Meanwhile, far beneath the imperial capital, the Obsidian Chamber was in session.
The round table of black volcanic glass was surrounded by the most powerful figures of the Golden Age.
Gojo no Michizane lounged in his seat with his ten-year-old son, Gojo no Haruto, sitting proudly on his lap. The boy's six eyes glowed faintly as he stared at the table. Michizane couldn't stop bragging.
"Look at my boy, everyone. Haruto here was born with the Six Eyes — something I never got. The Gojo bloodline is clearly ascending through him. Stronger than most of you already at ten years old."
Zenin no Takumi slammed his fist down. "Michizane, this is a council meeting, not a place for you to show off your kid!"
Michizane just grinned wider. "Why not? His eyes can see things none of you can. He's already analyzing this threat better than half this table."
Kamo no Yasunori spoke with cold precision. "Two clans have been completely eradicated. First the Higuruma, then the Sando. Both wiped out in a matter of weeks."
Fujiwara no Teika, the de facto leader of the council, leaned forward.
"The Higuruma Clan executed their clan head's daughter, Himiko. The official story was that she poisoned her own father to seize the clan head position. Whether the accusation was true or not, the moment she died, something monstrous was born."
Abe no Hiroki narrowed his eyes. "What was born is a vengeful cursed spirit — an onryo. In our world, when a human dies with overwhelming hatred and regret, their negative emotions can manifest as a curse. Most are mindless, but the strongest ones keep fragments of their personality. This one is different. It has taken a vaguely humanoid shape made of cracked porcelain. It sits upon the Sando throne. Weak curses are gathering around it, and our scouts say it has begun to speak."
Inumaki no Ren tapped the table. "It uses a technique that rips black grudge shards from its victims' souls. It can chain the ruptures — one explosion triggers more harvests, which trigger more explosions. It is growing stronger with every kill."
Kusakabe no Goro grunted. "The lower sorcerers are calling it the Porcelain Onryo."
Yuki no Amaya, the Yuki Clan matriarch, shook her head. "This is no ordinary special grade. It was born from betrayal within a respected clan. That kind of grudge runs deep."
The conversation drifted for a while to other troubles plaguing the era — rising tensions between the Zenin and Gojo Clans.
Zenin no Takumi leaned forward, eyes sharp. "Your clan grows too bold, Michizane. Your Limitless users act like they own the battlefield. My warriors train day and night, yet your people mock them as 'brutes with no technique.'"
Gojo no Michizane laughed, still proudly holding his son Haruto on his lap. "Brutes? My boy here could dismantle an entire Zenin squad without moving. The Six Eyes see everything — your Ten Shadows, your simple domain tricks, even the fear in your men's hearts before they swing. That's why tensions rise, Takumi. You're scared of what you can't control."
Kamo no Yasunori cut in smoothly, his voice icy. "Enough bickering. The Kamo Clan has its own concerns. Our blood manipulation techniques require purity of lineage, yet we keep hearing rumors of rogue branches experimenting with forbidden bindings. If the council cannot keep order between Gojo and Zenin, how are we to maintain discipline in our own houses?"
Fujiwara no Teika raised a hand, his presence commanding silence. "The Fujiwara Clan sees the larger picture. While you three great houses squabble over pride, the northern border clans grow restless. They refuse to send their young sorcerers for training, claiming the great clans only use them as fodder."
Abe no Hiroki nodded gravely. "The Abe Clan's onmyoji have tracked strange patterns in the stars. Cursed energy across the land is becoming unstable. More natural disasters are spawning cursed spirits than ever before. The capital itself is no longer safe — small outbreaks are appearing even within the palace wards."
Inumaki no Ren's mouth moved, but only strange, broken syllables came out — the effect of his clan's cursed speech. A translator standing behind him quickly spoke for him in a calm, clear voice: "Our Inumaki scouts report the same. Villages that once paid tribute now refuse to send sorcerers for training. They fear being dragged into clan wars. If this continues, we will have fewer soldiers when the real threats come."
Kusakabe no Goro crossed his thick arms. "My Kusakabe warriors are tired of being used as fodder in your games. We hold the borders while you three fight over who has the stronger bloodline. Send us against real enemies, not each other."
Yuki no Amaya, the only woman at the table, sighed deeply. "All of you speak of power, yet none of you see the rot. The smaller clans — the Kumamoto, the Kurogane, the southern island houses — grow restless. They watch the great clans hoard techniques and resources while they bleed on the front lines. If we keep ignoring them, they will stop answering our calls entirely."
Gojo no Michizane smirked again, bouncing his son lightly. "Haruto, you hearing this? These old men are scared of change. My son's generation won't waste time on these petty rivalries. He'll see the whole battlefield at once — no blind spots, no wasted moves. That's the future."
The boy Haruto finally spoke, his voice soft but carrying the weight of the Six Eyes. "Father… the Porcelain Onryo is still the bigger threat. Its cursed energy is… strange. Like it's learning faster than any spirit should."
The table went quiet for a moment.
Then Fujiwara no Teika brought them all back to the main issue.
"Precisely. While we argue over old grudges and clan pride, that vengeful cursed spirit grows stronger by the day. It sits on the Sando throne. Weak spirits are flocking to it daily. We can fight each other later — but if we do not address this Porcelain Onryo soon, there may be no 'later' left."
The heavy silence returned, thicker than before.
The greatest powers of the Golden Age had many problems… but one name now haunted every single person in that room.
The Porcelain Onryo.
Gojo no Michizane waved his hand lazily, still bouncing his son Haruto on his knee. "Relax. One angry porcelain doll is not worth all this panic. There are far more troubling matters we should be discussing."
He leaned forward, suddenly serious.
"The real threat is the rise of the rogue curse user known as 'The Hollow Blade.' Three weeks ago he single-handedly slaughtered an entire Fujiwara outpost near the eastern mountains. Twenty-three sorcerers dead, their bodies left arranged in ritual circles. He leaves no cursed energy residue, no footprints, nothing. Our scouts can't even track him."
The table immediately tensed.
Fujiwara no Teika's face darkened. "We lost two more scouts last week. The Hollow Blade is using some unknown technique that allows him to phase through barriers. If he keeps picking off our outposts, he will open a corridor straight to the capital."
Zenin no Takumi grunted. "Then why are we wasting time on some grudge spirit when we have a ghost assassin carving through our ranks? My Zenin forces can hunt this Hollow Blade down in days."
Kamo no Yasunori shook his head. "You assume he works alone. My sources say he has begun recruiting other rogue sorcerers. This is not one man. This is the beginning of a rival faction."
Abe no Hiroki added quietly, "The stars also speak of imbalance. The Hollow Blade's appearance coincides with several ancient cursed tools going missing from clan vaults. Someone is gathering power."
Inumaki no Ren spoke in his broken syllables. His translator immediately rendered it clearly: "Our scouts believe he is searching for something specific. A weapon. An object of great power that has been sealed for centuries."
Yuki no Amaya tapped her fingers on the table. "While we chase this Hollow Blade and argue over clan borders, more and more independent sorcerers are refusing to swear loyalty to any of the great clans. They are forming their own alliances. If this continues, the entire balance of power in the Heian world will fracture."
Kusakabe no Goro crossed his arms. "You great clans hoard the strongest techniques and the best training grounds. Of course the smaller houses are breaking away. Give them reason to stay loyal and this problem solves itself."
The council fell into heated debate once more — arguments about sharing techniques, reforming the training system, increasing tribute from the outer provinces, and whether or not to declare an official hunt for the Hollow Blade.
Only young Haruto remained quiet, his six eyes slowly scanning the room. After several minutes he tugged on his father's sleeve and whispered something only Michizane could hear.
Gojo no Michizane's smirk faded for the first time all night.
He looked around the table and spoke in a much lower voice.
"My son just said something… interesting. He believes the recent surge in powerful curses — this Porcelain Onryo, the Hollow Blade, and others — is no coincidence. Because Haruto was born with the Six Eyes, the natural balance of cursed energy between humans and curses has been tipped too far toward the human side. The world is pushing back. He thinks in the coming years, even more powerful cursed spirits will spawn as the scale tries to correct itself."
The chamber fell deathly silent.
Every head turned toward the ten-year-old boy still sitting on his father's lap.
Haruto's six eyes glowed a little brighter as he spoke softly, his voice carrying an unnatural weight for his age.
"It's not just her. More will come. Stronger ones. The Porcelain Onryo is only the first sign."
Fujiwara no Teika's face grew pale.
Zenin no Takumi's fist unclenched slowly.
Even the usually calm Kamo no Yasunori looked unsettled.
The greatest powers of the Golden Age had just been told by a child that the monster they feared was not an isolated threat…
…it was the beginning of a much larger storm.
The silence that followed was suffocating. The black volcanic glass walls seemed to absorb every breath, every heartbeat. For a long moment, no one moved. The shaft of moonlight from the ceiling cut across the table like a cold blade, illuminating the stunned faces of the most powerful men and women in the Heian world.
Fujiwara no Teika was the first to react. The de facto leader of the council, usually unshakable, slowly sat back in his chair. His hands, which had ruled through emperors and regents for decades, trembled slightly as he clasped them together. "A child… a mere ten-year-old boy with the Six Eyes tells us that the heavens themselves are spawning these abominations because the balance has been tipped. And we are to simply accept this?"
His voice, normally commanding, now carried a rare note of uncertainty. He looked around the table, searching for someone to contradict the boy, but found only doubt staring back.
Zenin no Takumi's reaction was far more explosive. The burly Zenin elder slammed both fists onto the obsidian table, cracking the surface with raw physical strength. "This is madness! You Gojo always believed your bloodline was special, but this is arrogance beyond measure! You're telling us that because one boy was born with the Six Eyes, the entire world must suffer by birthing more monsters like that Porcelain Onryo? I refuse to accept it!"
His face was flushed with rage, veins bulging at his temples. "If this is true, then every life lost to these curses from now on stains the Gojo name. Every village wiped out, every sorcerer slaughtered — all because your clan produced a child too powerful for the world to tolerate!"
Kamo no Yasunori remained eerily still, but his crimson eyes burned with cold calculation. He spoke with the precision of a surgeon. "Heavenly balance… a natural correction. If the Six Eyes represents an overwhelming advantage for humanity, then the cursed spirits must evolve to match it. The Porcelain Onryo is merely the first symptom. This explains why it grows so rapidly — why it learns, why it speaks, why it builds a court. It is not just a vengeful spirit. It is the world's answer to your son's eyes."
He turned his gaze directly to young Haruto. "Boy, how long until the next one appears? How many will we face before the scale rights itself?"
Haruto's six eyes glowed softly as he answered without hesitation. "Many. Stronger ones will follow. The world is pushing back harder now."
Abe no Hiroki, the onmyoji master, had gone pale. He clutched a small wooden talisman, fingers tracing protective runes out of habit. "The stars… they warned of imbalance, but I interpreted it as political unrest or the rise of rogue sorcerers. Never did I imagine the heavens would birth new calamities to counter one child's gift. If this continues, the Golden Age we celebrate may instead be remembered as the beginning of an age of endless curses."
Yuki no Amaya, the only woman present and matriarch of the Yuki Clan, let out a bitter laugh that held no humor. "So the great clans, for all our power, are helpless against the will of the world itself. We fight over techniques and territory while the heavens punish us for producing a boy too gifted to exist. The Porcelain Onryo was born from a clan's betrayal, yes, but now we learn it may be something far larger — a symptom of cosmic imbalance caused by the Gojo bloodline."
Inumaki no Ren's mouth moved in rapid, distorted speech. His translator, standing respectfully behind him, rendered the words with a shaky voice: "If more powerful spirits will spawn… then our current forces are insufficient. We must reorganize. Train more sorcerers. Share techniques between clans instead of hoarding them. The smaller houses cannot be left to fend for themselves if calamities like this Porcelain Onryo will become commonplace."
Kusakabe no Goro, the veteran warrior who rarely spoke unless necessary, finally broke his silence. His deep voice rumbled through the chamber. "I have fought curses for thirty years. I have seen special grades. But if the boy is right, then what we face now is not war. It is judgment. The world is judging us for tipping the scales too far in our favor. And the first judgment wears porcelain and sits on a stolen throne."
Gojo no Michizane, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke. His usual arrogance was tempered, one hand still resting protectively on his son's shoulder. "Haruto has never been wrong about what his eyes see. If he says the balance is tipping and more will come, then more will come. Bragging about my son's gift suddenly feels… hollow. But if the world is spawning these things because of him, then the Gojo Clan will take responsibility. We will lead the charge against them."
The debate erupted again, louder and more desperate than before.
Fujiwara no Teika called for order, but it took several minutes for the shouting to die down. "If this theory holds, then our next moves must change. We cannot simply hunt the Porcelain Onryo in isolation. We must prepare for a new era of curses. Increase recruitment from the minor clans. Open our vaults and share stronger techniques. Fortify the capital. And above all… we must decide how to deal with this Porcelain Onryo before it becomes the first of many that we cannot stop."
Kamo no Yasunori proposed forming a dedicated task force of the strongest Grade 1 sorcerers from all clans to observe the Sando Estate without engaging. Zenin no Takumi demanded an immediate extermination squad, insisting delay would only make the curse stronger. Abe no Hiroki suggested using onmyoji rituals to track the resonance between the Porcelain Onryo and other emerging threats.
Even the representatives from the smaller clans — the Kumamoto, the Kurogane shadow users, and the southern island houses — raised their voices, demanding to be included in the planning instead of being treated as fodder.
Hours passed. The moonlight shifted across the chamber as the debate raged on. Plans were drawn, alliances tentatively formed, old grudges set aside — at least for now. Every person in the room understood that the Porcelain Onryo was no longer just a vengeful spirit born from clan betrayal.
It was the first warning shot from a world that refused to let humanity grow too powerful.
And the storm was only beginning.
Fujiwara no Teika finally raised his hand, his voice cutting through the chaos like a blade.
"Enough."
The single word echoed. The room fell quiet except for the distant drip of water somewhere deep in the stone.
"We cannot sit here arguing until dawn. A decision must be made tonight."
He looked slowly around the table, meeting every pair of eyes.
"We will send a small observation team. No more than four people. One from each of the three great clans, plus one from the Abe Clan. Their only task is to watch the Sando Estate from a safe distance. They are not to engage. They are not to approach. They are to gather information about the Porcelain Onryo's current strength, how many curses have gathered around it, and whether it is truly growing in power."
Zenin no Takumi growled, the sound low and rough. "Observation? While that thing sits on our land and grows stronger every night?"
"Observation," Teika repeated firmly. "If the boy's words are true, rushing in blindly will only feed it more shards and make the next curse even worse. We gather intelligence first. Then we decide how to strike."
Kamo no Yasunori gave a single sharp nod. "I will send Kamo no Jiro. He is discreet and his blood techniques work well at range."
Gojo no Michizane smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes this time. "I'll send one of my clan's Limitless users. Someone who can retreat instantly if things go wrong."
Abe no Hiroki bowed his head slightly. "I will provide an onmyoji who can track cursed energy fluctuations without being detected."
Teika exhaled slowly, the sound heavy in the quiet chamber.
"Then it is decided. The team leaves at first light. They will report back in seven days. Until then, we strengthen our borders, increase patrols around the capital, and prepare the minor clans for what may come."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
"This meeting is adjourned."
Chairs scraped against stone as everyone rose. Low murmurs filled the room — tired voices, frustrated sighs, the clink of robes and weapons being adjusted.
Zenin no Takumi muttered under his breath as he stood, the sound rough and angry. "Seven days… we're giving that monster seven days to grow."
Gojo no Michizane lifted his son Haruto onto his shoulder. The boy's six eyes still glowed faintly as they headed for the exit. You could hear the soft footsteps of the child and the confident stride of his father fading down the corridor.
One by one the council members filed out, their voices echoing off the black glass walls.
Kamo no Yasunori's cold footsteps clicked sharply.
Inumaki no Ren's translator whispered final words to him as they left.
Yuki no Amaya's sigh was long and weary.
The heavy stone door at the far end of the chamber groaned as it sealed shut behind the last person, plunging the Obsidian Chamber back into silence.
Only the single shaft of moonlight remained, now illuminating an empty table and the faint cracks left by Zenin no Takumi's fist.
The greatest powers of the Heian Era had chosen their first move.
A small team would watch.
And the Porcelain Onryo would have seven more nights to grow her court… undisturbed.