The Midnight Banquet went on even after two hours. Early on, Ayato went down to the training room after he met with lots of nobles.
Most complained about his arrogance, and others bragged about how they were going to kill him either way regardless of his past. There were few normal talks, like the one he had with Mumei.
...
"I'm Mumei."
"Who?"
"I'm one of your father's concubines."
"Oh? Sorry that I don't know you. I was sure that I knew every one of them."
The woman smiled at him.
"That's because out of everyone in the Kyouya Clan, you can only remember those who've tried to kill you, am I right?"
Ayato thought about it for a moment. His face lit up when he realised.
"You're right."
"You met Shoya earlier, didn't you? That's my son. He's never tried to kill you before so it makes sense, doesn't it?"
It was true. He had no recollection of the boy named Shoya Kyouya yet Shoya knew him. He was sure that they had met before.
"I feel bad for you, kid."
Mumei said with a grave expression.
"You were born the heir to the family only to be in the worst spot ever. No one could live your life the way you have. Live it with confidence. When you go down and face all of those conceited kids and wives, show them the anger that you've been bottling up."
She put her hand out and made it into a fist. Ayato bumped fists with her and grinned.
"I'll be sure to fuck them over. I won't kill them but I'll be sure to rough them up."
...
Back in the present time, Ayato was standing in front of 176 people. Yes, they were all people who wanted to kill him. All concubines, siblings and others from the branch families.
"Okay, starting in 10 seconds, you'll have 10 minutes to kill me. In that time, I'll knock every single one of you out, okay?"
He announced to the entire crowd.
"You really think you can take all of us on?"
One boy asked.
10 seconds later, Ayato dropped from his spot and walked toward the crowd. His bloodlust pressed against their necks like scythes. Ayato was not joking.
"Come at me like you're ready to die."
Ayato menacingly said.
The ones with weapons charged toward Ayato first. They sliced at him continuously but he dodged each strike and knocked each attacker out with a single punch.
It was a wonder how he hadn't gotten hit by a single weapon. Even if it was a large place, it would be too clustered for the expert magicians to cast spells since they would hit the attackers too.
Of course, at some point, there would be a lunatic who wouldn't care for their family and still launch an attack.
Ayato had the smile of a lunatic on his face. He was enjoying it since he was blowing off steam. In other words, he was angry.
"Hold! Attack group, scatter!"
Someone shouted. The ones attacking Ayato jumped backwards and a line of people began to cast spells of fire.
"Oh..."
He made a noise in amazement.
They were coordinated. He was expecting them to be consumed by their desperation, greed and arrogance. Ayato underestimated them, he acknowledged that fact.
No matter who they are, they are Kyouya for a reason...
The spells were shot like spears toward the boy.
...but that still applied to Ayato.
He stuck his arm out to block the spells.
"Dissolve."
The spells drooped as they touched his palm. The remnants of mana faded before touching the ground.
"What was that?"
"That's his Magic Seal! It's a Magic Seal of Destruction! Whatever he touches, he can destroy!"
A boy shouted to all of them. He was in the middle of the crowd.
Ayato recognised him. His hair was grey—one of the few Kyouya with different coloured hair—and his eyes were blue.
There was a large scar that extended from Ayato's waist to his shoulder. Even though his entire body was covered in scars, that was the largest one. Ayato received that scar when he first encounter that grey-haired boy—Horobi Kyouya. His name meant destruction.
Horobi Kyouya. He was a good-looking and kind boy at least on the surface; he truly is a sadist, sly rat. He likes manipulating people.
'Seems as though he's taken charge. He probably wants me to go after him. Alright, I'll take up his challenge.'
Ayato thought.
"Really? You're wrong on that one."
"He's lying, trying to throw us off!"
Horobi shouted.
There was a common misconception about Ayato's Magic Seal. It was similar to what they believed to be Destruction but it had an unmatched potential.
Once again, they fired a round of spells. Ayato destroyed them even though they all scattered, trying to hit him in more places than one.
However this time, Ayato didn't destroy the spells completely, there were still remnants left over. He skipped past them and touched the remnants.
"Reverse."
They regained full force and attacked some of those watching.
"What was that?"
"Sure, he used Destruction, but there was something else too."
Suddenly, they became nervous. Ayato decided to explain to them.
"My Magic Seal is Deconstruction and Reconstruction. I can fiddle with the structure of anything that I like. Ultimately, it has no drawback other than the range. Here it doesn't matter though, since you're all well in my range."
"If you could use it on all of us simultaneously, you would. That means you can't use it on more than one target."
Ayato smiled. Horobi was using logic. Not all logic applied to Magic Seals.
"Then why don't I show you?"