The Kyoto incident had finally come to a perfect close. In this battle, the Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction had suffered devastating losses—not only were countless ordinary members wiped out, but even their leader, Cao Cao, had perished in this ancient city.
And it wasn't just Cao Cao—several of the faction's core members were also dealt heavy blows. On Vali's side, it seemed he had taken the chance to wipe out the rest of the Hero Faction in one sweep.
For some reason, Yoru felt like Vali had used him as a tool. Although it was an unpleasant thought, he didn't really mind—after all, even without Vali's involvement, he would have clashed with them sooner or later.
Before long, the final day of the school trip arrived.
Dragging their somewhat exhausted bodies to the station, they had been rushing through the remaining sightseeing spots like it was a market festival, thanks to the time lost dealing with the Khaos Brigade.
"Ahhh! This is all Xenovia's fault! My Tokyo Tower! I never got to see Tokyo Tower!" Irina cried with a wretched face. In truth, she had just been having too much fun and completely forgot about visiting it.
"This is your own fault. Who was it that insisted on riding the roller coaster and spent ages in line?" Xenovia shrugged innocently.
"Ughhh… my Tokyo Tower…"
The group arrived at Kyoto Station's shinkansen platform. Kuzuha and Yasaka had come to see them off.
"Mr. Yoru…" Yasaka, holding Kuzuha's hand, smiled and called out to him.
Before them stood a gentle, golden-haired beauty—aside from her ample chest, one would never guess that this elegant, graceful young woman was the mother of the little fox.
"Miss Yasaka, is something the matter?" Yoru turned in response, his eyes naturally sweeping over the blushing little fox hiding behind her mother.
"Kuzuha, if there's something you want to say, hurry and say it," Yasaka prompted.
"Big brother Yoru… will you… will you come to Kyoto again?" the little fox asked shyly.
"Ah, hard to say. If nothing special comes up, I might not have much reason to wander around."
Of course, he knew exactly what the little girl was hoping for—so he said it deliberately, smiling at her reaction. Sure enough, the fox's expression turned into pure disappointment.
"But soon, Kuoh Academy will be holding its school festival. Want to come?"
Kneeling down, Yoru took her hand and asked.
"Eh!" Kuzuha looked to her mother, and seeing her encouraging smile, she happily dove into Yoru's arms.
"Thank you all so much for your help this time, Mr. Yoru. I'll entrust little Kuzuha to you for now. Perhaps I'll drop by the school festival myself," Yasaka said as the train was about to depart.
"Ufufu~ You all go on ahead. Yasaka and I will enjoy Kyoto together~!" Serafall said excitedly. As a diplomat, she would remain in Kyoto to continue negotiations with the youkai. But the way she said it made it sound like she and Yasaka were hiding some sort of secret.
After bidding farewell, the group boarded the shinkansen.
With a whoosh, the doors closed. Yasaka watched the train depart with a graceful smile, while beside her, Serafall hopped and waved like a child—the contrast was striking.
Still, everyone was already used to the slightly scatterbrained Demon Lord.
And so, the four-day, three-night Kyoto trip came to an end.
"This is the world outside Kyoto? So interesting! Ah—brother, stop moving your hand."
On the way back, the little fox was bursting with excitement—having never once left Kyoto since she was born, she now sat on Yoru's lap, leaning toward the window to watch the scenery.
While cheerfully pointing out things outside, she swatted Yoru's "mischievous" hand away in mock annoyance.
"I wasn't moving it. I'm just letting it rest there."
Yawning lazily, Yoru hugged the little fox to use as a warm, fluffy pillow.
On the other side, Asia and Xenovia were already dozing off. After rushing around to visit so many places in their remaining time, it was only natural for them to look worn out. Even Yoru, basking in the warm sunlight, felt tempted to drift off—
"Hey hey, what's that? And that?"
The little fox's excited questions kept him awake.
"That's just a normal radio tower," he replied.
"Really? I've never seen one in Kyoto."
"That's because you've always stayed up at the shrine and never came down."
"Mm… Mother's very strict. The only time I could sneak out was at night."
The little fox made a helpless face, which made Yoru chuckle.
"I heard about that. Don't sneak out anymore—your mother will worry."
"Mm, I promised Mama I'll behave from now on. But I'm really happy I got to go out this time. It's all thanks to you, big brother Yoru."
"This isn't just my doing. Everyone had to work together to fight the Khaos Brigade. And Kyoto's youkai should also step out into the world—you can't keep shutting yourselves away forever."
At his words, Kuzuha nodded firmly. The greatest achievement of this Kyoto trip was likely convincing Kyoto's youkai to join the Three Factions' alliance.
Originally, neither Azazel, Gabriel, nor Serafall had much confidence in the negotiations. Even with Yasaka as the leader, there were many stubborn elders among Kyoto's youkai who resisted any alliance.
But the Khaos Brigade's powerful assault had shaken them awake, making them realize both their foolishness and their enemy's might.
They saw for themselves the true danger the Khaos Brigade posed to the entire world—and, more importantly, they saw Yoru's overwhelming power.
In the end, this world still respected strength above all. With enough power, respect naturally followed. Without it, talk of unity was nothing more than empty words.
With Kyoto's youkai now part of the alliance, it was time to deal with the unruly Infinite Dragon God.
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