Enthronement Ceremony

Minos watched the entire thing happening from his seat up high, watching as Venix followed the man to heaven knows where.

Despite not knowing much about the sect, he was at least aware of who the patriarch was. He could only pray that Venix was strong enough to not break his cover and ruin this heaven given opportunity.

While the Young Patriarch competition was huge, it was nothing compared to the coming Enthronement Ceremony.

This was the event where everyone with any sort of influence gathered to congratulate the new Young Patriarch, and his title became official.

It was only after the Enthronement Ceremony did the Young Patriarch join the Old Patriarch in the mausoleum to pray to the ancestors.

Essentially, it would be a few more days until everything came to fruition, and this was the perfect time to get everything set up.

Minos still had to create a diversion, and also silence the mausoleum so that Venix's attack could go on without a hitch.

He had a few days, but a lot of work to do, so he didn't stay much longer, heading back home as he began brainstorming.

The biggest problem he had was how to go to the mausoleum and set up the silencing talisman's.

As the resting place for the previous patriarch's, it went without saying that the place was very well guarded.

Instead of going directly home, Minos left the sect. After walking around the city and coming to its back, he came across a large temple-like building surrounded by highwalls.

The highwall blocked Mino's view, so after searching for a bit and finding a hill, Minos walked up, getting a good vantage point.

Despite not reaching the Ninth Life Lock, Minos's vision had still been improved by the Twelve Beast Movement Tome, allowing him to peer down with some clarity.

On the four walls stood sentries of unknown strength, however the inside seemed empty, but it was possible that the real guard force was just staying hidden.

Minos could only hope that the four guards on the walls were all there was, or else things would be a lot more difficult.

After inspecting the place for a little longer, Minos found a closer spot to the walls that was still well hidden.

With a flick of his wrist, a little golden mouse appeared in his hand. Putting the mouse on the floor, Minos began controlling it to burrow under the earth.

Under Minos's command, the little mouse quickly dug underneath the mausoleum walls, before popping its little head up within the walls.

Minos couldn't see the mouse at this point, but through the string, he could still sense where it was.

Minos purposely made the mouse run around a bit, even directly entering the mausoleum, but regardless of what he did, nobody reacted.

While it was possible that the guards just didn't care about a mouse, Minos felt that was unlikely, afterall, he even made the mouse chew on a bunch of things.

If they really had that little regard for the mausoleum, then they may as well not be guards in the first place.

Feeling reassured, Minos controlled the Gold-Nibbling Mouse to come back to him. After picking it up from the ground, Minos wrapped a small silencing talisman around it, before sending it back in.

Heading back up to the hill, Minos looked down into the mausoleum, giving him a chance to just barely make out the Gold-Nibbling Mouse.

Being able to see it, Minos sent it off to set up a silencing talisman in all four corners of the mausoleum, hidden under the dirt.

With the silencing talisman's all the right spot, Minos felt confident, calling the Gold-Nibbling Mouse back.

Now all he needed to do was activate them at the right time, but that was a challenge for another day, rather he still needed to set up the vibration diversion.

Compared to planting the silencing talisman's, this was even easier, just buying some explosive material and planting them all around the sect.

After planting about a dozen explosive charges, Minos finally felt satisfied. With everything set up, his job was done, and all he could do was wish Venix success.

…

Waking up the next day, Minos put on his best outfit as he prepared for the day's event. Not only was it the Young Patriarch Enthronement ceremony, but more importantly, it was the day when Venix's plan finally came to fruition.

"Let me help you, Master Merth." Emilia said, as she patted down Minos's shirt and got rid of all the creases.

"Well I'm off."

"Take care." Emilia said with a smile, not realizing that this was likely the last time she'd ever see 'Merth.'

After coming to the venue near the very center of the city, Minos looked around to the hustle and bustle.

Compared to yesterday's competition, there were much fewer people here, but all of them were prestigious names.

There were the elders, patriarchs of powerful families, the core disciples, and most importantly, the patriarch of the Thousand Split Sword Sect.

The gathering was so elite that even core disciples were forced to sit at the back, being considered the bottom-rung of this group.

Fortunately as Ikki's best friend, 'Merth' naturally received much better treatment, having an exclusive seat near the front of the venue.

The patriarch of the sect gave 'Merth' a quick glance, smiling at him before sending a nod, before focusing his attention on the crowd.

He was seated on a small stage, the grand elder on his left, and his right seat empty. The other chairs on the stage were all seated with elders.

Taking his seat, Minos waited patiently, and after another half hour or so, the patriarch cleared his voice loudly, gathering everyone's attention.

"Welcome everyone, and thank you once more for attending our enthronement ceremony."

"Are you kidding, we wouldn't miss this for the world!" One man said with a loud laugh.

"I'm happy to see you all so interested. Well we've already spent enough time waiting, so let's introduce the new young patriarch. Ikki!" The patriarch said, the smile on his face reaching its peak.

With the patriarch's word, Ikki came out from the back of the stage, wearing a special robe that usually only the patriarch would wear.

On his head was a small jade crown, his hair done up in a fancy bun. With his arrival, everyone couldn't help but cheer and shout.

"Well, come take a seat beside me." The patriarch said with a smile, as he patted the seat to his right.

'Ikki' gently nodded before sitting beside the patriarch, the crowd below the stage letting out a loud applause as Ikki took his spot.

"Do you Ikki, swear to the heavens and earth, that you will fulfill your role as young patriarch?" The patriarch asked.

"I swear!" Ikki shouted.

"Do you Ikki, swear to the heavens and earth, that you will only do good by the sect, never evil?"

"I swear!"

Like this, the patriarch asked question after question, constantly having 'Ikki' swear to the heavens and the earth.

After a half hour or so of swearing, the ceremony was finally over, but the true party had only just begun.

Ikki proceeded to walk off the stage, sending greetings to everyone who had come, before finally coming up to 'Merth.'

After a quick handshake, the two couldn't help but smile and laugh to each other, others curious what they seemed to be amused by.

Watching Ikki continue with his greetings, Minos couldn't help but smirk, feeling that things were a bit comical.

The greetings lasted another hour or so, and so after another hour of drinking and chatting, the ceremony truly came to a finish.

However for the patriarch and young patriarch, the event had only just begun. The two gave the crowd a quick goodbye before heading off to the mausoleum.

Compared to the enthronement ceremony that lasted a few hours, the prayer in the mausoleum took much longer, usually lasting until sunset.

However this was perfect for Minos since he still needed time to activate all the things he had previously set up.

Minos and Venix had long since discussed this, so after waiting for nearly an hour, Minos headed off for the mausoleum.

With the silencing talisman's already set up, Minos bit his thumb, spreading a little blood on the Gold-Nibbling Mouse before sending it off to activate them all.

The silencing talisman's could last for at least half a day, so he didn't worry about them, instead keeping his eye firmly on the time, waiting for the allotted minute.

Waiting patiently, Minos suddenly felt a vibration go off under his shirt. Venix had activated his signal talisman, which meant it was finally time to get this show on the road.