Surviving the Death Hunt-Chapter 78: Ambition

A long table built for sixteen held elders and men of standing, all draped in black robes with the kind of elegance that came from old money and older grudges.

At the head sat a blind elder in red, flanked by the Kugo Clan’s Four Wings—three of them now, the fourth conspicuously absent. The air in the room carried that absence like a weight, thick and choking.

The remaining Wings drew most of the attention in the room, and it wasn’t hard to understand why.

Haste, the leader and the most compassionate of them, stood with his eyes drenched in tears, making no effort to conceal it. Isa and Kaito were no longer composed.

Mike had been the youngest among them, and now he was gone. The mourning was raw, visible, and entirely warranted. But the clan had a decision to make. They couldn’t let him die for nothing.

"What is your opinion, Clan Leader? This matter cannot be ignored. Anyone capable of facing Mike is not an opponent to be taken lightly."

"That isn’t the only issue. His body... the poor boy was hardly recognizable."

"This can only be the work of those devils... an Akuma. We must sever all ties with them at once."

"You are right, Elder Han. I knew our alliance with that girl, Purple, and the Supreme Council would lead to our downfall."

"And the Heart family? Mike went to them regarding the matter of Purple, did he not? Could they be behind this?"

"We are the Kugo Clan! The Zheng Clan should be our focus, not forming alliances with these bastards."

"Agreed. We must sever ties with them immediately."

The clan leader’s expression read mostly as disappointment, which somehow made it worse. The fact that both his eyeballs had been removed did nothing to diminish the weight of the stare he produced.

If anything, it made it harder to look at. The elders were still speaking when Haste lost patience with it, his voice coming out sharp and aggressive, cutting the speech short.

"How dare you speak with such arrogance before the Leader? Have you no shame? Silence yourself until you are commanded to speak."

Worried glances moved around the table between the elders. Haste was young, early twenties at most, and every elder seated at that table was old enough to have brought him into the world. None of that mattered. Not one of them dared oppose what he had said.

The silence stretched for a few minutes. Just the soft sound of breathing and the barely contained anger that seemed to pulse through the room itself.

Then the Clan Leader spoke:

"Our alliance with the Supreme Council remains beneficial. Aina Zheng is clearly the one pulling the strings, and she will ensure that any recognition we gain never overshadows the Zheng Clan."

He frowned.

"No, that is exactly why we refuse to bow to their demands. We have waited eighty-seven long years for this moment, ever since V nearly brought our clan to its knees.

"So nothing changes. The glory from defeating V is ours and ours alone. Not a share for the Supreme Council, not a share for Purple or her Vey family. We must defeat V by ourselves, and in doing so, reclaim our title as the strongest clan. That is why we will cling to V’s alliance and use their own plans against them."

The elders didn’t take it well. Their expressions twisted slightly, the kind of reaction that came from hearing something you had been quietly hoping wouldn’t be said.

"Uhm, Clan Leader, pardon my boldness, but how do we intend to proceed? You had planned to manipulate V’s alliance from the shadows, yet with someone now targeting the Four Wings, our strongest fighters, how can we be confident in that approach? As V remains with the Zheng Clan, it is natural for the alliance to perceive us as rivals."

Hmph.

Another elder spoke:

"Surely you realize that the Purple girl has figured out we intend to kill her, and she’s using that against us. From what I’ve seen and heard, she’s brilliant and incredibly cunning. She even manipulated an entire family at the age of eight. I’ve also heard she’s Barbados’ top chess champion and top strategist. And don’t forget our agreement with her."

The elder’s words, unfortunately, stung the pride of many others.

"Wait... are you saying she’s smarter than the Clan Leader?"

"What’s wrong with you, Elder Bahn?"

"You’d better watch what you say next time."

The clan leader exhaled deeply.

"Indeed, Elder Bahn. I have acquired considerable information about her. Even prior to awakening her Inheritance, she demonstrated remarkable intelligence, and her talent should not be underestimated." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He frowned.

"However, that’s where her advantage ends. She’s still a kid after all. Experience surpasses her abilities in every way. I’m not claiming to be smarter than her, but if she had killed Mike, she would have been playing right into our hands."

Elder Bahn remained unsatisfied, and it showed.

To anyone watching, it looked like a man doubting the abilities of his own people, which wasn’t a comfortable thing to witness.

But the truth behind it was more complicated. He had heard the stories. Fear and regret from those who had faced Purple, who had assumed they had her measure and paid for it with everything.

He wasn’t doubting the clan. He was terrified of repeating a mistake he’d only ever witnessed from a distance.

There was also the matter of Purple, the one detail that complicated everything. She was the only person who knew how to defeat V, which meant the plan was only as good as her involvement.

Elder Bahn had led the negotiation with her himself. He knew the terms, the fragility of it, all of it. Pressing the clan leader with another question now risked being taken as an insult, and he was already in a position that couldn’t afford more damage.

AHEM

The Clan Leader cleared his throat.

"We will continue as we always have. The enemy might expect us to overreact to Mike’s death, to lash out or abandon our plans, but the Kugo Clan never yields. We will endure, and V’s head will fall to a sword of this clan."

The Clan Leader was on the verge of closing the meeting when one of the elders cut in, voice carrying a tone that split evenly between skepticism and confusion.

"No... don’t tell me. Are they trying to stop us from taking part in the V raid? Does that mean this came from the Zheng Clan? By the Trinity?"

Disappointment crossed the Clan Leader’s face, brief but visible. He answered the elder’s question anyway.

"We cannot blame anyone for this. Perhaps it is precisely what the enemy expects. We must regard Mike’s death as another tragedy of war and continue forward."

The room took the Clan Leader’s words in good faith. No one pushed back, and no one pressed further. They watched as he wrapped things up and let it be.