"Boom!"

A deafening explosion echoed through the ducal estate. The terrifying aftershock made the entire vast foundation tremble, yet that enormous disturbance did not travel even a centimeter beyond the estate grounds before it was swallowed by the boundless darkness.

Bukadi landed slowly, looking completely at ease. Not even a speck of dust had managed to cling to his ill-fitting, oversized formalwear, as if that dreadful strike just now had not come from him at all.

"Maid An hides her strength well, but her power is too one-dimensional. Muen Campbell has changed quite a bit, but sadly, his nature remains the same... They all have very clear weaknesses. And for those weaknesses, Lord Arthur made preparations long ago and laid out a foolproof plan."

Bukadi leisurely watched the dust cloud spreading in front of him as though admiring a well-staged play.

"Do you understand now? This is what a perfect ambush looks like—one with not a single flaw!"

"..."

No movement came from within the dust.

The darkness covering the ducal estate grew even deeper. Even though this was Belrand, the densely populated imperial capital, no one could detect that someone had actually dared launch such a brazen attack on the ducal estate itself.

Just as Bukadi had said, they were rigorous, intelligent, and clearheaded. Every part of the plan had been carefully tailored around their excellent intelligence. Every target had been handled with the proper remedy for their specific traits, ensuring that nothing could go wrong.

For instance, An possessed a Divine Favor, but was content to remain only a maid, with no chance to train further or acquire other forms of power... so they sent a rusting mage whose abilities directly countered hers.

For instance, Muen Campbell had undergone enormous changes in both reputation and strength over the last two years, as if he had shed his entire former self, yet still ran around leaving flowers everywhere and had never truly abandoned his playboy nature... so they sent a perfumer with seduction techniques and lust-inducing potions to lure him in.

And as for Ariel Bugaard in front of him, on the surface she had no obvious weakness. The talent she had displayed at that exchange tournament several months ago had indeed been astonishing. But in the end... she was still too young.

A few months was absolutely not enough time for a person’s strength to undergo some heaven-upending transformation. Youth itself was her greatest weakness... and so the answer was simple: send Dog Lover Bukadi, whose rank far surpassed hers, and crush her directly.

Everything was grounded. Ordered. Logically airtight.

Perfect.

Bukadi thought it over for a moment and found that only that word could describe the plan.

As expected of the plan Lord Arthur had personally built around the intelligence he had personally gathered. Even proud little lions like these would have to admit that if they lost to this, they deserved it.

"Well? Still not going to surrender?"

After waiting a while, and still getting no reaction from inside the dust, Bukadi sneered.

"There’s no point in resisting. Or was that one blow already enough to finish you off?"

"..."

"Looks like you really are done."

In his perception, the other side’s aura was growing weaker and weaker. The easy smile on Bukadi’s face gradually shifted into fake pity.

"I watched your exchange match. At your age, for you and that Muen Campbell to possess that level of strength... it wasn’t merely surprising. It was terrifying. If I hadn’t {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} seen it with my own eyes, even I would never have believed such talent could exist in this world. The Kingdom’s so-called Twins Born with Two Hearts wouldn’t even be fit to shine your shoes.

"But unfortunately..."

Bukadi’s tone shifted, and he shook his head.

In this world, talent was not everything.

Over the years, the Salvation Society—which stood against the Church, against cultists, and even against all humankind—had already erased who knew how many geniuses through sheer unwavering rigor and intelligence.

One more would make no difference.

"Still, your luck’s not bad. I’m not going to let you die for now. After all, I still need you to help crack that other troublesome turtle shell."

Knowing that he had held back some force in that attack and could not possibly have actually killed this little lion, Bukadi sighed lightly and began walking toward the dust cloud.

Another genius, fallen at—

"Hey."

Suddenly.

Bukadi stopped in place.

He raised his head. His brows drew together over his sunken eye sockets as though he could not understand what he was seeing.

There was no wind.

With the ducal estate sealed off, not even the faintest breeze could possibly blow in.

And yet the thick dust before him—the kind that rolled and churned like smoke after a mountain fire—was being pushed aside at high speed by something unseen.

Ariel’s figure gradually emerged.

She was nowhere near as battered as Bukadi had expected. Her dress was somewhat torn, but the skin revealed beneath it was still smooth, not even marked by the slightest wound. A faint golden, supernatural glow shone across it.

"You... how is that possible?"

Bukadi was briefly confused, but a look of utter disbelief immediately followed.

"You took that hit from me head-on, and yet you—"

"Hey..."

Ariel ignored Bukadi’s shock. She simply remained in her lowered stance, hand gripping the sword hilt, her entire aura compressed tighter and tighter.

"Has anyone ever told you this?"

Ariel looked at Bukadi expressionlessly.

"For a villain... you talk way too much!"

Shing—

Heavenfire unsheathed!

Blazing light illuminated half the sky in an instant, and under its brilliance, the transparent dome-like outline hanging overhead became faintly visible.

The entire cold night was torn open. A glint flashed in Bukadi’s sunken eye sockets, and then he could see nothing else, because his whole vision had already been filled by that sword light!

"Roar!"

In the brief instant of stunned silence, Bukadi reacted by pure instinct and let out a beastlike howl.

He did not hesitate, and he had no room to hesitate. Before that flaming sword light reached him, his gaunt hand clenched into a fist and smashed forward with all its strength!

"The Holy Lord blesses me!"

A faint phantom emerged behind Bukadi. It seemed to be a ferocious giant hound, gazing coldly down at Ariel as she came at him.

A yellow-brown light flowed through it and merged into Bukadi’s fighting aura. Whatever its source, that power was enough to make his hasty counterattack surge enormously in strength!

Boom!

The huge explosion rang out through the ducal estate once more.

This time, Muen probably did not need to worry anymore about Father’s cherished collection being damaged... because with this horrific collision, the bizarre sculptures, landscaped groves, fountains, and stone colonnades had all been completely reduced to powder.

It was as though someone had hit a one-click delete button on the entire ducal estate courtyard, leaving it utterly empty.

"Cough, cough... As expected of a late fifth-rank expert. Fighting across two full minor ranks really isn’t that easy."

Ariel coughed up blood and staggered backward first, each step leaving a deep footprint in the ground.

At first glance, it seemed that in this clash, she had still ended up at a disadvantage.

But across from her, Bukadi showed not the slightest trace of delight.

Only pushed back?

Only pushed back?

What the hell—only pushed back?

Early fifth rank... so Ariel Bugaard had already reached early fifth rank. But even if she had, taking a full-force blow from a late fifth-rank expert like him head-on and ending up with nothing more than coughing a little blood and taking a few steps back—was that it?

Wasn’t that a little too absurd?

Did that make any sense?

Was that reasonable?

Was that normal?

"So you’ve already become this strong."

After his three stunned questions, Bukadi forced himself to calm down.

That was right. Calm down.

Things had only gone a little beyond expectations.

Ariel Bugaard was stronger than his intelligence had projected, but only to a limited extent.

He could still handle it. Yes, he could handle it.

"What a pity. If you’d gotten just a little stronger, I might really have fallen here tonight..." Bukadi brushed dust off himself with forced composure, just about to launch a proactive attack—

"Boiling Blood."

"..."

Bukadi’s eyes flew wide open. Perhaps because he was so gaunt, the motion made it look as though his eyeballs might pop right out.

"Beast Heart."

"..."

"Dragon Scale."

"..."

As Ariel murmured one phrase after another, all kinds of ridiculously flashy buff effects began stacking onto her body in sequence.

By the end, even her skin had taken on a faint golden hue, and her entire presence was completely different from before.

The pressure she gave off instantly rose by a whole level.

"You said you watched my match before?"

Ariel raised her head, the corner of her mouth crooked upward.

"Then how could you forget... I’ve got a second phase too."

Shing—

The sword cry tore through the night sky once again!

Flames roared to life, and the immense power completed its full cycle from compression to release in an incredibly short span of time!

"Heavenfire Unsheathed!"

Boom!

"Heavenfire Unsheathed!"

Boom!

"Heavenfire Unsheathed!"

Boom!

"Heavenfire! Heavenfire! Heavenfire! Unsheathe! Unsheathe! Unsheathe!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

One move after another, as though this were the only technique Ariel knew, she hammered Bukadi repeatedly with this improved version of Heavenfire Unsheathed. Having learned part of its rhythm from Muen, she now cast it far faster than before.

At first, Bukadi could still block them all.

But gradually he began to falter, driven backward by Ariel step after step...

"I can tell your footing’s weak, your mind’s unsteady, your magic’s chaotic, and your fighting aura isn’t refined at all... you’re nothing but trash piled up by outside force. And you think you can capture me alive? Keep dreaming!"

Boom!

Another slash. In the midst of constant trial and constant refinement, Ariel’s blow had once again grown stronger. At last it split apart Bukadi’s fighting aura defense and carved a bleeding wound across his bark-like flesh...

"Enough!"

Bukadi’s face twisted savagely. Finally unable to endure the humiliation anymore, he roared and erupted with immense power, blasting Ariel away.

"Do you really think doing this can change the outcome?"

"Oh?"

Ariel retreated swiftly, shedding off the force, then landed lightly atop a stone colonnade railing.

The air currents raised by the flames lifted the hem of her dress, making her look like a winged little fairy out of a storybook.

"Why not?"

Ariel asked curiously.

"Don’t tell me you still think you can capture me alive?"

"...Heh. Hehehe."

Bukadi was breathing heavily. Ignoring the wound across his chest, he laughed with a twisted expression.

"Yes, you’re right. It seems I can’t capture you alive anymore. But that doesn’t mean the plan has failed!"

"What do you mean?"

"I told you already, didn’t I? Our plan has no flaws. Which means that even one-sided setbacks are already accounted for in our contingencies!"

"Really?"

Ariel narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded in sudden understanding.

"I get it. You mean all you have to do is stall me here, wait for the others to accomplish their goals, and then have them come help surround me?"

"Heh... you really are smart."

Bukadi regained his composure and bared his teeth in a grin again.

"It doesn’t matter if I can’t catch you for now. As long as the others—"

"Wait. Speaking of that, I suddenly have a question."

Ariel raised a hand like a friendly, well-behaved student.

"What question?" Bukadi frowned.

"Simple."

Ariel looked at Bukadi and smiled.

"If this so-called perfect plan of yours failed this easily on my side, then why do you think... the other two sides are going to succeed?"

...

...

"Well now, little girl," Madam Serwyn said to An with a chuckle, "if you’re willing to surrender obediently, I won’t hurt you. Otherwise..."

Dark red traces like mold crept visibly toward An.

"My magic doesn’t just rust steel. It can rust flesh and blood too."

"Is that so?"

An’s face remained expressionless.

"I’ve already seen how strong your magic is. But there’s one thing I’m curious about."

"Curious? About what?" Madam Serwyn asked in confusion.

"Simple."

An released the wooden handle in her hand. Her five slender fingers slowly clenched tight, and a sound like muffled thunder began erupting in her palm.

"You’re a mage..."

An raised her head, and powerful fighting aura burst violently from her delicate body.

"So how exactly did you dare come within less than ten meters of a warrior?"

"...Huh?"

...

...

"Well, Young Master Muen? What do you say? Want to spend the night with me?"

At some point, Lucy had already swayed her seductive waist over to Muen’s side. Then, with a little lift of her hips, she settled intimately onto his lap. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Her cherry lips parted, and she breathed intoxicating fragrant air against his face. Looking at Muen’s dazed expression, already seemingly completely drowned in her temptation, Lucy could not help smiling beautifully.

Good.

As expected of the playboy from the rumors—his resistance to women was basically zero. No wonder he was clearly already the empress’s fiancé and still kept fooling around everywhere at the risk of getting his head chopped off.

But that was perfect. A man this promiscuous would naturally be easy prey for her once she made the slightest move.

Heh... it looked like she had been overly cautious before. She had even used potions that could affect the mind, but at this point it seemed those potions had not even been necessary...

Seeing that the timing was right, Lucy stopped teasing him further. Stretching out one hand, she reached toward the most important place.

Forget what kind of womanizing man he was—once he did that kind of thing with her, he would unquestionably become her slave. It seemed her side of the mission was without doubt the easiest part of the entire operation...

"Hm?"

Just as Lucy was thinking about how to make use of this duke’s son, she suddenly frowned.

"That’s strange. We’ve already gotten this far, so why isn’t it hard yet?"

According to her calculations, Babylon’s Tower ought to have been punching through the heavens by now.

Could it be that she had grabbed the wrong thing?

"No, you didn’t grab the wrong thing."

At that moment, a faint, ghostly voice suddenly rang out:

"It’s just that the me who has already cast off worldly desire would never erect Babylon’s Tower over some purely sultry thing like you."

"Don’t you dare underestimate the power of my pure love, slut!"