His Return

Overview

His Return is the confrontation at the School of Knowledge for Gifted Children in which Shun Sato, the Lord of the Tower, publicly comes for his son Ryuji Sato. It occurs a few months after the Battle of the Kings, during a parents’ event, and exposes the King’s parentage to the students and families gathered at the school.

The encounter begins as Shun’s attempt to take Ryuji home and becomes a public ordeal in the arena. Shun overpowers Ryuji, calls him a murderer before the crowd, and insists that he must remove him to the Tower. Ryuji’s friends refuse to abandon him despite being denied a complete explanation, making the event the first decisive test of the loyalty created by the tournament.

His Return is the confrontation at the School of Knowledge for Gifted Children in which Shun Sato, the Lord of the Tower, publicly came for his son Ryuji Sato. It took place during a school parents’ event, a few months after the Battle of the Kings, and exposed Ryuji’s parentage to his classmates and their families.

Arrival and accusation

Shun first told Ryuji that he had come to take him home, then moved the confrontation into the arena. He defeated Ryuji with overwhelming force, criticized his use of a half-form that wasted mana, and used a silenced-air cage to question him away from the crowd. When the cage fell, Shun broke Ryuji’s nose and publicly pronounced him guilty. The precise charge is not disclosed in this Volume I account, but Shun later called his son a murderer and said he had come to protect others from him.

Defense of the King

Ryuji’s friends refused to abandon him. Sawano Torafuku and Yuki Hayami, the school’s Queen and Jack, stood between Shun and their King even after being told of Ryuji’s secrets. Nori Morita and Michika Midori were drawn into the fighting and were taken to the infirmary after sustaining serious injuries. The group’s decision to trust Ryuji, despite uncertainty, becomes the emotional center of the event.

Reunion of the war heroes

Kimiko Torafuku and Reiko Hayami entered the arena to protect their children. Their encounter with Shun reunited the three heroes of the Demon War for the first time in thirty-nine years. Mimi Sato, Shun’s eldest daughter, emerged from his shadow, restored his severed hand, and briefly fought Sawano. Shun refused to let Mimi heal Ryuji.

Departure

The departure does not resolve the accusation against Ryuji. Shun says that time is short and that they must return to the Tower, but he does not give the school a complete account of why. Sawano’s final attempt to keep Ryuji from being taken makes the loss personal rather than merely political; Ryuji is removed by his father’s shadow and returns to the Tower after two years away, while the friends left behind choose not to treat the unanswered charge as proof of guilt.

Shun and the older heroes did not fully explain the reason for his return; he said only that there was little time and that he and his son had to return promptly to The Tower. The conflict nevertheless continued. Shun used his full incubus form and defeated the opposition, while Sawano made a final attempt to stop him. He escaped with Ryuji through shadow and brought him back to the Tower, where Ryuji found himself home for the first time in two years. The public encounter left the school with the knowledge that its King was the Lord of the Tower’s son and left his friends determined not to abandon him.