Seeing the mighty imperial general die of anger, even Esdeath and the other two women twitched at the corners of their eyes, looking at Budo with endless sympathy.
"Alright, Aria, detoxify Budo. Darling said not to kill him. If this continues, he'll really die."
Regaining her queenly authority, Esdeath cleared her throat and ordered Aria.
Though this girl was cunning, vicious, and shameless, that made her even cuter! Ruthless in achieving her goals, she was still the weakest of the three, but compared to Seryu and Kurome, maybe she was more like a witch!
"Yes, Lady Esdeath."
Somewhat bored, Aria replied.
If possible, she wanted to humiliate old Budo even more to boost her superiority. But the old man was too useless—he fainted after just a few words. His spirit was too fragile…
Aria took out her demon blade Poison Fang and stabbed it into Budo, absorbing all the poison back through the blade. As the purple color faded from his body, Budo's breath gradually recovered.
Well, although his body was fine after detox, the mentally crushed Budo didn't wake immediately. Once he healed his broken spirit, he should be fine.
Retrieving her weapon Poison Fang, feeling a bit unsatisfied, Aria kicked Budo's big body, sneered, and prepared to return to Esdeath.
But just then—
"Aria!!!"
A roar suddenly came from not far behind Aria, followed by a sharp sound of air being torn.
Instinctively turning around, Aria saw an axe flying toward her, almost within reach, and was terrified!
Bang!!!
Cough cough, don't misunderstand—it wasn't a skull cracking or body falling sound. Just as Aria thought she was about to be killed, an ice shield suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the flying axe.
The axe was no ordinary weapon, spinning rapidly and carving a big dent in the ice shield. But in the end, it lacked the power to break through and spun back to its owner's hand.
"Heh… you dare to kill even my little darling? Boy, you've got some nerve."
Looking at Ieyasu and Tatsumi who appeared before them, holding the Double-Bladed Axe Belvaac and the weapon Extase, Esdeath smiled wickedly.
However, this time the queen's smile was different—her face was icy cold, full of murderous intent!
Seryu, seeing Aria was safe, breathed a small sigh of relief. Kurome sneered, thinking "What a pity."
"Ieyasu… Tatsumi… hahaha, you two idiots dare come back?"
Sweating cold, Aria kept patting her chest. She thought she was about to die and was really scared. But she was carefree; seeing that the attackers were the old enemies Ieyasu and Tatsumi, whom she had tricked before, Aria immediately laughed.
"Aria, where is that bastard Sora? And what about Sayo? What did you do to her?"
Ieyasu shouted at Aria.
He and Tatsumi had sneaked into the palace quietly. Seeing Aria, their old enemy, from afar, the impulsive guy got angry and swung his axe without thinking. But they failed to kill the enemy and exposed themselves. Tatsumi had no choice but to follow this traitor out.
"Hehehe, want to know? I won't tell you!"
"Just kidding, it doesn't matter. Sayo was already ruined by me and died just this morning. You're too late! Hahaha…"
As usual, Aria was vicious, deliberately trying to upset these two to avenge her near-death experience.
Sure enough, hearing Aria's words, both Ieyasu and Tatsumi's eyes turned red.
Although both of them knew that this vicious woman was very likely deceiving them again, their worry and concern for Sayo were so overwhelming that the news shocked them to the point of almost losing their sanity.
"Go to hell!!!"
With perfect coordination, Tatsumi and Ieyasu simultaneously charged fiercely in this direction. Both were filled with murderous intent, determined to kill this malicious girl.
Seeing the two rushing toward her, Aria was startled again. These two seemed much stronger than before, and the situation felt quite dangerous. Without hesitation, Aria ran toward Esdeath and Kurome.
Running toward Esdeath was naturally to seek protection from Her Majesty the Queen. As for running toward Kurome, that was entirely Aria's deliberate plan. Now, whenever danger arose, Aria instinctively thought to draw it onto Kurome. This detestable person, Aria had firmly decided to mess with her more!
Although Kurome didn't have many schemes, she instantly understood what Aria was up to and was furious. She silently vowed that if Aria dared to run to her side, she would strike her down with a single blow!
"Both of you take a break. Let me have some fun with these two prey."
A strange gleam flashed in Esdeath's icy blue eyes. She licked her lips, drew her Western-style longsword, and stepped forward, speaking to the three girls.
Neither Aria nor Kurome moved anymore, glaring fiercely at each other. Since Lady Esdeath was about to act, there was absolutely no problem with that.
Feeling the strong aura from Ieyasu and Tatsumi, Esdeath's interest was piqued. Her Western longsword elegantly sliced an arc through the air, instantly sending a crescent-shaped ice blade shooting toward the two men.
"So strong!!!"
Seeing the woman who stepped out casually unleash such power, Ieyasu and Tatsumi were shocked and quickly raised their Teigu to block.
However, despite this, with two muffled thuds, both were pushed back by Esdeath's icy slash, rolling several times on the ground before barely stopping.
"Heh… not bad at all!"
"You two are Sayo's former companions, Ieyasu and Tatsumi, right? Don't worry, your comrade Sayo is fine and is currently with my beloved. But if you want to see her, you'll have to defeat me first."
Seeing both had taken her strike, Esdeath nodded with satisfaction. This was more interesting.
As for openly telling them about Sayo's situation, it wasn't out of kindness. She just wanted to calm these two down so they could entertain her a while longer.
"You are the strongest general of the other empire, Esdeath, right? Is what you said true?"
Standing up, Tatsumi asked Esdeath with a serious expression.
"Ah, yes, it's true. If you can defeat me, it's not impossible to take little Sayo back."
Esdeath answered with a sly smile.
Seeing that this woman wasn't lying, the two exchanged a glance, both breathing a sigh of relief and regaining some composure.
"Ieyasu, this woman is the legendary strongest general of the other empire. Shall we attack?"
Turning to his companion, Tatsumi asked. They were no longer the naive fools who had been sold out and helped count money for others. They clearly understood what it meant to face the empire's strongest.
"Why not? To save Sayo, we must defeat her!"
A gleam flashed in Ieyasu's eyes. Holding his axe Teigu Double-Bladed Axe, he spoke with determination.
"Good!"
With a resolute look, they both burst with soaring fighting spirit, staring at the long-haired woman wielding a longsword opposite them…