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Swish!
With a single slash, the Earth Dragon collapsed to the ground.
"Amazing, young man!"
One of the older men hurried over and shouted excitedly at Tatsumi, who had defeated the Danger Beast with ease.
"He actually took down a Danger Beast all by himself!"
Another man couldn't help praising him as well.
Hearing all the compliments, Tatsumi turned around with a proud grin on his face.
"Leave it to me! Beating something like that is easy!"
"Oh, right! My name's Tatsumi! One day, my name's gonna shake the entire Imperial Capital, so you'd better remember it!"
One of the men suddenly grew serious after hearing that.
"Wait... are you planning to make a name for yourself in the Imperial Capital?"
Tatsumi nodded firmly.
"That's right! Making it big in the Imperial Capital is every villager's dream!"
Seeing the excitement and longing in Tatsumi's eyes, one of the men couldn't help warning him.
"The Imperial Capital isn't the dreamland you think it is. Sure, it's lively, but there are monsters there far crueler than this Earth Dragon."
Tatsumi blinked in confusion.
"Huh? You mean there are still Danger Beasts wandering around the streets?"
Cold sweat appeared on the man's forehead as though he had recalled something terrifying.
"They're humans. They may look human on the outside, but inside, they're monsters. The Imperial Capital is full of people like that."
Completely unconcerned by the warning, Tatsumi picked up the bag beside him and slung it over his shoulder.
"Thanks for the advice, but after coming this far, there's no way I'm backing out now!"
"W-We... we're gonna earn a ton of money in the Imperial Capital and save our village!"
After saying that, Tatsumi looked up at the clear blue sky as though imagining a bright future ahead of him.
Not far behind him, two figures stood silently atop a tree branch with their arms crossed, quietly watching Tatsumi walk away.
"Rob Lucci, is this the kid Souei-sama told us to watch?"
Katakuri asked expressionlessly.
Hearing the question, Rob Lucci pulled out a portrait drawn by who-knows-who.
The sketch was abstract beyond belief.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
"It... should be? At least the name matches."
Katakuri remained silent, simply staring at Tatsumi's departing figure without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Rob Lucci was internally full of complaints toward his superiors.
His own situation had been bizarre enough already.
Originally, he had been in Water 7 carrying out surveillance on Iceburg.
Then one day, news suddenly spread across the world.
The World Government was gone.
At that moment, it genuinely felt like the sky had collapsed.
Their direct superiors had either been killed or captured, leaving behind only people like them who actually did the dirty work.
Just as everyone was wondering what to do next, a woman claiming to be the vice captain of the Jura Tempest Federation's Covert Mobile Unit suddenly appeared before them.
She even carried a transfer order personally signed by the upper ranks of the CP Organization.
According to the document, all members had been absorbed into the Jura Tempest Federation's Covert Mobile Unit, and every previous mission had been canceled.
Following the principle that orders from superiors had to be obeyed, the group followed the woman named Souka back to the Jura Tempest Federation.
And then...
They witnessed a fairy tale world beyond anything they could've imagined.
After all, what kind of country had top-ranking officials getting chased through the streets by market vendors wielding brooms?
Ever since arriving there, their lives had become unbelievably peaceful.
They barely had any work to do.
Most days were spent casually patrolling around, and they didn't even need to hide their identities anymore.
As for the "covert" part of the Covert Mobile Unit...
Apparently only the "mobile" part was real.
The only problem was that the missions assigned by upper management were always ridiculously weird.
One day, they were ordered to locate the secret hideout of the "Eromanga Sensei Fan Club."
The next day, they were sent to Academy City to assist the Security Force in capturing that damned cat named Tom.
And now that they finally received a seemingly normal mission, the portrait they were given looked like abstract modern art.
Seriously, were the higher-ups even reliable at all?!
Thinking about it gave Rob Lucci a headache.
At moments like this, he genuinely envied Kalifa, who had been transferred to secretarial work.
"Sigh... whatever. Let's hurry up and follow him. If we lose track of him, there's no way we can explain ourselves when we get back."
Katakuri nodded calmly.
The next instant, both figures vanished from the branch.
At the same time, another group led by Ace was also sighing repeatedly while staring helplessly at the same abstract portrait in their hands.
Meanwhile, the culprit responsible for drawing that portrait was currently confronting the Empire's strongest general.
"I'll let you attack first. Otherwise, you probably won't even get the chance to make a move."
Kaito spoke casually to Esdeath, who stood not far away.
"Are you underestimating me... or is this the confidence of someone truly strong? Let me find out myself!"
"[Ice Storm General]!"
Esdeath immediately unleashed one of her strongest ultimate techniques.
One after another, ice knights rapidly formed around her before charging straight toward Kaito.
Just before reaching him, the countless ice knights suddenly shattered apart.
The condensed energy within them exploded outward continuously, forming a terrifying blizzard that swallowed the entire battlefield.
If given enough time, the blizzard produced by this attack could eventually engulf an entire country.
That alone showed just how terrifying Esdeath's power truly was.
"There's no need to use such a large-scale attack. It's completely pointless."
Kaito casually formed a magic barrier around himself to keep his clothes from getting dirty.
As for using divine power?
Was that even necessary?
"You're right. You truly are worthy of being my opponent! Then try this next!"
"[Ice Storm]!"
Esdeath leapt dozens of meters into the air and instantly condensed a gigantic sphere of ice over a hundred meters wide.
With a wave of her hand, the enormous ice sphere came crashing down toward Kaito.
"Wow. If you used this to cool a lake during summer, people could go winter swimming anytime they wanted."
Kaito looked up at the massive ice sphere blocking out the sky with genuine admiration.
BOOOOM!!!
The instant the ice sphere struck the ground, an earth-shaking explosion erupted from Kaito's location.
Then...
Silence.
Esdeath stared at the impact site for a long moment before disappointment flashed through her eyes.
"So I overestimated you after all. You're nothing more than a weakling."
"Oh my, oh my. I don't really care what people call me most of the time, but I really don't like the word 'weakling.'"
Esdeath's entire body suddenly stiffened.
A hand had appeared on her shoulder from behind.
Turning her head, she saw Kaito standing there with a smile on his face completely unharmed.
Not even a speck of dust had landed on his clothes.
Kaito slowly withdrew his right hand before casually raising his left.
Then he flicked his finger.
Whoosh!!!
BOOOOM!!!
A sharp pain exploded through Esdeath's abdomen as her body shot backward at terrifying speed.
She continued flying until she slammed heavily into a gigantic boulder...