A/N: On top of my work and schoolwork, guess who's been playing a lot of Fire Emblem Three Houses? Currently, I've finished playing the Black Eagles route (total time: over 70 hours), the Golden Deer route (Total time: 74 hours) and now currently playing the Blue Lions route. Actually, as both male and female Byleth, with female Byleth having an almost girl team since it'd be the closest for her to have a harem. Male Byleth with dudes that I need/like enough with the exception of Lysithea and Ingrid. I've done that with the past two routes too. And no, I'm not planning a Fire Emblem Three Houses crossover. Wherever did you get that idea? (Insert forced awkward laughter here). BTW, Lysithea is best girl, followed by Marianne, followed by Hapi, followed by Ingrid, and lastly, Dorothea. Anyway, whoo, boy, we've made it to the second half of the story and this is where things will really ramp up. All I can say that it's going to be one hell of a wild ride. Also, we've now reached the fourth and fifth moment I've been waiting for. Although I will admit, I have to include some BS, but it shows a good reason why I didn't do a certain thing in a past chapter. You'll see. Now, finally to the next song, Akame Ga Kill opening 2 as the third opening.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and/or Akame Ga Kill. They belong to their original owners.

The Assassins of Fairy Tail

Job Forty Four: Akame's Decision

The sun rose over the battlefield and Zeref couldn't' think of a more fitting way to begin the battle ahead. His Spriggan Twelve gathered together and his army laid right in front of the guild. He'd like to see how Fairy Tail would overcome this. "Your Majesty..."

Zeref looked over to Neinhart who approached him. "What is it, Neinhart?"

Zeref saw some uncertainty on Neinhart's face. "I believe I do have some Historia that may be some use to you. They're rather quite...interesting."

Hearing that piqued Zeref's interest a little. "Oh? Are you sure, Neinhart? Summoning God Serena and the others have already taken a toll on you."

Neinhart felt blessed in having his Majesty's concern. "I don't think it'll be anything concerning. Unlike those three, this particular set of Historia has no magic, yet they all possess something unique to them."

Zeref decided to humble Neinhart's request and see what Historia he had collected. "Very well. You may show me." The worst Neinhart could do was waste everyone's time.

The Historia Collector nodded at his emperor. "Thank you. I advise everyone to move away. This group is quite large." The other Spriggan Twelve members moved away and created a circular formation. Neinhart brought his hand up. "Historia of Corpses!" He snapped his fingers. In an instant, a large, familiar group of people appeared in the center and one of them seemed to have a strange, small dog.

Former Jaeger Members: Dr. Stylish, Bols, Seryu Ubiquitous & Koro

Former Wild Hunt Members: Champ, Enshin, Cosmina, Syura, Izou, Dorothea

Former Rakshasa Demon Member: Shizuka

Former Great General: Budou

Former Strongest of the Empire: Esdeath

It took a few seconds for the Empire group to register where they were as Syura looked down at his hands and was the first to freak out. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"

The others followed suit and shared Syura's confusion. There were overlapping murmurs among them. "I thought I was killed?"

"How am I alive?"

"What's happening?"

"I could've sworn I activated..."

"What the hell is this!?"

"The last thing I remember was...that stupid lion bitch dropping a boulder on me!"

While everyone was talking, Esdeath looked at her hand and clenched and unclenched it. "How is this possible? I could've sworn that..."

"I must say, I find all of their reactions quite amusing." Esdeath heard a voice and turned where she heard it. She saw a scarlet-haired woman wearing a ridiculously large hat. At first, the former General thought she was a cosplayer until she felt the terrifying strength of her aura. "What the...what is this aura?!" She took a step back and noticed what she did. Esdeath glanced at her foot and thought about what she had done. "I...took a step back?" Never had before Esdeath had retreated, much less take a step back from someone she had just seen.Then it finally began to set in as Esdeath sensed multiple overwhelming powerful auras. She looked around saw multiple people standing around her and the rest of the group. "Who are these people?" Among them, Esdeath did sense no aura at all coming from three of them and even from the other people with her.There was one person in particular that quickly got Esdeath's attention and looked over at Zeref. His aura was unlike anything she'd sense before. "His aura...it's...I can't even make out what it is..."

Zeref seemed rather pleased of the Historia Neinhart has summoned. "This is quite impressive, Neinhart. Where did you manage to find this many Historia?"

"It was in the port town. Hargeon, I believe it was called." Neinhart answered.

Dimaria overheard that and scowled at him. "This many Historia, and you didn't bother to summon them? We could've won that battle in that damn town!"

Neinhart did admit their loss was partly his fault. "I simply thought the Historia I summoned was enough at the time." His answer wasn't good enough for Dimaria and growled at him.

"Yeah, hi." Zeref and the other Spriggan Twelve members turned their attention to Syura. "Can you explain WHAT THE HELL IS HISTORIA AND WHO THE HELL ARE ALL OF YOU ASSHOLES!?"

Despite his outburst, Zeref simply smiled at him. Or rather, the people behind at the back of the group. "My, my. It's quite surprising seeing all of you." Syura raised an eyebrow and didn't know what or who Zeref was talking to. Esdeath looked in the direction Zeref was looking at and gasped in surprise. Right in the back of the group were five individuals she had the displeasure of knowing.

Former Tartaros Members: Raid, Sklade, Rugoro, Syka, and Beatrice

Like everyone else, Raid and the others were perplexed about how they came back to life. However, none of that mattered when they all saw their creator standing before them. All of them walked in unison and past everyone else. Seryu among them was fixated on Syka as she thought she'd never her lover once again. All five former members of Tartarus approached Zeref and stopped right in front of him. To them, Zeref smiling at them felt like the greatest gift they've received. "Raid, Sklade, Rugoro, Syka, and Beatrice."

Beatrice felt honored their creator had remembered their names. "You...remembered us."

Zeref chuckled a little. "Of course. I always remember the names of my creations."

All five demons kneeled before their creator and lowered their heads out of respect. "After all this time...we finally see you, Lord Zeref."

Esdeath raised an eyebrow as soon as she heard Beatrice utter the man's name before her. "Zeref?"

The General felt like she had heard that name before and then finally remembered. "We are known as Etherious! Demons from the Book of Zeref!" Esdeath recalled the other time Beatrice had mentioned the name.Back at the colosseum just before she was about to execute Wendy. "LISTEN TO ME HUMANS OF THIS PATHETIC EMPIRE! I AM BEATRICE! I DO NOT ALIGN MYSELF WITH YOUR EMPIRE NOR AM I PART OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY! MY ONLY ALLEGIANCE IS TO THE DARK GUILD FOUNDED BY THE STRONGEST OF DEMONS E.N.D CALLED TARTAROS! MY LOYALTY LIES WITH THE UNDERWORLD KING MARD GEER AND I LIVE FOR THE IMMORTAL BLACK WIZARD ZEREF!"

So, the person she was seeing was this Zeref Beatrice and the other demons have mentioned before. There was one detail Esdeath was particularly interested in about Zeref. "Immortal, is he?"

Zeref continued his conversation with his creations. "The fact all of you were resurrected by Neinhart's magic could only mean all of you had met with a terrible end." That was putting it lightly. All of them could still clearly remember how they died.

Raid remembered how he met his end by staring at the barrel of Mine's rifle, Pumpkin. "Thanks for the heads up but we'll see what happens when we meet the rest of your group." He still remembered the sound of that shot before dying.

Sklade remembered how he died by Lubbock's hand via a spear he threw into his back and mentioned his weapon surrounding his heart. "Any last words you would like to say?"

"You truly are foolish humans. Do not let this one victory think you can best all of us. You have only begun to feel the wrath of Tartaros!"

Rugoro growled in anger at how he died at the hands of not only Wendy, but by Mine, and Susanoo with Susanoo delivering the final blow to him. "Celestial Sword of the Heavens!"

"MASTER...EZEL!"

Syka shuddered a little at remembering how she died and it was that lion girl with Wendy that killed her. "Seryu…Seryu…"

"Even after what we put you through, you're still clawing aren't you? Got any last words? As an act of kindness from me, I'll make it quick for you."

"Beatrice…I'm sorry…" Syka glanced back to look at Seryu and her heart soared seeing the person loved once more.

Beatrice gritted her teeth as she could never forget who it was that killed her. She could still feel Esdeath's sword within her chest. "Esdeath…you…you bitch…"

"Well, I did say to myself that I was going to run my sword through your back. I always keep my word. You have some nerve trying to take what belongs to me, demon. I'd say you've been more than a thorn in my side long enough. First, there were five and now there will be none. Enjoy your last moments of life." Beatrice was so close to exacting her revenge and then Esdeath appeared and put an end to her life.

Zeref continued to look at his demons until he and everyone else heard a loud stabbing sound. Zeref's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down and saw a rod of ice piercing his chest where his heart was. Everyone looked over at Esdeath with the same reaction and anger.

Raid was appalled Esdeath had attempted to do such a thing. "That ice bitch!"

Beatrice's anger reached a boiling point after seeing what Esdeath had done. "ESDEATH!"

The other Spriggan Twelve members were ready to take action for Esdeath attacking their emperor. Jason quickly looked over at Neinhart. "Oi, Neinhart, what the hell!?"

Neinhart was just as confused about what had happened. "It wasn't me; I swear!" He focused on Esdeath and was perplexed by her action. "This doesn't make sense. My Historia shouldn't be acting on its own."

"Stand down, everyone." His Spriggan Twelve looked at their emperor and saw him smiling. "I'm sure she was just curious." Esdeath gasped when she heard Zeref speak. In fact, he seemed unfazed that he had an icicle piercing his body. "That's...impossible. I pierced his heart. How is he still alive?"

Zeref touched the icicle and it immediately disappointed. He took a closer look at Esdeath and found something very interesting about her. "That mark on your chest. That wouldn't happen to be the Demon's Extract, would it?"

Esdeath's eyes widened in shock at what he had said. "How does he...?"

Zeref looked at the others and saw more familiar weapons. "The Hands of God: Perfector. Magical Beast Transformation: Hekatonkheires. Invitation to Purgatory: Rubicante. Moonlight Sword Dance: Shamshir. Great Tremor: Heavy Pressure. And Thunder God's Rage: Adramelech. I can assume the rest of you have Imperial Arms as well. This means...all of you must be from that other world the Empire is in. Which means somebody else must've gone through that gateway as well." Everyone was surprised Zeref not only knew the weapons these other people carried but where they came from.

Budo narrowed his eyes at the Black Wizard. "And how do you know of our Imperial Arms and the Empire?" Everyone else wanted to know that as well.

Zeref chuckled at the question. "Because I had been to the Empire before." Esdeath and the others were surprised to hear such a thing from Zeref. His demons included. "Tell me, what year was the Empire in?"

"Imperial Year 1025," Budo answered.

Zeref chuckled lightly at that. "I see. So, quite a bit of time has passed since I've last gone there."

Esdeath continued to study Zeref and remembered something a long time ago when she was with Wendy. She took a step forward to him. "Excuse m-" The General stopped when Dimaria instantly stood next to her with her knife pressed against Esdeath's throat. She was both impressed and surprised by Dimaria's speed. If she could even call it that. "How did she move so quickly?"

Dimaria gave Esdeath a deadly glare. "Make one move and I'll kill you."

Esdeath didn't need to be told twice and continued to look at Zeref. "I just have several questions for you. My first one is that earlier you mentioned a gateway. What can you tell us about it?"

Zeref was more than happy to explain that part to her. "Very well. This goes back four hundred years ago, possibly earlier than that. There existed a group of people who were devoted followers of ancient deity that was said to travel to other worlds. They wanted to replicate that power and created a structure to use such powerful magic. I believe it was called De Regnis Aliis Porta or Gateway of Other Realms."

Irene was familiar with the story Zeref was telling. "Yes, I remember hearing this as well. I had presumed it was an old myth. Apparently not."

Zeref continued with his explanation. "I admit, this had me curious, and decided to look at it for myself. I found the Gateway's location and searched it thoroughly. During my search, I had come across a strange rainbow-colored Lacrima. I took it and went to the Gateway itself. I used my magic on it and it activated. The next thing I knew, I'd arrived at your world, though, my arrival had made quite the spectacle."

Esdeath knew what Zeref had meant by that. "You mean you'd created a sonic boom upon your arrival."

Upon hearing that, it finally made sense as to why Beatrice and the others felt Zeref's presence. "So, that's it. That explains why we felt his presence back then."

Zeref smirked at Esdeath. "Correct. I'd become the center of attention and I was to meet the Emperor of the land I was in. I told him who I was and where I'd come from. He didn't believe me at first until I demonstrated my power. The emperor at the time recognized my power and showed me the Empire he ruled. From there I had learned its history and the weapons they had. These Imperial Arms. I must say they're quite interesting to learn from their history to their abilities. I've spent some time in the Empire, learning everything about it before leaving to explore the rest of the world. Upon my travels, I came across ruins that were similar to the one back in Earthland. There were skeletons throughout the site and I managed to find several old documents left behind. From what I read, the skeletons I saw were part of the same group who had built the ruins in Earthland. The travel was a success, but soon realized they had no way to return. They built these ruins in hopes to return, but they encountered a severe problem. They've noticed they were becoming ill the longer they stayed in that world."

Esdeath couldn't help but remember the time she saw Wendy becoming sick during their brief reunion after the young Dragon Slayer was captured. What she heard from Zeref almost sounded similar to what happened to Wendy. "They realized they're suffering a slower version of Magic Deficiency Disease. On top of that, they constantly had to fight off the beasts of that world, but in doing so, they used up their magic. Ultimately, they all perished without finishing their way to return home. I admit I was worried myself about how I was to return home. Then I remembered the rainbow lacrima I found in the ruins back in Earthland. Perhaps the group that stayed had realized this problem and developed this lacrima to prevent what had happened to the group in that world. As I suspected, when I applied my magic to it, lacrima opened a portal that led back to Earthland. Shortly thereafter, I learned there was quite the difference in time."

Zeref couldn't help but smile at remembering the next part of his tale. "I will say my time at the Empire has influenced me somewhat. Seeing how grand it was made me think I should start one of my own. I certainly saw the advantages of having one and now I have an empire of my own. The Alverez Empire." Most of the Spriggan Twelve were surprised to hear the origins of how the Alverez empire came to be. Mavis most of all since she remembered Zeref telling her about he was creating an empire all those years ago. He continued to look to Esdeath. "Now, what other questions did you have for me?"

Esdeath stared back at the Black Wizard intensely. She was about to speak before Seryu interrupted her and raised her hand. "I have a question if you don't mind."

"I don't. Please, go ahead and ask." Zeref responded.

With the go-ahead, Seryu seemed slightly nervous. "You said this world we're in is called Earthland, correct? So, does that mean we're in Wendy's world right now?" If she was right about that, then that meant she was also in Syka's world as well.

Zeref became immediately interested in Seryu's question. "Ah, so you know Wendy? So, it was her that passed through that gateway. Now it makes sense why there are so many of you were summoned together through Neinhart's magic. At one point or another, you must've encountered her." For most of them, that made the most sense since, for most of them, was impossible to forget when they first met Wendy.

The way he spoke about Wendy made Esdeath curious. "How is it that you know Wendy?"

Zeref chuckled lightly as a response. "Let us just say she and I, as well as the other dragon slayers, go back farther than you can imagine." Upon hearing that, Brandish remembered what she and Lucy saw through the Memory of the Stars. Aquarius mentioned that Zeref and the Celestial Mage, Anna planned to send powerful warriors to defeat Acnologia. Wendy must've been one of them.

Esdeath had mostly received her answers and only had one more to ask. "You say that you're an emperor yourself. What does your Alvere Empire look like?"

Zeref chuckled lightly as a response and stepped aside. "See with your own eyes." He gestured at the cliff near him.

Dimaria took that as a sign to stand down and removed her knife from Esdeath's neck, much to the former General's relief. She and the rest of the Empire group walked toward the edge of the cliff. As they neared, every one of them gasped in a mix of shock and amazement. As far as they could see, a massive army covering the land as a sort of a black blanket. Syura whistled at the sight. "Damn. This makes our army look small in comparison."

For once, Budo agreed with him. "Indeed. An army of this size, including those close their emperor." He turned around to face Zeref. "For all your forces to be gathered in one location, you must be expecting your enemy to show themselves. Who exactly are you fighting against?"

Zeref gave Budo a small smirk. "Well, in the grand scheme of things, you can say we're waging war against the continent of Ishgar. But who we're really fighting against is a guild that you may all heard of before when you with Wendy. The guild, Fairy Tail."

Esdeath remained silent upon hearing who Zeref was fighting against and continued to stare at the grand army that was laid out before her. Syura, on the other hand, now found all of this laughable. "You've gotta be kidding me." He scoffed at Zeref. "You mean to tell me that you have this massive army, plus these nine guys surrounding you with monstrously strong aura, is all for one little guild? Overkill is an understatement and that's saying something coming from me."

"You're naïve as ever, boy."

Syura turned to Budo and shot him a nasty glare. "What was that, old man?"

Budo wasn't intimidated by the look Syura was giving him. "If they have all their forces gathered together to fight this Fairy Tail guild, then they must be an enemy not be underestimated. I believe that's how you were killed in the first place."

Syura took an offense to that. "Hey, you were killed too, old man!"

Before they could banter any further, they and the rest of the Empire group heard laughter coming from Esdeath. They all stared at her as her laugher became louder until she cackled into the sky. Most of the Twelve thought of this as odd, especially to Jacob and Wahl. "What's gotten into her?"

Esdeath continued to cackle until she calmed down but smiled deviously. "A war, is it? This is just too perfect." She turned around to face her group and Zeref while still keeping her smile. "The previous war I was in, against the Revolutionary Army, was interrupted and spoiled for me. This is a second opportunity for me to enjoy a war. And this time, I won't let anything get in the way of my enjoyment. If you want to use us, fine. All that I ask for is me enjoying this for as long as I can."

Zeref had no qualms about Esdeath's request. "Very well then. I'm looking forward to seeing what all of you can do. Time is almost upon us."

That was all Esdeath needed to hear and looked back at the massive, blackened army. As excited as she was about the upcoming war, she was looking forward to seeing a certain someone else more. "Wendy, it won't be long now until our paths cross. I can't wait to see you once again."

Across from where the guild was, Natsu and the others saw the army Zeref had, and Lucy couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. "Are these all our enemies?"

Even Natsu felt a little uneasy seeing many enemies gathered in one place. "I can see our home over there, but..."

"We just gotta do this," Gray spoke with confidence in his voice.

Juvia nodded in agreement. "Juvia is ready."

"Me too." Happy added.

The only one who had a sliver of doubt was Akame. She kept staring at the massive pillar the guild was. "They're all there. Or at least most of them."

Juvia and the others looked at Akame. "Do you mean the Spriggan Twelve?"

Akame nodded at Juvia's question. "I do. However, I only sense nine of the Twelve's aura. Two of them I'm not familiar with."

Gray was impressed Akame could sense their auras from so far away. "I'm surprised you can sense their aura from where we are."

That wasn't much of a surprise given how strong the Twelve was. "If you wish to know more, I can sense three aura that reaches here and beyond." Lucy gulped at the description. "I can sense August's aura and it feels stronger than we first encountered him. Second, to that is an aura I couldn't believe that's just as powerful as August's. It's the same one I sensed back when we were where Kardia Cathedral and the Captial were."

Lucy remembered how Akame acted back then when they were there. "So, that's why you acted so strange back then. But, there's really someone just as strong as August?" The thought of that unnerved the others as well.

"There is," Akame responded. "As for the third one, it's..." She found it a little difficult to explain to the others.

"It's what?" Juvia asked.

Akame had no other choice but to give it to them straight. "It's the same as Natsu's."

Everyone else became confused by what Akame told him. Lucy especially. "The same aura Natsu's? Are you sure?"

"Without a doubt. But, it's impossible for two people to have the same aura." She was trying to figure out how something like this was possible.

Despite the news, Natsu slammed his fist into his other hand. "So what if this guy has the same aura as me? If I ever run into this guy, I'll beat his butt!"

Akame couldn't help but chuckle at Natsu's declaration. She stared at the army laid out before her and seemed hesitant. Gray quickly picked this up. "You're not used to this, are you?" She turned her attention to the ice wizard. "I know you had an army of your own to fight against the Empire you're up against but..."

"This time I don't have that luxury." Akame looked back at the army. "An army far larger than I've seen before, nine of the Spriggan Twelve gathered together that are far stronger than Esdeath, the one person the Revolutionary Army feared the most, and all we have is us." They saw Akame clench her hand tightly. "But it's not just us fighting them. The others heard that message as well and I'm sure they're headed here as well. As far as I can see it, we're not the main attacking force. What we are is just the start." Everyone smiled at Akame's inspiring words. They were worried at first about what she thought about this situation since head-on attacks weren't her and her previous team's specialty. "Once we start, we have to push onward. For each enemy we fell, it's one step toward the guild and to Mavis."

"I'm sure the First is waiting for us at the guild," Lucy spoke with confidence.

"Zeref's probably with her," Juvia added.

This time, Gray slammed his fist into his hand and grinned at Natsu. "Which of us will take down Zeref first? You in, Natsu?"

Natsu chuckled and smiled back at Gray. "Hell yeah! I'm getting fired up now!" This proud moment was quickly interrupted by the loud grumbling of Natsu's stomach.

Gray couldn't help but groan at Natsu. "As always, your timing is impeccable."

As soon as Gray mentioned taking Zeref down, Happy remembered what Zeref said if he were to be killed. "If you kill, Natsu will die as well."

Happy shook his head to dispel and was determined to not let that happen. "There's gotta be a way. I'm not gonna let Natsu die! Never!"

Not a second after, both of them heard a louder grumbling sound and they turned to Akame. They saw her being slightly embarrassed by what happened as she placed her hand on her stomach. "I just realized I haven't eaten anything since we left the guild." With everything that's happened in such a short amount of time, it was no wonder she was hungry now.

Lucy gave Akame a promising smile. "Tell you what; when this war is over, you can eat as much as you want once we get the guild back. Deal?"

Akame smiled back at Lucy and nodded. "Deal." Now she had something to look forward to when the war ends.

With everyone mentally ready, Natsu took a step forward. "LET'S DO THIS!" Natsu led the charge down the cliff and everyone else followed suit. "BACK TO OUR GUILD!"

"YEAH!"

Insert Fairy Tail OST: Lightning Fire Dragon's Firing Hammer

Natsu and the others charged toward the front line of the Alverez army and as soon as they saw them running toward them, they charged in return.As they neared each other, Natsu pulled his arm back and strong flames surrounded his fist and increased in size drastically. "DRAGON KING'S..." He threw his fist forward and a massive explosion of fire scattered much of the enemy soldiers. "DEMOLITION FIST!"

Following up Natsu's attack, Lucy brought out one of her Golden Gate Keys. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" Taurus appeared beside Lucy and shouted out his signature battle cry. Lucy waved her key in front of her. "Star Dress: Taurus!"

Lucy and Taurus attacked a group of enemy soldiers together, Taurus swinging his axe at them and Lucy doing one of her signature moves. "Tension Max!"

"Lucy Kick!" As Lucy kicked one of the enemy soldiers away, she jumped into the air and pulled out her whip, and slammed it into the ground. The impact resulted in the ground below and it shattered along with striking any enemy laid before its path "Earth Wave!"

Juvia waved her arm across and sent blades of water at the enemy. "Water Slicer!"

Gray had summoned multiple ice lances to attack his group of enemies. "Ice-Make: Lance!"

Akame slashed through enemies with blinding speed while passing them by. Before they knew it, she appeared behind them. She flicked her sword and one second later, they all fell to the ground without making a sound. "Shadow Magic: Silent Shadow Slash." She saw the next group running toward her and she quickly sheathed her sword and slammed her fist into her hand. "Shadow-Make..." Akame slammed her hands to the ground and a large shadow hemisphere appeared from the ground. It grew drastically in size and the front opened like it had massive jaws. "Abyssal Maw!" The giant jaws moved quickly toward the soldiers. They tried to flee, but many of them were caught in the shadow's jaw and they slammed shut. It then vanished along with the soldiers it had eaten.

The soldiers in the back saw that many of them were being sent flying into the air by their enemy's attacks and by the dozens as well. They still couldn't believe what they were doing. "These guys, did they willingly attack us head-on?!"

"They're freaking insane!"

"We can overwhelm them with our sheer numbers! Stand your ground!"

End OST

From above, Neinhart saw what was happening and smiled at what he'd discovered. "How interesting."

Budo had his arms cross as he observed the battle. "It seems they've arrived."

Syura couldn't help but laugh at the sight he saw. "Are they really freaking serious? A frontal assault against an army that big?"

"They must be fucking idiots if they're doing that," Enshin commented.

Idiots or not, it did warrant enough for Esdeath to be curious. "Seryu, can you see how many are attacking the army?"

Seryu quickly looked at her General and saluted her. "Yes, General Esdeath!" She extended her right arm to the side. "Koro!" Her imperial arms saluted her and barked before stretching out its neck and opening its mouth wide for everyone to see its pointy sharp teeth.

Koro clamped its mouth around Seryu's arm which freaked Jacob out a little. "What the bloody hell?!"

August couldn't help but be transfixed by what Koro had done. "What an interesting creature, that is."

Koro pulled its head back and Seryu's arm was replaced with a new one that had a radar built into it. "Judgment of the Ten Kings: Justice City Detector!" She looked at her radar and the black dots it showed were the Alverez army. She gasped at what she saw and was bewildered. "That...can't be."

Bols was curious about what Seryu was seeing. "What is it, Seryu?"

Seryu had to do a double-take of what she was seeing was correct. "According to the radar, only five people are attacking."

Dorothea raised an eyebrow at that. "Five people?! Against what, a million soldiers? Do they have a death wish or something?"

"Or like I said, they're complete fucking idiots." Enshin reminded the whole group.

Despite that, Esdeath thought of a fun idea of introducing themselves. "Seryu, why don't you give them a proper Empire greeting?"

Seryu looked at her General and knew what she was talking about, but had some concerns. "Of course, General Esdeath, but our allies are still among the enemy."

She brought up a good point and Seryu would not endanger their new allies. She turned to Invel who was looking after them. "Can you relay a message to your soldiers? Seryu here would like to avoid harming them."

Invel leered at the other ice General. "If you wish."

Back down below, little by little, Natsu and the others were pushing back the massive army. They were going to continue their assault until they heard one of the soldiers shouting. "FALL BACK! FALL BACK!" They saw the army retreating which confused Natsu. "What the-get your butts back here! We're not done with you yet!?"

Lucy found them retreating strange since they obviously had the advantage in numbers. "Why would they fall back?"

Gray couldn't help but have a bad feeling. "They must be planning something."

At the top of the pillar, Esdeath and Seryu saw the front line of soldiers retreating. Seryu was more than happy with what Invel had done. She turned to the other ice General and smiled at him. "Thank you for pulling your soldiers back. Truly, you are a benevolent General." Dimaria couldn't help but scoff at that. Seryu turned back to the cliff. "Now, Koro!" Koro barked at Seryu while saluting her and stretched out its neck and hovered over Seryu. It enlarged its head and opened its mouth only to bite down the upper half of Seryu's body.

Jacob was still not used to seeing it change and morph like that. "No, seriously, what the hell is that bloody dog!?"

Brandish was absolutely disgusted at what she was seeing. "That thing is so not cute at all."

Koro retracted its mouth and head and as Seryu emerged from Koro's mouth, she mounted several large missile launchers and turrets. She had a devious expression on her face. "FEEL THE WRATH OF ABSOLUTE JUSTICE!" She aimed at her targets. "JUSTICE VOLLEY!" She fired a barrage of missiles right at Natsu and the others.

Insert Akame Ga Kill OST 33: Rasetsu Yonki

While the others were pondering why the enemy retreated, Natsu heard something peculiar and looked at the front. His eyes widened and gasped in shock before turning the others. "GET BACK, NOW!" Before they could respond, the barrage of missiles struck them and multiple explosions occurred where they were standing.

Seryu continued to fire her missile barrage while laughing manically. Wahl cackled at her behavior. "You know, I think I'm starting to like this human."

Syka, obviously, was completely enamored with Seryu. "Oh, I love it when you're like this!"

Raid, wasn't as enthusiastic as his teammate was. "I forgot how much of a complete psycho this bitch was." Syka didn't say anything about that. Instead, she struck him from on top of the head. Hard. "OW!" It was amusing to Esdeath to see Seryu enjoying herself like this. While seeing Seryu blasting her enemies to her heart's content, she saw something from the corner of her eye and looked over at Neinhart's direction with Irene with him. It was not often she was surprised, but what she saw certainly caught her off guard.

Back down below, Natsu and the others were barely surviving the missile bombardment. The only one who seemed to be unaffected was Juvia. Under this constant barrage, Gray and the others couldn't do anything at all. "We're not going to last much longer!"

They had to come up with an idea and fast. And Lucy had just one. "Juvia, can you shield us with your magic?"

Juvia looked over at the other girl. "I can, but it won't hold long."

"That's fine. A few seconds is all I need."

Juvia trusted Lucy and spread her arms out. A large sphere of water covered the group, but the missiles did not let up. Lucy brought out another of her gate keys. "Open: Gate of the Golden Ram!" A bright light appeared and Aries appeared within the group. "Aries!" Aries tried to say her usual apology, but couldn't since they were in the water. She also quickly noticed they were being under attack. "Star Dress: Aries!" Lucy had transformed into her Aries form and pointed her hand in front.

Aries saw was Lucy was going to do and did the same. "Wool Wall!" A massive wall of pink wool appeared in front of Natsu and the others and it took the brunt of the barrage. As Lucy expected, they didn't hear any explosions from the other side of the wall. One by one, the missiles were caught in the wool and became stuck. Since the wool was unbelievably soft, they didn't explode on impact.

Seryu had quickly noticed this and stopped firing. "Now what's going on?"

Shizuka walked to the edge of the cliff and saw the large pink wool wall down below. "It seems they're blocking your attack with...a big pink wall."

Seryu growled in frustration but knew how to handle that. "Then let's see them survive this! Koro!" Koro barked and stretched out its neck and mouth to bite Seryu's right arm. It retracted and her arm was replaced by an enormous missile. Judgment of the Ten Kings, Number Six, fire!" Flames erupted from the back of the missile and launched from Seryu, targeting Natsu and the rest.

In bad timing, Lucy and Aries dispelled the giant wool wall as Juvia released them from her water sphere. Lucy smiled and laughed sincerely at Aries. "Great job, Aries. You really saved us."

Aries smiled back at Lucy sweetly. "You're welcome and I'll do better next time." Those were the last words Aries spoke before Lucy closed her gate.

"Something else is headed our way!" Akame warned everyone.

They looked ahead and saw the huge missile coming right toward them. Lucy thought of summoning Aries again to create another Wool Wall, but Natsu had an idea of his own. "Gray, can you shoot that thing?"

Gray smiled as he knew what Natsu had in mind. He slammed his fist into his palm. "Ice-Make..." He created an ice bow and arrow. He pointed his bow at the incoming missile. "Super Freeze Arrow!" He fired a single ice arrow at the missile and it went straight through it. A second later, the missile exploded and the explosion quickly reached the group.

Without hesitation, Natsu leaped into the explosion and opened his mouth. Within seconds, Natsu devoured the explosion and landed on the ground. He burped and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. "That was a good appetizer." It was at that point Akame made a note of learning some Slayer magic so she could devour elements and quell her hunger as well.

End OST

At above, Seryu growled in anger this time as this was the second time her attack was intercepted. "How?! How were they able to stop my strongest attack!?"

Izou took a step forward and had his hand around his sword's handle. "Shall we go now? Kousetsu has not been fed for a long time."

"We should wait a little longer." Everyone turned to Esdeath who was smiling for some reason. "I never would've imagined you'd be here."

Below, Natsu burped and let out a refreshed sigh. "Oh, yeah! Now I got a fire in my belly!"

"It was a smart idea to eat the explosion, but I think that was cutting it a little too close," Lucy commented. After being assaulted with missiles, she wasn't ready to tank an explosion from a missile of that size.

"We should keep going," Akame spoke. "We now know the enemy has a long-ranged attack; we don't know when they'll do it again." Everyone nodded in agreement. They were lucky to survive the last attack, but they didn't want to push their luck.

They were about to move forward until Natsu heard a distinct sound and knew what it was. "GET DOWN NOW!" He grabbed Lucy and pulled her to the ground. Gray, Juvia, Akame, and Happy did the same and they all heard a single gunshot ring out throughout the air. They waited for a few seconds before standing up again. "Is everyone alright?"

Lucy was but was a little annoyed at how Natsu was unintentionally groping her when they were on the ground.

"We're alright. Just what was that-" Juvia's sentence was cut short as something went through her head and crashed into the ground in front of them.

Out of all of them, Gray was the most horrified at what happened. "Juvia! Are you okay!?"

It took Juvia a few seconds to register what happened to her. "I...believe so. What happened?" Gray let out a sigh of relief. Never before was he this glad Juvia's body was made out of water.

Happy looked at what struck the ground and saw what it was. "It's...a bullet?"

That much was obvious since they heard the gunshot beforehand, but something didn't make sense to Lucy. "Did someone fire a second shot?"

"I didn't hear a second shot," Natsu informed.

Gray had a thought, but it was impossible to consider. "Well, it's not like a bullet can change direction. There has to be a second shooter."

As soon as Gray spoke those words, something deep shook within Akame's mind. "A bullet changing direction..." There was only one weapon Akame knew that could pull off such a feat, but like Gray, she thought it was impossible because the weapon and its wielder shouldn't be-

"Aw, what happened? I was sure I shot that girl in the head."

Akame's face became pale as she and everyone else heard a voice. A voice Akame thought she'd never hear again. "Perhaps you should've taken better aim."

"Maybe she missed."

"No, the bullet definitely went through the head. How that girl is alive, it's surprising."

"Whatever the case, the girl looks hot. Same with the blonde."

"Honestly, is that all you think about? You haven't changed."

Natsu and the others looked ahead and saw six people standing across from them. Instantly, Natsu knew that whoever they were, they weren't friendly. "And who the hell are these guys?"

Insert Akame Ga Kill OST: Le Chant De Roma

"It...can't be..." Natsu and the others saw Akame take a few steps forward to the new group and Lucy saw that Akame looked like she was seeing ghosts. Akame stopped walking but continued to stare in disbelief at the group standing before her. "Guy, Poney, Green, Tsukushi, Najasho, Cora..."

The fact Akame knew their names caught Gray's and everyone else's attention. "You know these guys, Akame?"

"I believe the better question is how?" Juvia added and was just as curious.

Poney blinked a few times to make sure who she was seeing was who she thought it was. "Is that you, Akame?" She laughed and jumped a few times while waving her arms. "Hey, Akame!"

Najasho narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, if it isn't the Small Fry."

Green pushed his glasses up slightly. "Akame..." Even as battle damaged as she is, Green still thought she was as beautiful as ever.

Guy smiled brightly at Akame and chuckled. "Akame. Looking good as always."

Cornelia smiled as well, but more sweetly. "It's been so long. I'm so happy to see you again."

Tsukushi smiled the same as Cornelia. "How have you been, Akame? I hope you haven't been too lonely."

The fact they all knew Akame brought about more confusion from Lucy and the others. "Do you know them, Akame?"

Akame was silent as she was still trying to make sense of who she was seeing. Never in her wildest dreams, and not since she was under the influence of Sklade's madness curse, she would see her old team again. "Before I joined Night Raid, before I joined the Revolutionary Army, before I left the Empire, I was part of a group whose purpose was to kill anyone who'd rebel against the Empire. That group...was called the Elite Seven. They...were my former allies and friends." She clenched her hands tightly. "But it doesn't make sense. You shouldn't be here." She gritted her teeth and had a look of frustration in her eyes. "Because all of you are dead!"

Something about that reminded Lucy about something Jacob said to Akame back at the guild. "So, you lost eight of your pals then. That must've been rough on you."

Lucy now pieced together who the other six were Akame lost. "So, these people are the six Akame lost."

Gray and Juvia knew all too well who was responsible for bringing back the people who were close to Akame. "It's gotta be that guy Erza fought back at Hargeon."

Najasho's expression remained neutral but understood Akame's reaction. "I do find it strange how we're alive again, but that doesn't matter now. We have orders to stop you and your little group."

Natsu took that as a challenge and flames covered his hands. "Is that a fact? Old friends or not, we'll kick your butts!"

Natsu was ready to fight until Akame raised her arm to tell Natsu to stop. "I'll fight them."

Lucy couldn't believe what Akame had said to them. "What? Akame, you can't!"

"This is my past," Akame argued back. "And I have to face them myself."

Gray thought that kind of thinking was asinine. "You don't have to fight them on your own. Remember, whatever happened in your past, you don't have to fight them by yourself."

Akame was thankful for the words, but she had already made up her mind. "You tell me what's more important. Getting to the guild and saving the First Master, or get caught up with my past. I know you don't want me to carry the burdens of what happened to me, but there are some things I have to do on my own. This is non-negotiable." There was one more reason Akame wanted to fight her former teammates. It was also a chance to face her failures.

It sounded like Akame wouldn't budge from her decision and Natsu had no choice but to respect it. "If that's how you feel, we'll leave it to you. Just promise you'll make it back to us."

Akame wasn't too keen on promises but would make an exception this time. "I will."

Najasho had other plans for the group and grabbed the handle of his Shingu, the Water Dragon Sword. "You're not going anywhere!"

Akame quickly slammed her hands together and then slammed them into the ground. "Shadow-Make: Black Fortress!" A giant shadow dome emerged from the ground and encased the former members of the Elite Seven. "Go, now!"

The others took this opportunity to run past the dome. Lucy looked back one more time at Akame. "Be careful, Akame."

As soon as they were far away enough, Akame dispelled her magic and the dome vanished. Now, it was only her against her former team. Najasho seemed to be the only one who was unfazed by what Akame had done. "So, it seems you've learned a few new tricks since then. Do you really think that'll be enough for you to fight all of us by yourself?" He scoffed at Akame. "Don't get too cocky, Small Fry."

Akame remained unflinching and drew out one of her swords and summoned a shadow sword. "You're forgetting something, Najasho. A long time has passed between now and what happened back then." She pointed her shadow sword at her former team. "I'll show you what this small fry can do now." Though her words sounded confident, there was something that was bothering her. She couldn't sense their aura, but she could sense something else coming from them; magic power and it was strong. She didn't know what happened to them, but she now knows the fight would prove to be more difficult than she originally thought. Regardless, Akame was determined to see this through to the end. "Shall we begin?"

A/N: You know, I actually wanted to take a small break after I had finished this chapter, but my school term back then started earlier than I thought. Well, if you can excuse me now, I have a lot of Akame Ga Kill related stuff to catch up on. Now, Fairy Tail Ending 25 as the third ending.