Chapter 81: The Gap Between Syura and Esdeath
Just how terrifying could the usually gentle and refined Run be?
With his enemy before him, unable to resist, Run used a small knife to widen the wounds bit by bit. The juice from the white flower was squeezed out and dripped onto Champ's body.
Even though Champ was screaming and crying for his parents, Run didn't hesitate or tremble in the slightest.
"S-stop, Run!"
"No."
"If you kill me, you'll be discovered soon! Do you dare?!!"
"Don't worry. I'll make it look like Night Raid did it."
With that, Run's hand cut several more small wounds, and into each one, he dripped several drops of the juice.
"Waaah! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!! It hurts so much!"
Champ's screams were intense and horrifying, yet Run continued to carry out the execution methodically.
There was even an elegant smile on his face. "It took me some time to gain your trust. During that time, it seems you've committed quite a few more evil deeds... I won't let you do as you please anymore. I'm going to kill all of you, one by one."
"Madman... you're a madman!!!"
Champ was finally afraid. Run's calm yet insane appearance made his fear grow continuously.
His painful howls grew even louder.
And what the two of them didn't notice was that, at the very top of the ruin, two people were watching them at all times.
It was Kobayashi and Esdeath.
"Those two... I was wondering what they were up to, sneaking out like that. Turns out they were looking for trouble."
Run had underestimated Esdeath. That hesitant and pained expression of his... everyone had guessed it except for the simple-minded Wave.
To find out what was really going on, Esdeath had taken Kobayashi back to her room early. As for whether she had gotten handsy with him during that time, only they would know.
Esdeath frowned and scolded, "Mmm... his technique needs improvement. His method of interrogation and torture is too crude."
She didn't stop him from executing Champ; on the contrary, she was disgusted by how amateurish his technique was.
"It's not enough that he's screaming so miserably?"
Kobayashi rubbed his ears. The sound was unexpectedly loud; it almost pierced his eardrums.
Esdeath, however, was dissatisfied. "What nonsense are you talking about? Since it's an interrogation, it should be carried out to the end with more cruel methods. If it were me, the sounds would definitely be on another level!"
"...This isn't the time to be competitive about that."
Although he had never seen her torturing someone, he estimated the scene would definitely be R-rated.
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!"
Champ's miserable cry broke through the sky, saliva flying and tears streaming down his face.
—!
In the distance, Cosmina became alert. She said, puzzled, "That exceptionally tragic scream just now, could it be Champ-boy?"
"As I thought."
Enshin sighed and shrugged. "I told you it was right to follow him. A person with that kind of face is not to be trusted at all."
"Isn't it just because you're jealous? The prejudice of men is truly ugly," Cosmina said, piercing through his lie in an instant.
I see. Was he deliberately screaming that loudly?
Standing on high, Kobayashi and Esdeath also saw them. Combined with Champ's unnatural screams, they immediately understood his intention.
He has some brains, after all.
Esdeath said, annoyed, "I should have just let Run take him back to be punished."
"Well, we didn't expect him to be here for revenge," Kobayashi said casually, then added, "I'll go over and help in a bit. You absolutely must not show your face, Captain. Otherwise, it will lead to a serious confrontation with the Prime Minister."
"...Tsk."
Esdeath clicked her tongue softly. For a general who valued her subordinates more than her lover, she had wanted to step in long ago upon seeing her subordinate being wronged, but she was stopped by Kobayashi, so naturally, she was annoyed.
It was only because it was him; anyone else probably couldn't have persuaded her.
"Rest assured. I will make them stay here forever," he promised her.
In the field below.
Kurome was already fighting them.
The Teigu that Enshin possessed was called [Moonlight Waltz], a scimitar-type Teigu that could emit blades of vacuum. Its special feature was that it could display extraordinary power on the day of the full moon. So with the help of his Teigu, he could fight Kurome to a stalemate.
But the problem was, they were now in a 2v1!
"Please listen to my song!"
The Teigu that Cosmina possessed was [Great Tremor], a microphone-type Teigu. Its effect was that the sound it emitted could be turned into ultrasonic waves, shattering the enemy's bones.
A pincer attack!
"Damn it, I can't dodge!"
Faced with a wide-range attack from both front and back, Kurome had nowhere to dodge. Just as she was about to be hit, someone suddenly came to her rescue—it was Run!
He had given up on torturing Champ to save Kurome.
At the critical moment, the two of them escaped the encirclement and flew into the sky!
However, this gave Champ an opportunity. After being tortured by Run, he had long since wanted to pay him back in his own coin. Furthermore, with the two of them in mid-air now, they were an excellent target!
"Take this! Fastb—!"
"Don't even think about it."
Before he could react, a longsword slashed past him from the side, and the next second, his head fell to the ground.
"Wh-what...?!"
"The one who appears last is the main character."
The rolling head looked up at Kobayashi's face. Champ's eyes widened in unwillingness, and finally, he stopped breathing.
Kobayashi's sudden intrusion became the variable.
"Ahaha, you're surprisingly handsome, little brother!" Cosmina's eyes lit up when she saw him. She said, drooling, "Every part of you makes me react! How about it? Want to go do something fun... eh?"
Before she could finish, her feet were frozen.
The ice spread upwards, until she was completely sealed, and then cracks appeared on the surface and she shattered, turning into ice fragments that dissipated in mid-air.
A Teigu user had died just like that, without even her Teigu being left behind.
"Er..."
Kobayashi looked at Esdeath, who had walked out from behind her, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
He had told her not to show her face.
"Don't look at me like that," Esdeath said, adjusting her hat. "My subordinate was being harmed. Of course I wouldn't just sit by and watch."
You'd better be talking about Run and Kurome.
Otherwise, to be killed just for saying a lewd line to someone... that's too pitiful for Cosmina!
"G-General Esdeath..."
The moment the sole remaining Enshin saw Esdeath, he broke down on the spot.
Don't be fooled by the fact that he was a pirate who had dominated the Southern Islands. Esdeath had killed hundreds, if not thousands, like him. The fear of her was already deeply ingrained in him.
"Why... why are you attacking Wild Hunt?!"
Enshin couldn't help but question loudly, "Are you Jaegers trying to rebel? To actually harm us, who are also the Empire's guard?!"
"What an interesting question."
Esdeath asked in return, "You all seemed to have made quite a few moves on my subordinates while I was away. I am naturally just settling the score for them. Is there a problem with that, hmm?!"
Her domineering aura was leaking out!
Her infinite tolerance for her own subordinates—this leadership was precisely her charm.
"D-damn it!!!"
Enshin could no longer withstand the fear in his heart. He turned and tried to run away.
But Kobayashi gave him no chance.
The moment he turned, his longsword chopped off his head.
"No, no, no. How can you not pay attention to your surroundings?"
"D-dam...n...it...!"
Enshin could only die full of hatred. He knew that Syura would absolutely not seek revenge against Esdeath for their deaths.
This was the gap between them.
(End of Chapter)