Chapter 316
"What?!"
Great General Budo’s expression changed drastically.
’That speed, that scale... did she really only just obtain that Imperial Arms? How can she already control it this well?’
"Now then."
Esdeath grinned eagerly at him.
"Let’s see how you deal with this."
𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
"Hmph!"
Feeling that he was being underestimated, Budo gave a cold snort and slammed the iron stakes mounted on his arms together.
An enormous surge of lightning erupted around him and condensed into a gigantic spear of thunder, which shot upward and punched straight through the massive sphere of ice.
BOOOOM—!
The shattered ice sphere crashed into the ground.
The kinetic force of the impact shook the entire Imperial Palace so violently that its buildings trembled without end.
Yet Budo, standing directly at the center of the impact zone, remained completely unharmed.
He looked at Esdeath with the same commanding arrogance as before.
"An impressive spectacle, but ultimately more flash than substance."
That was his assessment.
Then his tone changed.
"Still, to reach this level in such a short time at your age... there are few people anywhere in the Empire who could compare."
Budo nodded approvingly.
"Young woman, you are exceptional."
"What?"
Esdeath raised an eyebrow.
"You think praising me a couple of times will make me stop fighting?"
She smiled mockingly.
"The Great General of the Empire is surprisingly adorable when he’s being naive."
Budo did not become angry at her provocation.
At his age and with his status, he naturally possessed a certain degree of composure.
"Young woman, join the Empire."
His voice became serious.
"With your strength, you could become a general without difficulty."
"As long as you swear loyalty to the Empire, rank, wealth, power, and glory will all be yours."
He looked directly at Esdeath.
"This is my promise to you as Budo, Great General of the Empire."
Even though they currently stood on opposite sides, Budo could not help wanting to recruit a talent as extraordinary as Esdeath.
The Empire was already rotting from within.
Resistance movements were appearing everywhere, and unrest had nearly reached the point where it threatened the foundations of the nation itself.
As an unwavering royalist, Budo had to ensure that the Imperial side possessed enough strength to suppress any threat.
And Esdeath clearly had that potential.
Given enough time, there was an excellent chance she would surpass even him completely.
In that case, he had every reason to bring her into the Empire and turn her strength toward defending it.
As for whether Prime Minister Honest would object?
What a joke.
Since when did Budo need Honest’s permission to conduct Imperial military affairs?
He was recruiting a powerful warrior for the Empire.
Even if Honest dragged the matter before the Emperor himself, Budo was confident the justification would be on his side.
Did Honest seriously think the death of one depraved son who had committed every crime imaginable was enough to brand someone a traitor?
If Esdeath agreed, Budo was confident he could handle Honest.
Unfortunately, despite the sincerity behind his offer, Esdeath had no intention of accepting it.
"I refuse."
She rejected him without the slightest hesitation.
Had Kiriya never appeared, Esdeath really might have joined the Imperial military.
Fighting across the world on behalf of the Empire would have been an excellent way to satisfy her endless desire for battle.
But now Kiriya existed.
Not only did he perfectly match her tastes, but he had also defeated her with overwhelming strength and become her "Master."
And over the past six months, he had beaten her again and again in countless direct, fair battles.
At the moment, Esdeath cared about only one thing—becoming powerful enough to crush Kiriya completely!
Then she would thoroughly "interrogate" him from head to toe and finally put all those delightful ideas she had about domination into practice.
Everything else could wait.
Bullying weaklings was nowhere near as entertaining as bullying Kiriya.
"I’ll give you one more chance."
Budo continued.
"Will you join the Empire and swear your loyalty? I can—"
"Are you deaf?"
Esdeath interrupted him coldly.
"I already said no."
Her arrogant tone instantly extinguished the last trace of Budo’s desire to recruit her.
"I had intended to offer you a road straight to the top."
His expression hardened.
"But if you insist on rejecting goodwill, then die."
Budo rose into the air.
Dazzling lightning erupted around his entire body.
Above him, the night sky was rapidly swallowed by thick storm clouds.
Thunder dragons roared through the darkness while serpents of electricity danced across the clouds, accumulating a terrifying amount of destructive energy.
Then Budo forcibly drew all of that raging power downward through Adramelech, gathering it between his arms.
A sphere of lightning began to form.
Compression.
Condensation.
Further compression.
Further condensation.
An ocean of electrical energy churned violently within the sphere.
The surrounding air itself seemed unable to withstand the pressure, producing faint cracking noises as though space were groaning.
"As expected of the strongest man in the Empire."
Esdeath’s lips curved upward as the fire in her eyes burned even brighter.
"That power... definitely lives up to the title."
Under the overwhelming pressure, Demon God Manifestation: Demon’s Extract began merging with Esdeath’s body even more rapidly, responding to her constantly rising fighting spirit.
With the amount of time Budo was spending preparing his ultimate attack, Esdeath had plenty of opportunities to dodge.
She could also have called Kiriya for help.
She did neither.
If her goal was to surpass Kiriya and become truly unbeatable, then she needed the resolve that came with such ambition.
Running from a powerful enemy was not the mindset of the strong.
She had to win.
And she had to crush Budo head-on.
Yet the higher her fighting spirit rose, the calmer Esdeath became.
That instinct had been hammered into her through countless battles against Kiriya.
If she lost her composure for even a moment, Kiriya would immediately seize the opening.
So she had learned to control herself no matter how excited she became.
’The essence of ice manipulation isn’t creating ice. It’s freezing.’
Kiriya’s words echoed through Esdeath’s mind.
He had repeated that idea countless times during the past six months.
There was no chance she could forget it now.
’There’s a limit to how powerful simply creating ice can become. But freezing... has limitless possibilities.’
With that thought, Esdeath began controlling Demon’s Extract in an entirely different direction.
She refined its power, compressing and condensing an unimaginably terrifying cold.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack—
A blue-white sphere appeared above her palm.
The instant it formed, even the tiny amount of cold that leaked from it froze the surrounding ground until it became harder than steel.
"Hm?"
Budo stared down from the sky.
"What is that? A new technique?"
The blue-white sphere made his instincts scream with danger.
But as Great General—
and as the man hailed as the strongest in the Empire—
Budo’s pride did not allow him to retreat.
He firmly believed that his next attack would destroy every obstacle before him and erase anyone who threatened the Empire.
"Then taste Adramelech’s ultimate technique!"
Budo roared.
"Go to hell carrying your regrets with you!"
"Thunderbolt Concentration!"
The golden sphere of lightning came crashing down like a miniature sun falling from the heavens.
Even from a great distance, its terrifying heat instantly vaporized the ice covering the ground.
Large sections of stone and earth were annihilated before the attack even arrived.
That was merely the collateral damage.
The pressure bearing directly down upon Esdeath was beyond imagination.
Yet she showed neither hesitation nor fear.
She thrust forward the sphere of cold she had compressed to its absolute limit.
"Absolute Freezing Air!"
The two masses of energy collided in an instant.
BOOOOOOM—!
Extreme cold met extreme heat.
The collision produced an unimaginable reaction, triggering an unprecedented annihilation of energy.
A vast hemispherical blast expanded outward like an overturned jade bowl, swallowing everything in its path.
Buildings.
Stone.
Earth.
Everything disappeared within it.
The hurricane generated by the impact nearly hurled Budo out of the sky.
Only by desperately controlling Adramelech did he barely manage to stabilize himself.
Eventually, the storm began to subside.
Budo descended back to the ground.
Even for someone as powerful as him, unleashing his ultimate technique had taken a considerable toll.
Rather than waste more strength maintaining flight, standing on the ground was far more efficient.
’I never imagined that girl could push things this far.’
Budo was genuinely astonished.
Then came regret.
’What a shame she refused to serve the Empire.’
His heart was hard as iron.
After allowing himself that single moment of regret, he immediately suppressed the emotion and prepared to leave.
There were still other rebels to eliminate.
Then—
Shhk—!
A blade slipped through the gap in his armor and pierced directly through his heart.
Budo froze.
"You..."
His body stiffened.
"You’re... still alive?"
He slowly turned his head.
A brilliant flash of ice-blue entered his vision.
"You let your guard down, Great General."
Esdeath stood behind him.
Her entire body was covered in blood.
Large portions of her skin had been badly burned and blackened, with torn flesh visible across her body.
There was no telling how many bones had broken beneath those wounds.
Her condition could only be described as horrific.
And yet—she had stood back up.
She had suppressed her presence, approached without being noticed, and seized the critical moment to deliver a fatal strike.
Cold spread through her blade.
The freezing force entered Budo’s body through his pierced heart, spreading first through his organs before rapidly freezing the rest of him from the inside out.
And so... the strongest warrior of the Empire fell.