Chapter 329
The battle began abruptly and ended just as quickly.
In less than ten minutes, an army numbering in the tens of thousands had been completely swept away by Kiriya’s group.
Of course, Ryuu and Esdeath had done most of the fighting.
The elf had always despised those who used their strength to bully the weak and trample on innocent lives, so against an army that had slaughtered civilians without restraint, her attacks were decisive and merciless.
As for Esdeath...
She simply enjoyed fighting and killing.
Fortunately, Kiriya was there to keep a rein on her, so she never lost control completely.
Jeanne, meanwhile, devoted herself to organizing and sheltering the surviving refugees.
Together with Kiriya, she treated their injuries while constantly offering words of comfort.
The Saint’s ability to inspire people was no joke.
After one impassioned speech, the effect was surprisingly significant.
Her words could not erase their grief and terror, but at the very least, they gave those broken people the courage and hope to keep living.
Once the immediate aftermath had been dealt with, Kiriya casually picked up the prince of the northern tribes and gave him an exceptionally warm, friendly smile.
"I hear your family has quite a collection of rare medicinal herbs?"
The prince: "..."
From that day forward, a legend began spreading among the northern tribes.
Their prince, consumed by cruelty, had led an invasion south and committed such terrible slaughter that the gods themselves had been enraged.
Divine punishment descended.
The elite forces of the royal court were frozen solid, while the climate surrounding the tribal capital was permanently transformed.
Bitter cold covered the region throughout the year, turning what had once been the heartland of the northern tribes into a barren frozen wasteland.
Many members of later generations scoffed at the tale, believing the old men had simply frightened themselves with ridiculous superstition and brought shame upon the proud warriors of the grasslands.
Then they traveled to the old royal capital.
They saw the gigantic frozen mountain looming there.
After that, nobody laughed anymore.
The Empire’s northern frontier enjoyed more than a century of peace as a result.
Of course, that was a story for another time.
...
Kiriya and the others soon left similar footprints along the western and southern borders of the Empire.
Those groups behaved much more politely, so Kiriya naturally had no reason to make things difficult for them. His visits were perfectly courteous.
For reasons nobody could quite explain, however—perhaps everyone simply hit it off immediately, or perhaps Kiriya’s overwhelming presence was simply too persuasive—the chiefs and senior leaders of those foreign tribes became extraordinarily enthusiastic hosts.
They absolutely insisted on gifting their most precious medicinal treasures to him.
Refusing was practically impossible.
Whenever Kiriya tried, these people looked as though their parents had just died, wailing and pleading so pitifully that he eventually found it difficult to keep turning them down.
And so, reluctantly...
Kiriya’s group accepted.
While staying with the tribal leaders, they were treated practically like honored ancestors.
Fine wine, extravagant meals, and every comfort imaginable were provided in abundance.
The hospitality became so excessive that even Kiriya and the others started feeling embarrassed.
Once they had secured the rare medicinal ingredients they needed, they tearfully bid their generous hosts farewell.
After making a complete circuit through the surrounding regions, Kiriya finally managed to collect most of the ingredients listed in the body-tempering formula.
With memories of the medicine’s powerful effects fresh in their minds, everyone was itching to try it.
After a short period of rest, the group immediately threw themselves into the noble cause of hunting Danger Beasts.
From towering, treacherous mountain ranges to twisting underground caverns, from dense primeval forests to lifeless deserts and the ever-changing open sea, they traveled through countless dangerous regions that ordinary humans rarely dared approach.
Naturally, the high-ranking Danger Beasts inhabiting those places suffered terribly.
One moment, they would be lying peacefully in their lairs, enjoying a meal and minding their own business.
The next, a group of maniacs would break into their homes, beat them senseless, and turn them into dinner.
For a time, the populations and diversity of high-ranking Danger Beasts across entire regions declined sharply.
Some species were even pushed dangerously close to extinction.
That alone was enough to demonstrate just how vicious this group had become.
And just like that—
another half a year passed.
...
Far out in the endless ocean east of the Empire—a monstrous three-headed flood dragon, more than a hundred meters long, thrashed through the sea.
Even the slightest movement of its enormous body created towering waves that crashed toward the small island where Kiriya’s group stood.
The creature possessed enough raw power to make its every motion resemble a natural disaster.
Yet not a single person present looked worried.
"Ice Age!"
Esdeath stepped forward.
Boundless cold erupted from her body.
The surrounding sea froze almost instantly.
Within a radius of ten kilometers, rolling ocean waves transformed into solid ice, while even the massive three-headed flood dragon itself was encased in a gigantic frozen shell.
"No matter how many times I see it, that’s still ridiculous."
Kurome munched on a snack while staring at the frozen ocean.
"Yeah."
Akame nodded.
"She might already be the strongest Imperial Arms user in history."
Another six months had passed, and the two girls had grown rapidly.
Both Akame and Kurome were now close to one hundred sixty centimeters tall, their once-childish frames developing until they looked much more like young women.
"Aren’t you going to finish that monster off?"
Kurome asked.
"Too naive."
Esdeath did not even move.
"You seriously think an attack at that level is enough to defeat something like this?"
Kiriya, Jeanne, and Ryuu remained silent.
Their lack of objection made it clear they agreed.
Crack.
Crack-crack-crack—
Dense fractures suddenly spread across the enormous mass of ice surrounding the flood dragon.
Then—
BOOM!
The frozen shell exploded outward.
The three-headed monster broke free and glared furiously at Kiriya’s group.
RUMBLE—!
The head on the left opened its enormous jaws.
Flames erupted from its throat.
A torrent of fire swept toward the group, instantly melting the ground in its path and carving a glowing trench of magma across the island.
The power of a single attack was already horrifying.
Of course, against someone who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, that kind of straightforward assault was hardly a problem.
Kiriya effortlessly transported everyone away before the flames reached them.
"Go."
He looked toward the monster.
"This should be the strongest Danger Beast we can find anywhere in this world."
"An opportunity like this doesn’t come often. Make the most of it."
The moment Kiriya finished speaking, Jeanne, Ryuu, and Esdeath charged forward.
The three women immediately entered battle with the flood dragon.
The creature was extraordinarily troublesome.
Its hundred-meter body alone meant overwhelming physical violence.
Even a casual strike possessed enough force to split a mountain.
At the absolute minimum, this monster stood among the upper reaches of Level 8.
If Kiriya had not spent the past months relentlessly training the three women and forcing their agility and speed to rise sharply, any one of them could have been flattened into paste the moment they entered its attack range.
Unfortunately, being fast enough to survive did not mean their attacks could easily hurt it.
Clang! Clang! Clang—!
They seized openings and struck repeatedly.
Yet whenever their weapons collided with the creature’s scales, all they produced were showers of sparks.
They could not even leave a white scratch.
Its defenses were practically indestructible.
"Luminous Wind!"
Ryuu refused to believe there was no way through.
More than a thousand luminous spheres appeared and rained down upon the three-headed flood dragon in a concentrated bombardment.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!
The barrage finally shattered portions of its scales and tore into the flesh beneath.
But that was all.
The damage was nowhere near enough to threaten anything vital.
"Afterglow!"
Jeanne and Ryuu attacked almost simultaneously, their weapons flashing as they unleashed the secret technique Kiriya had taught them.
Shhk! Shhk—!
This time, the seemingly metal-forged scales were sliced apart.
Foul-smelling blood sprayed from the wounds.
The moment it touched the ground—
Hissssss—!
Even solid rock began to corrode.
"What terrifying poison."
Esdeath sounded impressed, but her movements never slowed.
She shot forward and targeted the wounds Jeanne and Ryuu had created, pouring bone-chilling cold directly inside in an attempt to destroy the monster from within.
"ROOOAR—!"
The flood dragon immediately sensed the danger.
Its left head opened its jaws and expelled a densely compressed mass of violent wind.
BOOM!
The blast struck Esdeath head-on and hurled her backward.
Ryuu and Jeanne immediately tried to move in to support her.
The central head spat a torrent of venom.
At the same time, the right head unleashed flames.
The simultaneous attacks forced Ryuu and Jeanne to retreat in different directions.
"A body like reinforced steel, monstrous raw strength, wind from the left head, fire from the right, poison from the center, and control over water on top of all that."
Kiriya watched the battle with interest.
"It really does deserve to be called an overlord of the sea."
Its overall abilities had unquestionably reached the absolute peak of Level 8.
It might even have half a foot inside Level 9 already.
They were fortunate Esdeath’s ice naturally countered much of its aquatic advantage.
Combined with the body-tempering medicine the three women had repeatedly taken over the past several months and the combat experience accumulated through countless life-and-death battles, they could at least fight this creature without immediately being overwhelmed.
Otherwise, a monster of this caliber could have killed them in a single exchange.
Still—
being able to fight it was the limit.
The difference in level remained objectively real.
Jeanne, Ryuu, and Esdeath could maneuver around the creature, evade its attacks, and injure it.
But they could not truly defeat it.
The proof was already visible.
The wounds they had inflicted earlier had nearly finished healing.
With regenerative power that strong, the usual strategy of accumulating smaller injuries until the damage finally crossed a lethal threshold was effectively useless.
"Keep going."
Kiriya murmured as he watched.
"Let me see just how far the three of you can push yourselves."