.
"That damned girl!"
"Just like her mother, ignoring us completely!"
Elsewhere, the hawk faction Tengu, sent home, gathered secretly.
Their meeting was only possible because Kaede allowed it.
With their betrayal exposed, they couldn't hide otherwise.
"They won't be smug for long." The hawk faction leader, an elder, said, pulling a magical device from his robes containing a secret message from the Harpy Queendom of Fulbrosia.
"This is…!"
"Exactly."
The elder grinned maliciously. "Just now, Queen Frey ordered us to open the village's barrier tomorrow night."
"The Harpy Queendom of Fulbrosia's 200,000-strong army will seize control of the Tengu in no time."
"Elder!"
The hawk faction Tengu erupted in excitement.
Through trade, they'd made contact with the Harpy Queendom of Fulbrosia multiple times.
They'd struck a deal.
If they opened the barrier from within, the Harpy Queendom of Fulbrosia would reward them handsomely once they controlled the Sacred Mountain.
The mountain's authority would be theirs.
They'd also join the Harpy Queendom of Fulbrosia, climbing Frey's ranks.
Protected by a Demon Lord and citizens of a great nation... what was better than ruling a backwater mountain?
As for Frey betraying them?
They didn't even consider it.
As Momiji thought, everyone believed Frey had no interest in the Kusha Mountains.
Her true goal was the Sorcerous Dynasty of Sarion's divine tree, not the Tengu's patch of land.
"Kaede and her brat will never stand against the Sky Queen!"
"Then, I'll become the new elder, inheriting the God of the Mountain's power!"
"And you all will be the Tengu's nobles."
The elder had long envied the Western noble system.
Unlike the Tengu's empty titles... elders, captains... with no real power.
"We'll follow you, Elder…"
"No, the God of the Mountain!"
The hawk faction's leaders pledged loyalty, affirming their stance.
***
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