One's True Nature

With a raise of his brow, Minos wondered what exactly about this Asumi saw as 'nefarious' but as he looked closer, he suddenly noticed something off.

Despite the woman seeming beautiful, upon a closer look, one would realize her facial features were actually blurred.

An even closer inspection would reveal that the face was constantly twitching, switching between a gentle smile reminiscent of the First Princess's, and an almost demonic face that seemed ready to devour anything.

Even Minos felt slight chills as he saw that face, but it seemed the crowd was oblivious, likely because they were too far away to see the details, not to mention Minos's vision which was already far better than theirs.

Instead they just cheered in ignorance, unaware of the true demons hidden within the First Princess gentle facade.

The First Princess also seemed to realize that the longer she stayed, the more likely she was to be exposed, so almost immediately after the phantom formed, she moved away, causing it to shatter back into blue light.

Still smiling gently, she rejoined the others, but Minos couldn't help but look at her twice, remembering her.

After her came the second prince, Orino, and without any surprise, his 'nature' was a massive pile of gold, gems, and jewels, which the crowd also seemed to like.

Next was the Sixth Prince, who's warlike nature formed into a large general standing firmly in a field of his dead opponents, vast swathes of land reduced to rubble under his trek.

The Seventh Prince was after, and much like his popular nickname, the Seventh Snake, his 'nature' was of a large serpent with a pair of wings on its back.

It clearly wasn't an ordinary serpent, and if anything, it was like a pseudo-dragon, though it lacked the same kind of majesty.

Still, the crowd seemed quite pleased with the winged-serpent, and their cheers reflected this.

With the Seventh Prince out of the way, the next few reveals were somewhat boring, nothing unexpected or surprising.

Only the Eighth and Ninth Prince's managed to get much of a reaction out of the crowd, the others being ignored for the most part.

This general apathy quickly changed as it finally reached the top three however, because this was the moment the crowd was really waiting for.

Walking up beneath the statue with a plain looking smile, Nayon looked up without any anxiety or worry.

As the Cat-Eyed Gem's power poured down onto him, his 'nature' soon revealed itself, however, somewhat shockingly, it was just a copy of himself.

There he was in phantom form, standing around calmly, wearing the exact same smile the real him was wearing.

No one quite understood what to make of this, after all compared to the other phantoms that were somewhat obvious, the Fourth Prince's seemed to not reveal anything.

If they didn't already know who the Fourth Prince was, then this phantom revealed nothing, or maybe it was saying that the Fourth Prince was exactly as he was, with nothing to hide.

The Cat-Eyed Gem wasn't always clear in its interpretations, hence it was up to the crowd to make as they would of what they saw.

Ultimately, the crowd wasn't quite sure how to react, so it was a mix of loud cheers and absolute quiet.

Unaffected, the Fourth Prince walked back, though this time everyone looked at him with a bit more confusion.

The Battle of Heart wasn't only a good opportunity for the citizens to vote upon their next king, it was also a great opportunity for the contestants themselves to understand their opponents more.

But the Fourth Prince's reveal did the exact opposite, and those who thought they already knew him were forced to re-examine what they once were confident in.

Nayon himself seemed unconcerned with this, just looking towards Minos with still eyes, almost mocking him.

But rather than seeing the uncertainty he expected, he saw clarity, as if he had already been seen through a long time ago.

'Impossible!' He thought to himself, his heart suddenly dropping as he felt a tension he had never felt before.

But after shaking his head a few times, he returned to calm, though he still broke his vision from Minos, clearly somewhat intimidated.

Not concerned with his reaction, Minos just looked towards Asumi, who had already arrived under the statue at this time.

As her phantom formed, it slowly turned into a reflection of herself, though rather than sitting on a throne, which was quite common, she was levitating high into the sky.

Beneath here were thousands of peoples of all kinds, from civilians, to warriors, to merchants, everyone seemed to gather.

However, what all these different people had in common was that at this moment, they were all kneeling, their eyes filled with reverence, yet also not daring to look up.

The scene was incredibly spectacular, the greatest one the crowd had seen so far, which instantly inspired ear-shattering cheers from them.

Meanwhile, up on the terrace, the current King looked at the phantom with interest, the first time today that his face actually changed.

The perceptive ones around him instantly took note of this, further elevating the Sixteenth Princess's position within their minds.

The reveal of her Sky-Grade Physique had already made her an important figure, but no one actually thought she'd ever become the next king, after all, she was just too young.

But now that wasn't so clear, after all she had already done amazing in the first game, and it was starting to look like she'll also rank high in this one as well.

As long as she can maintain this momentum and do okay on the third battle, then she may very well actually win!

Of course this analysis didn't at all take Minos into consideration, but to be fair, who was Minos?

Most people just assumed he had won the first battle by fluke, and this next battle would completely reveal his ordinary nature.

Smiling victoriously, Asumi walked back, but as she retook her spot next to Minos, she couldn't help but whisper towards him.

"Beat that."

Amused, Minos just smirked towards her before walking away, the crowd going silent once more as he took his spot beneath the statue.

As the winner of the Battle of Strategy, it went without saying that everyone was curious to see what his nature was like.

This was especially so considering his civilian status, which actually made him more popular among a small section of the crowd.

This section was mostly the most 'inferior' breeds of the Cat-Human Hybrids, who were also the most discriminated against, working the worst jobs for the lowest pay.

Unfortunately they were a small group that lacked any real political or economic power, so despite their support, it didn't mean much.

However, Minos still noticed them in the crowd with their shining, hopeful eyes, taking note of them in his heart.

Looking back away from the crowd, Minos finally looked up at the Nine-Tailed Emperor's statue, suddenly feeling like he was looking at the man himself.

This feeling was weak at first, but the longer he looked, the more clear he could feel it, his heart suddenly clenching as he felt something boil within him.

For the first time in years, his Heart Path suddenly activated, Minos's soul seemingly pulled from his body and into the statue, or rather, the Cat-Eyed Gem itself!

…

Opening his eyes, Minos found himself on a large cliff that overlooked a vast jungle that spread beyond what the eye could see.

At the edge of the cliff was a young boy, nine-tails waving gently behind him, all moving in the same rhythm.

The boy seemed completely unaware of Minos's presence, just enjoying the view as he nibbled on a long piece of grass in his mouth.

"Nine, come quick, the tribe, we're being attacked!" A boy suddenly shouted from behind him, causing 'Nine' to jump up immediately.

"What happened?" Nine asked the boy who had shouted towards him, though interestingly enough, the boy himself only had three tails.

"It's the boar people, they've attacked!"

"Impossible! The tribe is heavily fortified, how could they be stupid enough to attack, it would only lead to their deaths!"

"Someone betrayed us, they opened the gates!"

"Dammit! Come on, let's go!" Nine shouted, exploding into a sprint as his three tailed friend tried his hardest to keep up.

Arriving back at the tribe, Nine could already hear the sounds of shouting and fighting, a tinge of blood filling the air.

His heart immediately dropped as he smelt death, but that didn't stop him, and with incredible agility, he scaled the tribe's walls and jumped inside.

Without even asking any questions, he pounced onto the first boar person he saw, his dagger-like teeth tearing a hole in his throat.

As soon as he dispatched him, he moved onto his next victim, but despite his help, it was clear the momentum was already against his people.