Chapter 4: The Empress's Interest

The Spirit who had completely crushed him with those girls was far more imposing up close. Her already considerable height, further accentuated by her silk heels, allowed her to look down on Shido with the grace of an absolute monarch, making him feel smaller than he actually was. 

The scent emanating from her was not that of death, but an intoxicating fragrance of sandalwood and lotus flowers, which would be enchanting if it weren't for the fact that she feared for her life at that very moment. 

Her eyes, with those golden, petal-shaped pupils, scrutinized him with a divine intensity that seemed to undress his soul.

Shido felt his legs weaken. The memory of the magicians falling from the sky was fresh in his mind. This woman was a killer... She was like a capricious deity.

—H-hello... —Shido managed to articulate, his voice breaking. 

She couldn't help but close her eyes tightly, expecting a swipe of the fan to end her existence right there, without a second thought, like crushing the insect she was. That's how insignificant she realized she felt.

The silence that followed was eternal.

On the Fraxinus, Kotori and the rest of the team held their breath. The affection meter on the screen was a cold 0.2%.

"Prepare the emergency shield..." Kotori began to order, but stopped abruptly.

Li Wei, in her Empress form, looked at the boy in front of her. She vaguely recognized the uniform. She vaguely recognized the messy blue hair and vaguely that "beaten dog" expression Shido always had at the beginning of their encounters, even if only from internet pictures.

-Beautiful...

But then, something happened. The Empress did something that left even Li Wei completely stunned.

If...it wasn't Li Wei's mind that reacted, but the personality of the "Crimson Lotus Empress" that he forged for fun, he quickly realized upon noticing his body's reaction.

The avatar that Li Wei created was not just a warrior; she was a sovereign with a specific weakness for men who possessed an "inner spark" or unusual purity and "something more" that made them very adorable in her eyes. 

That stupid role he played to amuse himself with internet idiots, now a personality flaw, triggered the power sealed within Shido and his behavior... and most likely, he interpreted it as a "treasure" that he had to have in his hands!

'No way, right!?'

Despite her heartfelt exclamation, the Empress's cheeks flushed a soft pink. Her lips, painted a perfect red, curved into a smile that was anything but cold, and utterly predatory... and seductive.

—My… —the Empress’s voice came out like a velvet caress—. ​​What a lovely child has appeared before me.

Li Wei was internally horrified. "What am I saying?! Is my body really forcing me to flirt with a stranger?! And a man at that, why the hell...!" 

But her hand, with its long, red nails, extended of its own accord and touched Shido's cheek with astonishing delicacy.

—WHAT?!—the cry was unanimous on the Fraxinus bridge.

The affection meter—which was previously just for decoration due to the inability to analyze the other party—took a violent leap, spinning like an out-of-control slot machine until it stopped at an incredible 53%.

"Fifty...fifty-three percent?" Kotori nearly bit her tongue, dropping her lollipop. "Just for saying 'hello'?! What kind of fetishes does this Spirit have?!"

"I think she likes weak boys…!" a certain "Thing" replied with his own theory, looking unusually serious. "She really must be like those dominant women who adore submissive men! Worthy Empress—"

Kotori instinctively went to kick him, making him writhe with pleasure.

As for Shido, he opened one eye, confused by the lack of pain and the honeyed tone of the voice. 

He met the Empress's gaze, which now scanned him from head to toe with obvious interest, almost as if she were evaluating something about him with those beautiful but intimidating eyes of hers.

"You have something... special about you, little one," she continued, leaning towards him, her enormous breasts, visible through her V-neck, defying gravity even more as they swayed beautifully. "I like you... Much more than those metallic flies from before."

While a strange feeling of joy and excitement spread through his body, Li Wei was screaming inside, filled with regret. 

She reminisced about her role-playing days, where she acted as a divine lady to obtain items from other (male) players. 

That behavior, that "mask" of elegant seduction and feminine authority, had merged with her being. 

Meanwhile, in a corner of the bridge, Officer Kannazuki stared at the screen with tears in his eyes and an expression of pure envy.

—That look... that way of calling him "boy"... It's absolute perfection! Commander, please send me! I want to be your servant too!

"Shut up!" Kotori kicked him again, but her eyes were fixed on the graph. "Reine, explain this to me. How is this increase possible?"

Reine adjusted her glasses, watching as the Empress began to play with a lock of Shido's hair.

—It seems Empress isn't looking for love in the conventional sense of "salvation." Her psychology appears to be aligned with a power structure. She's classified Shido as a "valuable possession"...for her, he's not a threat, he's a prize. It's a possessive kind of affection, extremely dangerous, but very useful to us.

—...A yandere?

-Maybe?

Reine bowed her head. Kotori paled slightly.

'A Yandere...A Yandere! If that woman really is a Yandere as Reine suggests, we're in serious trouble.'

His expression was terribly serious.

Below, Shido, still trembling, tried to recall his training lines. Unsuccessful in this crucial life-or-death process, of course.

—A-and... my name is Itsuka Shido. I've come to... to help you.

The Empress let out a crystalline laugh, a melody that made Shido blush to his ears.

"Help me? A tiny creature like you wants to help the owner of the Crimson Lotus?" She moved closer, invading his personal space until Shido could feel the heat emanating from her body. "I like your courage. I'll give you a chance, Itsuka Shido. But be careful... the flowers in my garden like to consume what they touch."

Deep down, Li Wei could only think of one thing as he watched Shido's face, a mixture of panic and fascination: "Well, at least he didn't shoot me."

In the distance, the spectral maidens who were once AST mages stood guard, forming a circle of silk and death around their new sovereign and her "guest". 

♦♦♦♦

Shido swallowed hard. The touch of the woman's fingers was both icy and burning hot. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his feet were rooted to the asphalt.

"Shido, don't break eye contact," Kotori's voice came through the earpiece, now with a tone of professional urgency. "We don't know what triggers her aggression, but as long as she looks at you like that, the city is safe. Play along. Ask her a question, something that gets her talking about herself."

Shido took a breath, trying not to stare too much at the cleavage that was just inches away.

—"Owner of the Crimson Lotus"? Is that your name? — Shido asked, trying to sound brave with questionable success.

The Empress tilted her head, making her golden hairpins jingle.

"That's my title, my position in the cosmos. But for you..." she leaned close to his ear, whispering in a voice that sent shivers down Shido's spine, "you can call me Lian."

"Lian?! Did I just make up a name on the spot?!" Li Wei screamed in his mind. "Wait... 'Lian' as in Lotus. Well, at least it sounds better than saying, 'Hello, I'm a Chinese university student named Li Wei who just inherited this body.'"

"Lián..." Shido repeated, feeling that the name carried an ancient weight.

"Tell me, Shido," she continued, moving only a few inches away, but keeping her hands on the boy's shoulders, as if she were claiming him before the world. "What kind of place is this? I feel that the magical arts of this world are... primitive. Weak; dependent on pathetic technology. And yet, here you are, bearing a higher power that doesn't belong to you, but that your soul has accepted."

Shido tensed up. 

She knew it. She knew about the power of the other Spirits sealed within her!

As?

"I... I just want people to be safe," Shido replied sincerely, his strongest trait emerging. "Even you. You don't have to fight anyone. If you come with me, I can show you this world. There are... there are good things here. Food, beautiful places... kinako bread..."

Li Wei had to exert superhuman effort to keep the Empress from bursting into laughter. "Bread what? Is this guy trying to seduce me with bread? It's... it's strangely endearing."

But before he could answer, the sky roared again. 

But this time it wasn't the artificial Qi of the AST engines that Li Wei felt in the air. It was something similar, but much heavier, darker; as if the world were being forced to make way for something that wasn't part of this space with a force that wouldn't take no for an answer.

It was something that felt like Dark Arts.

At the same time that Li Wei instinctively analyzed this and came to a conclusion that Shido would find questionable, a distortion portal opened several hundred meters above them. 

A silver ship, bearing the emblem of DEM Industries, emerged from the clouds.

"Well... looks like some vultures have arrived," Lián murmured, her smile turning icy in an instant. Her golden eyes flashed with an intense crimson light. "What foul energy emanates from that thing... distorting nature like that... Hmm!"

On the Fraxinus bridge, the alarms went crazy.

"DEM combat processing unit detection! It's the Bandersnatch!" Shiizaki shouted. "And there's a high-powered signature... it's Ellen Mira Mathers!"

Kotori stood up, clenching her fists.

—Shido! Get her out of there right now! If DEM intervenes, this will turn into an all-out war zone!

Shido looked up and then at Lian.

—Lián, we have to go! Those people are dangerous, they don't want to talk...

The Empress let out a dry laugh, releasing Shido and opening her fan with an elegant movement. The air around them began to burn. Her spectral "maidens" took their positions before them, their veiled faces gazing skyward with renewed murderous intent.

"Dangerous?" Lian looked over her shoulder at Shido with an expression of absolute authority. "Kid, I like you. So I'll show you why, in my world, the skies darkened when I passed by. I'm not prey fleeing... I'm the fire that consumes everything."

Li Wei felt adrenaline course through his new body. It wasn't fear. It was the euphoria of a player about to face a "Boss" with his legendary team.

"Stay behind me, Itsuka Shido," the Empress ordered. "Today, you will see how no one in this world can touch my greatness unless I allow it."