Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Souls or Akame ga Kiru
Soul of the Choice
"No... Not already. Damn it!" Najenda practically screamed as she received the emergency news. The raven had just landed a few moments ago, and she was one of the first to know the situation given her rank at the compound, and her position in being the leader of Night Raid. It's only natural that the news of one of the revolutionary's biggest forts being assaulted by a single 'pointed helmet greatsword user' would reach her ears fairly quickly. Not many in the revolutionary lower ranks knew of the empire's imperial arms users, typically only the higher brass, and other imperial arms users. But the description only matched one she knew, and that fact somewhat terrified her. Chelsea and Lubbock have yet to recover, or in the former's case get a new imperial arms.
Najenda knew what had to be done, Adrien needed to be confronted again. The issue is that it would take hours at least for all of her active members to reach the site, and that might be too late considering that the attack had already started when the raven was released, and now it had been at least two to three hours since then. The castle might have gotten reinforcements from elsewhere, but none that would matter. As far as the Night Raid leader was aware, her team was the closest Imperial arms users the revolutionary army had to the castle. Any other imperial arms users were either too far away, too weak to fight a monster such as Adrien, or were busy with their own missions. Or all of the above. Making a quick decision, she strode out of her temporary office with purpose.
Arriving at the quarters that had been provided to all of Night Raid, she saw Leone and Lubbock gorging down on some food and idly chatting, even if the green haired assassin was eating rather slowly due to his injuries. They paused and looked up to see her, their faces paled upon seeing her expression. Najenda cringed internally, knowing that the news she had just received would not sit well with them.
"Leone, get the others who can still fight ready... We might have a mission on our hands."
Seryu frowned, looking down at the book she had been reading for the past two hours. It wasn't anything special, a fiction novel about a world where Imperial arms didn't exist, instead having an abundance of magic, and read much like a history book. It was interesting, but not something she would normally read. The only reason she was reading such a book was because there was nothing else to do. Training with one arm would have been pointless considering she would be getting a new mechanical one soon, and she had already maintenance checked all of her equipment that Doctor Stylish had made for her. It was all still resting inside Koro, and if her arm hadn't been dismembered so quickly, she knew she would have put up more of a fight against Sheele and Tatsumi within the painting.
Her mind often wandered to how Adrien was doing, and if he was enduring some form of punishment from Esdeath. Oh who am I kidding, of course he is! She mentally panicked, Koro reaching up to her face from her lap in an effort to comfort her. But what could Esdeath possibly do to punish him? Torture? Freezing him solid? Having Bols catch him on fire? All at once!? Seryu's mind and imagination couldn't stop herself from imagining the worst of fates befalling her mentor.
"Oh Koro, I hope Mr. Adrien is okay." Seryu said, hugging her Imperial arms closely. "I wish I could check on Lilith, but I can't even do that." She bemoaned, the solitude now starting to get to her. She didn't want for anything, as all of her basic needs were met, and could request for any kind of entertainment, or even ladies or gentlemen of the night if she so wanted. While she would never go for that, it was needless to say that being in the palace certainly had its benefits, and yet she still craved for some genuine company besides the occasional greeting or 'good day' from the butlers and maids that came to her if she wanted or needed anything.
"I wonder what everyone else is doing. Wave is probably doing well, and Bols might be visiting his family. They're probably having fun at least, even if I'm basically quarantined." She pouted, Koro reaching up and licking at her face, to which she giggled as the dog imperial arms tickled her. "Stop it Koro haha!" She giggled, but made a very weak attempt to keep the dog at a distance, which did nothing but increase the imperial arm's efforts to distract and tickle her. Seryu eventually decided to belly rub the dog back, making him stop his assault and enjoy the petting, the small imperial arms wagging its tail rapidly. As such, Seryu distracted herself from the world and from the conflicts currently taking place on the same night.
Screams, blood, destruction, death. All three things Adrien was all too familiar with. Memories from Lothric were the first to come to mind, with the undead soldiers, and piles of armor sets occupied by rotting corpses. The infected dragons and hollows also came to mind, but those more so like bad memories than anything relatable to his current position. Those were not the only memories that came to his mind however. Images and flashes of blurry figures came to him as well, these far older than his experiences in Lothric. Older than his reawakening as an unkindled, older than his first and failed attempt at linking the flame. Older than his first, mortal death.
Another revolutionary soldier before him was turned to a bubbling pile of flesh against another one of his pyromancies as he tried his best... to remember. Memories of his mortal life were faded, almost non-existent, but he did remember some things. He was a soldier, a knight, of Irithyll, and served faithfully there. Any other details he had long forgotten though. His family, any potential friends or loves, and even how he had died, all lost now to his scrambled rotting mind. This was why he found himself trying to remember, to keep his mind sharp, and try to fight off the inevitable hollowing his mind would some day endure.
"Fire!" A man announced, most likely a captain of some kind, and following his order, ballista rounds were shot to him, massive bolts of iron tipped wood came screaming towards him. Three of them to be exact, all from a higher inner wall of the castle he was single handedly assaulting. He was surprised they were able to point that low. The first one to reach him missed, landing behind him with enough force to scatter dirt around it's impact as the iron tip buried itself into the ground. The second one would have hit, if not for Adrien raising his shield to block it, the small silver shield not bending as the iron struck it, the cast metal shattering like glass, and the wood that followed shattering around the shield like a log to a very heavy hammer. The impact of the second had driven him back enough for the third ballista to miss.
They began to reload, the men on the ballista working as fast as they could. When the castle had been abandoned, all of the weapons and equipment left behind had only been the kind that were either heavily outdated or completely out of scope of repair. The captain watched tensely as the man they had just assaulted with three ballista bolts casually threw the remains of one from the shield he had, the silver shield not showing any sign of having been damaged. The man looked up at him, the captain freezing, wondering if he would be another victim to those horrendous fire-based attacks. Then the assaulter turned around, facing the first ballista bolt.
"Run." The captain said, emotionless and with wide eyes, watching the display, his men looking at him with confused, if somewhat scared expressions. He turned back to them, an urgent yell coming from his throat. "I said RUN!" That was when the first ballista bolt fired was sent right back at one of the ballista placements, the center siege weapon breaking apart as a ballista bolt tore through it's machinery, the halfway-cocked bow releasing whatever tension it had with a terrifying 'crack' sound. The ballista bolt lacked a lot of the velocity it could gain from it's proper emplacement, but it had done quite well considering it had been launched like a javelin.
Adrien huffed out an unnecessary breath as he watched the guards scatter and run off the walls. The feat he had pulled off was a rather easy one with his strength, although to continue heaving a weapon of that size around for long would have taxed even him. He had learned long ago that there was a difference between strength and vitality. Those two 'attributes' were things that the Firekeeper offered to increase. Initially he had been confused, believing vitality to be another form of vigor or strength. He had been wrong, as vitality was the ability to carry heavy objects for long periods of time, whereas strength was the ability to carry and use said objects effectively. Adrien had a considerable amount of strength, and while his vitality was high, it was not as prevalent.
The undead marched forward, not even pausing as he approached a metal drop gate, the intercrossed iron barring him access. The undead grabbed one of the flat bars interwoven with the others and heaved, the entire gate lifting upwards before letting go as he stepped under it. Continuing forward into the castle revealed he was now in the central courtyard, and was approaching what could only be called the main entrance into the castle proper. Adrien also took notice of the lack of living soldiers around him. Any Soldiers he saw were all dead, but not by his hands. Their bodies were in various states of damage, some being crushed, or cut in half, while others seemed to be covered in burns, frostbite, or had static emanating off of them. Then there were some that appeared to be shriveled up like mummies, something scarily reminiscent to the effect of the dark hand.
"Sorry, looks like we took your kills. Don't worry though, the fight is just beginning." An all too familiar voice came to Adrien's ears, he looked to where the voice came from to see Syura standing atop a ruined well, the old water gathering structure nearly worn down, but still sturdy enough to hold Syura's weight. Adrien's guard rose considerably as he looked at the tanned man.
"We?" Adrien asked, suddenly realizing the man had spoken in the plural, and before he knew it, a large explosion struck against his back, throwing the knight forward. The sudden hostility was unexpected, but not something he wasn't prepared for. He got up quickly, ready to confront who had conducted the sneak attack, but a katana pierced through his back. Before the user could reclaim his sword, Adrien grabbed it, holding it within his chest, a slight struggle was heard behind him as the sword user attempted to reclaim it.
"You are as strong as they say." An older, matured voice came from behind Adrien, the undead glancing behind him to see a man with jet black hair, wearing loose eastern robes, and a twig in his mouth. His features were sharp, and light stubble dotted his face, appearing to be young, but not inexperienced. Adrien gripped the sword harder, the sound of metal straining could be heard, the man's face going from confident to awe and fear as Adrien began to break his sword.
"Not today!" A cheery voice called, before a heeled kick impacted Adrien's face, knocking his grip of the katana free, and allowing the man to free his sword. Adrien looked up to see a young woman with glasses, a tight fitting corset and short skirt, with what looked like rabbit ears upon her head. Her hair was a light purple color, matching her eyes. "Sorry cutie, but I can't let you go breaking ol' Izou's sword. It's like, his only weapon." She states, giggling, but a large figure coming up behind her stopped her laughter, and made Adrien grimace at the overweight man's appearance. The large dark skinned figure standing behind the girl wore some form of jester outfit with a large frill neck-piece that seemed reminiscent of the tutus he had seen in some clothing stores. His head had two spots of red curly hair out of either side of his balding crown. The man's face was also covered in colorful makeup, with a large, very unnerving smile.
"It was nice of you to save his sword Cosmina, I'm certain our new friend would have shattered the blade." The clown spoke with a deep voice, his seemingly carefree tone carrying a disturbing aura.
"Aw! Thanks Champie!" Cosmina said with glee, bringing her hands together in a happy pose. Adrien studied the large jester with caution, noticing the six orbs floating just behind him, one of them smoking just slightly, making the Ashen One question if he was the one to throw that first explosion.
"Hehe. Looks like he'll put up a pretty good fight, what'd ya think Dorothea?" A new voice made itself known, Adrien snapping his head in it's direction. Before him were two new individuals, one was a lean, muscular man with a rather tight-fitting shirt and black, straight cut, hair. His face and his smile is what caught Adrien's attention, noting how he looked to be the most lecherous of the bunch. The last individual was the last person Adrien would expect to be with a group like this. A girl, perhaps 14 or 15 years old, looking at him with a rather neutral expression, wearing a nice dress with puffed sleeves, and a bow atop her blonde shoulder-length hair.
"I'm not sure. If what he has displayed is all he can muster up, then we will kill him in a matter of seconds." The plain and analytical nature of Dorothea's response made Adrien suspect her appearance might be deceiving of her true nature.
"What do you think, Adrien?" Syura asked, a heavily mocking tone in his voice. "Just like how Esdeath has her little Jaegers and Najenda has her pathetic Night Raid... I have, my Wild Hunt!" He proclaimed proudly, spreading his hands as if displaying something above him. The undead took a moment to look around him at the new arrivals, and supposedly all users of imperial arms.
"I believe you are terribly overconfident." Adrien stated bluntly, turning Syura's triumphant grin into a sly one as he chuckled, unfazed by the comment. The rest of Wild Hunt seemed to have similar reactions. "Why fight me? What is your goal?"
"If you truly have to ask that, I believe you are terribly foolish!" Syura said as he laughed, rocking his head back, but keeping his eyes on the knight in front of him. "Enshin, why don't you show our little friend just how much of a fool he is." Syura said, a darker tone to it, with the knight's head twitching just a bit. The black-haired man nodded, and in only a moment, was upon the knight, however upon reaching him, Adrien seemed to be prepared, blocking the man's sword with his shield. Enshin seemed surprised, and even more so when Adrien spun around, the Zweihander swinging fast and true. Enshin backed away quickly, but the massive sword got close enough to the man for some of his hair to be cut but the blade as his head continued to back away.
"The fuck?" Enshin asked more himself than anything, looking at the knight with a bit more caution than before.
"So Enshin is your name." Adrien stated simply, eyeing the man cautiously, noting the curved blade he had, it's design was fairly standard, but there were a multitude of unique designs on the weapon, coupled with the power behind the strike to his shield, it made the undead wary of the blade. The member of Wild Hunt pursued the knight, striking quickly and attempting to make it past the man's guard. But it seemed as though every time he swung, it was met with either a shield, the flat edge of the massive Zwihander, or open air following the undead rolling or back-stepping.
"Fight me you bitch!" Enshin yelled, slashing his sword too far away to hit, but instead the strange runes on the weapon glowed slightly, the sword unleashing a large blade of wind as Enshin slashed. The wind struck Adrien, the blowback sending the knight through the main doors of the castle, the crashing and breaking of wood sounding off the creation of the large hole within the two surprisingly sturdy doors. The sound of gunshots rang out wildly from inside, a sign that the revolutionary soldiers within had noticed Adrien's entrance. Enshin grumbled a bit as he looked at the damage, glancing at Syura.
"Well that was anit-climactic." Syrua stated with a neutral tone, crossing his arms. "Go on, if he's still alive in there, just finish him off." He said dismissively, Enshin nodding with smirk before swiftly entering the building with little sound.
"I don't think Esdeath will like it if we kill him." Dorothea stated calmly, looking on as the dark hole in the doors were occasionally lit up with muzzle-fire, the sound of guns, large impacts, and occasional screams being heard from the inside.
"The bitch will get over it. Besides from what I've heard, he's nothing more than a pet to her anyways. Just wants to claim that she has the strongest lover or something." Syrua stated with amusement, making the youngest-looking member of their group look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yea, I know. The bitch is crazy, but she's powerful too. Worse comes to worse, I'll have to use my trump card on her." Dorothea sighed as she shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to argue over the matter.
Enshin followed the signs of battle, watching as various muzzle flashes disappeared one after another, and saw the corpses of revolutionaries, their bodies in various states of ruin. He would have been impressed if he wasn't so annoyed at how quickly Adrien had lost him. Enshin didn't believe that the knight was faster, but instead something else was at play. That's what he believed at least.
Enshin stepped over a bisected body as he heard a crossbow let loose a bolt, followed closely by a scream in the distance before the sound of a body dropping to the floor with a dull thud. Enshin followed the sound of the crossbow, and soon came upon a mostly empty balcony, the only exception being the headless man lying against the railing. He was about to move on and continue searching before he noticed the sounds around him had quieted down, with only the occasional footsteps far off away, indicating more soldiers coming their way.
That was when he felt something metal and abnormally hard strike against his back, he had no time to react as it struck again, this time even harder, the Wild Hunt member being sent barreling forward through the stone railing and down onto the hard stone floor several dozen feet below. The fast pace application of several potential life altering injuries was too much as once as Enshin screamed out in pain on the floor, blood spouting up from his cry. Then a figure landed next to him, barely a sound being made.
Above Enshin was Adrien, as he had seen him before, but with the exception that his feet now glowed with a bluish aura and his entire body was halfway translucent.
"What?" Enshin asked, before coughing up another bout of blood onto the cold stone
"You should have not interfered." Adrien said dangerously, raising his sword to execute the member of wild hunt, but Enshin merely smirked.
"And you shouldn't get so 'overconfident' yourself." Enshin said while glaring defiantly up at the knight. Adrien brought the blade down quickly only for the ground below both of them to exploded with wind, sending both of them into the air, and knocking Adrien's swing off enough to barely miss. Enshin's short flight was much more controlled, as he grabbed the undead's leather collar and kicked him downwards, through the floor and into an underground hallway lined with cells. Adrien rose his shield more out of instinct than anything and felt as a blade slammed against it at an impressive speed, further driving the knight into the ground. "You really thought that was going to take me down!? I'm a member of Wild Hunt! Nothing can take me down that easily!" Enshin yelled almost manically, repeatedly slamming his blade against the shield, every time with a glow, and every time with harsh winds hitting against the shield's silver surface.
Adrien couldn't help but think about how similar this weapon was to Sasha's but also found that the single blade was inferior due to it's inflexibility in terms of attack. Adrien reached out with an open hand, flames dancing in it, almost on display for Enshin. The Wild Hunt member was about to jump back away from the flames before it turned into a fist, crushing the flame, a fiery explosion erupting from his fist. Enshin was caught off guard, but managed to escape most of the blast as he jumped away. He screamed as his previous blunt injuries were severely rocked by the shockwave. He landed on his feet, skidding to a halt, wincing as new burns made themselves known to his nervous system. Enshin struggled to move, the strike to his back making his movement slow and painful. Nevertheless he stayed up, now though with a slightly fearful expression. Adrien stood up as well, his shield still guarding his upper body as he gazed at Enshin.
The Wild hunt member was covered in burns, his previously normal skin now mostly red and with occasional blisters and black burns on his person. His eyes were wide with fear now, not having expected that turn of events, but he did not appear to be ready to back down as he was still in a battle stance.
"Well... maybe I shouldn't have taken you so lightly." Enshin said, suddenly seeing the knight in a new light, a slight bit of respect in his voice. Then a lecherous smile adorned his face. "Doesn't matter though." He said, making Adrien curious as to why Enshin seemed to be so confident after being so supposedly fearful. "Syura will find a way to beat you and take that pretty little Lilith off your hands." At his words, Adrien seemed to stop, deciding to listen to what the man had to say. "Then theres that Bols character. His wife and daughter are next." He said, chuckling darkly while lowering his fighting stance. "Eventually we'll get after Night Raid, but by that ti-" Enshin didn't get to continue as Adrien's form suddenly lit up brightly, the previous calm embers that stuck to him now glowing fiercely.
"You would threaten My friend? His wife? His child? His family?" Adrien asked dangerously, the embers seeming to flicker slightly with each word. Enshin took an unconscious step back, alarmed by the heat being radiated off of him. After a moment or two more though, The embers and heat died down, and Adrien relaxed his stance a bit. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised with this world anymore... Nevertheless, I will not allow you to harm Bols or his family." Enshin shook off his shock from the previous display, and glared at Adrien with a dangerous grin.
"And how exactly are you going to stop us?" Enshin asked, but never gave Adrien a chance to answer as he surged forward, a blink later stabbing his sword through Adrien's sternum. The undead gave no immediate reaction besides his body moving back a few feet with Enshin, his feet digging in to keep him upright. Adrien raised his hands, his shield still strapped to his left arm, both of his hands glowing with the orange glow of fire. Putting them together as if to offer a prayer, Enshin retrieved his sword as Adrien reached down with his hands in the same position, touching them to the ground and keeping them there. The Wild hunt member was confused before he felt an immense amount of heat be released from the ground and air around Adrien. He back-stepped away quickly just in time for a pillar of molten lava to fly up where he was standing. The heat radiating off it was enough to singe his eyebrows. He was able to just barely avoid another one that surged up on his right. At the same time as these ones were appearing, more were emerging all around Adrien, to his sides, front, and back, but the undead did not even flinch. The lava pillars began to appear further and further out, the walls often becoming red hot, and the cell doors beginning to glow orange. Enshin was forced to dodge and back away as more and more pillars came after him, some even emerging from above. He was sweating profusely now, and wanted nothing more than to leave what had effectively become an oven. It did not help that his shoes were smoking and uncomfortably hot.
"Like this." Adrien said, still pressing his closed fist against the floor, before an even worse heatwave coursed through the walls themselves, making Enshin sweat immensely as he suddenly got a seemingly delayed feeling of dread. Then before him, everything melted. The walls, the cells, the floor, the ceiling, his shoes, his feet, his flesh. By the time he screamed he could feel his vocal chords turning to mush. His imperial arms also suffered the same fate, the sword melting into a metal pool by what used to be his feet. The last thing that Enshin saw was the image of Adrien standing there, immersed in a different armor, it's design completely foreign to even his knowledge. And then, there was nothing.
Syura couldn't suppress the nervous feeling he was getting in his stomach. It had been several minutes since Enshin had chased after Adrien, and just a second ago, he and the rest of his team had felt a massive surge of heat through the ground, not enough to really affect them, but enough for them to feel it.
"Whoah. That was a pretty big blast of heat there." Cosmina said with a slight giggle. "Wonder if Enshin is fighting that guy or getting all down and dirty with him." She asked humorously, her dirty mind coming to fruition. Syura's eyebrow twitched a bit at the comment, somewhat taking his mind off the fact they were trying to kill Adrien, and putting a very different picture in his mind.
"Uh, ew." Dorothea said simply, lightly glaring at the only other female member of their team.
"I believe that our opponent was said to have fire capabilities." Izou said with contemplation, ignoring Cosmina's comment. Putting a hand to his chin as he noticed a faint orange glow further inside the castle. "This is most likely an example of it." He said, thinking on how to combat what Adrien might throw at them.
"Is that what his imperial arms is?" Champ asked, the large clown also adopting a look of contemplation.
"Probably, doesn't really matter to me though." Cosmina said carelessly, stretching down to touch her toes, her short skirt not providing her any decency. "As long as I get to have some fun with him afterwards." She giggled looking behind her through her legs at Izou, who had the decency to look away.
"I doubt any man would be interested in your version of 'fun' Cosmina." Izou commented, making the girl pout.
"Aw that's mean! I'm sure all those pretty boys at the last village enjoyed it!" She said cheerily again, making Izou sigh.
"You tortured them while you... never mind." Dorothea began, but decided against stating the obvious. Before anyone could make any further comments, a section of the castle exploded in fire, making the wild hunt members look in that direction. The wall of the building was blown outwards, the hole much taller than it was wide, reaching to the roof of the two story section of the castle, but only wide enough for a single person to walk through. The most prominent feature of the hole was the fact the stone on the sides of the new portal was melting and on fire. The intense heat from the area was enough that Wild Hunt could clearly feel it.
"Your companion was foolish." Came Adrien's voice from the new entrance, the lava, fires, and the embers that clung to his form making him very visible. He wore new armor, this one with plates of metal almost solid black, created in a scale pattern along his sides, shoulders, gauntlets, and legs. There was a ripped black cloth that hung around his waist that was red on the edges from the embered state of his being. Small dragon horns adorned his elbows and where his shoulder plates met his neck. A dark hood covered his head, but did not conceal his face. The most striking part of the armor was the chest piece, where instead of continuing the scale-like plates on the chest, opted instead for a massive glowing orange ring that seemed to drip down the chest piece. In the middle of that ring was darkness, a black nothing that seemed wholly out of place, yet oddly fitting, on the armor. "He was too overconfident in his abilities, as you all are now." Adrien stated darkly, glaring at them, his eyes lingering on Champ and Syura especially. "Abandon your goals." His statement was given extra weight as he reached into his bottomless box.
Adrien retracted two swords from his box. Each one the size of himself and then some. They were single bladed instruments, made of the same dark metal his armor was made from, the edges of the massive swords glowing an orange of the same color as that on the armor's chest, and with designs that were intricately carved into the metal guards, appearing more ornamental than practical. That did not change the fact that they were being brandished with killing intent.
"Um..." Cosmina started, tapping her finger against her chin with an appraising look. "I think its a little much, don't you think guys?" She asked, looking over her companions. Dorothea had tensed up at the display, stepping back a hair and lowering her stance just slightly. Champ frowned at the display, the six orbs around him beginning to spin slightly.
"I think the bigger issue is the fact Enshin is nowhere to be seen." Izou said, readying his sword. Cosmina seemed to only now realize this, her eyes growing wide.
"We won't make the same mistake." Syura said dangerously, glaring daggers at the armored man, a strange purple like energy seeping from a device on his hip. Adrien rolled his shoulders. The undead had not expected his warning to be taken seriously, but he couldn't say he didn't try.
Najenda ran a mechanical hand through her short white hair. Every ready and capable member of Night Raid was getting ready for their next mission which had come up sooner than anticipated. Lubbock was most certainly out, having not physically recovered from the last encounter with the Jaegers. He, along with Chelsea, made the two assassins rather grumpy as of late.
Najenda looked upon the remaining members of Night Raid, a somber expression upon her face, remembering the three members that she's already lost. All of them lost to the same man. The same man they would be going after tonight. It was possible it could be a trap of some kind, but they would be going to the revolutionary occupied castle with several platoons of some of the best trained soldiers they had. It might have been overkill, but Najenda deemed this necessary to take him down.
"Is everything prepared?" Najenda asked, looking at Lapp, who had taken it upon himself to prepare medical supplies and munitions for the additional soldiers. He nodded, two officers standing by him nodding along. "Good, If the Flying Rays are ready, we'll set off immediately." At her words, Leone smirked, pointing her thumb over her shoulder where seven giant manta ray-like danger beasts sat at the ready, each one laden with supplies and equipped with saddles of some form.
"Ready and waiting boss." Leone said with a smirk. Najenda nodded, sighing as she thought about the most recent news from the castle, with the arrival of Wild Hunt. They had been on the revolutionary's radar for some time, but unfortunately, there were often more pressing issues for Night Raid to attend to. This time however they had the opportunity to hit two birds with one stone and keep the castle within the revolution's grasp.
"Alright... Lets go." Najenda said sternly, the troops moving into action, her own team making their way to their designated Flying Ray. "Sasha." She said, making the newly reactivated member of the team turn to her with an inquisitive gaze. Najenda approached the blue haired girl, giving her a stern glare before that same look softening with a sigh. "Sasha, I know that your still upset about everything thats happened, and how frustrated you might feel, but don't make any stupid decisions." He words were full of genuine worry for the young girl, Sasha looking at her with curiosity.
While true her original intention of joining Night Raid was to get her revenge on Adrien, Sasha had found Najenda and the rest of Night Raid to be good friends and companions, and while they had been a little hostile to her due to her being a bandit before, seemed more than willing to welcome her into their ranks if it meant killing more empire loyalists and supporters, and especially if it meant getting back at Adrien. So when Najenda had said this, Sasha took the message as a message that Najenda, and by extension all of Night Raid, truly cared about her. Much like her friends before.
"I won't, not after last time. But in case I do encounter Adrien, I have a plan." Sasha said confidently, Najenda scanning her expression for any signs of deceit. After a moment, the hardened former general nodded, allowing Sasha to continue to the Flying Ray, Najenda walking slower as she followed. She had a small smile on her face as Sasha spoke with the other team members. She's certainly grown into one of us, even if she wasn't really trying. Najenda thought, soon approaching the massive danger beast. I hope that by the end of this mission we'll be able to share more time together with her, and maybe just end this war one day. Najenda hopped onto the back of the ray, and gave the soldier at the reigns the go ahead to take off. One day, this will all be worth it. And soon, the massive danger beast rose into the air of its own power, followed swiftly by six others, three on either side of the lead one, many of them on their way to what would be their final mission.
Esdeath sighed happily as she sipped on the fine red wine she had in her hand. In front of her was the window in her bedroom, the large glass portal allowing her a near perfect view of the capital. She was not wearing her usual uniform, instead donning a button up light blue shirt, and nothing else. Her uncovered legs sat atop the custom made ottoman in front of her, crossed over casually. She gently stirred the wineglass in her hand, the deep maroon liquid dancing about as she did so.
"Ah. What a lovely evening. It would be better if Adrien was here though." Esdeath said to herself, looking out the window with a slightly longing look. "But alas, he has a far more important matter to take care of. That castle isn't going to get rid of itself." She said, taking another sip of her wine, before looking over the room and smiling as she laid her eyes upon what had been her entertainment for the last few days. A man, clad in chains, bloody and bruised, his non-breathing form covered in a multitude of wounds all from the gratuitous torture he had inflicted upon him for not giving her the information she knew he had earlier. She had him held captive since they had left for Kyoroch, but it had only been after the battle with Night Raid did he finally give up the information she wanted.
"And of course, Syura isn't going to leave the picture himself either." She said, remembering the information she had finally beaten out of the man after more than a month of torture. He had been a difficult one to break, but every mortal man had his point. That was perhaps another thing she admired about Adrien. She knew he was different since the moment she met him, but knowing now that any physical torture she set upon him would likely be for naught only increased her drive and love for the knight. She sighed contently with a blush, half from the wine, and half from thinking about Adrien. "Although I do hope he leaves us with someone to have fun with too." She said, a slightly darker grin spreading across her face.
Adrien and the Wild hunt stared each other down for several seconds before Champ threw the first blow, one of his orbs hurling towards the undead, this one an orange color, and practically radiating energy. Adrien dodged with a roll at the last second. When the orb went through the opening he had made, and hit the opposite wall, incinerating a large portion of it, the stone turning to ash instantly. That power... it's so similar to the first flame, yet wholly different as well. Adrien thought to himself, only being able to think of one or two other pyromancies with that kind of intensity. Adrien slammed his left foot into the ground, his black armored boot digging into the earth before he jumped up with the same foot, leaving a mighty indention in the ground, the embers on his body lighting up fiercely. He brought his swords above him, channeling his magic into the weapons as he plummeted right where Champ and Cosmina were standing beside one another.
Cosmina merely chuckled as she brought out her microphone again, Adrien noting the strange device had small spikes and some form of face on the ball end. She inhaled sharply before singing out a clear note towards him, a massive sonic wave hitting his body, making every piece of metal he had clatter a bit, but he stayed course, the sound alone not enough to stop him. Cosmina seemed to realize this too, her and Champ both jumping out of the way as Adrien finally landed, slamming his swords into the ground despite no target. Both ultra-greatswords hit the ground with a loud crash, breaking the dirt around him before erupting into a fiery explosion, enough to melt a good portion of the ground beneath him.
Adrien wasn't given a break as Izou rushed him and swung his Katana at the unarmored portions of the armor's joints, grey blood occasionally spewing out, but the damage done was minimal before Adrien swung back, first swinging his left arm's sword toward the man, the right one following it in the same arc. Izou jumped back, dodging both weapons, but the heat from the blades made him wince. Dorothea ran into the fray, dodging a swing from Adrien as she approached, getting through his guard, and hooked her legs around his neck. Adrien was about to throw her off, but she struck the top of his skull with her elbows, a sickening crack ringing through the air. Adrien paused as the strike hit, sending a dull pain all throughout his body before he grabbed her leg and threw her into the ground hard enough to create a small crater. Dorothea winced, but seemed to not worry as she kicked at the armored hand still painfully gripping her leg. Adrien's hand did not budge, and Dorothea suddenly found herself staring up at the blade edge of Adrien's other sword. A dull brown orb struck against the same blade, the strike not making it move at all, but instead causing a great deal of rust to coat the blade, Adrien looking up at the blade for a moment before he brought it down on Dorothea regardless.
Before the blade struck, Adrien suddenly found himself staring at the night sky, and soon the feeling of falling met his dulled senses. He twisted around to see that the castle was far below him, and he was heading straight for the central spire, which was mostly intact, with a spire top that he was heading for. He took note of the position of the courtyard where he could clearly see the remains of his assault, and where Wild Hunt most likely still was. Teleportation? Which one of them did that? Perhaps Syura or Dorothea? He managed to maneuver himself in the air to avoid the massive sharp spire on the roof, and crashed into the shingled roof of the tower, crashing again through the attic and rafters before finally slamming into the stone floor of the top portion of the castle. Around him were soldiers, in what appeared to be officers uniforms, all of them now staring at his armored form.
"Shit." An officer behind a large desk said blandly, now staring down Adrien with a shocked but now determined expression. The other officers got over their stupor and many went to flee, while soldiers rushed up past them into the room with drawn swords and ran towards Adrien. The undead sighing tiredly as he prepared to face the soldiers.
Author's notes
Sorry this one took so long, but I had a lot of work. Had us on 6 12s if we wanted to work that. I chose 5, but it still really sapped the life out of me. Finally got this out though, and I finally get to write about the Wild Hunt. They're the group from canon I have the least experience with as I mainly watched the anime, and have read a few chapters of the manga, but not much. (wiki is a godsend though)
The next chapter of my stories to likely come out will be a Tale of Two Strangers as that chapter is now several thousand words long, and I haven't even started on the next chapter of Shop Class. Also, just in case any of y'all were wondering, all of my chapters of Blades are edited by a great friend of mine Rainsfere some of you might remember him from an earlier chapter where I mentioned him, but I can't stress enough just how helpful he has been, and how much better these chapters look after he gets them. Hopefully it won't be too long before I continue with this fight and come back to Blades. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and as always...
Thanks for reading!