The air in the Royal Banquet Hall was thick with the scent of expensive lilies and even more expensive egos. I leaned against a marble pillar, looking entirely out of place in my new attire. I had traded the Hage-style tunics for a sleek, high-collared Black Jujutsu Sorcerer uniform. It was pitch-black, tailored to move like a second skin, with a silver-stitched Black Bulls logo embedded over my heart.Instead of the blindfold, I wore a pair of dark, circular sunglasses that rested on the bridge of my nose. To the nobles, I looked like a delinquent. To the Rikugan, I was seeing every flow of malice in the room."Look at her," a snide voice hissed. It was Solid Silva, Noelle's brother, swirling a glass of wine. "The failure of the House of Silva. Can't even aim a simple water spell, yet she dares to stand among the elite?"Noelle stood perfectly still, her knuckles white as she gripped her dress. Her mana was a frantic, shivering mess of blue light. Beside her, Nebra Silva giggled. "Mother would be so ashamed. You aren't a Royal, Noelle. You're a defect.""A defect that belongs in the dirt," Solid added, raising his glass to splash his wine over Noelle's head.He never got the chance.The wine didn't fall. It froze mid-air, suspended in a sphere of "Infinite" space. I appeared beside Noelle so fast that the wind of my movement ruffled her silver hair. My hand was in my pocket, my expression one of bored disappointment."You know," I said, my voice carrying a low, dangerous frequency that silenced the entire banquet hall. "I've fought mountain boars in Hage that had more class than you three.""What?! Who do you think—" Solid started, his mana flaring in anger."Sit down," I whispered.I didn't use a spell. I simply released 0.1% of my Primordial Pressure. The floor beneath Solid and Nebra cracked. The sheer weight of my existence forced them to their knees, their faces slamming into the polished marble. They couldn't breathe, let alone speak."Gojo..." Noelle whispered, her eyes wide and shimmering with tears."Don't look at them, Noelle," I said, reaching out and gently straightening her collar. "You're a Black Bull. You don't take orders from trash."I looked up at Nozel Silva, who was watching with a cold, narrowed gaze. "Captain Nozel. Your siblings are embarrassing the Silver Eagles. Clean them up, or I'll do it for you. And I promise, you won't like my version of 'cleaning.'"Nozel's hand gripped his robe, his mana vibrating in a defensive stance, but before he could retort, the world turned red.BOOM!The windows of the palace shattered. Outside, the sky was filled with thousands of floating magical circles. The Eye of the Midnight Sun—backed by the forbidden tech of the Covenant of Whispers—had arrived.Beams of destructive light rained down, turning the capital's streets into a slaughterhouse in seconds. Thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire. Blood stained the white stone of the plaza."INVASION!" the knights screamed.I walked out onto the balcony, looking down at the carnage. Through my sunglasses, the Rikugan saw the souls of the citizens flickering out like dying candles."Master," Aether manifested, his Emperor robes turning a somber, glowing white. "The casualties are mounting. The enemy is using 'Soul-Eater' artifacts. Even if the body survives, the spirit is being consumed.""Not today," I said.I stepped off the balcony, floating high above the Royal Capital. I pulled off my sunglasses, tucked them into my collar, and looked at the burning city with eyes that reflected the entire universe.[Primordial Art: Breath of the First Star—Universal Ablution.]I opened my Six-Leaf Grimoire. The gold-lined pages turned at a speed that created a hum heard across the entire kingdom. I raised both hands, palms facing the earth.A massive, gentle white light erupted from my body. It didn't burn; it felt like a warm summer breeze. It swept through every alleyway, every house, and every hospital in the Clover Kingdom.The Mass Healing:
Wounds closed instantly. Severed limbs reattached. Even the "Soul-Eater" poison was neutralized. The citizens who were seconds from death stood up, their bodies restored to peak condition. It was a miracle that defied the laws of magic—a mass resurrection of the living."He... he healed the entire city?" Julius Novachrono whispered from the palace roof, his eyes wide with awe.But the light didn't stop. It began to change. The warmth turned into a terrifying, cold precision."Now," I said, my voice echoing through the minds of every invader. "For the debt you owe."[Sacred Art: God's Wrath—Starless Rain.]Taking inspiration from the stories of old, I didn't use fire or explosions. I used Light and Space magic to create millions of tiny, needle-thin droplets of "Compressed Infinity."High in the sky, a million tiny purple sparks appeared."Target: Anyone with a malicious mana signature," I commanded.Then, the rain fell.It was silent. It was beautiful. And it was absolute. Each "droplet" was a point of infinite mass. They didn't hit shields; they passed through them like they weren't there. Each droplet tracked an invader with 100% accuracy, piercing their mana-cores and hearts in a single millisecond.Thousands of invaders—from the foot soldiers to the high-ranking Covenant mages—simply dropped dead. No screams, no struggle. Just a mass, simultaneous deletion of an army.In ten seconds, the invasion force of ten thousand men was reduced to zero.I floated down, landing softly in the center of the plaza, which was now filled with healed, stunned citizens and the corpses of their attackers. I slid my sunglasses back on, the blue glow of my eyes fading behind the dark lenses.Noelle, Asta, and Yuno ran toward me. They stopped several feet away, looking at me as if they were seeing a God for the first time."Gojo..." Asta stammered, his voice small. "You... you just...""I handled it," I said, sliding my hands into my pockets. I looked at Noelle. She was shaking, her face a mix of terror and a deep, burning admiration."You stupid commoner," she whispered, her voice cracking. "You... you could have told us you were going to do that! I was worried! I... I thought you were going to get hurt!""I'm fine, Noelle," I smiled, stepping closer to her. I reached out and wiped a smudge of soot from her cheek. "I told you, as long as I'm a Black Bull, nobody touches the pack. Not the nobles, and definitely not some third-rate invaders."Noelle's face exploded into a bright red. "Don't... don't say embarrassing things like that! I'm Royalty! I don't need a commoner to protect the pack! But... but thank you. I suppose."She turned away, her cape swishing, but her mana was singing a song of pure, unadulterated relief.Julius Novachrono and the nine Captains arrived a moment later. Nozel Silva looked at the dead invaders, then at me. For the first time in his life, the Silver Eagle Captain looked truly, deeply afraid. He realized that the boy he had called a "defect" could have erased the entire House of Silva with a single thought."Satoru Gojo," Julius said, his voice trembling with excitement. "You didn't just save the Capital. You just rewrote the power balance of the entire world. The Hundred Kingdoms... they're going to be terrified of us now.""Good," I said, looking at the setting sun. "Maybe now I can finally get that nap I've been wanting."[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Quest Complete: The Reckoning of the Capital.]
[Reward: Rank Up - 'The Honoured One'.]"The Honoured One, huh?" I smirked. "I like the sound of that."