Chapter 20 - An Unheard Of Oddity

The room was about twenty meters high.

Ten respective pillars were occupied with obviously grandiose, red velvet chairs.

Seated on top of each chair were figures with white hooded robes.

Except their leader, who wore a black robe.

"Emissary. Are these the survivors?"

An aged voice asked in a meek tone.

Their faces were obscured by the shadows of their hood.

Isabelle nodded and knelt to the ground.

Everyone else followed her as they also humbled themselves before the High Council.

"Yin Sohaya, a C rank Lightning Slayer. Suna Izanami, a B rank Slayer. Cosette Akim, an A rank Earth Slayer. And finally, two D rank Water Slayers whom are also twins, Earl and Everette Samson. These are the survivors of the conquest at the Outer Gates sent to eliminate the Angel. They are the only ones remaining out of the initial fifty. As instructed, the Commander of the Slayer Corps, Luken Regalia and the Serpent Summoner, Gavin Khalil, did not engage the Angel in combat. It was a successful mission."

"I see. That's good."

The person who sat in the middle responded.

Was this the de-facto leader of the High Council?

Yin asked to himself.

"Additional information. The Reaper, Adam Rosa, joined the battlefield, causing both the S and SS ranked Slayers at our disposal to engage in combat as well. We were unsuccessful. He got away after dealing physical damage to both of them. The Reaper has also declared an invasion which will occur exactly two years from now."

Isabelle's last line caused gasps of panic among the High Council.

It was of both fear and confusion.

"Why couldn't you kill him then and there, Luken?"

Asked the black-robed man.

"Perhaps both he and the Serpent Summoner still feel a bit of empathy for their former teammate."

Another member of the High Council added.

Luken clenched his fist in anger.

He just stared at the ground, refusing to look up to the robed individuals.

The Commander's palms were bleeding from the sheer force of his clenches.

Yin looked at him and shook his head.

This seemed to make Luken calm down.

"Do you want to fight him yourself? You're free to try."

Luken retorted.

"Silence!"

The black-robed man interrupted his smugness with a shout.

This sequence of events made everyone sweat heavily.

Yin was too scared to even swallow his saliva.

"Yin Sohaya. Stand up."

Yin was shaking.

But he still managed to stand up proudly and looked up at them.

"Demonstrate what you are capable of."

A log of wood was thrown down at them from up above.

To which he caught midair.

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"Show us your powers, Yin Sohaya."

A woman's voice from the one of the ten pillars ordered Yin.

Yin called forth the Black Lightning.

After bumping his fists together, Black Lightning from the skies made its way through the large open windows of the room down to his limbs.

"This boy is a special class Slayer."

Another robed figure stated.

"Yes, based on his affinity's characteristics, it is safe to say that he is."

"Black Lightning wielders have not been born since forever."

"A special class Slayer who has awoken his Anima cells eight years too late. This is indeed unprecedented, there have been no documentations of such a thing happening!"

They all took turns talking.

Until finally, the black-robed man asked him in his deep voice.

"That's not the only power you have, right?"

Yin gulped.

He looked at Gavin and Luken.

They slowly nodded.

Yin squeezed the log of wood between his palms.

He exhaled a breath of immense focus.

After five seconds, it turned to dust.

It decayed.

After the wind scattered the dust, there was no evidence whatsoever that a piece of log was ever there in the first place.

Yin then summoned his Binding Chains.

He placed his palms on the floor and shouted.

"Deathly Binding Chains!"

The chains he summoned were not even a meter long.

This was due to the log producing such a small number of ashes.

Binding Chains bases their size on the number of ashes decayed prior.

So, the larger the number is, the bigger the chains are.

Another round of gasps and shock rang through the room.

"W-What?!"

"Heresy!"

"How can this child exhibit such a destructive power?"

"It might be that this child is also a monster."

"He's part of the Six Blades, Adam probably had something to do with this."

"Silence!"

The leader of the High Council signaled them to quiet down.

"Yin Sohaya. As much as we value a special class Slayer in our military ranks, to possess these decaying powers such as you do is unheard of. To awaken your Anima cells this late in your age is also unheard of. If you cannot explain in detail how you have accomplished this feat, then we will be forced to exterminate you. No human is able to do this. If you are not a human, there's only one thing that describes you – a filthy, tainted monster."

Suna turned her head towards Isabelle in anger.

Her eyes burnt with the intensity of a thousand suns.

"F-Forgive me, I did not know it would end up like this."

Yin had to say something.

What was he about to say?

Was it safe to reveal the System to them?

No, that is out of the question.

He still does not know much about the Thanatos System, besides, if they were to deem him as a liar, he'd be executed right away.

The black-robed man descended from the pillars up above.

He jumped down to the ground.

Though his face was still hidden underneath his hooded robes, he pulled out a golden grimoire.

"N-No. Impossible! That's the Golden Summoning Grimoire. Luken, these guys aren't kidding, at this rate, they really are going to kill Yin!"

Gavin said as he turned towards Luken.

"Answer us, Yin Sohaya."

No words would even come out of his mouth.

"I-I d-don't know."

That was all he could muster.

"One last time. Answer us!"

The man was now flicking through pages of his golden grimoire, looking for the fiercest of beasts to summon.

The others finally stood up.

Suna, Luken, Gavin, Cosette, and even the twins stood in front of Yin.

Suna assumed a fighting stance.

Luken drew his sword.

Gavin pulled out his grimoire.

Even Cosette readied her axe.

"I-I don't even know why I'm doing this."

She whispered to herself.

The twins merely lifted their arms sidewards in order to protect Yin.

"S-Stop it! You're going to get killed too!"

Yin demanded them to stand down.

"This is foolishness!"

Isabelle shouted at the Commander.

"If even I couldn't manage to lay a finger on Adam. Do you think you guys could?

Luken smirked.

"You disgusting, old, outdated, fossils. I dare you to try it. Try striking my pupil down and I'm taking you all with me to the underworld."

Like a shark locking eyes with its prey, Luken prepared to slice them up.

The High Council leader now hesitated.

Luken was not kidding around.

"T-This is treason! How dare you defy the High Council!? We've been the ones keeping the Barrier intact for many decades! Don't you dare doubt our wise judgment! Step aside, or perish with Yin Sohaya!"

The System's voice wormed its way around Yin's head.

[ Exterminate the High Council (0/10) ]

"W-What?!"

Yin was confused.

Why did the System give him such a quest?

"Come."

Luken motioned them to approach with his fingers.

Everyone stood still.

Until finally, the door behind was kicked open.

A clap was heard afterwards.

"Luken, Willis. That's enough."

A majestic voice ordered everyone in the room to stand down.

It was the commanding voice of Niflheim's whole authority itself.

It was the Emperor.

"Y-Your majesty!?"

The black-robed old man exclaimed in shock.