"General Esdeath, what did you just say? Governor Sai Akuto has already brought Night Raid to heel?
That important and you didn't report it sooner? I'm informing the minister right now!"
As he spoke, one of the Rakshasa Demons, Ibara, flashed a look at Sten. The two moved in unison—leaping away to flee at full speed.
They had sensed something off between Esdeath and Akuto.
If the beauties Esdeath delivered were "gifts" for Akuto… what did that make them—sacrifices?
Too late. With Akuto standing right there, escape was wishful thinking.
"—Freeze."
Twin ice lances erupted from the ground and speared the two from below, pinning them mid-flight.
"What?! General Esdeath made a move?!" Suzuka blurted, turning toward Esdeath—
—only to see Esdeath hadn't lifted a finger.
"So that wasn't General Esdeath… it was Governor Akuto?!"
Before Esdeath could even act, a fat man in a clown mask hurled several jeweled orbs.
Wild Pitch — Explosive Gem!
"Get him! Take down the governor and collect the bounty!"
The clown was Champ.
In the original course of events, he was a member of Syura's degenerates, Wild Hunt. Even before Wild Hunt, he'd been a serial killer, "loving" children—twisted beyond belief. He called kids "angels" and "saved" them from becoming filthy adults by murdering them. Among Esdeath's Jaegers, the teacher Ran had students who fell to Champ's hands.
Originally, Champ died to Izo.
But here and now, that part of the tale hadn't arrived yet, so Champ still lived.
Only for the moment.
Akuto tossed out a single blade of ice.
Champ tried to counter with another orb—
Flame Gem!
—But ordinary Teigu users barely reach a crippled upper-devil in terms of force, far beneath a true pureblood devil brimming with demonic power.
Against someone on the Maō-class path, there was no resistance to speak of.
The ice blade tore through the flames and through Champ in the same instant.
Leviathan-Style: Cryo Burst.
The ice was forged from Leviathan's water, and so naturally carried its properties.
Champ's bloated body ruptured and sloughed apart like an overripe gourd bursting—dissolving into crimson spray.
"Go!" Izo sensed the tilt and moved to rally a group assault.
The next heartbeat—
"Fuuuu—"
A polar gale howled. Akuto merely flicked a hand toward Esdeath, and the rest of Wild Hunt froze where they stood—locked in a lattice of numbers, a binding array of cold.
He had no interest in playing house with small fry.
A ringing crack—
The ice shield encasing Esdeath burst outward. She stepped from the shattering cocoon untouched.
The Ice Queen tilted the brim of her cap, spirit surging brighter than ever.
The last time she and Akuto had fought, she hadn't finished her preparations. This time, after a month of focus, her power of frost had swelled to a world-shaking peak.
"As expected of the man I set my eyes on. Come, Akuto—let me show you what I've been preparing for you this whole month!"
A chill that seemed to freeze time rippled around her. Plates of ice armor formed from nothing, growing seamlessly over Esdeath's perfect form.
Seconds later, a solitary, fully armored figure stood before Akuto.
Secret Art—Empress of the Frost Gale!
This was a variant of her famed Grand General of the Frost Gale.
In the original, Grand General was her crowd-killer trump card: during the capital's final battle, after the Supreme Imperial Arms fell, she released all the power stored in her frost cavalry and conjured a cataclysm blanketing almost the entire nation—an absolute country-level ultimate.
But to face Akuto, Esdeath had rewritten the concept: the ultimate anti-army had become the ultimate anti-single—Empress of the Frost Gale.
The calamity's cold was now poured entirely into a suit of invincible ice armor.
"Not bad—you learn fast." Akuto smiled, sincerely impressed by her capacity to study and create. There was no doubt this armor took cues from his own Red Dragon Emperor Armament.
She'd seen how his draconic gear produced peak attack and defense and understood that without an equal layer, beating him would be impossible—hence this answer.
"Then let's see it—your ice mail or my dragon mail. Which reigns supreme?"
"Go—!"
Viridian aura roared; the dragon jets kicked, and Akuto arrived in Esdeath's face in a blink.
"Good!" Esdeath beamed, her own rear thrusters flaring with sapphire frost.
They clashed a dozen, then dozens of times—streaks of light crossing the ground and the sky.
Each sweep of Esdeath's ice blade drove gales that could scour the land.
Yet despite the overwhelming frost and ferocity, nothing marked the dragon armor. Not even a scratch.
In a month, Akuto's base had climbed again—to the high-tier apex of ultimate-class devil. With Forbidden Hand active, he still fell short of true Super Maō, but he could call himself a quasi-Super Maō.
Against power on that level, if Esdeath confined herself to merely "condensing force," breaking his gear was a fantasy.
"Esdeath," Akuto said lightly as he parried, "you—and this world—were born with a limit."
"A limit?" Esdeath frowned, hands never slowing.
"Yes. This world has some spiritual energy, but its beings lack systematic cultivation. They can only temper the body passively. That's why the super Danger Beasts, with innate racial gifts, outstrip humans.
"You drank super-beast blood to push beyond—
"In my world, everyone can break such shackles. Even without beast blood, humans can cultivate proper methods to draw in aether.
"In the end, even a human can stand as something like a Sage or Heroic Spirit."
"…So you're not from this world."
Esdeath's ice-blue brows knit. She knew Akuto wouldn't spin meaningless lies. He meant it.
"You could say that. Being an outsider is exactly why I'm this unusual.
"Which also means… this world will struggle to produce anyone who surpasses you.
"So, why not come to my world?
"There, Dragon Kings and Demon Kings can erase countries without trying. Immortal gods build supreme theocracies. Dragon Emperors and Dragon Gods can menace creation itself.
Those are the foes you should be fighting."
Esdeath swallowed, heat in her eyes turning incandescent.
Of course—Sai Akuto was the treasure Heaven had granted her. With so many titans to challenge and defeat, she no longer had to waste time waiting for this world's weaklings to grow strong.
"Governor Akuto, I accept your proposal," she said, a rare blush touching her cheeks when their promise came to mind.
"Then we end it here?"
"Yes—time to end it."
Akuto rolled a shoulder. The ice sword in his hand vanished, replaced by a blazing holy blade.
A flurry of ringing clashes—
Then one decisive strike slammed into the waist of Esdeath's ice cuirass.
Sixth Secret Sword — Moth Blade.
A technique crafted to kill heavy armor in close quarters: the wielder injects high-frequency vibration through the edge, sending the waves through the plating and into the target's body.
Under the inner shock of Moth Blade, Akuto's sword-pressure tunneled through the azure ice—
"—Guh!"
Esdeath spat blood flecked with organ shards and lost all strength in an instant.
The next second—
A thunderous kick—
Esdeath crashed down, pinned just as in their last duel.
"Mmh… it's been a while… I almost missed this feeling…"
Even crushed beneath him, Esdeath's eyes held a sliver of bliss.
The secret art dispersed; the polar gale thinned; the battlefield fell quiet. Akuto let the holy blade fade and exhaled slowly.
"Get ready," he said. "We move on the Empire."
(End of Chapter)
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