Deep within the heart of the Imperial Capital, the grand city buzzed with frantic, restless energy.
There was scarcely a moment to process the devastating loss of General Budo and the thousands of imperial soldiers who had fallen.
The streets and grand halls were consumed by a singular, overwhelming piece of news: Esdeath had returned!
"General Esdeath is back in the capital!!!"
Her triumphant return ignited a wave of wild excitement among the opportunistic officials and frightened nobles.
With the empire's greatest military powerhouse back within its walls, they felt an instant, comforting sense of security restored.
No one was more ecstatic than the Prime Minister.
Glee distorting his corpulent features, he immediately ordered the young emperor to issue a formal decree summoning Esdeath to the palace.
However...
"General Esdeath states that she is exhausted from her travels and unable to attend the audience right now," the imperial messenger stammered, sweating profusely under the minister's heavy glare.
"What did you say?!"
The minister's eyes bulged in absolute disbelief, his jaw dropping open.
She had openly defied a direct imperial summons?
A cold spike of fear and sudden anxiety rippled through his bloated frame.
This was entirely unprecedented—and dangerous.
A wildly powerful general who commanded absolute loyalty from her troops, holding immense merit, suddenly turning her back on court protocol?
It deeply rattled his fragile sense of control.
As for Esdeath herself, she couldn't care less about the minister's panic or the emperor's decrees.
Even though the corrupt politician had originally handed her the Demon's Extract Teigu, she had always viewed their relationship as a purely transactional exploitation based on mutual use.
She lived by her core philosophy: the law of the jungle, where the strong rule and the weak perish.
Now that she had been utterly defeated in combat by Haruto and had willingly pledged her absolute submission to him, the petty politics of the crumbling Empire meant less than nothing to her.
Relaxing luxuriously in a steaming, scented bath, washing away the lingering fatigue of her long journey back to the capital, Esdeath lazily sipped a glass of fine crimson wine.
Her gaze drifted toward the floating system screen before her, watching the live stream unfold in real-time.
Watching Haruto interact with Kajika, she noticed how vastly different his demeanor was compared to the terrifying, unstoppable god of war who had pushed her to her absolute limits on the battlefield.
Here, he was shockingly gentle.
A knowing, amused smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Ah... I suppose it's simply because she's so utterly weak," she mused softly to herself, swirling the wine in her glass.
"He doesn't want to accidentally break his new toy, does he?"
To Esdeath, Kajika looked fragile enough to snap in half—scarcely holding a candle even to the lowest-ranking foot soldiers in her own army.
Yet, watching Haruto handle the trembling girl with such deliberate, measured care, she found it difficult to reconcile this tender, attentive side with the man who had effortlessly crushed her pride.
"A completely different side of him..."
Esdeath murmured, her golden eyes narrowing thoughtfully as the hot water lapped against her collarbone.
Her mind drifted, turning inward for the first time in her life.
For all her ruthlessness, her obsession with conquest, and her dedication to the survival of the fittest...
She found herself harboring a strange, unfamiliar hunger.
She wanted to experience what it truly meant to love.
-----
Haruto was uncharacteristically gentle with Kajika throughout the transaction.
With Ayame standing by as a quiet, composed witness to how things worked, there was no need to overwhelm the newest addition too abruptly.
When the intimate exchange finally settled, Haruto reached out, his fingertips glowing with a soft, ethereal light.
"As promised, I will grant you my blessing."
With a light tap of his finger against Kajika's bare shoulder, a glowing, intricate mark materialized permanently onto her right arm.
"Ah!"
Kajika gasped as a sudden, cataclysmic surge of raw, scorching energy violently flooded through her veins.
It wasn't just ordinary stamina—her entire body felt as though it had been forged anew in the heart of a furnace.
A floating system interface flickered into view before her eyes:
* [Name]: Kajika
* [Level]: 1
* [Abilities]: "Fire Dragon's Power," "Haruto's Blessing," "Inherent Device: Red Flame."
Kajika had been gifted the primordial, destructive might of a fire dragon, fusing the terrifying strength of a mythical beast directly into her mortal frame.
Ayame, watching the miraculous transformation unfold with quiet awe, immediately stepped forward and bowed her head.
"Kajika, hurry and thank Haruto-sama properly."
Snapping back to reality from the overwhelming rush of power, Kajika fell to her knees before him, her cheeks flushed bright red with absolute reverence and newfound resolve.
"Thank you, Haruto-sama, for your divine blessing!"
Then, gathering a sudden, surprising burst of courage, she looked up, biting her lower lip as a shy, bold invitation slipped past her lips.
"Haruto-sama... now that I am yours... could you give me all of you?"
Haruto raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by her sudden aggression.
A low, amused chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Weren't you just trembling a minute ago? Are you really not afraid?"
Blushing fiercely yet refusing to back down, Kajika shook her head, her gaze locking onto his. "I'm completely ready, Haruto-sama. Can we... continue?"
Haruto's smile turned sharp and devilish. "Well, since you're asking so nicely, how could I possibly refuse?"
And as Ayame, unable to resist the overwhelming atmosphere and her own mounting desires, quietly stepped forward to join them.
Haruto prepared to teach both of his eager followers the true, unfathomable meaning of Harem Protagonist Stamina.
-----
During the final two hours in that desolate realm, after confirming that no towns or human settlements existed for miles around.
Haruto unleashed his true power, freezing an entire wilderness region in deep, impenetrable ice to quickly farm experience points from the frozen wildlife and lurking threats.
However, now that he had pushed past level 40, relying on low-tier monsters had hit a massive bottleneck; even after encasing acres of land in glacial frost, the sheer volume of fodder only netted him a single level.
Still, he wasn't disappointed. In the grand scheme of things, progress was progress.
Once the area was cleared, he spent time putting Kajika through practical combat training, quickly guiding her newly unlocked Fire Dragon abilities to elevate her to level 6.
Along the way through the ruined countryside, they managed to track down the heavily infected pregnant woman Kajika had been agonizingly worried about.
With a simple, effortless touch, Haruto purged the Kabane virus from her bloodstream, completely neutralizing the infection and guaranteeing that both mother and unborn child would survive unharmed.
This miraculous feat of salvation once again sparked chaotic waves of worship, with the surrounding survivors dropping to their knees in absolute religious awe.
While Kajika's infatuation and devotion toward Haruto deepened into something unshakeable.
After returning safely his world.
Yukina greeted Kajika with a knowing, teasing smirk.
"So, you've officially crossed the line and become one of Haruto-sama's women too, huh?"
Giving Kajika a playful nudge, Yukina added with a chuckle, "I honestly didn't expect you to be so bold. Some of the things caught on the live stream... even I haven't tried or heard of those positions."
Blushing a violent, incandescent crimson, Kajika nervously fumbled with the hem of her skirt and sheepishly mumbled, "It... it was mostly Haruto-sama and Ayame-sama guiding me..."
"Are you thinking about joining up and becoming one of his women too, Yukina?"
Kajika asked, turning the tables.
Yukina blinked innocently. "What? Where did that even come from?"
"Well," Kajika sighed softly, adjusting her posture. "To be honest... just Ayame-sama and myself don't really seem like enough to keep up with Haruto-sama."
She still didn't fully comprehend the terrifying physics behind what he called Harem Protagonist Stamina.
But she had learned firsthand that Haruto's endurance was astronomical, operating on an entirely different plane of reality than a normal human.
Seeking backup, Kajika turned her wide-eyed, earnest gaze toward Yukina and Mumei.
"What about you two? Have you given it any thought?"
Yukina, usually so sharp and confident in her mechanical workshops, suddenly found herself flustered.
"I-I wouldn't necessarily mind, but... I don't think Haruto-sama would look twice at someone like me."
Clad in her grease-stained mechanic overalls, Yukina lacked the delicate, traditional ladylike aura of Ayame or the natural softness of Kajika, breeding a deep sense of insecurity about her appeal.
Kajika offered an encouraging smile, shaking her head. "You should talk to him or try your luck. You never really know until you step up."
"I suppose..." Yukina muttered, chewing her lip.
Becoming intimately involved with a literal god-like entity was a heavy concept to digest, but looking at how much stronger and radiant Kajika and Ayame had become, it was undeniably tempting.
Shifting her attention, Kajika looked over at Mumei.
"What about you, Mumei? As a Kabaneri hybrid, isn't your physical condition a constant danger to yourself? Maybe... if you asked him, Haruto-sama could completely cure you and turn you back into a normal human girl."
Mumei fell completely silent, her amber eyes dropping to the floor.
For as long as she could remember, she had defined her entire existence as her brother's specialized weapon, genetically engineered and born solely to hunt down and slaughter Kabane.
She had never once allowed herself to dream of returning to a normal human life, always believing it to be an impossible fantasy.
But after witnessing Haruto effortlessly reverse a full-stage infection and restore a dying boy to flesh-and-blood humanity, the walls she had built around her heart suddenly felt terribly fragile.
Seeing the heavy, conflicted silence wash over Mumei, Kajika and Yukina exchanged a quiet glance and wisely decided to drop the subject for now, leaving her to grapple with the shocking weight of possibility.
*******
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