"Oh scary." The old man smiled and teased her. "Then, what if this old man doesn't comply?"

He suddenly raised his hand as if he wanted to attack Kai.

Sofia didn't let him go anymore and used her magic. "Frozen World."

In an instant, the floor was covered with ice and the old man was frozen in an instant.

"What did you do?!" The middle-aged man rose from his chair, never expecting that Sofia's strength was this powerful.

Unexpectedly, the ice that froze him started to crack before the old man broke free from the ice and stepped back, panting. He felt the chilling sensation that tried to freeze his organs and blood.

If it were an A Rank Magician, they would have died from that technique alone. Even he might suffer irreplaceable injury if he stayed for a bit longer inside the ice.

And a girl this powerful was created by Kai and chose to follow him, no wonder Theo was an SSS Rank Magician.

"I give up. I apologize if I offend you, but there is one absolute rule in this family. The strongest rule is this family, you see. If there's another S Rank Magician among these guys behind me, my son will need to step down." The old man smiled, explaining the reason for his action. "Anyway, you can call me Erik."

"Even so, I can't certainly let go of such an action. I wonder, what do you want to even pull such a thing? That sloppy rule is nothing but a mere reason for you to do it, right?" Kai made a smirk as if he understood the old man.

"As expected from an SSS Rank Magician… That's right. However, I didn't lie about the rule. It was indeed the reason for my action, but that wasn't all." Erik sighed and said, "I wish to see how strong you truly are and it seems I am not even qualified to know your strength."

Kai closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I don't care about your circumstances, but just make sure you think carefully before you act."

"Haha, now this old man is being lectured by someone a sixth of his age." Erik laughed as if he didn't care about it. "Sure, I will be careful."

"Anyway, I have made my point clear before coming here. I want the South Family to stop the war right now."

"That's possible, but we also have our reasons. My grandson, George, happened to be your classmate, right? Do you think I, his grandfather, can just let go of this grudge? The Katsuragi Family needs to pay the price."

"I can understand it. If I were you, I would have wiped them out." Kai nodded in understanding.

"Right? I'm sure you can understand our reason."

"But… I was also in the midst of that situation. I even needed to kill three assassins coming after me in that activity. Despite facing Katsuragi Takaki, who should be his peers, George died. Can't you see the difference? I survived because I was strong. Shouldn't you blame yourself for not even thinking about this? What's about your information network? I would have fired all those people," said Kai with an extremely cold tone.

"…" Erik's body shook. He thought Kai was an anomaly, but he seemed to have underestimated him once again.

They all clearly remembered that Kai needed to cross the Asia Continent to arrive at Alaska before being rescued by the Graham Family.

They had faced countless life and death situations in that journey alone, yet, George couldn't even survive the first one.

For someone coming from a family that respected the strong, he surely did not qualify.

Erik thought for a moment and glanced at his son. From his expression alone, David seemed to be handing all the decisions to his hand.

After contemplating for a while, Erik let out a long sigh. "It seems there's no need for negotiation. We will comply with your request.

"All our soldiers will be recalled here, but because we need to see the situation again, some of them will remain standing by to get more information. If the Katsuragi Family indeed starts declining because of what you have done, I can promise you that my South Family won't make any move."

Theo nodded, satisfied. It was obviously impossible to threaten them to recall all their soldiers because it was the same as them lowering their proud heads before Theo.

Although Theo had a good reputation, it was hard for a family that had been prideful for so long to do something like this.

The solution he arrived at with the help of Marsha was to give them some face after pressuring them with the worst possible option. This way, their condition wouldn't be that significant.

"That's enough for me." Kai nodded. "Since we have come to an agreement, I don't think it's appropriate for me to stay here any longer."

Kai snapped his fingers, creating the Teleportation Magic Circle.

Before going, Kai said, "Say… If I give you the chance to see the real power at the cost of many lives, do you think you will take that offer?"

"What did—" Erik opened his mouth in surprise, but Kai had disappeared together with Michelle and Sofia.

They had returned back to the hotel where Kudo Tarou was staying. Felice, Ayaka, and Tasha were accompanying him to make sure he wasn't lonely.

However, Kai returned just to drop Michelle and Sofia off before making another trip to the Oni Village.

With just standing a minute, a female figure emerged from thin air, meeting Kai.

"(Greeting Your Excellency.)" Mia greeted Kai politely with Oni Language.

"It's fine to talk to me like usual, Mia." Kai smiled.

"That's something I can't do." Mia shook her head. "Now that you have become the true Protector, this is something I need to do."

Kai scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward.

"In any case, here they come." Mia smiled and turned to the side as a bunch of people began to appear out of nowhere.

It was the first time they stepped outside again, so they were quite surprised and savored the feeling.

Unfortunately for them, Mia quickly used her Mind Magic to erase the location of their Oni Village so no one would know anything about them.

At the same time, Kai walked forward before finding a young girl leaping at him.

"Kai!" Haruko hugged him tightly.

"It's been a while. I hope you are doing okay."

"I am feeling fantastic right now." Haruko smiled.

Unfortunately, the reunion was short because Mia had finished erasing their memories and it was Haruko's turn.

"May I…" Mia asked politely.

Kai nodded and smiled at Haruko, who seemed to understand that there was a need for this.

She looked at Mia and smiled. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome."

Haruko became the same as the others as her eyes lost their light.

"Your Majesty, their memories have been wiped out. It's best to carry them back as they will recover within two minutes."

Kai nodded. "Thank you, Mia."

"I am honored to hear it."

"Also, give my thanks to Ishii… And an apology, I guess."

"I will tell my father without fail."

"Then, it's time for us to go." Kai waved his hand and pulled Haruko to his embrace before creating a giant Teleportation Circle and transported them to their previous home.

"Kai…" Haruko soon recovered and called his name while the others were uttering their confusion.

"We will have a long talk after this." Kai made a gentle smile as if he understood the current priority.

Haruko made the biggest smile she ever had for the first time in her life. "Yes."