Chapter 347: Meeting, Part 2
Kouhei finally arrived at the council office, the heavy doors opening with a creak that echoed faintly against the polished walls of the chamber. The faint murmur of the council members stilled the moment he entered, and one of them immediately stepped forward to greet him with a courteous bow.
But Kouhei’s eyes weren’t on them.
The instant he crossed the threshold, he saw her.
Sano Yuka.
She sat gracefully at the far end of the long room, her posture flawless as though she had been waiting for this very moment. A wide table stretched before her, neatly arranged with documents and items of the council’s affairs. Behind her, the tall window framed her silhouette, the faint sunlight pouring in from the outside field, catching the edges of her hair like a halo.
Yuka’s lips curved upward, her expression lighting up with a smile.
It was a smile that could melt anyone’s heart. Sweet, charming—so disarmingly warm that it almost begged the person facing it to return one instinctively. The kind of smile that could disarm the cautious and lure in the unsuspecting.
But Kouhei wasn’t anyone.
To him, that smile wasn’t sweet. It was poison. Behind that facade lay something sinister, something vile, and it crawled straight into his bones like an icy hand pressing down his spine. The more he looked, the more he understood—she was the very embodiment of sweet but psycho.
No, she wasn’t just the definition. She was perfection for it.
"What is it you want, Okumura-sama, for you to grace us with your presence today?" Yuka’s voice came smooth, melodic, carrying a mocking edge beneath its politeness. She rested her chin delicately on the back of her hands, propped on the table, gazing at him with eyes that gleamed as if this was all just amusement to her.
"I think you already know why I’ve come here today, Sano-san," Kouhei said, his tone sharp as steel. He raised a hand and tapped his own temple deliberately, almost stabbing the gesture toward his own head. "You did something to me. To my mind. Didn’t you?"
Her brows lifted slightly, her face a picture of innocent confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked lightly, as though the question itself was absurd.
But Kouhei could see right through her. He wasn’t buying it for a second. That fake innocence was nothing but a mask. She was simply playing dumb.
"Yuka. Kouhei knows for a fact that you cursed him," Yuuna cut in harshly, her eyes narrowing like blades. Her voice was filled with restrained fury, and the air around her seemed to tremble with her killing intent. "So if you don’t want me to blow you apart right here, release him from that curse immediately."
At her words, the entire room tensed. The other council members straightened instantly, their hands drifting toward their weapons, their stances shifting as they prepared for battle. Of course they would. Yuuna’s threat wasn’t just reckless—it was directed at their leader.
But Yuka didn’t even flinch.
"Don’t bother, Yuuna," Yuka replied smoothly, her voice calm, almost lazy, as if the whole situation was beneath her. "If your assumption is correct, and I really did curse Okumura-sama... do you honestly believe killing me will undo it? That the curse would just vanish along with my life?" She tilted her head slightly, her smile curling. "Well... that’s only if I truly was the one who cursed him. I do hope you’re keeping that little detail in mind."
Yuuna’s jaw tightened. Her glare sharpened, and for a split second she looked ready to leap forward and strangle her. But deep down, she knew Yuka was right. There was no guarantee. If she killed her now, there was no certainty that Kouhei’s curse would disappear. Not unless they were absolutely sure she was the culprit.
"I came here for peace, for negotiation," Kouhei said firmly, his voice steady despite the tension brimming in the air. "So let’s keep this civil, Sano-san."
"Well, if that’s what you want, I won’t object. But considering the way Yuuna and Hina are glaring at me right now—like they’re ready to tear me apart—I don’t think this will turn into the peaceful talk you’re hoping for." Yuka’s smile widened, her tone dripping with amusement.
"If you’d prefer a private conversation, I can agree to that," Kouhei replied coldly.
She let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "I don’t think it’s proper for a man and woman to be alone in a room, do you? Especially when both are faction leaders. People talk. It could easily be seen as plotting... or worse."
She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t exactly scandalous, but in the world they lived in, appearances mattered. Two opposing faction leaders meeting privately behind closed doors? It could spark suspicion, rumors, or even paranoia about secret schemes.
Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but it wasn’t impossible.
Yuka sighed, almost dramatically, and her smile softened into something deceptively gentle. "Well... I suppose I can’t keep lying to you any longer, can I?" she admitted.
Kouhei’s eyes narrowed further. He already knew she was bluffing from the start. Misuzu’s memory manipulation had exposed her long ago—Yuka was the one who cursed him.
They weren’t leaving here without her confessing.
And truthfully, if this ended in a fight, she and her faction wouldn’t stand a chance. Yuuna and Hina alone were dangerous enough. And then there was Kouhei.
He was a threat she couldn’t quite measure. She didn’t know exactly how powerful he was, but she knew enough—he had defeated Souichiro. That fact alone was terrifying. And if even Kazuhiro himself acknowledged Kouhei’s strength, then his power was something well beyond ordinary.
"Just like I said... if you kill me, you won’t be able to break the curse. No one else can erase it. No one else can stop it," Yuka said, her eyes glinting.
"So you’re admitting it. You cursed him?" Yuuna demanded.
"Yes," Yuka answered plainly. "I did. But only because I don’t agree with what your father is planning, Yuuna."
Yuuna stiffened, her breath caught. "What is my father planning?"
Even she had no idea. She knew her father was scheming in the shadows—always pulling strings somewhere—but she had never cared, so long as it didn’t involve Kouhei.
"Well... this is something I heard from a little bird of mine," Yuka said slyly, her smile widening as if she enjoyed dangling the words before them. "Apparently, Kazuhiro-sama is planning to put Okumura-sama on the throne as the next Demon King... during the next election."
"What...?" Yuuna’s voice cracked with shock.
Kouhei and Hina exchanged stunned looks.
"I had no idea Kazuhiro-sama was planning something like that. I’ve never been told," Kouhei said, his tone flat but his eyes narrowing.
"But he is plotting," Yuka pressed, her tone certain.
"Where did you even hear that?" Yuuna shot back.
"As I said... a little bird flew from the Sarushima mansion and whispered it to me." Yuka smirked.
That could only mean one thing—she had someone planted there. A spy. An agent of the Sano family feeding her information straight from the source.
"That’s some pretty juicy intel, isn’t it?" Yuka said, her voice low and deliberate. "Information is far more powerful than brute strength. Don’t you think? With the right knowledge, you can bend the world however you like. You can use it to take advantage, to manipulate, to profit. Explosions and firepower are flashy... but intelligence? That’s true power."
Her smile darkened. "I could even tell you the real reason behind the Oni woman who’s also been affected by my ability. I could tell you everything. Because I have information about everything."
Yuuna’s throat went dry. She swallowed hard.
This—this was Sano Yuka’s true power.
She wasn’t feared because of strength or battle prowess. She was feared because of her mind.
She wasn’t just an information broker who could uncover anything, given the right conditions—she was a strategist. A manipulator. A terrifying opponent not because of destructive force, but because of her intelligence and her endless reach.
Yuuna knew this better than anyone. She had once even tried to recruit Yuka into her own faction.
And now, face to face, she understood again—why Yuka was so dangerous.
She had thousands of faction members under her command, always within reach, gathering information from every corner of the world. With just their presence nearby, whispers turned into knowledge, and all of it would eventually flow straight into her ears.
That was her power.
"What can I do for you to stop the curse?" Kouhei asked.
"Don’t run for the position of Demon King, Okumura-kun. My father will be the one to claim that seat again," Yuka replied.
"I’m not running for anything," Kouhei shot back.
"Well, Kazuhiro-sama is planning to," Yuka said firmly. "If you want me to lift that curse, then you’ll have to do what I say."
Kouhei couldn’t even figure out what kind of compromise she was trying to pull off here. Honestly, it was starting to piss him off.
He was genuinely angry that Yuka had forced him to watch the deaths of his loved ones again and again—so much that every time he closed his eyes, those images burned into his mind.
Right now, his feelings toward Yuka were boiling so intensely it was on the verge of sparking another faction war.
But even so, he forced himself to stay calm. And then... he revealed his true form.
Specifically, the wings on his back.
One was a bat’s wing, the other a fallen angel’s wing.
Yuka’s eyes widened in shock.