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The next day.
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
The first ray of morning sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains.
Edgar stretched lazily, peeling an arm off his body.
At first, it had only been about easing Seiryu's suffering.
But in the end, Esdeath and Kurome couldn't hold themselves back either—they decided to "help" Seiryu too.
"Master, I'm so full…""Master, Kurome's gotten stronger again."
Looking at the two murmuring softly, Edgar gave a faint smile.
He sat down on a chair nearby, took out the Dimensional Array, and wore a thoughtful expression.
From what he understood, to use an Imperial Arm, you needed to match its wavelength first.
"Not sure if it's really that mystical…"
He muttered under his breath and began trying to connect with the Dimensional Array.
And…
It went a lot smoother than expected.
Very soon, Edgar could feel he was already able to control it like it was part of himself.
"So the so-called 'wavelength' is really just tied to mental strength, huh…"
After testing a bit, he nodded in understanding.
It seemed he could use any Imperial Arm.
Even multiple Imperial Arms at once would be no problem.
After all, compared to normal humans—
His mental power was simply overwhelming.
Just as he was deep in thought, a soft moan came from nearby.
Turning his head, he saw that his newest subordinate—who had just lost her innocence yesterday—was waking up.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The timing made sense, considering she was the first one to finish "fighting."
"I… I'm gonna kill—"
Seiryu's face twisted in rage as soon as she woke.
But before she could finish her sentence, her whole body trembled violently.
"A-ahhh…!"
The soul-deep pain swept through her again, making her scream.
"Still so disobedient, huh…"
Edgar shook his head.
She'd just been taught a lesson, yet she still couldn't stop herself from having murderous thoughts.
Still—she was his subordinate now, so Edgar figured he should be a bit more patient.
He put her to work cleaning, as a way to atone.
"Why is it still not clean?""Pay attention—don't let me see anything left behind."
Under his watch, Seiryu was quickly drenched in sweat from exhaustion.
When she finally stumbled to the end of the task, she collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.
Gulp.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and the lingering pain finally faded away.
Looking up a tEdgar, her eyes were full of fear.
She could already see her future—
At this rate, there would be no revenge.
Hell, she wouldn't even be able to kill herself if she wanted to.
"Looks like you've calmed down a bit."
Edgar smiled faintly, warning her:
"You'd better not get any more bad ideas. You know exactly what'll happen."
Her body trembled at his words.
After a moment's hesitation, she dropped to her knees and bowed deeply.
"Master, I'll do my best.""Good girl."
He patted her head and glanced at the floating text of her status.
[Seiryu Ubiquitous]
Race: Demon
Master: Edgar Lucifergus
Level: LV22
Skill: Beast Familiar Summoning
Beast Familiar Summoning: Use your own magic power to create familiars. The more you understand about the magical beast, the more perfectly you can create it.
"Leveled up, huh."
He jotted the details down on paper and handed it to her.
"Master, what's this?""Perk of being my subordinate."
After a brief explanation, Edgar simply walked out of the room.
Watching his back disappear, Seiryu let out a long breath of relief.
"I'm a demon now… and he's my master…"
At that moment, she just wanted to cry.
But with how dehydrated she was, she couldn't even shed a tear.
Her eyes hardened, and she was about to curse him in her mind—
But she stopped.
Her body began trembling again.
It wasn't from any contract punishment—it was sheer, instinctive fear.
That soul-deep agony was worse than any torture in the world.
And then…
She remembered the towering figure looming over her during her pain, wave after wave crashing into her like a relentless tide.
Seiryu realized, bitterly, that she was truly going to submit.
After that, she glanced at the status sheet in her hands.
"Beast Familiar Summoning…"
She murmured softly, her eyes lighting up.
This skill—couldn't it bring Koro back?
Not only that—
She clenched her fist, realizing her power had increased several times compared to before.
"Was this also because of Master…?"
Her feelings grew more tangled.
A stick one moment, a sweet date the next—
Her mental scales were tilting again.
"If I can't hate Master… what about other people?"
Almost unconsciously, Seiryu's eyes turned toward Esdeath.
After all—
The one who actually killed her teacher was Esdeath.
No reaction?
She probed with her senses, and her expression lit up.
It was like something was telling her—
As long as she didn't kill, she could attack her.
"Hm?"
Sensing the hostility, Esdeath snapped awake instantly.
She stared at Seiryu for a moment, then smirked coldly.
"Looks like someone's making another bad choice.""Cut the crap—I'm avenging my teacher!"
The next instant—
The two of them crashed into each other.
The sound of fists and kicks landing filled the room.
But soon enough—
It turned into Seiryu's pained screams.
"So noisy…"
Kurome yawned and rubbed her eyes as she woke up.
The sight before her made her eyelid twitch—
Esdeath had Seiryu strung up and was beating her like a punching bag.
"You're up, Kurome."
Esdeath's eyes gleamed strangely.
"Want to join in?""N-No thanks…"
Kurome quickly waved her hands, got dressed, and slipped out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her.
"Oh my, weren't you pretty arrogant just now?""Now let me give you a proper lesson on Master's behalf."
Hearing Esdeath's dangerously cheerful tone, Kurome instinctively sped up her steps.
Yep—
Only when she was with Master did Esdeath not act like the sadistic queen she truly was.
"..."
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