My Yandere Empress

The morning arrived rather quickly. Whether from excitement or trepidation, Enzo was awake before the sun even rose over the horizon.

Not wanting to risk sleeping in, he got up, cleaned himself, and decided to take a stroll around the vicinity.

Most of the shops were either closed or just opening as he walked past them. Unlike on Earth, there was no one jogging along the near-empty streets. Nor did he see any sweepers. He suddenly felt nostalgic for his days on Earth.

And naturally, with it, a sadness washed over him. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was really missing Natasha — his adopted daughter.

It had been a week since he transmigrated here.

Escaping a battlefield, helping change the course of events, receiving something not meant for him, and finally being enslaved and dragged here to this Isikolo Test — it had all been truly chaotic for him in this world.

Only now, enjoying the morning air and tranquility, did he let his mind drift back to his life on Earth. But what was lost was lost. And he knew that.

But knowing something and accepting it were two different things. Having foresight didn’t lessen the pain of accepting reality.

Awakened people in this world lived much longer than dormants. But even if Enzo were to reach the pinnacle of power and somehow brute-force his way back to Earth, he doubted the world would still be in the same era by the time he died...

Tossing aside the depressing thoughts, he summoned his runes as two screens popped up. He chose the group chat as the other dissolved back into his subconscious.

Checking the group chat, he still couldn’t find any replies to his question, which was quite odd for such a chatty group.

He sensed he might have asked an unpleasant question, and this was confirmed when he saw a direct message from Lilith, asking him to avoid that question until the First Aspirant himself deemed him worthy of knowing the answer.

"I sense some drama... and history between those two." Enzo muttered in amusement. But he understood the message Lilith wanted to convey.

A while later, people began stepping out of their houses, either for their daily work or simply to visit the markets. Taking that as his cue, Enzo returned to the motel where they were staying.

Several carriages were parked outside, and he looked at them with curiosity. Inside, the other three were already awake, seated at a corner table on the ground floor, wolfing down food and chatting with each other.

Shen was the first to spot him. "Good morning, Enzo. We thought you’d run off or something," he said with a grin.

"Just taking a walk." Enzo waved in greeting and sat down at the table.

He glanced around, noticed a lot of people looking their way and immediately turned back to his group with an irritated expression.

"Don’t like the attention?" Smut asked in amusement.

"Definitely not. They’re looking at us like we’ve shat on their food," Enzo shot back.

Shen looked like he was choking on his food as he glared at Enzo. "Phrasing, brother! We’re eating right now!"

Enzo gave him an apologetic look, but before he could continue, his food arrived. He ate alongside his newfound companions, not talking much after that.

The crowd around the fenced field was massive on the third day.

Probably because it was the final day, or because of the several important figures present, it looked as though the entire city had assembled there.

They chattered loudly, and Enzo felt like burying himself underneath the sand on the field. He was already struggling against the ferocious heat of the day and the constant shouting of the crowd wasn’t helping his case.

He looked towards the stage, where the host — the same one as the previous two days — was delivering a welcoming speech to the new guests seated at the pavilion.

"...We welcome three masters of the Southern Isikolo, who have chosen to oversee the final day’s matches at this centre. Candidates, give your best, for these masters shall themselves choose their claws from among you.

Those who win ten matches in total, but are not selected by the three masters present here, shall be randomly assigned to the claws of the other masters of the Southern Isikolo.

Let it be a reminder that the other masters of the Southern Isikolo are, at this very moment, present at the remaining test centres across the Southern Capital. It’s entirely possible they have already chosen their claws of thirty members from those centres alone.

In other words, not everyone who qualifies today will be selected.

With that said, please give a round of applause and wholeheartedly welcome the three masters among us: Master Asher, Master Zamian, and Master Adam."

The crowd clapped more fervently than the candidates inside the field, who were, at that moment, filled with uncertainty.

Enzo, meanwhile, was doing the math. If a claw meant thirty members, that would mean the three masters could, in total, choose up to ninety candidates.

And that was the maximum limit. If they weren’t satisfied, they could take fewer than thirty as well, filling the rest with worthy candidates from the other test centres.

Simply put, alongside winning ten consecutive matches, today they also needed to impress the masters watching from the pavilion.

That raised a rather logical question in his mind: what if the masters didn’t want slaves among the members of their claws?

’I mean, who would even question them? Their decision is absolute, and even if they were to ignore exceptional candidates just because of the slave status, it’s not like they would face any consequence.’

He turned towards the other three, looked at them with a grim face, and advised, "Try to dominate the fights as much as possible. If you can, throw in some standout skills too. We can’t afford to lose today."

"Oh, it seems we are thinking the same thing." Shen nodded, his face equally serious.

Today, the prayers were even longer than on the first two days. And to the four members of the Hermann clan, completely clueless about the language or contents of the prayer, all they could do was kneel down alongside everyone else and "pray."

Enzo was called in the very first round of the day.

His opponent was a boy with blue eyes and white hair. He was tall, with a lean frame, standing across from Enzo in a casual posture. As for his choice of weapon, it was a katana.

"Ready? Start the match."

Almost immediately, the boy flew at him with an astonishing speed. His katana thrummed with energy as he unleashed a strike at close range. He didn’t stop there, following up with another slash, hoping to earn two points with a single exchange.

But unlike the day before, Enzo wasn’t clueless this time. He raised his sword vertically as his weapon technique came alive.

The mana slash aimed at his chest struck his blade and dissolved into the surroundings. The katana came next, and Enzo blocked the strike with ease.

Then, stepping into the boy’s close range, he threw a punch at his stomach with his free hand.

The boy doubled over as Enzo followed with an elbow to his back.

"Point! Point!"

Three minutes later, Enzo stood with a genuine smile on his face as he was declared the winner of the match.

For the first time since his transmigration, he felt a real sense of achievement, having actually defeated a strong candidate through sheer mastery of his sword and not through underhanded tricks.

At the same time, his system dinged.

[You have learnt a Weapon Technique: Drifting Step]

It seemed he had mastered Ariel’s sword technique to such an extent that he had been explicitly rewarded with the entire weapon technique.