Chapter 5: Waltzing on Glaciers of Blood

"What the?!" Ryoma exclaimed in bafflement as his axes got stopped easily merely inches away from their prey by her seemingly useless ice cape that split into two.

He didn't feel the sensation of hitting solid objects at all, it was as if time and space were frozen around them!

[Eh? Master! The temperature of her cape has reached absolute zero and time has stopped inside it!] his system assistant too became perplexed when she finally found the reason why his finisher could be stopped.

["What the fuck?! Did she literally just do the impossible?!"]

Absolute Zero, the lowest theoretical temperature where the movement of all matters cease to exist, so how did her cape even be able to move in the first place and how did that absolute zero state could be maintained even after his axes hit her cape?! Hell, it was even weirder when he counted on the fact that he didn't detect any change in his surroundings temperature and timeflow!

"Wha–"

However, he didn't get the chance to dwell on this impossibility as the Ice Empress did something beyond his wildest expectation.

She didn't counter attack with her swords, she didn't even use this chance to unleash another devastating ice technique, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck…

"What… are you trying to do...?" he asked while his mind was still in utter confusion as he didn't understand why she didn't use this chance to bring him down as her absolute zero cape might be able to do so.

Furthermore, he noticed something uncanny. Her arms around his neck didn't try to snap his head off, but just hugged him gently, like a lover's embrace…

"Hahaha… ha… it really has come to this huh?" but the woman embracing him didn't answer his question. Instead, she just laughed lightly as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders and it filled his mind with horrible omen…

"Wh– what do you mean??" In response, he inquired about her oddity once more, but a noticeable crack could be heard from his voice as a sign of his growing anxiety.

"Hush, let me finish first…" she shushed him by putting a finger over the mouth part of his helmet as her eyes gazed at the pair of his yellow visors with a gentle smile decorating her face.

'No…. don't tell me….'

But that smile, even though it was the most beautiful smile of hers he had ever seen, It only worsened his forebodings as that smile was akin to the one made by someone who is ready to let everything go….

"Ryoma Nagare…" then she called his name, her gentle melodious voice brought him out from his stupor. "I finally realized that no matter what I did, defeating you is a mere pipe dream …" and she whispered to him softly as she embraced him tighter. However, he didn't get the chance to enjoy their hug as the noticeable sorrow in her voice and her depressing words only made the alarms in his head blare even louder.

"But, you still gave this weak woman a chance to prove herself and made her experience the best fight of her life! So for that…" Her words paused as she took a deep breath before she put her forehead on his helmet covered one and finished her gratitude with a soft whisper filled with emotion, "I thank you…"

Afterwards, cracks started to form all over her body as she triggered the collapse of her whole being, causing the world shattering amounts of energy she had converged inside of her to go berserk.

[MASSIVE ENERGY REACTION DETECTED! MASTER, SHE IS GOING TO SELF DESTRUCT!]

The loud warnings of his system assistant rang inside his mind but….

["I KNOW!"]

It was very much unnecessary because he already knew what the woman in front of him was going to do. And if she managed to pull it off, then his rebirth, cheats, and everything else…. was all for naught!

'Cool your head off Ryoma….' But he realized that panicking in a dire situation would only make things worse, so he forced himself to calm down.

'....'

Then his mind raced, accelerating beyond the speed of light with only one focus in mind, preventing his beloved Ice General suicide attempt.

'Screw it! I'll try this one!'

And he finally found it, even though the result of this action was still unknown…..

=====================================================================

"And farewell…"

Following the Ice Empress's departing words, gentle azure light began to erupt from the cracks on her body.

'I really want to share a drink or two with you if we meet in different circumstances….'

If only they weren't fated to fight until one of them remains, maybe… just maybe…. they could become perfect partners...

'Oh well, maybe in our next life…. If i'm not sent to hell of course~ fufufu~'

Right, there was no need to dwell on the what ifs. But if miracles do exist, she hoped that they would reunite her with this mysterious man once again….

So she closed her eyes and with a soft whisper yet filled with pure determination, she chanted her finale, "Endgültige Umarmung…" (Final Embrace)

Then the gently shining blue light began to spread, blanketing everything in this world with its sorrowful, cold, yet beautiful glow….

Esdeath, The Final Champion of this dying world, decided to sacrifice everything that she got to drag this demon down to hell with her!

'So is this how it feels to die? It's not that bad….'

She no longer felt the excruciating torture caused by her self destruction, instead she felt some kind of comfortable warmth had begun to envelope her whole being. Furthermore, she could feel like her energy was being drained– wait, something was wrong….

Could dead people feel their energy getting drained?? And when she felt it more carefully, the comfortable feeling was her body that was getting healed!

So because of that, she opened her eyes…..

"Eh…."

And the things she saw made her exclaim in disbelief.

The all encompassing blue light of departure was rapidly getting devoured by the gluttonous emerald one erupting from the wings of the demon she was currently embracing and she could see that from the green crystals on his chest plate, green energy tethers were shot off into her own chest which she assumed that their purpose was to drain her overflown energy and heal her broken body.

'Ahh, so it failed too huh?'

And she concluded that her attempt to kill herself alongside him resulted in utter failure. Nevertheless, it birthed one more question inside her mind that she unconsciously blurted out....

"Why?"

She had tried to kill him again, again, and again, even going as far as to sacrifice her life to try and bring him down with her. So why did he save her?

"Because…."

She suddenly felt two strong arms wrapped around her waist. But, they didn't feel like they were going to snap her into two, instead they embraced her gently as if they were afraid to cause her more harm yet firmly as if they wouldn't let her go no matter what.

"You are mine, no one and nothing can take you away from me! Not even yourself!" thus spoke the Demon with a rather domineering voice lathered with obvious possessiveness which gave her the idea of what she might become….

"Heeh~ so you want me to be your slave? Your plaything?" and with a teasing smirk, she inquired more about his reasoning.

To be fair, he already earned that right because he had defeated her completely. Nothing she used worked, even her self-destruct attempt was foiled. And now, she could only let herself be embraced by him. Well, she hugged him first but that was not the point…..

Plus, having a Master that's absurdly strong and stunning like him might not be too bad. She could only hope that he wouldn't make her do something outrageous.

"Slave? Ahahaha" but the demon just burst out laughing upon hearing her question.

So he didn't want to enslave her? Then what was his real reason for keeping her alive?

"How silly~ Do you think that I would put so much effort just for a slave?"

"Eh?"

His returning question made her mind recall more carefully the things he did in their previous fight…

Giving her something that unleashed her true potential which made her grow stronger beyond belief, the almost imperceptible slowing down of his attack whenever they almost claimed her life to give her a chance to survive, saving her from imminent death by fixing her ruined body, and the act of embracing affectionately with their face merely centimeters away from each other as the cherry on top…

'Eh? Ehh?? EHHH??' Her eyes widened and her cheeks started to become hotter upon the realization of what he saw her as…

'I–It's impossible right?! Who wants such a barbaric, bloodthirsty, and sadistic woman like me as their lover?!'

Esdeath knew that her beauty is desired by many but she also knew that her personality made them evade her like a plague though she didn't care that much as those bugs didn't deserve the slightest bit of her attention…

'But if it's true….'

But if it is this man, the one who utterly defeated her really desired her to be his partner even after knowing how she truly is….

'I– I can't deny him right? But what if he was just messing with me?!'

Then as if to answer the doubts in her mind, both of their transformations began to be undone at the same time.

Her snow white hair returned to its pale blue color and her Ice Empress armaments melted as she no longer had the necessary energy to maintain it, revealing the tattered military uniform she wore which was burned in some parts.

And the demonic armor of the man in her embrace started to fade away piece by piece into green particles of light. Starting from the legs, arms, torso, and lastly his hideous helmet which revealed a sight that could be called as its extreme opposites.

An extremely handsome face with a warm and sincere smile decorating it, coupled with a pair of dazzling emerald coloured eyes gazing at her with tenderness like she is his most precious thing in the world….

"..."

Outside, she was at loss for words upon looking at such a breathtaking sight but inside….

'Ahh~ That smile is unfair♡! If he really wants me to be his lover, how could I possibly deny him?~♡'

She started to become delusional.... But, there was still this little uncertainty in her heart as the man she began to adore hadn't said anything else….

Kiss~

"Ah…"

Nevertheless, no sweet words were uttered from him. Instead, a gentle peck to her forehead from his lips was the one answering all of her doubts….

'Yes! yes! YES♡!! He wants me! He really wants me to be his lover!'

And at the same time, breaking all of the defenses in her heart. So, for the first time in her bloodshed and slaughter filled life….

'Fufufu, you need to take responsibility my dear~♡ I won't ever let you go~♡ ️ Even the depths of hell couldn't separate you from me!'

The Sadistic Ice General fell in love….

=====================================================================

[I… umm, Congratulations Master! You've completed The "Waltzing on Glaciers of Blood"!]

Theresa's slightly awkward notification about the quest completion rang inside his mind….

["Gulp, Yeah…. i can see that…."]

But he was currently preoccupied with something very "dangerous" in his arms….

Well, the result was better than he had expected– No, he could say that it worked too well because his simple forehead kiss seemed to trigger something inside the woman in his arms as the look on her face right now was akin to a hungry lioness ready to pounce on her prey whenever he let his guard down….

It honestly scared him a little, but he was more aroused than scared of what would happen…

[Uh….. Do you want to see the rewards now?] asked his system assistant again, trying to divert him from the increasingly ambiguous atmosphere.

["I'll do it later, I don't want any disturbance for now!"]

But he wanted none of that, he must focus on his dearest one first!

[Affirmative….. Then, please contact me if you need something later….] So she left her Master be with his crazy lady as she had already predicted that kind of answer from him.

["Hm"]

'Guh… hold yourself together Ryoma!' Amidst the assault of his burning arousal, he stubbornly kept his reasoning.

Yes, he wanted to bang her until kingdom come but, he didn't want to pop his first right here and then, at least not in this ruined world!

So, he took a deep breath to regain his focus and said, "I want you to be My-Mmph! mmhn~"

But, before he managed to finish his confession, Esdeath forcefully kissed him, ravaging his lips using her own as her hands kept a firm hold on his head to not let her prey escape.

'Ahh~ why does this feel so amazing??'

Even though her kiss was still awkward as it was her first, the ecstasy he felt was way beyond the kisses he experienced in his previous life. It was as if a missing piece inside of him had finally returned to where it rightfully belonged…

'Fine then, I'll let you do as you wish… for now at least~'

So he allowed her to take the lead while giving her subtle hints on how she should proceed as he already promised to pamper her a lot after their battle. It wasn't because the softness of her lips and her voluptuous body just weakened his desire to resist….

And slowly but surely, she became more skilled in her attacks thanks to his guides and their kisses began to become bolder and sloppier when she was already brave enough to pry his mouth with her tongue.

'Ahh~ I don't care anymore….'

And for the first time in both lives, he finally knew how it feels to be lost in passion. It made his mind melt….

'As long as I have her….'

Making him unable to think about anything else other than the woman in his loving embrace…

'As long as I have him….'

The woman in question felt the same, the only important thing was him and him alone…

'Nothing else matters!'

And as if their mind had resonated, both of them began sinking deeper and deeper into a blissful abyss, making them disregard everything else. Not even the occuring apocalypse could make them care….

======================================================================

"Phuah~ Haa… ha… What was that for?"

When they finally broke out from their kisses, the sky had already turned dark, and the moon was already high up in the sky. They really had lost track of time…..

"Haa… ha… I'm sorry! I– I couldn't hold myself back!" said Esdeath embarrassedly while trying to hide her face that was blushing like a tomato by snuggling into his neck.

She couldn't believe that she just lost control of her feelings and assaulted him, but he accepted her wholeheartedly so that was fine right?

'And this big thing that keeps poking on my crotch…ahh~ i don't know what to do!'

Ryoma is a healthy young man with a lot of vigor so obviously the act of making out with a devastatingly gorgeous woman like Esdeath would heavily turn him on. But, this only made her even more embarrassed as she doesn't have any experience in this kind of thing. So, she just buried her face deeper into his neck.

'Cute!'

Esdeath acting cutely like a small animal trying to hide itself made him scream inside and one of his hands reflexively began patting and stroking her hair.

"Hmmm~" and the cute animal purred as she felt the gentle caress of his hand.

It felt so peaceful and safe…. something she had never experienced in her whole life….

"Ryoma…." after a while, she called his name in a whisper, though she still kept her eyes closed as she enjoyed his loving caress.

"Yes?" he beckoned her to continue.

Then she pulled herself back from the snuggle, stared him in the eyes with a bright smile, and declared, "I accept your offer. Through victory and defeat, Into the heavens above and the depths of hell, I shall accompany you through your conquest! As your partner, your lover…. not even death can do us apart!"

"Heh~"

'That sounds very much like her'

Listening to her proposal that sounded like a warrior's oath made him chuckle. She is indeed really awkward with this kind of thing.

"Why are you laughing?!" She pouted at him. Did he not take her proposal seriously?!

"It's just… You do know that I didn't manage to finish my earlier speech, right?" retorted him with a sly smile on his face.

Well, he wanted to tease her a little because his prior love confession was interrupted by her forceful kiss, not that he disliked it though….

"Ah… But, your actions spoke louder than words, no?~" and she countered by reminding him of their prior lovey dovey acts with a smug smile.

If those didn't prove his love for her then what is?

"Fair enough….. alright you win, now we are partners…" failing to find another rebuttal, he gave up with a mock reluctant voice.

"Fufu~ That's more like it!" After hearing his affirmation, she happily snuggled into him once again.

"And dear?"

"Yes?"

"Can you continue what you were doing?"

"Hm? Ohh…." He then looked at his hand for a few seconds and began stroking her hair again.

"Hmm~ hmm~ I can't get enough of this~" Feeling the return of his loving touch, she closed her eyes and started humming in satisfaction.

'Ahh this cuteness is illegal!'

So once again they enjoyed each other's company under the moonlight that shined upon the dying world….

====================================

"Dear?"

Though her whisper suddenly broke the peaceful silence once again…

"yes?" he answered while still continuing to stroke her hair.

"You know…"

Her voice was a little smaller like she was embarrassed about something.

"Hm?" He raised his eyebrow, it wasn't like her to be very roundabout…

"Your big thing….."

After saying that, she snuggled deeper to hide herself from the embarrassment.

"My wha- Ohh….."

He got lost in the wholesome moment that only now he realized that he had a raging boner….

"Ummm… want me to relieve it?" So as a good partner, she offered her assistance with a bit of a coquettish tone.

Even though she was embarrassed, she was quite excited to see that her man was turned on by her….

"Eh, I guess not today…. You're still tired from our fight, right?"

'and you're my first…. I want to make it special!'

As the first woman that will accompany his journey through the vast multiverse, she holds a special place in his heart. So, there was no way he was going to accept her offer right now, because they were currently floating on top of a destroyed world. He isn't a savage without control of his desire, you know?

Plus, he is a traditional man so marrying her first before beginning their night battle is an absolute necessity!

"Yawn~ Are you sure?"

Now that he said it, she was quite tired mentally after almost dying countless times and nearly self-destructed. His comforting warmth and soothing touch started to make her drowsy too. But if he wanted to do the deed right now, she would happily oblige.

"Hm, Let's not rush things because we will be together for a long time… So, just relax and rest your weary mind and body in my arms"

"If you say so my dear~" So she started to adjust herself to get the most comfortable position after hearing his reassuring words.

"Good night, and have a sweet dream~"

"Hehehe~ i definitely will have one~"

Thus, she finally closed her eyes and fell into the depths of the dreamland….