Skchlt
drip-drip
The woman's bloodied face was continuously struck by Esme, who was seated on her knees. "Just die, for God's sake," Esme uttered as she relentlessly attacked the woman. The woman lay lifeless on the roof floor, her eyes glazed over. Esme felt pain in both of her hands from hitting her with the jade pendant for half an hour.
But, even after being hit for this long, the woman was still not dead.
Vrrrrrrrrr
Suddenly, while Esme kept hitting, the jade pendant in her hand started to vibrate intensely with a faint green glow, causing her to halt and look at it for a moment.
'How do I shut it?' Esme kept looking blankly towards the pendant, which didn't have any button on it for her to stop it. After hitting the woman with it for quite some time, she at least knew that this pendant was strong enough to not break easily.
"Grrrhhh....Y-young."
Suddenly, a groan of pain escaped the woman's lips as she neared death, causing her mind to gradually lose the hold of the illusion as it began to fade away.
"Silent it." Esme once again struck the woman's face with the jade, instructing her as before. Finally, with her heart stopped, the woman infused her internal energy into the jade because her Dantian was intact. However, since the woman's brain was completely dead, she could only die without resistance.
"...Aunt?"
A voice came from the pendant, causing Esme's eyes to narrow as the tone of voice revealed the owner to be of young age.
From the previous mentioning of "Young miss" by the now-dead woman, Esme understood that the one behind sending this woman was the owner of this voice.
'Why send someone after my man?' Esme stood up slowly, feeling confused. It was clear that they were all new to this place, including Ryuk, who had been instructed by the Devereaux members to wear a robe, showing his unfamiliarity with the Jade Dominion. Yet, she was just targeted by someone who wanted to use her as a hostage.
"....So, she is dead, huh?"
[No way! Absolutely nothing! Well, other than that lovely bloodied dead body of the woman behind you! ^_^]
'?!'
Suddenly hearing System's words, Ryuk swiftly looked back but not even found a speck of small dust, let alone any dead body. While doing so, his senses noticed how Esme's anxiousness had just increased, her heart rate racing, prompting Ryuk to narrow his eyes suspiciously at Esme and ask, "Are you hiding something from me, Esme?
"H-huh? Why would I? It's nothing particularly special," Esme looked at him when she heard his doubt but did not try to sound like she was hiding something from him. She mentioned that the matter was not that significant.
Indeed, if it were just a random woman trying to harm them, she could handle it on her own. There was no need to involve him.
"...I see," Ryuk's eyes, devoid of any belief in her words, stood up from his spot and moved.
As his feet made contact with the roof's surface, Esme's illusions began to crumble like shards of glass, unveiling the crimson liquid seeping all over the floor.
Finally, just before his feet landed on something solid, the shattered mirrors revealed the lifeless body of a woman.
'Her face is unrecognizable,' Ryuk gauged down at the dead woman without feeling anything as he observed the hits on the face, which appeared to be done by something solid. His eyes followed Esme, who flinched and averted her gaze due to embarrassment over showing him such a side. He added, "Are you fine?"
"Huh?" Esme, who was prepared to receive some reprimand from him, suddenly met his gaze. Understanding his genuine concern for her well-being, she whispered, "Yes, I am fine."
'Where is the weapon?' Analyzing the place and knowing about Esme's strength, Ryuk was at least aware that she must have needed some weapon or hard object to hit the woman's face, which he found nowhere as he looked towards the floor.
"How did you kill her?" He asked Esme directly instead of moving all around the roof to dispel her illusion.
"Oh, that's, I used this," Esme felt relieved that he seemed composed and careful instead of mentioning anything about her mistake. His silence conveyed his concern for her well-being, prompting her to dispel her illusion as she raised her hand, revealing the Round Jade Pendant materializing.
[O_o]
'....is it a—' Before Ryuk could confirm what he was looking at, the System barged in.
[Host, is it a green Butt Plug?! ⊙_⊙]