You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

In general, Esdeath's actions in merely altering the celestial phenomena of the Imperial Capital were already an extremely restrained outcome!

"You still love big events, huh?"

Iori looked up at the sky and frowned impatiently after hearing the cries for help coming from the stands.

"A minister of the state, in such a panic, what kind of behavior is this!"

With a cold snort, Iori gripped the divine sword at her waist, and an aura rose from the ground, like a towering cloud peak soaring into the sky. It stirred up the thick clouds, creating ripples that turned them into a huge vortex that slowly dispersed, allowing warm sunlight to stream down from the void... gradually dispelling the chill in the atmosphere.

At the same time, an invisible impact swept across the training ground, shattering the ice surface and blowing away the unfortunate souls whose feet were frozen.

Miraculously, although they were dazed and confused from the fall, they only suffered broken bones and were out of danger, which made them all feel extremely fortunate. After regaining their senses, they seemed to realize something, and their expressions changed drastically as they knelt down before Iori with trepidation.

Iori had no interest in listening to their praises and said coldly, "Get out!"

They didn't even have the courage to look up at Iori's face. Their little schemes had long been forgotten, and they had no more thoughts. The powerful officials who had come to join the fun took the opportunity to leave, leaving only the martial arts faction with decent strength or a certain degree of confidence, including Akame and Najenda.

"Varied--"

Esdeath's pupils shrank sharply: "What...what did you do?"

Can mere momentum disperse celestial phenomena? That's utterly unbelievable!

"Don't be afraid. My spiritual pressure, or rather 'aura,' is not strong enough to exert such a wide-ranging physical influence... This is naturally achieved by using some techniques and supernatural abilities."

That's all I can do. I can only disrupt your control, but I can't go any further and attack you with celestial phenomena.

Iori feigned helplessness: "Besides, as the 'Emperor,' I have to take care of the people. It's best if our battle doesn't affect the people of the capital."

"..."

Esdeath was silent for a moment, then suddenly sneered: "You still have the mind to care about your people at a time like this? You really have plenty of leeway!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than the Ice Queen vanished from her spot. Her burst of speed was even more astonishing than ever before. Even experts like Najenda and Will could only see a few afterimages. Among the spectators, only Akame's dynamic vision could barely keep up.

Iori remained calm and took a step forward, drawing the Ama-no-Murakumo sword from behind her waist with her right hand. Halfway through the draw, she blocked the military knife that came from the side.

Clang!

With a flick of her wrist, the blade and the hilt collided, producing a crisp, resonant sound. Esdeath felt a vibration spread from her palm throughout her body, as if a faint electric current was flowing between her lips and teeth.

Zheng!

The longsword was drawn, and the resulting wind pressure instantly repelled the Ice Queen. Only then did Iori manage to assume a loose sword-holding posture, as if it were not a duel but rather a routine training exercise.

"hateful!"

If the goal was simply to determine a winner, then this lightning-fast exchange was enough to prove that Iori's skills and reflexes far surpassed Esdeath's.

But for the Ice Queen, every battle is a fight between hunter and prey, a fight that requires exhausting willpower and brute force, or until one side is unable to rise again, before there is a reason to stop.

The freezing wind howled past, and the hard ice spears emitted a sharp whistling sound as they shot out from all directions!

Iori loosened her king's cloak, letting the cold wind carry it away, revealing a finely crafted black hunting outfit. She raised her sword and severed the ice spear in front of her. The remaining ice spears were blocked by an invisible, transparent barrier, and shattered under the powerful recoil.

These ice blocks, when they fell to the ground, created small craters, and seemed to be much heavier than metal of the same volume!

Iori glanced at the ice blocks, a hint of approval in her eyes: "Compressed energy? Indeed, when fighting against a master, 'quality' is far more important than 'quantity'."

call!

Esdeath moved through space with lightning speed, her sharp saber slashing towards Iori's throat.

——Qiang!

The divine sword and the longsword made contact again. Feeling the force in her hand, Iori nodded, intending to praise Esdeath a few more times, but suddenly realized something and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Humph!"

The Ice Queen smiled confidently, her tall figure displaying powerful and sharp swordsmanship. Realizing that she couldn't keep up with Iori's reaction speed, she chose to launch a frontal attack!

The clanging sounds were incessant, the clash of swords like a fierce symphony, and the penetrating vibrations made the spectators tense up. Although they were outsiders, they acted as if they were about to be pierced by a sharp blade at any moment.

Esdeath's raw strength was clearly weaker than Iori's. After a brief offensive, she was countered twice by Iori, who was now taking things a little more seriously, and was defeated by the absolute difference in strength. Even her well-made military sword was cut in half with a single sword strike!

Clang!

Esdeath managed to parry Iori's follow-up attack by conjuring an ice blade in her hand. After shattering her weapon three times, she found an opportunity to jump backward and escape Iori's attack range.

But this is not an admission of defeat; rather, it is preparation for the impending killing blow.

"Mokobo Temo!"

In an instant, the entire space froze!

This is not an exaggeration, but an objective description. Everything in the entire training ground, from the flowing wind to the flying ice crystals, from the dust that rises to the moving human bodies, is frozen in this moment as if in a photograph!

There was only one exception: Esdeath herself.

Freezing time and space is her trump card move. Although it only lasts for a moment, it is enough for her to kill any enemy.

However, just as she was about to take action, she encountered an invisible wall—

[Broken Void]!

This high-level Kido was already present before Esdeath froze time and space, as if it had foreseen her move.

Esdeath wasn't incapable of breaking through this barrier, but the chance to deliver a fatal blow was quietly slipping away...

As time began to flow again, the Ice Queen revealed a look of disappointment—

He then gave a sinister smile, like a bloodthirsty beast!

At that very moment, a chilling coldness erupted from Iori's body, which had just regained its mobility. It was incredibly pure and concentrated, freezing him from the inside out into an ice sculpture in the blink of an eye, from his bones to his muscles to his nerves!

"It's over!" The Ice Queen charged forward, thrusting her ice blade at Iori.

This is Esdeath's killer move!

When the two sides are engaged in close combat, the compressed energy disguised as ordinary cold air is injected into the enemy's body. Once a certain amount is reached, it explodes collectively and freezes the person instantly!

Because he was facing a master like Iori, Esdeath deliberately infused a large amount of cold air into his attack. Before activating the attack, he also used the [Makkhatmo] technique to make Iori mistakenly believe that it was his trump card and thus lower his guard.

As expected, this decisive moment sealed the victory!

Should I kill him? No, since he appeared, I've become much stronger... So let's just knock him down, enslave him, and continue to use him as my stepping stone—Esdeath revealed a triumphant smile.

Noisy!

A wisp of electricity crackled on Iori's left wristband—

boom!

A thick bolt of lightning fell from the sky, its position predicted in advance, striking Esdeath as she sped away!

"Ugh... Ahhh!"

A thin, transparent layer of ice shattered, and Esdeath, steaming from her body, dodged to the side, kneeling on the ground with difficulty, her entire body almost numb.

"This power...is much stronger than Bud's!"

hum! ! !

The immense magical power activated and flowed within his body, like a tangible flame that dispelled the chill. The next moment, a chilling aura that could freeze everything was released from Iori's body, condensing all the moisture in the air and on the ground into a thick layer of ice. However, he himself returned to normal and walked over calmly.

Such a simple and brutal "thawing" would of course damage the body. If it were a normal person, their internal organs would probably rot. However, Iori doesn't need to worry about this. Her soul materialized body has extremely strong tolerance in all aspects. At most, it will leave damage at the capillary level, and the continuous magic power will repair those small and hidden wounds in the blink of an eye.

Iori is now truly immortal—as long as her head is still intact, even if her heart is pierced, she can recover.

(In theory, Iori's body is his 'soul' itself, so even if he loses his head, he is still considered alive. However, most of his 'intelligence' is contained in his brain, and destroying his head could very likely cause personality problems... He dared not gamble on that.)

"Not only have you mastered the technique of compressing energy and injecting it into an implosion, but you've also condensed an invisible armor around yourself... Indeed, in terms of talent, you are the pinnacle of this world."

"The pinnacle of talent?"

Esdeath gritted her teeth and glared at Iori: "If it's not the 'pinnacle of power,' it means nothing to me... My all-out effort is just child's play in your eyes, isn't it? Your Majesty!"

"You can call me Iori."

Even when questioned rudely, the good-tempered boy remained gentle.

"We are ruler and subject, rivals, and also friends."

The Ice Queen, however, had no intention of accepting this favor. She raised her head and said resentfully, "Show me your full strength!"

"This is all I've done," Iori replied earnestly.

"What a joke!"

Esdeath forcefully propelled her body forward, leaping across the ground like an arrow released from a bow, her sharp ice blade piercing towards Iori.

"I don't need you to go easy on me—what!"

Clang!

The ice blade, capable of severing steel, was held in place by two seemingly ordinary fingers, as if it were fixed in space, unable to move forward or backward, completely immobile.

"You've misunderstood. I've always been very serious."

After all, ice is a very fragile substance, and sculpting it into a beautiful work of art requires a great deal of skill in controlling the force applied by the craftsman.

Otherwise, it will shatter like glass.

laugh!

No one saw how the boy made his move, but Esdeath's beautiful face, filled with shock, was stained with blood in the blink of an eye.

"Just like this."

Chapter 162: A Battlefield of Bloodshed? Bring it on! (4K)

"call!"

Like a drowning person, Esdeath took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her body trembled slightly, and she vaguely felt the softness of the bed before she calmed down.

She raised her hand in disbelief: "Am I... still alive?"

"Corpses can't talk."

A clear, melodious voice rang out, and a white figure stood by the bed, calmly looking down at her.

"I still have some confidence in the healing technique. How are you feeling physically?"

"Body?"

Esdeath sat up in bed, the thin silk blanket slipping off her body to reveal her shapely and alluring waistline. Her fair, snow-white skin was dazzling in the sunlight, while her full bust was wrapped in bandages all the way to her shoulders.

Feeling a sharp, tearing pain, she belatedly touched her chest, her expression blank.

Although she lost consciousness at the end of the battle, if I remember correctly, the final scene was her body being completely cut open...

"Why am I still 'complete'?"

Sera placed the used bandages and medicine on a silver tray and had a maid take it out, explaining to her as she washed the stains off her hands.

“I don’t know what your perspective is, but the wound from that sword was actually very small. It grazed the edge of the heart and passed through the body without damaging any vital internal organs or arteries. It was just a superficial wound.”

If it were a Servant, this level of injury could be repaired quickly as long as there is a supply of mana. Human bodies are a little more troublesome, but after Sera's treatment, the surface has healed, but there are still some minor damages that need to be slowly repaired.

The pain Esdeath felt was actually the stimulation of pain nerves by the newly formed tissue during its adjustment period.

"...Just like that, I had the illusion that I was being killed?"

The Ice Queen remained silent for a long time, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Suddenly, she untied the bandages on her body. As more and more of her body was exposed, her breasts began to sway. The maid serving her hurriedly brought her a white bathrobe-style nightgown and draped it over her.

Esdeath showed off her beautiful figure without any hesitation. Even her loose pajamas couldn't completely cover her bust. The blue demon mark and her fair and full breasts created an extremely alluring scene.

Sera looked at the Queen meaningfully, a hint of envy hidden in her red eyes.

In terms of appearance alone, both Sera and Esdeath are stunningly beautiful. Sera is slightly less imposing than the aggressive Esdeath, but she surpasses her in terms of refinement.

But if we're talking about body shape... Esdeath, at 1.7 meters tall, has the presence of someone 1.8 meters tall. Her size and proportions are perfect, neither exaggerated nor shabby, making her the ideal mature woman.

Ugh, how infuriating!

If only I had "optimized" my body stats a little when I used the Heaven's Feel back then, I could have covered it up with the ritual going wrong... Isn't it too obvious to make any changes now? I should be more careful, right?

For example, you could increase your height by five centimeters, no, three centimeters... and then grow another two centimeters after six months, so it wouldn't look unnatural.

And breasts...

Where is Aizen Iori?

"Next door... um?" Sera snapped out of her daze and was about to ask Esdeath what she wanted when the Ice Queen, wearing only a nightgown, pushed past the maid and walked out of the room.