Mutagen

The cruel decisiveness Keiji had shown sure was something.

Although the Mitsui Clan had invested in many things to reach its current standing in the Reclaimed City, an influence even more powerful than the government, Keiji decisively threw it all away when that good standing they built up held less value than the cooperation of the Demons.

At the current moment, the only thing that Keiji had in his mind was to bring his clan to greater heights, far greater than what the Ise Clan had. Something that their ancestors had ultimately failed to do.

In the lost era, their ancestors were disregarded. Forgotten from the myths passed on.

During the following eras, their clan failed to leave a mark on history.

In the midst of the Sengoku Period, the clan was nothing but a vassal that failed to protect its territory.

And in modern times, they finally came close. Becoming one of the richest conglomerates in Japan\'s history.

But the apocalypse came. Most of what the clan had was lost. And in the Reclaimed City, they were still left far from the actual rulers.

Keiji tapped his snow-covered shoulder. It removed the snow on his dark silver-colored armor made from prototype organic alloy was a bit hard to see in the harsh snowstorm if not for the black fittings it had. It was technology their clan had reached due to their money and power, and something they accomplished after [Mutagen] created new substances for humans to use in their research.

As Keiji raised the katana in his hand, his eyes showed disdain and resolution.

Right now, Keiji was not just the heir of the Mitsui Clan. He was the embodiment of its centuries-lasting ambition.

"Finally... I\'m tired of all this pretense."

Ishii, Keiji\'s handyman, said as he whisked off the blood from his customized bat after killing one of their former teammates with it.

Seeing Keiji\'s group throw away all the facade, Tsubasa and the members of the Temple frowned. This meant that the traitors would not stop trying to hide and openly fight those trying to protect the Reclaimed City.

"It\'s annoying needing to come out this early," Shin shook his shoulders. "Looks like you people inside messed up, and our movements leaked to them."

The Demons had their own plans. However, the unexpected resistance from the Temple caused a few discrepancies. They would have expected this kind of thing if not for the fact they already made the steps to reduce the resistance as much as possible. Especially the members of the Temple. They should be focused on the Alliance Meeting to protect their Priestesss instead of being here guarding the coastal areas.

Keiji was unable to argue with Shin\'s words. It would be impossible for the leak to come from the Demons. The only ones that could possibly cause the Temple to know about the invasion would be their own people.

"We need to eliminate these white-clothed people first," Keiji changed the topic. "The JSDF is running late, as expected. The only hindrance is these dogs of the Temple and their barrier."

"Deal with the Onmyojis," Shin spoke in an uninterested tone. "I\'ll deal with the barrier."

And with a wave of his fingers, Keiji sent his remaining men after the Onmyojis in the area.

Unfortunately for the Onmyojis, their hands were already full with the number of Demons. Adding the traitors into the mix, they were bound to be defeated.

As for Keiji, his eyes fell on Tsubasa. The two of them were both heirs of the two contesting clans. As such, it was natural for Keiji to fight her.

And while the traitors charged toward their chosen opponents, Shin and the two [Sirens] made their way to Kachidoki\'s docks.

However, before Keiji began his attack, he fired a flare into the sky, lighting up a ball of flames. The flare did not last long and got swept away by the blizzard\'s strong wind. But the only thing that mattered was that it was fired in the sky to be seen by many.

BOOM!

All of a sudden, a loud explosion occurred in the northern area, clearly past the territory of Kachidoki. It was from the docks of Tsukuda, the Territory of Blood Lion Troupe.

Keiji scoffed at that explosion. He did not come here unprepared. He had already sent some of the traitors to other parts docks after they sensed something was amiss far from the plan.

And as they received his signal, they should have started their attacks.

Keiji was not stupid to not prepare any fail safes.

That explosion pushed the pressure on the members of the Temple even stronger. Their communication talismans sounded. All of their forces in other territories were under attack by the traitors.

Throwing away the flares he fired, Keiji had nothing else to pay attention to but Tsubasa.

Keiji ran towards Tsubasa, who was in the middle of facing the powerful [Yuki-Onna]. He then took out two black blades from his back pocket, both laced with some sort of small talisman.

With a flick of his left arm, the two blades shot toward Tsubasa. But just a moment before he released the blades, the talisman strung on the blades ignited at their far corners.

On the other side, Tsubasa was already expecting the incoming attack. However, she was still in an awkward position since the [Yuki-Onna] also fired her own icicle attacks at her.

Tsubasa threw talismans in two directions, creating barriers for both incoming attacks. Not all members of the Temple could do such since activating and maintaining two or more barriers in different directions was far more taxing than activating a few layers facing one direction. It showed how much stronger and more talented Tsubasa was compared to most of its other members.

The barriers blocked the icicles and the blades. The icicles shattered, but as the blades lost momentum and began falling, Tsubasa noticed the talismans on the blades that had already burned to the last bit.

BOOOM!

An explosion occurred, engulfing Tsubasa in the process. And amidst the smoke of the explosions, Tsubasa\'s silhouette dashed off, retreating with charred spots all over her white clothing. Tsubasa let out some coughs, clearing her throat of the smoke she inhaled from the surprise attack.

However, the moment Tsubasa was distracted by the explosion, Keiji had already closed unto her. And behind Keiji, the [Yuki-Onna] fired another barrage of icicles.

Keiji clicked his tongue. He and the [Yuki-Onna] were clearly not in cooperation. If Keiji was not competent enough, these very same icicles aimed at Tsubasa could also impale him.

But Keiji\'s thoughts were just momentary as he maneuvered around while running, making the icicles fly past him. Now, he had another distraction to rely on in order to connect an attack on the tricky Tsubasa.

Tsubasa immediately created a barrier in front of her. However, due to the explosion and her coughing, her barrier was kind of unstable.

CRASH!

The icicles shattered the barrier, forcing Tsubasa to jump away. But that gave an opening for Keiji to attack.

Keiji\'s sword was swung, aiming at the left side of Tsubasa\'s waist. Instead of aiming for Tsubasa\'s neck, which was further away due to her jump, he aimed for her waist. It was a calculated sure-hit attack.

However, focused on Tsubasa and dodging the uncooperative [Yuki-Onna\'s] attacks, Keiji failed to notice something coming, moving through the river of Demons in a few blurry jumps.

CLANG!

A cloaked figure appeared between Tsubasa and Keiji, blocking Keiji\'s katana.

Taken by surprise, Keiji was unable to resist as the figure pushed him away with a slash of the figure\'s own katana.

Keiji jumped back and stabilized himself after a few steps back. He stared at the enemy that suddenly appeared. However, he did not utter such a cliche dialogue asking who the intruder was. After all, who it was did not matter. If it was an enemy, it should die.

"Look at her go..."

Mark commented as the blurry figure dashed through the frozen river and the army of Demons to come to Tsubasa\'s aid. He clearly knew who the cloaked figure was. Still, it seemed that the person came dashed out without waiting for the signal.

"Haah... Nevermind."

Mark shrugged as he pointed his finger out to the river filled with the advancing Demons.

RUMBLE! CRASH!

Black lighting tore through the sky and into the center of the army Demons, turning a whole lot of them into ashes and corpses. It sure shocked all the witnesses, making them wary of a powerful opponent.

However, as the thunder accompanying the lighting was heard throughout the Reclaimed City, cloaked figures jumped out of hiding around Kachidoki\'s riverside and joined the fight against the Demons.

Wearing the same cloak as the one that blocked Keiji, all these people sure were from the same group. And much more, they all jumped through the barrier without interference, indicating that none of them were Demons.

Yet...

BOOOM!

The moment the cloaked figures joined the fray, the line of Demons in front was immediately pushed back. The cloaked figures showed inhuman abilities with varying strength, speed, and defense.

"Let\'s go," Mark turned to the members of his group. "We should already have enough... And Shin\'s already here. The only thing left is to drag the ringleader out."

Mark put Miracle down from his lap, and the group left the rooftop. It was now time to join the fray.

Back at the river, Keiji\'s team was also taken aback by the sudden intervention. And much worse was the fact that the cloaked figures almost immediately overpowered them.

"Sh*t!"

Ishi cursed out loud as the cloaked figure that came after him straight up blew him away with a single punch. Ishi was not fatally injured. He did not get any broken bones, either. However, even though he managed to block the punch from the attacker with his modified bat, he was still blown away. His pride was the one damaged here.

Tsubasa landed safely. She just got saved by the cloaked figure standing in front of her. Thankful, she faced the [Yuki-Onna].

"I\'ll leave that bastard to you."

Tsubasa said as she ran towards the [Yuki-Onna], sending another barrage of elemental attacks at her.

Keiji frowned. From how Tsubasa spoke, she was clearly acquainted with this cloaked figure. However, he never heard of such a person.

In any case, Keiji needed to get rid of this new enemy before he could get to Tsubasa.

There, Keiji and the cloaked figure began fighting. Their katanas clashed with flashes of their blades. Sparks occurred as the cloaked figure\'s blade would clash with Keiji\'s armor from time to time. On the other hand, nicks and tears would appear on the cloaked figure\'s cloak as Keiji slipped in a few attacks.

Was the two equal in strength? No. Keiji was actually slowly stepping back as the two of them exchanged attacks. Although subtle, Keiji was losing.

CLANG!

Keiji suddenly stepped back and...

BOOM!

He threw three bomb-like balls into the frozen river.

In an instant, the surroundings of Keiji and the cloaked figure were covered in smoke. However, Keiji had his eyes opened wide. The smoke was of no effect as his eyes let out a yellowish glow.

It was a technique from the Mitsui Clan Arts which allowed them to see through a specially concocted smoke bomb. The smoke bomb was not for escaping but to deprive the opponent of their sight.

Unfortunately, using a smoke bomb in this scenario was not optimal. The blizzard was still blowing strong, and the wind would sweep the smoke soon enough.

But that short moment was enough. Being deprived of one\'s sight in a high-speed battle was a fatal thing.

Keiji ran around and slashed his katana, aiming for his opponent\'s back of the neck. But to Keiji\'s surprise, the cloaked figure nudged its head forward, only letting Keiji hit the neckline of the cloak.

Following the unexpected dodge, the cloaked figure turned around, and Keiji\'s eyes grew wide as he saw his opponent\'s eyes. That pair of eyes glowed yellow, just like his.

The cloaked figure slashed their katana, prompting Keiji to jump back and dodge.

WOOOOSH!

The wind blew away the smoke, revealing Keiji and his opponent. And here, the hood of the cloak was cut off by Keiji\'s attack, revealing who his opponent was.

"How..."

That was the only word that came out of Keiji\'s mouth as he gazed upon the figure of his supposedly dead sister.