Core

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Soon, members of the royal family arrived at the village. They found Zuriel's dead body, along with the captured individual. The team leader was princess Matsumoto's uncle, a middle-aged man with white sideburns.

With a single glance, the team leader recognized the captured individuals as people of the Shogun's camp. Then, he looked at Edward, and his eyes lit up slightly.

"You, what happened here?"

He did not receive an answer as Edward ignored him.

"I'm talking to–"

The team leader suddenly stopped as he saw a pair of callous eyes glaring at him, sending chills down to the very core of his soul. So, he closed his mouth and went to check on the princess.

Meanwhile, Edward remained calm; he could guess what this person wanted to do. Nothing but to use this excuse to take him into custody for "interrogation," but his real purpose will be to either control or brainwash him to serve the royal family.

After everything was settled, the students returned to the Academy, but this event had consequences not visible to most individuals.

Onmyou Protection Hall:

Shogun Arata walked to the top of the building with a stern and severe look. An aura of anger emanated from him, making all the employees avoid him.

Soon, he arrived at the shrine where the Divine Maiden resided. After arriving, he stood there without saying anything, and the room remained quiet for at least 10 minutes.

"I can't help you this time," the Divine Maiden said.

Veins appeared on his forehead as he said with a hoarse voice, "How about our pact?"

"This is your problem: you are greedy, act rash, do not trust others, and when things go awry, you expect me to clean up after you. Well, not this time."

Arata clenched his hands underneath his robe while fighting every urge to go on a rampage. He snorted coldly before walking out.

The Divine Maiden ignored him before taking two pictures in her hand: Edward and Miko.

'With these two, I may be able to find my brother's soul in the Spiritual World.'

She had a pondering look for a few minutes before taking a talisman and injecting her spirit energy. Then, a holographic image of a young boy playing manifested.

The Divine Maiden looked at the boy with love and doting. Then, she muttered: "I will save you, no matter what."

Now that she had discarded the Shogun, she needed new allies to achieve her goals. Hopefully, things will go better this time around.

While Arata was on his way downstairs, a paper talisman in the shape of a bird flew in his hands.

When it landed, the bird said something in a human voice: "The Emperor summons you."

He crushed the talisman before walking out of the Protection Hall. Arata then summoned an enormous red crow with three legs. He jumped on top of it before flying toward the royal palace.

After he got closed, he returned his Shikigami to the Spirit World before landing. Without stopping, he headed straight to the throne room, where the Emperor and the patriarch of the other royal family waited for him.

The current Emperor–a young man in his early 30s–looked at Arata and did not say anything else. He only raised his hand to motion for someone else to speak.

Then, a person holding a decree came forward and said to the Shogun: "As the decree by the Emperor and the Royal Council, a temporary position called [Three Heavenly Guardians] will be appointed in the Punishment Hall, serving directly under the Shogun."

Arata's face became ugly after hearing this; he understood these people were using the recent event to weaken his power. These Guardians are here to decentralize his military power as Shogun and share it with the other royal clans.

And these cunning foxes made the position temporarily so when it is their family who takes the position of Shogun, they can remove it as they please.

Based on this decree, Arata knew two things to be true: his reign as Shogun would be short and powerless, and his son or family will have no chance at the position after him.

For a moment, he thought of fighting back, but he quickly realized these people were waiting for him to act rashly. They can use this opportunity to band together and destroy the Seime Clan.

So, Arata took a deep breath to calm down; this battle was not entirely over. Most of the mages, Samurai, and Shinobis in the Protection Hall were loyal to him.

As long as he acts quickly, he can keep much of his power.

"As you order, your majesty," replied Arata before bowing, an act which made the Emperor frown slightly. After seeing how the Shogun behaved, he was somewhat disappointed but did show it or say anything else but simply dismissed him.

Meanwhile, Edward reassured his classmate at the Academy before returning to his dorm. He activated the sealing formation in the room before summoning his Grimoire.

Dream Magic: Dream Summoning.

"Where am I?" muttered Princess Matsumoto. The last thing she remembered was that she passed out after the battle with the Yokai, and someone brought her back to the palace, where the Royal Physician treated her injury.

Then, she felt sleepy out of nowhere before finding herself in this all-white space, standing on a massive bed that seemed to float in emptiness.

She looked around before seeing a handsome man with black hair and blue eyes that shone more brilliant than the purest of jade.

"A Westerner?" she asked while instantly becoming on guard.

"Call Emperor Yakou's soul; he's the one I want to talk to," said Edward.

"I don't know what you're talking to," replied the princess. "More importantly, who are you? Do you know the consequence of kidnapping a royal family member?"

Edward waved his hand to manifest a barrier that imprisoned her. He then controlled the barrier to slowly reduce in size, with the purpose of eventually crushing her.

He did not wait more than half a minute before an older man with a long white beard appeared. Emperor Yakou looked at him while caressing his long beard.

"Is this your true appearance? It seems the Reincarnation Spell injured your soul."

Yakou frowned after hearing this, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I want to know about what's behind the gate underneath the Academy. You should know as the former ruler and most powerful mage of this continent."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but even I do not know. That gate has been a secret kept by the Yamato Clan for countless millennia."

Edward looked at the princess, and the barrier increased its speed of getting smaller. In just a few seconds, she did not have much room to move and had to use her arms to try to prevent it from continuing to shrink.

"I know you are connecting to her soul. So, if something happens to her, you won't survive. So, stop wasting my time."

Yakou frowned as slightly but did not say anything. But when he saw the princess forced to crouch down to avoid being squeezed into tomato sauce, he said: "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"Everything," replied Edward before stopping the barrier.

Yakou took a moment to organize his thought before saying:

"I was not lying; the gate has been with the Yamato Clan for countless millennia, and the head of the clan had a token to open it. After inheriting the throne, I learned that the other tokens were scattered throughout the continent."

"So, you decided to conquer the continent to gather them?"

"Yes. Ever since I was young, I've heard tales from my father that the Gate contained an unimaginable secret–most likely regarding immortality. And I wanted it for myself."

"So, did you succeed?"

"Yes, and no. After conquering the continent and gathering the tokens from other nobles in the neighboring kingdoms and finally finding what was inside: it was what you westerners called Grimoires."

"I know this much. What I want to know is what is the purpose of the Grimoire? Why is it there?"

Yakou was momentarily surprised by this news, but he did not focus too much on it.

"The Grimoire is the core of the Spiritual World; the very reason it exists."