Chương 20: Accomplices

"Shouldn't we report back to higher ups that he is alive?" Kaoru asks. Yagami responds with a smile, "Not yet, they know him as dead anyway. They wouldn't expect him to suddenly revive again. And on the other hand, I didn't get to teach Yose anything about methodology yet. I will take care of the class that consists of Enfoure, Cali and Zelah meanwhile also teaching Yose on my own seperately. This is a golden opportunity for me." Kaoru asks another question, "Why do you bother to go through such hassle?" "Simple" Yagami states and continues, "Yose stated that he wanted to live his own life like however he wanted no matter the odds. As a teacher, it would be such a shame for me to deny him from his goals. Despite his appearance, he is just a teenager that looks like a dog at the same time. Best part is that, he has the biggest potential I have ever seen in terms of becoming stronger. Think about it, he is a vessel of a strong demon which I don't exactly know who yet. I only know his name, Asura." Kaoru raises an eyebrow, "The Asura that was claimed to be the strongest in his era? Some of the old books says that, I remember reading about that." "The Strongest in his era?"

- Inside Naraka, Unknown Location -

"The reason I asked for a meeting is because I-" A woman that has with a stylish looking kimono interrupts Katsuragi's words, "I heard you and your little clan got humbled by Yagami Sato?" She says with a mocking tone. The woman's sudden and mocking remarks caused an awkward silence as the other people in the room glanced at each other, not quite sure how to react. "Well, we did face a bit of a setback..." Katsuragi said sheepishly. "A bit of a setback?" The woman repeated mockingly. "That's an understatement. From what I heard, you and your clan got thoroughly beaten by him." "Hey, come on now. Cut us some slack," Katsuragi protested, "I mean, yes, we were defeated by Yagami but it's not like we got completely destroyed. We held our own." "Is that so?" The woman scoffed, "From what I heard, it wasn't even close. According to the rumors, this Yagami kid knocked you and your clanmates out in the blink of an eye." Katsuragi shot back, "Rumors are exaggerated. And even if they weren't, so what?" "So what?" The woman echoed, continuing to mock Katsuragi, "So what? You lost and got humiliated by him. Are you guys ashamed and going to hide your tails?"

"Hey," Now Katsuragi looked like he was getting annoyed, "We were just caught by surprise. I'm sure if we knew what this Yagami could do, we would have been more prepared. I have fought him years ago and he was nothing like this." The woman chuckled, "Excuses and excuses."

"One of the men in the room that looked like he is blind, started speaking, "It already happened, it's in the past no need to scold Katsuragi about this any further." "Finally someone who understands me." Katsuragi says and the blind man continues, "So? What is the meeting for? Not like you requested a meeting just to talk about how you lost." he says and then Katsuragi begins to explain, "We may have lost our last battle, but that doesn't mean we're out of the game. In fact, we have a plan to make things right." The woman's expression shifted from mocking to curious, "And what is that plan?" she asked, curious. Katsuragi smiled confidently, "We plan to gather more information on Yagami and then use what we know to beat him next time." "Wouldn't any one of us in this room except for you would be enough to defeat Yagami?" Katsuragi shakes his head, "Unfortunately no, he would kill all of us at the same time even if we tried to attack together. He is a different kind of monster. I have never seen such precise control over life-force energy before. And on top, he is immensely powerful. I cannot even compare the difference between when I fought him in the past and now." "So? What did you think of related to what we could do about that?" "I have, the conclusion I reached is fairly simple. What If we got him stuck between the gap of Naraka and the real world?" "Between the gap of Naraka and the real world...?" The woman repeated, her voice tinged with skepticism. "How?" one of the men chimed in. "How would we force him to the space between the two worlds?" another man asked, his face betraying his curiosity. "And how can we be sure that he'll get stuck there?" The blind man inquired, his soft voice carrying no trace of skepticism. "That's where it gets slightly complicated," Katsuragi acknowledged. "Once Yagami is in the gap, he'll likely try to exit immediately. So we'll need to close off that space and keep it closed." "And how would we do that?" the woman asked, her voice laced with skepticism. "We'll need to create a seal to secure the gap, one so strong that not even a methodologist of Yagami's level could break it." He explained slowly, emphasizing each word. "Creating such a powerful seal will require some complicated sorcerer arts and rituals," Katsuragi explained, "But I think I can do it." "And what if you fail?" the woman questioned, her skeptical tone unchanged. "Then this whole plan fails," Katsuragi conceded, "And we just have to hope that Yagami is merciful when we face off with him again." "And if the plan succeeds?" The blind man asked, still showing immense curiosity.

"If this plan succeeds," Katsuragi replied, his voice filled with conviction, "Then Yagami will be stuck in the gap between the two worlds. And at that point, what happens to him is up to us." "And what would we do with him?" The woman asked, her tone still skeptical and curious. "That too is up to us," Katsuragi replied with a grim expression, "But let's just say that Yagami won't be causing us any more problems."