Chapter 317
"I won!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Esdeath’s face.
The moment her taut nerves finally relaxed, exhaustion crashed over her like a tidal wave, and her legs gave out beneath her.
She was not worried in the slightest.
After all, she was no longer alone.
Whoosh—!
Kiriya arrived beside her in an instant and caught her securely in his arms before she could hit the ground.
He ruffled her hair with one hand.
"Nicely done."
Then he immediately began circulating his Magic to heal her injuries.
"Mm..."
As fresh flesh rapidly regenerated throughout her wounds, a numb, tingling itch spread across Esdeath’s body.
Even she could not help knitting her brows at the strange sensation, but her nerves were exceptionally tough, and she quickly adapted.
"I’m still not strong enough."
Esdeath sounded dissatisfied.
"I have ranged attacks now, but they’re either too slow or not powerful enough. I’ve still got a long way to go."
Her physique was another problem.
One direct clash of ultimate techniques had nearly pushed her body to the point of collapse.
That was still far too fragile.
From now on, she would have to devote even more attention to strengthening her body.
There was no denying that Esdeath was an exceptionally driven martial artist.
She constantly reviewed her strengths and weaknesses, turning every battle into nourishment for future growth.
"If Budo heard you saying that, he’d probably crawl straight out of the grave to fight you again."
Kiriya could not help complaining.
She had literally only just obtained her Imperial Arms, yet she had already defeated a veteran Imperial Arms user who had previously been hailed as the strongest warrior in the Empire.
And she still wasn’t satisfied?
"Hmph. Budo was only so so."
Esdeath sounded completely unimpressed.
"Beating him is nothing special."
Her gaze shifted toward Kiriya.
"You’re my real target."
"Heh. You really want to dominate me that badly?"
Kiriya flicked her forehead with one finger.
Esdeath’s lips curled upward.
"Of course."
Then she smiled knowingly.
"And isn’t that exactly what you want too?"
"You’d better be careful. I can freeze things now. Once I develop this power far enough, you’re going to be in danger."
"Good."
Kiriya grinned.
"I’ll be waiting."
That really had been part of his plan.
He wanted this battle maniac to keep becoming stronger and stronger, forcing him to improve at an even faster rate in response.
They might currently be companions, but Esdeath still wholeheartedly wanted to turn the tables, become the master herself, and unleash every sadistic idea she possessed on Kiriya.
And because of that desire, even their ordinary spars were fought at full intensity.
Esdeath never held back simply because Kiriya was the man she liked.
Aside from deliberately avoiding his vital points, she attacked him as though she genuinely intended to beat him half to death.
So if Kiriya wanted to avoid being "tormented" by Esdeath in every possible sense of the word, he had no choice but to keep becoming stronger too.
By the time they finished talking, most of Esdeath’s injuries had already been treated.
She was still some distance from a complete recovery, but she could already exert roughly half of her full combat strength.
"Every time I experience it, your so-called Magic feels ridiculously convenient."
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
Esdeath flexed her fingers, feeling strength steadily returning to her body.
Then she suddenly wrapped her arms around Kiriya’s head and kissed him hard.
"Thanks, Master!"
"Ahem!"
A conspicuous cough came from behind them.
Kiriya turned around.
Jeanne and Ryuu were walking toward them.
One had a flushed face.
The other wore a stiff expression while the tips of her pointed ears had turned bright red.
"Oh, you’re here?"
Esdeath took advantage of Kiriya’s momentary distraction to kiss him again before casually greeting the two girls.
"H-Hello."
Jeanne stumbled slightly over her words.
"Esdeath, are you all right?"
"I’m fine. Kiriya already treated my injuries."
Esdeath answered cheerfully.
"Hey."
Ryuu narrowed her eyes.
"If you’ve recovered, why are you still lying there?"
She even shot Kiriya a glare as she spoke.
"Obviously because I’m expressing my gratitude."
Esdeath suddenly pulled Kiriya’s head against her chest and smothered his face there.
"Such a great favor deserves an appropriate reward, doesn’t it?"
"Mmph—!"
"Don’t go too far."
Ryuu’s fist clenched as her voice became noticeably colder.
"Y-Yes, Esdeath."
Jeanne weakly supported her from the side.
"This counts as going too far?"
Esdeath looked genuinely puzzled.
"It’s just normal interaction between a master and his servant."
Then she paused, noticing how stiff both girls looked.
"I thought the two of you had already done things like this plenty of times."
Their expressions froze.
Esdeath stared at them for a second.
Then she burst out laughing.
"No way!"
"You seriously haven’t?"
Her grin became unbearable.
"What about kissing? Surely you’ve kissed him before?"
She tilted her head.
"Don’t tell me you haven’t even held hands."
Her booming, uninhibited laughter carried the overwhelming superiority of a veteran looking down on complete beginners.
"What a disappointment."
Esdeath clicked her tongue.
"So after all that, you really are hopeless."
With this level of hesitation, girls like them would reach the end of a romance story without ever getting so much as a warm bite.
Love was war.
What mattered was courage.
If they kept hesitating like this, they would never accomplish anything!
"Hmph. You two can keep acting reserved over there."
Esdeath tightened her embrace around Kiriya.
"Just sit back and watch Master and me enjoy our loving life together."
With that declaration, she leaned in to give Kiriya another passionate kiss.
Kiriya was still somewhat dazed after the previous faceful of Esdeath, looking almost pleasantly drunk.
Naturally, he offered very little resistance to whatever she wanted to do with him.
Creak... creak...
Ryuu’s facial muscles twitched.
Seeing Kiriya looking so shamelessly pleased with himself awakened a fierce unwillingness to lose inside her.
Wasn’t Esdeath just being aggressive?
Did she seriously think Ryuu couldn’t do that too?
Jeanne was equally shaken.
For the first time, she began wondering whether she had been far too conservative.
She genuinely admired Esdeath’s fearless, straightforward way of loving someone, yet she herself could never seem to take that first step.
’Maybe... I need to change too.’
Jeanne quietly made up her mind.
The four continued bickering and fooling around as though nobody else existed.
And nobody dared disturb them.
They weren’t idiots.
Everyone nearby had witnessed the battles that had just taken place.
Nearly a thousand elite palace guards were still lying across the battlefield.
Great General Budo’s corpse was still there.
Even the Empire’s most elite assassins had been captured and tied up.
Anyone who willingly went over to bother these four monsters would have to be out of their mind.
The morale of the entire Imperial Palace Guard had plummeted to rock bottom.
Most of them were silently praying that these terrifying people would simply leave and stop tormenting their nerves.
Unfortunately for them, after taking a brief break, Kiriya’s group continued toward the great hall where the Emperor was staying.
They had already come this far.
Leaving without taking the head of someone important would feel almost wasteful.
Prime Minister Honest would do nicely.
He was tall, his head was big, and it probably carried plenty of weight.
...
"Report—!"
A palace guard rushed frantically into the great hall.
He accidentally caught his foot on the threshold, tumbled across the floor several times like a rolling gourd, then somehow managed to adjust his posture at the last second and scramble upright.
"Your Majesty! Four rebels are heading directly toward the great hall!"
His voice trembled.
"They’ll be here very soon!"
The entire hall erupted into chaos.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
"Where is the Great General?"
The Emperor’s face immediately tightened.
"Where is Great General Budo?"
"Great General Budo..."
The guard swallowed hard.
"Great General Budo has... fallen in service to the Empire."
A collective gasp filled the hall.
A chill seemed to shoot from everyone’s feet straight to the top of their heads.
"Impossible!"
The Emperor abruptly stood.
"Absolutely impossible!"
He swept one hand through the air angrily.
"Great General Budo is invincible! How could he possibly lose?"
"It’s true, Your Majesty!"
Under the Emperor’s murderous stare, the guard could only force himself to continue.
"The Great General heavily wounded one of the rebels, but the enemy was extremely cunning. She pretended to be dead and launched a surprise attack, and that was how the Great General..."
Thump.
The young Emperor collapsed back onto his throne.
A deep sense of helplessness spread through his body.
"Great General Budo is dead..."
He stared blankly ahead.
"Budo is dead..."
"Then who is left to protect my Empire?"
He might have been young.
He might have been a puppet.
But the Emperor was not completely stupid.
He understood perfectly well what Budo represented.
"Your Majesty, regret will accomplish nothing now."
An elderly minister with a white beard immediately stepped forward.
"We must retreat while there is still time."
His suggestion instantly received agreement from the others.
Everyone present belonged to the highest levels of Imperial power.
Naturally, they valued their lives greatly.
Hearing their words, the young Emperor visibly hesitated.
Then, almost instinctively—he turned toward Prime Minister Honest.
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