In Kyoto City, inside the Sakura Alliance's Conference Hall.
A group of old men sat gathered around the long table — most of them would have long since passed away had the world not changed course when it did.
"I knew we shouldn't have gotten involved." One of the elders let out a heavy sigh, leaning forward in his seat. "What a mess this has turned into. We hadn't even done anything yet, and on our very first day in the Cloudspire, the Sakura Alliance has already lost face. If things keep going this way, who knows what comes next."
"Ha! Easy to say that now, isn't it?" another elder shot back, his tone dry. "I don't recall you refusing when the decision was made. And let's not forget — we've completely offended the Cloudspire Alliance. If we lose their support now, where does that leave us?"
"You—"
"Enough." A third elder cut them off, shaking his head slowly. "If you ask me, the real problem is the new generation. Three first-tier talents from the Alliance, backed by over twenty Superior-ranked trainers using a rotation strategy, and they still couldn't take down a single opponent. Calling them a disappointment would be letting them off easy."
"You can't put all the blame on them." Another voice chimed in from across the table. "The escort team already sent back battle footage. The trainer they went up against was... unusual. His strength was well beyond what any rookie trainer should possess."
"I heard he's a descendant of the Imperial Dragon Moore Family," someone remarked. "It's not surprising that a family like that would produce a few exceptional talents from time to time. Nothing to be alarmed about."
"David..." The old man at the front of the room murmured the name quietly to himself, his thin lips curving into a faint smile. He held a stack of documents loosely in his hands, and his eyes, clouded with age, still managed to glint with something sharp and unpleasant. "Gavin's grandson. And the great-grandson of that mad dragon, Donovan..."
He trailed off, and without another word, he drew a slow, deliberate finger across his throat.
He had mentioned several names throughout the meeting, but it was when he spoke of David's great-grandfather that his expression shifted — just for a moment — into something that looked unmistakably like fear.
The other elders exchanged glances. None of them responded.
They had all naturally considered the idea of eliminating David. It wasn't a matter of principle — if any talent from the Cloudspire Alliance could be removed, they would have wished for it. But wanting something and being willing to risk everything for it were two very different things.
They were, after all, still on Cloudspire Alliance territory.
Leaving aside just how dangerous that made any such plan, getting rid of David would likely require them to call in every hidden contact and long-planted informant they had in the region — and even then, success was far from guaranteed. Their foothold there was weak, and whether the operation succeeded or failed, the risk of exposure was enormous.
If the other side ever discovered what had been attempted, the consequences would be severe.
And then there was the Moore Family to consider. Everyone at the table knew what those people were capable of when provoked. It wasn't beyond imagination that they might march the Dragon Legion out of the Dragon's Nest Secret Realm and bring the fight directly to Sakura homeland.
No one was willing to take on that kind of risk — not for the sake of this old man's vendetta.
After all, it was his family that Donovan had wiped out all those years ago. Not theirs.
"Hmph!" The bald old man pushed back from the table with a sharp scrape of his chair. "If none of you cowards are willing to act, then I'll go to the Hunter's Guild myself and put a bounty on the boy's head."
He didn't wait for a response. He turned and walked out of the conference room without another word.
No one tried to stop him, and no one seemed particularly surprised. This elder had lost everything to Donovan, and his bitterness ran deep. His personal strength and his standing in the Alliance were both considerable — enough that, in most matters, the others were content to humor him. But this was not a matter they were willing to follow him into.
His departure seemed to mark the unofficial end of the meeting. A few remaining topics regarding the exchange team were briefly addressed, and then, one by one, the elders began to take their leave.
Before long, only a small number remained in the room — the inner circle, centered around the Six Kyoto Families.
"Finally." The elder who had spoken most sharply about the exchange team earlier settled back into the sofa with a sigh, his expression now entirely relaxed. "Those old men are always such a headache."
The tension he had performed earlier — the irritation, the criticism — was gone. It had clearly been something of an act.
"Be careful with your words," another elder said, though his tone carried little real weight. "Lord Yagami is still a senior member of this Alliance. A little respect goes a long way."
Yagami Rei — the one being addressed — gave a short, dismissive sound. "Yeah, yeah."
Everyone present belonged to the new generation of leadership within the Sakura Alliance, the rising figures who had gathered their power beneath the banner of the Six Kyoto Families. And while the Six Kyoto Families were now nominally in control of the Alliance, their ascent had only truly begun around a hundred years ago. There were still many within the Alliance — particularly among the older families — who had their doubts.
A hundred years. That familiar, loaded span of time.
The Six Kyoto Families had risen precisely because of the great war. During that conflict, the Sakura Alliance had lost nearly a quarter of its strength to the awakened Yveltal. Then, when the Cloudspire Alliance — led by Donovan himself — arrived seeking revenge and struck at their homeland directly, the original leadership structure had collapsed under the casualties. That catastrophe had cleared the way for the Six Kyoto Families to step into the power vacuum.
In a strange sense, they had David's great-grandfather to thank for their position today.
Even so, a hundred years was not a long time to build deep roots. There were no fewer than eighty, perhaps even a hundred, old families within the Sakura Alliance that had once outranked the Six Kyoto Families in power. The bald elder who had just stormed out was a prime example — his family had once been considered a Legendary-tier household, a true pillar of the Alliance.
"Let's set all of that aside for now." One of the remaining elders leaned forward, his voice dropping to something more serious. "Now that it's just us, I'll speak plainly. The question on the table is this: do we continue our cooperation with the End Church?"
The words landed like a stone in still water.
It confirmed what some had long suspected — and what David himself had once guessed. The Sakura Alliance, the same Alliance that had once been home to the Cocoon of Destruction's awakening, did indeed have ties to those who called themselves servants of the God of Destruction.
A brief but tense exchange followed among the remaining elders, arguments passing back and forth in low voices. Then, at the head of the table, the elder who had sat with his eyes closed throughout the entire meeting finally opened them.
"We continue," he said, his voice quiet and unhurried. "We have no reliable means of dealing with the Cloudspire Alliance ourselves — but others do. Let the End Church keep themselves busy. It stops them from turning their attention to us, and if they happen to remove that Moore Family talent in the process, all the better."
The room was still for a moment. Then, one by one, the remaining elders nodded.
At that same moment, completely unaware of the undercurrents now beginning to stir, David sat behind the Dragon Ascent Gym on the back mountain, slowly turning a whole Miltank roast over an open flame, the smell of smoke drifting lazily into the evening air.
He had no idea that his name had just been spoken in a room full of dangerous old men — and that somewhere in the shadows, a storm was beginning to gather.