Time reverts to a few minutes ago.
Cerydra brought her Daughter of the Sea and Dux Frigium, along with three hostages and an army of a thousand, reaching the territory of the Northern Kingdoms Prince, Numa Seika, at maximum speed.
However, they had just arrived and hadn't even seen the prince's castle when they already heard the sounds of slaughter coming from the distance.
Clearly, the nobles could no longer sit still. Regardless of whether the King's life was in danger, eliminating the threat of Numa Seika was their top priority.
Although Numa Seika's army resisted stubbornly, the nobles' elites were clearly superior, and the war quickly became one-sided.
But Cerydra's gaze merely swept over the battlefield before she directly led the Dux Frigium, Esdeath, and half the army toward Numa Seika's castle, leaving only one sentence echoing in the air.
"Daughter of the Sea, I leave this place to you."
"Extermination operation—leave none alive!"
"As you command, Caesar!"
Caesar's tone was as indifferent as if she were talking about crushing a few ants. This attitude caused cold sweat to break out on the foreheads of the three Assassins being held as hostages.
During this time, they had already witnessed how terrifying this person named Cerydra was. Not only was her life extremely self-disciplined, but her methods were also incredibly ruthless.
"Meela, do you think it's really possible for us to be traded back? Is it really possible to survive?" Both Taeko and Chelsea were quite pessimistic at this point, as neither could be certain if Cerydra would keep her promise to release them.
Although Meela couldn't fathom Caesar's thoughts, Caesar's style of conduct made her absolutely certain of one thing.
"It is."
"Because a person as proud as she is will absolutely keep the promises she sets!"
Admittedly, whether in ambition or methods, Cerydra ranked among the top of everyone Meela had ever seen, perhaps even second only to one. However, this style of strictly adhering to rules was something even Meela was seeing for the first time.
Glancing at the valiant and heroic Cerydra, Meela sighed helplessly... as a lesbian, Cerydra was truly very attractive to her!
But the opponent's strength was too great, and she had such a loyal subordinate like Hysilens, making it completely impossible for her to make a move. In the end, she could only strike at the weakest of the three, Esdeath.
"If I can go back this time, I will definitely become stronger. If there's an opportunity in the future... I will come find you again!"
As a leader, Cerydra naturally possessed unparalleled charisma. When she gave her speech in the cave that night, only Esdeath had openly clapped, but she had attracted more than just Esdeath.
Meela.
This woman was similarly attracted to Cerydra, so much so that after becoming a captive, she couldn't control herself, which led to her move against Esdeath.
Ultimately, Esdeath was just the appetizer; Cerydra was Meela's main course!
So now, Meela was willing to follow by Caesar's side, temporarily obeying her orders to resist that army of sixty thousand.
—
Back to the present, Hysilens led an army of less than a thousand to fight the enemy outside, while Caesar took Esdeath and charged directly into the castle, meeting Numa Seika who had just put on his armor and picked up his weapon.
He was also the most important pawn in her hands for the coming period.
"You guys, as expected, couldn't resist making a move?"
Although he didn't know who this 'Liu Xie' she mentioned was, he figured he wouldn't have a good ending.
Numa Seika didn't recognize the two girls leading the way at all, but that didn't stop him from viewing them as threats.
To be able to storm the castle at this time and face him, the Prince of the Northern Country, with such a haughty attitude already explained everything.
They were enemies!
"Don't misunderstand, Liu Xie... no, Numa Seika!"
"We have come here to make the entire Northern Country better. I believe you will thank me in the future."
Cerydra only gave him a glance before turning her gaze to Esdeath beside her.
"Dux Frigium, do you have any experience with interrogation?"
Although the Esdeath in the anime had extremely sophisticated interrogation methods, she was still young now, so it shouldn't be fatal.
"Interrogation?" Esdeath shook her head. "I've tried it many times on Danger Beasts, but I don't know about humans."
"It doesn't matter!"
As long as they could be used for her purposes, Caesar didn't care about the minor flaws of her subordinates. Even if they showed disrespect toward her height, Caesar could forgive them.
"As long as you can make him more obedient, you can do whatever you want to him, but one thing to note... don't kill him."
"Do you understand my meaning, Dux Frigium?"
In the original work, the last enemy Numa Seika faced was Esdeath. One moment he was showing off his status as the Hero of the North, and the next moment he literally became a lapdog... even being kicked to death!
This was Numa Seika's future: meeting Esdeath, being crushed by Esdeath, being ravaged by Esdeath, and finally being killed by Esdeath!
Cerydra had no interest in this person who didn't even appear for half a minute, so she might as well let him face his miserable future directly!
I've brought Esdeath to you in advance!
Numa Seika, are you happy?
Cerydra directly stated her disposal of Numa Seika. How could Esdeath possibly refuse?
"As you command, Caesar!"
During this time, Esdeath had also learned some etiquette from Hysilens, and her form of address for Cerydra had changed to 'Caesar.'
This was a symbol of their relationship drawing closer!
It also represented Esdeath's complete recognition of Caesar as her leader!
Thus, Esdeath's gaze instantly became sharp. She drew her rapier and pointed it directly at Numa Seika, who had taken a combat stance in the distance.
Is it coming?
Realizing the opponent was about to attack, Numa Seika focused with all his might, entering a full combat state.
What he didn't expect was that Esdeath appeared before him in an instant. While snatching the spear from his hand, she slammed an elbow directly into his face.
Numa Seika... was defeated!
He hadn't even seen the opponent's shadow before being smashed into the wall, his consciousness nearly fading away.
"To possess such powerful strength, just who are you?"
"What... is your name?"
To be crushed so easily, yet Numa Seika didn't recognize the opponent at all... this was simply a disgrace!
At least before falling unconscious, he wanted to know the name of the person before him!
Although the opponent was a weakling, he was still a prince and a future pawn in Caesar's hands. Out of basic courtesy, Esdeath stated her title.
"Dux Frigium under Caesar's command, Esdeath!"