Facing Daemon, who was already within striking distance, Esdeath felt the flow of time slow to a crawl.
For the first time in her life, death stood before her — and it thrilled her to her core.
"This is it! This is the real battlefield! Not the pathetic skirmishes I've had with the revolutionary soldiers!"
An astonishing chill erupted from her body, freezing the very void. Solid ice, denser and tougher than anything she had ever created, surged forth, forming layer upon layer of shimmering armor over her arms and torso.
She crossed her arms protectively across her abdomen, conjuring at least a dozen thick ice shields.
Bang!
Daemon's mountain-shattering punch slammed into Esdeath's crossed arms.
Crack!
Even through the dozens of shields, the sound of bones breaking was sharp and clear.
Gritting her teeth against the agony, Esdeath struggled to reinforce her defenses, condensing more ice with the last scraps of her strength.
But it was useless.
Crack! Crack! Crack—!!
One by one, the supposedly indestructible ice shields shattered under Daemon's relentless force.
Boom!!
Finally, the punch broke through, slamming directly into Esdeath's abdomen.
"Gahh—!!"
Blood burst from the Ice Queen's lips in a horrifying spray.
Her ribs snapped, fragments puncturing flesh and organs. Her whole body bent inward grotesquely from the impact, trembling violently.
Bang!
Powerless, Esdeath collapsed — but before she could hit the ground, Daemon caught her in his arms.
This time, unlike when he fought Luo Hao in the Naruto world, Daemon didn't continue attacking.
Not because he pitied her — Esdeath's body simply couldn't withstand any more.
Another blow, and she would have died instantly.
"...I lost," Esdeath murmured, smiling softly in his embrace.
"Now you can do whatever you want with me."
Daemon rolled his eyes.
"Are you stupid? With the state you're in, if I touch you, you'll probably die. You think I'm into corpses or something?"
"Hmph... Who knows?" Esdeath snorted lightly, leaning against him with the tenderness of a lover.
Looking down at the Ice Queen behaving like a spoiled kitten, Daemon couldn't help but mutter internally:
Why do women always act like this after getting beaten senseless?
Is 'beating is love' really a thing?
No... I'm not going to think too hard about it.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fairy bean Jibril had given them before the battle.Bending down, he gently fed it to her.
Esdeath's eyes widened at the closeness but didn't resist.Daemon was nothing like her ideal partner — yet strangely, she didn't hate it. Not at all.
The fairy bean worked instantly. Within seconds, the ghastly wounds knitting themselves together, broken bones resetting, and torn organs healing as if they'd never been touched.
But Esdeath didn't push away from Daemon.
Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck — and bit him lightly, like a wild animal marking its mate.
For the Ice Queen, even love was just another battlefield.
"Damn it, what is this weird atmosphere?"
Daemon thought grimly.
Just a minute ago she looked like she was about to die, and now she's clinging to me like some lovestruck idiot."
Not far away, Yamamoto Mei stood guard over the trembling Erina Nakiri, deadpan and speechless.
"You two... done yet?" she asked, face dark.
Erina didn't say a word. Her mind was blank.
Frozen not just by Esdeath's ice earlier — but by pure terror.
Is this what power in another world looks like?
Grandfather... I want to go home...!
Meanwhile, in the group chat:
Uchiha Miyuki: "Waaah! I knew it! My proud queen sister would fall like this... it's disgusting!"
Sakura Tohsaka: "...Sakura is kinda jealous..."
Yamamoto Mei: "Tch. Man or woman, you're just another stumbling block on my road to strength!"
Jibril: "Freezing Time-space with ice? Looks impressive, but honestly, pretty easy to deal with."
Jibril: "Daemon, if that's all you've got, I'd probably kill you in one move."
Luo Hao: "Don't worry. He's barely using any strength yet. Esdeath was too weak to make him pull out the real treasures."
Esdeath: "...True. I have a long way to go!"
Jibril: "Fufu~ Now it's getting exciting!"
Esdeath: "Also, I didn't fall! It was part of the battle plan! Totally strategic!"
Uchiha Miyuki: "Yes yes! The queen hasn't accepted Daemon's... 'affections' yet!"
In truth, Daemon hadn't shown much of his real strength at all.Even the enhancement of the Eight Inner Gates was just a "nice toy" to him.
If he had drawn his Noble Phantasm "God Avoid", he could have ended Esdeath in an instant — ignoring all defenses.
About ten minutes later.
Daemon and Esdeath were still clinging to each other, gnawing and flirting like they were the only ones on the ship.
"Oi, seriously, have you two eaten enough?" Yamamoto Mei asked, her face turning black.
"Hmm...? Are you jealous?" Esdeath teased lazily, shooting her a mischievous look.
"Poor little Grim Reaper... been single for hundreds of years?"
"I'm forever eighteen, you damn woman," Yamamoto Mei said, her voice filled with murderous intent.
Daemon chuckled, pushing Esdeath gently away.
"Why are you two arguing again? You didn't even have a grudge to begin with, right?"
He then turned to Yamamoto Mei, smiling brightly:
"Want to go for round two?"
"Of course," Yamamoto Mei replied, slowly unsheathing her sword.
"Our battle will end in an instant. And don't worry about the crew Esdeath froze — they'll be dead soon anyway."
"...Doesn't matter to me whether they live or die," Daemon said casually.
In his hand, a gorgeous golden sword materialized — God Avoid.
"You killed Gol D. Roger with that sword, didn't you?" Yamamoto Mei said, her eyes narrowing as she gathered her spiritual pressure.
"Shikai release: The Blade of the Flowing Light, Soten no Shigure!"
The ship was bathed in blinding light.
Yamamoto Mei's body dissolved into countless beams, each moving at the speed of light, invisible to the naked eye.
This was her perfected attack — a combination of speed, destruction, and the terrifying ability of instant death upon contact.
A single misstep meant annihilation.
But even as she moved, Yamamoto Mei knew:
I can't win.
Still, against a mountain, a true warrior only charges forward.
"Come," she thought. "Let me experience the divine sword that even the gods fear!"
Daemon raised his blade, calm and lazy.
"God Avoid."
A single slash — one that tore through space, time, defense, and logic itself — met the storm of lights head-on.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters!