Published at 12th of December 2025 8:18 am

Chapter 1335: Public Unrest

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Taketsu City.

Several days later, Ryugan Arakuro led his men back to the clan’s seat of power.

Despite not having fought any enemies on the way, strangely enough, all color had drained from the faces of these Magi. Their eyes looked bleak and hopeless.

Could they be blamed? After all, what they had witnessed in Kokumotsu Town was far too vile and brutal. Most of these young Magi had completely lost thier will to fight. They wanted to have nothing to do with the battle against the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Arriving at the grand gates of the city, Ryugan noticed something strange. There was a foul stench in the air, and a lot of the residents of the city looked troubled. Very troubled.

Fearing the worst, he quickly rode up to the nearest guard and asked, "What’s the matter? Was the city attacked?!"

The guard immediately straightened up when he identified the man. "Reporting to Elder! No, the city hasn’t been attacked!"

Ryugan Arakuro frowned. "Then what’s the matter with these people? Why do they look so horrified?"

"Well, that’s..." The guard muttered nervously, his eyes gleaming with fear. "Elder Genshiro arrived an hour ago. And he..."

"Genshiro?" Ryugan’s heart sank. "What happened to him? Is he alright?!"

"H-he’s well and alive, Elder. But..." The guard couldn’t think of the right words to say. The pressure emitted from Ryugan was simply that great.

Ryugan cursed. "Damn it! Where is he?!"

"T-the ancestral palace!" The guard blurted out.

Without wasting another moment, Ryugan rode through the gate and hastily made his way towards the palace.

***

Within a vast chamber inside the clan’s ancestral palace, the Patriarch had convened a gathering of elders.

"Genshiro, how dare you bring that back to our home?!" An elder was livid.

"Do you have any idea what you’ve done? The residents of the city are panicking!" Another elder reprimanded.

"Why would you even do such a thing?!"

"You must be out of your mind!"

One by one, the elders berated the middle-aged man, who stood at the end of the hall with his head hung low and his eyes vacant.

"Silence."

The Patriarch’s cold voice rang inside the chamber.

Everyone quietened down.

With a dark look on his face, Kurozane Arakuro muttered coldly, "Genshiro, why did you bring those... things here?"

Genshiro’s eyes turned bloodshot. "Things? Patriarch, are you calling them mere things?!"

"Mind your words, Genshiro!" An elder shot to his feet, roaring. "You’re speaking to the Patriarch here!"

Genshiro ignored the man, his bloodshot gaze glued to the Patriarch. "Those ’things’ are our kin! That is what they have been reduced to after battling the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult! Patriarch, do you have any idea what my men are going through? They’re scared!!"

He paused for a moment, his lips curled into a bitter smile, "And to be honest... I’m scared too."

"You..." Another elder rose to his feet. "How dare you say such—"

"I said silence," the Patriarch coldly muttered, his sharp gaze drilling into the elder who had just spoken up.

The man shuddered before quickly sitting down.

Kurozane Arakuro turned back to Genshiro.

"Answer me," he began. "Why did you bring them here?"

Tears trickled down Genshiro’s face as he clutched his chest. "Because I wanted you to see! I wanted you to see what our kin have been reduced to in the hands of those demons! I wanted you to see what we are facing out there!"

Just like Ryugan Arakuro had been dispatched to protect a strategic stronghold based on Lady Chiyo’s divination, Genshiro Arakuro and his men had also been sent to secure another town.

But what they saw wasn’t an archway made from the butchered corpses of their kin. No, one could argue that what they saw was far worse.

They saw large cargo wagons.

One was packed with eyeballs. Another was filled with ripped-out hearts. A third was heaped with livers. And the last one was filled with freshly-ripped intestines.

Moreover, the severed heads of the Arakuro Magi were impaled on pikes and lined on the town walls. Needless to say, the eyes were missing from the heads.

Finally, there was the same bloody message carved onto the walls:

Blame Kurozane Arakuro for bringing this calamity upon your clan.

That is what Genshiro and his men had been forced to see when they arrived at the location.

"And what did you achieve by bringing those wagons back to the city?" Kurozane Arakuro coldly muttered, his eyes flashing with suppressed rage.

"I just..." Genshiro lowered his head and whispered, "I just want all of this to stop—"

"Fool!" The Patriarch roared, interrupting him. "This is war! And you want it to stop? Do you know how much public unrest you’ve caused?!"

Genshiro gritted his teeth and was about to speak, when suddenly...

Slam!

The doors to the hall swung open, and Ryugan entered.

"Genshiro!" He quickly rushed to him. "Thank goodness you’re okay! I thought the worst had happened!"

Ryugan then quickly apologized to the other elders for barging in. But he saw that the atmosphere inside the hall was grim, so he couldn’t help but ask about it.

A few minutes later, when he learned what Genshiro had seen and what he’d done, his expression twisted.

"You... why would you?" He couldn’t understand why Genshiro, a practical man, would do something so stupid.

Could all the brutal killings have gotten to his head? He wondered.

"Ryugan, give us your report," the Patriarch ordered.

"Reporting to Patriarch!" Ryugan cupped his fists, then explained what had happened in Kokumotsu Town.

A few minutes later...

All the elders gathered in the hall had dark looks on their faces.

An ominous silence settled in the hall. Suddenly, Genshiro’s lips curled into a bitter smile, and he murmured:

"Now do you see what I mean? Just how long are we expected to endure such... monstrous cruelty?"

This time, none of the elders reprimanded him. Some even started to sympathize with him.

It was then that Lady Chiyo, who was seated beside the Patriarch, gently said, "Genshiro, return to your quarters. The clan is grateful for all that you and your men have done. Take this time to rest."

The Patriarch didn’t object. He simply glanced at the man with a cold look in his eyes.

"...Yes, Lady Chiyo." Genshiro Arakuro weakly nodded.

He then turned around without another word and slowly walked out of the hall.

Behind him, the murmurs continued, discussions about the Heavenly Demon’s methods and the crushing psychological toll they had taken on some of the clan’s Magi.

Genshiro heard every word as he reached the doors.

And just as he exited the chamber and the doors closed behind him...

His lips curled into a sinister grin.

"Genshiro’s" eyes gleamed with malevolent delight.

Rank 4 Spell: Skin Stealer!

Share