What the Hell?

A decapitation operation targeting Kujo Koji?

Zhou Huai hadn't expected to hear any clues about the Pendulum of Life at this banquet.

Instead, he heard about an attack revolving around Kujo Koji.

It's getting more and more interesting.

Who could be making a move against Kujo Koji tonight?

It should be the Omiya Family.

Judging by this.

The Omiya Family is not as passive as he had anticipated.

They have also begun to fight back.

A smirk played at the corners of Zhou Huai's mouth.

If that's the case, he would want to stay even more to enjoy this good show.

Moments later, the lights in the banquet hall suddenly dimmed.

The melodious classical music stopped abruptly.

A bright spotlight struck down from the dome, landing precisely on the temporarily erected podium in the center of the banquet hall.

The guests who were still whispering earlier stopped their movements in unison.

Everyone's gazes converged in the same direction.

Kujo Koji straightened the collar of his suit, wore a gentle smile on his face, and walked onto the podium with steady steps.

He stood in front of the microphone and looked around.

That refined gaze swept across the entire audience.

"Everyone."

Kujo Koji's voice clearly spread to every corner of the rooftop through the speakers.

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend the Kujo Family's banquet."

He bowed slightly, his posture humble, but it could not hide the arrogance stemming from his bones.

"Today is a special day."

"Because I have the honor of inviting a distinguished guest you would never expect."

"When you see him, I hope you will seriously consider your own stance."

Kujo Koji's smile turned meaningful.

"Whether to continue supporting the Kujo Family, or choose to stand on the side of the Omiya Family."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar off the stage.

No one expected that Kujo Koji would completely lay bare the conflict between the two families in such a public occasion.

This is tantamount to an open declaration of war.

Kujo Koji ignored the commotion off the stage, his voice suddenly raised, carrying a kind of fanatical confidence.

"The era of the Omiya Family has passed!"

"From now on, it will be the future of us Amaterasu clansmen!"

As his voice fell, the atmosphere off the stage was instantly ignited.

All guests belonging to the Kujo Family's influence showed fanatical expressions on their faces.

They raised their glasses high and cheered in unison.

And right amidst this hustle and bustle.

Several waiters holding trays and quietly standing in the corners simultaneously received a cold and short command in the miniature earpieces under their collars.

"Do it."

The next second.

One of the waiters suddenly hurled the silver tray in his hand.

The tray rotated at high speed in mid-air, turning into a silver disc of death, carrying a sharp piercing sound through the air, heading straight for Kujo Koji's throat on the stage!

At the same time.

The actions of the other waiters were equally astonishingly fast.

The uniforms on their bodies were instantly torn open by an invisible force, revealing the battle uniforms they had prepared in advance underneath.

Several talisman papers flashing with eerie red light flew out from their hands.

The talisman papers burned without fire in mid-air.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by bursts of inhuman roars, three ferocious monsters appeared out of thin air!

One was a fierce wolf burning with black flames all over its body.

One was a ghost-faced crow of huge size, with its wings spread out to several meters.

And another was a giant python whose entire body was made of white bones, with two clusters of eerie blue ghost fire burning in its eye sockets!

Shikigami!

It's an Onmyoji's Shikigami!

"There's an assassin!"

"Protect the head of the Clan!"

The expressions of the surrounding guards changed drastically, and they successively drew their weapons, wanting to step forward to support.

But it was all too late.

The speed of those three Shikigami was faster than imaginable. They bypassed the interception of all guards and lunged fiercely towards Kujo Koji on the stage from three different directions!

The entire banquet hall fell into complete chaos.

The screams of the women, the roars of the men, and the shattering sounds of tables and chairs being overturned intertwined into one piece.

The guests retreated in panic, afraid of being drawn into this sudden slaughter.

However, as the core target of the attack.

Kujo Koji, standing on the stage, did not have the slightest panic on his face.

He didn't even move a fraction.

Just stood there quietly, watching those three Shikigami carrying the aura of death get closer and closer to him.

In the blink of an eye.

Wada Hirayama stood in front of Kujo Koji.

No one saw how the tachi in his hand was unsheathed.

A silver thread flashed and disappeared under the dim light.

Fast to the extreme.

It didn't even stir up a trace of wind.

The movements of the three roaring Shikigami stopped abruptly.

Their ferocious heads still maintained the posture of pouncing forward, but the fierce light in their eyes had already solidified.

The next second.

Three shrill screams sounded at the same time, but were interrupted instantly.

Whether it was the fierce wolf burning with black flames, the ghost-faced crow whose wings covered the sky, or that bone giant python.

Their bodies, along with the three Onmyojis hiding in the shadows controlling them, were cut in half at the waist by that invisible silver thread.

The smooth cuts were like a mirror surface.

Blood did not gush out.

Wada Hirayama sheathed his tachi, making a crisp "click" sound.

His aged face was full of sneers, and his gaze swept over those fallen corpses.

"Are the tricks of the Omiya Family only to this extent?"

"Or rather, they don't take you, the Kujo Family head, seriously at all?"

However, a bizarre scene began to unfold.

The corpses of the three Onmyojis cut in half fell to the ground, yet not a single drop of blood flowed out.

Their flesh and bones began to dissolve at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Turning into pools of pitch-black, viscous ink.

The ink seemed to have life, rapidly spreading outward, devouring the smooth marble floor.

"Snap!"

All the lights in the banquet hall went out at the same moment.

Absolute darkness shrouded everything.

Panicked screams rose one after another.

The floor covered by the ink turned into a viscous swamp.

The guests who hadn't had time to escape only felt their feet empty, and their bodies sank uncontrollably downwards.

"Help! My legs!"

"What is this?!"

"Pull me! Hurry up and pull me!"

Terrified calls for help, struggling flailing sounds, and desperate cries of being dragged intertwined into a movement of death in the darkness.

Even Kujo Koji, standing beside the podium, was no exception.

His legs had unconsciously sunk into the ink-colored quagmire.

A viscous suction came from under his feet, as if countless cold hands were grabbing his ankles tightly, trying to drag him into the endless abyss.

Beneath the dark floor, countless evil ghosts seemed to be wailing.

Even more arms condensed from ink suddenly stretched out from the black quagmire.

Their target was clearly pointed straight at Kujo Koji.

It seemed they wanted to drag this master of the Kujo Family completely into Hell.

However, facing this bizarre and fatal desperate situation.

Kujo Koji's face still didn't have the slightest panic.

He didn't even look at the ghost hands grabbing towards him.

Instead, with a faint smile, he turned his head to look at Wada Hirayama beside him, who was also trapped in the quagmire but still maintained a posture as straight as a pine tree.

"It looks like your old friend has arrived."

His voice was calm, carrying a hint of playfulness.

"Soma Kosuke."