Night had fallen, but the Imperial Palace remained brightly lit.
Seeing the visitor, the two guards standing outside the residence immediately bowed respectfully.
"Lord Honest."
Disguised as Honest, Uesugi Ryu ignored the guards and walked straight inside.
The guards did not think much of it.
A man like the Minister naturally would not waste words on insignificant people like them.
Activating Observer's x-ray vision, the palace's entire layout was instantly revealed before him.
"Izou. Only him? Good."
Izou was stationed directly along the only route to Syura's room. There was no way around him.
Should he walk in openly, or infiltrate stealthily?
Phantom Clone provided optical invisibility, but whether it could fool Izou was another matter.
As a swordsman, his perception should be quite sharp.
If he were discovered while invisible, he would lose the initiative.
After a moment's thought, Uesugi Ryu decided to test it.
He clasped his hands behind his back and walked toward Syura's room.
Izou was Syura's subordinate, so he likely had limited contact with Honest.
He should not recognize anything suspicious immediately.
Within the shadow cast behind Uesugi Ryu, Mephisto waited, ready to act.
If things went wrong, Mephisto could use the Sharingan to control Izou for a brief instant.
Uesugi Ryu was confident he could kill Izou in a single strike.
He adjusted his expression, putting on a look of obvious displeasure.
At that moment, Izou was seated in a pavilion, drinking alone.
Hearing footsteps, he set down his sake and turned to look.
Upon seeing Honest, he rose and approached.
Izou gave Uesugi Ryu a slight nod in greeting.
Then he stepped aside and gestured for him to proceed.
Uesugi Ryu calmly continued forward as if nothing were amiss.
Izou followed behind him.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he carefully observed Uesugi Ryu's build and gait.
Sensing Izou's scrutinizing gaze,
Uesugi Ryu suddenly stopped and turned around.
After observing for some time, Izou found nothing unusual.
Judging by Honest's expression, his mood was clearly terrible.
Izou withdrew his gaze and lowered his head.
"Just doing my job."
They had already reached the entrance to the palace, and Izou showed no intention of following further.
A maid opened the door, and Uesugi Ryu stepped inside.
Just as the maid was about to close it, Izou stopped the door with his scabbard.
The maid looked at him awkwardly.
"My lord?"
Izou scratched his head irritably and withdrew his scabbard.
As a guard, he needed to ensure Syura's safety, but Honest was Syura's father.
Listening in on a father-son conversation would be inappropriate, and Syura had specifically forbidden him from guarding too closely.
After thinking it over, Izou decided to let it go.
"What a pain..."
He lightly touched the sword at his waist before lazily leaning against the wall.
The door closed softly.
Uesugi Ryu entered the room.
Three maids lifted their skirts and bowed.
"Lord Honest."
Mephisto emerged from the shadows, his crimson Sharingan slowly spinning.
A red gleam flashed in the eyes of all three maids simultaneously, after which they calmly returned to their tasks.
Hearing the commotion outside, Syura immediately realized his father had arrived.
He quickly straightened his messy hair and propped himself up against the headboard.
Uesugi Ryu pushed the door open and entered.
Syura immediately asked anxiously,
"Father, why are you here? Have you found a solution?"
Hearing that, Uesugi Ryu forcibly suppressed the smile tugging at his lips.
He glanced at Syura, confirming Shambhala's location.
It was hidden beneath the pillow behind him. Quite cautious indeed.
"No. We're a bit short-handed lately."
Uesugi Ryu spoke in a cold tone.
"I need Wild Hunt to handle some matters."
Syura's expression darkened, though it fit perfectly with the image he had of his father.
"I understand. But Dorothea can't be moved."
Uesugi Ryu nodded and walked to the bedside.
He pulled over a nearby chair and sat down.
"Of course. But I still need her assistance with something."
"I'll have others search for a way to restore you."
Syura reluctantly nodded.
Honest despised incompetence more than anything.
Even though Syura was his son, that made little difference in his eyes.
Syura knew full well that accomplishing nothing while causing trouble had greatly displeased his father.
Under the current circumstances, he naturally did not dare bring up revenge against Uesugi Ryu.
He could only curse inwardly.
"That bastard."
"Once all these problems are dealt with, I'll exile him into a volcano..."
Observer's Insight possessed mind-reading capabilities.
Uesugi Ryu immediately understood exactly what Syura was thinking.
A broad grin spread across his face as he said eerily,
"Your next line is, 'I'll burn him to ashes and grind his bones to dust,' right?"
Hearing his inner thoughts spoken aloud,
Syura froze.
That voice sounded awfully familiar.
He turned his head, and Uesugi Ryu's face instantly filled his vision.
"What?!"
Syura's whole body trembled violently.
His right hand shot toward Shambhala beneath the pillow.
It had barely moved two centimeters when a gleaming red-and-white blade flashed.
Before Syura even realized what had happened, his severed right hand landed on the pillow with a wet thud.
Blood sprayed across the sheets.
Horror filled Syura's face.
He desperately tried to retreat, but his injuries left him nearly immobile.
Before he could even move a few centimeters,
Uesugi Ryu's left hand had already seized his throat.
With a sharp tug, he yanked Syura off the bed.
A massive torrent of water appeared out of nowhere, instantly enveloping Syura.
"Gurgle gurgle..."
Caught completely off guard, Syura swallowed a mouthful of water.
Pain exploded from his severed wrist.
His expression twisted in agony, disbelief filling his eyes as he stared at Uesugi Ryu.
Syura opened his mouth to speak, but underwater, no words emerged.
Blood poured from the stump of his wrist, quickly turning the clear water pale red.
Uesugi Ryu used the current to lift Shambhala, excitement flickering across his face.
"Finally got it."
He stored Shambhala in his storage space.
Then he turned toward Syura and smiled warmly.
"The best surprises come at the end, Master Syura. Goodbye."
With that, Uesugi Ryu concealed himself, shattered the window, and vanished from the room.
Outside, Izou heard the faint noise.
His brow furrowed, and he immediately shoved open the door.
Click. Click.
The door had been locked from the inside.
Izou drew Kousetsu and sliced the door apart.
Inside, the three maids continued their tasks mechanically, as though they had heard nothing.
Seeing this, Izou immediately realized something was wrong.
He kicked off the ground and rushed into Syura's room.
A massive water prison suspended Syura in the center of the chamber.
His face was flushed red as he happily blew bubbles.
Uesugi Ryu had not killed him immediately.
Syura had a strong sense of déjà vu.
Giving him hope, only to snuff it out personally.
Still, none of that changed his desperate instinct to survive.
"There's no way I'm going to die..."
The instant Izou's blade cut through the water prison,
Splurt. Splurt. Splurt.
A continuous series of wet piercing sounds filled the room.
Countless blood spikes erupted from every pore in Syura's body, like a crimson sea urchin blooming open.
Syura let out one final scream.
His body convulsed twice before going completely still.
The blood-soaked water drenched Izou from head to toe, crimson droplets sliding from Kousetsu's blade.
Izou stared silently at the mangled corpse before him.
There was no need to check.
There was absolutely no hope of saving him.
Izou turned toward the shattered window.
Vaulting through it, he landed in the courtyard.
His eyes swept the surroundings, searching relentlessly for any trace of the assassin.