Imperial Capital, General's Mansion.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha…"
On another fine day, the General's Mansion echoed with the orderly shouts of young girls. These days were quite idle, and with nothing else to do, Sora and Esdeath had no choice but to raise the banner of training, rigorously drilling the girls at home every day.
The uniformed guard girls stood evenly spaced on the training ground, each performing the same thrusting sword technique. Every time a girl thrust her sword, waves of air rippled vertically from the sword tip, looking incredibly magical—proof that their swordsmanship had reached a very advanced level.
The Queen held a long leather whip, a sly smile on her lips. Standing before her were Kurome, Seryu, and Aria—her three beloved little witches. Naturally, Esdeath put effort into training them well.
Both Kurome and Seryu looked nervous. Over the years, they had been trained countless times by Esdeath, the ultra-strict queen, whom they both respected and feared.
Compared to them, Aria, the youngest and latest recruit, was even more anxious.
Having been trained repeatedly by Esdeath's endless and inventive methods, even this naturally malicious and twisted girl had developed an instinctive fear of the queen. Although she still dreamed of monopolizing a certain villainous master, she had long abandoned the idea of replacing the queen.
This was not due to lack of determination, but because Esdeath's relentless torment crushed every rebellious thought as soon as it arose…
Sora lay comfortably on a vine chair under a tree's shade. Rarely did he have the chance to relax like this. Sheele, who was not out on a mission with Najenda and Akame, quietly nestled like a docile kitten on Sora's chest. This adorably naive girl was easily satisfied; whenever she rested her head on Sora and he gently stroked her hair, she felt happiest.
Despite his leisurely appearance, Sora was not idle. While gently stroking Sheele, he was also instructing Sayo and Spear in their cultivation.
Sayo's power was already strong, having been directly infused with energy by Sora. So Sora mainly focused on improving her archery. Although her marksmanship was already impressive by ordinary standards, it was still far from Sora's expectations.
Straight shots were basic; once Sayo mastered curved shots, ricochets, split shots, and other skills, she could move on to more advanced training.
As for Spear, Sora had already "tested" her many times these days. Fully nurtured, she had become more beautiful and charming, exuding a mature aura.
Fortunately, Sora knew his limits; otherwise, Spear would have been worn out by now!
Spear had a good foundation, so training her was easier.
Sora forbade her from using the ugly long-handled greatsword she used before. The versatile "Cross Tail" ability was enough for her now. Having been completely tamed, Spear obeyed Sora without question. Besides, her old weapons were weak compared to her current abilities, so she naturally preferred the latter.
The uses of thread manipulation were endless. Under Sora's guidance, the clever Spear quickly learned how to cut, bind, and set barriers with threads. She could even wrap threads to form hard weapons.
Controlling puppets with threads was more difficult, requiring strong mental and physical power. In theory, any creature or object invaded by her threads could be controlled, with no limit on quantity. But obviously, Spear was not yet capable of that.
At full strength, she could barely control one opponent slightly stronger than herself. Though weak now, it did not affect her future potential.
Just imagining bringing Spear to battle, shooting countless threads to turn tens or hundreds of thousands of enemy troops into puppets—such a scene was enough to make anyone's blood boil!
While Sora and the girls were busy inside the mansion, an uninvited guest appeared outside the gate—
"Hahaha… So this is where those two live? Only a weird little watchdog guarding the gate? This is hilarious! Hahahahaha…"
The reckless laughter belonged to Syura, the minister's son.
Looking at the strange little dog tied to a pillar by the gate—blood-red with fleshy wings on its back—Syura laughed so hard he doubled over, clutching his belly.
He looked down on the legendary Sora and Esdeath even more. Syura was determined: first, he would ruthlessly kill Sora, then see if Esdeath and the other women were really as beautiful as rumored. If he liked them, he would claim them all; if not, he would still take them and then kill them all!
Hmph, he must prove to his father that he was the best! Not only the best, but better than him!
What was the minister, who controlled the government behind the scenes? He wanted to be emperor—the supreme ruler of the country!
One must admit, Syura's ambition was even greater than his father's…
However, Syura did not notice one thing: while he laughed recklessly, the so-called watchdog, the little dog, was looking at him with utter contempt.
Since evolving, the little dog had become much smarter, even rivaling adult humans. In its eyes, except for its master, the big master, and the demon sisters it both loved and hated, everyone else was trash—its food!
Of course, although these people were its food, the big master and master forbade it from eating them casually. It was only allowed to eat those who dared to trespass the mansion's gate.
So the dog, Koro, had been waiting all along, waiting for this worthless human to cross the line quickly, so it could pounce without hesitation!
"Hmph! Weaklings who are all show and no substance, prepare to face my arrival!"
"Dimensional Formation [Shambhala] — Activate!!!"
After laughing enough, Syura finally straightened up, a cruel and ferocious smile spreading across his face.
Although this guy was extremely arrogant and loved to show off, he was not a fool. Despite openly looking down on Sora and Esdeath, deep down he was extremely cautious.
He activated his Teigu, the dimensional formation [Shambhala], and instantly a huge array rune light screen appeared, enveloping the entire General's Mansion.
A confident smile appeared on his face. Even if those guys had some skills, so what? As long as he was inside the space covered by Shambhala, he was invincible!
"Ha ha ha ha ha…
Laughing wildly and arrogantly, Syura walked into the General's Mansion.
"Roar!!!"
With an extremely excited roar, the dog Koro transformed into a giant beast and pounced at Syura!
But just as Koro was about to hit Syura, the latter's figure suddenly vanished from the spot…
While the light screen of Shambhala enveloped the General's Mansion, Sora and the girls simultaneously stopped their actions, each with strange expressions—some confused, some expectant, some excited…
"Heh… Looks like we have guests arriving!"
Signaling Sheele-chan to look up and not worry, Sora continued stroking the girl's delicate back and beautiful hair, smiling mischievously…