“When the enemy’s been slain, it’s time to reap the rewards—“

“—Do whatever and take whatever you please!!!”

Haco passed by the shaken Najenda and stepped on the ice. The thin layer of frost that’d formed over the ice, crunched under his feet.

Disparate, the savage disregarded their lives to try and jump over the formation, to interrupt the Firing Squad.

Defenseless in the air, the Firing Squad continued pulling triggers to stop them. Bodies fell to the ground.

The wave was thinned down to only one savage surviving with sheer will. He charged with everything he got to interrupt the Firing Squad. Just when a soldier was about to shoot him down, the savage suddenly hurled the spear, killing the soldier and destroying their momentum.

Just when Liver was about to step in, he saw someone in a familiar armor quickly catching up with the savage from behind. His arms and legs moved faster than any machine as he resolutely felled the savage with a sliding tackle.

But it wasn’t enough to deter the savage. Haco knew, so he had already prepared to use the momentum to do a roll and follow up with a kneel kick to the savage's neck.

Haco could feel the cracking sensation under his foot, followed by the pulsing sound of his opponent hitting the ice—that could be mistaken for a whale communicating.

‘Crap. Did I just make myself a target?’ Wondered Haco as he got up. It was his mistake letting the savage through in the first place, so he had quickly tried to undo his mistake, but seems like he’d made another.

More savages were getting through by jumping over the formation.

“Get ready!” Came an order from Liver so suddenly.

Thinking Liver hadn’t seen him, Haco yelled “OI! I’m standing here!!!” All the guns were pointing in his direction. But—

“Fire!!!”

Instinctively, Haco threw himself to the ground and used the savage’s corpse to shield himself.

The roar of guns went off for a little while until the incoming savages had fallen.

Haco’s head had begun cooking red. He was beyond furious. So when the shooting stopped he stood and glared at Liver, “Are you blind—?”

Interrupted by the foothold disappearing, the ice suddenly cracked and Haco found himself in surprisingly warm water—not that he’d the rationality to feel it.

With no time to prepare himself, and already out of breath from yelling, Haco panicked. He’d a secret, a weakness he wouldn’t tell a soul: He cannot swim.

Waving arms and legs furiously, Haco found himself solidified, like a statue. His breathing was fast while he was sinking. Water filled his lungs which felt like laver burning his body to dust. Which seemed like an eternity to me.

The instinct to breathe kept screaming to do something until his vision turned black and his thoughts began turning tranquil. The hole in the ice kept getting farther away.

‘Not even—the Blue Flames of Resurrection can save me from this death.’ While he’d tried experiencing death many times now, the less than 30 seconds still feels like an eternity. Haco used his last moments to name his blue flames that just seemed to fit.

But like the times before, it wasn’t time for his death yet. Feeling something grazing his hand, with the last remnants of sense, Haco grabbed the lifeline before knowing it was.

When the ice broke, the savage’s corpse dived in with Haco, but unlike him, it was floating up.

With the hope of surviving, the legs began paddling awkwardly underneath the corpse. Still, it did boost the ascend.

And before he knew it, the desired supply of air was available. The choking feeling was still there, but it began lessening, as Haco held himself over the water surface by holding onto the ice and the corpse.

After rolling out of the water and winding down, the realization just hit him like an injection of furry.

“Liver…”

Amidst the chaotic battlefield, Haco stood up with eyebrows nearly standing vertical and mouth formed as an arch bridge, scanning for one man—Liver.

Like nothing ever happened, Liver was still giving orders to the Firing Squad.

The savages were getting ripped apart. Still, none of that mattered right now…

Filled with sheer outrage, the tank was overflowing, removing any rationality.

As a sign of the cataclysm coming, the Blue Flames of Resurrection were summoned forth in a supply never seen before. They were not here to heal anyone—but to kill its nemesis.

Haco charged on the slippery ice with the military boots he’s been given. Being soaked, the traction was terrible and the boots felt like a bother.

Sensing the irritation, the flames suddenly began swirling around Haco’s legs. Soon he danced on the ice with the greatest control and speed that foes and enemies blurred by him.

Just before reaching Liver, Haco jumped and used the momentum to do a front-kick that has never been so deadly as now.

“Fire!”

Everything was going according to the estimations. The Band Tripe’s fighting mentality was just about to completely shatter when they saw their best fighters dropping to the ground like flies.

Liver was bathing in the hostility he was given, when suddenly his highly trained military instincts kept screaming in anxiety, to move, get out the way, now!!!

Doing a quick step to the side, Liver view was quickly getting impaired by a blue talon with white claws, bursting by his throat, grazing it and making a red line. Like a canon ball, a ball of blue fire missed and instead blasted his Firing Squad to all sides.

Liver checked his wet throat and thanked his instinct, when he heard a sarcastic dark voice, “Sorry. I didn’t see you.”

The battle was dull. After having removed the territorial advantage, the average savage couldn’t even put up a good fight against one of her soldiers.

Of course, a soldier fell occasionally, but it was minimal. Furthermore, “There’s no place for the weak in my army,” mumbled Esdeath, just loud enough for Najenda to hear, which made her flinch at the lack of emotions in the voice.

Najenda—or her army—had not made a single move since arriving.

Which she now had come to deeply regret as Esdeath’s bottom line or true leadership has come to light.

“Urk…!!”

The initiation of barfing sounds followed with Najenda trying hard to keep her food in the stomach at the sight that had begun unfolding.

The savages began surrendering by throwing their weapons away and bowing in submission.

The terrible thing was, that the screams still kept coming, at an even higher volume. The black mist of despair overtook the village when the soldiers paid the surrendered no heed. Or more accurately, they began tormenting them instead.

In front of a house, was a kneeling man, yelling “We surrender!—” but before he could finish he was assaulted by three soldiers that proceeded to cut his tongue before dragging him inside the house.

Inside, was the guy’s family shivering in fright. A mother and little girl. With a barbarous smile that truly made wonder who are the savages, the three men dragged the mother in the hair before proceeding to violate her in front of the pair of father and daughter.

Similar atrociousness played out all over the village.

Najenda was shivering in horror.

Then Nyau and Daidara approached while dragging three captured men—the chief and his hands— whose eyes looked like they would pop at any moment. The chief howled with a bit of begging in his voice to Esdeath, “Curse you! Just kill us already!!!”

Finally, with a little fun appearing, Esdeath smiled, “I’m a benevolent person, or at the very least a merciful one. That’s why—“

“—I’m going to let you three live—just you three.”

In response, the chief howl intensified greatly, “Quit messing around! If you don’t kill us now, one day we will find you and—“. The bussing sound of an ant was hindered by the long white boot stepping him into the dirt.

The chief was forced to hear the harsh reality Esdeath began telling, “Remember this. This is the natural end for the weak. If you don’t like it, then get stronger."

It made the chief weep, together with the terror-stricken screams of his people going around the village. Deep regret for having opposed the Empire sprouted in his heart.

The sight endlessly satisfied Esdeath together with Nyau and Daidara… Until she suddenly realized something, “Where’s Liver?”

“…”

No one had the answer

But they didn’t have to when Esdeath caught site of the eye-catching blue flames and heard shrill warnings from her soldiers going around.