NovelPantheon

Minamoto Ai

Captain and swordswomanWorld Rank 13Japanese Royal Family Special Forces

Minamoto Ai is a Japanese swordswoman who commands the Royal Family's special forces and holds World Rank 13. As a member of the Grand Natural Society, she helps organize the response to Melissia Masquerade, leads soldiers against its demons, and later uses her institutional position to control the public account of the raid. (Chapters 63–65, 73–74, 80, 85, 93, 258, 394)

Biography

Organizing the Masquerade response

Minamoto first encounters Yu Jitae and Bom while representing the Royal Family task force at a private Grand Natural Society meeting. She distrusts their concealed identities, tests Yu Jitae with a covert mana scan, and challenges the confidence of his anti-demon plan. Once the threat is established, she sets the conflict aside, brings trusted rankers into the raid, and accepts responsibility for blocking the demons converging on the boss room rather than pursuing the most prestigious targets herself. (Chapters 73–74, 80)

The incoming demons prove strong enough to threaten even her rigorously selected special forces, forcing Minamoto to hold the line and keep every agent on guard. After the operation, she files the report that lets Lair present an orderly response and conceals Yu Jitae's role from both the Royal Family and the Association. She later accepts his footage of Wei Yan, using a separate media scandal to protect Kaeul from hostile attention while preserving the raid's greater secret. (Chapters 80, 83, 85, 93)

Minamoto continues serving in the Association's high-level response network, joining the conference on Quasar and later fighting with the surviving rankers against an ancient dragon during the Long Night. These appearances keep her role centred on coordinated national and international defence rather than personal advancement. (Chapters 258, 394)

Appearance and personality

Minamoto is a Japanese woman in her late thirties with a boyish bob haircut, cat-like eyes, and a fierce appearance compared to a feral cat. She is physically fit and often keeps a sword at hand, sharpening it even while resting in an office. (Chapters 65, 73–74, 85)

She is observant, blunt, profane, and intensely hostile toward demons. Minamoto challenges people she does not trust but does not cling to an argument once cooperation becomes necessary. Her hard edge coexists with loyalty to fellow Grand Natural Society members, visible when Myung Yongha's family receives hopeful medical news. (Chapters 63–65, 73–74, 80, 93)

Powers and abilities

Swordsmanship and command

Minamoto is a world-ranked swordswoman and captain of a Royal Family task force whose members pass unusually strict selection. She leads their formation against a surge of enhanced demons and later joins other elite soldiers in wearing down an ancient dragon. Her individual sword techniques are not named, and the Masquerade battle shows that even her unit can be pushed into a defensive struggle by abnormally empowered enemies. (Chapters 65, 80, 184, 394)

Mana sensing

Minamoto can send out an extremely secretive and delicate strand of mana to scan another person's body or power. Yu Jitae rejects the scan directly, and the reactive force strikes her heart hard enough to make her gasp. The technique is therefore useful for discreet assessment but exposes her to backlash when the target can forcibly resist it. (Chapter 73)

Operational discretion

As a captain and Grand Natural Society member, Minamoto can recommend outside rankers for a major raid, reposition special forces, and shape confidential reporting after an incident. This authority helps contain both demons and sensitive information, but it remains constrained by the Royal Family and Association structures whose knowledge she deliberately limits. (Chapters 73–75, 80, 83, 85, 93)

Relationships

  • Yu Jitae: Minamoto begins by questioning his hidden identity and plans, then recognizes that her side needs his help. She follows his operational assignment, conceals his role afterward, and accepts his media evidence for a later information strategy. (Chapters 73–75, 80, 85, 93)
  • BM: BM is Minamoto's Grand Natural Society colleague and helps restrain disputes during planning. She trusts him as one of the rankers brought into the raid and later fights beside him during the Long Night. (Chapters 63–65, 73–74, 93, 394)
  • Myung Yongha: Minamoto shares Myung's relief when his wife's condition improves and continues working with him through the Society and Association. Their informal exchanges show a familiarity beneath their strategic roles. (Chapters 63–65, 93, 258, 394)
  • Li Hwa: Minamoto recommends Li Hwa for the Masquerade raid, plans alongside her, and helps conceal the true scale of the incident afterward. (Chapters 73–75, 93)

Items

Royal sword

As a poor girl living with her grandmother near Kyoto, Minamoto discovers a small fissure connected to a sanctuary holding the royal sword of another dimension. The discovery leads to her role protecting Japan's Royal Family and gives her alias, Sword of the Royal Family, both a literal and institutional meaning. The weapon's specific magical effect is not described. (Chapter 184)

Field sword

Minamoto keeps a sword with her in the Association office and sharpens it while resting on a sofa. It is consistent with her role as an active swordswoman, though the narrative does not explicitly establish whether this is the same otherworldly royal sword or a separate working weapon. (Chapter 85)