Esdeath's killer move, the World Cutting Slash, wasn't some new skill gained from her star constellation.
To everyone watching, it looked like the terrifying attack came from the being possessing Esdeath, but that wasn't true at all. The truth was, her star constellation couldn't use any of the skills or SP points from the system.
When the goddess Seraphine first created the idea of the system, she foresaw that other constellations could easily misuse it. So, she made a long-lasting rule that still exists today: a constellation must get permission from the person if they wants them to be their Incarnation. And even then, the constellation can't just use the rewards that it gives to its chosen one. This was to make sure that Incarnations don't just rely on their star constellation to face every difficult situations.
Of course, this rule had many flaws. A star constellation could indirectly force its chosen one, using emotional manipulation or situations where they couldn't refuse. Or it could take back everything it gave at once, leaving the person in a state of huge shock and helplessness.
That's why, even though her star constellation desperately wanted to use those 100,000 SP points, it simply couldn't. It was already a huge pain when she first formed the contract with the young Esdeath, back when she was only five or six years old. Pursuing the child and convincing her to make the contract had been incredibly difficult. Not because she was dumb, but because she was far too smart for a child her age.
As for the World Cutting Slash, it was done by using her time-cutting edge and her newly awakened affinity with the space element. It was a deadly combination of time and space.
To be honest, having a second Awakening as a Wolfman in this situation was very bad luck. Not only did she have to fight powerful enemies, but there was also a fierce battle raging inside her own body. If this had been her Awakening as a vampire, she would have gained a high regeneration ability that would have greatly benefited her and almost guaranteed her survival.
"Why can't you just die?" Caesar shouted, his voice filled with frustration as he ran towards Esdeath.
"Courting death!" Esdeath shouted back, her voice cold and sharp. Her figure vanished into thin air, and in the blink of an eye, she teleported right beside Caesar.
Clank... Clank... Clank...
The sound of their weapons clashing echoed through the air as they exchanged one blow after another. Esdeath even tried to cut the very space between them to harm him, but Caesar was very cautious and managed to dodge each time.
Without saying a word, Ethan joined the battle as well. Sometimes he attacked from the right while Caesar came from the left. Other times, Ethan would leap from high above while Caesar struck from below. They worked together, trying to overwhelm her.
Even then, Esdeath, even after losing one of her hands, was holding them both back.
The few hundred remaining soldiers could only watch. The intensity of the battle was too strong. The three fighters moved so fast that the soldiers' eyes couldn't follow their movements at all. Joining this battle would be suicide.
But in the middle of the intense fight, Caesar managed to get close enough to touch Esdeath.
"An opportunity!" he thought, a surge of hope cutting through his desperation.
"Soul Crush!" he yelled, pouring his energy into the soul-based attack.
But the next second, he coughed up a spray of blood and fell to his knees, his body trembling.
"How?" he choked out, looking down in horror. He saw that his own hand was plunged deep inside his own chest.
Possessed Esdeath had connected the space between her own skin and Caesar's body, linking them together without him realizing. She purposely gave him an opening so he would touch her. When he used his attack, the power bounced back through the space connection, and Caesar ended up using his move on himself.
Meanwhile, someone else was on her knees—Emma.
She had been in a daze for a long time, her hands shaking as she watched everything happen. She had seen Esdeath kill Valeria, then Belta, then Krona, and now even Caesar. Esdeath was cutting through everyone like a storm, one by one.
Emma's mind was blank. Her breath came out in sharp gasps as she stared at the destruction. Even during the mass monster attack back at the academy, she hadn't felt this much fear or despair. But unlike that time, now she had power.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, tracing thin lines from her eyes to her chin. Her teeth clenched so tightly that her jaw hurt. Her face, usually beautiful and seductive, was now twisted in anger and sorrow.
Slowly, she stood up. Her eyes locked onto Esdeath, who was toying with Ethan like a predator playing with its prey. Every time Violet tried to use her gravity magic, Esdeath simply shifted the space in that area, causing the gravity to hit Violet or Sylvania instead.
Esdeath's movements were calm, perfect, and terrifying. Her control over space was flawless—every action carried the power of someone who had lived and fought for centuries.
"Esdeath! You fucking bitch! You'll pay for everything!" Emma screamed, her voice filled with hate and pain. She started running toward her.
At first, Esdeath didn't even look her way.
Then Emma shouted again, her voice shaking the ground itself.
"Killer Move—Ultimate Giant!"
Rumble!
The earth split open beneath her feet. The ground trembled as dirt, rocks, and thick vines rose around her, twisting together. In seconds, a massive giant—about twenty-five meters tall—formed from the earth and trees.
After forming her contract with her star constellation, Mother Earth, Emma had gained a strong affinity with nature and wood in addition to her control over earth. The giant, despite its size, moved with shocking speed. Its body pulsed with green light, its fists wrapped in vines like armor.
It ran toward Esdeath in heavy, earth-shaking steps.
One step.
Two steps.
Then—BAM!
The giant's massive fist slammed into Esdeath, the force like a mountain collapsing. The punch was bigger than half of Esdeath's body, sending her flying through the air like a ragdoll.
Her body bounced and rolled across the dirt, carving deep marks into the ground. Dust and blood mixed together as she slid to a stop.
But Emma didn't let her rest. Her hands shook as she shouted, controlling the giant's movements.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
Each word came with another powerful punch. The giant's arms blurred, raining heavy blows down on Esdeath's direction.
But suddenly, a portal opened beside the giant's arm. Its massive fist went into it—and appeared again right behind the giant's own body. Before Emma could react, the giant's own hand punched through its back, aiming straight for the spot where Emma stood.
BAM!
The impact hit her directly. Emma flew out from the giant's chest, blood spraying from her mouth as she crashed several meters away. She rolled across the ground and lay there coughing, her vision shaking.
Esdeath slowly stood up again, wiping the blood from her lips. Her body trembled, her breathing heavy. The giant's hits had hurt her badly, and she could feel her already broken body getting even weaker.
Then, suddenly, her eyelids grew heavy. A deep, unnatural sleepiness washed over her and she instantly knew who was behind it.
"Cassandra," she muttered under her breath, scanning the area.
But Cassandra was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Ethan was running toward her, sword in hand.
"Where is she?" Possessed Esdeath thought, her eyes narrowing.
Instead of using direct mental magic or a strong sleep spell, Cassandra was trying to make Esdeath fall asleep naturally—slowly but surely. It was a slow but effective method. Over time, it would drain Esdeath's awareness and force her into unconsciousness.
To protect Cassandra, Ethan had used his stealth skill to hide her presence completely.
"Space—" Esdeath started, but before she could act—
"Condensed Gravity!" Violet shouted, raising her hand high.
The air around Esdeath warped and twisted. Instead of spreading across a wide area, Violet condensed all the gravity into a small point, crushing time and space together in that single spot.
The pull was immense. Esdeath's control over space trembled and broke apart.
"Condensed gravity?" Esdeath thought, surprised, feeling her body being pressed down. "That's a very high-level magic."
Now that she thought about it, a flood of thoughts rushed through her mind. The situation—well, the one Esdeath was in now—didn't feel like a coincidence at all.
But before she could piece everything together, Ethan charged at her again. She answered by releasing her death aura, a heavy pressure that pushed at Ethan like a dark tide. Now that she had her second awakening, her aura had grown stronger than Ethan's righteous aura.
Splash… splash… splash…
Ethan pushed back with his own aura. His righteous aura surged like a great wave and crashed against the death aura. For a moment they met evenly, like two tides locked in a violent dance.
"What?" Esdeath whispered, surprised.
Ethan closed the distance without stopping and raised his fist. Esdeath met him with her own strike. The two fists collided with a thunderous crack. Esdeath's fingers shattered under the force, and she was thrown several meters away. She slid on the ground, pain ripping through her hand, and forced herself back to her feet.
"Such an increase in power… don't tell me—" Esdeath muttered, staring at Ethan.
Her righteous aura burned brighter and brighter.
"Second awakening?" the possessed Esdeath wondered.
Ethan, in truth, was also entering his second awakening. He showed no outward change; he still looked the same. He let out a deep, raw roar—"HAAhhh!"—and a massive wave of righteous light burst from him, stretching easily for more than a kilometer.
Ethan's group and the soldiers watched in shocked relief as their wounds slowly closed. Even Caesar, who had been on the verge of death, felt his spirit lift and his soul steady. He drew breath and kept fighting.
Esdeath gritted her teeth. Her advantage from her second awakening slipped away, and anger flared hot through her. At the same time, suspicion crept in.
Why had Sylvania, Violet, and Emma shown such powers so quickly? Sylvania's control over water, Violet's complex gravity magic—these were things even the prodigies would take years to learn. Cassandra's guidance alone could not explain it.
A cold realisation hit her—this had been planned. Everything around her had been set up.
From the start, Lortell had been overly protective. She had been furious the last time when Esdeath went to the dwarf kingdom's border to fight M.A.L.I.C.E's machines. Yet why had Lortell not objected when Esdeath went away again? Who knows robots might attack there and put Esdeath in danger?
Even after being ambushed now, Esdeath could have escaped if she wanted. She was cunning and always put survival first. There had been chances to run, to vanish. But she hadn't tried.
Forget about Esdeath, She herself—knowing how broken Esdeath's body was—did not flee. Instead, she chose to fight.
With a second awakening as a wolf woman and a new link to the space element, she could have teleported kilometers away. Yet she poured her remaining mana into the fight and spent it all.
It took only a moment for anger to boil over. Esdeath looked up, eyes burning, and hissed, "Damn you constellations. One day I'll make sure I kill every one of you!"
The whole situation was created by them, They were the real mastermind behind the smooth function of Cassandra's plan.