Esdeath never concealed her true nature from her subordinates. Compared to insincere smiles, she always preferred to face everyone with blunt honesty.
Whether in daily life or on the battlefield, Esdeath was someone who spoke frankly and acted decisively. Even when confronting the powerful ministers of the Empire, she never minced words.
She didn't particularly care about the Empire's eventual fate; as long as it existed and continued to give her what she desired, that was enough.
As the Empire's strongest general, Esdeath's interests, besides engaging powerful opponents, included torture. Her subordinates were well aware of this and had long grown accustomed to her methods.
Moreover, they knew Esdeath's true purpose wasn't simply to extract information. Rather, she took pleasure in breaking the minds of resilient enemies, molding them into creatures who submitted entirely to her will.
Having decided to recruit Emiya as her subordinate, Esdeath saw no reason to hide her true self from him. From the moment they'd met on the battlefield, she'd openly revealed who she was.
And even afterward, when she hunted rebels and dissidents, she never concealed herself.
"How amusing."
Boom—!
Without so much as a glance at Numa Seika, Esdeath delivered a brutal kick, sending him tumbling violently across the snow like a discarded rag doll. After rolling several times, he finally lay motionless.
Esdeath never intended to let Numa Seika survive. Once she'd grown bored, death was always his destined outcome.
Emiya's appearance merely hastened his end.
"You were defeated by me only recently, and you've barely recovered from your injuries, yet you still wish to challenge me again?"
With practiced ease, Esdeath gripped her rapier, flourishing it elegantly as she descended the steps.
Ice crystals blossomed around her like frozen flowers, and the entire tent became brutally cold in an instant.
Liver and the surrounding soldiers immediately withdrew, leaving only Shirou standing firmly in place, staring fiercely at Esdeath.
She had intentionally let Shirou witness her treatment of Numa Seika.
During their previous battle, Esdeath quickly realized that Shirou's ideals and hers were fundamentally opposed.
If she wished to recruit him, she first needed to reshape his worldview.
While Shirou valued the lives of others above his own, Esdeath saw the weak as mere playthings, existing solely for her amusement.
Those northern soldiers had no relation to Shirou whatsoever, yet he'd risked his life to stop her from slaughtering them.
Esdeath found it impossible to imagine what kind of place could produce such a peculiar person.
Not even children from remote villages would willingly give their lives for strangers.
He was a complete contradiction.
To Esdeath, Shirou was like a fascinating new toy, igniting excitement within her.
More than making him her subordinate, she wanted to twist and reshape Shirou's beliefs, completely conquering him from the inside out.
This thrilled her far more than ordinary torture ever could.
She'd never attempted to fundamentally transform someone this way before.
Enemies whose minds she'd completely broken were generally executed soon after. Once their spirits shattered, their continued existence became pointless, regardless of their strength.
But Shirou Emiya was different. To Esdeath, he wasn't really an enemy, nor did she have any information to extract from him.
She wanted a subordinate who retained their own thoughts, not a pitiful dog like Numa Seika licking her boots.
But Esdeath had underestimated Shirou's conviction. His ideal of becoming an ally of justice was just as unshakeable as her own worldview of survival of the fittest.
No one could force Esdeath to abandon her philosophy of strength above all else, just as no one could persuade Shirou to relinquish his dream of becoming a hero of justice.
Even if only one person needed his help, Shirou would still remain that hero.
"You can never defeat me if you don't even hold killing intent toward me!"
Without hesitation, overwhelming bloodlust surged from Esdeath's body. In a single heartbeat, a beautiful flower of ice bloomed directly before Shirou's eyes.
A streak of silver, merciless and precise, pierced through space, aiming straight at Shirou's forehead.
Esdeath never pulled her punches during combat. She always fought with the absolute intention of killing her opponent.
Even against someone she had no intention of killing, she would still unleash her murderous aura without restraint.
This was her respect for battle and her endless thirst for blood. Combat without true killing intent held no meaning.
The first step in Esdeath's plan to change Shirou was to ignite within him genuine murderous intent toward her.
She believed that only by doing so could she begin to alter his beliefs—and finally witness Shirou's true strength.
During their previous fight, she clearly sensed that Shirou had held back.
It felt as if he feared accidentally taking her life, something that infuriated her greatly. She was stronger than him—yet he hadn't used his full strength.
Whether killing soldiers in self-defense or dueling Esdeath herself, Shirou had always held something back.
The reason was simple: They were all human.
His Nichirin Blade was meant to kill demons, not humans.
Shirou couldn't fight her with the reckless determination he used against demons.
But despite her provocation, Shirou still refused to show even the slightest killing intent toward Esdeath.
To Shirou, Numa Seika was a stranger. He behaved like someone who saw a criminal attacking innocent people in the streets: he would rush forward to stop the criminal, incapacitate him, and hand him over to the authorities—but not necessarily seek to kill him.
He would feel anger, he might regret not stepping in sooner, but he would never kill someone for revenge on behalf of strangers. Even if stopping the criminal meant risking his own life, or inadvertently killing the criminal in self-defense, he would not act from vengeance.
Suddenly, an identical rapier appeared in Shirou's hand, swiftly flicking outward, precisely deflecting Esdeath's incoming strike.
Before Esdeath could regain her footing, Shirou struck fiercely against the pommel of his copied sword.
Esdeath felt an odd sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen this attack before.
"[Ice Breathing—First Form: Piercing Frost]!"