Demon Queen: "That just shows your lack of taste."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "That crocodile is better looking than any of your demons."
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "You say we have no taste — what about Rosa?"
Holy Guardian Left Wing: "I doubt she'd find demons attractive either."
Demon Queen: "Say whatever you want. My demons aren't ugly, period."
Demon Queen: "@Saeko Busujima, are you really not going to consider it?"
Demon Queen: "I can swear on my name as Demon Queen — no strings attached, no hidden conditions. All you'd need to do is join the Demon Civilization."
Demon Queen: "Your bloodlust isn't something a relatively peaceful, everyday world can contain."
Demon Queen: "Join us. In the Demon Civilization, you'll never run short of killing."
This time, Morgana was extending the invitation to Saeko Busujima with complete sincerity. She genuinely believed Saeko had exceptional potential.
Saeko Busujima said nothing. She was hesitating.
Honestly, if it weren't for the shackles in her heart, she had no real desire to prevent the apocalypse from coming to her world.
She yearned for that end-of-the-world. In it, she could let loose the bloodlust inside her without restraint.
The sensation of a blade cutting through flesh. Blood dripping from the sword's edge.
Just thinking about it, a faint flush crept across Saeko Busujima's face.
Ordinary Group Leader: "@Saeko Busujima, give it some thought."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Whether you choose the first option, or cooperate with the Angel and Demon Civilizations."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Or even join the Demon Civilization outright."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Whatever suits you best — that's the one to pick."
Saeko Busujima: "Understood, Group Leader."
She did need time to think this through carefully. It wasn't just about the future of her world. It was about her own future too.
Ice Queen: "@Fifth Division Captain, I've retrieved what you needed."
Fifth Division Captain: "Much appreciated, Esdeath."
Esdeath and Aizen's exchange landed suddenly, plunging the chat group into silence. A moment later, Roxie posted a string of question marks.
Ordinary Group Leader: "???"
Ordinary Group Leader: "What's going on?"
Richest Man: "I know Aizen took on the mission to unify Esdeath's world's Empire, but this situation... why does it feel so wrong?"
Ice Queen: "Wrong?"
Ice Queen: "In what way?"
Ice Queen: "Aizen defeated me. Naturally, he can order me around however he likes."
Ice Queen: "Until I defeat him."
Fifth Division Captain: "We're partners, Esdeath."
Fifth Division Captain: "You don't belong to anyone. If possible, I'd rather not be misunderstood."
In the Soul Society, Aizen's expression carried a faint trace of resignation.
Ever since he'd beaten Esdeath in the Virtual Battle Arena, she'd been behaving like this.
Through the memory replica, he had anticipated this as a possibility — but the reality of Esdeath's conduct was more forceful than he'd expected.
In Esdeath's world, the look she gave him carried a kind of fervor.
Not the fervor of someone falling in love — something else entirely. As though she wanted to tie him up and subject him to all manner of interrogation instruments.
Even so, on the whole, things were still within the parameters of the plan.
Esdeath was executing his plan well.
Richest Man: "It's probably impossible to misunderstand. No matter how you look at it, none of us can picture anything romantic developing between Esdeath and you."
Aizen — a man like him getting involved with love? The very image was impossible to conjure.
And Esdeath equally so. She wanted a partner with a pure, untainted smile.
Aizen's smile?
The effortlessly gracious, refined smile of a man who had schemed for centuries.
Richest Man: "I'm just curious — what did you have Esdeath retrieve?"
Fifth Division Captain: "The corpse of a Super Ancient Danger Beast. Nothing more."
Fifth Division Captain: "Compared to humans, the world Esdeath comes from has a much deeper affinity for Danger Beasts."
Fifth Division Captain: "The memory replica focuses primarily on the story between Night Raid and the Empire. Danger Beasts don't get much page time."
Fifth Division Captain: "Powerful Danger Beasts possess lifespans and strength that far exceed humans'. Beyond the Super Danger Beasts recorded in the memory replica, there exists a rarer category — Super Ancient Danger Beasts. Survivors from the primordial age. Extraordinarily powerful."
Ice Queen: "I always knew they existed, but I could never locate them before."
Ice Queen: "Formidable. If my strength hadn't grown far beyond what it once was, I might not have been able to kill it."
Ice Queen: "Even if I had managed, I'd have come away gravely wounded."
As she said this, Esdeath glanced at the massive creature stretched out before her — over a thousand meters long, its body the blue of deep glacial ice, like a creature carved from living crystal. A faint pang of regret moved through her.
"A pity. The gap in our strength has grown too wide."
"The old me would have been thrilled."
Ordinary Group Leader: "What about the Empire? Is it all sorted out?"
Fifth Division Captain: "Those who needed to die are dead. Night Raid has joined the Empire."
Fifth Division Captain: "The rest can only be left to time."
No policy is implemented overnight. Even Aizen couldn't breathe life back into a decaying empire in a matter of days. All he could do was reawaken the sparks within it.
The rest would have to be nurtured by time itself.
Richest Man: "Just like that — Night Raid submitted in a matter of days?"
Richest Man: "How did you win them over? Raw strength? Or Kyōka Suigetsu?"
Fifth Division Captain: "I simply let them see the future of the nation I would govern."
Peace and prosperity. Lives lived in comfort and abundance.
No discrimination. No oppression.
Smiles on every face.
When they witnessed that world — beautiful and bright — they had nothing left to fight for.
Their loyalty wasn't to Aizen. It wasn't to the Empire.
It was to themselves. To the one man capable of turning that impossible dream into reality.
Ordinary Group Leader: "Given how rotten the Empire was, it's hard for them to even imagine a truly beautiful world."
Ordinary Group Leader: "A peaceful one — one where most people, if not everyone, can eat their fill and stay warm — that alone would probably satisfy them."
Ordinary Group Leader: "That's the tragedy of living in a world like that."
Ordinary Group Leader: "So many things they don't even dare to dream about."
Ordinary Group Leader: "In the history of the Dragon Kingdom, of all the dynasties that ever rose and fell, how many eras truly managed to feed and clothe all their people? Even the ones that managed a majority were already called golden ages."
*(Chapter End)*