After two more days of camp, August had finally recovered enough to care for himself, and only then did Esdeath give the order for the army to march.
During the four days of their stay in the same location, and with Esdeath's complete lack of concealment, many of the soldiers had begun to notice that their commander had someone special in her life.
Surprisingly, Esdeath didn't try to stop the rumors from spreading; in fact, she let them develop freely.
As a result, August became a special figure within the army. Though he appeared weak, like a delicate pretty boy, there wasn't a single person who didn't show him the utmost respect.
August found this surprising. Truly, Esdeath's soldiers were a different breed.
Soldiers typically revered strength, especially those in combat divisions, and yet August, by merely being in Esdeath's presence, was treated with such deference by so many.
This revealed how deeply Esdeath had embedded herself into their hearts, practically becoming a figure of "worship."
With such an army, united in this way, they were a fearsome force on the battlefield. A single, unstoppable weapon.
Ahead of the army, Esdeath and August rode side by side, and not far behind were the Three Beast Warriors, with the rest of the marching troops following closely.
"August, are you sure you're alright?" Esdeath asked, her gaze lingering on him as he appeared weak, still clearly recovering.
She had initially planned to stay a few more days, but August had declined. His sense of shame was too great to allow it; it would be embarrassing for a grown man to linger any longer.
"I'm fine, Esdeath. Don't worry," August reassured her.
"If you feel any discomfort, tell me right away."
"Okay."
August gave a small smile, though his body was still in a fragile state. Yet, compared to staying in place, the battlefield was the place he longed for most.
After all, August now held not only the sins of lust and gluttony, but also the Gate of Sin.
As a dark artifact capable of harboring the Seven Deadly Sins, the Gate could absorb all negative energy in the world, even surpassing the scope of the Seven Sins themselves.
Death and slaughter were the most effective catalysts for breeding darkness and sin. Thus, war was the best form of recovery for August.
"General, we've spotted a village up ahead, a settlement of foreign tribes," a scout reported as he returned to Esdeath.
Upon hearing about the village, the Three Beast Warriors brightened. As Esdeath's subordinates, they had inevitably absorbed some of her preferences—conquest, slaughter, survival of the fittest—these were the ideals they followed.
"A village? How many people are there?" Esdeath asked.
"It's a village of about a thousand people, mostly young men," the scout replied.
"Ha~ A village? This is just a forward base for the foreign tribes. It doesn't matter. Daidara, take a small team and wipe them out."
"Yes, Lady Esdeath!" Daidara answered with a grin, his excitement palpable. He was a battle-hungry man who relished fighting strong opponents to improve his skills.
For Daidara, every battle was a chance to gain experience, and he enjoyed the chaos of combat, especially when leading the charge.
"Come, follow me into battle!" he shouted.
"Understood, Sir!" his subordinates answered enthusiastically.
Daidara charged ahead on horseback, the rest of the soldiers following swiftly behind him. Their faces were filled with excitement and madness; they were a bloodthirsty force.
"What an excellent army, Esdeath. This is the best army I've ever seen, without a doubt," August remarked.
"It's just a small skirmish," Esdeath replied dismissively. "The real war hasn't even started yet."
"Well, I'm looking forward to it."
"Indeed, August. I knew I wasn't wrong about you. We are the same," Esdeath said, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Both of them followed the "survival of the fittest" law of the Black Forest, where human kindness and morality were meaningless. Only power mattered.
The strong slaughtered the weak, and if one day Esdeath or August were to be oppressed or killed, it would simply mean their own power had been insufficient. There would be no one to blame but themselves.
This philosophy was something Esdeath had held for years, but until now, no one had ever shared it with her.
Even her Three Beast Warriors and the soldiers under her command had only adopted this way of thinking due to Esdeath's influence.
But August was different. He, like her, was someone who believed in power above all else.
"Perhaps this is fate," Esdeath mused.
"I think so too," August agreed.
Esdeath smiled, and her joy was evident. All of this did not escape the notice of Liver, who was trailing behind.
Watching the interaction, Liver couldn't help but feel a mix of envy and jealousy. This man had something he longed for, something that had always eluded him.
"Hey, Liver, are you okay?" Nyau asked, noticing his distracted expression.
"I'm fine," Liver replied, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
From the start, he had known his place. He was nothing more than Esdeath's servant. He had no right to harbor such thoughts.
Meanwhile, Daidara and his team had already arrived at the foreign village.
Thud, thud, thud
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" a member of the village cried out in alarm as they spotted Daidara and his men approaching.
Thud!
Before the warning could even reach the rest of the village, an axe flew through the air, smashing the man's skull open.
The Teigu Belvaac, the Axe of the Empire, could only be wielded by those with immense strength. Its destructive power was overwhelming, capable of splitting into two axes for throwing, and if the wielder had enough strength, it would pursue its target.
"Experience points secured. Attack, attack! I need more experience points!" Daidara shouted eagerly as his forces surged into the village like wolves into a flock of sheep.
"Damn Imperial soldiers! Die!" the villagers screamed.
"Die!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Why? Why are Imperial soldiers here?"
"Kill them~!"
The sudden attack caught the foreign villagers off guard, and the battle ended almost instantly.
Soon after, the main army arrived, and the village was completely taken over. Corpses littered the ground, and the surviving villagers were bound and awaiting Esdeath's orders.
When August arrived, he immediately began absorbing the negative energy from the site.
However, the sins of lust and gluttony were few. While the Gate of Sin could absorb all negative energy, without corresponding major sins to draw from, the absorption rate was nearly ten times slower than usual.
For example, if there were 100 units of wrath here, August would only absorb about 10 units.
Still, it was progress. Without the Gate, he wouldn't even have been able to absorb that much.
___
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Esdeath dismounted her horse and looked down at the group of prisoners, bound tightly.
A once-thriving village of a thousand souls had been reduced to only a handful of survivors. This was the brutal reality of war.
"These damn Empire soldiers, they attacked us out of nowhere."
"The only reason you were defeated was because you were too weak. There's no other reason."
"Esdeath, you'd better not let me survive. If I do, I will surely kill you."
The foreign tribesman glared at Esdeath, his eyes burning with resentment, fury, and an overwhelming killing intent. He was not joking—his words were a serious, deeply ingrained hatred.
But Esdeath only smiled at his threat.
"Untie them."
"Yes, General."
Without hesitation, one of the soldiers drew a knife and began to cut the bonds of the prisoners.
The group of foreign tribespeople stood frozen, not understanding what Esdeath was doing.
"Go," Esdeath ordered coldly.
"Wh-what do you mean?" one of them stammered.
"You are free now. I will not kill you."
"Are you mocking us? You slaughter our village and now you set us free?"
"Exactly. With the hatred you carry, you'll do anything to survive. Then, come back and kill me someday. That would be perfect."
"Y-you..."
"Go, use every trick you have, and come for your revenge."
"You'll regret this, Esdeath."
The prisoners exchanged glances and quickly fled. No one was willing to die.
For those watching, whether it was the Three Beast Warriors or the soldiers surrounding them, no one seemed surprised by this turn of events.
It was routine. After every victory, most of the enemies would be killed. As for the prisoners, the majority would also meet their end. But every time, there were always a few left alive and set free.
This was Esdeath's method. She let them go, knowing that their hatred would keep them alive, and eventually, they would return to exact revenge.
Esdeath loved war. She reveled in the sense of crushing all enemies beneath her feet and eradicating them completely.
So, she never allowed war to end. After destroying one tribe after another, she would leave seeds of hatred behind, which would slowly grow into new enemies.
Thus, she could enjoy war forever. This was Esdeath—the super sadistic queen-general.
After the prisoners had been released, Esdeath's gaze shifted to August.
This was the perfect moment to test her thoughts. Here was a freshly conquered village, surrounded by bloodshed and corpses, including women who had been violated by her soldiers.
If August was merely trying to please her, his true feelings would surely show now.
Years ago, General Najenda, once the youngest general in the Empire alongside Esdeath, had betrayed the Empire because she couldn't stand Esdeath's methods.
Often, the slightest change in a person's expression could reveal their true thoughts.
As Esdeath observed August, she noticed that his expression hadn't changed much throughout the ordeal. In fact, a brief flash of 'disappointment' and 'unfinished business' had crossed his face.
Esdeath caught every detail. In that moment, she was certain: August was like her. He too was someone who would enjoy the thrill of war, without any of the messy feelings of guilt or doubt.
August, unaware of the subtle shifts in his expression after absorbing the negative energy of the place, had been misinterpreted by Esdeath.
His 'disappointment' stemmed from the fact that this was just a small village—less than a thousand people, with too little negative energy to be worth his time.
The 'unfinished business' feeling was because the process of consuming void energy had just begun and was suddenly cut short. That's why it felt incomplete.
As for the slaughtered villagers and the violated women, August genuinely didn't care.
They weren't his people. They had no personal connection to him. Killing them made no difference.
"Continue forward," Esdeath commanded.
With that order, the army pressed on.
This was just a small appetizer. The appearance of a foreign village meant they had entered the heart of the northern tribes' territory.
This was the signal that the real war was drawing ever closer.
However, despite entering enemy territory, Esdeath had no intention of speeding up her advance.
She was waiting. Waiting for all the northern tribes to gather together. After all, she was well aware of her fearsome reputation.
The entire north was covered in ice and snow. Hunting down individual villages would be a waste of time. It was far more efficient to let them all congregate and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
The more enemies there were, the more excited Esdeath became. That was the real meaning of conquest.
Over the next week or so, the army encountered a dozen or so villages. Each one was wiped out completely.
Esdeath and her army of one hundred thousand had now reached the northern frontier, and word quickly spread.
In this era, without modern communication, news traveled slowly—especially in this icy, frozen landscape.
It was for this reason that Esdeath intentionally slowed down her march. Each evening, she would set up camp and wait until the next day before continuing her journey.
This not only spared her soldiers from the biting cold of the nights but also gave the northern tribes plenty of time to prepare for what was coming.
From the scouts' reports, Esdeath learned that the northern tribes had already begun to unite.
The northern tribes' prince, the hero Numa Seika, had recently acquired an Imperial Teigu, which had greatly increased his prestige among his people.
Ambitious, Numa sought to unify the north. However, with various tribes holding different interests, the task was far from easy.
But when Esdeath's forces arrived, the tribes' fear of her became undeniable. Seizing the moment, Numa began boasting about his power and making promises that he would personally defeat Esdeath.
At this point, many of the tribes, driven by fear, began to gather in the royal city.
Some of the tribal leaders understood Numa's ambition to rule the north, but they had no choice—his promise of protection was more appealing than facing Esdeath's wrath.
As a result, the northern royal city saw its army grow every day, and the force gathering there was only getting larger.
___
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