The Imperial Palace.
The ancient complex, a symbol of an "unbroken imperial line," was shrouded in deathly terror.
Inside the main hall.
The Japanese Emperor, over sixty years old and dressed in silk pajamas, paced across the tatami floor, his face deathly pale. He looked like a beast trapped in a cage.
Before him, every minister of the Eastern Japan Cabinet, along with the Head of the Imperial Household Agency, knelt prostrate, not daring to lift their heads.
The entire hall was so quiet that only the Japanese Emperor's heavy, rapid breathing could be heard.
"Damn it! Useless! Every last one of you is useless!"
The Japanese Emperor finally stopped pacing and swept an expensive porcelain piece off the table.
It shattered with a sharp crack, piercing the silence of the hall.
"The Four Grandmasters are dead! Over a hundred members of the Shrine Guard are dead, too!"
"Now even the Sacred Toilet has been burned down! That stupid woman Miaozi kowtowed like a dog in front of the whole world, and now she's gone mad!"
"And you, the Empire's ministers, just kneel here like blocks of wood, unable to do a thing!"
The Japanese Emperor pointed at the kneeling crowd, trembling with rage.
"Please calm yourself, Your Majesty!"
An elderly minister with white hair and a white beard said shakily, "We've already ordered the First Division of the Self-Defense Forces and the Metropolitan Police Department's Special Assault Team to surround the area!"
"Surround it?"
The Japanese Emperor reacted as though he had heard the funniest joke in the world. "What good does surrounding it do? Do you dare open fire? Do you dare order an attack?"
"That demon... that Dragon Kingdom demon who crawled out of hell is right there! Who dares go after him?!"
At the mention of