Keiichi was watching the news that was on the television. He was right to assume that an incident on such a large scale would be impossible to hide. All the news channels were already talking about the demon's appearance and the cities attacked. Panic took hold in the country. People did not know whether to stay home or flee to a deserted place to preserve their lives.
'Shit! It's all a mess!'
No one can live peacefully knowing that an unknown creature is destroying cities and causing mass genocide. The scariest thing is knowing that nothing could protect you from such a threat. Police? State? Everyone was useless at this point. Not even the cultivators could do anything about it. They had to find a way to calm the population, so the president openly spoke that the demon would be eliminated in the future by a specialized squad. They also revealed the existence of cultivators, but only superficially. Media outlets reported that cultivators were secret forces nations used to eliminate threats that could harm humans. Ironic, right?
*Sigh!*
Keiichi turned off the television and left his room.
-
"It's good that you came," Takahiro said, seeing Keiichi approaching. They were about to start Azumi's funeral. The starry sky illuminated the coffin that was under the lake.
Ayaka was looking at the coffin with a blank expression. She tried to be strong but couldn't accept such a cruel fate.
'I could have saved your life if I had known the usefulness of my innate ability… I feel so… useless.' She thought.
After half an hour of mourning, the funeral began. Azumi's body was cremated along with the coffin. This was a common tradition in Keiichi's world, and cultivators also used it. As the flames engulfed the entire coffin, tears welled up in Ayaka's eyes.
'I swear I'll make that demon pay for this…'
-
After the funeral, Takahiro called Keiichi into his room.
"Boy, it's time." He said.
"I'm ready!" Keiichi replied seriously.
"The Cultivator Union is the most powerful organization in the world, so you need to be careful," Takahiro said severely. He knew Keiichi was mighty, but the cultivators' union also had a lot of power.
'They will probably try to bring the boy to their side,' Takahiro thought worriedly. Honestly, he didn't know what to make of Keiichi. Keiichi's revelations deeply shocked him, especially the revelation of divine existences. Human beings fear the unknown. They could be powerful in your world, but a God is likely a being that completely transcends human logic. He also fears Keiichi will become a possible enemy, but the chances are small.
'He is very naive.'
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. But do you intend to leave the sect in Ayaka's hands?" Keiichi asked.
"There are still some elders in the sect. They know what to do while I'm gone."
The sect received a severe blow to power due to the death of the elders. The elders who fled didn't return to the sect either; even if they did, Takahiro would kill them. The betrayal in his eyes was unforgivable.
"We will." Takahiro took a sword out of his space ring, leaving Keiichi confused.
"We'll use this to fly. It's pretty fast." Takahiro said with a smile. He could fly without the sword, but he wasn't that fast.
"OK." Keiichi didn't expect to use a flying sword one day. The sword was over three meters long.
"Father, wait!"
"Ayaka?" Takahiro was confused to see his daughter running toward him.
"Father, take me with you," Ayaka said with a serious expression.
"...Are you sure?" Takahiro wouldn't stop his daughter, but he didn't want anything to happen to her.
"Let her come. I can protect her." Keiichi said suddenly.
"You…" Takahiro wanted to punch him right now.
"Huh? What's up, old man?"
"You're obviously flirting with my daughter." He replied with a distorted expression.
"...I do not know what you're talking about." Keiichi quickly deflected the subject.
"Dad!"
-
After many complaints from Ayaka, they were almost there.
"Why are you going to the ocean? Don't tell me these guys' headquarters are at the bottom of the sea?" Keiichi asked with a curious expression.
"The location of the U.C headquarters is unknown. Only the leaders know the location, so we will use a portal." Takahiro replied.
"Do you know how to create portals?! No, that's not right." Keiichi initially thought that Takahiro could create portals. Still, in that case, it wouldn't be necessary for them to come to this place.
Understanding Keiichi's doubts, Takahiro replied, "Some artifacts are capable of creating portals. However, they are very rare, so even big sects may not have much."
"I see…"
"...Isn't there any cultivator who knows how to teleport?" Keiichi asked while thinking about Yato. He thought that Yato knew how to use teleportation because he had disappeared and appeared so suddenly.
"There are no cultivators who know how to use teleportation. It's a very dangerous skill, as it can kill you. But some artifacts can teleport people to a certain location. Most big sects have a teleportation artifact for emergencies." Takahiro replied.
Teleportation artifacts were even rarer than artifacts that can create portals. Usually, the leader of a big sect or the heir has one in case they find themselves in an imminent death situation.
'Strange… I thought it wouldn't be such a complicated skill.'
"So, how long has it been since cultivators came along?" Keiichi asked as he watched a small island in the distance.
"Hmm, a few hundred years ago, but cultivators were very weak back then," Ayaka replied thoughtfully. "By the way, how long has it been since you started using magic?"
"Some months."
"..."
*Sigh!* 2x
"What's it?" Keiichi asked upon seeing Ayaka and Takahiro's expressions.
"I feel like I wasted too many years of my life," Ayaka said with a weak smile.
"We're coming. Get ready." Takahiro increased the speed of the flying sword and landed on the small island. "This is where the artifact that leads to the Cultivator Union Headquarters is."
Takahiro approached a set of rocks. There was a small spiral-shaped artifact among the stones. Takahiro took a Blue Dragon Sect insignia and placed it in front of the artifact. After that, he muttered some strange words.
Suddenly, a dark portal was created.
"Only certain people know the location of this place. Also, the artifact can only be activated with an approved insignia and a specific word string." Takahiro explained as he approached the portal.
"We will."
-
Four thrones were positioned around a giant table in a dimly lit room. Behind the thrones were dozens of chairs, many of them occupied.
"Who knew that one day we would be together to work as a team, hahahaha!" A gray-haired old man said with a laugh.
"Shut up, old man. If the future of humanity wasn't in danger, I would never be here." A man replied in a sullen tone.
"You're still rude, as usual." A woman commented as she watched the two argue.
Anyone who saw their expression would not believe that humanity was going through a world crisis. They looked very relaxed.
"Lords, the last groups have arrived. We can start the meeting." A butler warned.
They quickly filled all chairs. The four people seated on the throne watched everyone with indifferent expressions.
-
"Do these guys… consider themselves Kings?" Keiichi muttered as he watched the people sitting on the throne. "Are they the leaders?"
"Yes, they are. And they're extremely arrogant too. Well, they're the leaders of the three most powerful sects in the world, so it's understandable." Takahiro replied as he sat in one of the chairs next to Keiichi and Ayaka. The leaders of the major sects from various countries came to this meeting. It meant that the situation was not good at all.
"The gray-haired old man is called Adolph. He is the leader of the Iron Palm sect. And the grumpy man is called Alad. He is the leader of the Sword sect."
Adolph is a gentle-looking, gray-haired old man. He wore a long white robe with a palm symbol on his shoulder.
Alad is a middle-aged man. Her hair is spiky blue. He has a scar next to his dark eyes. Like Adolph, he also wore a long robe, but blue.
"Adolph and Alad are the oldest leaders, but the weakest," Takahiro explained.
"The weakest?" Keiichi looked at the other two leaders. A man and a woman were both about 25 years old.
"The woman's name is Rylla. She is not the leader of any sect."
Rylla is the only female among the leaders. Her appearance is not impressive, but she looks very elegant. Her hair is blonde, and her eyes are dark blue. She was wearing a black dress.
"Hold on. If she's not the leader of any sect, why is she one of the leaders of the organization?" Keiichi asked, confused.
"Because she is very powerful. On top of that, she also has an ability that no one else has." This time, it was Ayaka who answered.
"A skill no one has?"
"Clairvoyance. She can know past, present, and future events. However, this ability comes at a very high price, so every time she uses it, her body becomes more fragile." She explained.
"Is the last?" Keiichi asked as he watched the man sitting next to Rylla. Yato had done crazier things, so he wasn't particularly surprised by Rylla's skill.
"He is called Dion, leader of the Divine Lightning sect. Many consider him the most powerful and talented leader."
Dion had a calm expression on her face. Unlike the other leaders, he didn't seem to talk much. His appearance was strangely similar to Rylla's, but not enough to make them look like brothers.
"Divine lightning?" Keiichi muttered thoughtfully.
"He's one of the few cultivators who can manipulate lightning," Takahiro confirmed his doubts.
"I see."
-
Dion rose from her throne. Everyone immediately went silent. He watched everyone for a moment and said, "We call all of you here to solve the problem related to the demon that has appeared on our planet. First, we found out that the Blood Sect is responsible for bringing this creature to our world. We don't know how they did it, but it was probably an artifact."
"What?! Those lunatics really did it!"
"Fuck it! The sects of the Core Federation let these lunatics live in exchange for resources!"
"How the hell did they get such a powerful artifact?!"
The leaders of the major foreign sects began to curse the sects of the Nuclea federation.
"These hypocrites!" Ayaka exclaimed with an expression of disgust. The Blood Sect isn't the only sect that performs vile deeds in the world. Many others do. Usually, the big sects turn a blind eye in exchange for a lot of resources. Seeing these leaders speak as if they were paladins of justice made Ayaka feel disgusted.
"Silence!" Dion yelled. Everyone immediately shut up. "It's no use blaming anyone now. We need a solution. This demon will be killed, but the biggest problem is that the cultivators' existence has been discovered. Suppose this demon will attack more cities in the future, so it's useless to hide this information from the public. The proportion of this case has become very large, so we thought of a way for cultivators to be included in society."
If the demon was dead, then they could try to hide that he destroyed the city. However, the demon was alive. He would attack more cities in the future, taking more casualties, and soon the situation would get out of hand.
"We don't know the whereabouts of the demon yet…" Dion muttered. "Anyway, we will reveal the existence of cultivators to the public gradually, but let's say that it is a government-controlled organization. The media is completely under our control(...)"
Knowledge is power. They have almost absolute control of the media. This case has not reached a world level yet, the Nuclea Federation was the most affected country. Still, the other countries are not so chaotic yet. If they pass on the right information to the public, it will be easier to convince them.
It is necessary to know that the growth of social media is contained. If social media became the largest means of communication in the world, it would be impossible to hide this subject. Or rather, Someone would have already revealed the existence of cultivators.
"Rylla will use her ability to find out the demon's current location, so we will organize a squad to eliminate him. But before that, we need information." Dion looked at Takahiro.
Takahiro stood up quickly and bowed. Keiichi was a little surprised. After greeting Dion, Takahiro told him everything that had happened, including Keiichi's fight against the demon.
"Are you telling me that this young man beat the demon?" Dion looked a little surprised. He tried to probe Keiichi but couldn't feel any spirit energy in his body.
"Lord Dion, this boy may look weak, but his strength is unfathomable," Takahiro said respectfully. Dion was about to speak but was interrupted.
"Hahahaha! I can't even feel spiritual energy in this kid. It looks like you've gone senile, old man. Or is it that you're hiding something?" Alad looked at Takahiro as if he was looking at an ant.
"You…" Ayaka was about to get up, but Keiichi stopped her.
"For one of the leaders of the greatest organization in the world, you don't seem very strong either," Keiichi said sarcastically.
"..."
For a moment, everyone seemed to have frozen. The leaders of the great sects looked at Keiichi as if they were looking at a madman. Alad couldn't respond due to shock. How long had it been since someone had made fun of him? 15 years?
"Hahahaha! This kid has guts." Adolph started to laugh.
Alad's eyes went cold. He released his aura, and all the leaders of the major sects knelt. Even Takahiro broke into a cold sweat.
"Looks like you've had enough of living, boy."