"You'll regret this."
Yuuka's voice was cold as wind howling through a blizzard.
She raised her head and looked Esdeath dead in the eye, her gaze settling back into that dead, still calm.
"Hahahaha — is that so? I'll regret it? No, you've got it wrong. Right now my whole body's so wound up I can hardly stand it! Come on — fight me!"
Esdeath's stance turned wild, her smile arrogant and dangerous, her eyes glittering with menace and excitement.
She'd thrown down the gauntlet.
Her hands were shaking, her blood was roaring, and her fighting spirit was almost too much to keep a lid on.
Yuuka rose quietly to her feet as she looked at Yuto.
"I'm taking her to Gensokyo."
Her voice was calm, but her whole presence was that of a queen.
Her gaze wasn't asking whether he agreed — it was a statement, plain and firm.
"That..."
"Boss, let Yuuka go. She's in a really bad mood right now." Yakumo cut gently across his words, her eyes fixed on him like they could hook the soul right out of him, blinking softly, like a bewitching youkai who could charm the whole world.
Yuto fell quiet for a moment, then looked back at Yuuka.
Her gaze was calm but contain seriousness, too.
He looked at her... then gave a small nod.
Yuuka turned and walked out as Esdeath followed her.
When the two women reached the door, Yuto spoke up one more time.
"Come back safely, alright? Yuuka, you still haven't finished your flower cake. And Esdeath-san — your necklace is still here. Don't forget to take it with you."
Yuuka paused, but nodded anyway.
Esdeath smiled faintly. "Yuto. Wait for me to come back."
With that, the two of them stepped through the restaurant door at the same time — and in an instant, they were gone.
The restaurant fell silent for a beat.
Then, all at once, it came alive.
"My, my. Now there's something worth watching. This really has gotten interesting..." Yakumo Yukari laughed behind her hand.
"Hahahaha — it's been ages since I saw Yuuka pull a face like that!" Suika laughed loudly, then knocked back another swig of her drink.
"Hey, Reimu, aren't you gonna head back and check? What if Yuuka... doesn't hold back...?"
"Damn it! I almost forgot! I need to get back there right now!"
Marisa's reminder sent the shrine maiden into an instant panic — and then Reimu bolted.
"Oh! That's our Boss for you! Incredible!"
"Yeah. As expected of Kamisaka. He pulled off, without breaking a sweat, what the rest of us never could!" Rimuru and Ainz laughed from the sidelines.
"Hahahahaha! This King is thoroughly entertained! Truly splendid!"
"Gil. You should keep quiet."
"Hmph! You're a weapon — don't presume to order this King around!"
Gilgamesh griped at Enkidu while beside them, Siduri smiled helplessly.
Yuto looked over at Yakumo Yukari.
As it happened, she was looking right back at him.
"Don't worry, Boss. Nothing's going to happen." She smiled as she said it.
Yuto gave a small nod.
It should be fine...
Probably...
Or so he couldn't help but thinking about it.
....
It was night in Gensokyo.
A gentle breeze drifted through the clouds overhead, and the light of the full moon hung bright and clear.
When human society fell asleep, that was precisely when the world of youkai came alive.
The Sunflower Field.
The endless sea of sunflowers swayed softly in the wind.
By rights they should have been resting — but tonight, they'd been woken.
Youkai aura and raw bloodlust bled out from those beautiful blossoms, and the lesser youkai around the field scattered in every direction, running for their lives.
None of them knew what had befallen the Sunflower Field tonight.
They only knew one thing: an extreme, suffocating danger.
Get too close, and they'd be devoured.
...
In the open clearing at the heart of the field, Yuuka and Esdeath stood facing one another.
Now that they'd arrived, Yuuka no longer bothered to hide her killing intent or her presence.
Her eyes, scarlet as fresh blood, bored into the female general before her, and bloodlust deep as the pit of Avīci Hell poured off her body.
Killing intent of that magnitude could conjure hallucinations in anyone who met it head-on — a natural assault on the mind.
For those with fragile spirits, it could shatter them where they stood.
And right now, in Esdeath's eyes, Yuuka standing alone against that boundless sea of flowers had taken shape as a towering, blood-soaked mountain.
The killing intent rolling off her was so vast it felt as though it might rip the sky apart, and it pressed down on every inch of space around Esdeath.
Nothing was physically touching her, yet a crushing weight bore in from all sides — and her skin actually prickled with cold.
That shook her.
She was a Teigu user who commanded ice itself. How could she possibly feel cold?
A thousand thoughts tore through her mind in an instant, and in the end, the corner of her mouth trembled upward — the reaction of someone driven to the very peak of excitement and tension.
So strong.
This crushing presence alone outstripped every enemy she'd ever faced in her life, all of them put together.
She couldn't win.
Against this woman, she was hopelessly outmatched — her battle-honed instincts told her as much, plainly.
But that was exactly why she was so thrilled.
The hunger to fight, to kill, woven into her very bones and blood, was roaring wild inside her now.
The one standing before her was the kind of opponent she'd dreamed of countless times!
Run? Don't be ridiculous!
This was the moment to fight with everything she had!
"Make your move! Show me how strong you really are!"
Esdeath roared, blue veins standing out along her fair neck as she suddenly swung her arm.
Whoosh — whoosh — whoosh!
Eight ice spears came screaming toward Yuuka, the cold mist trailing them enough to chill the bone with a single glance. In the blink of an eye they'd closed the distance.
Yuuka didn't move a muscle.
She looked as though she had no intention of defending herself at all.
But Esdeath didn't relax one bit.
She wasn't about to underestimate the woman just because she was standing still.
Whatever Yuuka was planning, that mountainous, ocean-deep killing intent was no joke.
"Hmph."
Yuuka gave a cold snort.
Her gaze cut straight past the spears and landed on Esdeath, empty of any warmth.
At that sound, the ice spears — a hair's breadth from reaching her — shattered.
Countless shards instantly whipped back toward Esdeath, several times faster than they'd come, each one loaded with Yuuka's youkai power.
Esdeath had no time to react.
Pshk — pshk — pshk!
The shards drove straight into her flesh.
Fueled by that youkai power, every wound sent pain ripping through her body — but she forced the scream back down her throat.
Her mind raced.
She realized it fast: if Yuuka had wanted her dead, those shards alone would already have finished the job.
Yet Yuuka hadn't.
There were generally only two reasons for that.
The first was mercy — flat-out impossible.
Under killing intent this overwhelming, mercy simply didn't exist.
So it had to be the second.
Like a cat batting a mouse around before the kill, what this woman wanted wasn't a clean death.
It was torture.
Esdeath knew, because she was exactly that kind of person.
She liked leaving her enemies with one last breath and dragging their deaths out slowly.
And now she was about to taste the same thing from the other side.
Fighting through the pain lancing across her body, Esdeath forced her eyes up toward Yuuka in the distance — and she saw it.
That faint curve at the corner of Yuuka's mouth.
There wasn't a trace of warmth in it; it was a smile carved entirely from cruelty and cold.
It confirmed exactly what she'd just guessed.
Yuuka meant to torture her to death.