The ramen shop owner—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call him Uesugi Koeru now.
Former Shadow Emperor. Once the head of the Uesugi family, one of the Three Great Houses of Yamata no Orochi. The strongest hybrid of his time. His Word Soul, "Black Sun," held the potential to bring about the world's end.
If this name were to be revealed, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves across Japan—no, the entire world. This wasn't an exaggeration. It was a fact.
But who would have guessed?
The Shadow Emperor, the man Yamata no Orochi had been searching for over decades, the unparalleled hybrid Uesugi Koeru, had been living in plain sight.
Hiding his identity, he worked as nothing more than a simple ramen chef on the bustling streets of Tokyo.
Under the amused gaze of the black-haired boy, the ramen chef's seemingly hunched back began to straighten, rising like a mighty dragon. His body, weathered by time, suddenly exuded an overwhelming aura, as if Mount Fuji, dormant for decades, was now erupting with the power it had accumulated over millennia.
At that moment, the once-dormant Shadow Emperor seemed to awaken.
The air around them felt as though it had been sucked away, creating a vacuum. An indescribable pressure bore down on the area, heavy and unrelenting, like an immense mountain crushing everything beneath it.
The small ramen cart groaned under the strain, its frame creaking as if it might collapse.
"Who are you?"
The kind-faced ramen chef was gone. In his place stood Uesugi Koeru, the strongest hybrid of the modern era.
His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, but it carried an oppressive weight that seemed to freeze the very air. The temperature around them plummeted, as if the atmosphere itself had turned to frost.
His golden eyes burned like molten lava, their intensity so fierce that meeting his gaze for too long might make one feel as though they were being scorched.
Yet the black-haired boy, standing unfazed in the face of Uesugi Koeru's overwhelming aura, simply smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Uesugi," he said calmly. "You can call me Sogetsu."
"Did Yamata no Orochi send you? Or are you from the Oni Clan?" Uesugi Koeru asked, his face devoid of emotion. He didn't care who the man in front of him was; he only cared about why he had come.
The escalating conflict between Yamata no Orochi and the Oni Clan was something Koeru had long been aware of.
But he had no intention of getting involved, nor did he want to take sides.
"Neither. I don't belong to any side."
Sogetsu wore a gentle smile as he shook his head. "Mr. Uesugi Koeru, you might have misunderstood. I'm here purely on my own behalf."
Neither Yamata no Orochi nor the Oni Clan?
Uesugi's brows furrowed tightly. His cold gaze carried an unmistakable distance, as if pushing the other man away. His tone was sharp and unwelcoming: "Listen, I don't care who you are or why you're here. I'm not interested. Got it?"
Yamata no Orochi, the Oni Clan, hybrids, dragons—it no longer mattered to him.
The man once known as the Shadow Emperor, Uesugi Koeru, was "dead."
The person standing here now was just an ordinary ramen shop owner on a Tokyo street corner.
"Finish your bowl of ramen and get out of my sight."
His voice was cold, dismissive, as he turned back to his work. He pressed into the dough with firm hands, focusing on his task.
"Is that so? What a shame."
Sogetsu let out a dramatic sigh, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a crisp ten-thousand-yen note. He placed it on the counter and got up to leave.
As he stepped through the doorway, he paused, as if suddenly remembering something. Turning back to look at Uesugi, who was still kneading the dough, he said casually, "Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks for the meal. In return, let me give you an interesting piece of news: the bloodline of the 'Emperor' has never been severed."
With that, he stepped out of the ramen shop.
But at that moment, Koeru froze, his mind struck as if by a bolt of lightning.
The Shadow Emperor wasn't just a title. It signified the inheritance of the most powerful "White Dragon Emperor" bloodline.
The dragon blood within him was more concentrated than anyone else's. But because the White Dragon Emperor was a dragon of mental control, he hadn't succumbed to becoming a mindless Death Servitor.
Everyone knew that the strength of a hybrid was directly proportional to the concentration of dragon blood in their veins. This was why Uesugi Koeru had once been called the strongest hybrid of his time—strong enough that even Hilbert had bowed to him.
But Uesugi Koeru knew the truth: the White Emperor's bloodline was a mistake.
The White Dragon Emperor's gift to Yamata no Orochi wasn't a blessing but a curse, something that should never have existed in this world.
When Koeru abandoned his identity as the Shadow Emperor, he swore to break the curse. He chose not to marry, not to have children, and to live in obscurity as a humble ramen shop owner in Tokyo. He had resolved to be the last Emperor of this world and let the cursed bloodline die with him.
But now... someone was telling him that he still had descendants in this world?
The black-haired boy had already walked several meters away from the noodle stand when Uesugi Koeru finally snapped out of his shock. In that instant, his frail and aging body erupted with an astonishing aura and strength.
Boom!
The poor noodle stand was instantly torn apart by an invisible force.
With a single step, Uesugi Koeru closed the distance of several meters in an instant. He blocked the path of the black-haired boy, his massive hand clamping down on the boy's shoulder like an iron vise. His blazing golden eyes shone with an intense light as he demanded, his voice trembling with emotion, "Explain clearly—what's going on?!"
"It's exactly as I said, Mr. Uesugi Koeru."
The boy's calm tone didn't waver, even as Uesugi Koeru's iron-like fingers pressed into his collarbone. Veins bulged on Koeru's hand, but the boy didn't flinch, maintaining a serene smile as if he felt no pain at all.
Uesugi Koeru couldn't process his shock. He blurted out, "I've never married in my life! How could I have descendants?"
Just moments ago, he'd been resolute in ensuring that the bloodline of the "White Emperor" would end with him. And now this boy was casually claiming that the bloodline had not only continued but was alive and well.
But how? He had never married or even been involved with a woman—where could any descendants have come from?
"It's a long story, but it all goes back to the time when you, as one of the first in the world, donated your sperm for scientific research," the boy said with a light, almost teasing tone.
"First, let me thank you for your contribution to science. Secondly, I have to say, your sperm was of exceptional quality. It led to the successful creation of three test-tube babies—two boys and one girl. Congratulations!"
Congratulations?
Congratulations, my ass!
Uesugi Koeru's mind was in turmoil, waves of disbelief crashing over him.
He stared at the boy, his eyes wide, his pupils trembling as he stammered, "W-what did you say? I... I have two sons and a daughter?!"
This revelation shook him to his core, as if he were staring down a Dragon King itself.
"That's right, two boys and one girl."
Sogetsu nodded and said, "If you think about it, they should all be in their twenties now."
"..."
Uesugi Koeru took several steps back, unable to believe what he had just heard. His entire body froze in shock.
He—Uesugi Koeru—was eighty-nine years old and had always thought he was alone in this world. But now, someone was telling him he had two sons and a daughter, all in the prime of their youth.
Sure, he had once considered ending the bloodline of the "White Emperor" and breaking the curse of the "White Dragon Emperor" that had haunted the Eight Families of Yamata no Orochi.
Yet now, upon suddenly learning that his bloodline had survived, the first thing that came to his mind wasn't severing the cursed lineage. Instead, it was an unfamiliar warmth.
Even though he had never met them, he was bound by a connection called "family." It was as if his existence had gained meaning, as if he had finally been acknowledged.
"What a pity..."
Sogetsu sighed deeply and, with a tone full of regret, said, "They don't have much time left to live."
********
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