Haruto looked down at the prostrate girl, surprised.
"You want to follow me?" he asked. "Why? Is it because I broke the Eternal Limit?"
Reika raised her head. Her golden eyes locked onto his obsidian ones. "It is an intuition," she whispered. "My heart tells me... you are the one."
"Ryuzaki Reika!"
A shriek tore through the air. Tachibana Ayaka scrambled forward, her face twisted with ugliness.
"Have you lost your mind?!" Ayaka screamed. "You refused the Tenth Sequence! You refused Lord Kenji! And now you kneel to a child? You are shaming yourself! You are shaming the Sword-Master!"
Haruto frowned. The screeching was annoying.
Before he could speak, Ryuzaki Kenshin's expression darkened. The old man flicked his sleeve.
Bang!
An invisible force hammered Ayaka. She flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing into a stone pillar. She slid down, coughing up blood, her expensive kimono torn.
"Insolent vermin," Kenshin growled. "Who gave you permission to bark in the presence of the Divine Son?"
Ayaka wheezed, terror finally overtaking her anger. She curled up, not daring to make a sound.
Haruto looked back at Reika. He rubbed his chin.
'Grandpa Kenshin is great, but having an old man nag me every day is tiring,' Haruto reasoned. 'Reika is talented, smart, and pleasing to the eye. Having a capable maid to handle the mundane tasks would be nice.'
"I accept," Haruto said simply. "But you won't just be a follower. You will be my personal maid. Can you handle that?"
The male disciples felt their hearts shatter. Maid? Their goddess was going to be a maid?
Reika didn't hesitate. "I will learn. I will be the best maid in the Empire."
"Good."
Reika's eyes shone. She hesitated, then asked the question that had burned in her soul since her vision.
"Your Highness... may I ask one question?"
"Speak."
"If... if the Divine Son becomes the Heavenly Emperor in the future... how will you rule? What will you do?"
It was a heavy question. It asked for his Dao. His path.
Haruto looked up at the sky. The clouds were swirling, reacting to his rising Ki. He didn't have to think. The answer was innate to his soul.
He smiled, a smile that was both innocent and terrifyingly arrogant.
"It is very simple," Haruto said softly.
His voice was not loud, yet it resonated with the laws of the world.
"I am the Heavenly Emperor... and I shall slay all enemies in the world!"
BOOM!
Thunder roared from a clear sky. The Mana of the world trembled. It was a Vow. A Declaration of War against all who stood in his path.
Reika's pupils dilated. 'This is it. This is the Sovereign.' She bowed her head again, pledging her soul.
But the declaration traveled further.
Deep in the Forbidden Zones of the Yamato Empire—places where ancient monsters slumbered—eyes snapped open.
In the Dragon's Nest, a massive eye wreathed in green fire opened. "Hehe... the Ryuzaki Clan has a new whelp with ambition. My descendant, Ryuu Tatsuya, will crush him and show him the cruelty of the cultivation world."
In the Phoenix Mountain, a cold laugh echoed. "Slay all enemies? Arrogant brat. You will die young."
Haruto, unaware he had just taunted the world's hidden bosses, patted Reika's head. "Let's go home. I'm hungry."