"Is Lord Damien sparring with Miss Snow Empress again?"

Souei and Benimaru were busy, missing the fight.

Shuna and the others stayed in the village, their split consciousness not disrupting daily tasks.

"I wonder how long Lord Damien will last this time."

Shion respected Snow Empress but wouldn't back down from a challenge.

She'd never easily relinquish her spot as Damien's closest subordinate.

"Lord Damien's working hard and getting stronger each time."

Shuna cheered him on. "Plus, he's not even using his full strength."

In these mock battles, Damien pitted his weaknesses against Snow Empress's strengths.

In real combat, he'd be a backline artillery.

Under absolute firepower, fancy techniques were irrelevant.

Of course, for training, Damien used every ability he had.

Only through constant practice could he refine and perfect himself.

"Go, Damien~~"

True to her role as Damien's loyal supporter, Ogerpon, now in a new outfit, waved a "Damien Will Win" Sign, cheering loudly.

The soul spirit space was ideal... everything was simulated.

"Go, Snow!! Beat him up!!"

"???"

Ogerpon thought Ice Empress was getting too wild lately.

Damien didn't mind.

After all, Ice Empress was forcibly captured.

This guilt made him extra lenient, treating her like a playful younger sister.

"Let this old man referee."

Benimaru's mentor, Hakurou, stepped forward, stroking his beard, standing at the arena's edge.

"Thanks again, Hakurou."

"No trouble at all. Watching such thrilling battles is a joy for me."

As he spoke, a vertical eye opened on his forehead... his Heavenly Eye, the key to his refereeing.

"Ready, Master?"

Snow Empress was an excellent teacher, adept at both feeding moves and pinpointing Damien's flaws with professionalism.

Damien felt fortunate to have such a remarkable subordinate.

"Let's do this, Snow."

"I'll try to last longer this time."

His response pleased her. She raised her hand, gathering ice elements around her.

Both restrained their power for a pure test of skill.

"Emperor Palm: Great Cold Snowless!"

"Starting with a big move?"

Damien watched Snow Empress lift her hand, pushing forward lightly.

Her movement was slow, yet to onlookers, it was blindingly fast, completed in a blink.

"She's improved again?"

Hakurou, observing, raised an eyebrow, awed by her prodigious talent.

"No way, I can't dodge!"

The palm seemed ordinary but wove multiple abilities.

An invisible membrane enveloped the space, halting all movement and change with extreme cold.

The principle resembled Esdeath's Mahapadma from Akame ga Kill, indirectly freezing time by freezing matter.

"The flaw of Emperor Palm is it needs to hit the target."

Fortunately, Damien's transcendent mind persisted despite frozen matter, allowing thought.

And thought meant his skills weren't sealed.

"There's still a fight!"

But as he prepared to counter, an invisible force gently struck his chest.

A chilling sensation spread from his heart.

Due to their master-servant bond, Snow Empress couldn't harm him.

On anyone else, this move would've been lethal or crippling.

"Snow Empress wins!!"

Hakurou promptly declared the result.

"Huh?"

Damien blinked, then lit up, turning to Snow Empress. "Your Great Cold Snowless doesn't need contact anymore?"

In such a short time, she'd perfected her Three Absolutes.

Great Cold Snowless, once limited to close range, now worked without touch.

This gave her a new, unexpected killing move, boosting her combat prowess.

"Amazing, no chance to fight back."

In the Cardinal World, Magicules weren't everything.

Some monsters, with mere tens of thousands of Magicules, could battle foes with hundreds of thousands.

Hakurou was a prime example from the original story.

As for Snow Empress, she was Damien's strongest asset.

Even Ogerpon, one-on-one, could only match her with berserker tactics, aiming for mutual destruction.

"Snow did great!!"

"Hit him, keep hitting him!!"

The spectators, though confused, were awestruck.

Especially a certain green-haired girl, shouting herself hoarse, itching to jump in and punch Damien herself.

"Ice Empress, that little…"

Damien's lip twitched, resolving to give her a playful spanking after training.

"Don't mess around, Ice."

Snow Empress glanced at her, exasperated.

Being forcibly captured, Ice Empress, though accepting Damien, was still defiant in words.

Snow Empress worried Damien might snap and turn her into a rage outlet.

"You're getting stronger so fast, Snow."

"In such a short time, you've adapted to the Cardinal World's system and developed new moves."

Losing to her didn't discourage Damien.

He'd lost dozens, maybe hundreds, of times already and was used to it.

"You're progressing faster than I expected too, Master."

Snow Empress cared about his pride, comforting him. "At first, when I froze time, you couldn't react."

"Now, after training, you can handle similar situations with ease."

She meant not just her moves but sudden assassination tactics like time freezes.

Early on, Damien would've been caught off-guard.

Now, she was confident he could react instantly to any surprise.

That was her true goal.

***

Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

***

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