You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

This woman, who has made a living by hunting dangerous species since childhood, has never changed her mindset.

She leads the Seireitei against the Order, not out of a sense of justice, but simply because this work offers ample opportunities for "destruction," "sabotage," "killing," and "ravage," and with seemingly legitimate justification—it's practically a divinely ordained duty tailor-made for her.

"Been taught a lesson!"

The songstress was completely convinced of Esdeath's power. Although she had only recently joined the party and was quickly given important responsibilities, she hadn't spent much time with the Ice Queen. Previously, she had been somewhat afraid of this decisive and ruthless queen, thinking she was the kind of battle maniac who would draw her sword at the drop of a hat. But now she had a different impression of her.

In fact, if she really understood Esdeath, she would know that although the Queen loved fighting, it was due to her personality and beliefs, and she was not a reckless person who only knew how to shout battle cries and charge.

On the contrary, she not only has extremely high IQ and EQ, but also has a lovestruck side deep down...

"Are you sure we can observe the princess's movements from here?"

"Most of them can be taken care of, and some blind spots have also been covered by people."

"Then there's no problem, Your Highness... um..."

“Rhodes,” the songstress whispered, “is Princess Rhodes, the first princess of this country.”

“Yes, yes, it’s Princess Rhodes,” Esdeath said, gazing at the palace with narrowed eyes. “Why would the Order want to attack her? While it’s our job to stop the Order’s plans, it’s also important to understand the reasons behind it.”

"Yes, I will have someone follow up on this matter."

The singer was quite confident about this: "This country has an exaggerated level of respect for 'art masters' like us. We can go wherever we want without any restrictions, and it's also quite convenient to gather intelligence."

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll send more people and funds."

Esdeath took a sip of chilled fine wine—which tasted almost like juice to her—and her mood improved considerably.

"This position is excellent and will be of great help in the upcoming tasks. I must commend you for that."

"This is all thanks to Lord Aizen. I merely showcased his talent to the audience, and naturally gained my current fame. It's clear that he is the true genius!"

Not only is she powerful, but she's also so gentle, and incredibly talented...

The songstress blushed as she spoke, quickly covering her face with her hands, feeling her palms burning.

"What an honor it is to meet that sir!"

"...That guy also plagiarized others; he doesn't have that much time to create original works."

"No way~"

The songstress didn't seem to care: "That lord bears the heavy responsibility of saving the world; his time is so precious, he must prioritize his tasks. Rather, the fact that he still remembers us amidst his busy schedule and specifically takes time to copy sheet music... Hmm, Lord Aizen~"

"..."

Esdeath was speechless for a moment, and gave the songstress a disdainful look.

These lustful guys, all they can think about is that bastard... They're so pathetic!

The Ice Queen shook her head slightly, then thought of something else and felt inexplicably melancholy:

I wonder where that damned Iori is now, and what she's doing.

Chapter 249: Girls Raised by Death (4K)

What is Iori doing?

The answer is hunting!

Unlike Esdeath, who was enjoying the beauty of nature in the land of art, he was now wandering in a lush forest, where he heard not beautiful music, but terrifying screams mixed with the roars of wild beasts.

A crescent moon, stained crimson with blood, hung high in the sky; flames licked at the grass and trees, sending up thick black smoke; the murky air was filled with the smell of rust…

Bloody footprints were left on the collapsed tent. Iori calmly and indifferently observed everything around her. The fierce battle was still going on, with mysterious people in black military uniforms slaughtering orcs with beast ears and tails.

The orcs, who are proud of their athleticism and keen senses, should have an absolute advantage in their home field of the forest. The orc warriors gathered here are even more brave and fierce, with bloodshot eyes and bulging muscles. They possess strength comparable to bulls and ferocity surpassing that of wolves, and are no less than the elite knights of the human kingdoms, and may even be stronger.

However, the situation was almost entirely one-sided!

Iori did not make a move; he merely watched coldly as the "Grim Reapers" he had trained slaughtered their enemies.

Agile, sharp, and ruthless, they act efficiently and in perfect unison, like a swarm of insects under the unified command of an invisible will. Each of them knows what to do and completely trusts their companions.

These female warriors, mostly under twenty years old, are as dangerous as poisoned daggers lurking in the shadows, and when they act as a group, they are more like a pack of wolves hunting than these tailed orcs!

Without any pity, without any hesitation, and without needing to communicate, they fought silently and intently...

Or rather, "execution"!

For the past eight months, although Iori has not stayed in the other world the whole time, she has focused her main energy here. However, due to the flow of time, it seems to the people here that three years have passed.

In three years, under Esdeath's leadership, the Seireitei has grown into a large organization with two hundred internal members and several affiliated forces. It has begun to engage in covert battles with the Order in multiple fields and is gaining momentum.

Iori devoted himself wholeheartedly to the formation of the Seireitei. In addition to completing Esdeath and Beatrice's training, most of these girls also received his personal guidance, making them exceptionally strong.

On the battlefield, the red-eyed orcs are comparable in strength to elite magic swordsmen, but they far surpass them in both individual qualities and collective consciousness, making this battle virtually effortless.

The only thing that is puzzling is that, faced with an enemy of such vastly different strength, the orcs chose to fight to the death and never retreat. Few of them lost their will to fight and fled. Most of them were overwhelmed by those sharp blades like moths to a flame... If you call it backbone and courage, then something is not quite right.

These orcs were completely incapable of cooperating with each other. Despite their greater numbers, they failed to leverage the advantages of a group and could only fight as individuals. As a result, they couldn't even slow down the Grim Reapers.

"Ahhh!"

The fallen corpse was pushed aside, and a tall orc with a gray-black face stood up, raised a heavy sword two palms wide, and lunged at Iori. The two were about four or five meters apart, and it could be said that Iori was about to arrive in an instant.

But Iori walked along the road, completely oblivious, not even glancing in that direction, only to see the heavy greatsword getting closer and closer to the top of her head—

squeak!

The greatsword seemed to have fallen into an invisible colloid, its speed suddenly slowed down and it was eventually blocked in mid-air. Even the orc's strong body stopped, its eyes wide with rage as it struggled wildly, making strange hoarse noises, but it could not move no matter what it did.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that his hands, feet, body, and even the greatsword were all bound by thin steel wires. Despite his struggles, he couldn't loosen his grip even slightly, instead suffering cuts and gashes on his skin. These wires were even stronger than the toughest spider webs, strong enough to turn the most elite warriors into powerless flying insects.

At the end of each of these steel wires are young female grim reapers dressed in black military uniforms. They are on rooftops, on the ground, and in the treetops. Some of them have a cold expression behind their half-masks, while others have a smile on their lips, but without exception, they are holding delicate threads in their hands.

Such a large number of organization members attacking one person at the same time is unprecedented since the start of the war, and the orc warrior should be proud of it.

But in the next moment, this filthy orc who dared to offend the supreme being in their hearts was cut into dozens of pieces by the shrinking steel wires, and his painful roars as he was being strangled were scattered across the land!

This technique of infusing magic into steel wire and then manipulating it is considered a divine skill by magic swordsmen in the outer world, but within the Seireitei, it is the most common method for training concentration and control, and also an important part of the "graduation exam".

For example, one of the best-performing blonde girls, who was not even eight years old, could manipulate wires individually with each finger and could control a double-digit number of wires!

This achievement was so perfect that even Iori was astonished. Esdeath even began to look forward to her future, hoping that she could grow to the point where she could fight against her.

"It's our dereliction of duty that we allowed the insects to disturb Lord Aizen!"

"It doesn't matter, let's continue."

"Yes!"

Iori paid no attention; his pace remained unchanged as he traversed the battlefield at a leisurely pace, more composed and dignified than a king inspecting his territory.

His emotionless gaze swept over the orc warriors being divided and annihilated. This one-sided massacre did not soften his heart; his cold eyes remained unchanged from beginning to end.

Only when he saw burning treehouses, half-burnt corpses, and mothers holding their children who had been pierced through as well... would the gloom in his eyes deepen.

These innocent people were certainly not killed by Iori and his Seireitei; in fact, they were late today.

This vast forest and the adjacent grasslands are inhabited by many orc tribes. Because they have not formed a "nation" or tribal alliance, the situation is quite chaotic, and the strong often plunder and slaughter the weak, just like today.

Iori and the others discovered this place while investigating something, and only arrived at the scene after the massacre had already taken place.

—In principle, this matter has no interest in the Seireitei, and it is not Iori's place to interfere.

The law of the jungle seems to be a given in the orcs' minds. No one cares about love or justice; they only hate their own weakness and grow in hatred, hoping to one day return the same pain many times over.

They don't think about why this happens, let alone try to change or stop it. Like real wild animals, they prioritize survival and try their best to adapt to the environment, either becoming strong themselves or depending on the strong to survive.

In short, this race is generally all muscle and brains, acting on instinct rather than reason... Orcs who can use their brains are practically as rare as pandas!

Even the beastman girls recruited by the Seireitei are generally combative, with very few willing to accept clerical work.

So why is Iori, who usually avoids meddling in other people's business, here today to annihilate the orc warriors?

It's not that they committed heinous crimes because they conquered other villages—similar things are common here.

The root cause is still related to the Diablo Order. That cult may have sent inferior "demon drugs," a kind of super-powerful stimulant, to the orc tribes in the Great Forest to support their large-scale wars of conquest and constant attacks on other tribes, in order to expand their military power or conduct large-scale experiments.

The threatened small tribes were powerless to resist the enhanced enemies and could only be swallowed up one by one in despair. Due to the side effects of the demon drug, even women and children had a hard time surviving.

It was at this time that the Order reappeared, providing the Demon Medicine to the uneasy little tribes. These orcs, like frightened birds, naturally accepted it without hesitation, and then engaged in bloody battles with their equally modified enemies...

Using only some pills as a byproduct of their experiments, the Order wreaked havoc on the entire Great Forest in less than two months. More than a dozen large tribes, along with surrounding vassal races, formed four factions that fought each other, and small villages with hundreds of people were wiped out every day!

If left unchecked, this great forest is destined to become a living hell, a meat grinder, and even if a victor emerges, they will ultimately lose everything—just like the Horde, which destroyed Draenor after drinking demon blood.

The ultimate goal of the cult may be to collect experimental data and, incidentally, raise a group of skilled fighters who don't think too much. The Seireitei, on the other hand, tracked down this place by following information about the demon drug and then launched a targeted operation.

Iori was neither a prophet nor a saint. He had no intention of trying to persuade the orcs to give up the demon medicine, nor would he try to win them over with love. Instead, he would use physical means to subdue them.

His approach was simple: warnings and forceful suppression. Any tribe that had become addicted to the Demon Drug was eradicated with an iron fist.

Doing so might require purging thousands of orcs... Fortunately, it doesn't require targeting the elderly and weak (as the supply of demon medicine is limited, it will naturally be prioritized for warriors).

The young female reapers showed no mercy to these fallen orcs: they must have been ruthless in their conquests of other tribes, and letting them go would only cause more tragedy.

Although it is a subtle matter, the conclusion is that killing is the most efficient way to save lives.

The battle ended quickly without any surprises or setbacks. Not a single member of the Seireitei was killed; only a few were injured, but they were receiving treatment from their comrades.

The reason they achieved such a brilliant victory was mainly due to their black military uniforms, in addition to the fact that the orcs were just chaotic and reckless and posed no threat.

This clothing is not made of cotton or leather, but rather of a special magical beast—a slime.

That's right, it's this kind of popular creature from another world, on par with goblins!

The slimes in this world aren't as cute, but after they're deactivated, their internal gelatinous structure has a 99% magic conductivity, far exceeding any man-made object. Furthermore, as long as magic is input, their toughness and strength can be increased, making them a truly versatile material!

In the original work, the Shadow used this thing to create uniforms and weapons, which left a deep impression on Iori. After he came here, he also studied it and successfully made it. However, unlike the bodysuit in the original work, the uniform of the Seireitei is a military uniform.

...It's not that Iori doesn't like bodysuits, but there are too many young members in the organization, and it's weird to see them walking around in bodysuits all the time.

Moreover, this uniform, which closely resembles that of the Quincy, combines fashion and discipline, giving it a more professional feel than the tight-fitting bodysuit.

"Lord Aizen."

The girl in military uniform appeared behind Iori as if by teleportation, respectfully kneeling on one knee, and reported: "The enemy has been completely annihilated. In addition to those killed on the spot, there are thirteen survivors... After the effects of the drug wore off, they seem to have regained some consciousness and are frantically begging for mercy."

"Hand them over to the interrogation team and see if we can get any information about the cult from them. Such a large-scale operation must have cult spies involved, and they must still be in the forest—find them."

"Yes!"

The girl readily agreed, then hesitated for a moment before continuing, "The investigation is complete. The attacked settlement was a mixed settlement of fox and wolf tribes. We found two rather unusual survivors, but..."

"Ok?"

Iori turned her head, not understanding why such a small matter as finding survivors needed to be reported.

“They are the young masters of the two clans. According to the previous practice, they should be allowed to lead the remaining clansmen and join the alliance supported by us... but one of them took the demon drug.”

Iori remained unperturbed and asked casually, "Are they henchmen of the Order?"

"Probably not."

The girl wearing the raven mask explained, "Neither the wolf clan nor the fox clan shows any signs of large-scale use of the demon medicine. The young master of the wolf clan probably obtained the medicine through some channels, but it was not promoted because of the opposition of the fox clan chief."

"This chieftain is quite clear-headed, knowing that one shouldn't eat just anything... However, while his decision is wise in the long run, it's incapable of dealing with the current crisis."

Iori shook her head slightly. Taking the demon medicine would cause the fox clan to fall into a berserk state, while not taking it would lead to their being swallowed up by a large tribe. This was a dead end for the fox clan, and they could never get a good result no matter what they did—it was essentially a matter of strength.

"Is the chieftain still alive? He seems to be quite intelligent; such orcs are rare talents."

"That's the problem... The clan leader originally escaped with his daughter and the young wolf clan leader, but the young wolf clan leader seemed to resent her for not accepting his proposal, which led to the annihilation of the two weaker clans, so he attacked and killed her!"

“…Hmm?” Iori frowned, vaguely remembering something.

“Our people have captured the young wolf clan leader. He was about to kill the fox clan chief’s orphaned daughter—he is currently receiving treatment from us.”

The crow masked figure continued, "Lord Aizen, what should we do with these two?"

Chapter 250: Yukihime's Path of Revenge (4K)

"Let me go! I'm—ugh!"

The precise strike to the diaphragm between the chest and abdomen felt like a steel rod being driven in, instantly contorting the wolf-man's expression. He collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted, devoid of any arrogance. Even a deep breath would cause excruciating pain, let alone shouting... He could do nothing but curl up like a small animal.

The girl who made the move glanced at the man with disdain; her pointed ears revealed her to be an elf.

The members of the Seireitei are mainly elves and orcs. These two races have a higher incidence of demon possession, seemingly because they live longer and therefore have fewer generations than humans. The descendants of heroes inherit a stronger ancestral bloodline.

In comparison, there are only five or six human members, which is quite rare.