"Isn't it about time you stopped acting so pitiful? How long do you plan on embarrassing yourself?"
With such infuriated words, Domon Kira stepped into the room where Hinowa was.
Nearly ten years had passed, and although Domon Kira had already entered her sixties back then, she barely seemed to have aged at all.
However, the aura of menace she exuded had only grown stronger over the years. Her presence was sharp like killing intent, making even Subaru and Mutsura instinctively tremble.
After all, the old woman before them wasn't just the head of the Domon family—she was the strongest onmyouji in the entire clan. Ordinary people couldn't even hope to compare. Even beings like Wisemen would likely pale in comparison to her. There was simply no denying her fearsome power.
And this was no exaggeration.
The Izanagi was a pillar of the nation. As an onmyouji family upon which the country's hope rested, their strength was such that even the military would yield to them. Otherwise, they wouldn't be entrusted with the fate of the nation.
Naturally, as the strongest member and head of the Domon family, Kira possessed exceptional power.
Wisemen were merely exceptional individuals born among students. While they might garner international attention and recruitment attempts, they still could not compare to those who upheld the foundation of a nation.
Within the Domon clan, Domon Kira held overwhelming prestige and authority. In terms of status, power, and influence, Subaru and Mutsura could not possibly oppose her.
Only Hinowa, though still shaken by Kira's oppressive presence, glared back fiercely.
"Hmph." Kira looked at her like that and said, whether in admiration or mockery, "So you've grown a backbone after attending that foreign academy. Not the crybaby you used to be. Now you've even learned to defy me, huh?"
"...I never intended to rebel against you, Grandmother," Hinowa bit her lip and said after a long silence, her voice low. "But I also don't want to stand with you anymore. Please, leave me be."
"What a ridiculous thing to say," Kira sneered. "No matter how much you deny me, you're still an onmyouji who inherited my blood. Everyone treats you like a princess and gave you everything—your birth, your upbringing, your training, your education—all of it led to who you are now. And yet you want to cut ties with just one sentence? Is that what you learned in Britain?"
"What is it that you're really trying to say?" Hinowa took a deep breath and responded coldly. "I know I was born into a clan steeped in sin. A devil born from corpses trampled by our people. I carry filthy blood..."
Before she could finish, a surge of fury cut her off.
"Enough!"
Kira roared, her jutsuryoku flaring so violently that the air itself trembled. A cannonball of pure psychic force blasted toward Hinowa.
"Boom!"
With a heavy impact, Hinowa was knocked back by the jutsuryoku projectile, rolling across the floor before slamming into the wall with a painful grunt.
"Young Miss!"
"Young Miss!"
Subaru and Mutsura immediately rushed to her side to help her up.
Kira made no move to stop them but remained furious.
"To think the daughter of the Domon's main family would utter such blasphemy... I've been far too lenient with you, Hinowa!" she shouted in rage. "Everything we've done was for the sake of your generation, so that you could survive and uphold the glory of our family! And this is how you repay us!?"
Hinowa, instead of being cowed, grew emotional.
"If surviving means relying on such methods, then I would rather have never been born! I believe everyone else would feel the same!"
She cried out loudly.
"Silence!" Kira's forehead veins bulged as she shouted, "If you continue this insolence, I will not show mercy!"
But instead of fearing her, Hinowa let out a bitter laugh.
"If only you really would... then I could at least face Rozen-sama with some shred of dignity."
Tears welled in her eyes as she spoke the name of the one in her heart.
Seeing this, Kira's anger began to subside.
"So I should've eliminated him back then after all. I spared him because he was merely an adopted child with no blood ties to the Akabane family. But no—I should've never considered marrying you into the Akabanes in the first place. Should've never let you meet that boy. If I'd known we'd end up wiping them out anyway, I should've done it earlier and spared everyone the trouble."
"You...!" Hinowa's eyes burned with rage.
But the rage soon turned to sorrow.
Because...
"Regardless, it's already too late between you and that boy. He's grown powerful enough to defeat even Edward Rutherford. He can summon tens of thousands of monsters with his own strength. We of the Izanagi cannot move against him lightly. But I will still not allow you to have any connection with the family of our sworn enemy."
Kira snorted coldly as she spoke.
"If I had known he would rise to such heights, I never would've let him leave Tengu Mountain. I thought that despite his talent, he wasn't a successor of the 'Crimson Wing Blood' and couldn't use the Akabane's 'Crimson Wing Formation' secret arts, so he'd be of no threat. Who would've guessed he'd gain such techniques? The Akabane elders must have secretly trained him all along."
To Kira, Rozen's current strength could only be explained by the Akabane clan secretly nurturing him.
That he could summon familiara and use ancient jujutsu to battle Edward Rutherford led her to believe that all of it was a product of the Akabanes' covert teachings.
"Claiming to have abandoned the ways of onmyouji to become a puppetry house... all just a smokescreen. They only pretended to forsake onmyodo while secretly training talent behind the scenes. If we hadn't acted first, the ones annihilated might've been the Izanagi."
Kira muttered bitterly.
"Rozen-sama would never do such a thing! This is all your delusion!"
Hinowa was once again enraged.
"Do not speak up for that Akabane boy, you ungrateful child!"
Kira unleashed another jutsuryoku force, sending Hinowa flying again. Subaru and Mutsura were caught in the blast and rolled across the ground as well.
"I'll say it one more time! That boy is our mortal enemy! Don't you dare harbor any feelings for him!"
With that final command, Kira turned and left.
"Ugh....."
Hinowa wept again, her sorrow overwhelming.
Watching her, Subaru and Mutsura felt a deep pain in their hearts.
But at that moment...
"Enemy attack!"
With a scream, explosions suddenly echoed from outside.