Chapter 56: End of One - Birth Anew

Chapter 56: End of One - Birth Anew

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- Emperor Hall -

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Ume shot a sidelong glance at the Shogun, silently inquiring about what was happening. However, he seemed to freeze after seeing the seal, completely ignoring her. This left her puzzled and wary of the unfolding situation, as the room brimmed with tension.

In a cold tone, the Shogun inquired, "Did you choose her as one of them?"

"Hehehe, indeed I did," the Emperor responded with an eerie laugh.

"Damn it! Because of you, Months of my efforts will be wasted , Emperor!!" the Shogun exclaimed, frustration and anger palpable in his voice.

Unable to tolerate the strange tension any longer, Ume questioned, "What is happening?"

"Shut up, you arrogant wench! I've had enough of your aloof attitude," the Shogun retorted, slapping Ume and causing her mask to fall away.

"You!!" Gyutaro immediately rushed towards him, alarmed at seeing his sister being slapped.

"Apprehend this ugly brother of hers," the Shogun commanded his soldiers.

The entire entourage of fifteen men closed in on Gyutaro, attempting to subdue him swiftly.

But even with fifteen men, the task proved much more difficult than they thought; there was a reason Ume had chosen her brother as a bodyguard, as he exhibited the strength of ten men combined.

He cut them down so fast , as if they were cabbages, rapidly reducing their numbers.

Observing the scene, Minister Hidoki frowned and gestured toward a specific direction in the room.

Gyutaro had already dispatched nine of the Shogun's men, casting a deep frown across the Shogun's face.

However, just as he was poised to defeat the tenth man, he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Huh?!"

Frantically struggling to stand, Gyutaro wrestled with his unresponsive body. Despite his efforts, most of him remained frustratingly limp.

Turning his head, he quickly discovered the cause – not a simple slip, but a small needle embedded in his spine, rendering half of his body paralyzed. He tried to say something but his throat and tongue felt numb and refused to move.

Only his eyes were able to move but the only thing he saw was a sword that was coming his way to pierce him and he could do nothing.

Only his eyes remained in his control, yet all he could see was a sword swiftly approaching, poised to pierce him. Trapped in paralysis, Gyutaro found himself helpless to evade his impending death .

"Stop!"

However, just as the blade was on the brink of ending him, a commanding voice ordered its halt. Yet, there was no solace for him, for the voice belonged to the Shogun.

"Why grant him a swift death now, when he is paralyzed? He should witness the consequences of his crimes, the fate awaiting his sister for killing nine of my men," the Shogun declared.

"Grrrrghhg." Gyutaro strained to move his body with all his might, but it proved futile.

"Hehe, don't waste your efforts trying to move. You've been poisoned by the nine-legged spider. In fact, you should forget about ever being able to even move," Minister Hidoki said, stomping on Gyutaro's ugly face.

"Arghhh!!" Ume screamed in pain, attempting to aid her brother, but the Shogun gripped her hair tightly.

"Ah~ even your hair feels so good. Do you realize how many months I've spent planning to lay my hands on you? Yet, you, arrogant wench, never even spared me an affectionate glance," the Shogun sneered.

"Are you... forgetting our deal? We'll expose all your secret dealings to your enemies," Ume asserted, gritting her teeth.

"Who is this 'we' you are referring to? Is it Kasumi? Hehe," the Shogun sneered.

Ume suddenly froze, becoming as still as a stone statue upon hearing the name Kasumi from him.

"W-what do you mean?!" Ume asked, stuttering.

"Why are you trembling? Was that your backup plan? Using Kasumi to expose my dealing. If it was, it's the biggest joke I've heard."

"Do you even know who she is? I'm sure you'd be quite shocked when you hear it." Shogun said, enjoying the varying expression on her face.

"W-Who?"

"My daughter. Haha."

"You know what? I never needed you. Your information network was always in my control. But you were too beautiful to just kill, so I tried to woo you at first. However, you had to maintain your arrogant and aloof attitude and never reciprocated. Look at what it has led to – public humiliation in front of so many." The Shogun announced to everyone, not caring to anyone who had overheard it.

Hearing those revelations, Ume's expression turned ashen. Her heart shattered as she realized the betrayal, not just by anyone, but by the one she trusted the most after her brother—whom she regarded as a sister. The consequences led to her brother's demise and humiliation.

"Enough, Shogun! She is not just yours. Or are you forgetting this?" The Emperor said displaying the seal.

"Tch. Even after all the planning, she's destined to die because of you!" the Shogun grumbled in frustration.

The Emperor held the seal of the Eternal Paradise cult. The cult was a powerful and mysterious force which even he didn't fully comprehend. It was also the reason for this pig of a man's ascent to Emperor, which he achieved by sacrificing any relative with even a remote chance of claiming the throne with the cult's assistance.

This was a closely guarded secret known only to him. Yet, he dared not share it, having heard rumours about how the cult's leader possessed godly powers enough to kill hundred men in a single breath.

However, it was not without consequences. The Emperor had to sacrifice a hundred beautiful women every five years, and it seemed he had chosen Ume for this grim fate. In this situation, he could only bend his knee.

But...

"Who said she had to be pure when she is to be sent?" the Shogun sneered with a lustful expression.

The Emperor frowned at how the Shogun knew about it, but now that he mentioned it, he could reluctantly go along with it. Since he couldn't actively oppose him.

"Okay! You can go first with her," he said.

"Father, what is happening? I don't understand anything," the prince asked in frustration.

"Shut up," the Emperor snapped, his usually doting demeanor replaced by a stern one.

"Haha, I knew you were reasonable, Juro," the Shogun laughed.

He then proceeded to lift Ume from her neck, who had fallen to the ground, her expression ashened with fear and distress.

"See this, Ume. If you had given up and come with me, you wouldn't be going to be used as some pawn, and you could have lived with me happily. Your brother wouldn't be dying and paralyzed either," the Shogun taunted.

"It's all because of you, etch it into your mind and remember it until you die," the Shogun declared.

He extended his other hand to touch her chest, but before he could make contact.

Daki, who was limp with an ashen expression, suddenly her eyes gleamed with a cold and evil light. In a burst of rapid speed, she used her golden hairpin to poke his eye open and stab his manhood with her other hand before one of the guards punched her away.

"Aaaarrgggghh, My eye… m-my dic… what have you done!" the Shogun screamed in pain and shock.

The Shogun's scream reverberated through the hall like a dying dog, shattering the eerie silence that had gripped the attendees like statues. Panic and chaos ensued as the once silent figures now found themselves caught in even more drama.

The attendees understood that leaving silently wasn't an option once the Shogun started revealing details about his manipulation and his clandestine information network, not to mention the unsettling mention of some strange Eternal Paradise cult.

Thus, they had remained seated like statues, stoically enduring the tense exchange between the Emperor and the Shogun.

The only discernible shift in their expressions came when Daki's mask flew off. Even the most composed among them couldn't help but react, after all they were men.

The attendees never anticipated that Oiran-sama, their revered goddess, would be daring enough to stab the Shogun in the eye and even at his manhood. Yet, as someone once said, chaos is a ladder of opportunities, and the more astute among them recognized just that. Seizing the moment, the more intelligent ones swiftly attempted to leave the hall in hordes.

"Stoppp!! Anyone who tries to leave will be beheaded!" the Shogun bellowed, clutching his injured eye and his manhood to stop the bleeding. The threat echoed through the hall, freezing anyone who tried to escape.

"Bitch! You dare give me such a grievous injury!!"

"Guards! Hold her off, I want her eyes now!" the Shogun shouted, his anger clouding even the knowledge of Ume's intended sacrifice to the Eternal Paradise Cult.

"Shogun!! Do you know what you are doing?" The Emperor hastily attempted to calm him down, but his efforts proved futile, as the Shogun was too consumed by anger to heed reason.

"Argh."

Ume struggled against the hold of the guards, but it was futile. As she witnessed the Shogun reaching for her left eye, her breath hitched, and the sound of her heartbeat echoed her fear.

"Aaaaahhh."

She screamed in pain as she felt his hands dig into her eye socket as his moving fingers tore her eye bit by bit. The pain that followed was so blinding that it made her writhe in agony. Her mind felt dizzy, and her body reeled from the excruciating torment.

The Shogun reveled in her torment, savoring the cruel act. He intentionally slowed down, taking his time to play with her warm eye socket as he methodically pulled her eye slowly.

"Do you relish this pain, Ume? This is what you get for taking my eye. Revel in this agony because it is your karma," he taunted, his words laden with a sadistic satisfaction."

Minister Hidoki thought, "Shogun is compatible with me, hehe."

Meanwhile, the Emperor just sat in silence, he was more worried about how he would explain Ume's situation to the Cult. The Prince, witnessing the gruesome scene, was visibly shaking from the fear that was literally pissing his pants.

'Ume…' Gyutaro's gaze burned with hatred and anger as he looked at his sister getting tortured. However, he could only watch helplessly.

Finally taking her whole left eye out, the Shogun looked at her and smiled, finding satisfaction in the hatred filled look of her right eye as it gazed at him.

"Remove her clothes!!" The Shogun commanded his guards, who hesitated at the order, considering they were in a hall full of men.

"Do I need to repeat myself now!!" The Shogun bellowed. If before he just wanted her to serve him in bed now it had transformed into to just inflicting

humiliation and break her mind. After all, she had attacked his manhood, and this was his retribution.

"Do I need to repeat myself now!" The Shogun bellowed. If before he just had a desire for her to serve him in bed but now it has transformed into a cruel intent to inflict humiliation and break her mind. After all, she had attacked his manhood, and this was his retribution.

Ume gazed at her surroundings with her remaining eye. Even those who were initially trying to flee the hall were now casting eager and lustful looks in her direction.

Giving a one final gaze at her brother, Ume resolved something in her mind. Seizing the moment of hesitation among the guards, she pushed them away and dashed towards the nearest fire torch. With swiftness she snatched it, with a glimmer of defiance in her single remaining eye.

With the fire torch in hand, Ume faced the leering crowd, her single remaining eye defiant.

"You all wanted this body, didn't you?" she declared, a trace of scorn in her voice. "But now you'll never have it!"

"Stop her, you idiots! What are you doing standing there?!" Both the Emperor and Shogun shouted simultaneously.

But they were a little too late.

Ume tilted the torch against her own body, and the blazing flames cascaded onto her, consuming her whole body. The fiery scene unfolded before the stunned onlookers, shocking everyone in the hall.

Thump.

All they could do was watch as her beautiful body, her once milky white skin turning into charcoal, her hair reduced to ashes. It was undeniably a pitiful sight.

Thump.

Tears streamed down Gyutaro's eyes, but his body remained fully paralyzed from the poison from his head down.

Thump.

"Are you also hearing footsteps that I am hearing?" one of the attendees asked his friend.

"Yeah, it's weird. They're so distinct, even in this loud atmosphere," his friend replied stutteringly.

Thump.

Suddenly, a collective shiver ran through everyone as if their very bones chilled. Even the fire that was consuming Ume was extinguished immediately, revealing her charred body in the aftermath.

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"What an interesting performance this was!" A sweet, youthful but demonic voice echoed through the hall.

Everyone shivered hearing the creepy voice.

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