Esdeath, the Empire's strongest General, struck absolute terror into the hearts of enemy armies due to her overwhelming might and sadomasochistic nature. The naked man whose head she had just casually obliterated with a single kick was none other than the Hero of the North, the absolute top commander of the enemy nation in this war.
As for the soldiers Alucard had spotted buried beneath the frozen wastes, they were part of a four-hunred-thousand-strong enemy army that she had ruthlessly ordered to be buried alive.
Wielding Demon's Extract, hailed as the strongest Teigu, she was the type of combatant who stood entirely alone at the apex of her world, utterly starved for a worthy challenger.
"Is there truly no opponent left in this world capable of giving me a satisfying fight?"
Esdeath stood at the absolute forefront of her army. A frigid smile played on her lips, yet her eyes betrayed a deep sense of helplessness and isolation, the crushing loneliness of being completely matchless.
"We return to the Imperial Capital! I hear a rebel faction called Night Raid has been causing quite a bit of trouble for the Empire lately. I certainly hope I can find some thrilling entertainment from them!"
BANG!
Just then, a sharp gunshot cut through the air, interrupting the soldiers' collective response.
"Hmm?"
Esdeath's delicate brows furrowed slightly. Immediately following the initial blast, several more gunshots echoed out from the north.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Open up! Open the gates!"
At this moment, Esdeath and the vast majority of her forces were stationed inside the fortress. Hearing the panicked screams and frantic pounding of the outer patrol guards against the massive fortress gates, it was clear they had encountered some cataclysmic crisis.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Esdeath demanded, looking coldly toward the sentries guarding the fortress ramparts.
"Report! An enemy is advancing rapidly toward our position! The patrol units outside were utterly overwhelmed and are currently fleeing in absolute terror!"
"Could it be the remnants of the Northern Tribes? Choosing to throw their lives away right before our departure." Esdeath swept her elegant arm forward. "Perfect, I was just starting to feel a bit bored... Open the gates! I shall intercept them personally!"
To open a fortress's main gates during an active enemy intrusion would sound completely mind-boggling to strategic minds like Sengoku. However, the soldiers present were entirely unfazed. To them, this was simply standard procedure. Because she was Esdeath, the Empire's strongest General, and no matter the circumstances, defeat was an absolute impossibility.
As the massive fortress gates slowly ground open, over a dozen retreating soldiers who had been frantically hammering on the wood gasped in relief. But before they could rush inside to safety, Esdeath's figure filled their vision.
"G-General Esdeath..." a soldier muttered, breaking into a cold sweat.
"Pathetic. It is because you are weak that you choose to flee."
Esdeath extended her right hand, aiming her open palm directly at the deserters. In a fraction of a second, she flash-froze every single one of them inside a massive wall of ice. A flicker of cold pity danced in her eyes. "In your next life, remember not to be weak."
The remaining handful of deserters who had managed to escape the flash-freeze witnessed Esdeath's casual execution. Terrified out of their minds, they spun around to flee back the way they came, only to find a red-coated demon standing directly behind them.
At that exact moment, the remaining soldiers suffered a complete psychological breakdown. Trapped between Esdeath behind them and this crimson fiend in front of them, they were utterly paralyzed with despair.
Click.
Alucard leveled his white custom pistol, Casull, directly between the eyes of the closest soldier. With a sharp BANG, the man's head exploded into fragments. Before the remaining men could even react, they suffered the exact same inescapable fate.
Esdeath narrowed her eyes, carefully analyzing the man standing before her. He exuded an aura of supreme power unlike anything she had ever encountered, an oppressive, blood-drenched presence born only from slaughtering millions. A man like this... torturing and breaking a man like this would undoubtedly be exquisite, wouldn't it?
The mere thought sent a jolt of sheer ecstasy through Esdeath, causing her body to tremble slightly with excitement.
Seeing her reaction, the soldiers behind her knew their General's sadistic impulses had been triggered. Their glazes toward Alucard instantly shifted from hostility to profound pity. In less than five minutes, this newcomer would likely share the same fate as the Hero of the North, forced to his knees to lick General Esdeath's boots.
"Kuzan's... No, the absolute output feels a tier lower, and it completely lacks his fluid versatility."
Alucard idly appraised the massive wall of ice Esdeath had used to entomb her own soldiers. His mind instinctively drew a comparison to the powers of the Ice-Ice Fruit wielded by Kuzan. But upon closer inspection, it was obvious that this ability fell short in numerous areas. The absolute inability to assimilate the user's physical body into the element itself was a glaring flaw, proving that this power lacked the traits of a Logia element.
Esdeath elegantly drew her rapier from its scabbard. "I, Esdeath, do not slaughter nameless trash. Tell me your name, savage of the North, before I slowly torture you to death."
Hearing her words, Alucard locked his gaze onto the ice-wielding woman. He stared at her for a few silent seconds before his mouth split into a monstrous, wide-open grin, and he threw his head back in a roaring fit of laughter.
This uncharted world was truly delivering a delightful twist to his otherwise mundane existence. At the very least, back in the world of pirates, it had been a very, very long time since anyone possessed the suicidal audacity to speak to him in such a manner.
"Ha... Ha-ha-ha-ha! Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Alucard laughed. It was a manic, uncontrollable laughter that eventually left him clutching his stomach, doubled over in absolute hysterics because the sheer absurdity of it was simply too delicious.
"What is wrong with that lunatic?"
"He must have realized General Esdeath's true power and lost his mind from sheer terror."
Meanwhile, Esdeath narrowed her beautiful eyes into thin slits. "Whether you are mocking my strength or have simply broken under the sheer weight of combat pressure, let us put it to the test right now!"
With a burst of extreme speed, Esdeath lunged directly in front of Alucard. Her rapier flashed through the air, slicing cleanly toward the side of Alucard's torso near his lungs. She intentionally avoided delivering a fatal blow to vital areas like the head or heart.
This was Esdeath's signature combat philosophy: she took immense pleasure in slowly, methodically breaking her opponents. To her, that was the ultimate fulfillment. Ending a fight in a single strike was far too monotonous.
Everyone present watched with bated breath, fully expecting the usual gory display, expecting to see his internal organs ruptured and blood spraying violently across the snow. To their absolute horror, when Esdeath's blade struck home, it simply stopped dead against Alucard's clothing, completely unable to pierce it by even a millimeter.
Esdeath's narrowed eyes instantly widened in sheer disbelief. Her blade... her sword wouldn't budge?
How was this possible? Did he deploy some kind of defensive technique? No, he hadn't moved an inch.
Esdeath snapped her head up in astonishment, only to find Alucard's face contorted into an expression of profound, insulted fury. He was gritting his teeth in pure outrage, looking as though he was the one who had just been terribly wronged.
"Hey, woman... you call that an attack?"
Alucard's arm surged with monstrous power. Moving like a striking viper, his hand clamped violently around Esdeath's throat, lifting her effortlessly off the ground. "With a pathetic, pitiful strike like that, who exactly do you think you're going to kill, huh?!"