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Despite the Nine-Tailed Emperor himself having no biases, his people were clearly much more conservative in their thinking.

This didn't only reflect on the male and female dynamic, but even in the way breeds stuck together, the Cat Kingdom being a place of firm rules rather than active change.

Minos couldn't help but wonder if the Nine-Tailed Emperor would be disappointed at the sight, after all, from what he'd heard so far of the man, he was very progressive in his thoughts and ambitions.

…

"Where to now?" Tylia asked as they exited the restaurant, her stomach bloated from ordering so much.

"I still have to register as a competitor, so we'll head to the Forbidden Palace next." Minos replied, having used his Omniscient Eyes to discreetly understand how things operated here.

The way the Cat Kingdom operated was quite unusual, and despite having a royal family, it was actually split into two major forces.

The first was naturally the aforementioned royal family, however, the second was the Forbidden Army.

The Forbidden Army was even more powerful than the royal family, and they only answered to the current king, which meant that even if a Nine-Tailed with no affiliation to the royal family obtained power, they'd still have a massive force behind them.

The Nine-Tailed Emperor was very far-sighted, aware that without such a force in place, the royal family would eventually monopolize the power of the kingdom.

Of course, all powers in this world were susceptible to corruption, and from what Minos knew so far of the Nine-Tailed Emperor, he definitely wouldn't be so foolish to not understand that.

So the only question left was as to how the Nine-Tailed Emperor managed to maintain the Forbidden Army's loyalty even after death, in the case he even did manage to do such a difficult task.

If not, then this fight for the throne may be even more difficult than first imagined, having to fight not only the royal family, but the Forbidden Army as well…

…

The Forbidden Palace was absolutely massive, the largest palace Minos had ever seen in his life.

Surrounding it from all corners were tall Catmen, their bodies from head to toe covered in thick armor, making it impossible to tell what breed they even were.

The only thing one could see were their piercing cat-like eyes, slitted pupils filled with a menacing aura, as if ready to fight and kill at any time.

Walking up to the front entrance with Tylia and the other's, Minos was suddenly stopped by two Catmen, both nearly as tall as he was.

"Halt! State your business." A loud husky voice came from within the thick helmet.

"I'm here to register for the inheritance battle." Minos replied.

"Very well, but only Nine-Tailed are allowed beyond this point." The man said.

"You guys wait for me here. I'll be out soon." Minos said, Tylia nodding towards him as she watched his back slowly disappear into the dark palace.

Entering inside, Minos looked around in the darkness, his pupils slitting to allow more light in.

This place seemed completely abandoned, not a single soul in sight, which piqued Minos's interest.

Wandering around for a bit, he wasn't quite sure where to go, but before he could head back out to ask the soldiers, a voice appeared directly in his ear.

"Come."

Startled, Minos looked around, but he found nothing, so with a little caution, he headed towards where the sound originated.

Soon enough, Minos arrived in a large throne room, a few dim blueish lights hanging on the wall, the only source of illumination in the otherwise dark room.

The first thing to come into sight was naturally the throne, but it was completely empty, only the portrait of a majestic looking Catman hanging from above it.

Not unexpectedly, the portrait was of the Nine-Tailed Emperor, a blank look on his face as he sat apathetically on what seemed like the very same throne in this room.

"Despite his appearance, the Nine-Tailed Emperor was a very kind man, nothing like his descendants…" The same voice from before said, once again alerting Minos.

Looking firmly towards the throne, he saw an old hunched over Catman walk out from behind it, his body small and frail, as if he could collapse at any moment.

"Who are you?" Minos asked.

"Me? I'm just an old man long forgotten, who I am is no longer relevant… The important question is, who are you?"

"I'm Minos, I'm here for the inher-"

"I know what you are here for, Minos, it certainly is no mystery. They only ever come here when it's time for another cycle of nothing…"

"Nothing?" Minos asked, but the old man ignored his question.

"Have a seat on the throne. Whether you fulfill the Nine-Tailed Emperor's requirements to compete or not will soon become obvious."

Still a little confused, Minos nodded nonetheless, slowly walking up to the throne before having a seat.

As he sat down, the portrait behind him suddenly began shaking erratically, a strange power flowing out from it and encompassing Minos's body.

Minos could feel the power running through his entire body, from his skin to his bones, as if verifying his identity, which caused him to become a little concerned since he wasn't actually a Nine-Tailed cat person.

Finished, the energy flowed back out of Minos's body and into the portrait, causing it to once again settle down.

Meanwhile, the old man's eyes were glued towards the portrait, watching it firmly as the Nine-Tailed Emperor's expression underwent a change.

From the blank face, the corner of the Nine-Tailed Emperor's lip slowly began raising, the horizontal lips quickly transforming into a full smile.

Even the entire aura of the portrait changed, from lazy apathy, to joyous smiles, giving one a completely different feeling if they were to look at it now.

"Amazing!" The old man said, having never seen something like this.

Usually, even if one passed, the Nine-Tailed Emperor's expression would undergo no changes, and if they failed, his blank face would turn into a frown.

However, a smile? He'd never seen such a thing before, not even aware it was a possible outcome.

"Did I pass?" Minos asked, not sure what the old man was reacting to.

"Yes, you did. Come with me" The old man said, not explaining much, though his attitude had already done a 180 compared to before.

Standing up to follow him, Minos couldn't help but look back at the portrait, however by this point, it had already turned back to normal, making him even more curious as to what the old man was excited about.

"Do you know why the Nine-Tailed Emperor set up this inheritance battle in the first place?" The old man suddenly asked as the two were walking.

"To keep the kingdom from constantly degrading due to incompetent leadership." Minos answered.

"That's certainly one reason, but there's an even less known reason, which is the so-called Bloodline Theory."

"Bloodline Theory?"

"That's right, the idea of 'purifying' the bloodline, constantly creating descendants superior to those that come before them."

"The beast people have always been big believers in the Bloodline Theory, however most only practice it passively, the constant battles and scuffles culling the weak and only leaving behind the strong, assuring each generation is better then the last."

"The Nine-Tailed Emperor sought to turn this passive evolution into an active one, hence the inheritance battle."

"You must know that beyond the king, there are the nine imperial clans, the nine runner ups right behind the king himself."

"Both the king and his descendants are only allowed to reproduce with the nine imperial clans, and in a way, the nine imperial clans only exist to create a superior mating pool for the royal family to choose from."

"With the royal family and the nine imperial clans, the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed have constantly been undergoing a slow but gradual improvement."

"The Nine-Tailed Emperor sought to create the so-called perfect people, but how could such a thing be possible?"

"For as strong as the Nine-Tailed have become due to this process, they lack fire, not a single one of them having the ambition of the Nine-Tailed Emperor himself."

"In fact, there have been those even more talented than the Nine-Tailed Emperor himself, but not a single one of them ever managed to reach his realm, they simply lack the experience."

"Brilliant as the Nine-Tailed Emperor was, he forgot that there are plenty of things beyond blood, and just a purification of it alone isn't enough."

"Wisdom, determination, courage, pain, suffering, victory, defeat, it's all these things that truly craft a perfect being, one beyond the limitations of mere-blood, and none of those things can be crafted in a greenhouse…"

"Why are you telling me all this?" Minos couldn't help but ask.

"Why? I'm not sure, I just feel like… Maybe you could change that."