Return to Japan

[Olivia POV]

[Some days after the Poe Cup]

Yesterday I got a call from my family with the news that my uncle, the momentary head of the clan, died in the clash between rival clans. They urged me to return to Japan and to lead the family to victory. It's ironic how they sent me to the USA to gain power, only to call me back when they're losing, likely to scapegoat me for any failures.

At the moment I am standing under the rain saying goodbye to Enid and Perseus. Enid is as expected crying, expressing how much she'll miss her roommate and imploring me to stay in touch. Hmpf, as if I'll miss her hyperactivity or her tendency to ruin my tranquillity.

I approach Perseus and he simply embraces me warmly. Whispering in my ear, he says, "If you ever need anything, tell me."

"I know," I reply, sealing our parting with a passionate kiss before leaving his embrace and boarding my flight.

The journey is uneventful, and upon arriving in Japan, I took a car and after some time I could finally see from the distance a Japanese villa. The house stands amidst meticulously manicured gardens, nestled within a serene landscape of lush greenery and tranquil ponds.

Arrived there, I'm immediately escorted into the war room. Seated in the head family's chair, I observe the room. Before me sit four elders, who seem to have aged considerably since I last saw them.

The eldest begins speaking gravely, informing me, "The Taira and Minamoto clans have formed an alliance to seize Kyoto from us. They've already established footholds in our territory, and we're losing ground by the day. Currently, our only ally is the Oda clan, with the remaining ten clans remaining neutral, though they're likely watching, waiting to see who emerges victorious before joining the fray for spoils."

The second elder adds "Our troop consist about a few thousand first-tier troops and a couple dozen second-tier troops. While the enemy troops are probably three time larger than ours."

I sit lazily, legs crossed and head resting on my hand, contemplating. Ever since my father's death, and the loss of a significant portion of our elite soldiers to an ancient vampire, we've been in decline, providing an opportunity for these rival clans to invade upon our territory.

How can I bring my clan to victory? From what I know, the enemy has more troops and probably higher tier. I should ask Perseus for help, but what tier is he?

From what I learned, the government created a tier-list to separate outcasts better and to understand their danger level. The tier-list goes from one to nine.

-Tier-one outcast: capable of causing destruction on the scale of an apartment block

-Tier-two outcast: capable of causing destruction on the scale of a small village

-Tier-three outcast: potential to wreak havoc on small towns or suburban areas

-Tier-four outcast: capable of causing widespread destruction within larger cities or urban areas

-Tier-five outcast: they can bring about devastation across entire provinces or states

-Tier-six outcast: potential to unleash catastrophe across multiple regions within a country

-Tier-seven outcast: They can bring about apocalypse-level events on a nationwide scale

-Tier-eight outcast: capability to unleash continent-wide devastation

-Tier-nine outcast: capable of causing mass extinction events and catastrophic destruction on a planetary scale.

My gaze shifts to the map on the table, illustrating Kyoto and its environment marked with red and blue dots representing enemy and allied positions. I mentally reach out through the tattoo Perseus gave me. 

*Darling, what is your tier? *

His voice echoes in my mind. *Four*

*Oh…I need your help.*

He replied sarcastically, *No way, I didn't think about it*

I hate him…

*I need you to eliminate everyone at these coordinates...please. *

After a long moment, he replies, *Sure, give me an hour. *

With his assurance, I issue orders, "Dispatch troops to these red points."

The room falls into shocked silence. "H-how?" stammers one elder. "We can't possibly fight against so many soldiers!"

I regard them frostily. "Who said anything about fighting? Send troops to occupy these empty bases."

Their expressions morph into pure fear as they grasp my intent.

[Random Shogun Soldier]

We got an order from the head of the family to occupy all the enemy bases. Even if we know is a suicide to attack these bases that have more enemies then us, we still are going there. I and many other sweared an oath to the head of the family and even if she sends us to dead we will do it. Our captain told us that all the buildings are empty, but it doesn't make sense.

Arriving at the largest red point on the map, we find ourselves outside an apartment block. 

We position ourselves and storm in the apartment block, but what awaited us shocked me to the chore.

The corridor was littered with dismembered corpses and fresh blood, indicating the violence occurred not long ago. The most scary things is that there wasn't anything destroyed, walls or even leaves on the plants where intact. It seemed like a one sided massacre, without even a possibility to fight back.

Our team captain told us after a while "Don't doubt the head clan again. Clear the dead bodies, collect the loot and occupy the base."

[Emperor of Japan POV]

While sitting at the desk contemplating what to eat today, I see one of my bodyguards run to me with a distressed face. He stops a few meters from me and said, "My emperor, something happened at the Battlefield of Kyoto!".

I watch him calmly and said "At the end, the Shogun clan got annihilated. Tell the Minamoto and Taira clan to not cause too much havoc in Kyoto or I will need to intervene." The Bodyguard watched me with perplexed eyes while saying "No, my emperor…the Minamoto and Taira clan got their troops in Kyoto and the surrounding annihilated…"

Shocked I stand up "What! Impossible, the Shogun clan doesn't have that power! Who was it?" The bodyguard watches me with fear "I-I don't know sir. We only know that about 4000 troops vanished and there were even a few third-tier soldiers."

I sit down on my chair flabbergasted of what happened. Did the Shogun clan ask for external help, or had they done some forbidden rituals? I need to send immediately troops and check the situation.

Suddenly my private phone rings, and absentmindedly I answer it. "Hello Hiroto, my grandson caused a bit of ruckus in your country. I apologize for it, but he is young and the clan of his mate was in danger. I will invite you to dinner the next time as a form of apology."

"Oh, sure Amily, don't worry. Youngsters can be a bit wild at times." I can hear a chuckle from the other side of the phone "Yeah, see you later." and with that she puts down the call. Afterwards, I watched the bodyguard and told him to leave and that the situation was solved.

My youngest son, who had been sitting on the couch the entire time, looked at me puzzled and asked, "What happened, father? "

I watched him calmly and replied, "I received a call from the representative of the psychic group of North America, advising me not to take any action. "

He looked at me in shock and exclaimed, "How dare she! You are the emperor!"

Chuckling, I responded, "My son, you are still young. You see, all seven continents have their own council composed of the strongest people, representing various races such as psychics, werewolves, vampires, and more. They oversee the outcasts from their continent and determine rules and procedures.

The one who called me is Amely Caesar, a member of the North American council. That means she holds considerable power, and for this minor issue, I will surely not make enemies with her."

He continued to stare at me stubbornly, saying, "So what? We are powerful!"

I smiled at him and replied, "Yes, but your grandpa is only a fourth-tier outcast, while the majority of representatives are sixth or seventh-tier outcasts."

************

Author Note:

I was insecure about publishing this chapter. I considered sending Olivia away so I could focus more on Enid and Wednesday. Additionally, I wanted to introduce a Power Level scale and briefly explain the political structure (I refuse to believe that in a world with so many outcasts, normal humans hold power). I hope you enjoyed it and found everything balanced.

See you on Monday!