Chapter 92: Keepsake
Sometime later...
The world grew quiet. With V’s death, all the possessed were released from his control. Yet humanity’s losses were staggering, not something to be dismissed.
More than five thousand had died, countless were injured, and thousands remained in critical condition, almost all of them human casualties. Infrastructure damage alone cost over 300 gold.
The catastrophe was unparalleled and the world spent more time mourning than choosing a winner for the competition.
Even so, immediate measures were required.
All of V’s victims, despite having been controlled against their will, were immediately called to the High Court along with every member of the Supreme Council.
What transpired wasn’t publicly known and was rarely discussed. Rumor had it that the Zheng clan bore all responsibility for both the Akumas and the Supreme Council, resulting in the family being stripped of their entire fortune and status.
Most talk centered on what Theo did immediately after defeating V: it journeyed to the Vey household where, witnessed by curious followers, it bowed before Purple Vey. Then, forging a refined sword before the gathered crowd, Theo presented it to her as a keepsake.
The three feet long sword was gracefully accepted, and a temporary alliance between Theo and Purple was formed.
News of this spread like wildfire. It was unprecedented, the first time in all of human history that a Scarlet Kin had shown such deference to a human, even crafting them a gift.
This prompted the High Court to summon Purple. Many suspected she’d manipulated the Scarlet Kin, but the court’s real interest was understanding why the Ally of Mankind had shown her such deference.
She told them she’d simply suggested a strategy to Theo, nothing more. The High Court remained unsatisfied. They demanded more.
If greed was humanity’s greatest failing, the High Court embodied it perfectly.
They attempted to confiscate Theo’s gift under the pretense of investigation, but the Blade of Purity burned anyone who touched it, except Purple herself. This rendered that pretense useless.
Hours of this persecution passed until the Supreme Council, along with the Kugo clan, intervened to protect Purple Vey.
The evidence showed that Purple’s unique Inheritance made her the only person who could discern V’s weakness. Furthermore, the Kugo clan’s Four Wings and Moon Killers, Leonard and Kong, testified to witnessing Purple share this knowledge with Theo.
As compensation, the Vey family received substantial rewards, and Purple was offered the Supreme Council seat left empty by Aina Zheng’s departure.
Respectfully, Purple postponed this promotion for the near future, claiming she was too young for such responsibility. But out of loyalty to her comrades, she made an honorable request.
The Kugo clan had sacrificed nearly their entire Four Wings to stop V. One dead, one who’d lost a leg, a leader missing an arm, and only one who’d come through without damage. That toll was the reason she’d put their name forward for the position.
The Kugo clan’s reward had never been in doubt, that was settled before Purple opened her mouth. What Purple did was change the shape of everything else. The request was bold enough on its own.
The backing behind it, the Vey household carrying the protection of Theo, Ally of Mankind, made it something the High Court couldn’t wave away.
Couldn’t accept outright either. Too much weight on both sides. So they sat on it, the way courts always do with decisions that have teeth, and offered a resolution in the near future.
In the Kugo clan’s household, the atmosphere had settled into something unresolved, torn between relief that it was over and confusion about what exactly they were left with.
The clan leader called for a meeting, and the room arranged itself differently than it used to. Before, the Four Wings had stood behind the elder. Now everyone had a seat. The change was small. It wasn’t insignificant.
"I warned you... the Purple girl isn’t someone to take lightly. We could have achieved something far greater if we had just listened to her."
Elder Bahn had waited for this. Last meeting, his words had been dismissed. Worse, treated as an insult to the clan leader. Now the Vey family was being held up and celebrated, their name carrying weight it hadn’t before.
He spoke with the quiet confidence of someone who’d been right once already and knew the room finally understood that.
"Something about this feels off. She claimed she’d take the position soon, yet she recommended giving it to us instead. What does she think we are?"
"We don’t need to analyze this any further. Despite our plans to kill her, she relinquished an opportunity that could have reshaped our clan."
"I agree. Even if she has ulterior motives, the position will still be ours. Whether we keep it, however, depends solely on how we conduct ourselves."
One of the elders frowned.
"This isn’t a gift, you fools. If she’s the one granting it, she can revoke it whenever she pleases. That puts us under her control."
Another elder immediately cut in, angered.
"What are you talking about? Didn’t you witness it yourself? Theo bowed before her, and with that sword as evidence, even the High Court wouldn’t risk opposing them. This is our opportunity to ally with the most powerful family."
"I agree. The High Court offered her the vacant position because of the power the Vey family currently possesses. An alliance is our best course of action."
Soon, the room erupted into chaos, and everyone was speaking their mind.
Ahem.
The clan leader’s voice cut through the room, and everyone fell quiet without hesitation. He turned to his left, to the Four Wings who had sat through the entire meeting without a word.
"Haste, explain this to me. How did this happen? Are you absolutely sure the person you saw was Purple Vey?"
Haste nodded.
"It was her. After Theo battled the Gate God until sunrise, she appeared without warning. She looked utterly confident, and even Theo seemed shocked to see a mere human walk through that chaos smiling. The only way I can describe her... is a psychopath."
Haste exhaled.
"That was when I began to suspect we had made a mistake. But when I severed V’s head and Isa sliced him in half, and he still survived... I knew for certain."
The clan leader’s head turned sharply toward Isa. She’d been trying to say something, and with a look, gave her the floor. Even though blind, it was as if the old man read her mind.
"Even if she had revealed the method, I doubt we could have killed V. By the time Theo struck him down, Haste and Kaito were already unconscious from losing too much blood, but I saw everything, even from a distance.
"Theo’s presence vanished twice. The second time, both it and V disappeared, and it felt as though Theo had been waiting for that moment the entire time. The only way to defeat V was to let him drag you into a different realm."
The room stayed quiet after Isa finished, the kind of quiet that meant everyone had heard her and no one was ready to respond. The clan leader took a deep breath and took his time to speak.
"I don’t think this requires further explanation. Purple clearly wants to use us, yet she isn’t going to do so without providing some help in the process.
"This is shameful for the Kugo clan. We not only failed to kill V and nearly lost the Four Wings, but we were also outmaneuvered by a mere sixteen-year-old.
"It matters little now. The focus must be on the future. We will follow Purple and the Vey family for the time being, adhering to their demands, however absurd. We must act with logic and cunning. When the moment comes to break free, we strike and remind them that the Kugo clan is not a clan to be trifled with."
Those words closed it. The Kugo clan’s meeting was over, and whatever the room had walked in carrying, it left with something different.