Chapter 124: The Showdown with Esdeath
However, what the Minister hadn't anticipated was that his words inadvertently enlightened Esdeath.
As a conqueror and a war fanatic, no method was more straightforward than conquest.
Since the proper channels were blocked, she decided to take an alternative approach: demonstrate her strength, beat her opponent into submission, and then compel him to abandon his position as Deputy Minister.
After all, in this world of survival of the fittest, only relationships of domination and subjugation existed.
And Esdeath was the most adept at employing such methods.
If she desired something, she would seize it—only the strong deserved to survive. This was the creed Esdeath had always lived by!
And so, Esdeath kicked open the door to the Deputy Minister's office.
"Who the hell is it, causing trouble on my very first day in office?!"
Mahiro, who had been sitting leisurely in his chair contemplating his future, was about to curse aloud, but upon seeing the visitor, he involuntarily swallowed his words.
It was none other than the sadistic queen, Esdeath.
Dressed in her usual blue-and-white military uniform, she flaunted her graceful, mature figure as she strode toward his desk on her slender yet powerful legs.
He looked down at her from a superior position.
"Well, if it isn't General Esdeath? To what do I owe this sudden visit? And you even kicked my door down."
He had to admit, this woman's leg strength was impressive. His door was made of a metal-like material, yet she'd shattered it with a single kick!
What kind of human-shaped hazard are you?!
But the next moment, a sharp gust of wind suddenly struck.
Damn, black!
As soon as he looked up, he saw Esdeath raising her leg high, and even the panties under her short skirt were clearly visible!
No!
Mahiro instinctively stood up to dodge, and immediately saw Esdeath's powerful long leg come crashing down.
Boom!
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
The desk in front of him was cleanly split into pieces.
"General Esdeath, what's the meaning of this?"
"Hehe...haha...hahahaha, I knew I wasn't wrong about you. Mahiro, you really suit my tastes!"
Esdeath laughed, a breathtaking smile curling at the corners of her lips, as if she'd found her most desired toy. A warlike flame ignited in her ice-blue pupils.
Then she threw a punch.
A straightforward straight punch without any fancy moves, yet it produced a sharp sound cutting through the air!
Smack!
Mahiro reached out and easily caught it, but the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
"General Esdeath, did you come specifically to pick a fight with me?"
"Correct."
Esdeath withdrew her fist and openly admitted: "Come fight me. If you lose, leave this boring position behind and obediently return to my side to receive training. Everything about you will belong to me!"
Mahiro: "..."
It seemed Esdeath was even crazier than he had imagined.
Confident, willful, and arrogant.
Then again, in the original work, this woman could directly take out a collar and put it on Tatsumi right on the spot.
"What if you lose?"
"Haha, are you saying you can defeat me?"
"What if?"
"Hmm, yes, that possibility does exist..."
Esdeath suddenly put away her arrogance, but the smile on her lips didn't diminish in the slightest.
"If I lose, that proves I'm weak. Since I was defeated by you, naturally I become your possession. Whether you want to strip me naked and hang me up with chains, or cut me open and dig out my heart and liver to eat, it's all up to your pleasure."
If it were anyone else, hearing these words from the empire's most beautiful female general would probably get them excited beyond measure.
They might even be eager to immediately defeat Esdeath and make her their slave.
But Mahiro didn't feel that way at all, simply nodding calmly and saying:
"Fine, it's settled then."
"Then it's decided! I'll be waiting for you at the training grounds. I'll give you half an hour to prepare!"
After leaving those words, Esdeath turned and left in her high-heeled leather boots, disappearing from his sight.
Leaving behind only a room in complete disarray.
As for this match, Mahiro had no intention of refusing, or rather, he simply couldn't refuse.
The best way to get rid of this troublesome woman was to defeat her, then give her little bottom a good spanking to make her understand exactly why flowers are so red!
...
...
Half an hour later, at the training ground.
Mahiro arrived as promised, and Esdeath had already been waiting here for a long time.
The surroundings of the venue were also on high alert. Perhaps to establish authority, or maybe because they heard he was going to spar with Esdeath, many spectators from the military had come, tightly encircling the area.
"You've come."
Seeing Mahiro's appearance, Esdeath's tense, beautiful face revealed a satisfied smile.
"Excellent! Even if you ultimately fail, you are still a true warrior, unafraid of any challenge!"
"Let's skip the pointless chatter and begin."
Mahiro shook his head, unaffected by Esdeath's words.
Because soon he would make this woman understand exactly who the real challenger was!
"Then, this duel between Lady Esdeath and Yotsuba Mahiro, Deputy Chief of the Imperial City Guard, begins now!"
Nyau acted as the announcer, coming to the center of the arena and declaring this.
As his arm swung down, Esdeath slowly sank into a low stance, spreading her long, shapely legs to a 120-degree angle.
Her body leaned slightly forward, forming a stable triangular support, like a leopard ready to pounce.
Then, she charged forward abruptly!
"What incredible speed!"
The crowd gasped in astonishment.
Many people were witnessing General Esdeath in action for the first time, and all were astonished.
Like a wild beast—no, it completely surpassed the startling ferocity and explosive power of a wild beast. Despite the hundreds of meters between them, Esdeath closed the distance to Mahiro in the blink of an eye.
They were so close that Esdeath could clearly see the calm, unfathomable darkness in Mahiro's pupils.
Meanwhile, Mahiro could see the dangerous smile that only appeared on Esdeath's face when she was hunting Danger Beasts.
A fist, pale as white jade, followed immediately, aimed straight at Mahiro's face, carrying a biting gust of wind pressure.
It was evident that Esdeath held nothing back.
Faced with such an attack, Mahiro merely tilted his body slightly and effortlessly dodged it. The resulting wind pressure immediately swept aside his slender bangs.
"So impressive, he even dodged a punch from Esdeath."
"It seems there's a reason the Chief of the Guard chose him as Deputy Chief."
"Still, Lady Esdeath is more powerful and has the upper hand."
The crowd exclaimed in awe.
If any of them had been on the receiving end of Esdeath's strike, they would have likely been defeated instantly...
No, if hit directly, it would probably be life-threatening.
Yet, for some reason, Esdeath's beautiful face was frosty with clear dissatisfaction.
Landing behind Mahiro, she supported herself with her hands on the ground, executed a nimble flip, and immediately followed with a spinning kick aimed at his back.
Once again, her kick met only air.
It was as if Mahiro had eyes on the back of his head—no matter the angle Esdeath attacked from, he dodged with ease.
Tap!
Landing and turning, Esdeath unleashed a torrent of continuous assaults.
Her right fist sealed off paths of escape, while her left shot out like a cannonball, attacking from both sides.
On the surface, it appeared as though Esdeath was overwhelming Mahiro, but only she knew the truth: she hadn't so much as grazed him yet.
"Slippery as an eel! Is dodging all you can do?!" she snapped.
Mahiro remained silent, continuing to evade.
It had to be admitted—Esdeath, as the daughter of the Partas Clan chief, a people specialized in hunting Danger Beasts, was truly impeccable in combat.
Whether in strength, speed, or the fluidity and precision of her moves, she far surpassed anyone he had encountered before.
Her techniques lacked elegance but were brimming with lethal intent, worthy of being called battle-mad!
Moreover, her physical prowess was absurd, not inferior to that of first-class Danger Beasts and perhaps even surpassing them.
Anyone else would have long been crushed under her heel.
Unfortunately, Esdeath had chosen the wrong opponent.
Thwack!
Esdeath pivoted, her right leg snapping out like a whip, striking horizontally at Mahiro's waist. A dull thud echoed from within his body.
This was the first time since the match began that Esdeath had landed a hit on Mahiro.
But the problem was, her thigh was now firmly locked in his grasp, immovable.
"Hoh~ Not planning to keep dodging? Still trying to catch me this way? Your thinking remains too naive!" The frost on Esdeath's face had already melted with that strike, replaced by a bewitchingly mad smile.
"Is that so? I don't quite agree."
Yet before his words fully faded, Esdeath immediately leaped up on one foot. As her body soared through the air, she used Mahiro as a pivot point, her other slender heel swiftly thrusting toward his forehead.
It's over.
Both Esdeath and the spectators thought so.
Still, being able to fight General Esdeath for this long was enough to demonstrate his formidable strength.
But—
"I don't think so."
Tendo Style Martial Arts, Second Form, Sixteenth Stance—
"Hidden Zen: Black Heaven Wind!"
Mahiro single-handedly caught Esdeath's incoming ankle, then delivered a fierce kick into the gap between her leg and abdomen with an inhuman posture.
Though this was a move once used by Rentaro, accidentally replicated by him, the power unleashed was worlds apart.
Even when Rentaro ignited the cartridges in his prosthetic limb as thrusters, the force generated couldn't compare to Mahiro's in the slightest.
Esdeath, anchored to him, was sent flying backward like a cannonball, accompanied by a thunderous explosive sonic boom.
Transformed into an icy-blue afterimage, she flew across the arena, crashing through one corner of the training ground.
The collapsing rubble immediately buried her beneath it.
"General Esdeath... was sent flying?"
Glancing at Mahiro standing calmly in place, then at the collapsed section of the training ground.
Everyone felt as if they were dreaming.
Though they didn't have a clear understanding of Esdeath's strength, they knew well that she was a nightmare to the non-human tribes.
No matter the war, no matter the enemy, General Esdeath would decisively eliminate them.
She was even more terrifying than the 100 Man-Slayer Bulat.
But now, this undefeated war goddess had actually been defeated...
Is this real?
Could this be a dream?
"Look, what is he doing now?!"
Someone shouted, snapping everyone back to attention as they focused their gaze on Mahiro.
They watched him stride step by step toward the collapsed area.
Esdeath pushed aside the rubble covering her, but what met her eyes besides the azure sky was that familiar figure.
Mahiro's cold, stern gaze was fixed on her, and under her watchful eyes, he had already raised his leg above his head, casting a heavy shadow of death that enveloped her entirely.
Then, he stomped down heavily!
Boom!
Instantly, the earth overturned, and rubble flew everywhere.
"General Esdeath!"
At this moment, no one wasn't terrified.
What had Mahiro done?
Wasn't this supposed to be a sparring match?
Could it be that he intended to kill General Esdeath?!
"Hoh, as expected of you. You can still smile in a situation like this."
As the dust gradually cleared, Mahiro looked down at Esdeath beneath him.
His foot hadn't landed on Esdeath's body but beside her head, mere centimeters away from her skull.
The ground beneath their feet had already fractured into pieces, revealing terrifying dark cracks resembling a spiderweb. Even the incredibly hard bluestone slabs had been shattered by that single stomp.
Yet, far from showing any fear, the woman's smile only grew more radiant.
That stomp—had it been just three centimeters off, it would have meant her death.
The twisted survival principles instilled in her by her father since childhood had long made the girl fearless of everything, even life and death no longer mattered to her.
Nothing brought her more pleasure than an exhilarating battle!
"Well, never mind. I can't be bothered to figure out what you're thinking, but you've already lost, General Esdeath."
"Ah, yes, I lost." Esdeath was remarkably accepting of her defeat.
He had originally thought Esdeath might try to justify herself or show some reluctance to admit defeat.
"Heh, what kind of person do you take me for?"
Those ice-blue eyes saw right through his thoughts.
"A loss is a loss. I, Esdeath, am not the kind of fool who deceives myself. I lost to you because I was too weak—that's undeniable."
"As we agreed earlier, whatever you want to do next—whether it's stripping me naked and hanging me up with chains, or gutting me and eating my heart and liver—it's all up to your pleasure."
This woman was serious.
She truly saw herself, defeated in just one match, as a trophy.
"I don't have such sadistic tendencies, General Esdeath."
Slowly, he bent down to meet Esdeath's gaze. Their faces were so close that Mahiro could feel her faint breath against his skin.
"Then what do you want to do?"
"This is what I want."
Just as Esdeath asked, Mahiro suddenly gripped her chin roughly, tilting her head back, and fiercely kissed her tender lips.
A faint metallic taste of blood instantly filled his mouth.
It was Esdeath's blood—distinctly sweet and fishy.
The kick to her abdomen had clearly caused significant damage, but this level was just perfect!
Esdeath allowed him to take what he wanted. Though her mind was somewhat dazed, her hands instinctively wrapped around Mahiro's neck.
Her ice-blue hair cascaded like a waterfall to the ground.
Everyone was stunned.
What were they witnessing?
First, Lady Esdeath was decisively defeated, and then she was forcefully kissed?!
What a terrifying man.
That was the only assessment anyone could give Mahiro.
After all, this was Esdeath—the Empire's one and only sadistic queen!
After what felt like an eternity, Mahiro finally released the girl's tender, captivating lips.
"Hah... So this is what you wanted to do?"
Esdeath exhaled lightly, her breath carrying a mint-like freshness, and said, "Like those filthy nobles, do you also want to use me as a breeding tool?"
But in this moment, Esdeath seemed to return to her childhood, recalling the words her father had once taught her—
When you defeat an enemy, you either kill and eat them, or use them as a breeding tool.
In her understanding, Mahiro fell into the latter category.
Just like everyone else.
Others had attempted similar actions before, but they all ended up being ruthlessly trampled under her feet. The only one who succeeded was Mahiro.
But the next moment, a sharp crack suddenly echoed through the air.
Smack!
Esdeath felt a burning pain spread across her buttocks.
It was Mahiro who had struck her—five fingers making intimate contact with her rear. Even through her skirt, the sting was unmistakably clear.
Rather than getting angry, Esdeath let out a coquettish laugh.
"Is this your interest too?"
"No, this is just a small lesson—punishment for causing trouble on my first day in position."
In this contest, Esdeath had been utterly defeated.
But it left everyone both shocked and fearful.
First forcibly taking the sadistic general's first kiss, then fiercely spanking General Esdeath's ass—you couldn't find a second person this brave throughout the entire empire.
What a true man!
And most crucially, Lady Esdeath didn't become angry from humiliation, but instead smiled even more delightedly.