Wait! Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a new chapter!
Since I'm actually on vacation (in a calm place in top of that) I had a lot of time to write.
So to make up for the delay, here's another one!
Dorothea burst into laughter. Her voice did not match her appearance and behavior at all. She herself was an aberration, Akame could sense it.
She was clothed like a child with an apron over a dress and a ribbon on her hair. From a certain point of view, she could be called cute, but that impression wouldn't last long.
"Heeeeeeheeee, I don't want to sound like a bad villain, but you are the one who'll die here. And after that, I'll probably resurrect you so you can serve me. Your body isn't half bad, so maybe I'll have some fun too…"
Dorothea said so while licking her lips.
"Numa! Get her!"
The so far immobile Numa Seika, the Hero of the North obeyed her command and attacked Akame. He was clad in armor and wielding a long lance. For these reasons, Akame decided to stay inside the tent.
In this closed space, he would not be able to make full use of his weapon.
Or so she thought.
Numa Seika's staff lance shortened, allowing him to use it even inside the tent. Akame immediately recognized this ability.
What she had mistaken for a lance was in fact a guandao. In short, it was a staff with a short blade at the end and could be used to cut unlike a conventional lance.
Moreover, it was a Shingu named Trisula. Akame knew of it because one of her friends, Natala, used to wield it. Its ability was to freely control its staff size and could be used to adapt the user fighting style as well as to launch surprise attacks.
Numa Seika was a spear expert. For him to get such a weapon was certainly not good news, which he proved by his next assault.
He was not making any useless move. Numa used the tip of Trisula, the edge and even the other extremity of the staff to strike. It looked like he was dancing, his Shingu graciously flying around him.
It truly was the art of a talented young man who had devoted his life to training.
But in regard of their respective fighting abilities, Akame was a cut above.
She purposely let Numa reveal his style to analyze it thoroughly. She calmly parried or dodged every attack, memorizing his patterns and habits in order to find the flaw.
I somehow grasped his breathing, so–
"CATCH!"
Before Akame could counterattack, she heard Dorothea's shout and saw a small, circular object flying toward her.
DOOOOOOM
The explosion blew off the cloth of the tent and crushed most of the alchemist stuff, leaving a hole in the ground and a cloud of smoke.
Akame, saved once again by her superhuman speed and reflexes, coughed and focused her gaze as the smoke was dissipating.
She coughed as she had inhaled smoke, shaking her head.
"A bomb…"
Dorothea apparently did not give a damn about her subordinate or her experimental tools and tried to kill Akame with some handmade bomb.
Thanks to the deflagration, they were now in the open of the Northerners encampment, the dim interior of the tent replaced by the daylight.
Around them, rubbles, shattered glass leaking weird liquids, and of course, the chaotic camp.
Akame spotted several Northerners sentinels running this way. Seeing the situation, they gathered behind Numa Seika, intact excepted his roasted armor, protecting Dorothea.
"Sir! What are we to do?!"
"Who is this girl?!"
"What happened?"
They pressed their leader with questions but the latter ignored them. It appeared they knew Dorothea but were not aware their leader was controlled by her.
…twenty sentinels lightly armed, Numa Seika and this Dorothea woman. It'll be tough, but I'll manage it somehow, Akame thought.
"I'm hungry" Dorothea said.
All of sudden, she grabbed a young northerner, broke his two arms and mercilessly buried her fangs in his neck.
"GUAAAAAAAH?!"
The comrades of the Northerner boy were as astonished as Akame and did not date to move.
Numa Seika did not even glare at the scene.
"hHHHHhh––"
The scream turned into a strangled breathing.
To the spectators' horror, the man turned into some kind of mummy, his face and limbs drained of all vitality.
Dorothea let go of the now dried corpse and licked her lips.
"Lacking flavor but it cannot be helped I guess. I'm still hungry though."
She turned her gaze towards the remaining Northerners.
"DON'T COME NEAR, YOU MONSTER!"
"KILL THAT FUCKING VAMPIRE!"
The men screamed and readied their weapons, but Numa Seika extended Trisula and with only one large circular move, he cut their legs off.
Defenseless, unable neither to fight nor to run, they were at the mercy of Dorothea.
The shrieks of pain and horror were soon replaced by rasps of agony as Dorothea consciously drained them all, one by one.
She sighed once her 'meal' achieved.
"Well well. That was the appetizer. I guess you will be the main course" she smiled, gazing at Akame.
Her blue eyes were shining with malice.
Dorothea played with spherical objects.
"These bombs are quite powerful, you know? But since the materials to craft them are quite rare, I do not use them unless I'm forced to."
The purpose of her talking was to distract Akame.
Trisula's staff extended and the tip almost stabbed her, scratching her left side.
Shit!
Resizing his weapon, Numa tried to slash her with a vertical strike.
Dorothea did not wait for her subordinate to finish and threw a handful of bombs on both him and Akame.
Akame instinctively backed off, but the awaited explosions didn't come. Instead, a large smoke screen obscured her sight and hid her enemies.
She tricked me! These were not explosives but smoke grenades! Akame cursed.
She calmly observed her surroundings, waiting for the next attack to come or the smoke screen to dissipate itself.
Akame did not like the idea of waiting, but rushing in would've been a far worse one.
Dorothea, Numa Seika and what was left of the laboratory stuff were currently hidden by the black, thick smoke.
However, nothing happened. Akame thought she would use Trisula's range to attack, or throw some of her bombs, but…
She suddenly heard a sound.
CLANK-CLANK
It looked like something had been unlocked.
Then, she heard liquid falling on the ground along with a muffled THUD.
What is going on there?
Slowly, the smoke unraveled Dorothea's doing.
One of the water tanks was wide open.
A clear liquid was dripping on the ground.
Numa Seika was holding a human corpse in front of him.
Dorothea was smiling, a dagger in her hand.
Worse, Akame knew who that corpse was.
"Leone…"
Large bust and height, blond hair, a feminine and seductive silhouette, the face of a warm big sister.
Her once glossy skin was pale, her eyes were closed, but unmistakably, it was Leone, her best friend of Night Raid.
Although she was clad with a mantle, her naked traits could be seen. What was strange was that body showed resemblance with a beast one because of the fur on it.
Leone had died because of the injuries caused by the Prime Minister Honest when she had fought and killed him.
Last time Akame had seen here, she was heading to the best inns and bars of the Capital to properly feast before her death.
And to find her here…
Dorothea smiled.
"If I recall, she was a friend of you, eh? Be happy, you'll reunite with her."
Before Akame could react, she stabbed Leone with her dagger. Under Akame's eyes, Leone's flesh started to glow from the inside.
Dorothea pulled out the dagger and waited. Her blade was quite a particular one: completely black but with red, vivid lines running all over, like a magmatic stone.
Leone opened her eyes.
"What… I was?..."
Her voice, terribly familiar, almost made Akame cry.
Leone looked at her surroundings.
"Where?..."
Finally, her eyes met Akame's.
"Akame? But how…"
Dorothea lifted a finger. Leone immediately shut her mouth.
"Aaaand that's it for the teary reunion! To be continued in the next chapter!" Dorothea laughed.
Multiple emotions assaulted Akame.
Horror, pain, anger, sadness and so on.
But to her credit, she controlled herself.
She showed no sign of distress even in front of the corpse of her dear friend.
"Hum, you probably want to know what happened, right? Right? Of course ." Dorothea blabbered. "You see, this little honey… is the forty-ninth Teigu. His name as well as his existence has been erased from all records, including the books of the Teigus. I still have to find a name, something cool for it."
She brandished the black dagger.
"I had a loooot of troubles finding it. It seemed it had been sealed and hidden because of its power. Though the true reason is it's a failure as a Teigu. Or rather the price to pay to use is way too expensive. The one who hid it even left notes explaining how it worked and why it shouldn't be used."
Dorothea caressed Leone's neck while talking.
"Stabbing someone's flesh with that dagger will bring him or her back to life. I don't know who is the moron who created it… You get it? I need flesh, not bones. Which means the corpses have to be somewhat fresh ones. That's a stupid condition."
Akame was not on the same page but did not speak. She was consciously recording the information she didn't hope Dorothea would discard.
"So, the person will come back to life. There is some kind of bond created which forces her to obey my orders. That is useful. Buuut, here come the cons. First, this person only has one life. It's not a perpetual resurrection, it's more of a second life and if she gets killed or if I cancel the activation, she dies for good."
Akame kind of knew it. The dead they killed died for good. And for the second condition, it was obvious but useful to know the details.
However, Akame did not expect what came next.
"Second… the cost. Resurrecting people for good does not cost mere energy, like the Teigu Yatsufusa. No. This one costs vitality… or to be exact, lifespan."
Lifespan? What does she mean? Akame frowned.
"For each hour a resurrected spends in this world, it costs me three hundred hours of my lifespan. If I maintain my dear friend Numa Seika alive for one day, it means my own lifespan is shortened of three hundred days. And of course, it stacks each time I resurrect another person. The price to maintain them 'alive' is my very life."
Akame quickly calculated.
One hour for the resurrected cost three hundred hours for the user.
One day would mean three hundred days. Nearly a year in exchange for a day. The price was absurdly high, but in a certain sense, it was logic.
Akame understood why this Teigu was treated as a failure and sealed. What was the point of resurrecting someone at that price and for such a short time?
Following the rules Dorothea explained, the resurrected could not stay even three months on earth until the user would die from the Teigu's price.
From what she had seen, Dorothea had resurrected up to eight people. Only from that, it meant her lifespan had been reduced of roughly eight years a day.
No, it was wrong. Akame didn't know when Dorothea had resurrected them. Excepted for Numa Seika, it was highly probable she had ressurected her warriors only when the Kingdom's Army had come to meet her. Otherwise, it would've been a waste of lifespan. However...
How many years has she spent? If she aims for immortality, isn't it a huge mistake?
"You're probably wondering why I'm doing this if the cost is so great. Or why I'm not already dead. Simple. My own Teigu, Absordex, allows me to suck out strength from my preys… along with their lifespan. I can considerably extend my lifespan by devouring people. Of course, it's not enough to make me immortal, but it'll suffice for now. I'm sure I can seize immortality with the power of science."
She took a victory pose.
"So with Absordex, I absorb lifespan that I use with this other Teigu! The perfect combo, yeah! And in top of that, the sacred limitation that restricts oneself to only use one Teigu does not apply here! I hit the jackpot!"
"… you are doing all of this for immortality?" Akame asked.
"Uuuh, truth to be told, I also want to stay young and beautiful. If I were to reveal you my age, you would be bewildered…"
As I thought, she's completely mad. But at the same time, she's dreadful.
"I have a question. If you die, will the effects of this cursed Teigu wear off?"
"Hum, I didn't test it, but since my death would cut off the contract, I guess… yes?"
"Good. Thanks for all your explanations. Now, I'll bury you."
Akame moved at her maximum speed, ready to inflict the cut that would end the fight.
Numa Seika moved to intercept her, but having predicted his course of action, she spun to dodge Trisula's thrust.
Akame then intended to easily block Leone's blow and to directly kill Dorothea.
However, she committed a grave mistake.
In Akame's mind, Leone was here only to emotionally affect her. Since she did not have any weapon on her, she was not a real danger.
Bare handed, Leone was skilled but she needed her Teigu Lionelle to unleash her full potential.
Here, she would be used as a human shield.
Akame thought so.
But when she was on the verge of the death, Leone had fused with her Teigu, similarly to Tatsumi and Incursio.
Dorothea had resurrected her in this state. Which meant she did not need to equip nor to activate her Teigu.
With a surprising agility, Leone stepped aside, with the intent of striking Akame from the side where she was vulnerable.
Akame corrected her trajectory and in order to avoid that fatal blow, threw an intimidating slash.
As expected, Leone backed off.
"Guh?!"
A fist hit Akame's belly with a tremendous strength, sending her backwards.
Even if her attention focused on Leone, she also watched her surroundings, and still, she did not see Dorothea's attack coming.
Akame was back to square one, but now, she was injured. She touched her injury to check her condition.
Hadn't I strengthened my muscles to lessen the damages… This girl, she has enhanced her body?
"Oooho? I'm amazed. People would usually spit their organs from that blow. You're quite the thing, aren't you?" Dorothea bantered. "I'm sure your taste will be… wonderful. And don't underestimate your friend. It's very convenient for me that she fused with her Teigu. I usually equip my puppets with Teigus or Shingus I recovered, but… she does not need one."
"I'm done not yet" Akame replied.
"I'm afraid you are. It shouldn't be very long now…"
Akame suddenly felt a vertigo and fell on one knee, supporting herself with Murasame.
What?! This sensation… poison? But how?
Akame quickly checked her body, searching for a scratch, a cut, anything that could've poisoned her.
"Hmm. You're resistant. This poison was made to bring down an adult in less than ten seconds. To think you would stand so long."
"H-how?" Akame muttered.
"How did it reach you? Simple. The bomb I threw in the tent is not only an explosive. It also releases a toxic gas. People usually only care about the explosion and tend not to notice the gas…" Dorothea sneered.
At that moment…
Akame remembered she indeed had inhaled smoke at that time. But exactly as Dorothea said, she didn't even bother about it.
"Mmmh… I'd like to enjoy you alive. To hear your moans and to caress that delicious skin… But I'd better be cautious."
Akame was in a dire predicament. Because of the poison, she could move at only a tenth of her capacity and her vision was blurred.
And on top of that, her enemies were in perfect shape.
…I have to find a way…
However, no matter how hard she was trying to put herself together, she couldn't find a decent strategy.
"Numa! Leone! Restrain and hold her tightly!"
Seeing movement, Akame tried to defend herself but in vain.
Trisula disarmed her, sending Murasame on the ground, out of her range. When she tried to riposte with bare hands, Leone, out of nowhere, blocked her arms.
Numa Seika grabbed and immobilized her legs, bringing her down. The two servants' grip was firm so she couldn't free herself.
Leone was holding her from behind, while Numa Seika was blocking her legs, preventing any kick.
Akame, utterly defeated, groaned.
"Let me go!"
"As if" Dorothea laughed, approaching her.
She leaned against Akame, caressing her and her sensible spots.
"Huuuh… such a lovely one… and these red marks? I don't know where they come from, but they are especially… sexy."
"Don't touch me… crazy bitch…"
Akame was fighting her opponents as well as the poison effects.
"Huh. I'll suck you out bit by bit. Once you're weakened enough, I'll enjoy you… deeply."
Dorothea opened her mouth large, her fangs clearly visible.
Akame recalled what happened to the men Dorothea bit.
No… I can't die like this?...
Akame tried to push them back, to free herself harder than ever. Again, in vain. Murasame's curse and Dorothea's poison were too much for her body.
Tatsumi… I don't want to die like this… I…
"Itadakimasuuu ~"
Dorothea's fangs penetrated Akame's neck.
At the same moment.
Budou who was facing Esdeath had achieved his metal projectile by raising ores from the ground with his magnetic attraction.
The former Great General took the giant bullet he just created and laid it on his right gauntlet. The projectile itself was a feet long.
"What do you mean, you do not intend to throw it?" Esdeath frowned.
Budou pointed his gauntlet towards Esdeath, as aiming at her.
Huh? Is this thing propelled? But I don't see how he would…
Esdeath, knowing that Budou did not make light threat, prepared to defend herself.
"Did you know? By creating an electric circuit with two metal rails and alimenting this loop, a tremendous force will be created and accelerate the speed of the projectile" Budou explained.
"So what? And why are you telling me this?"
"My gauntlet's metallic traits are the rails. And my Adrammelech itself provides the power. If I'm telling you this, it's because you have absolutely no chance of dodging what is coming. You'll be blown by my ultimate trump card. I can only use once, otherwise, it would destroy my Teigu."
Budou's Adrammelech shined, emitting electric waves and emanating a strong aura.
"BEGONE, ESDEATH!"
At that time, Esdeath realized the cold sweat on her forehead. Her mind froze.
He's not bluffing! He is totally not bluffing! I have to raise my defenses now, or I'll be crushed. But he's right; I can't stop that kind of projectile with my ice alone. I have to dodge, but where? Maybe he also predicted my reaction? But, come to think of it, it's strange. Not a second passed since he finished his sentence, and yet, I thought of a least seventy different words. It reminds me of something. Oh yeah, I heard that when you're on the verge of dying, your mind slows down. Wait. It means that feeling…
"RAILGUN!"
Budou's shout coincided with his attack.
A burst, no, a deflagration occurred on his gauntlet.
… is it death?
Esdeath couldn't know that Budou' ultimate weapon, the Railgun, allowed a projectile to travel at three kilometers per second by making use of magnetic force powered by electricity.
Esdeath's world went blank.
Bulat's movements were slowed down because of his injury. He did not show any sign of pain, but because of his blood loss, his actions were dull.
Mine was tireless and the true danger came from her diabolic precision.
But Tatsumi's miscalculation was his own stamina. He –naively– had thought that he would hold against his old friends but in the end, it was not possible.
All-in. Do or die… heck, I've the feeling I've been doing this kind of gamble my entire life! he thought.
By activating the Water Dragon Sword's effect, he would be powered-up for three minutes. But because the activation caused intense pain for a few seconds, Tatsumi needed a way to divert the attention of his enemies.
He remembered the pain from that time.
I need five… no, four seconds would be enough...
Tatsumi was desperately searching for an idea to buy him the time he needed.
With the power-up provided by the Water Dragon Sword, he could easily defeat the weakened Bulat with one or two strikes. And Mine herself wouldn't be a danger if he were to close the distance.
As he was struggling with his former friends while thinking, he suddenly heard a voice.
"Papa! You okay?!"
Tatsumi's heart throbbed.
Ryuu?!
He turned his head, searching for the source of the voice and almost get killed by Mine's next shot.
"Papa! Where is Mama?!"
Upon hearing Nea's voice, Tatsumi finally realized they were behind him. Unprotected in the frozen plain.
What are they doing here?! More important, I have to…
"RUN AWAY!" he shouted as loud as he could as Bulat was striking once again.
Nea and Ryuu were startled by Tatsumi's command and hesitated.
But at this moment, everything changed.
Tatsumi could not possibly know that the order gave by Dorothea to her puppets would be decisive in this situation.
"Kill whoever tries to sneak up in the camp, with the quickest and best method possible."
Thanks to Tatsumi's shout, Bulat and Mine now knew that these girls were very important to him.
In order to kill Tatsumi, the best method here was to use these girls against him.
Neither Bulat nor Mine would've applied such a plan, but Dorothea's order was absolute and leaded them to that conclusion.
This was one of the strength of that Teigu: the resurrected ones were truly revived and were capable of logical thinking even if it went against their principles.
Thus…
Bulat charged towards the girls, ignoring Tatsumi, wielding Belvaac with his valid arm.
Mine was aiming at them, ready to fire.
Tatsumi grasped the situation.
If he were to attack one of the two, the other would kill his daughters or attack him.
If he tried to save his daughters, probably the two would attack him this time, leaving him no chance.
That was probably the reason why Mine didn't shoot yet; she was keeping all the possibilities in mind.
Of course, Tatsumi still had the possibility to discard his daughters to preserve himself.
But that choice didn't even cross his mind.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
Tatsumi roared and rushed to intercept Bulat with all his speed.
He had to activate the Water Dragon Sword no matter what.
Running faster than he ever had, he caught up with Bulat and faced him. The face of his mentor, expressionless and terribly familiar, appeared right in front of him.
Bulat instantly changed his target and Belvaac went to meet Tatsumi.
Tatsumi blocked the axe blade with the Water Dragon Sword in his right hand and with the left, grabbed the axe's staff, immobilizing Bulat and himself.
The instant he did so, distant footsteps told him that Nea and Ryuu were running away.
And to his horror, he heard the two successive gunshots.
Is it a quintuple death flag?! Probably. Surely.
I might have gone too far with the Railgun, I admit it... it's just, when I watched To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, I was like "heh if only Budou could do the same..."
What else to say... sorry for the cliffhanger.
Concerning the Teigu that ressurects the dead, I hope I've been clear. I was looking for a very restrictive condition, and the one who came to me was simply "it can truly revive people but in the end at the cost of your own life" and so it is treated as a failure.
The three months implied by Akame come from this reasonment:
- For one day the resurrected spends on earth,it costs around one year of lifespan to the user.
- Thus, 3 months = roughly 90 days, which means 90 years of lifespan.
- If you die, since you're not here to maintain the "contract", the resurrected also dies for good.
I created the conditions so that in this set up, only Dorothea with her Absordex is able to use it. Sorry if it sounds floppy :D
PS: It is unclear if Absordex truly allows one to extend his lifespan in the manga, but I went for it.
Thanks for your support and 'till next time!
Edit 5/13: I'm moving out tomorrow, setting up in my new home will take some time. I'll do my best not to delay the chapter too much!