In the bathroom, Uchiha Hikari stripped off her bloodstained and sweat-soaked clothes, tossing them aside carelessly. She stepped under the shower, letting the water wash over her with focus.
Honestly… this was the first time she'd ever felt this exhausted.
The East Sea Cloud Dragon was, frankly, stronger than both her and Esdeath. Under normal circumstances, it'd take three or four Esdeaths working together to take that beast down. Sure, Hikari managed to pull it off thanks to the Senzu Bean's stamina boost, but the mental fatigue from fighting at her absolute limit for so long? Not even a Senzu could fix that.
Yawn.
As her mind relaxed, waves of drowsiness hit her hard.
She barely managed to finish cleaning herself, gave her body a quick wipe, wrapped a towel around herself, and shuffled barefoot out of the bathroom. After a brief nod to Esdeath, she collapsed onto the bed, falling into a sleep so deep it rivaled a baby's.
On the other side, Esdeath took her turn in the bathroom, emerging about twenty minutes later in a moonlight-white nightgown, towel-drying her damp hair as she stepped out.
"Hm?"
Something caught her attention.
She turned her head toward the bed.
There, Uchiha Hikari lay curled up on her side, arms hugging her shoulders, sleeping soundly. She'd gone straight to bed after her shower, wrapped only in a towel, nothing else.
Right now, fast asleep, she'd unconsciously kicked off the blanket. The towel had loosened, slipping to reveal most of her body. From Esdeath's angle, she could clearly see the gentle curves of Hikari's chest peeking out from the towel's edge—compared to last year, when she'd first broken free from that coffin, Hikari's body had developed just a bit.
Below that was a smooth, pale stomach, perfectly proportioned legs, and delicate toes still glistening with water droplets. Her ivory skin glowed softly under the sunlight slipping through the curtains, giving her an almost ethereal sheen.
At a glance, she looked like any ordinary young girl.
It was hard to believe this was the empire's current strongest warrior, who'd just tamed a catastrophic super dangerous beast.
"…"
Esdeath stood in silence for a moment, then set down her towel and approached the bed slowly.
As she did, a sharp ice blade formed in the air, which she casually gripped and pressed lightly against Hikari's throat.
"…You don't even wake up to this?"
"To sleep this deeply in an unfamiliar place—are you just that exhausted, or are you that confident I won't kill you?"
The ice blade was already touching her skin. One small push, and it could end the girl's life, severing the "contract" that bound them.
But Esdeath hesitated, her expression growing complex.
Truth be told, before meeting this girl, Esdeath had never once considered the possibility of losing. For over twenty years, she'd reigned as the strongest. Aside from a girl named Mera, who once fought her to a draw in a tournament, no one had ever come close. Most opponents either died by her hand or fled in terror. (Oh, and Mera? She'd once pinned Esdeath to a bed, trying to get frisky, which left a huge impression on young Esdeath's psyche.)
In recent years, after obtaining the Demon's Extract, Esdeath's already unmatched strength had reached new heights. Finding someone who could even trade blows with her was rare.
To keep things fun, she'd often let opponents go, hoping they'd come back stronger for a rematch.
But even then, truly thrilling battles were few and far between.
This time, though… she was the one who'd been spared.
At first, Esdeath assumed Hikari had let her live for the same reason—to keep her as a worthy rival. But after spending time with her, Esdeath realized that wasn't the case.
This girl… didn't seem to crave battle. To her, fighting was just a means to an end, not the goal itself.
That confused Esdeath.
"If you don't thirst for battle, why do you have such overwhelming power?"
"And…"
Those eyes that unleashed black flames, the ability to drag others into her mental world, and those miraculous Senzu Beans—what were they? Could something like that really come from this world?
"…What an enigma."
Esdeath gazed down at Hikari's delicate, youthful frame, lingering on her peaceful sleeping face for a moment before letting out a wistful sigh. "Such a shame… if only you were a boy."
Strong, bold enough to take on a super dangerous beast bare-handed, not raised in the pampered capital, younger than her, with a pure smile… Uchiha Hikari checked almost every box on Esdeath's ideal partner list—except for gender.
She'd planned to have the emperor host a tournament after this northern campaign, hoping to find a suitable romantic partner among the victors. But with the empire's fall and her own defeat, that girlish dream would stay buried forever.
"Sigh…"
Esdeath shook her head, dismissing the absurd thought.
She melted the ice blade, walked to a nearby table, sat down, and closed her eyes to rest, arms crossed.
The battle with the East Sea Cloud Dragon had shown her the limits of her strength and sparked new ideas for mastering the Demon's Extract.
Once she'd fully processed these insights, she'd be ready to challenge Uchiha Hikari for the first time…
Time slipped by unnoticed.
The sun set, and twilight fell.
As night deepened, a knock came at the door.
"Hm?"
Esdeath snapped out of her meditation, frowning in annoyance. "Who's showing up this late?"
When the knock came again, she reluctantly got up from the desk, paused to cover Hikari with a blanket to hide her exposed body, then opened the door with a cold stare.
"What do you want?"
"Good evening, miss," said a young man in his early twenties with black hair, dressed in an imperial navy uniform. He bowed slightly, polite but professional. "We're from the East Sea Navy. My name's Will. We have a few questions for you—it won't take long. This morning, a disaster struck the eastern seas. Several mountains were leveled, and the resulting tsunami breached the flood barriers. We heard you came from that direction. Did you see or hear anything along the way?"
"…No comment."
"Uh…"
Will hesitated, about to press further, when another officer's eyes widened in recognition. "Wait… are you General Esdeath?!"
"You know me?"
"I had the honor of seeing you at the capital's parade three years ago!"
At his words, the other soldiers gasped. Even in the remote East Sea, the title of "Empire's Strongest" carried weight.
There'd been rumors that Esdeath had lost to a revolutionary fighter on her way back to the capital, but that didn't diminish her legend. Some even dismissed the rumors as rebel propaganda to shake the military's morale.
"General Esdeath, are you here to lead us against the revolutionaries and rescue His Majesty?"
"Hmph."
Esdeath's response was flat. "I'm no longer a general, and the empire is gone. Let's not dwell on old news. As for the East Sea incident, it involved a super dangerous beast, but the situation's been handled. If you need help reinforcing the flood barriers, I can lend a hand."
Rebuilding a breached dam was a massive task. Most Teigu users would be useless, but for Esdeath, with the Demon's Extract, it was child's play. A temporary ice wall spanning dozens of kilometers to block the waves? She could whip that up in no time.
She loved war, but she didn't mind offering a bit of protection to these frail ordinary folks.
"A super dangerous beast…" The officer's eyes widened. "You mean the legendary Dragon God of the High Skies? Did you subdue it?"
"Hah, not quite."
Esdeath smirked, unwilling to elaborate. "I've told you everything I can. If there's nothing else, leave."
She paused, glancing at Will. "You're a Teigu user too, aren't you?"
"…Yes, ma'am. I wield the Noble Chariot."
"Noted."
With that, Esdeath shut the door.
Outside, the navy soldiers exchanged glances, puzzled. "Did General Esdeath seem… off?"
"I heard from an old man that two people came from the east. Besides the general, there's someone else. Could they be…?"
"Shh! Talking about superiors like that is asking for trouble. Let's go. We've got the info we need—focus on disaster relief. The empire's fate isn't for grunts like us to worry about. Let it be."
The group turned and left.
Will's visit was just a brief interruption.
Uchiha Hikari slept until the third morning, finally waking with a stretch, fully recharged.
"You're up?" Esdeath's voice came from nearby.
She was now dressed in military gear, though the imperial insignia on her shoulders and cap had been torn off.
With a thud, she tossed a set of clothes onto the bed, nodding toward them. "I bought these last night. Put them on."
"…You know my measurements?"
"I measured you while you were asleep."
Esdeath coughed lightly, brushing past the topic. "Get dressed and spar with me… if you've got time. I've got some new insights to test."
Hikari blinked. "Huh?"
In the end, she humored Esdeath.
The fight went much like their last one—Hikari still couldn't counter Esdeath's Mahapadma, and Esdeath had no answer for Hikari's Perfect Susanoo.
But compared to their previous clash, Esdeath's attacks were noticeably sharper. Her control over ice was smoother, and she'd developed a new trick: a "Zero-Degree Ice Blade" that absorbed heat. Hikari estimated its surface temperature was close to absolute zero.
One slash could snuff out her Great Fire Annihilation, weakening even her Susanoo, making it brittle and easier to shatter. Only her Fourth Form—or Perfect Susanoo—could withstand it.
"…That move, is it new?" Hikari asked curiously after the fight.
"Something like that," Esdeath replied casually. "But it still can't crack your 'eye technique.' What an absurd ability."
Hikari thought to herself, You're the absurd one, always cooking up new powers when you're already this strong. If she hadn't recently unlocked her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, gaining Perfect Susanoo and Fire Thunder God, boosting her strength significantly, she might not have been able to keep Esdeath in check.
(Guess I need to visit Miko a few more times to refine my eye power… and it's about time to deal with Dr. Gro, too.)
She didn't care much about being "the strongest," but since she'd just subdued Esdeath, getting overtaken so soon would be a bit embarrassing. Seeing Esdeath's effort, Hikari figured she'd better step up her game.
Meanwhile, Esdeath was musing, "I've been meaning to ask… that ability to spit flames from your mouth and fly without any tools—it's not from a Teigu, is it?"
"Of course not." Hikari looked up, flashing a pure, bright smile. "Want to learn? I'll teach you."
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