The shoji screens rattled with a violent clatter as Valena burst into the inner sanctum, her breath coming in ragged, desperate hitches. She didn't stop until she was mere inches from Princess Aurelia, clutching a weathered scroll that looked as if it had been dragged through the mud of a battlefield.
"Princess... I... news..." Valena gasped, doubling over, her lungs burning.
Aurelia didn't look up from her leather-bound tome. "You're loud, Valena. Speak."
Valena thrust the letter forward. The wax seal was cracked, bearing the jagged crest of the former King. "From your father's private office... It seems he penned this in the final hours, just before the madness consumed him."
The Princess's fingers brushed the parchment. As she read, the faint, regal smile she always wore died. The ink was frantic, the strokes of the brush thick with dried iron-dark spots. At the bottom of the page sat a grid—the Scoring of the Rite.
Commoner/Soldier: 1 Point
Academy Student: 10 Points
Kō-shi (Master): 100 Points
The Royal Blood: 1,000 Points
Target Goal for Freedom: 2,000 Points.
"This is insanity," Aurelia whispered. "To win this 'game,' one would have to kill thousands of soldiers... or both of my sisters. This is a formula for a massacre."
Valena's eyes gleamed with a predatory, sadistic hunger as she rolled up her silk sleeves. "But it is his Will, Princess. The Solaris Clan—those old dogs who still worship your father as a God of War—they won't care about the morality. If you refuse his last decree, they will see it as a betrayal of the bloodline. They'll dethrone you before the sun sets."
"I cannot risk the lives of the people for a madman's legacy!" Aurelia snapped.
Valena moved like a snake, stepping into Aurelia's path. Her voice dropped to a low, manipulative hiss. "Then make it anonymous. Send 'Invitations.' Dangle a reward so great they'll fight to the death just for a chance at it. We'll fool them into thinking it's a path to glory."
Aurelia slumped into a carved ebony chair. "This will make us monsters."
"It makes us survivors," Valena countered.
Aurelia suddenly grabbed Valena's wrist. With a sharp flick of a hidden needle, she drew a bead of blood from her own finger and pressed it into Valena's palm. The blood ignited into a golden, spectral flame. Web-like sigils—Binding Vows—seared themselves into Valena's skin.
"I grant you the Authority," Aurelia said, her eyes cold as ice. "You are the Game Master. But five Royals must participate. And Kai... Kai must be there. I need to know if he is a man... or a Curse."
At the Academy, the air was sharp. Kai moved in absolute silence, blindfolded, dodging a hail of kunai from Ma'am Neko. He didn't just move; he flowed. He was Seijaku—the Embodiment of Stillness.
The rest of the class—Itsuki, Kaida, Reina, Kurone, and Satsuki—arrived just as the session ended.
"Incredible," Kaida muttered. "He's been here the whole time?"
Ma'am Neko stood up, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She held out five jade amulets. "Today, we spar. These amulets are Kishō Boosters. They'll triple your physical output. Put them on."
The students felt an artificial rush of power—a placebo high. They didn't realize the truth: the amulets were "Gags." They did nothing. They were only meant to keep the students from realizing Kai was naturally ten times stronger than all of them combined.
"Begin!"
Renaria sprinted in, her face pale. "Ma'am Neko! Emergency council! The Princess has issued a decree of death!"
Neko's expression went stone-cold. "Class, continue. Do not stop until I return."
As soon as the teachers vanished, Reina drew her blade. "Sorry, Kai. But with this 'boost,' I'm finally on your level."
Kai stood in the center of the ring. He sheathed his Tachi, the click of the guard sounding like a death knell.
"Bring it," he said.
They charged. Kai went silent. He put his hands in his pockets.
He moved like a glitch in reality. As Kurone launched blood tendrils, Kai stepped through the gaps. With a casual flick of his Tachi's hilt, he tapped a pressure point on her neck. She collapsed instantly.
Itsuki lunged with a Kodachi. Kai touched the blade with two fingers, triggering a Kinetic Transfer. The vibration turned Itsuki's arm to jelly. A soft palm strike sent him flying thirty feet.
Kaida swung with a golden Kishō barrier. Kai redirected her own momentum back into her core. She coughed up blood, her legs buckling.
Satsuki attacked next with twin Juttes. Kai met her iron weapons with his bare forearms. Clang!
His arms... they're like tempered steel, Satsuki thought. Is this his prime?
Wrong. Kai was holding back 90%. He caught her throat in a blur and laid her down.
Finally, Reina stood alone. "What are you? This isn't a boost!"
Kai lunged. A palm strike hit Reina's solar plexus. The air pressure alone dislocated her shoulder. She hit the ground, vision fading.
Ma'am Neko re-entered, clutching the royal decree. She looked at her broken class.
"Ma'am..." Itsuki groaned. "Kai... the amulet... it made him a monster."
Ma'am Neko looked at them with pity. Dull. So sharp, yet so dull.
"There was no boost, you fools. That was just Kai."
She held up the scroll. "Listen up. You have all been drafted into the Chikei no Gi—The Rite of Blood. It is a tournament of death. If you don't want to die, you will spend every waking second training."
Once the room was empty, Kai looked at Neko. "Zira. Kaelin. Renaria."
Three shadows detached from the ceiling, kneeling in perfect unison.
"We serve in silence. We reign in shadow."
"Intel on every participant. Every royal, every mercenary," Kai ordered. "Renaria, find the loose thread in the palace. Someone whispered this into Aurelia's ear. Find them."
"Yes, My Lord!" They vanished like smoke.
Ma'am Neko watched him. "No flashy hero speech, Kai?"
"Flashiness is for the dead," Kai said. "I just want to see who's behind this. I want to see them bleed."