"General Esdeath, what did you just say? Governor Sai Akuto has already brought Night Raid to heel?
That important and you didn't report it sooner? I'm informing the minister right now!"
As he spoke, one of the Rakshasa Demons, Ibara, flashed a look at Sten. The two moved in unison—leaping away to flee at full speed.
They had sensed sothing off between Esdeath and Akuto.
If the beauties Esdeath delivered were "gifts" for Akuto… what did that make them—sacrifices?
Too late. With Akuto standing right there, escape was wishful thinking.
"—Freeze."
Twin ice lances erupted from the ground and speared the two from below, pinning them mid-flight.
"What?! General Esdeath made a move?!" Suzuka blurted, turning toward Esdeath—
—only to see Esdeath hadn't lifted a finger.
"So that wasn't General Esdeath… it was Governor Akuto?!"
Before Esdeath could even act, a fat man in a clown mask hurled several jeweled orbs.
Wild Pitch — Explosive Gem!
"Get him! Take down the governor and collect the bounty!"
The clown was Champ.
In the original course of events, he was a mber of Syura's degenerates, Wild Hunt. Even before Wild Hunt, he'd been a serial killer, "loving" children—twisted beyond belief. He called kids "angels" and "saved" them from becoming filthy adults by murdering them. Among Esdeath's Jaegers, the teacher Ran had students who fell to Champ's hands.
Originally, Champ died to Izo.
But here and now, that part of the tale hadn't arrived yet, so Champ still lived.
Only for the mont.
Akuto tossed out a single blade of ice.
Champ tried to counter with another orb—
Fla Gem!
—But ordinary Teigu users barely reach a crippled upper-devil in terms of force, far beneath a true pureblood devil brimming with demonic power.
Against soone on the Maō-class path, there was no resistance to speak of.
The ice blade tore through the flas and through Champ in the sa instant.
Leviathan-Style: Cryo Burst.
The ice was forged from Leviathan's water, and so naturally carried its properties.
Champ's bloated body ruptured and sloughed apart like an overripe gourd bursting—dissolving into crimson spray.
"Go!" Izo sensed the tilt and moved to rally a group assault.
The next heartbeat—
"Fuuuu—"
A polar gale howled. Akuto rely flicked a hand toward Esdeath, and the rest of Wild Hunt froze where they stood—locked in a lattice of numbers, a binding array of cold.
He had no interest in playing house with small fry.
A ringing crack—
The ice shield encasing Esdeath burst outward. She stepped from the shattering cocoon untouched.
The Ice Queen tilted the brim of her cap, spirit surging brighter than ever.
The last ti she and Akuto had fought, she hadn't finished her preparations. This ti, after a month of focus, her power of frost had swelled to a world-shaking peak.
"As expected of the man I set my eyes on. Co, Akuto—let show you what I've been preparing for you this whole month!"
A chill that seed to freeze ti rippled around her. Plates of ice armor ford from nothing, growing seamlessly over Esdeath's perfect form.
Seconds later, a solitary, fully armored figure stood before Akuto.
Secret Art—Empress of the Frost Gale!
This was a variant of her fad Grand General of the Frost Gale.
In the original, Grand General was her crowd-killer trump card: during the capital's final battle, after the Supre Imperial Arms fell, she released all the power stored in her frost cavalry and conjured a cataclysm blanketing almost the entire nation—an absolute country-level ultimate.
But to face Akuto, Esdeath had rewritten the concept: the ultimate anti-army had beco the ultimate anti-single—Empress of the Frost Gale.
The calamity's cold was now poured entirely into a suit of invincible ice armor.
"Not bad—you learn fast." Akuto smiled, sincerely impressed by her capacity to study and create. There was no doubt this armor took cues from his own Red Dragon Emperor Armant.
She'd seen how his draconic gear produced peak attack and defense and understood that without an equal layer, beating him would be impossible—hence this answer.
"Then let's see it—your ice mail or my dragon mail. Which reigns supre?"
"Go—!"
Viridian aura roared; the dragon jets kicked, and Akuto arrived in Esdeath's face in a blink.
"Good!" Esdeath bead, her own rear thrusters flaring with sapphire frost.
They clashed a dozen, then dozens of tis—streaks of light crossing the ground and the sky.
Each sweep of Esdeath's ice blade drove gales that could scour the land.
Yet despite the overwhelming frost and ferocity, nothing marked the dragon armor. Not even a scratch.
In a month, Akuto's base had climbed again—to the high-tier apex of ultimate-class devil. With Forbidden Hand active, he still fell short of true Super Maō, but he could call himself a quasi-Super Maō.
Against power on that level, if Esdeath confined herself to rely "condensing force," breaking his gear was a fantasy.
"Esdeath," Akuto said lightly as he parried, "you—and this world—were born with a limit."
"A limit?" Esdeath frowned, hands never slowing.
"Yes. This world has so spiritual energy, but its beings lack systematic cultivation. They can only temper the body passively. That's why the super Danger Beasts, with innate racial gifts, outstrip humans.
"You drank super-beast blood to push beyond—
"In my world, everyone can break such shackles. Even without beast blood, humans can cultivate proper thods to draw in aether.
"In the end, even a human can stand as sothing like a Sage or Heroic Spirit."
"…So you're not from this world."
Esdeath's ice-blue brows knit. She knew Akuto wouldn't spin aningless lies. He ant it.
"You could say that. Being an outsider is exactly why I'm this unusual.
"Which also ans… this world will struggle to produce anyone who surpasses you.
"So, why not co to my world?
"There, Dragon Kings and Demon Kings can erase countries without trying. Immortal gods build supre theocracies. Dragon Emperors and Dragon Gods can nace creation itself.
Those are the foes you should be fighting."
Esdeath swallowed, heat in her eyes turning incandescent.
Of course—Sai Akuto was the treasure Heaven had granted her. With so many titans to challenge and defeat, she no longer had to waste ti waiting for this world's weaklings to grow strong.
"Governor Akuto, I accept your proposal," she said, a rare blush touching her cheeks when their promise ca to mind.
"Then we end it here?"
"Yes—ti to end it."
Akuto rolled a shoulder. The ice sword in his hand vanished, replaced by a blazing holy blade.
A flurry of ringing clashes—
Then one decisive strike slamd into the waist of Esdeath's ice cuirass.
Sixth Secret Sword — Moth Blade.
A technique crafted to kill heavy armor in close quarters: the wielder injects high-frequency vibration through the edge, sending the waves through the plating and into the target's body.
Under the inner shock of Moth Blade, Akuto's sword-pressure tunneled through the azure ice—
"—Guh!"
Esdeath spat blood flecked with organ shards and lost all strength in an instant.
The next second—
A thunderous kick—
Esdeath crashed down, pinned just as in their last duel.
"Mmh… it's been a while… I almost missed this feeling…"
Even crushed beneath him, Esdeath's eyes held a sliver of bliss.
The secret art dispersed; the polar gale thinned; the battlefield fell quiet. Akuto let the holy blade fade and exhaled slowly.
"Get ready," he said. "We move on the Empire."
(End of Chapter)
[Get 20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 500 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]
User Comments
0 comments from readers