Killed Evilus member, Excelia +15
Killed Evilus member, Excelia +16
...
Killed Evilus member, Excelia +21
...
Killed Evilus member, Excelia +11
...
As Leon's six ice clones unleashed their full firepower, within the range swallowed by the blizzard, terrified expression after terrified expression was frozen permanently in place, turned into eternal works of art.
A howling winter wind shrieked past like a blade's edge, and the ice sculptures shattered and scattered one after another in the storm, breaking apart into a sky full of ice crystals that vanished on the wind.
The horror of the storm of snow, in an entirely different form, was once again laid bare before countless followers and soldiers.
"No, I won't kill anyone ever again! Please, just give me one more chance! I don't want to die yet!"
"Aaaah! It hurts, it hurts so much!"
"Devil! You devil!"
"Long live Chaos!"
"You damned !!!"
Leon's ice clones kept their eyes cold and their expressions unmoved, and no matter what wails, curses, or fanatic ravings came out of the snowstorm, their magic output never weakened in the slightest.
Once you'd set foot on this path, you should have been prepared to face the ending.
Winter was coming, and the storm of snow turned the entire battlefield into a deathly silent frozen waste.
Wherever the ice reached, all was the end.
Leon's ice clone parted its lips and breathed out a puff of white, the mist trailing back from the corner of its mouth and melting into the snowstorm.
"It's over."
The words were barely out before the ice clones, having borne an excess of magic output, began to show cracks. From the cheeks to the neck, fine fractures spread across the whole body like a spider's web.
With a sharp crack, all the ice clones shattered at once, breaking into a glittering scatter of ice crystals on the ground that then dissipated soundlessly in the cold wind.
...
On the other side of the plaza.
This deathly still area, now turned entirely into a frozen, snowbound world, naturally held the gazes of the gods and Adventurers tight as well.
Everyone stared at that suffocating sight with grave expressions, a silent shock hanging in the air.
The goddess of justice and the moon goddess silently exchanged a glance, then looked toward Demeter beside them. That look was complicated, hard to put into words, carrying far too much left unsaid.
"Demeter, this child of yours... is really decisive when it comes to killing, leaving no room for mercy."
Artemis added softly:
"Mm... this style and temperament really don't suit a loving harvest goddess like you at all. It's quite surprising."
As everyone knew, gods and their members chose each other both ways.
If their personalities clashed or their ideals didn't align, then even members of the same familia would eventually go their separate ways.
And the almost cold-blooded resolve and ferocity Leon displayed really did clash with the gentle, loving impression Demeter always gave.
In temperament, and in conduct alike.
But that was only the perspective of an onlooker.
Hearing this, Demeter's eyes curved into soft crescents, and she covered her lips with her sleeve, laughing lightly:
"Don't suit?"
"But I'd say... Leon and I are actually pretty in sync, you know?"
Astraea and Artemis blinked at the same time. Even Freya, off to the side and still maintaining her elegant, aloof poise, and Loki, who looked careless but had long since pricked up her ears, both turned their attention over without exception.
Demeter gave her several divine friends a playful wink:
"Because we share a common hobby. Mm... in Leon's words, it's an instinct carved into our blood and souls."
Loki couldn't hold back any longer and leaned in to press the question:
"Demeter, quit keeping us in suspense! What is it already?"
Demeter's eyes brimmed with a smile, the corners of her lips curving into a meaningful arc as she softly revealed the answer:
"A love for the land, a passion for tilling the soil, and... the highest pursuit of good food."
The words were barely out before Loki gave a tactical lean-back.
"Huh?"
Not just Loki, the other goddesses' faces were filled with bewilderment too.
"You're saying... that the Shadow of Sorcery, the one who slaughtered over a hundred Evilus in under an hour, is full of passion for farming?"
"No way, absolutely no way!"
"If you'd told me he's obsessed with beautiful women, I'd back that with both hands up."
"But liking farming and all that..."
"Completely unimaginable!"
The several goddesses spoke almost in unison, their tone full of incredulous teasing.
Leon: "..."
There's some distance between us, sure, but I'm still a Lv.4 Adventurer here. If I pretended not to hear that, wouldn't I just be fooling myself?
His face went dark, and he held back a grumble:
Does killing people conflict with liking farming? And besides... is my reputation out there really that vicious? Who the hell started this rumor? I'm clearly more of the scholarly type, aren't I? How is it that in Loki's mouth and the rest of theirs, I come off like some battle-crazed maniac slash mass murderer... Lucky thing Jeanne and the others went off to help, or this embarrassing history would've been enough for them to laugh at me for a whole year.
"Phew..."
Having finished grumbling to himself, Leon drew a few deep breaths of the bitterly cold air, letting the icy chill pour into his lungs and drive off the mental fatigue piled up from controlling the ice clones at high intensity for so long.
Then he fished a cheap Potion out of his shirt, tipped his head back and drained it in one go to recover his stamina.
That small motion, however, didn't escape the eyes of Persephone, who'd been watching coolly the whole time.
The bespectacled woman glanced at the empty bottle in his hand, the corners of her lips curving into a faint, ambiguous arc:
"Heh..."
"So our ever-victorious Mr. Leon needs something like that to keep himself going too?"
Leon's mouth twitched, and his arm shot out, sweeping her into his embrace. His left hand clasped the small of her back, his right gently pinched her chin and tilted it up slightly, the two of them eye to eye, close enough to almost feel the brush of each other's lashes.
In that moment, each other's warm breath was clearly audible. Only, unlike the easy, teasing playfulness in Leon's eyes, Persephone seemed to recall something, her cheeks rapidly flooding with crimson, her gaze wavering and evasive... not daring to meet his at all.
"Miss Persephone, looks like your memory isn't much better than a fish's."
He lowered his voice, a touch of wicked, soft laughter in it:
"Or did you forget? Just a little while ago... it only took me a short hour before a certain someone was whimpering and begging for mercy, and in the end she even couldn't take it anymore... rolled her eyes back and passed out."
"Tsk tsk, with stamina like that, you've still got the nerve to brazenly claim you'll conquer me single-handedly?"
Before Leon even finished speaking, Persephone's cheeks had flushed so red they looked about to drip blood.
"Y-you shut up!"
She glared "fiercely" at Leon, her body "struggling" hard in his arms. But whether on purpose or not, the two bodies that were already pressed tightly together stirred up an even sharper sensation from all that twisting and friction.
Just as expected.
The next second... Persephone clearly registered a certain "presence" that couldn't be ignored.
The sharpness of the "Holy Sword" made her whole body go rigid in an instant. Right after that... waves of a tingling, electric sensation shot up her spine and into the back of her head.
With a soft whimper, her stocking-clad legs went weak, and she collapsed completely into Leon's arms.
"Y-you bastard!"
"Pervert...!"
"Scumbag!!!"
One trembling, suppressed accusation after another squeezed out from between her clenched lips, but her momentum had long since fallen apart.
Leon lowered his head, looking at that flushed face in his arms, his expression the picture of innocence.
"How is this my fault?"
"It's clearly..."
"Shut up!"
...
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