Chapter 26.1 Slaughterhouse (POV Junko Hoshino) 

POV Junko Hoshino

Having a nasty old woman's ear torn off wasn't even the minimum Junko wanted to face, but at least it was something in her situation.

The unconscious son brought into the hall was a blow to the woman, but when he came to his senses and looked at everything around him with incomprehension — that almost broke the woman. She was an educated woman, and the loss of memory was easily recognized. Amnesia comes in many forms, but knowing Miyazaki's rotten blood, it's easy to assume the lousiest of outcomes.

The only happy thing is the meaningful look, because the look of a stupid vegetable is an unequivocal verdict. Busy with her thoughts, the woman did not immediately notice the head of the rotten clan going into the next room and returning with a katana in his hands. No member of the Hoshino Clan could fail to recognize this blade.

"Cutting the Edge of Eternal Balance" was the name of this divine blade, forged by an entire community of Ippon-dattara — one-legged blacksmiths, foothill spirits of the land, geniuses of blacksmithing, artifacts, jewelry, and weaponry. How the blade was forged and what it was tempered with is a mystery, it is only known that spirit steel was used, but even that is a small clue to the key, for there are nuances.

This sword was given to the Hoshino Clan as a gift from the Community of Masters at the signing of the Eternal Peace between the Clan and the Community. For centuries, this blade, always in the hands of the clan's best warrior, has brought justice and balance to this world.

And now, seeing the relic in the hands of the two-legged form, the woman heard her own growl. Her entire being despised and hated the vile clan of thieves, but just by the act of desecration, by touching the symbol of truth and balance, they had walked over the graves of Hoshino's great ancestors.

The vile, dishonorable, low creature dare not touch the embodied ideal of Yin-Yang! Roaring again, the woman tried to pounce on the desecrator, to sink her fangs into the sacrilegious man's throat, to stain the walls with his blood! But she wasn't even given a chance, and Junko Hoshino could only growl and wriggle in the hands of the strong mages.

— Ho-oh-oh! — the old man smiled contentedly, smoothing his moustache. — What a reaction! — The rest of the elders smiled contentedly, watching the performance and enjoying themselves. — This was the place to start, right? But who knew?! Did you hear me, asshole?! I did it myself, personally! I disemboweled the former owner of this katana with these hands! It's mine now! By right of power! And honor! — The old man proudly squared his bony shoulders and tried to push forward what might have been a strong man's chest.

— What do you know about honor, scavenger?! — The woman managed to squeeze out her thoughts with a snarl. — I saw that fight! More than three dozen of your mages fell before they could inflict a single wound on Master Hoshino Hiro-dono! On the fifth dozen corpses, your nephew managed to bind Hiro-dono briefly with the help of spirits, but it cost him life and death! — The woman glowered, satisfied with the anger of the old men. — And then you scum showed up and managed to get the chained, bound master with a poisoned spear. I don't care what you did with Hiro-dono's body later — his spirit had already left his abode. You, cowardly scavenger, have no honor, and your rotten clan's victory cost you twelve vassal clans while you were hiding here! Cowards and scum! — The woman shouted the last one especially loud, which made the old men's faces even more twisted.

Immediately, an avalanche of blows fell upon her. She was hurt, insulted, but she clearly noticed that the most dangerous blows did not reach their target, delayed by the artifact. In addition, the recovery from the poisons showed immediately, and it became a little easier to bear the blows.

But as we know, a straw can break a camel's back, so this "little bit" was invaluable. But he didn't want to wait until the guards were out of breath, so he decided to do what he had planned from the beginning — the successive dissection of the limbs. When Junko saw the old man's grin, she realized that she had no chance.

"The Equilibrium Fringe Cutter is a unique katana for which there are no obstacles in the form of magic or spiritual defenses, and it cuts through human steel like paper."

The woman knew that her son's artifact would not save her from injury, and she prepared to accept her fate with honor. The old man raised the katana with both hands for a powerful slash, his satisfied face, his feverishly glittering eyes, leaving no doubt as to the outcome.

Here the blade froze in the upper position, trembled, began to lower, but then there was a deep cracking sound, like raw wood on fire. No one had noticed anything yet, and people were just looking at each other when the head of the Miyazaki clan fell onto his back. His sudden fall was noticed by everyone in the hall, and they also saw Arata-Sora crouching next to him and making a powerful slash.

How he had gotten there, especially in those heavy pads, was unclear. The old man flailed his arms stupidly and clumsily and fell heavily onto his back. The guy ducked to the side, threw his leg out sharply, another lightning move, and the old man's neck was brutally broken.

That was it, no more head of the Miyazaki clan who had done so much evil in his life. Surprise and confusion froze on his face forever.