Chapter 305

Chapter 305: Chapter 305

Even after the rooms had been assigned, none of them actually managed to fall asleep that night.

Esdeath was busy thinking about how she might sneak into Kiriya’s room.

The other three, meanwhile, had a different problem.

Their bodies felt strangely hot.

It was as though each of them had turned into a little furnace, heat constantly radiating from within.

"What is this? Are we sick?"

Ryuu and Jeanne thought about it for a long time without reaching an answer, so they finally sat up and discussed it together.

"What? You feel unusually hot?"

Esdeath only had to think for a moment before realizing what had happened.

"It’s probably because of the Danger Beast meat."

"That meat was poisonous?"

Ryuu and Jeanne were startled. ℴ

Jeanne immediately prepared to use Magic to purge any toxins from their bodies, but Esdeath quickly stopped her.

"Danger Beast flesh contains enormous amounts of life energy. For humans, it’s extremely nourishing. Since this was your first time eating it, feeling a little uncomfortable is normal."

She waved off their concern.

"Don’t worry. You’re both strong enough that one meal isn’t going to overload your bodies."

"So that’s what it is."

Ryuu and Jeanne exchanged glances and both relaxed.

Then a thought occurred to Ryuu.

Esdeath possessed a monstrous physique even without Falna, with physical abilities already comparable to a Level 5 adventurer.

Could it be because she had grown up eating meat like this?

"That’s part of it."

When Ryuu voiced the theory, Esdeath admitted it without hesitation.

"The higher the rank of the Danger Beast, the more life energy its flesh contains, and the more obvious the effect on the body becomes."

She licked her lips unconsciously.

"Special-Class and Ultra-Class Danger Beasts are especially ridiculous. The effect is almost impossible to describe."

"If you combine that kind of nourishment with intense training and constant battle, your body naturally becomes stronger."

As she spoke, Esdeath actually swallowed.

Mostly because she was getting hungry again.

She wanted the flesh of those high-ranking Danger Beasts—

and she wanted the thrill of fighting them.

Hearing this, Ryuu and Jeanne both fell into thought.

’Is this why Kiriya brought us to this world?’

...

The next morning.

"Yeah, of course."

Kiriya nodded.

"You can fight to raise your Status while also eating something that nourishes and strengthens your body. Sounds pretty efficient, doesn’t it?"

There was one thing he deliberately left unsaid.

Esdeath herself was actually the biggest reason he had come here.

The famous Ice Queen.

A peerless warrior capable of taking on armies by herself.

If he could win her over, wouldn’t that mean gaining a Level 7-class ally?

And somehow, he had already succeeded halfway almost immediately after arriving.

Things were going far more smoothly than expected.

The other, even more important reason was the increase in Status that came from repeated high-intensity, high-quality battles.

As a natural battle maniac and the future sadistic general of the Empire, Esdeath loved challenging powerful opponents.

Going even a single day without fighting probably made her uncomfortable.

And now she had another motivation driving her—

her determination to eventually turn the tables on Kiriya and become the master instead.

That meant her desire to fight and grow stronger would only become more intense.

Even more frightening was Esdeath’s extraordinary rate of improvement.

With someone like her constantly applying pressure, everyone around her would be forced to think of every possible way to improve.

She was like an enormous catfish dropped into a quiet pond, forcing everything else inside to start moving.

Sure enough, first thing that morning, Esdeath dragged Kiriya, Ryuu, and Jeanne into training.

At first, Ryuu and Jeanne refused.

They wanted to conserve their stamina for hunting Danger Beasts.

Esdeath was not discouraged.

She pulled the two women off into a corner and began whispering to them in an extremely low voice while repeatedly pointing at Kiriya.

Kiriya could not hear what they were saying.

He only noticed Ryuu and Jeanne’s faces becoming increasingly red.

Embarrassed as they looked, however, their eyes also began shining with completely unshakable determination.

"Come on."

Ryuu raised Stardust Sword, her expression deadly serious.

"Come."

Esdeath smiled brightly, holding a sword Jeanne had lent her.

The battle exploded into motion the next instant.

Even though this was supposedly nothing more than a spar between companions, Esdeath held almost nothing back.

Her attacks were ruthless and committed, immediately giving Ryuu a hard time.

That only ignited Ryuu’s competitive spirit.

Stardust Sword flashed again and again, producing sharp arcs of sword light as the two women fought almost evenly for a time.

But in close combat, Esdeath’s talent and experience clearly held the advantage.

Before long, she identified an opening and began suppressing Ryuu.

"—The heavens of the forest now distant. Infinite stars embedded in the endless night sky..."

Ryuu’s cool chant suddenly echoed across the battlefield.

Kiriya stared.

"..."

’Seriously? She’s actually using Magic?’

Wasn’t this supposed to be morning practice?

Did they really need to go this hard?

Esdeath had never encountered Magic before and had no idea what Ryuu was preparing.

But years of sharpened animal instinct immediately warned her that allowing the chant to continue would be extremely dangerous.

She rushed forward to interrupt it.

Ryuu had already anticipated that.

She accelerated and avoided Esdeath’s attacks, buying herself enough time to finish the incantation.

"Luminous Wind!"

Countless green spheres of light poured down like a flood.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The quiet valley was immediately filled with earth-shaking explosions.

Blast after blast rolled across the wilderness, the violent tremors spreading into the surrounding mountains.

Then—

RUMBLE!

A large avalanche broke loose.

It came crashing toward them like countless white dragons roaring down the slopes, threatening to bury the entire area within seconds.

"This... might have gone a little too far."

Jeanne gave a helpless smile.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."

At the critical moment, Kiriya formed hand seals and raised an enormous wall of rock, stopping the avalanche before it could engulf them.

Tap.

Ryuu landed lightly on the ground.

Kiriya stared at the elf in disbelief.

"It was just a morning spar. Did you really need to take it that seriously?"

Ryuu immediately turned her head away, refusing to meet his eyes.

"It’s... team coordination. We need to understand each other’s abilities properly."

"Did you at least avoid seriously hurting her?"

"Of course."

Ryuu sounded offended.

"Do you think I’m incapable of controlling my strength?"

Then she accidentally met Kiriya’s eyes and immediately looked away again.

Whenever this hopeless elf felt guilty, she always did that.

Kiriya expanded his energy perception.

Esdeath’s presence had weakened somewhat, but overall it remained surprisingly strong.

Whoosh!

A moment later, Esdeath rushed out of the settling snow and dust, her face glowing with excitement.

"What was that just now?"

She stared at Ryuu.

"That was strong!"

Kiriya, Ryuu, and Jeanne all fell silent.

"..."

She had just been blasted by that spell.

Shouldn’t her first reaction have been to get angry and demand revenge?

Why did she look even more excited?

"That was Magic."

Ryuu still found Esdeath’s reaction strange, but she answered honestly.

"Magic?"

Esdeath’s eyes lit up.

"Interesting. Can I learn it?"

She immediately looked toward Kiriya with expectation.

"Well... not really."

Kiriya shook his head.

"In our world, Magic is mostly something a person awakens individually. It isn’t normally something you can just study and learn."

"Then what about that move you used?"

Esdeath pointed toward the massive stone wall in the distance.

"Can I learn that?"

Earlier he had manipulated wood.

Now he could control earth and stone too.

The sheer number of abilities Kiriya possessed seemed endless.

Kiriya nodded first, then shook his head.

"You could learn it, but there’s no need."

He looked at her.

"There’s a path much better suited to you."

Strengthen her body.

Master the power of ice through an Imperial Arms.

Become the strongest existence in this world.

That was already a proven road for Esdeath.

There was no reason to abandon it.

"Oh?"

Esdeath smiled.

"And where is this path of mine, Master?"

"The Imperial Capital."

Kiriya answered calmly.

"There’s an Imperial Arms there that suits you perfectly. It can make you much stronger."

"Imperial Arms?"

Jeanne and Ryuu both looked curious.

This was the first time either of them had heard the term.

Even Esdeath herself was unfamiliar with it.

She had spent her childhood on the remote northern frontier and had not yet come into contact with something as prestigious as the Imperial Arms.

Until now, she had relied entirely on her own strength.

"Roughly a thousand years ago, the founding emperor of the Empire desperately wanted his dynasty to endure forever."

Kiriya began explaining.

"He understood that human lifespans were limited, so he decided to create immortal weapons powerful enough to preserve the Empire’s rule long after he died."

"To accomplish that, the founding emperor used the Empire’s enormous wealth and authority to gather the greatest craftsmen from across the world."

"They used legendary Ultra-Class Danger Beasts as core materials, combined them with rare metals such as Orichalcum, and incorporated countless secret techniques that have since been lost."

"The result was forty-eight unique weapons that could never be reproduced."

Kiriya paused.

"They were collectively known as Imperial Arms."

"Each Imperial Arms possesses an extraordinarily powerful ability."

"Some greatly enhance defense or physical strength. Some can hypnotize people. Others allow the user to control natural elements and turn them into weapons."

"In short..."

Kiriya smiled.

"Once someone obtains a suitable Imperial Arms, they’ve taken their first step toward becoming powerful enough to defeat a thousand enemies—or even ten thousand—by themselves."