Only forty-two hours remained until the monolith's collapse.
The Tokyo Area was a shadow of its former self. Compared to its bustling prosperity just a year ago, the streets were now dilapidated, littered with the debris of a society on the brink. Chaos reigned. At that moment, a luxury car was speeding down a debris-strewn road, its frantic pace making it seem as if it were trying to outrun the impending doom itself. Yet, its destination was not an escape route, but the very heart of the chaos—the most prosperous central district of the Tokyo Area.
Inside the car, Kazumitsu Tendo gazed out the window at the turbulent scenery and the distant, deathly white monolith, his anxiety manifesting in the constant, nervous tugging at his tie.
What a troubled time…
At this most critical juncture, the Seitenshi had vanished without a trace! And just as he was about to enter the secure underground shelter, his placement secured by the controversial lottery, the Tendo Main Family had suddenly and imperatively summoned him back. So here he was, rushing towards the family compound with his secretary, Shiina Kazumi, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach. He didn't know what they wanted, but a strange, foreboding feeling clung to him.
....
The Tendo Main Family compound was located in the opulent First District. In stark contrast to the garish villas surrounding it, the Main Family's architectural style was deceptively low-key, almost resembling a rustic, sprawling cottage. But its sheer scale betrayed its true nature; the entrance hall alone was over a hundred square meters. The total land area was countless times larger than any of the neighboring estates.
Land in the Tokyo Area was already astronomically scarce, especially after the Gastrea's rampage had shrunk habitable territory. It was hard not to wonder what strings the Tendo Family had pulled to acquire such a vast, private estate.
Kazumitsu Tendo hastily pushed open the heavy main gate. The elderly butler seemed to have been waiting for him, standing stiffly in the entrance. He offered a slight, formal bow.
"Young Master Kazumitsu."
"Hmph. What is the meaning of this?" Kazumitsu demanded, his voice tight. "Why has the Main Family summoned me so abruptly? Does the Old Man have new instructions?"
The butler merely shook his head, offering no explanation. His expression was strange—a poorly concealed mix of fear and something akin to suppressed excitement.
Soon, Kazumitsu Tendo understood.
He was led to the main reception room, a vast, shrine-like space the size of forty tatami mats. When he slid the door open, he saw all his siblings gathered inside. "Hinata, Genkaku, Hiromi…" he muttered, his eyes scanning their familiar, arrogant faces.
And seated opposite them were two figures. One was a young man he had never seen before. The other was a painfully familiar girl with raven-black hair—
"Kisara…"
"Welcome back, Brother Kazumitsu." Her voice was calm, icy. "Or should I address you by your official title... Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism?"
Her glossy, straight black hair reflected the setting sun slanting through the window, forming a stark contrast against her porcelain skin. Tendo Kisara, dressed in her signature black sailor uniform and thigh-high stockings, knelt on the tatami in a picture-perfect, formal posture. Her head, which had been lowered, slowly lifted to reveal a strange, chilling smile. Lying beside her, within easy reach, was the Tendo Family's ancestral demon blade—the "Killing Sword, Snow Shadow."
"So, it's you who has returned…" Kazumitsu Tendo sneered, his initial surprise giving way to disdain. "What's the matter? Couldn't make a living on your own after leaving the Main Family a year ago? Now that the Tokyo Area faces disaster, you come crawling back? And what of Rentaro? Have you cast him aside already? Found yourself a new lover?"
...
The "new lover" naturally referred to the young man sitting casually cross-legged beside Kisara, his posture one of utter nonchalance. Upon hearing the remark, he merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze settling on Kazumitsu Tendo with the detached curiosity one might afford a corpse.
He was, of course, Yotsuba Mahiro.
No one else would accompany Kisara on this vengeful return to the lion's den. However, he was not the protagonist of this drama; he was merely an observer, and incidentally, the one responsible for ensuring the final boss stayed dead. This was Kisara's request, and he would honor it.
...
Hearing Kazumitsu's venomous words, Kisara didn't flare up in anger. Instead, her smile widened, becoming even brighter and more terrifying. "Brother, you are only correct about one thing—Mahiro-kun is indeed my fiancé. However," her voice hardened, "I did not come here today to beg the Tendo Family for help. I came for a far simpler purpose."
She paused, letting the silence stretch.
"I came to kill you all."
"What did you say?!" Kazumitsu Tendo's face darkened instantly. He knew very well why Tendo Kisara had left the family. He knew she had been honing her swordsmanship, fueled by a bitter hatred. But to summon him back at the world's end for such a childish, trivial grudge? It was the height of naivety!
The other family members present shared his sentiment. Though they remained silent, their mocking, condescending gazes said everything.
"Kill us? Kisara, you are still as naive as ever," a sharp, cutting voice spoke up. It was Kisara's elder sister, Tendo Hinata. "Need I remind you that it was a Gastrea that broke into the Main Family and killed your parents? Even if you wish to blindly seek revenge, what can you possibly accomplish with a body so broken it can't even keep its own kidneys functioning properly?"
Her words were meant to wound, and they voiced the collective thought of the Tendo clan present. Whether it was political power, the martial prowess honed through Tendo-ryu, or simple intellect, the Tendo Kisara before them seemed as insignificant and helpless as a child throwing a tantrum.
"Sister," Kisara turned her head slowly, her smile not faltering, "please refrain from spouting such foolishness. Otherwise, I might not be able to control my killing intent, and I could end up cutting down a shameless bitch like you right here on the spot, you know?"
"What did you say?!" Tendo Hinata shot to her feet, her face contorted with rage, ready to challenge Kisara then and there. But she was immediately restrained by another.
"That's enough." Tendo Hinata, the eldest brother, spoke with an air of finality, halting his sister's outburst. He then turned his gaze back to Kisara, his expression a mask of paternal disappointment. "It seems that in this short year… Kisara, you have indeed grown. But I must still impress upon you the truth about what happened back then…."
"Brother Hinata," Kisara interrupted, her voice sharp as a honed blade, "you've always been like this. So fond of wearing the hypocritical mask of the wise elder, playing the righteous peacemaker." She cut him off before he could weave his lies. "If you are about to claim you had no hand in my parents' murder, please spare me such foolishness. If I did not have concrete, irrefutable evidence in my possession, I would not be standing before you today."
With that, she retrieved a thick stack of documents from a black handbag at her side and tossed them onto the tatami mats with a dismissive flick of her wrist.
...
Kazumitsu Tendo, driven by a morbid curiosity, bent to pick them up. The moment his eyes scanned the first page, his face turned a sickly shade of pale, his expression twisting into one of pure horror.
The first document that caught his eye was a damning report detailing his own embezzlement of public funds allocated for the Monolith No. 32 construction project. The other papers were similar corruption dossiers implicating other members of the Tendo Family, their tentacles of graft and fraud covering virtually every aspect of the Tokyo Area's infrastructure.
However, compared to Kazumitsu's palpable panic, the other siblings remained eerily calm. They merely glanced at the incriminating evidence before dismissing it entirely. So what if they embezzled?
Their grandfather, Kikunojo Tendo, was the Seitenshi's chief aide!
The Tendo Family was the shadow government of the Tokyo Area. Moving money from the public coffers into their own pockets was simply a matter of administrative convenience. Did she truly believe she could topple them with a handful of papers?
The thought was laughably childish. One had to understand—the current Tokyo Area was their personal fiefdom, staffed with their people from top to bottom!
Kisara watched the reactions of her brothers and sisters, one by one. A cold, grim smile touched her lips. She picked up the demon blade, "Snow Shadow," beside her, her hands crossing over the hilt as she slowly rose to her feet, settling into a ready stance.
"Just as Mahiro-kun said," she stated, her voice low and deadly, "these documents alone would never move you. I never intended for them to. After all, this is merely the appetizer." Her killing intent, previously restrained, now flooded the room, a palpable pressure that made the air feel heavy. The familiar, vengeful spirit had fully emerged from its shell. "In the end… it's better if I handle this myself."
"Hmph."
Just then, Tendo Genkaku, who had been silently observing, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a single finger and let out a derisive snort. "Kisara, you are far too presumptuous! Do you have any idea who you are speaking to?!"
Kisara returned his cold gaze with a smile of her own. "Of course. I am speaking to you, my dear Brother Genkaku."
"It seems you have a genuine death wish," Genkaku retorted, a potent killing intent surfacing in his eyes behind the lenses.
The atmosphere in the spacious room instantly became as taut as a drawn bowstring.
"Now, now, Genkaku," Tendo Hinata interjected, his tone placating yet firm. "There's no need for that. It changes nothing. Our final guest is about to arrive. He will serve as the perfect… witness."
Upon hearing Hinata's words, the others looked at him with a mixture of surprise and dawning comprehension. Genkaku, Kazumitsu, and the others quickly grasped his meaning, and cold, predatory sneers immediately played upon their lips.
"Since Big Brother Hinata says so," one of them mused, a playful glint in his eye, "then it seems we are in for quite a spectacle."
This time, it was Kisara's turn for her face to darken. She, too, had figured out who they were referring to. At this juncture, the Tendo Family didn't have many allies they could call upon, but there was one whose arrival would be particularly… problematic for her.
That was—
"Miss Kisara!!!"
Swoosh!
The paper door was violently slid open. A familiar figure clad in black came into view. The moment Rentaro Satomi saw Kisara standing in a confrontational stance against her family, his heart leaped into his throat. He rushed into the room frantically.
Just a short while ago, Rentaro had received an urgent call from Tendo Hinata, informing him that Kisara had returned to the main family estate. The moment he heard the news, a cold dread had settled in his stomach; he knew, with utter certainty, that something terrible was about to happen. Abandoning the ragtag "auxiliary force" he had just been assigned to lead, he had jumped on his bicycle and pedaled furiously to the Tendo compound.
And this was the scene that greeted him.
His eyes swept the room and immediately landed on Yotsuba Mahiro, who was observing the proceedings with an air of detached amusement. "Why are you here?!" Rentaro demanded, his voice tight with suspicion and anger.
Mahiro merely shrugged, the picture of innocence. "Originally, I had some… business to discuss with that old man, Kikunojo Tendo. But since Kisara was also coming back, I decided to accompany her. Killed two birds with one stone, you could say."
"That's right, Satomi-kun," Kisara affirmed, her tone firm. "I asked Mahiro-kun to come. If you have any issues, address them to me directly. Do not trouble him."
The other Tendo siblings watched this exchange with thinly veiled amusement, their lips curling into smirks. They hadn't expected Kisara to be so protective of her new… companion. It was almost a pity her former fiancé wasn't here to see it; the drama would have been even more delicious.
"Why?!" Rentaro looked at her, his confusion giving way to agitation. "Miss Kisara, don't you understand?! The Tokyo Area is on the brink of destruction! Why would you return to the Tendo Family at a time like this?! Can't you distinguish between what's important and what's not?! Is your petty revenge more important than your own life?!"
..
Although he had been hospitalized, he was well aware of Kisara's recent activities. He knew she had been gathering evidence against the Tendo Family, and the knowledge had placed him in an agonizing dilemma.
After all, Kisara's parents were already dead.
He didn't want to see her consumed by a quest for vengeance, let alone see her raise a sword against her own flesh and blood. It was not only unreasonable, but it would surely cost Kisara her life! One had to remember that every single member of the Tendo Family present was a master who had received the Menkyo Kaiden in Tendo-ryu! Especially Sister Hinata; her Iaijutsu was rumored to be even more refined than Kisara's!
...
After Rentaro's impassioned outburst, the storm of emotions on Kisara's face gradually stilled, replaced by a chilling calm.
"What's important and what's not?" she repeated, her voice soft yet carrying the weight of finality. "You, of all people, Satomi-kun, should understand the very reason I have clung to life until now. While I am grateful for everything you have done for me… that gratitude is no license for you to trample upon my beliefs."
Her words struck Rentaro's heart like a thunderclap. But even so, he gritted his teeth, the metal joints in his jaw whirring faintly, and took a resolute step forward.
"But… Miss Kisara, your parents are gone! Why can't you look forward to a future, to a beautiful life?! Why must you chain yourself to the shadows of past revenge?!"
"…Satomi-kun," Kisara's eyelids lowered slightly, her shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly. "I never imagined I would hear such words from you. I once foolishly believed… you would always stand by my side." The last shreds of her past affection for him were incinerated in that moment, burned to ashes by the relentless flames of her hatred.
And with that, Rentaro moved decisively, planting himself firmly in Tendo Kisara's path.
...
A familiar, sharp pain lanced through his body. With a series of audible creaks and clicks, the artificial skin on his right arm and right leg cracked and peeled away, revealing the gleaming, menacing black chrome of his prosthetic limbs.
"Miss Kisara! If you insist on drawing your sword against the Tendo Family for revenge at this moment, then you'll have to get past me first!"
As he spoke, Rentaro activated his prosthetic eye. The cybernetic orb embedded in his left socket began to rotate, geometric patterns flickering to life within its dark depths. A sharp, acidic pain flashed through his sinuses as his entire body began to heat up, the internal systems of his mechanized body reaching their operational peak.
The flesh is weak; the machine endures. As a Varanium-alloy enhanced soldier, Rentaro Satomi had now unleashed his full, formidable potential!
....
Sure enough, Rentaro had ultimately positioned himself directly in Kisara's path, not as a protector, but as an enemy. Just as she had feared.
But this particular show had gone on long enough…
Yotsuba Mahiro slowly rose from the tatami mat with a quiet sigh. He gently placed a hand on Kisara's shoulder. "Well, I won't be participating in this farce any longer. I'll leave everything to you, Kisara."
"Mhm." Kisara nodded, her gaze never leaving Rentaro. Her eyes were now completely filled with a cold, resolute killing intent, all traces of hesitation burned away. She had long been mentally prepared for this, especially for the inevitability of Rentaro obstructing her path of vengeance. She just hadn't expected the confrontation to come so soon.
Is this your goal, Tendo Hinata? To use him as a shield?
...
"Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going?!" Rentaro shouted, his heart clenching with a terrible premonition as he saw Mahiro turn to leave. He didn't know the full extent of Yotsuba Mahiro's power firsthand, but the rumors were enough—the man who had slain Scorpio, who had single-handedly defeated a Rank 98 Initiator. If he were allowed to roam the estate freely now, his target could only be one person: Kikunojo Tendo himself! No, the Tokyo Area still needed the old man's political influence to survive this crisis; he couldn't be lost!
Weighing the dire pros and cons in a split second, Rentaro lunged forward, his chrome hand reaching for Mahiro's shoulder to stop him.
...
But then—
Clang—!
The demon blade, Snow Shadow, was suddenly unsheathed, its pristine edge intercepting Rentaro's path with a chilling ring of steel. Kisara's voice was as cold as the metal. "Since you, Satomi-kun, have chosen to stand in the way of my revenge, then by that same logic, I will not allow you to lay a finger on Mahiro-kun."
At this, Rentaro's face darkened completely. He met Kisara's gaze, and the killing intent he saw there finally extinguished the last flicker of his hope. There was no reaching her now.
"I understand, Miss Kisara," he said, his voice heavy with resignation and resolve. "Then, this time… I will stop you."
Rentaro lowered his center of gravity, his body settling into a classic, rock-solid stance—the Tendo-ryu Combat Art [Eternal and Infinite Stance], a form signifying the unity of offense and defense, representing the eternal and infinite existence of heaven and earth.
...
Simultaneously, while the other Tendo siblings were content to watch the drama unfold, they were not taking any chances. They drew their own prepared weapons. Hinata, as the eldest, even tossed a long spear to an unprepared Kazumitsu. They exchanged knowing glances. The plan was set. Next, whether Rentaro subdued Kisara or Kisara cut Rentaro down, the existence of a vengeful Tendo Kisara would no longer hold any value. She would be disposed of.
...
"Then, Satomi-kun… you shall now experience the hatred and despair I have accumulated over these past ten years!"
Kisara's eyes seemed to lose their light, becoming dark, bottomless pools as she smoothly returned Snow Shadow to its sheath, her hand resting lightly on the hilt.
"Tendo-ryu Battoujutsu, Third Form, Eighth Stance—"
She took a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to suck all the air from the room.
Rentaro heard only the crisp, terrifying sound of the blade whispering against the inside of the scabbard.
"—'Heroic Star upon the Cloud Ridge!'—Hurry, Snow Shadow!"
Swish—!
In that moment, Rentaro's enhanced perception was overwhelmed by a sensation that was supernaturally unreal. It felt as though his vision was being split into multiple, overlapping fragments, accompanied by a sound like a glacier shattering.
Countless, invisible cutting lines were etched horizontally and vertically across the space of the room itself. The very world seemed to distort, then—
BOOM!!!
A tremendous roar, the sound of splintering wood and collapsing structure, echoed throughout the entire Tendo Main Family residence.
Led by the elderly butler, Yotsuba Mahiro, who was calmly walking through the winding corridors of the estate, naturally heard the explosive commotion. He did not pause, nor did he look back.
Given Tendo Kisara's current power, amplified by the AGV serum, such a display was perfectly normal. Even if she had just annihilated that entire room of hypocrites in a single, decisive stroke, he wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest.