The Onmyo Academy, located within Tokyo District, was unusually lively today—but not in the way it usually was.
The people passing through the Grand Barrier were no longer the academy's regular students. Instead, they were well-known figures from across the exorcist world.
The reason so many "big names" had gathered at the Onmyo Academy was simple: a highly important meeting was being held there today.
Almost every family with even a modest amount of influence in Tokyo District was qualified to attend. The only difference was how many representatives each family could send—entirely dependent on the family's overall strength.
After the Hokuragi family's elderly clan head descended from the snow mountain yesterday, plenty of people still refused to believe him and headed up the mountain themselves to investigate.
What they found left them deeply unsettled.
The Hokuragi clan head's words had not been alarmist exaggeration at all.
After analysis and on-site inspection by professionals, the conclusion was clear: given the distance involved, no S-rank yokai could possibly have survived the Second Elder's final self-detonation.
And yet, the mysterious demon race on the snow mountain not only survived that spiritual explosion—it was able to leave afterward.
That alone proved the truth.
At the very least, it was an SS-rank entity.
No one needed to be reminded of the saying "How can one sleep soundly while another snores beside the bed?"With something this dangerous appearing in Tokyo District, no one could afford to stay uninvolved.
So when the Hokuragi family issued invitations for a joint meeting, the major families of Tokyo District accepted almost without hesitation.
And because of long-standing conflicts between certain exorcist families, the venue was deliberately chosen to be the Onmyo Academy, located within the neutral territory of the Grand Barrier.
The scale of this meeting was extraordinary.
Even the famously powerful "Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses" had shown up in force—five of them, no less.
"That should be the Jisō family, ranked eighth in the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses, right? I heard that senior Jisō Maruchi from our academy comes from that family. After graduating early and leaving the Onmyo Academy, he's already capable of solo-killing C-rank yokai."
"So what if it's the Jisō family? I just saw the Kagamori family—ranked third among the Thirteen Houses.And compared to Senior Maruchi, Senior Kagamori graduated from the Onmyo Academy too. She's already formed her own squad and has successfully repelled a B-rank yokai."
Because of this meeting, the students of the Onmyo Academy were getting an eye-opening spectacle.
So many figures they had never been able to approach—or even see before—were appearing one after another today.
It was almost like a red-carpet event, with these powerful figures entering one by one like dazzling superstars.
The comparison might have sounded odd, but the reality wasn't far off.
The world itself had changed.
In this new era, those with overwhelming strength and status truly were the "top stars" in the eyes of the public.
And this was the Onmyo Academy—filled with rookie exorcists just starting out. Their admiration for these veteran powerhouses bordered on reverence.
The Jisō family specialized in earth-element curses and extreme physical training.
The Kagamori family excelled in demon sealing, using complex seals and barriers to suppress and exorcise yokai.
Add to that the ninth-ranked Hokuragi family—masters of fire-element curses, known for their fiery and explosive temperaments—and three of the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses had already arrived.
Not long after, a sudden gale swept through the Grand Barrier.
Several figures clad in blue garments appeared seemingly out of thin air.
The Hiiragi family—ranked tenth among the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses.
A clan that controlled wind, renowned for their exceptional martial arts. They rose to prominence during the Warring States era, when they assisted many other families in sealing a powerful yokai. However, because they failed to produce truly outstanding spellcasters afterward, their influence gradually declined.
Soon after the Hiiragi family's arrival, several individuals dressed in traditional samurai attire—clearly out of place among the modern exorcists—slowly entered the Grand Barrier.
At first, many assumed these swordsmen had wandered into the wrong event.
It wasn't until Kyoka Yamato stepped forward to greet them that the crowd realized—
These people were exorcists as well. And not ordinary ones.
The Kūsū family—ranked seventh among the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses.
A clan that honed swordsmanship to its absolute peak, then infused it with spiritual power, using the blade itself to exorcise demons.
Though only ranked seventh, the Kūsū family was anything but weak. In fact, their combat ability was terrifying.
Their ranking was lower simply because their numbers were far smaller than other families.
Thanks to their unique cultivation methods, Kūsū family members rarely declined due to age. They maintained their peak fighting condition for astonishingly long periods.
Like the man currently leading the Kūsū delegation.
He looked no older than thirty—
Yet he was Kyoka Yamato's uncle.
That's right. Kyoka's mother, Miku Yamato, was originally from the Kūsū family. That was precisely why she possessed such extraordinary swordsmanship.
In a sense, Kyoka Yamato was absurdly wealthy in connections.
Her father was the head of the Yamato family.Her uncle was the head of the Kūsū family.Her mentor was Minamoto Tensen, the leader of the Minamoto clan.
In the current era, that background alone made her a textbook example of a top-tier super-heiress.
"Kyoka, is that you? It's been a while," Kūsū Ryōsuke said with a warm smile as he looked at her."I can tell at a glance—both your spiritual power and swordsmanship have improved significantly since last time. And I hear from your mother that you've even found someone you fancy. Truly, congratulations."
Kūsū Ryōsuke looked at Kyoka, whose spiritual power now clearly radiated at B-plus rank, with unmistakable pride.
His words, however, instantly made Kyoka's face flush bright red.
She quickly glanced behind her, as if checking whether a certain someone had overheard her uncle's teasing.
Unfortunately for her—
That "certain someone" was currently blending into the crowd, quietly watching the show.
Being a half-demon, and having cultivated Fūrin Kazan, his five senses far exceeded those of ordinary people. Every word Kūsū Ryōsuke spoke—and Kyoka's guilty reaction afterward—were perfectly clear to Ren Kuroda.
Seeing her reaction, Ren couldn't help wanting to complain.
Your mother already came straight to my house to propose marriage, you know?
At this point, it seemed only Kyoka herself still believed that Ren hadn't noticed anything strange.
And aside from Kyoka's situation, just thinking about the reason for this meeting made Ren wear a bitter smile.
That morning, he had gone to clock in at the Special Countermeasures Division, fully intending to continue his peaceful routine—slacking off, collecting a government paycheck, and clocking out right on time.
Instead, the moment he arrived, Kanzaki Isshin and the others dragged him off in a panic to the Onmyo Academy.
It wasn't until they were on the way that Ren learned about this so-called "subjugation conference."
Attending a meeting to discuss his own extermination—
That had to be peak absurdity.
Even Ren himself had never imagined things would spiral into this.
Honestly speaking, all he had wanted at first was to help the Snow Woman.
Using the reputation of an S-rank yokai, he'd intended to scare off anyone who kept trying to push deeper into the snow mountain. That was why he had deliberately let Seo from the Onmyo Agency go.
What he hadn't expected was that the intimidation would overshoot so badly that the exorcist families of Tokyo District now regarded him as a massive potential threat.
If he were merely an S-rank yokai, the families would be wary—but in the end, no one would want to take losses, and the matter would likely be left unresolved.
But SS-rank?
That crossed their bottom line.
A being of that level could wipe out an entire family—or even a whole district—with ease. No one wanted to be the one it fixated on someday.
So the only option left was preemptive action.
When Ren heard the true purpose of the meeting—and the Hokuragi family's wildly exaggerated estimates of his strength and nonexistent ambitions—he nearly spat blood on the spot.
He knew his own limits perfectly well.
In his half-demon transformation, his yokai power could rise to roughly S-plus rank.
With the support of his blade spirit, he might be able to fight an SS-minus–rank opponent—but whether he could actually win was another matter entirely.
The gap between S-rank and SS-rank was a chasm.
If he couldn't guarantee victory even against SS-minus, then true SS-rank was completely out of the question.
Ren genuinely didn't understand why these people thought so highly of him, directly labeling him an SS-rank monster.
At the same time, he was incredibly relieved.
When he had been forced to exit his half-demon state back then, no one else had been around.
Otherwise, facing so many exorcist families at once—five of them among the legendary Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses—even he wouldn't stand a chance.
Now, the conference table was filled with clan heads from families great and small.
Normally, Group Nine of the Special Countermeasures Division wouldn't even be qualified to attend.
But because they were survivors of the snow mountain incident, they'd been granted special permission.
Standing at the head of the hall was the elderly Hokuragi clan head, the convener of this meeting, speaking confidently to the assembled leaders.
"I believe the purpose of today's gathering needs no explanation.An SS-rank yokai has appeared within Tokyo District. What that implies, everyone here understands.The reason I've called all of you together is simple—to join forces and eliminate this demon king as soon as possible."
To oppose an SS-rank demon king with a single family was impossible.
And judging from the yokai that had accompanied it, that demon was clearly not acting alone.
"Clan Head Hokuragi makes it sound easy," someone interjected coldly."This is an SS-rank demon king. Even if everyone here cooperates, killing something like that isn't the same as slaughtering fish or chickens.If SS-rank yokai were that easy to kill, humanity wouldn't be on the back foot—and yokai wouldn't be running rampant."
This wasn't a case of undermining their own side.
Since the onset of this chaotic era, yokai truly seemed favored by heaven itself—growing stronger at an alarming pace.