The Tribunal House is not only very large, but also built in an extremely complex way. Through an intricate architectural design, the goal is to prevent the Tribunal House from being easily taken over by terrorists or other hostile forces. Using the ability of the White Crow Guardian, Kiyomori has distributed all the “important” members and workers of the Sakiko family throughout the Tribunal House grounds. He also made sure that everyone was assigned an opponent—everyone except Kogiri. For fun, Kiyomori teleported him to the very edge of the Tribunal House so that he would fall off the cliff.

  Kiyomori: “[Everything should go exactly according to plan. The Sakiko family will regret crossing us. I will reclaim our gold and take revenge for the traps and the murder of my brother.]”

  Kiyomori strolls leisurely through the Tribunal House. He whistles softly and chews his gum loudly. He is searching for his rivals within the tribunal, specifically for Aihara. Earlier, he overheard that Kogiri had carried him into one of the rooms belonging to the Sakiko family, so he moves in the direction of the Sakiko sector.

  Kiyomori: “[How will this wild battle royale end? You can’t really call it a battle royale, but I’ll just call it that.]”

  Naki is lying on a cold, hard floor. He is awakened by a whip strike to his forehead.

  Naki: “Ouch! Who was that?!”

  He stands up and finds himself in a hall. It is slightly smaller than the previous one, but still enormous. Suddenly, the lights turn on. Above him, he sees several yellow lines, and two people are standing on them.

  ???: “My codename is Dorothy Funtime. This is my brother Eisen Funtime. The two of us will be your murderers. If it’s alright with you, we would like to cut off your head after your death and give it to your brother. After that, it will be his turn, and his head will go to the carriage driver. The driver’s head will then go to the pink-haired girl. Even though she didn’t do anything, she is related to you, and she was only a spectator while you killed our brother.”

  Naki: “You attacked us first. We only defended ourselves. Besides, until just now we were allies. We fought together against the White Crow Guardian.”

  Dorothy: “That was temporary. We will never forget what you did. Never.”

  Naki: “You attacked first. Why can’t you understand that?”

  Dorothy: “Eisen, put the heart in already and injure him as much as possible. I want to deliver the finishing blow myself.”

  Eisen takes the heart he received from Kiyomori. He opens his chest and clamps the heart with his metal pincers. He closes his chest again. Steam escapes from every opening in his metallic body. It heats up and begins to glow slightly red. With insane speed, he jumps down and attacks Naki with his axe. Naki can barely dodge or block Eisen’s attacks. He feels the heat radiating from the tin man, and with that speed, Naki cannot afford a single mistake in his movements.

  Naki: “[That heart is making him faster and stronger. For some reason, his entire body is hot.]”

  Naki: “[Are the others also fighting against opponents right now?]”

  Saku is standing inside a tower. The tower is essentially a large spiral staircase surrounded by stone walls. The top of the tower is open, allowing the clouds to be seen. A few rays of light make their way inside and blind Saku. In the next moment, a mysterious person is standing in front of her.

  ???: “So it’s you, Sakiko girl.”

  Saku: “Who are you?”

  She opens her fan and begins her dance-like movements. She summons a large number of blossoms that circle around her.

  Saku: “Speak, or you’ll be hit by this massive sphere of cherry blossoms.”

  The mysterious person remains silent. Saku waits a few more seconds before dropping a gigantic pink sphere onto them. Suddenly, a red and unusually large beam appears. It splits the sphere and destroys part of the tower. Saku sees her mysterious opponent holding a pistol, smoke rising from it.

  Saku: “[What overwhelming energy. That’s no ordinary pistol.]”

  The mysterious person now aims the pistol at Saku and pulls the trigger.

  Najun is in a library. He runs through the aisles while being chased by someone. It is Kiyomata, who throws books at Najun. Even though they are only books, they still hurt when they hit.

  Kiyomata: “Can we start fighting properly already? I’m getting bored chasing you with stupid books.”

  Najun does not respond and keeps running. He reaches the center, where a book hits him on the head.

  Najun: “Why does that hurt so much?”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Kiyomata: “Because I’m strong.”

  Kiyomata jumps on Najun and starts beating him with a book. Najun blocks the somewhat ridiculous attack with his arms. His arm is still injured, which makes it hurt even more than usual. Bullet comes to his aid and forces Kiyomata to get off Najun.

  Kiyomata: “That stupid bird can’t protect you forever.”

  Throughout the Tribunal House, deadly battles are slowly breaking out everywhere. The fight between Naki and the two siblings is currently the most intense of them all.

  Naki is engaged in a fierce close-combat fight with Eisen. Thanks to the heart, Eisen has become much faster. Naki can barely stay near him for more than a few seconds, otherwise he would be horribly burned.

  Naki: “[I have to seal him with my five swords.]”

  All attempts to activate his ability fail because Eisen always disrupts him during activation. Eisen also clenches his hands into fists and punches the air, releasing multiple heat waves that burn Naki’s skin. They do not cause scars or lethal injuries, but they are still extremely painful.

  Naki: “[These heat waves are annoying. But those whip strikes from that Dorothy aren’t easy either.]”

  He has to defend against and evade two attackers at the same time. The yellow paths are especially exhausting, as they act like many small fighters. After landing a direct hit on Dorothy’s back, Naki loses control.

  Birth Ability: Serpent Body

  Mid-movement, Naki reshapes himself into a black line. Like a snake, he slithers through the air until he is directly behind Dorothy. He even lands a sword strike, but it is not deep enough to seriously injure her. She sends her yellow paths after him, but he escapes thanks to his ability. Naki often uses this ability instinctively, which becomes apparent when he reaches his maximum speed.

  Even though ten yellow paths are chasing Naki, he is able to evade them without difficulty using his Serpent Body. Eisen is too slow to keep up with either Naki’s movements or Dorothy’s attacks. As a solution, he throws his axe, but it fails. The axe returns like a boomerang. Eisen throws his weapon repeatedly, trying to hit Naki, but it never happens.

  Naki: “Looks like the tin man wants my attention.”

  Naki circles Eisen with his fast, snake-like movements. He tightens the circle more and more until Eisen can no longer take a single step. Eisen swings his axe into the circle Naki forms, but he does not hit him. Instead, Naki strikes him several times with his sword. Eisen’s back is now full of holes. However, Naki still has to be careful of the heat Eisen releases.

  Dorothy: “Are you trying to steal my other brother too?!”

  Many yellow paths fly toward the circle. Dorothy tries to capture Naki. She doubles the number of her paths and sends those as well. With twenty paths, she manages to wrap around Naki’s right leg.

  Naki: “[I have to slither out somehow or cut through the yellow line.]”

  Naki takes his sword and stabs straight into the yellow path. It is too soft to be pierced or cut through with a blade.

  Naki: “[It’s not fabric or anything. It’s soft, but the consistency is strange. My sword won’t get through.]”

  Eisen rushes up behind Naki and grabs him by his long hair. He burns Naki’s scalp and throws him away. Naki crashes into the wall and is about to stand up again, but Eisen quickly grabs him by the neck with his left hand. He lifts Naki up and begins to choke him.

  Eisen: “I finally have a heart now. I don’t need yours anymore.”

  Eisen: “I can control the heat now, you know. I can decide whether to burn through your neck, just warm it up a bit, or leave it cold.”

  Naki tries to escape with kicks and contortions, but it does not work. Eisen has him firmly in his grip.

  Eisen: “If you keep this up, I’ll burn through your neck until your body falls off it.”

  Dorothy: “Go on, torture him already. Leave the killing to me.”

  Eisen heats up his left hand. At first, it feels good to Naki, like a warm scarf that had been resting on a heater. But in the next moment, his neck starts to burn. Now it feels like the heater itself.

  Naki: “[Hot. I have to get out of this. I just need a little concentration…]”

  Naki closes his eyes and tries to endure the burning pain. He breathes steadily. Eisen looks at him in surprise, impressed by his high pain tolerance. He slightly reduces the heat.

  Dorothy: “Eisen, behind you!”

  Before Eisen can turn around, a blade pierces him. Naki has telepathically summoned his sword. Unlike his training swords, this blade is made of many high-quality materials. One of them is Synchrosteel.

  Synchrosteel is a type of steel that can synchronize with the thoughts and inner energy of its owner. However, there are two conditions. The first is that by adding this steel, the sword is given a kind of life. It decides on its own whether it wants to synchronize with its owner or not. The second condition is the preparation of the steel before it is forged into a sword. Naki had to carry the steel block with him for weeks, treating it like a pet. He had to clean it, talk to it, play with it, and sleep with it so that it would get to know him and later work well with him.

  Weapons that contain Synchrosteel are extremely rare, because they possess the ability of telepathic synchronization, which normally only Birth Objects or pets have with their users. That is why their creation is so difficult and often impossible.

  The sword pierces straight through the tin man’s body and then flies back into Naki’s hand. Unfortunately, it misses the new heart, which now serves as an energy source for Eisen. With great effort, Eisen swings his axe and cuts off his own left arm. With a burn mark on his neck, Naki narrowly escapes a fiery death. Before falling to the ground, he gives Eisen a powerful kick to create some distance.

  Birth Ability: Black Circle of the Five Sealing Swords of the Human

  Naki fires his first sword toward the enemy. He hits on the first attempt and seals the first level, Cogitatio. From now on, Naki should not expect any well-thought-out attacks or strategies from Eisen.

  Naki: “Alright, that’s enough. Now it’s my turn to counterattack.”

  The fight between Naki and Eisen slowly reaches its climax.

  Before the start of the tribunal (before Najun and the others arrived)

  ???: “You’re a really kind man. Not everyone would accompany a girl through the forest and show her the way she needs.”

  ???: “What was your name again?”

  Man: “Shachio.”

  ???: “Ah right. A good name.”

  Shachio: “Leaving a young girl alone in the forest doesn’t suit the father of a newborn child.”

  ???: “I really hope you find your family.”

  Shachio: “Thank you, I hope so too. May I ask what you want to do in Tongyo?”

  ???: “I have to attend an important meeting. My family is in trouble again.”

  Shachio: “Then I hope you can help them.”

  ???: “Where are you, brother… uh, I mean Shachio?”

  Shachio: “That’s my brother. He and my other family members are already looking for me.”

  ???: “Then go to him. From here on, I can continue alone.”

  The young girl says goodbye to Shachio and continues on her way.

  ???: “I’ve missed you so much, my little brothers.”