In the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, goose-feather snow drifted through the air.
Amid the endless stretch of white forest, there was an extremely abrupt empty clearing.
The low shrubs looked completely out of place beside the towering trees around them.
Snow rustled down softly as a graceful ice-blue figure crushed through the snow and stepped into the clearing.
"Long time no see, Esdeath."
A calm male voice slowly came from above at an angle.
Esdeath raised her eyes toward the source of the voice.
Uesugi Ryu sat leaning against a tree trunk, holding in his left hand a book covered with a massive and grotesque eyeball on its surface.
Their gazes met in midair.
Within those ice-blue and golden eyes was the exact same calmness.
This was the place where the two had first met and first fought.
There was no exchange between them. As though driven by fate itself, the two had tacitly chosen to meet here.
After a moment of silence, Esdeath finally spoke.
"The deaths of the Three Beasts. Did you have something to do with it?"
Rebellion was never accomplished overnight.
Esdeath was not stupid. Ever since she had been tricked,
she had thought about many things during her journey back.
Shambhala was in Uesugi Ryu's hands, so Syura's death naturally could not be unrelated to him.
Even if he had not personally done it, he had at least been indirectly involved.
Back when the Three Beasts died, Esdeath had already felt that something was strange.
Night Raid had somehow seemed prepared in advance despite no information being leaked.
Facing Esdeath's question, Uesugi Ryu had no intention of hiding anything.
"Indirectly."
At this point, there was no need to conceal it anymore.
Esdeath's eyelids lowered slightly as she spoke calmly.
"I see. I underestimated you."
The answer was more or less what she had expected. Some questions already contained their answers the moment they were asked.
"Both your ambition and your ability."
Her voice was faint, almost like she was talking to herself.
The next moment, the snow on the ground exploded outward, accompanied by a piercing shriek.
A rapier shot toward Uesugi Ryu's throat like a meteor.
Uesugi Ryu tilted his body and leapt downward.
The rapier brushed past his collar before piercing straight through the tree trunk behind him without resistance.
The terrifying force contained within instantly blew apart the tree trunk thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around.
Flying wood splinters mixed together with the snow filling the sky.
Esdeath's figure briefly appeared within it before vanishing again.
Compared to their first battle, her speed had improved considerably. No one remained standing still forever.
Before Uesugi Ryu had even landed, her next attack had already arrived.
Sharp ice spikes formed over the heel of her white boot as she tore through the curtain of snow and kicked toward Uesugi Ryu.
Seeing this, Uesugi Ryu's expression shifted slightly before he raised his left hand in front of himself.
Large black scales wrapped around his palm.
In an instant, his left hand transformed into a pitch-black dragon claw burning with inextinguishable black flames.
The dragon claw collided with the boot, and a terrifying shockwave erupted from the point of impact.
The two figures instantly crashed into the ground.
Frozen earth shattered and flew apart as a violent explosion rang out.
As the drifting snow dispersed, wisps of white mist slowly rose.
Sizzle. Sizzle.
The dragon claw tightly gripped the sole of the boot. The ice spikes covering the bottom had long since evaporated into steam.
Esdeath maintained her high kicking posture, her eyes blazing with icy flames woven together from anger and excitement.
The claw tightened around the boot, producing the sound of leather grinding.
For a moment, neither of them moved, silently competing in raw strength.
The muscles on Uesugi Ryu's forearm bulged slightly as he said calmly,
"If you want to fight, fine. But let's change locations first."
"If we go all out here, the Imperial Capital will probably disappear from the Empire's map by tomorrow."
As they spoke, the black flames on the dragon claw gained the upper hand.
Esdeath's boot had almost completely melted away, revealing her bare foot underneath.
Boots were already stuffy enough, and she did not even wear socks. Seriously...
It was only because Esdeath herself possessed special abilities. If it were anyone else, Uesugi Ryu would not even dare breathe at this point.
Esdeath stared at Uesugi Ryu's left hand, secretly analyzing his abilities.
"Increased strength and defense. It also comes with high-intensity black flames."
"Compared to the previous method of covering his entire body, concentrating the transformation on one area seems to provide greater defense?"
She had seen this ability during their last battle as well.
Back then, she had even cut through the black scales with an ice blade and wounded Uesugi Ryu.
This attack was no weaker than before.
After all, it had been a concentrated thrust aimed at a single point, yet it still failed to pierce the enemy's armor.
She had also lost the clash between ice and fire. The vanished boot was proof enough.
No matter how she looked at it, she seemed to be at a disadvantage.
A long-lost strange feeling welled up from deep inside Esdeath.
Was it fear? No!
How should she describe it? It was probably curiosity toward an uncertain future.
A cold smile stretched across Esdeath's lips.
"Then let's go to that deserted island from before."
Anywhere was fine as long as it was not within the Empire.
After all, if Esdeath fought at full power, the entire Empire would probably become a kingdom of ice and snow.
For a feudal "backward" empire like this, such a blow would absolutely be catastrophic.
"Fine."
Uesugi Ryu nodded and pulled Shambhala from inside his trench coat.
Just then, Esdeath suddenly looked at the dragon claw that was still gripping her foot and spoke.
"Wait. Let go first."
She could not break free from Uesugi Ryu's restraint through strength alone. If she wanted to escape, then they would have to continue fighting.
Since they had decided to move elsewhere before battling, it was better to settle the current situation peacefully first.
Uesugi Ryu paused, and the black flames on the dragon claw dispersed.
However, he did not immediately release Esdeath's foot.
Who knew whether she would instantly turn hostile and attack him again.
Although he possessed absolute confidence in his own strength, necessary caution was still important.
Entrusting your life to trust in another person was not a wise thing to do.
Uesugi Ryu looked up at Esdeath and slowly said,
"Together."
Esdeath said nothing more and silently dispersed the ice wrapped around her foot.
The moment Uesugi Ryu noticed this, he immediately dispersed the dragon scales covering his left hand as well.
A cool sensation spread across his palm as he released the hand gripping Esdeath's sole.
For some reason, a thought suddenly crossed Uesugi Ryu's mind.
"The feel isn't bad at all..."
The moment that thought surfaced, he froze slightly.
"Wait..."
Compared to Esdeath's icy body temperature, Uesugi Ryu's palm felt as hot as burning charcoal.
In that brief instant of physical contact,
a trace of surprise flashed across Esdeath's face, especially when she noticed the obvious momentary daze in Uesugi Ryu's expression.
Clink!
An ice heel stepped against the ground with a crisp sound.
She once again used ice to form the shape of a boot, wrapping her bare foot back inside it.
Uesugi Ryu paid no attention to Esdeath's unusual reaction and immediately activated Shambhala.
"I should've done something after returning earlier. It's been way too long..."