"That boy..."

Mikado looked at Kai closely.

It's him.

Tatsuo had a huge grin on his face.

"You...!"

The head elder leaped forward after Kai revealed his face and began attacking.

"You!"

The head elder's fist arrived. Mikado and Tatsuo noticed but made no move to stop him. Of course the head elder was enraged. Instead of showing their top talent's skill, they showed delinquency instead.

The head elder didn't actually plan to kill Kai, he only planned to hurt him to show him his place.

I guess I should take this attack head on for retribution but... I guess I'll use this chance to show that I'm a match for the head elder now.

Kai made a fist.

"Wait, Kai! Don't try and fight against the head elder, he isn't going to kill you! Your arm will break!"

Yoko suddenly shouted warnings but Kai didn't listen.

Kai's fist met the head elder's and the floor below Kai broke. The amount of force from the punches were insane. It looked like the head elder used enough power to break Kai's ribs but not kill him. Looks like the head elder had a rough estimate about how strong Kai actually is.

"Hooh, I guess the head elder isn't to be underestimated."

Kai had actually planned to blow away the head elder with a punch but it looked like Kai underestimated the head elder. He used a bit less force than the head elder and so it didn't cancel out. In fact, Kai took a bit of damage. But it was nothing big, Kai could ignore it even if he was hit dozens of times.

Juro and Akemi were prepared to jump in the ring but Mikado stopped them by leaping towards them.

"Wait, let's see what happens."

"WHAT?! YOU!"

Juro's eyes were bloodshot and looked like he was ready to pounce on Mikado at any moment.

"Wait uncle, look!"

Akane took Juro's attention and pointed at Kai.

Kai stood there as if he wasn't hurt at all. The head elder was glaring at him.

"How strong are you...?"

The head elder was in disbelief. He wasn't stupid, he could tell Kai was holding back.

"I guess I'll give you a taste of that with the next one."

Kai placed his fist on his palm once more, it was the same position that he used the move that destroyed part of the stage. It produced a dark laser but it moved so fast that no ordinary person would be able to see it. At most, they'd feel as if they saw double.

But there were people that saw it. Mikado, Tatsuo, the head elder, and Erina. Their eyes had all seen the true form of the attack even if it was only for a moment.

"Then, I'll meet it with an attack of my own!"

The head elder was pumped up. It's like he had suddenly forgotten the reason that he was fighting Kai in the first place.

"It looks like your boy is strong enough to fight against the head elder and had him all excited. I haven't seen him like this in years."

Mikado spoke to Juro.

"I also haven't seen him like that. But... if Kai gets hurt, I will come for you first, Mikado."

Juro threatened Mikado. Everyone who heard that broke out in cold sweat. Akemi was actually feeling worse than Juro, she would have certainly jumped in there even if she had to make everyone her enemy but Juro and Akane stopped her. She didn't care for Mikado at all.

Right now, they were both emitting murderous aura contrary to their normally lax attitude.

"Taste the Kuroshi Clan's special art!"

The head elder began sucking up the seemingly infinite shadows around the area into his mouth until it finally filled his cheeks.

"[Shadow Breath]!"

His voice was cold and dark, it felt like a demon was talking.

Akemi was shaking in anger, she left Emi with Akane because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself.

I should use my other technique to counter the darkness but this should do. Kai thought.

"[Rend]."

This takes more mana but I'd have more trouble using darkness against darkness. A non-elemental attack would work best if I want to hide my trump cards.

"Huh? This attack is different..."

Erina spoke out. Akane was intrigued by her words but kept her eyes on Kai.

"How can you tell?"

"Well, his last attack used the element of darkness but I can't see what element this attack is."

Kai's words could not reach over to the sides and so they didn't hear [Heaven-rending Palm] or [Rend]. Yoko heard it loud and clear but she hadn't figured out the true nature of the attacks.

"Amazing, you could actually tell what it was. But with the amount of power he's producing, Kai must've reached D-class at the least."

Erina looked closely.

"No, I think he's past it. But it's quite strange. He's always had more mana than an average person so he should be at the peak of E-class but it does feel like he's at the beginning of D-class. It's really hard to tell. But with amount of mana alone, I'd say he's at peak of C-class."

Akane opened her eyes wide.

"He has that much mana?!"

"That's right."

With that, Erina poured all her focus back to Kai.

"Head elder, I apologize but make do with a little bit of pain."

The shadows from the head elder's mouth were released. It was like a dragon had spread out flames but this time, it was made of darkness and shadows.

The head elder heard Kai loud and clear and a vein appeared on his forehead.

The darkness spread even faster but it was focused towards Kai. Ichiro and Yoko were already behind Kai.

Kai's palm shot out and mana burst out from Kai's hand. It was exactly like [Heaven-rending Palm] but he had taken off the dark attribute. He had learned how to do non-elemental attacks like this during the year. He used [Barrier], a non-elemental technique as a reference.

It was only for a few seconds but Kai's [Rend] ate the darkness and went onwards to the head elder. This [Rend] lasted longer than [Heaven-rending Palm] because Kai had to erase the head elder's attack too.

But those few seconds were all that was needed for everyone near E-class to see Kai's attack. Yoko, Ichiro, Akane, and everyone else saw the attack that they had not seen before. Erina, Mikado, Tatsuo, and the head elder saw it even more clearly.

The head elder's [Shadow Breath] lost all the ground that it had gained and Kai's [Rend] blasted the head elder directly.

It was like an anime where someone blasted a weak person with an energy beam and disintegrated the enemy. But Kai's attack only damaged the elder at the most. If Kai used his full power... then maybe it was possible.

After Kai's attack disappeared, what appeared was the head elder who was burnt black but it wasn't deadly at all. His clothes were the ones who took the most damage.

The head elder was blinking over and over as if he was trying to wake up.

"That's... pure mana! Free from the attributes... it's a lost method."

Erina was shaken but kept her voice low enough to prevent others from overhearing.

Mikado vanished from his spot and appeared in the middle of Kai and the head elder.

"Alright alright, seeing as this boy is also a member of the clan... we've already fulfilled our purpose to show the top talents. Head elder, please withdraw. I know you haven't had an opponent that can match you in years, it's still improper for a head elder to fight a normal descendant."

Of course, it wasn't saying that the patriarch and Tatsuo were weaker than the head elder, by ethics he shouldn't challenge someone higher than himself.

The head elder shrugged his shoulders and left the arena.

"Kuroshi Kai... was it? I would normally give you punishment but that was an excellent display. You can head back now. Same for all of you."

Mikado pointed at everyone else.

"Yes..."

Kai nodded and helped Yoko up. He actually forgot about Ichiro even though he was only a few steps away.

Kuroshi Clan, Kai's House

"Hah?"

Kai was making a dumbfounded face as he looked at Erina.

"Mio, you're telling me that you're the daughter of a duke?"

Erina made a wry smile.

"Also my name's Erina. Last name is Mariko."

"I-I see..."

Kai was more shocked about her title of a duke's daughter rather than her name.