CHAPTER 74: EX 74. FORGED IN STRIFE

The grand halls of the Federal Chambers echoed softly with Nikko’s measured footsteps as she made her way toward the Gubernatorial Chambers. Clad in a sleek black kimono adorned with golden engravings that shimmered like firelight under the high crystal chandeliers, she looked every bit the daughter of power and precision. Her expression was calm, unreadable, yet her presence alone turned the heads of passing officials and aides who quickly stepped aside with respectful nods.

She was on her way to welcome her father, Governor Yakomoto, back from his recent expedition into the Trial World. It was supposed to be a formal reunion. Civil and Predictable.

Until a familiar, chirpy voice rang out behind her.

"Nikko! Wait up!"

She halted, eyes narrowing slightly as she turned her head.

Jogging up to her was a vibrant figure in stark contrast to Nikko’s refined aesthetic. Sakura, with her bubble-gum pink hair bouncing in waves and olive-green eyes shining with mischief, wore a flowing white kimono embroidered with pink floral patterns that swayed as she approached.

"Sakura, what took you so long? I thought you’d be in the chambers already."

Sakura huffed. "Come on, sis. Do you know how difficult it is to style this hair? It’s an art form!"

Nikko raised a perfectly sculpted brow. "You wouldn’t have that problem if you didn’t dye it like a candy stick."

Sakura gasped, feigning offense. "What do you know about beauty, you edgy crow?"

With a dramatic spin of her sleeves, she walked ahead, nose in the air.

Nikko exhaled slowly and shook her head. Every time...

But the atmosphere shifted in an instant.

Her instincts flared.

Without warning, a thick vine burst from beneath the marble floor, spiraling toward her like a serpent. Nikko’s eyes flashed golden, slitting into sharp beast-like pupils. Her body reacted before thought could catch up, leaping into the air with feline grace, her fingers morphing into obsidian claws mid-flight.

She slashed once, twice, and the vine shredded into whirling petals of green pulp before crashing to the floor in tatters. She landed in a crouch several meters away, kimono fluttering as she straightened and locked eyes with her smiling sister.

Sakura stood with a lazy grin, one hand raised casually while thick vines coiled at her feet like loyal pets.

"Almost had you," she thought smugly.

Nikko’s face didn’t flinch, but her internal monologue was already rolling: "Can’t I have a normal afternoon without someone in the family trying to cripple me..."

With a low growl, she dashed forward, her beast eyes gleaming with challenge.

Sakura grinned wider, flicking her wrist as more vines erupted in response, ready to meet her sister’s claws.

And just like that, the silent grandeur of the Federal Chambers became the stage for a wild, elegant clash of bloodline talents, one rooted in chaos, the other in control.

****

Maxim of the Yakomoto Family:

"Through the forge of strife, true power is 铸 (forged)."

Established by Governor Yakomoto, the First Bearer of a Supreme Talent and patriarch of the Federation’s most feared bloodline, this was not merely a phrase. It was law. A creed etched into the bones of the Yakomoto household, practiced like ritual, lived like instinct. Governor Yakomoto believed power wasn’t something handed down, it had to be seized, wrestled from the jaws of hardship, and beaten into shape with one’s own hands.

And so, within the Yakomoto Estate, there were no rules of restraint, only one boundary: no proven murder. Everything else?

Fair game.

From sabotaging training drills to launching full-scale ambushes, the children of the Yakomoto family were bred in chaos, and nowhere was this more evident than during clashes between the most feared of them all

The Supreme talent bearers.

Whenever Nikko and Sakura Yakomoto fought, the entire estate trembled like a storm had come alive. Their collisions cracked marble, uprooted trees, and sent shockwaves through reinforced training domes.

And now, today, was no exception.

Thunderous impacts rang out like a war drum across the estate. Nikko’s clawed fingers dug into a towering vine construct so vast it blotted out the sky, her beast-like eyes narrowed as she scaled upward like a predator, every strike leaving glowing gashes across the bark-like coils. At the summit stood Sakura, pink hair fluttering in the wind, arms outstretched as new vines twisted to defend her.

Nikko pounced as Sakura blocked the attack with her vines.

Boom!!

The force of their clash sent out a concussive blast that knocked petals off trees two gardens away.

Down below, the staff of the estate were in full retreat. Veterans of these encounters, they knew better than to get caught in the crossfire of a Supreme sibling battle.

But not everyone hid.

Three young men stood in the courtyard, arms folded, watching the battle unfold with the ease of seasoned spectators.

To the right, a wiry teen with a sharp gaze and youthful tone grinned.

"My credit’s on Nikko. She’s always had the upper hand against Sakura."

To the left, a broader youth with a military cut and crossed arms countered.

"Don’t count out Sakura. Her vines are unpredictable, and she’s been training like hell lately."

The one in the middle remained silent, calmly adjusting his thin-framed glasses. Finally, he spoke.

"Neither will win. You’re forgetting, Father always arrives before there’s a victor."

As if summoned by the prophecy, Nikko burst through the final wall of vines, claws raised to strike. Sakura’s eyes widened in shock, she hadn’t expected her sister to break through so quickly.

But just as the finishing blow came down,

The world shifted.

In an instant, Nikko’s surroundings blurred. The howling wind, shattered vines, even her sister, gone.

She now stood within the solemn, gold-lit walls of the Gubernatorial Chambers.

The air was still, reverent and heavy with authority.

Her instincts recognized it at once.

Before her, kneeling with heads bowed low, were her three brothers. Nikko, without hesitation, dropped to one knee, head lowered in silence. Moments later, Sakura appeared beside her, stunned but not foolish, she, too, knelt immediately.

And then, as if on cue, the voice of all five children rose in perfect unison:

"We welcome you back from your expedition, Father."

Seated on the obsidian throne ahead, veiled in gold-etched shadows and silent might, was Governor Yakomoto, the man who bore the first Supreme Talent, the eternal architect of order and fear within the Federation... and the only being in the entire world the Yakomoto Supremes would ever bow to.