It was complicated to fit into the shell of an adult. Especially a woman. I had to redo the skill three times, to make sure there was nothing that could be spotted with the Sense stat. Tying off everything carefully and getting actual clothing.
I used my memories of my Valkyries to create the most stunning woman possible. Michael was a man, which meant there was no way he was able to resist. I knew he wasn’t gay from the conversation I had with him. I increased the allure of my figure. If this type of woman existed, she would be the top super model in existence.
One thing I had no doubt about was my knowledge of the female body and what features were the best. Too many people would have overdone the breasts, ass, or height. The key part of this disguise was to make it stunning in all the subtle ways. Slightly bigger eyes, cute nose, perfectly symmetrical face, wavey hair, clear skin, and a flawless smile.
“I am ready,” Ruth said, while I looked at myself in a small mirror carefully inspecting my disguise. It was perfect.
“You can remain here. I don’t need you causing trouble.” We were set up in one of the outlaying buildings. I didn’t need anyone distracting me. I turned to the other four women I had collected. “You three remain on standby for my signal.” I layered energy into my words. I needed to constantly reinforce this technique since they were so new.
Once I was close to Michael whispering sweet nothings in his ear. The women would act, exploding themselves and one exploding a bit later. That was when I would strike. Sometimes it wasn’t the most complicated plan that worked. If a simple plan worked and there was little risk, then I would go with the simple plan.
The speeches were boring and predictable. A questioning session, perfect to get close. I was thinking how I would make my approach, and this was the perfect opportunity. I knew the perfect words to appeal to his ego and the exact way to adjust my body.
I waited in line, many people happy let me to go ahead. I didn’t want to risk him getting tired before I spoke to him. It was finally my turn. I advanced with a swish my hips. My dress showing just the right amount of cleavage to tempt any man and stir their loins.
My smile was demure and flirty. I approached the front of Michael’s throne, getting a bit closer than the other people and leaned forward slightly, so my cleavage was on full display. “Emperor Michael, are you single or looking for an Empress?” I subtly laced my words with desire.
He was clearly leering at me. This was going to work.
“Only a woman with the beauty of yourself and the ability to fight close to my level would be considered for such a role. Reaching the heights, I have reached is not simple. The title of Emperor or Empress, is not just one of political power.”
What?! I kept my demure smile on my face. How dare he! This was the perfect disguise. I was tempted to trigger the failsafe I had in his head, but that would only disable him, not kill him. While it wasn’t activated it was near impossible to spot or remove. If I activated it, he would easily be able to work out the issue. I had one shot, and I couldn’t waste it.
“Instead, it is a title denoting my immense combat abilities, that stand far above anyone else. I estimate I stand at a high combat level five. Based on your energy, I would estimate you are around a low or mid combat level 2 at best.”
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I should have made myself stronger?! That would have given myself away and people would have asked questions about where I had come from. I picked an amount of energy to show that was slightly above average to make me seem capable and impressive.
“If I named you as Empress, you would not have the personal power to hold onto that position. It also isn’t just about throwing points at someone either to make them strong. There is combat knowledge that one needs to develop along with their stat points or skill. I have seen people who were lacking in combat knowledge and their deaths always came as a surprise to them.”
I had failed. If I pressed more, then it would be too much. His mind was clearly set against the idea. Suddenly doing anything would just make him suspicious and reduce my sex appeal. Men didn’t like women to have secrets unless it what was under their clothing. Fine! How dare you reject me!
It didn’t matter that I was disguised as a woman, I was irresistible regardless. “Thanks Emperor Michael. I will keep it in mind,” I said with a demure smile and a sexy wink. I could use this appearance another time with a power up. He was clearly interested, but I just needed more power apparently.
I quickly left the plaza. Waving my hand slightly. The bombings were still going to happen. I made my way into position. For an attempt on Michael another way. I ripped off my clothing once I was on a side street. “Astral Projection.” My appearance changed and clothing appeared on me. I now appeared as one of the many male soldiers. The uniform part of my projection.
It wasn’t that great. If someone looked closely there were flaws, but this was only meant as a casual disguise to hide my appearance. I was also reevaluating my opinion on Michael. He might actually be gay or in love with power. I had been so sure. It wasn’t like me to be wrong about a person’s desires.
I quickly got into position as the explosions happened. It would require a lot of luck, but I was hopeful this would be the perfect place to act. I had a mirror in hand and carefully looked out a window down a long straight street the woman would be running down.
Another long shot, low risk plan. Have someone run away down this side street where she wouldn’t be easily spotted, but if she was, then Michael would have to pursue her directly. Those were the best kind of plans. I would just keep making attempts until something worked.
I noted Michael ascend into the sky and quickly zip towards the woman. Hurry up you idiot. Dammit, he was too fast, and she was too slow. She tried to run away, but the distance to me was too much. I quickly considered the difference, but it was just too much to move through the layers. Also, without my Word of Power Shatter, it would take time to prep and be obvious.
She was delivering my message. I had spoken to her alone, carefully layering in the instructions. One after another. I wanted to him to be worried, and my homunculus would draw him out. Plans within plans, until one worked.
The woman exploded and he easily dodged the attack. I lowered the mirror. I had seen everything I had needed to. Two or three buildings closer, then I would have been able to incapacitate him and kill him. Replacing him without issue.
But the technique to activate my failsafe was not perfect. Once activated it could be found quickly. That was how I canceled out skills. But the tumor I put in was quickly crushed as a person’s stats came to bear. By blending with their energy and being inert, it was far harder to find. Michael had broken free quite quickly on top of the tower. He had to have acted the moment I was kicked otherwise the Divine Empress would have killed him instead with any time to recover.
This meant, I needed to be close. If I revealed myself at a distance it would change from a sure thing to a question if he could escape first or worse, purge what I had done to him. If he managed to do that, then I would have no chance of easily beating him. I would lose my only trump card that was a guaranteed win.
Well, nothing important was lost. A shame an Astral Projection couldn’t feel properly. I would need to catch someone and cook them. I needed to keep working on building my physical body. I left the building and made my way to the safehouse before anyone showed up to inspect the scene of the explosion.