The Seven Demon's Tamer

Koji bowed shortly upon seeing Master Sung, his movements precise and respectful. "You sent for me, Master."

"Yes, I did," Master Sung confirmed. "Take us to the Sen district."

****

Meanwhile, in the heart of the Falcon Guild...

In a silent dojo that seemed to exist in a space between two different offensive worlds, a certain man could be seen with his eyes closed in a meditation position.

The chamber was vast and empty, its walls lost in shadows, and the structure seemed abnormal.

He was clothed in a robe and had the back of both hands resting on his knees. His name is... **Yuki Nakamura**

He was clothed in a robe that appeared to be woven from an otherworldly material, the fabric absorbing light and darkness at the same time. The back of both hands rested on his knees in the regular meditation pose, but there was something strange about his stillness—it was the kind of absolute motionlessness that felt like one of the two — either perfect inner peace or complete emptiness in the soul.

"Master!" A feminine voice suddenly called out, the sound echoing strangely in the empty space. The speaker dropped to the ground before him in a bow so deep it was practically prostration.

Opening his eyes gently, Yuki Nakamura set his gaze on the figure prostrated before him. His eyes were an unusual red in color and seemed to glow with their own internal light, creating an effect that was nothing short of terrifying.

"You did a remarkable job, as you have been doing so far," he said, his voice kind of quiet but vibrating with authority that made people want to obey without question. The words were praise, but they were delivered with stoic facial expression and voice that would make one wonder if he should be happy or sad.

"If you manage to keep up this hard work," he continued, "I might have to make you my personal assistant."

The woman—who was none other than Mia, Daoka's summoner— could barely hold herself from shaking in excitement at the suggestion. "It will be my pleasure and utmost gratitude to serve you, Master Yuki."

"Should I prepare the army for the impending battle?" Mia asked eagerly.

"Certainly," Yuki nodded, his expression remaining completely as stoic as ever. "I know how stubborn my younger brother may be sometimes. He clearly wouldn't be giving out his precious gems easily."

"I will do just that," Mia replied, giving a short respectful bow before hurrying away.

Yuki Nakamura's red pupils remained fixed on Mia until she disappeared from the chamber, tracking her movement silently. Only after she was completely out of sight did a smile extend across his previously stoic face.

It was not a pleasant smile. It was the kind of expression that relates to someone who was planning something that would bring them great satisfaction while causing others immense suffering.

Swiftly hopping from his meditation position to his feet, he stretched his arm and turned his eyes to the ground, focused as if searching for something.

After analyzing the dojo floor for a short while, he squatted down and pulled out a dagger from within his robes. The blade was unlike anything most would have ever seen—it seemed to be forged from crystallized darkness, its edge so sharp it appeared like it could cut through light itself.

He began to draw symbols on the wooden floor, each mark glowing with faint energy as the blade completed it. The symbols were complex and ancient, following patterns that seemed impossible to memorize.

The moment he completed the final symbol, the entire area began to glow brightly, the light pulsing with menace. Shortly after the pulsing began, an opening appeared through the rune symbols—not a hole in the floor, but rather a gateway to somewhere else entirely.

Yuki didn't jump into the opening. Instead, he simply stared through it, his smile widening as if he was getting intense pleasure from simply observing what filled the runic dimension.

"All I got is nine now," he muttered with a mix of pleasure and disappointment at the same time. "I wonder how much more the Dracogon would bestow upon me if I bring this Ryder to him."

The opening suddenly snapped out of existence, closing shut to reveal the wooden floor of the dojo that was supposed to be there originally.

"I'd like to see how the Red Eastern Guild would handle nine black-marked beasts," Yuki said aloud, a sinister grin extending on his face.

"Ryder," he whispered, his red eyes gleaming with predatory bloodlust, "I am coming for you, no matter what."

***

Koji and the two others stepped through the portal opening he had created through his affinity, appearing right in front of Dwang Sung, Akira, and the newly recruited allies of the Red Eastern Guild.

Koji bowed shortly, his movements precise and respectful. "You sent for me, Master."

"Yes, I did," Master Sung confirmed. "Take us to the Sen district."

Koji responded with a simple nod, then stretched his hand forward with deliberate slowness. The air around his fingers crackled and dances of sparks filled the space in front of his hands. The sparks went on and on, multiplying while taking shape.

As Ryder watched the portal formation, a thought occurred to him that he couldn't shake. 'With how much aura in the air of this Tian district, it's a miracle that there haven't been any portal breaches so far. Maybe they have overestimated the situation during the first portal breach.'

'Maybe, just maybe,' he mused internally, 'summoning Luxy didn't actually change the balance of gamma energy in the entire planet Terra. Maybe it only altered the balance in just England, where I came from. Because so far, none of us have heard of portal breach incidents since then, apart from the ones that occurred around us.'

It was a comforting thought, but one that felt almost too good to be true. It was quite reasonable because if the entire planet's energy had been altered, wouldn't they be seeing constant portal breaks everywhere?

The fact that life seemed to be continuing normally in most places was evidence that the alteration he caused might have been smaller than initially feared.