Flame flowed like blood through her veins, power surging endlessly from every inch of her being.
Esdeath could feel it—her current state wasn't at its peak, roughly forty percent weaker than her prime.
Yet the physical toll that once came with battle and wielding her Teigu could no longer be called a cost.
In other words, her maximum output was lower, but her stamina had become limitless.
This didn't surprise her. After all, Eblana herself wasn't in great shape either.
The Deathfire had nearly all been spent in their earlier clash, and the fact that this much flame remained made Esdeath wonder if Eblana had planned it this way from the start.
But even if it was calculated, it didn't matter. However you looked at it, this was Eblana's doing.
The Wild Hunt wasn't weak—each member was at least mid-tier among Teigu users. But in her current state, dealing with them wouldn't be troublesome.
"Liver."
Esdeath glanced toward the white-haired old general standing not far away. Years of fighting side by side let him grasp her meaning instantly.
Before this, due to various reasons, he hadn't had much chance to act. Now, finding himself fighting alongside Esdeath again gave him a subtle sense of nostalgia.
Even so, orders were orders.
Not just Esdeath's—more importantly, Eblana's.
Frost once again spread across the battlefield. The mist and droplets left from the earlier clash of flame and ice now coalesced into watery dragons.
Before the bewildered members of the Wild Hunt could even process what was happening, they were imprisoned in solid ice, then knocked unconscious by the rushing currents.
The Jaegers were drenched in cold sweat.
They had never imagined they would one day face the blades of powerhouses like Esdeath—especially when there was more than one Esdeath-level fighter to contend with.
Watching Liver manipulating the sky-full of water dragons, Esdeath with that faint curve on her lips, and Eblana standing between them… they couldn't fathom how to win.
"General Esdeath…" Wave looked with complicated emotions at Esdeath, wreathed in Deathfire and now transformed into a servant.
Run and Stylish were the quickest to react. After exchanging a glance, they both raised their hands.
Run: "We surrender."
Hearing this, Seryu's face twisted into utter ferocity. She swept her gaze over her companions, but none showed any refusal.
What else could they do? Everyone had witnessed the earlier battle.
Having seen it firsthand, no one could possibly believe they had any place in a fight like that—even the aftermath would be enough to finish them.
Facing powerhouses like Esdeath and Eblana head-on? There was zero chance of victory.
Esdeath wasn't surprised by these two's choice.
Run and Dr. Stylish were different from the rest of the Jaegers.
The others fought out of loyalty to the Empire or their own sense of justice, but these two—one sought to change the Empire, the other to obtain more experimental resources.
Loyalty to the Empire? Absolutely none.
In fact, it was impressive that Run didn't outright resent the Empire.
Wave felt intensely unwilling, but as things stood, there was no choice but to surrender. Living was better than dying—at least alive, he could wait for a chance to turn things around.
For the Empire…
Thinking of the Empire, Wave recalled the scene in Lavis—like a petri dish of corruption.
Upholding justice wasn't just unrecognized—it got you driven out, even threatened with reports to Minister Honest, who'd bring the Emperor himself to hold you accountable.
That memory doused Wave's will to resist like a bucket of cold water, leaving him adrift in confusion.
Bols didn't feel strong affection or hatred for the Empire. He had a wife and child in the capital.
If possible, he didn't want to die here either, so he chose to surrender and wait for an opportunity, just like Wave.
Seryu's face grew even more distorted.
Had everyone betrayed their cause? Just because evil was too powerful, even General Esdeath couldn't withstand it… so they all betrayed?
No…! This couldn't be their true hearts. They were all so kind, so just.
Given a chance, they would never bow to evil! And that chance… she happened to have it!
Thinking of the last of the ten modifications Dr. Stylish had designed for her—[Chakravartin Furnace of Five Hells]—Seryu shot a sharp look toward Eblana in the distance, her resolve firm.
This was a bomb that could sweep everything away.
Even General Esdeath and that rebel over there were still flesh and blood. Under this bomb's blast, they would not survive. If she used it… she could carry out justice!
To maximize the lethal effect, Seryu didn't announce anything. Instead, she planned to detonate it at the closest range, turning everything into nourishment for justice.
However, such obvious hostility and dangerous aura—how could it possibly escape Eblana and Esdeath's notice?
Before Seryu could get close to the group, Eblana raised her spear.
Blue-purple flame instantly ignited on Seryu's body. The suddenness of it made everyone pause, but Dr. Stylish realized what was happening and shouted while running, "Get away from here!"
As the bomb's creator, no one understood its destructive power better than him.
At Stylish's cry, even without knowing exactly what was happening, everyone connected it to Eblana's action and understood that girl was definitely up to something wrong.
Mine had been pouting over not getting to take revenge immediately, but the surge of energy from her Teigu, [Pumpkin], made her realize—somehow, she was already in mortal peril.
Without knowing why, she yelled immediately, "Fall back! There's something wrong with her!"
The Deathfire's burn rapidly eroded Seryu's sanity.
Yet, as someone unhinged, she held far deeper convictions than most. Fighting desperately against the flame's erosion of her consciousness, Seryu activated the bomb inside her without hesitation.
Seeing this, Esdeath let out a soft laugh. Boundless icy power surged from within her, freezing everything around them in an instant.
Realizing what she was doing, Eblana immediately extinguished the Deathfire on Seryu.
"As expected, this move doesn't work on you," Esdeath said with a complicated look at Eblana beside her.
Mahapadma—her technique to freeze space-time. But in the end, it was still the power of ice.
Against Eblana, who wielded flame equal or even superior to her own, this move was completely ineffective.
"You expected this, didn't you." Eblana actually felt a bit wistful too.
While the move was said to freeze space-time, its actual manifestation had little to do with "freezing"—it was more like causing space-time to stagnate, then presenting it as frozen.
After all, if you spoke of freezing, even absolute zero, the theoretical lowest temperature, couldn't freeze time.
But that was all beside the point.
In the original story, Eblana hadn't liked Seryu much. Some of it was subjective bias—she was on the protagonist's side, after all—but dislike was dislike.
And now, seeing her ready to drag everyone down just to carry out "justice," Eblana liked her even less.
"Finish her. We don't have time to waste on her."
Eblana shook her head, letting the thoughts go.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.