Chapter 1: Starting Over
Hello my readers, welcome to a new fanfic written by me. I'll be honest with you, I clearly hated the ending of Akame ga Kiru, both in Anime and Manga. I've never come across an anime where every favorite character you chose simply gets killed after an episode or two. I mean seriously not even Hiro Mashima made me feel like this during the final arc of Fairy Tail. So just like every other Akame ga Kiru fan, I decided to remake the story with my twist. Hope y'all like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Akame ga Kiru
"Normal Speech"
"Thoughts"
"Teigu speech"
Teigu
"Why are you going this far?" the little Emporer asked from inside of the supreme Teigu Gokuko Kishin Shikouteizer. "I'm begging you... Give up!"
"Don't underestimate me" Tatsumi replied as he continued to fall towards the ground in his broken Incursio armor. "Up till today, I've dealt with countless tragedies. I carry them all with me, all my fallen comrades! I won't let them down!".
A familiar figure of a man appeared in Tatsumi's mind, he was tall and muscular with black hair that was in a combed up in a heart-shaped pompadour. He was wearing a black shirt with green shoulders, chest armor and white pants with black boots. He also wore a black leather jacket on top of his outfit. The said figure was standing with his back turned and looking at a beautiful sunset.
You'll have some painful, despair-ridden experiences. In fact, most of them will be tragic. But we chose to walk this path" the figure said.
"Aniki..." Tatsumi said.
"We'll take on the dirty work and change the world. After we finish, we can disappear"
"Aniki..."
The figure turned around to reveal himself as the Night Raid's Bulat. "Shout it out, Tatsumi! With your raging spirit!"
Tatsumi opened his emerald and Incursio infused right eye as he stood on his feet and stabbed his short sword on the ground with a roar "Incursio!".
A huge wave of demonic energy surrounded him as a silhouette of Incursio armor formed behind Tatsumi. The Superclass Danger Beast Tyrant that made up Incursio roared as it evolved the armor further.
As the Emporer looked towards Tatsumi, he fired a beam of concentrated energy from his head in order to finish Tatsumi before he transformed. But before the beam could even reach, Tatsumi flew towards the sky in his final transformation. The new armor was glowing golden in color and had sprouted huge wings from its behind. The armor radiated sheer amount of raw power and grace from itself. Tatsumi flew towards Gokuko Kishin Shikouteizer in order to stop it.
"Don't come any closer... Don't come any closer!" Emporer screamed as his Teigu opened its massive maw and fired a huge beam from it, along with a few narrow beams from its shoulders.
But Tatsumi's armor didn't evolve for such petty things, as he easily dodged the great volley of narrow beams with ease and punched through one of them without any effort, dispelling it in the process. With one last boost, he plummeted himself towards the massive robot Teigu and falcon punched it straight in the chest.
The little Emporer gritted his teeth as he shouted for Tatsumi to fall, but this time it wasn't going to happen as Tatsumi used his complete power to deliver everything he had in that punch. The Emporer screamed in pain as his Teigu slowly started to break apart. Tatsumi's face armor broke revealing his blood-stained face as he continued using all the power he could muster from his armor.
"Tatsumi, you'll die!" Wave screamed from a distance.
"Like hell I will! I made a promise" Tatsumi replied with complete determination as he remembered all his precious people. (Sheele, Bulat, Chelsea, Susanoo, Lubbock, and Mine). "I'm going to survive!".
"Tatsumi!" the red-eyed assassin Akame screamed in worry.
Tatsumi used all his power as he finally broke the Gokuko Kishin Shikouteizer destroying it in the process. In a distance, the corrupt mastermind minister Honest clutched his head at the loss of his trump card.
But before Tatsumi could celebrate his victory, his eyes went towards the falling form of Gokuko Kishin Shikouteizer which was currently on a path to crush the people under it. The golden glow on his armor went away as he dived in front of the falling robot and used his thrusters to slow down it's falling. His earlier battle with the Gokuko Kishin Shikouteizer and the forced evolution finally started taking a toll on his body, as all his muscles in both the arms tore.
As the massive robot fell on the ground, Tatsumi used his legs to slow down it's skidding towards the people which resulted in breaking his legs.
The robot stopped just a few feet away from the people with Tatsumi in front of it, as his whole body bled.
Akame made her way towards the fallen form of the robot but stopped in her tracks when she saw the bloodied form of Tatsumi.
"I'm sorry. Looks like I couldn't keep my promise" Tatsumi said as he used his last energy and fell into the arms of Akame, dying in the process.
Tears fell from Akame's eyes as she screamed "You promised me! You said you'd survive!". "Tatsumi... I couldn't even tell you how I feel about you".
Tatsumi woke up in a space that was completely devoid of any light, he could hardly see his own body.
"Where am I?" Tatsumi asked himself as he stood up.
He clutched his head in pain as he started remembering his death. "So I died huh?" Tatsumi said in a dejected manner as he fell on his knees.
"I wonder what happened after my death" Tatsumi said in a sad tone.
As if on cue, the darkness around him brightened considerably and a mist formed before Tatsumi. He glanced towards the mist as he saw Akame and Esdeath fighting. Tatsumi was so engrossed in their fighting that he failed to notice a figure slowly approaching him. The said figure wore a white colored kimono that had black thrones drew around it and a kanji for seal written all over the white obi tied around the waist and wooden sandals. The said figure was a man probably in his 30's, his bright crimson hair slicked backward, a pair of amethyst eyes that somehow sparkled every now and then, his face was quite muscular and had a neatly trimmed beard on it.
Tears welled up in Tatsumi's eyes as he saw Esdeath hugging his dead body during her final breaths, as she encased herself and his body in ice which broke apart erasing both their traces together. His control broke when he saw Leone dying in an empty alleyway from the wounds she received from Honest.
"She really loved you with all her heart, didn't she?" the figure asked.
Tatsumi was completely taken in by surprise as he backed away from the figure that appeared out of nowhere.
"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked him cautiously as he prepared for a fight.
"No need to be wary of me, Tatsumi" the figure replied. "Hey, that kinda rhymed pretty well didn't it?" he continued with a smile.
Tatsumi sweatdropped a bit when he heard that and subconsciously dropped his stance "He really has a bad sense of rapping". Something about the person made him feel rather comfortable.
"So who are you?" Tatsumi asked.
"You can call me Ryuu" the said figure replied.
"Nice to meet you Ryuu-san" Tatsumi politely greeted Ryuu.
"No need for formalities Tatsumi" Ryuu said to him.
"Umm...Ryuu-san, what exactly is this place?" Tatsumi asked.
"I thought you knew where you are" Ryuu replied with a raised eyebrow.
"So I'm in the afterlife?" Tatsumi asked again, to which Ryuu gave him a so and so hand gesture. "Then are you the Shinigami or something?".
"Do I really look that skinny to you" Ryuu replied with a mock hurt.
"No...no...no... I didn't mean it like that" Tatsumi hastily said as he waved both his hands apologetically.
"Relax, I was just messing with you" Ryuu said with a small smile.
Tatsumi released a breath of relief that he never knew he was holding.
"So are you a spirit of a dead person like me?" Tatsumi asked as he narrowed his conclusion.
"You can say. I'm actually a spirit that provides others with powers" Ryuu said in a proud manner.
"What kind of powers?" Tatsumi asked in a confused manner.
"I can make any spirit totally One Punch Man type" Ryuu replied.
"That sounds lame" Tatsumi deadpanned.
"Oh really? Then how about this" Ryuu said as a golden orb appeared in his hand.
"What's that?" Tatsumi asked pointing towards the orb.
"This is the full strength of Incursio, or rather this is the Superclass Danger Beast Tyrant through which Incursio was made" Ryuu replied with a smirk when he saw Tatsumi's eyes widened.
"So small!?" Tatsumi asked with disbelief.
"Who're you calling small, brat!?" said a voice from the golden orb.
"It spoke!?" Tatsumi said as he pointed towards the orb.
"Thanks for pointing that out" the voice said in a sarcastic manner.
"It can even use sarcasm!" Tatsumi again pointed out.
"...I really want to facepalm myself right now. Are you sure he's the right one?" the voice asked with a sigh.
"Oh c'mon Tyrant, you also know that he's the chosen one" Ryuu replied.
"The chosen one?" Tatsumi asked with a confused look.
"Tatsumi, I'm a spirit that travels through multiple universes and gives powers to those who I deem worthy" Ryuu said. Seeing that he has Tatsumi's complete attention he continued " I'm giving you a choice Tatsumi. You can either ascend to the afterlife or you can return to the past and change your fate".
Hearing this Tatsumi's eyes went completely wide as his mouth hung completely open. "Y...Y...You can really do that?" he asked in disbelieve.
"To an extent" Ryuu replied.
Tears welled up in Tatsumi's eyes and he started muttering "I can return back to everyone. I can save them all, I can warn them about the future..."
"Woah...Woah...Woah... hold your horses right there Tatsumi" Ryuu said.
"Huh?" Tatsumi looked towards Ryuu with confusion.
"You can't do that" Ryuu said with a small amount of panic in his voice.
"Do what?" Tatsumi asked.
"You can't tell anyone about the future. Let alone revealing the fact that you were sent back in time" Ryuu warned.
"But why?! If I don't do that, how can I save them?" Tatsumi asked in a voice full of panic.
"Ummm... hello! Why do you think I'm here for?" Tyrant asked.
"But..." Tatsumi was interrupted by Ryuu.
"Listen Tatsumi. I'm just a spirit that can provide you with powers. It was already a pain in the ass to convince the God of Time from your universe to send you back. Plus he kept a condition that you'll never reveal to anyone about your time travel " Ryuu said with a sigh.
"But why can't I tell others about the future?" Tatsumi asked.
"I'm not sending you to another timeline. You'll be going back in the same timeline which you lived through. The things that you would change once you are sent back will directly affect the flow of events that should have happened" Ryuu said to him in a serious manner.
Tatsumi went completely quiet when he heard this and was finally realizing the gravity of the situation.
"What do you think would happen if you tell about the future to other people?" Ryuu asked.
"It would create a completely different timeline due to their actions" Tatsumi answered as he pieced everything together.
Ryuu just smiled at the fact that Tatsumi finally understood everything. "Heh...You're not as stupid as you look" Tyrant remarked.
"Hey!" Tatsumi retorted.
"No fighting now Tatsumi" Ryuu told him.
"He started it" Tatsumi said as he pointed his finger towards the golden orb.
"You both better learn to respect each other for the better" Ryuu said as he started to walk towards Tatsumi with Tyrant in his hand.
"As if I'd ever acknowledged this idiot" Tyrant said.
"Oh really. I thought I heard you praising Tatsumi for his unbreakable and strong will earlier" Ryuu teased.
"S...S...Shut Up! I never said anything like that" Tyrant said in an embarrassed manner.
"I never knew you were the Tsundere type" Ryuu said with a snicker.
Tyrant simply growled as he took the form of a short sword. The sword was almost similar to its original version with the only difference being that it had a golden orb replacing the red one.
"I liked the earlier version better. Golden's not really my favorite color" Tatsumi said as he held the short sword.
"Well sorry for not living up to your expectations" Tyrant said with sarcasm.
"I was only kidding Tyrant. You look really cool" Tatsumi said.
"Whatever" Tyrant replied.
"Before you go, I have another gift for you Tatsumi" Ryuu said.
"What is it?" Tatsumi asked.
"Show me your arm for a little bit" Ryuu said as his right hand glowed an eerily red.
"Okay, if you say so" Tatsumi replied as he started to remove his white jacket.
"No need for that Tatsumi" Ryuu said as he placed his glowing right palm over Tatsumi's left shoulder and started to chant.
After a while, he removed his hand from Tatsumi's shoulder "There, finally done". As soon as Ryuu said that, the Incursio sword started to change. It became more slender in shape and its color went from copper brown to pitch black which perfectly complemented with the golden orb.
"Oye Ryuu! What did you do? I can feel something connecting with myself" Tyrant stated in a panicked voice.
"No need to worry Tyrant, I just gave Tatsumi a new Teigu" Ryuu replied.
"That's impossible! No human can use two Teigus at the same time. Leave alone a Teigu that can connect with me" Tyrant said with disbelief.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing" a voice replied.
"Who said that?!" both Tatsumi and Tyrant asked together.
"The name's Titus, a custom-made Teigu" the voice replied.
"Custom made?!" Tatsumi asked in disbelief.
"Yep. I can create anything, the only limit is your imagination Master" Titus replied.
"What's that gotta do with the connection that has formed between us?" Tyrant asked.
"I need some form of energy to create, and what's better than your demonic energy" Titus replied.
"Stop messing with me. I don't think you can do that" Tyrant said with disbelief.
"You underestimate the power of the dark side" Titus replied
"What does that even mean?!" Tyrant confusingly asked.
"He's speaking the truth Tyrant. You both are connected to one another so that Titus can use your enormous amount demonic energy as a source to create anything that Tatsumi wants, similar to Esdeath's Teigu Demon God Manifestation: Demon's Extract, that helps her to create ice out of nowhere" Ryuu told Tyrant.
Tatsumi was quiet the whole time since he only had one thought in his mind "I'm way too powerful with them!"
"So does that mean both of us are merged to form a new Teigu?" Tyrant asked.
"You can say. I never really thought about that" Ryuu replied. "How about a new name for you both. Any ideas Tatsumi?"
"How about Exitium?" Tatsumi replied after thinking for a while.
"Hmm... sounds nice. Armor of Catastrophe: Exitium" Ryuu said with a smile.
"Whatever" Tyrant said.
"I like it!" Titus exclaimed.
"Ummm... what if I forget the events I did in the past?" Tatsumi asked.
"Don't worry about it, I've made sure to unlock your parts of the brain that have access to your memory. So if you concentrate hard enough, you'll remember parts of those events" Ryuu replied.
Tatsumi nodded with a smile, satisfied with the arrangement.
"Well then I guess you're ready" Ryuu said as he patted Tatsumi's back.
"Yes, this time I won't let any harm come to my precious people" Tatsumi said with determination as he clenched his fist and placed Exitium on his back. "Sayo, Leyasu, Sheele, Aniki, Chelsea, Susanoo, Lubbock, Mine, Esdeath, Leone. I'll save you all this time".
"A piece of advice for you Tatsumi" Ryuu said as he brought his index finger near Tatsumi's forehead. "You may be able to save your friends, but don't change the timeline too much like straight away charging into the capital or else you won't be able to predict what would happen next".
Before Tatsumi could ask anything he disappeared and Ryuu lowered his finger. He formed a small mist in front of himself "Let's see, the next candidate is a pirate? Hmm... quite interesting".
Ryuu slowly walked away into the darkness as he opened a portal to another universe.
Tatsumi woke up inside a small hut as he breathed heavily. "Am I back?" Tatsumi asked himself.
"You sure are" Tyrant replied from inside Exitium.
"So what should we do now master?" Titus asked.
Before Tatsumi could reply, he heard voices of two people that he had longed to hear.
"When are you going to wake up Tatsumi? You do remember that we have to leave the village today right?" a young girl asked. She had long black hair with black eyes. She also wore a flower accessory over her hair which gave her a really beautiful look.
"I'm so much excited. Finally, we can save our village!" a boy with somewhat unruly dark brown hair and brown eyes exclaimed.
"Calm down Leyasu" the girl said in an annoyed tone.
"Oh c'mon Sayo, don't tell me you can't feel the excitement" Leyasu replied.
Before Sayo could reply any further, both her and Leyasu were engulfed in a big hug from Tatsumi.
"I can't believe I'm able to see you both again" Tatsumi said as he began to cry.
"Woah what's with you today Tatsumi? Why are you behaving in like this?" Sayo questioned as she looked at Tatsumi with worry.
"It's just..." Tatsumi was cut off by Tyrant who spoke in his mind "Stop you idiot! You can't tell them about their deaths!".
"Tyrant's right master. Ryuu-sama did warn us about it" Titus continued.
"They're right. I can't get swept away by my emotions" Tatsumi said in his mind.
"Well... what is it?" Sayo asked getting a bit impatient.
"Umm...you see...I...uhh...really missed both of you" Tatsumi lied getting a bit nervous.
"But we only met yesterday" Sayo asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"I...well..." Tatsumi sweated a bit under Sayo's gaze but was saved by Leyasu's antics.
"I really missed you too Tatsumi!" Leyasu exclaimed as he bro-hugged Tatsumi.
"Thank God Leyasu lacks common sense" Tatsumi thought as he released a breath of relief.
"Well if both of you are done then shall we go now?" Sayo asked.
"As you wish your majesty" Tatsumi said as he bowed a little.
Sayo simply rolled her eyes but deep inside was happy that Tatsumi was cheerful now. Tatsumi looked towards the table and found Exitium lying on top of it. He grabbed it but when he looked towards the mirror hanging in front of him, he got a bit of a shock that his appearance and his clothes were the same before he died. The only difference was that his Incursio infused right eye was back to normal.
"How is this possible?" Tatsumi asked himself in shock.
"Since master is from the future, your past body couldn't cope up with all the training and experience you had. So it transformed into your future body" Titus answered.
"Along with my clothes?" Tatsumi asked.
"Most probably" Titus replied.
"But why didn't Leyasu or Sayo noticed these changes?" Tatsumi asked.
"I guess when your body changed, their memories about your looks changed too" Titus replied not completely sure about it.
"I think to stabilize such a huge change in the timeline, the God of Time altered the memories of everyone who knew you" Tyrant continued.
"I agree with Tyrant on that master. That possibility is quite high" Titus spoke.
"Wow! Gods can really do anything" Tatsumi said in amazement.
"Tatsumi you coming or not?!" Sayo asked from outside with irritation clear in her voice.
"Coming Sayo!" Tatsumi exclaimed as he placed Exitium behind his white assassin jacket and headed outside of the hut along with Leyasu.
"Hey Tatsumi, where did you get that sword?" Leyasu asked when he saw Exitium on Tatsumi's back.
"Which sword?" Sayo asked as she looked towards Tatsumi.
"Oh crap! What should I tell them?" Tatsumi asked in his mind.
"Just tell them that you always had us, but never took us out until today" Tyrant replied.
"I found it one day when I was hunting for Danger Beasts around our village. I guess someone dropped it" Tatsumi answered as he showed Exitium to both Sayo and Leyasu.
"Who in the right mind would have dropped such a cool looking sword?!" Leyasu exclaimed as his eyes turned into stars.
"Well, their loss is my gain" Tatsumi replied with a smile as he hung Exitium behind his back.
As the three of them were preparing to depart, they bid the village chief for the last time.
"All right, we'll be on our way chief!" Tatsumi said.
"Yes... you've been improving each other since you were young. Seize the chance to be successful with those skills" the village chief said to them.
"Leave it to us. We'll make the village wealthy. If we do that, we won't have to starve to death" Sayo replied.
"Well, it'll take about 10 years for this Leyasu-sama right here to get well known" Leyasu boasted.
"Leyasu will probably break the rules and get the Guillotine" Sayo remarked.
"Sayo! Why you! Stop saying stuff that might actually happen!" Leyasu shouted in anger.
"If you're aware of it yourself, fix either your oversleeping or how you have no sense of direction" Sayo replied with a smirk.
"You seem to have plenty of energy, at least..." the village chief said with a sweatdrop.
Tatsumi gave a small laugh seeing the whole situation.
The village chief walked towards Tatsumi and gave him a wooden statue. "Well then Tatsumi... It's my last parting gift. Take this with you"
Tatsumi looked at the wooden statue and smiled as he remembered how it saved him from getting killed by Akame on their very first encounter. But he still asked the question he originally did "When the time comes...sell it, right?". The village chief simply screamed a No!
"Keep this with you at all times. God will surely save you" the village chief said with a smile.
"Thanks chief, I'll be sure to keep it close to me" Tatsumi said as he took the wooden statue and kept it in his pocket.
"I wish you all good luck. Hope you all make it big in the capital and save this village" the chief said as he bid them goodbye.
"Don't worry chief, I'll make sure to save this village from the capital" Tatsumi said the last part in a very feeble voice as he headed towards the capital along with Sayo and Leyasu.
A few days later Tasumi, Sayo, and Leyasu almost reached the point where they were attacked by bandits. And as if on cue, a large group of bandits came out from behind the rocks.
"Would you look at what we have here?" one of the bandits said.
"Looks like we hit a jackpot, there's a really nice girl among them" another bandit said as he licked his lips.
Sayo flinched a bit under the perverted gaze of the bandits and covered herself up.
"You all better leave us alone if you want to live" Tatsumi said in a monotone.
"Oh, looks like this boy has some guts to threaten us" a bandit said.
"And if we don't what would you do?" a random bandit walked towards Tasumi as he took out his knife. "Do you really think you three can fight against such a large group?".
Sayo readied her bow and Leyasu dual-wielded the two short axes that he was carrying. "Tatsumi and Leyasu, take the front line. I'll provide the support with my arrows" Sayo ordered as she took out an arrow from her quiver.
"No need for that" Tatsumi said as he gripped Exitium.
"You seriously don't think that you can handle them alone can you?" Sayo asked not believing Tatsumi would take such a stupid decision.
"I don't think..." Tatsumi stopped midway of his sentence as he sprinted at a blinding speed and killed the first ten bandits that were in front of him. "I know I can" he finished as he looked towards the remaining ones.
Sayo and Leyasu were completely shocked and went wide-eyed.
"When did he get this strong?!" Sayo thought.
"Woah! Just yesterday, we both were on par with each other. Now it seems that the gap between our strengths has increased by a huge margin! Damn, it looks like I have a lot to catch up with him" Leyasu thought in a hint of excitement.
"You know, I think you both can help me. It would serve as a good way to get experience" Tatsumi said with a smile.
"Don't get too much cocky Tatsumi" Sayo said as she sniped one of the bandits with her arrows.
"Let's rumble!" Leyasu exclaimed as he dashed towards one of the bandits and engaged in a fight.
Tatsumi smiled a bit and returned his attention back towards the bandits, only to find that he had already killed his share. "Maybe I need to restrain myself a bit..." Tatsumi gave a thought on that. "Nah..."
When Sayo and Leyasu finished their side of bandits, they regrouped with Tatsumi and started asking him questions
"Okay, now spill it out Tatsumi. When did you get so strong?" Sayo asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"I also wanna know. We all were on the same level during yesterday's practice, so how come your strength increased by such a huge leap?" Leyasu asked an intelligent question for the first time in his life.
"Guess I had it coming" Tatsumi thought with a sigh. "I was always this strong, I just didn't show it" Tatsumi lied with ease since he already thought of this excuse just in case.
"So the whole time you deceived us?" Sayo asked feeling hurt by the fact that Tatsumi didn't trust them enough to reveal his true strength.
"I didn't deceive any of you. I simply have a few trump cards hidden up my sleeve" Tatsumi replied as he started walking.
"Don't fuck with us Tatsumi!" Sayo roared surprisingly.
"Sayo calm down" Leyasu said as he tried to calm her down.
"How can you ask me to calm down Leyasu?! Don't you feel betrayed by the fact that Tatsumi didn't even trust us to reveal his true strength? And I can clearly tell that he's hiding the true reason! I mean... what is he even thinking?!" Sayo objected as tears started welling up in her eyes.
"I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel betrayed, but I trust Tatsumi. I'm sure that what he did was for a reason, and maybe someday he'll reveal everything to us" Leyasu said with a smile.
Sayo was completely taken back by the words Leyasu said. She wiped away her tears "I never knew you had a brain for showing such maturity".
"Hey!" Leyasu retorted to the insult.
Sayo giggled a bit and looked towards Tatsumi's walking figure "I guess Leyasu's right. I should trust your decision".
"Well let's go, before Tatsumi goes too far" Sayo said as she started running towards Tatsumi.
"Wait for me!" Leyasu exclaimed as he followed.
"Looks like I managed to save us from getting separated this time" Tatsumi gave himself a small victory pat in his mind.
"You mean to say that you should have actually separated from them at this point?" Tyrant asked.
"Yep" Tatsumi simply replied.
"Master you do remember the fact that everything you change will affect the future, right?" Titus asked.
"Don't worry about it Titus, I remember the fact completely" Tatsumi replied.
"Then why did you change it?" Tyrant asked.
"Did you really think that I'll let them walk into the capital without me and see them get trapped into that cursed mansion again?" Tatsumi replied as he clenched his fists.
"I just hope that you have already planned on what to do next" Tyrant said as he gave a sigh.
"Don't worry, I've already thought about it" Tatsumi replied.
"Y'know I think that I remember reading about a shortcut to the capital" Tatsumi said as he stopped and took a thinking pose.
"Really?" Sayo asked.
"Yah, I think it was towards that mountain range" Tatsumi said as he remembered the path he took when he got separated from Sayo and Leyasu which caused him to get delayed by a few days.
"But wouldn't it be longer if we took that path?" Leyasu asked.
"I think so too" Sayo said.
"Who has a better sense of direction among the three of us?" Tatsumi asked as he puffed his chest.
"I have" Sayo replied as Leyasu also pointed towards her.
"Lol" Tyrant said he snickered.
"Shut up!" Tatsumi said as he felt a bit embarrassed.
"Alright then, it's decided. We'll take my path" Tatsumi started walking as he ignored the protests of Sayo and Leyasu.
"I really hate you" Sayo said to Tatsumi as she complained about her sore legs.
"I agree with Sayo, Tatsumi. It's been almost a week since we took that path" Leyasu added as he too started getting sore feet.
But Tatsumi was too busy to hear their complaints. "If my memory serves correct, we should be reaching that place soon enough".
As if on cue they heard screams of people coming from a distance. "Finally" Tatsumi thought with excitement.
"What were those screams about?!" Sayo asked as she went on full alert.
"Let's check it out!" Tatsumi exclaimed as he dashed towards the origin of those screams, with Sayo and Leyasu trailing behind him.
Soon they came across a carriage that was being attacked by a First Class Risk Species known as Earth Dragon.
"Just like the last time" Tatsumi thought with a smile. "Now that I think about it, these two soldiers seem to be from the Revolutionary Army. Hmm... Well all the more reason to help them out".
"This is gonna be exciting!" Leyasu exclaimed as he dual-wielded his axes.
"This is gonna be a good target to vent out my frustration on" Sayo said as he took out two arrows from her quiver.
"Hey, wanna make a bet?" Tatsumi asked.
"What kind of bet?" Sayo asked.
"If you two manage to defeat this Danger Beast under three minutes, I'll treat you both when we reach the capital" Tatsumi said as he sat on a nearby rock.
"I'm all fired up!" Leyasu exclaimed as he charged at the Danger Beast.
"You already lost the bet when you gave us three minutes, Tatsumi" Sayo said as she sniped two arrows simultaneously towards the eyes of the Danger Beast.
Earth Dragon was blinded as both his eyes were shot with an arrow, Leyasu took this opportunity as he jumped up the beast's arm and headed towards its neck to finish the game. But the beast didn't let him reach there as it used it's other arm to block Leyasu's path.
"Damn it!" Leyasu exclaimed as he jumped back to avoid the beast's arm.
"Keep your head in the game Leyasu" Sayo said as she continued to snipe the beast with her arrows.
"Hey, shouldn't you be helping your friends?" soldier 1 asked Tatsumi as he watched Sayo and Leyasu fighting the Earth Dragon.
"Nah, they can handle it just fine. Besides, they still have two minutes left till they lose their bet" Tatsumi said as he watched the fight with interest.
Leyasu ran towards the beast and struck its chest with both his axes, but to his surprise they broke apart when they came in contact with the tough exterior of the beast.
"Leyasu, did you forget that Earth Dragon have a really tough skin. The area around their neck is the only part that is soft" Tatsumi said.
"Alright, playtime's over now" Leyasu said as he threw his broken axes and took out a small rod from his pocket.
"About time you used it Leyasu" Sayo said.
"Things just got a little more exciting" Tatsumi said as he watched Leyasu take out his trump card.
"Why are you getting excited over a small rod?" soldier 1 asked Tatsumi.
"Don't tell me it's a Teigu!" soldier 2 exclaimed as he looked towards Leyasu with disbelief.
"Nah, it's not a Teigu" Tatsumi said as both the soldiers released a breath. "But that thing sure is something powerful" Tatsumi continued with a smirk as both the soldiers watched Leyasu with great interest.
Leyasu twisted the rod and right before anyone could realize it, the rod took the shape of a double-bladed axe.
"Woah! What's that?!" soldier 1 asked in surprise.
"A year ago, a great soldier came to our village and gave Leyasu that axe. It was made by one of the best blacksmiths to ever live" Tatsumi answered as he remembered the person who soon died in their village from an incurable disease that was given to him in the Empire since he revolted against them.
"Time to end this" Leyasu muttered. "Sayo! Distract him for a while will ya"
"With pleasure" Sayo replied as she used her arrows to distract the beast away from Leyasu.
Leyasu sprinted towards the beast and used its arm for boost. Leyasu roared as he delivered a downward swipe on the beast's head, splitting it into two equal halves.
"What the hell!? How did he do that!?" both the soldiers asked together as they were shocked to their core.
"That axe can amplify the user's attack making it far more lethal" Tatsumi replied as he also felt impressed by the power of the axe, even though he had seen it quite a few times. "I'm still confused on how such an amazing weapon didn't turn out to be a Teigu".
Sayo and Leyasu made their way towards Tatsumi with a smirk and a smile on their faces respectively.
"How was that Tatsumi? Didn't I tell you that you'll lose the bet" Sayo said in a bit proud tone.
"To be honest, I expected you both to finish a lot earlier" Tatsumi replied as he stood up.
"What are you talking about?! They killed that beast faster than anyone I've ever seen!" soldier 1 retorted to Tatsumi's comment.
"In your opinion they might have, but they still have a long way to go according to me" Tatsumi replied.
"You shouldn't talk like that when you didn't even do anything. Can you even keep up with them?" soldier 2 asked as he narrowed his eyes at Tatsumi.
"You should never judge a book by its cover" Tatsumi replied with a smile.
Both the soldiers rolled their eyes and ignored Tatsumi as they turned towards Sayo and Leyasu, "Thank you very much for saving us. You both were really cool back there".
"It wasn't much" Sayo said in a proud tone.
"Especially you young boy, that was really an awesome display of power" soldier 1 said to Leyasu.
"Heh" Leyasu smirked. "Well obviously~. For me something like that's a piece of cake!" he continued with a stupid smile on his face.
Both the soldiers and Tatsumi sweatdropped at Leyasu's antics. "And all your coolness is gone completely" Tatsumi said in his mind.
"The name's Leyasu by the way. And these are my friends, Sayo and Tatsumi. I'd behoove you both to remember it, cause these are the names of the people who'll become famous in the capital" Leyasu said with the stupid smile never leaving his face, Sayo too joined him a moment later.
As soon as Leyasu mentioned capital, both the soldiers went completely serious. Tatsumi didn't miss it and sighed "If only both Sayo and Leyasu knew how corrupt the capital is"
"So you all want to make it big in the capital too?" soldier 2 asked.
"Yep, getting successful in the capital! That's every person's fantasy from the countryside" Sayo replied.
Both the soldiers went quiet for a moment as they looked at each other.
"What's the matter?" Tatsumi asked even though he knew the answer.
"The Imperial Capital... is not a dreamy place you all think it is. It's lively, but there are a lot of monsters more vicious than this Earth Dragon" soldier 1 replied.
"What's with that... are you saying Risk Species appears in town or something?" Leyasu asked.
"Strange... I've never heard of them appearing in towns" Sayo said in confusion.
"People..." soldier 1 said as he looked down. "They're people, but their hearts are monsters... it's full of guys like that..." the soldier 2 continued.
"I still don't understand why I didn't pay attention to their warning the last time" Tatsumi mused.
"We are grateful for the words of advice, but we can't be turning back now" Sayo replied.
"We will make money at the capital and save our village!" Leyasu said as his double-bladed axe returned to its original form.
"You'll soon realize, what kind of place the capital is" Tatsumi thought with a sad smile. "Well then, if you'll excuse us now" Tatsumi said as he walked towards the capital along with Sayo and Leyasu.
"I feel bad for them. They really don't understand what kind of place the capital is" soldier 1 said.
"Yah, I just hope they survive in that corrupt capital. And who knows they might join the Revolutionary Army too" the soldier 2 replied.
"The possibility for that is very low" soldier 1 said as he sighed.
"Well then, let's deliver this cargo to the Revolutionary Base. We're already behind schedule" soldier 2 said.
"Yah let's go" soldier 1 replied.
When Tasumi and his gang reached the capital, Sayo and Leyasu were completely mesmerized by the beauty of it.
"Woah! Awesome! So this is the capital~" Leyasu exclaimed with stars in his eyes.
"Leyasu's really taken in by the beauty of the capital, ain't it right Sayo?" Tatsumi asked with a sweatdropped. But when he turned it turned into an even bigger sweatdrop as he saw stars twinkling in Sayo's eyes too. "I wonder if I was also this much excited when I first came here". An image of an overexcited Tatsumi came into his mind.
"Looks like you got your answer" Tyrant said
"I wonder if we get successful here, maybe we can even buy the whole village" Sayo said.
"Then let's hurry up to the Barracks right away!" Leyasu said as he started walking with Sayo following him excitedly. Tatsumi simply sighed and followed them.
"So, you all are applicants too, huh. Then fill out this form and bring it back to me" the man sitting at the counter said in a bored manner.
All three of them took the form and stared at it. Tatsumi literally had no interest in it but he still did what should have happened.
"Does this mean we will start off as foot soldiers?" Tatsumi asked.
"That's obvious right? And they're mostly sent to remote regions" the man replied.
"Like hell we have time for that! Take a look at our skills! If we seem promising, put us in the service at around captain class!" Tatsumi exclaimed as he swung his sword a bit. Leyasu joined in with Tatsumi, while Sayo paled since she knew that this wasn't going to end well.
A moment later, we find all three of them thrown out of the barrack.
"At least test us!" Leyasu roared in anger.
"Stop messing around! You need to win a raffle even for becoming a soldier! Applicants are flooding in because of this recession! We can't be looking at each and every one! There's also a limit to how many we can hire! So if you all got it, then scram" the man retorted in anger as he went inside.
"Well, that was rude" Tatsumi said as he pouted.
"I agree with you" Leyasu said as he joined in.
"Shut up both of you!" Sayo roared as she punched both of them in their heads.
Both Tatsumi and Leyasu groaned as they rubbed their heads. "Leone should have been here by now" Tatsumi pondered for a bit ignoring the pain.
"You were alone the last time, right?" Tyrant asked.
"You don't mean to say?!" Tatsumi said panicking a bit.
"Maybe you changed that event" Tyrant said.
"No...No...No...No...No... Damn it! If she doesn't loot us then we won't be able to go to Aria's Mansion!" Tatsumi said with panic in his voice.
"I thought you hated that girl" Tyrant asked.
"Of course I hate that good for nothing bitch. I don't even want to visit that Mansion of hers. But if we don't go there, then I won't be able to show Sayo and Leyasu how corrupt the capital is. And I might even miss the chance to get into Night Raid" Tatsumi said as he started to think of some plans.
"Hey Tatsumi!?" Sayo asked as she waved her hands in front of Tatsumi's eyes.
"Huh?" Tatsumi said as he broke out of his stupor.
"You were spacing out dude" Leyasu replied.
"Oh! I'm sorry about that" Tatsumi apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I was asking that maybe we should go eat somewhere" Sayo said.
"Maybe I'll find Leone there" Tatsumi thought. "I guess you're right. Maybe we should"
"Let's go then!" Leyasu said as he started walking.
"Yeah~ Alcohol in the daytime hits the spot!" Tatsumi said as he chugged another glass of alcohol. "Damn it! I didn't find Leone here too"
Sayo and Leyasu were completely silent, still shocked by the fact that Tatsumi practically gulped down 26 bottles of alcohol.
"I didn't know you were a drinker, Tatsumi" Leyasu said.
"Drinker!? Don't joke with me! How can someone even survive after drinking so much?!" Sayo exclaimed as she tried to stop Tatsumi from chugging another glass of alcohol.
"Strange. No matter how much I drink, I don't seem to be getting drunk" Tatsumi mused.
"That might be because I make your body immune to all types of poison. Which sadly includes alcohol" Tyrant replied.
"Even when I'm not wearing the armor?" Tatsumi asked.
"Pretty much" Tyrant replied.
"Oye Tatsumi! Are you even listening?! I asked, when did you start drinking?!" Sayo asked.
"Just now" Tatsumi replied as he chugged another glass.
"Hey stop drinking so much! You already drank a huge amount!" Sayo exclaimed as she took the glass away from Tatsumi.
"Oh c'mon Sayo, don't be like that. Why don't you try it yourself? I'm sure you'll love it" Tatsumi asked as he filled a glass and handed it to Sayo.
"W...W...What?! I don't drink Tatsumi! Leyasu explain it to him" Sayo said in an embarrassed manner. But when her head turned towards Leyasu, she was in for another shock as Leyasu was already drunk.
"*Hic* You were right Tatsumi *Hic*. This stuff is good~" Leyasu said in a drunken manner as his whole face was bright red.
"That's the spirit Leyasu" Tatsumi complimented as he looked towards Sayo.
"F...Fine. Maybe I'll take a little bit. But don't expect me to have more than that" Sayo said as she started drinking from her glass.
An hour later
"Bwahahaha... Kneel before the strongest warrior on earth!" Sayo exclaimed as she stood on Leyasu who was wasted on the floor. It didn't take a genius to guess that she was completely drunk.
"I thought you said, you'll only take a little bit?" Tatsumi teased as he watched the whole scene with great interest.
"Shut up commoner!" Sayo exclaimed as she chugged the contents of her glass.
"Looks like someone's enjoying alcohol way too much" Tatsumi said with a smile as he drank from his cup.
A few hours later
"Uhhh... I swear I'm gonna kill you Tatsumi, once this hangover ends" Sayo groaned as he grabbed her head.
"But it was really awesome you know, I was dreaming of getting crushed under a lot of money" Leyasu said as he too grabbed his head in pain.
"You were actually crushed under something else you know" Tatsumi thought with a sweatdrop.
"Hey Tatsumi, let's rent a room for the night. I'm really tired right now" Sayo said.
"Actually... all our money's gone" Tatsumi replied with an awkward laugh.
Both Sayo and Leyasu were completely awake now from the revelation.
"Say what?!" Sayo screamed.
"What?" Tatsumi replied.
"Where did all our money go?!" Leyasu asked.
Tatsumi did a drinking sign with his hand and replied: "The alcohol we ordered was apparently quite expensive".
"And you still ordered them?!" Sayo asked.
"I didn't know that they were so expensive" Tatsumi replied in his defense.
"Liar" Tyrant said.
"Oh shut up, I did it for our sake only" Tatsumi said.
"So... what's the plan now?" Leyasu asked.
"We'll sleep outside, of course. And once the day comes, I'll kill Tatsumi" Sayo said in frustration as she continued walking, looking for a place to sleep.
A small shiver ran down Tatsumi's spine when Sayo said that. After walking for a while they finally found a place to rest, which was suggested by Tatsumi of course.
"Stop!" a girlish voice said as the carriage she was on stopped.
"Do they all not have a place to stay...? How unfortunate..." the girl continued as she looked towards the sleeping forms of Tatsumi, Leyasu and Sayo. But when her eyes fell on Sayo's straight beautiful hair, she clenched her teeth "How the hell does that worthless country girl have better hair than me! I'll make sure to especially torture her to death!"
As she ran towards the three of them, they woke up due to the noise. "Hey! Did you all come from the Country?" she asked.
Sayo and Leyasu looked at her with confusion and Tatsumi simply gave a low growl. "Huh...? Uhh...yeah..." Sayo replied unable to make up a proper sentence.
"If you don't have a place to stay, do you want to come to my house?" the girl asked with a warm smile. Tatsumi simply looked towards her with hate-filled eyes "It always seems to scare me that how even the ugliest of monsters can smile like the prettiest of angels"
"But we don't have any money" Leyasu replied.
"You wouldn't be sleeping here if you did" the girl said.
"Lady Aria can't leave people like you alone!" one of her bodyguards said.
"You should just accept her goodwill" another one added.
"So, what do you want to do?" Aria asked them.
Sayo and Leyasu looked at each other but were interrupted by Tatsumi "I think we should go with her. It's better than sleeping outside"
"Then it's settled" Aria replied with a smile as Sayo, Leyasu and Tatsumi went along with her.
"Woah!" Sayo and Leyasu exclaimed together as they were taken in by the decorations of Aria's mansion.
"Ahhh... Aria brought some people in again" Aria's father said.
"What a habit. I wonder how many it's been now" Aria's mother added.
"Thank you very much for bringing us in!" Sayo and Leyasu thanked Aria.
"No need to thank me, make yourself at home" Aria replied.
"If we help people out, the happiness will eventually come back to us, right?" Aria's mother said in a cheerful manner.
"Mom! That's not the reason I'm doing it for!" Aria retorted in an embarrassed manner.
"Well why don't we have a cup of tea before we retire for the night" Aria's mother said as she ordered her servants to make some.
"Ummm...there's also something I'd like to ask" Sayo said as she explained the family about their circumstances.
"I see...so you'll want to become successful in the army to save your village?" Aria's father asked.
Sayo and Leyasu both replied with a yes.
"That's a wonderful dream" Aria's mother commented.
"But you know, it may be peaceful inside the Imperial Capital... but this country is surrounded on three sides by different races. You all could be brought over to the borders to fight against them" Aria's father told them.
"We're fully prepared for whatever challenges are thrown at us!" Leyasu exclaimed with determination.
"I see, that's a commendable spirit! That's how the young should be" Aria's father said with a smile.
"Oh look, our tea's also ready" Aria's mother said as the servants served the tea to everyone.
After they all drank the tea, Sayo and Leyasu started to feel wobbly and after a few moments, they fell unconscious. Tatsumi didn't react to this since he was already told by Tyrant that the tea had some kind sleeping drug mixed in it. "If it wasn't for the fact that Night Raid would be showing up tomorrow, I would've killed that bitch and her family this instant" Tatsumi thought while gritting his teeth for a bit.
"Looks like my friends here are really sleepy. I guess we'll retire for the night then" Tatsumi said as he picked up Sayo and Leyasu with ease and walked towards their room.
Aria and her whole family was too shocked to even reply to Tatsumi. "Mom! Why didn't you put the sleeping drug in that boy's tea! He completely ruined my opportunity to torture that girl" Aria asked with anger.
But she didn't get the reply as her mother was in her own thoughts. "That boy resisted such a powerful sleeping drug!... Looks like I found my next target for my dairy" Aria's mother said while licking her lips.
"That boy's really strong! I can sense it" one of the bodyguards named Gauri thought from a corner.
The next day Tatsumi, Sayo and Leyasu were dragged along with Aria's bodyguards to assist Aria in her shopping.
"We're going to that shop next!" Aria exclaimed with stars in her eyes.
"My lady, please wait!" her bodyguards said as they carried towers of boxes.
Sayo and Leyasu had their mouths wide opened as they saw the amount of shopping that Aria did. Gauri and Tatsumi were simply standing at a distance watching it all with bored eyes.
"Her shopping's amazing isn't it...? The amount is just getting silly now" Leyasu asked still shocked.
"It's not just her. All girls are like that" Gauri replied.
"Is that so?" Leyasu asked as he and Tatsumi stared at Sayo.
"What the hell are you both implying?" Sayo asked in irritation.
"You just pick what to wear right away" Tatsumi answered.
"That's because I have nothing to wear!" Sayo snarled in irritation.
"Anyways. Look up" Gauri said.
"Huh?" Sayo said as she and Leyasu looked up.
"That's the center of the capital...The Palace" Gauri replied.
"H...Humongous! Is that where the Emperor who controls the country is!?" Leyasu asked as his eyes bulged out.
"No..." Gauri said as he came closer to them. "It's a little different... there's an Emperor, but he's a child right now... The one that controls that Emperor from the shadows...The Minister is the ringleader that's rotting this country" Gauri continued in a low and heavy voice.
Leyasu and Sayo were completely feeling disgusted when they heard that but before they could say anything both Tatsumi and Gauri clamped their mouths.
"Woah there, don't make any noise, all right? Our heads will be rolling if you're heard" Gauri said in a serious tone.
"Then... the reason our village is suffering from heavy taxes..." Sayo said while clenching her fists. Leyasu wasn't faring better as he was also suppressing his anger.
"There are guys like that as well" Gauri said as he pointed towards the wanted posters of Night Raid members.
"Night Raid?" Sayo and Leyasu asked in confusion.
"It's the group of assassin that's rattling the whole capital. Just as their name implies, they conduct nocturnal attacks on their targets. They mainly target high-ranking or wealthy individuals in the capital. Prepare yourselves, just in case" Gauri said to them.
"Sure!" Leyasu exclaimed. "We'll give them a tough fight if they ever come across us!" he continued. Sayo nodded and Tatsumi gave a small smile "We'll surely fight, but not against them".
"Also... go do something about that for now" Gauri said as he pointed in a direction. Sayo and Leyasu looked where he was pointing and had their eyes completely wide opened. Aria was coming towards them with her bodyguards carrying a freakishly huge mountain of boxes.
"Just how much does that girl shop!" Sayo and Leyasu exclaimed together.
The night soon came with Sayo and Leyasu sleeping in their room. Tatsumi was currently outside the room with a smile on his face "Finally! The time has come when I'll meet with Night Raid again". But he was brought out of his thoughts by Titus.
"Master, I sense a disturbance in the force" Titus said
"Huh?" Tatsumi asked in confusion.
"I guess he means to say that he is sensing something very powerful nearby like I am" Tyrant replied.
"Is it Night Raid?" Tatsumi asked with a hint of happiness in his voice.
"I don't think so. I recognize everyone's energy signatures in Night Raid. This is something we've never come across, and what's more is the fact that whoever it is, has the power that is almost par with Esdeath" Tyrant replied with seriousness.
Hearing the fact that there is another person which is on the level of Esdeath, Tatsumi's eyes widened like dinner plates.
"Master, I advice you to check on whoever is giving off such powerful signature. Somehow it seems similar" Titus said the last part in a low and serious voice.
"But Night Raid will be arriving soon" Tatsumi objected.
"This is more important than that Tatsumi. The signature's not too far away, so it won't take much time. Plus, dealing with another Esdeath is the last thing we want" Tyrant said in all seriousness.
Tatsumi released a long sigh knowing that he can't win this argument "Fine, I'll go check on it". With that said Tatsumi opened the window and jumped from it. All his training in the past life really paid off as he smoothly landed on his feet even after jumping from the top floor of the mansion.
"Damn it, looks like I'm going to miss the chance to see their entry again" Tatsumi cursed a bit as he sprinted towards the direction where the energy signature was coming from. What he didn't realize was the fact that Night Raid had already arrived on the opposite side from where he ran.
Meanwhile back at the mansion, Aria's mother was slowly walking towards the room where Tatsumi, Sayo and Leyasu were.
"Now then... I guess it's finally the time to write a new diary entry...Fufu... I really can't stop this hobby of mine" Aria's mother said with a laugh as she looked towards the diary she was holding in her hand.
*Snap*
Before Aria's mother could realize what happened her body was cleanly cut from the waistline. Her arms were unfortunate enough to be caught during the attack as they too were cut from the area of biceps.
"Huh?" Aria's mother said as she was fortunate enough to see her attacker before dying.
Her attacker was a slender woman with long purple hair and purple eyes. She wore a revealing sleeveless lilac cheongsam with detached lilac arm sleeves, white boots and a hat. She also wore glasses and had a scar on her right cheek. She was holding a large scissor with a panda bear sticker on one of its handles. The scissor was stained with blood, more accurately the blood of Aria's mother. It was completely clear that the scissor was used to cut or rather kill Aria's mother.
The purple haired women gave a jerk so as to remove the blood stains from her large scissor, and moments later she bowed before the corpse apologizing for taking her life.
Sayo and Leyasu both woke up when they sensed the bloodthirst. Sayo looked towards Leyasu and asked: "Did you sense that bloodthirst too?", to which Leyasu nodded. Before they could go to investigate it, Leyasu asked: "Hey, where's Tatsumi?".
Sayo's eyes widened when she heard that and her mind came to the worst case scenario, "You don't think that he...?". But before she could get her answer, Leyasu dashed out of the door when he understood where Sayo was getting at. Sayo followed behind Leyasu with the same thought that he was having, "Please be save, Tatsumi".
They soon came across the corpse of Aria's mother and were on the verge of throwing up seeing her insides coming out. "Damn it! Who the hell did this to her!" Leyasu growled in anger. But they didn't have to wait for an answer as they looked towards the window.
Outside were the silhouette of five people standing on what looked like wires. Sayo and Leyasu recognized them instantly, remembering their faces from the wanted posters.
"Night Raid!" Leyasu exclaimed.
Sayo's eyes fell towards the three bodyguards that were going to fight them, among them there was Gauri too.
"Three bodyguards. They're targets, Akame-chan" Lubbock said.
"Eliminate" the red-eyed assassin, Akame said in a monotone voice as she along with Bulat who was in his Incursio armor jumped down from the wires.
"Listen...don't touch that Katana, not even one bit" Gauri warned the others.
But before one could even realize, Gauri's neck was slashed by Akame's katana and another one was pinned by Bulat's Neuntote that was thrusted deep into his gut. Gauri slowly watched in horror as the poison from Akame's katana spread throughout his body resulting in his death. The third bodyguard who was watching it all tried to run away due to fear but was shot in the head by the pink-haired sniper, Mine.
"Pathetic. Running away in the face of an enemy" Mine said.
"Well~ You'd normally run from that" Lubbock said with a sweatdrop.
Both Sayo and Leyasu were devastated after seeing Night Raid kill those bodyguards like they were swatting flies.
"In one moment...Annihilated!?" Leyasu said with fear in his voice.
"We gotta find Tatsumi fast!" Sayo said in a panic filled voice as Leyasu nodded and they both ran to find Tatsumi.
Speaking of Tatsumi, he was currently inside the forest that was quite close to the mansion and was staring at a big crater that was in the middle of it.
"What the hell happened here?" Tatsumi asked as he inspected the crater.
"I have no idea" Tyrant replied.
"I...I...It can't be!" Titus said in a panicked voice.
"What's the matter Titus?" Tatsumi asked.
"He shouldn't be here, I was sure that he was locked!" Titus continued panicking.
"Titus?" Tyrant asked.
"Did he broke out of the confinement? No...it can't be" Titus was finally snapped out of his stupor by Tatsumi, "Titus! Snap out of it!".
"I...I...I'm sorry master" Titus apologized.
"What's the matter Titus? Do you know who caused this crater?" Tatsumi asked.
"I'm not entirely sure master. But the leftover energy signatures that I'm picking over here resembles someone I know" Titus answered with his voice slowly becoming heavy.
"Who is it?" Tatsumi asked.
"Titan" Titus replied.
"Titan?/Titan?" both Tatsumi and Tyrant asked.
"Titan is a custom-made Teigu just like me. Titan was originally created to wield the power of all the Teigus that were present. But it was too much for a single Teigu, so it could only be used for a maximum limit of half an hour" Titus said as both Tatsumi and Tyrant went wide-eyed imagining the power Titan held.
"You said it was locked, right?" Tatsumi asked.
"You heard correct master. Titan was indeed kept in confinement since it used to drive the user insane with its power. But if my hunch is correct then it may have broken through his confinement" Titus replied.
"So you're saying that it can work on its own too?!" Tatsumi asked with a bit of panic in his voice.
"No. Just like every other Teigu, it needs a user to operate it. What I fear is that it may have found a user" Titus replied.
"But you said that it can't be wielded by anyone" Tyrant asked.
"Surely, it can't be wielded by anyone. But if it gets infused with its host, then it can be used until the host breaks" Titus replied.
"What do you mean by 'break'?" Tatsumi asked.
"Multiple organ failure, permanent paralysis and many other things I can't describe" Titus replied in a heavy voice.
"Whoever is wielding that Teigu, must be stopped" Tatsumi said after a moment of silence. Tyrant and Titus nodded in acceptance.
"Oh Shit!" Tatsumi exclaimed.
"What's the matter?" Tyrant asked.
"I completely forgot about Night Raid!" Tatsumi exclaimed again as he sprinted back towards the mansion. "Damn it! Hope I'm not too late!"
Back at the mansion, Leyasu and Sayo were currently engaged in a fight with Akame and Leone respectively.
"Shit! She's way too stronger than I imagined" Leyasu thought as he panted after a few clashes with Akame. In a distance Sayo wasn't faring much better as she was also tired after fighting with Leone. Since Sayo was a long ranged fighter, she was at a complete disadvantage against Leone who specialized in close combat.
"Get out of the way or I'll kill you" Akame said in a monotone voice.
Leyasu weakly smiled "I can't do that, you know. If I can't even protect a single girl, there's no way I can save my entire village".
"I see...Then I'll Eliminate" Akame said in a serious voice as she dashed towards Leyasu with her katana aimed straight towards his chest.
"Looks like your friend there is about to die" Leone said to Sayo.
Sayo weakly looked towards Leyasu and her eyes widened "Leyasu!"
"Looks like my journey ends here... Sayo, Tatsumi...hope you both save the village" Leyasu thought with a smile as he prepared to accept his death.
"Like hell you'll eliminate!" a familiar voice screamed as Akame's katana was parried before it hit Leyasu's chest.
Akame was completely taken in by surprise when her attack was blocked "I didn't even see him! Who is this guy?".
"Who are you?" Akame asked as she backed away to maintain some distance. Leone and Sayo were also shocked by the sudden interruption, both for a different reason.
"Me?" Tatsumi asked with a smirk. "Just a passerby"
"Get out of the way or I'll kill you too" Akame said with seriousness.
"Can't do that beautiful. Or else you'll kill my friend" Tatsumi said with the smirk never leaving his face.
Akame raised an eyebrow at the compliment but deep inside she felt a bit warm. Sayo, on the other hand, screamed in irritation "Why are you flirting with the enemy, Tatsumi!".
"I'm not flirting!" Tatsumi said with an embarrassed face.
"Thank god you're here Tatsumi. We were worried about you" Leyasu weakly said.
"You did a good job surviving against her for so long" Tatsumi said with a smile.
"Then I guess I'll leave everything to you then" Leyasu said as he sat on the ground to regain his breath.
"Thank god you're here" Aria said as she hoped that Tatsumi bought her enough time to escape.
"I'm not here to save you" Tatsumi replied coldly.
"W...What do you mean?" Aria asked.
"Everything will be cleared soon" Tatsumi said as he walked towards the shed that was behind them.
"Look carefully Sayo and Leyasu, this is the truth of the capital" Tatsumi said as he kicked open the shed door.
The sight that greeted Sayo and Leyasu was a very disturbing one. Inside the shed were mutilated bodies of people, some were hung from the ceiling while the others were on different types of torture devices. Both Sayo and Leyasu had their eyes dilated in horror as they saw the gruesome scene in front of them. Leyasu couldn't take it and emptied the contents of his stomach, Sayo, on the other hand, endured the feeling to throw up and asked: "What is this...!?".
"Aria and her family lure unidentified people who come from the country with their sweet words and subject them to their hobby of torture and toy with them until they die" Tatsumi replied with disgust in his voice.
Both Sayo and Leyasu looked towards Tatsumi with a questionable look and asked: "How did you know this?".
"Yesterday I heard the guards discussing about it when I was taking a stroll at night. And when I checked this shed, I found out about the truth" Tatsumi answered. "We were eventually going to leave today regardless" he added. Both Sayo and Leyasu were shocked to their core at this revelation and didn't know what to say, their dreams about the capital were instantly crushed.
Aria knew that there was no way out of this so she quietly snuck her hand inside a secret pocket in her dress and took out a syringe. "If I'm going to die, I'll die taking that bitch's life" she mentally cursed as she ran towards Sayo with the syringe aimed at Sayo's neck. Time seemed to slow down as Aria's hand slowly descended towards Sayo's neck. But just before the syringe was about to make contact with Sayo's neck, Leyasu jumped in between taking the syringe straight into his chest.
"Leyasu!" Tatsumi screamed as he ran towards his friend. Sayo also watched in horror as the contents of the syringe were emptied inside Leyasu's chest.
Akame and Leone ran towards Leyasu to check him up. Leyasu's condition wasn't looking good as strange spots started to appear on his body.
"W...What's happening?!" Tatsumi asked with panic in his voice.
Akame checked up on Leyasu and with a sigh informed Tatsumi "It seems that your friend here was given a very potent poison. And the fact that the poison was directly released where his heart is, he only has a few minutes before he dies".
Tatsumi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. "Why...Why...Why did this happen?! I did everything to save them...so why did this happen?!" Tatsumi screamed in anger.
"Tch...Why did that bumpkin come in between my way of killing that bitch?" Aria scoffed not understanding the danger she was in as Tatsumi saw red due to Aria's comment. Akame and Leone glared at her as they prepared to kill that girl. All of the remaining members of the Night Raid were watching the whole scene from the top of the mansion.
"Stop!" Tatsumi said in an anger filled voice that even scared Akame. "She's my prey" He said coldly as he brought his sword in front of him.
"Exitium" Tatsumi said as a pitch black aura covered him. Everyone's eyes widened like dinner plates when the aura died down. Standing in front of them was an armor that was almost similar to Tatsumi's Incursio, but the only difference was that it was pitch black in color with red lines covering it like circuits.
"W...W...What the hell is that?" Sayo stuttered. Leyasu just smirked a bit and thought "Hehe...Damn you Tatsumi. Getting such a badass armor"
The armor's blood red eyes opened that sent a chill down to everyone's spine. "I'll give you three seconds. Run as far as you can" Tatsumi said in a voice that could make anyone piss their pants. Aria was too shocked to move that she didn't even hear Tatsumi's warning properly.
"One..." Tatsumi said as something started to materialize in his hands.
"Two..." everyone's eyes were now almost on the verge of falling out of their sockets as Tatsumi was now holding an M134 Minigun. Aria finally realized what Tatsumi said and was about to run but alas it was too late.
"Three" Tatsumi said as he started firing bullets made up of demonic energy.
Everyone could only watch in horror as Tatsumi continued firing and putting more and more holes in Aria's body. When Tatsumi finally finished, Aria was nothing more than small chunks of flesh. The Minigun disappeared from Tatsumi's hand and he made his way towards Leyasu.
"Damn! You were on a whole new level of badass!" Leyasu weakly exclaimed as he coughed up some blood.
"I know...but you have to stay with us longer so that I can continue showing such things to you" Tatsumi said in a sad voice as his face mask dematerialized and showed his crying face.
"Tatsumi...I think I have a way to save your friend" Tyrant said.
"R...Really!" Tatsumi exclaimed as his face lit up.
"Not so loud Tatsumi" Tyrant warned.
Tatsumi realized his mistake when he saw everyone present there staring at him.
"Are you okay Tatsumi?" Sayo asked worried about him.
"Yeah I'm fine" Tatsumi lied as he asked Tyrant "So, how can I save him?"
"Since I make your body immune to all types of poison, your blood or more specifically your antibodies present in it might save your friend's life. And if I'm not wrong then you have 'O' negative blood, which means you won't have to worry about incompatibility" Tyrant answered.
"A...Are you sure it's gonna work?" Tatsumi asked with a hint of hope.
"Honestly I don't know. But it's better to try than do nothing" Tyrant replied.
"But how am I going to transfuse my blood into Leyasu?" Tatsumi asked.
"I can help with that master" Titus spoke as he explained the procedure to Tatsumi.
"Hey Tatsumi, are you alright? You've been spacing out" Sayo asked now genuinely concerned.
Tatsumi didn't answer her and slowly raised his hand, it glowed for a moment before it returned to normal. "Tatsumi?" Leyasu weakly asked as he felt his end coming soon.
"This is gonna hurt Leyasu" Tatsumi said.
Before Leyasu could ask what he meant, Tatsumi plunged his fingers in Leyasu's chest. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement.
"What the hell are you doing Tatsumi?!" Sayo screamed in horror.
"Trust me on this one Sayo" Tatsumi replied as he felt his blood seeping through the tips of his fingers.
Slowly but gradually, the spots on Leyasu's body started to disappear as Leyasu was now able to breath without any problem. Tatsumi slowly took out his hand from Leyasu's chest as he took a breath of relief. Leyasu slowly got up and was surprised to see that the area where Tatsumi thrusted his hand was completely healed.
"W...What the...What did you do Tatsumi? I feel better now and the wound is healed too" Leyasu asked as he traced his hand over the place where the wound should be.
"You can call it Tatsumi's magic" Tatsumi replied with a wink as his armor dematerialized.
Sayo, Akame and Leone were totally shocked by this development. Akame confirmed that Leyasu might not survive, but right before their eyes Tatsumi changed it.
Sayo was in tears as she hugged Leyasu "Don't scare me like that idiot!". Leyasu smiled and apologized. Sayo broke the hug and walked over towards Tatsumi and engulfed him in a crushing hug "Thank you Tatsumi" she said in a soft voice. "I won't let anything happen to both of you, I promise" Tatsumi said as he petted Sayo's head. Sayo blushed a bit hearing Tatsumi say that but didn't show it.
Tatsumi broke the hug as he walked towards Akame and Leone and did something no one was expecting, he bowed and said in a stern voice "This may be sudden but please let us join Night Raid".
And done.
So how was it? I hope y'all like it. The harem for Tatsumi is already decided cause putting up a poll for it wouldn't do anything since there aren't much candidates. For those who still want to know, here's the list - Akame, Leone, Mine, Shelle, Chelsea and Esdeath. I'm not sure about Sayo so I'm setting up a poll (link's on my profile) to decide if she is gonna end up with Tatsumi or Leyasu. If she does end up with Tatsumi, then I already have someone else for Leyasu. But in the end the decision is up to you, so VOTE!
Well then till next chapter, C'ya.