Chapter 180: Kiana Battles Esdeath Again! Horobi's Way of Apology!
Afterward, the battle between the two could be described as evenly matched, a chaotic clash of elements.
Esdeath's ice was a surging, overwhelming force. The ground was instantly frozen for tens of thousands of miles, and towering ice mountains rose and fell at her command, turning the grassland into a frozen wasteland.
Kiana's void ability, however, was even more mysterious and unpredictable.
She could dodge any attack and counter-attack instantly through void teleportation, appearing and disappearing at will.
Any of Esdeath's ice attacks that got too close would simply be swallowed by the void, disappearing without a trace.
Both possessed 1-v-5 power, the S-Rank designation.
Kiana relied on her mysterious and overpowered abilities to contend with Esdeath's raw power.
Esdeath, on the other hand, possessed decades of brutal combat experience, a fierce, unyielding momentum that the current Kiana lacked, as well as a skilled, precise mastery of her ice abilities.
The battle lasted for over ten minutes.
The ground was covered in either massive, void-blackened craters or towering ice mountains.
Esdeath swung her sword, and dozens of sword qi attacks, imbued with her sub-zero cold currents, surged forth.
Kiana repeated her trick, using spatial cracks to swallow some of the cold currents, attempting to return them to attack Esdeath.
But with a glance, she realized that Esdeath had used the momentum of a rising ice mountain to swiftly launch herself into the air, closing the distance.
Just as Kiana was about to teleport away...
Esdeath brought her hands together in front of her chest, a cruel smile on her face.
"Mahapadma!"
[Inorin's Note: Mahapadma (Demon's Extract) is Esdeath's ultimate ability, allowing her to freeze time and space.]
An extreme cold bloomed, not just freezing the air, but everything.
It wasn't merely freezing space; the molecular motion within that space rapidly plummeted to absolute zero.
In this instant, even Kiana, with her S-Rank void power, showed a slight sluggishness in her movements. Her teleportation was delayed by a fraction of a second.
Esdeath, relying on her rich, non-combat experience, accurately seized that infinitesimal opportunity.
She pierced Kiana's heart with her ice sword.
Kiana vanished into photons in her astonishment.
After landing, Esdeath frowned in confusion, the battle-lust fading.
The moment she pierced Kiana's heart, a highly intimidating, cold golden light seemed to flash in Kiana's eyes.
...
"Herrscher of the Void…" Ren thought, having also keenly noticed that golden light during the live stream.
The first thing he thought of was the existence of Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, sleeping within Kiana.
[Kiana: "Wow! I lost again!"]
[Esdeath: "A thoroughly satisfying battle."]
[Ren: "Kiana didn't lose because of her abilities, but rather her combat experience, combat skills, and mastery of her abilities."]
[Shinobu Kocho: "Kiana-chan's ability is truly strong. It's so unpredictable, making it almost impossible to react to."]
[Bronya: "Very impressive. It's hard to believe such power can be gained just by participating in one Doom Companion."]
[Nami: "I'm so envious! Why did I also touch the Dresden Slate, but it had no effect at all?"]
[Saeko Busujima: "Me too. No reaction at all."]
[Mikoto Suoh: "Many people have tried it so far. The Dresden Slate has had no reaction."]
[Silver Wolf: "I went to check. There's a special energy within it; that should be the energy that awakens abilities."]
[Silver Wolf: "But now, the energy within it is quite scarce."]
[Aqua: "I feel like all the energy might have been given to Ren and Kiana!"]
[Aqua: "One of them has an S-rank time ability, the other an S-rank space ability, and they're both directly 1-v-5!"]
[Silver Wolf: "That's very likely. Mikoto Suoh is also a King, but initially, he was only A-rank 1-v-4 level."]
[Rory Mercury: "Um… I'm also A-rank 1-v-4."]
[Momonga: "It's confirmed. The Dresden Slate's energy has been sucked dry by the big shots."]
[Ren: "It's not my fault. This power was given to me by itself."]
[Kiana: "I don't know anything either!"]
[Ren: "Ahem. At the very least, its energy is still enough to maintain the abilities of the Kings and other extra-power users in Mikoto Suoh's world."]
[Mikoto Suoh: "Mm."]
...
"Miss Horobi, where are you going?"
Yomogawa Ayame, who was still contemplating how to save Aragane Station in the room, saw Horobi get up and walk purposefully toward Ren's room.
Horobi looked back at her, her expression calm but resolute. "To atone."
...
"Thump, thump!"
The soft knocking brought Ren's attention back to reality.
"Enter."
It was Horobi who opened the door, one hand supporting her other arm.
She bowed, then closed and locked the door behind her.
Ren looked up from his thoughts. "What is it?"
Horobi didn't speak. She raised her hands and, with practiced, deliberate movements, began to shed all her clothes. The sash, the outer garments, the wrappings... all fell to the floor, revealing her pale, athletic skin, the surge of her full chest, and the faintly glowing, golden heart of a Kabaneri.
Then, she knelt on the ground in a perfect dogeza (a formal kowtow), her forehead touching the floor.
"Please, Lord Ren, forgive my initial offense of speaking against you."
"?"
Ren was a little stunned by this inexplicable scene.
The offense she mentioned… must have been when she tried to stop him from killing Biba Amatori.
But for him, such a thing was a trivial matter, not worth mentioning.
Was it necessary to be so... frank... in her apology?
Ren, encountering this situation for the first time, could only helplessly say, "Alright, I forgive you. You can get up."
Having received Ren's forgiveness, Horobi did not immediately get up.
Instead, she finally raised her body, but only to crawl forward on her knees, stopping just in front of Ren's chair.
Under Ren's astonished gaze, she raised her hands, resting them lightly on his thighs. Then, with a deep blush that contrasted with her usual stoic face, she lowered her head, her intentions becoming undeniably clear.
Her warm, wet mouth closed over him.
"..."
Another one offering herself, Ren thought, his initial surprise fading into acceptance. He didn't know what it meant to refuse.
...
"Miss Horobi!"
In the next room, Yomogawa Ayame gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
This... this was Miss Horobi's 'apology'?
It was the first time she'd heard of an apology like this.
"This kind of thing..."
Yomogawa Ayame was the eldest daughter of the Yomogawa family, the future head of the family, so she naturally had some understanding of the world.
But Miss Horobi's... movements... were somewhat beyond her comprehension.
She had once, accidentally, eavesdropped on a servant and her lover, but it was nothing compared to this.
Not to mention the sounds that penetrated the wall—muffled gasps, and a rhythmic, wet sound that was definitely not "applause"—which she had never heard before.
Just a short while ago, Lady Seitenshi and that mysterious woman named Echidna had just finished. Lord Ren... he really isn't human, is he?
...
When Mikasa, Vivi, and Mumei returned, the "atonement" had still not stopped.
Mumei tilted her head, hearing the sounds. "What are Sister Horobi and Lord Ren doing?"
Biba Amatori was already gone. Now, Horobi and Mumei, the last of the "Hunters," referred to each other as sisters.
Vivi's face was flushed bright red as she awkwardly scratched her head. "Ah... Ren is... giving Miss Horobi a special massage! Yes, a massage. Let's go take a bath."
Saying that, she quickly pulled Mumei and Mikasa to the bathroom. The three of them had become quite close from acting together.
Seitenshi, however, just shook her head with a knowing sigh and walked directly into Ren's bedroom.
...
Unconsciously, another seven or eight hours had passed by normal reckoning.
Ren had Echidna start a "tea party."
This time, the invited guests were not the Witches of Sin.
Ren invited Seitenshi, Horobi, Pandora, and Senju Kayo. This "party" lasted for hours, a decadent affair that left the room thick with the scent of sweat and sex. Kayo was a great contributor to the transformation of the faith realm, so she had to be rewarded.
[Ding! Doomsday Companion time remaining ten minutes. Doomsday Companion is about to end!]
The Doomsday Chat Group finally received the notification.
Ren smiled bitterly and patted his head; being too unrestrained really makes one lose control of their desires.
He raised his hand to restore his tired, sated body.
Golden light shimmered, and he changed into brand new, clean clothes.
"It's time to end this."
He pulled a blissfully exhausted Seitenshi and a completely drained Horobi to their feet.
The house he had created also slowly dissipated in the golden light.
Shortly after.
"I'm back."
Saiki Kusuo appeared via teleportation.
Ren glanced at him; his clothes were neat, and he was full of energy, not looking like he had been roughing it at all.
Everyone gathered.
Yomogawa Ayame and Vivi's eyes darted away, unable to look at Ren or Horobi directly. Mikasa's gaze was calm, and Mumei was mostly curious.
"Time's up," Ren said. "It's time to end everything."
The experimental results were obvious. The two-day timer of the Doomsday Companion would not change just because he slowed down the time of this world.
"Leave the rest to me."
Time, which had been crawling, resumed flowing at its normal speed at this moment.
He wanted to maximize the remaining benefits.
Golden Holy Wings unfurled from his back.
He soared high into the sky, breaking through the atmosphere in an instant, arriving in outer space.
People all over the world, huddled in their fortified Stations, looked up at this moment.
Above the sky, there was a radiance shining like a second sun.
Golden wings, stretching for tens of thousands of meters, emitted a holy, purifying light, illuminating the entire world.
"Redemption!"
"The... the Kabane… they disappeared!"
Upon touching the golden light, the Kabane instantly turned into dust.
Someone, somewhere, shouted excitedly.
"It's the Divine Lord! The Divine Lord is saving us!"
"It really is the Divine Lord!"
Almost no one disbelieved.
Because the Divine Lord's wings were there, visible above the sky.
Because the Kabane turned to ashes in the Divine Lord's radiance.
Because those who had just been bitten... their infections receded in the Divine Light.
This must be the Grace of God!
This must be God's salvation!
Almost at the same time that the light of Redemption shone upon the entire world, a tidal wave of faith from all over the world converged towards the Redemption Wings.
The Doomsday Chat Group sent another notification.
[Ding! Detected that all Kabane in this world have disappeared, detected that the reincarnated demon cultivator was eliminated by Ren, Doomsday ended!]
[Ren gained 2 million doomsday points, Saiki Kusuo gained 300,000 doomsday points, Seitenshi gained 60,000 doomsday points, Vivi gained 30,000 doomsday points, Mikasa gained 20,000 doomsday points, Mumei gained 15,000 doomsday points!]
[Doomsday Companion ended! Confirm return?]
Ren was quite satisfied. He retracted his Redemption Wings and returned to the ground.
Except for Saiki Kusuo and Seitenshi, the eyes of the other women were sparkling.
They had clearly seen his god-like demeanor just now.
Especially Horobi.
Her entire being had been conquered. Both physically and mentally, she had been branded with Ren's mark.
She could even feel... something... belonging to Ren, warm and stirring deep within her womb, a sign of his absolute claim.
[Inorin Note:
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