Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Akame ga Kill franchise and this fanfiction has not been written for profit!

A/N: Yosh! We've once again made our way to another new chapter! And you're in luck! I'll be posting another chapter before the end of the month (keep your fingers crossed)! Initially, I intended for this chapter and the next chapter to be the same chapter, but I didn't want to end up dumping another 20,000 chapter on my readers, so I split it up. Anyways, before we get started, just a few points to make:

#1. As always, thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows. A quick shout out to Onyx2589! I mean to reply to your reviews of most of my chapters, but didn't get the chance! Nonetheless, you seem to have read through this story rather quickly. Thanks for the reviews!

#2. This "Kill the Revolution" arc will be wrapped up by the next chapter and we can then move onto the final phase of this fic.

#3. Am keeping tabs on the manga. Looks like it's gearing up to end in a fashion similar to the anime. I don't really care for this "Emperor in a giant mech" stuff and it doesn't look like the author will be giving us a proper "Tatsumi vs Esdeath" scenario. Looks like Akame is gonna get all the glory again. Shame.

#4. As you'll see below, I've changed my method of transitioning from scene to scene again. I think this style works much better!

Anyways, without further ado . . .

Updated 1/20/17 - Fixed prose and grammatical errors.

Episode 24: Kill the Revolution – Part 2

The island's beach was ripe with the sound of gunfire and clustered with the smell of gunpowder. Soldiers, both in the Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Army, were dying left and right. Accumulated injuries were on the rise. Nonetheless, even a child could tell which side appeared to have the advantage.

Much of the beach was a steep incline and legions of Revolutionary Army soldiers stood on the high ground, armed with rifles and katanas. The rifleman fired down upon the invading forces getting off their boats and attempting to make their way up the incline. The swordsmen cut down anyone who managed to get close enough to engage the riflemen at close quarters. In short, it was what seemed to be a foolproof strategy on Najenda's part.

Wave stood from afar on the Jaegar's warship with an irritated grimace on his face. Clearly unhappy with how the battle was progressing thus far. Indeed, even a child could tell who held the advantage in this situation. "This was a bad idea, Run. Call them back. We don't need to send in any soldiers at this point. All of our warships should blast the island first. That will annihilate their defenses. Our infantry can clear out the remains."

"No", Run replied in a stoic fashion. "For now, we'll proceed as planned."

Outraged at his comrade's seeming disregard for their own forces, Wave swiftly grabbed him by his coat collar. "Are you nuts? You see what's going on out there! Call them off! There's no reason to let so many get slaughtered!"

"It's not entirely my decision to make."

"Then whose is it? The commander's? You've seen how strong she is. She can take care of herself just fine. We should at very least fire upon the beach since we know she's inside their fortress!"

"This is a direct order from the Prime Minister. We are not to fire even a single cannon at the island until his son gives us the okay. For the time being, we'll attack using infantry."

"Are you serious? Where's the logic in that?!"

"Calm down. We still have an ace in the hole, but we'll have to play it at the right moment. Mark my words: Even if we don't fire a single cannon tonight, the Revolutionary Army is finished."

The look in Run's eyes; such confidence; such certainty. Wave couldn't help but sigh and release him from his grasp. "Fine. But what about their sniper? We already know where she is. Was it wise to only send Seryu to face her?"

"Out of the four of us, Seryu is the only one to have engaged their sniper in combat. The last time they fought, she forced their sniper to flee and even killed another one of their members simultaneously. Obviously, she's the one best suited to engage her. The rest of us will remain here. We can't overlook the possibility that they used their sniper as a means of furthering some divide and conquer tactic."

"Maybe, but what if one of them runs to their sniper's aid while we're all waiting patiently on this ship?"

"That won't be a problem. Seryu is also well suited to engaging entire groups. When we fought two of their members in Ali Jinnah, she nearly killed everyone with her abundant supply of artillery. If she's up against multiple opponents, we'll know pretty quickly based on the amount of explosions going off at that eastern tower."

The Grand Chariot wielder narrowed his eyes as he heard his companion's words. Something didn't set right with him. "Hold on a second. Nearly killed everyone? What are you talking about?"

Run sighed, as if reluctant to answer the question. "While we were fighting Night Raid back then, Seryu ended up blasting everyone in the entire room. I managed to protect myself at the last moment with my wings and Kurome used her trump card to keep herself from dying."

"Why wasn't I told about any of this?", Wave asked, his voice inflecting with disapproval.

"Because I know how you feel about Seryu and I also know how protective you are of Kurome and am not about to let that jeopardize our mission."

"She nearly killed you both and you're just going to forget about that?"

"Don't be a fool. Now is not the time to worry about a personal grudge. Our job is to defeat Night Raid and put an end to this rebellion."

"Personal grudge? Is that what you call it? That's the second time she nearly killed her own teammates. She's nothing but a death worshipping psychopath! You know I'm right!"

Run quickly narrowed his eyes as well, though still keeping his composure. "I've asked you this once and I'll ask you again: If you're right, what do you plan to do about it?"

And just like that, there was a sudden pause. Unlike the previous instance where the two Jaegars had this conversation, Wave did not provide an answer. Instead, he merely glared at Run for a few additional moments before swiftly turning away and continuing to watch the battle on the beach unfold.

[. . . . Hypocritical garbage . . . .]

At the top of the island's easternmost tower, Mein stood across the crazed Seryu Ubiquitious. Her imperial arm, Koro, was in its large muscular form. The crazed Jaegar had already plunged her right arm into the biological weapon's mouth. Upon pulling it out, her right forearm was replaced with a large and broad sword roughly eight feet in length. "Number 3: Sung Dynasty Blade!"

Mein had simultaneously taken a moment to adjust Pumpkin's parts to modify the weapon to its machine gun form. With her opponent being at such close range, this appeared to be the best strategy. As soon as she did, she immediately began firing upon her adversary, firing quick shots in succession, but considerably lower attack power than the weapons other forms. Seryu reactively jumped behind Koro, using the large and muscular bio-weapon as cover. Though despite its size, Mein's machine gun fire was nonetheless blasting miniature holes through it. "Koro! Berserker mode! Now!"

In absolute compliance to its master commands, the humanoid imperial arm quickly morphed into its trump card form, suddenly growing larger, appearing darker in color and appearing far more muscular. The beast opened its mouth, preparing to emit a roar loud enough to stun the genius sniper much like it had done in their previous encounter.

But Mein was more than prepared for such a tactic this time. Just as soon as the beast's mouth creaked open, she set her aim on that very area, blasting the inside of the bio-weapon throat in the process. This caused Koro to immediately cease its attempt to roar, instead letting out a loud cry in pain.

"Forget about the roar!", Seryu yelled. "Just focus on cornering her!"

And so the beast did, holding out its two arms in a cross blocking position, no doubt as a means to protect itself from the machine gun fire. It also began to walk towards the genius sniper. The machine gun fire was still doing damage, but thanks to Koro's current form, its size and regenerative powers, it was only proving to be a minor annoyance.

Despite the apparent insignificance or her continued assault, the genius sniper kept her fingers steadily on the trigger, slowly backing away as she did so. It wasn't long until her back was pushed up against the stone fencing alongside the tower's edge. Seryu, still standing behind Koro as a means of cover, peaked her head out ever so slightly to get a glimpse at where her Night Raod adversary was positioned, delighted with wicked glee upon confirming it with her own eyes.

"Send this vile demon to hell!", Seryu commanded in a maniacal fashion, clearly having noticed that Mein's back was literally against a wall.

Heeding its master's command, Koro charged in Mein direction's, on the verge of smashing her in one fell swoop. If Mein had any cause for alarm, however, the expression on her face certainly didn't indicate as much. "Idiot", she uttered, simultaneously doing a combat roll beneath Koro's short and stubby legs.

Having missed its target, Koro hurled itself clean through the stone fencing, inadvertently placing itself in the precarious position of being within a single centimeter from falling off the edge. It tried to regain its balance, but it was much too late. For Mein had spun around amidst her combat roll, gotten into a crouching position and continued to pelt the beast with machine gun fire. It was still ineffective from the standpoint of doing serious damage to the biological weapon, but that didn't appear to be true Mein's intent. Unable to regain its balance, Koro fell off the tower and plummeted towards the ground 10 stories below.

Though at the exact same time Mein had been firing upon the beast, Seryu herself had lunged towards the sniper with her sword held out. "Never turn your back on justice!"

Just as it looked like the crazed Jaegar was about to cut her opponent down from behind, Seryu was hurled back multiple feet and the sound of a gunshot from a powerful handgun filled the immediate area. As a result, the lone Jaegar fell flat on her back and was all of the sudden motionless. A hole could be seen on her lower forehead and blood could also be seen pouring out.

Mein didn't appear even the slightest bit surprised about this turn of events however. And with good reason. In her left hand was a silver revolver that looked very much like a .500 Smith and Wesson magnum. She had positioned the barrel of the weapon under her right arm, making it very difficult for someone behind her to notice. What's more, she had to have fired the gun while continuing to hold the trigger on her imperial arm in her right hand and without actually looking at her assailant from behind. A feat perhaps impossible to any ordinary person, but not to a marksmen of Mein's prowess

Sensing that the battle was over, Mein stood up from where she had been crouching. She carefully secured her handgun to a holster she appeared to have fastened beneath her dress and around her left thigh. Evidently, Seryu wasn't the only one who had made some changes since their last encounter. The genius sniper then turned around and walked towards her bested adversary, angrily kicking the body the moment she got close enough. "Sucks for you, but I came prepared this time. You have no idea how much time I've spent rethinking our previous fight. Every second of it is etched into my memory. I've spent months endlessly thinking about your fighting style, your habits, your tendencies, your imperial arm and what I could have done differently that night. Eventually, it occurred to me: You only survived because I got in Sheele's way. Get that? You're nothing special. You're just a hypocritical piece of garbage. Do me a favor and go rot in hell."

With an irritated sigh, she began to walk away. Like most classic medieval towers, this one had a long spiraling set of stone stairs inside going from top to bottom. But before tge Night Raid assassin could even place one foot on one stair, sounds of an approaching figure behind her caused her to swiftly turn her head back towards her thought-to-be defeated opponent.

Seryu was back on her feet with an axe-crazy look in her eyes, dashing towards her adversary in a bloodthirsty fashion.. Mein reactively raised her imperial arm and fired upon the Jaegar once more. But none of her shots bore any fruit this time as Seryu used the broad side of the blade on her right arm as a shield, effectively blocking the shots fired. Having closed the distance between the two, the crazed Jaegar quickly used her colossal blade to swat Pumpkin out of Mein's hands, sending the weapon tumbling down the tower's stairway all the way to the bottom. Then, mid-movement, with her left arm, she hurled her left fist into the genius sniper's face. With that one punch, the pink haired assassin went tumbling down the stairway as well, though only to the extent of 6 or 7 stairs.

"Dr. Stylish knew I'd need every advantage I could get to fight demons like you", Seryu said while tapping her forehead with her index finger. "That's why he replaced parts of my skull with pure plates of orichalchum. Even in death, he's watching over me."

Undaunted, Mein carefully regained her footing, rubbing her now bruised right cheek as she did so. "That's a laugh", she said, cold and callously.

"What was that?", Seryu retorted, anger enveloping her eyes.

"I remember Dr. Stylish. He was a coward who ended up killing his own subordinates in a desperate attempt to save his own life. Someone like that would never watch over anyone besides himself."

To which the crazed Jaegar growled. "How dare you! It wasn't enough to murder the man in cold blood. Now you sully his good name! You'll pay for that!"

Full of rage and indignation, Seryu began to charge towards the genius sniper yet again, but Mein did not engage her. Instead, she removed the magnum she had holstered back under her leg and began running down the stairway, no doubt intent upon retrieving her imperial arm.

[. . . . Generosity . . . .]

Elsewhere, Akame and Leone stealthily drew near the beach, making certain to conceal their movements and remain hidden under the night sky. None of the soldiers over yonder seemed to be aware of their presence, each too focused on the task at hand.

"Looks like they don't really need our help", Leone whispered, referring to the state of affairs within the battle between the Revolutionary and Imperial army soldiers thus far.

"They can handle themselves", Akame replied, also whispering. "For now, we need to focus on taking down the Jaegers. The last thing we want is for them to join this battle."

"Please tell me you got a glimpse at the direction Mein fired at. She said she would shoot the Jaegars first."

To which the red eyed assassin nodded her head. "It was only one shot. It was towards the center most warship at the front of their fleet. We should hurry though. If I was able to see the shot, Kurome definitely saw it as well and was likely able to intercept it. If that's the case, then they probably know where Mein is by now."

Before either Night Raid member could ponder further, their attention was drawn to sudden pain stricken screams from a dozen Revolutionary army soldiers nearby. Intense bursts of electricity were surging all through their bodies to the point of charring them; somehow, they were being electrocuted.

The wicked laughter of a large gruff muscular man could be heard all of the sudden. As if having leapt through the air a considerable distance, the man landed amongst the many soldiers who were being charred death. "That's it? That's the impregnable defense that's been keeping our soldiers at bay? Pathetic. Crossing this beach was child's play. Oh well. At least I released some souls."

Upon seeing this display of power, Leone whispered into Akame's ear. "If he can make it past our front line this easily, he'll have no trouble breaching the fortress."

To which Akame answered with an equally low tone of voice. "I'll handle this. You go on ahead. Don't engage the Jaegars yet though."

With a quick nod of her head, the feral assassin stealthily dashed off into another direction. Akame, meanwhile, walked towards this large muscular figure, nonchalantly unsheathing her imperial arm as she did.

This monster of a man had been basking in the glory of his easy victory over so many soldiers, only to immediately direct his attention towards the approaching Night Raid assassin. "That's some serious killing aura you got there. To have that much blood lust, you must be some piece of work."

"You're one of the four Rakshasa demons, right?", Akame said, still drawing closer.

"It seems our illustrious reputation precedes us. That's right. Sten's the name. I take it you're Shinigami Akame. Your reputation precedes you as well, you know."

"Am I to assume your three associates are here as well?"

"They're in Ali Jinnah right now, so you'll just have to settle for my generosity alone."

"Generosity?"

To which Sten bellowed with wicked laughter. "You're in luck, Shinigami Akame. Today, you've met someone who can lift the burdens of your existence and release your soul once and for all. You see, I'm a very generous man. Most people are content with allowing others to go through their meaningless lives suffering the burdens of humanity, but not me. The way I see it, you deserve to be free."

"I see", the red eyed assassin said, her voice etched with indifference. "Then you'll forgive me if I refuse your generosity with the utmost prejudice."

"That's the spirit!", Sten yelled before pointing his prosthetic hook in young woman's direction. As he did, a large beam of electricity in the shape of an arrow came flying out the hook.

Akame swiftly avoided the blast, moving so quickly that an observer would think she teleported from one space to another. She reappeared directly in front of Sten, momentarily startling him. That moment passed within an instant, however as he threw his left fist at her.

Before the Rakshasa demon even knew it, his left hand, now severed, was sitting on the ground next to him and Akame was already sheathing her sword back into its scabbard. As a result, this large muscular man fell to his knees, gritting his teeth in agony and he noticed black ethereal markings crawling up his lower forearm. "You're even faster than the rumors suggest, shinigami."

"How sad", the Night Raid assassin replied ever so nonchalantly. "To have staked your life on rumors."

"Not my life", he said with a chuckle. Before murasame's markings could travel any further up the man's arm, he used the prosthetic hook to cleave the remains of his left arm clean off, stopping several inches beneath his shoulder. He then proceeded to stop the bleeding, using the intense voltage from said hook to effectively cauterize his wound. "Just some now-useless baggage."

"I wonder if you'll be able to do the same with your head", the red eyed assassin said, unsheathing her blade once more.

"That won't . . . be necessary", Sten replied. After taking a deep breath and exhale, he bent his knees as well as his right arm, slipping into what martial artists often refer to as a horse stance. Without any warning, the electricity emanating out of his hook transitioned to enveloping his entire body, giving him an electrical aura several inches thick.

Akame watched her opponent diligently. She knew better than to blindly rush in against an opponent with abilities she had yet to fully grasp. Waiting for the opponent to launch a counter-attack seemed like the safest option. And so she did, standing firmly in a defensive kendo stance with both hands clenched firmly on the hilt.

Then, like a flicker of light, Sten vanished before the AKame's eyes, causing them to widen for a brief instant. And in that brief instant, the Rakshasa demon reappeared behind the girl with a wicked grin on his face; he swiftly thrusted his hook forward, attempting to stab the assassin in the back.

ButAkame skillfully used both hands to maneuver her blade over her shoulder and down her back, parrying the strike. Though to her misfortune, there was more to Sten's attack. The electricity emanating out of him traveled from his hook to Murasame to Akame's entire body upon contact, electrocuting her with an intense barrage of voltage.

She gritted her teeth, surely in immense pain, but shrugged it off nonetheless, instead turning around to cut her adversary down with horizontal two-handed slash. Sten once again flickered out of sight, however, reappearing a dozen feet away. "Pointless", he said, with boastful laughter. "Thanks to Adramelech here, I'm now moving as fast as lightning. Even you, shinigami, with your great speed, can't keep up with that."

"Maybe", Akame replied, while getting back into a defensive stance. "But if I'm still able to parry your attacks, your reflexes and reaction speed leaves much to be desired."

"We'll just see about that!" He vanished again, appearing behind Akame once more. However, rather than attack, he merely vanished, this time reappearing to the girl's side. He vanished once more, appearing right in front of her. Rather than make a move, he vanished yet again, appearing behind her again. The Rakshasa demon repeated this phase numerous times, appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing. He was relentless at this, laughing boastfully throughout the process. "What are you going to do now? Lets see YOUR reaction speed, Shinigami!"

Akame got glimpses of her foe's face as he appeared and disappeared. After several dozen more instances of this, she did something uncharacteristic. With but a single sigh, she sheathed her imperial arm and stood upright.

Seeing this made Sten laugh even harder as he kept appearing and disappearing. "What's the matter? Given up already?"

"No", the red eyed assassin replied with a slight smile. "You've already lost."

"I'll show you who has lost!", he said with a wicked laugh. Suddenly, Sten reappeared directly in front of the young woman, plunging his hook towards her face as he did. Akame was unnerved, however, making no attempt to move. The hook came within 4 inches of stabbing her before it came to a complete halt.

For some strange reason, Sten had stopped his attack, breathing heavily as he did. The electrical aura covering his body suddenly vanished and the large muscular man fell to his knees, breathing heavier and heavier by the moment. "What's . . . happened . . . to me?"

Just the knowing look in Akame's eyes suggested she knew the answer "You're having a heart attack."

"How is this possible?"

To which she answered by saying the following: "One of the early stages of an imperial assassin's training involves developing a high pain threshold against most methods of torture. Electrocution is one of them, but only against low level currents introduced directly into the body. There was no need to train against high level currents. Any torturer worth the salt knows better than to use it. Do you know why? Because high enough levels introduced directly into the body will stop the heart, causing an instant death for an ordinary human. You're clearly not an ordinary human, but prolonged exposure to voltage like the sort you've inadvertently inflicted upon yourself makes even your death assured."

"How embarrassing", the Rakshasa demon uttered before falling facedown to the ground. "To be killed by my own attack."

"Don't consider it embarrassing. Consider it . . . generosity."

[. . . . Was it worth it? . . . .]

Within the fortress, every Revolutionary Army warrior, guards and full-time soldiers, quickly made their way to the entrance. They disregarded all prior duties, heeding Najenda's sole command; protect the entrance. And so they did, all rushing outside to defend the exterior walls surrounding the fortress as well as the main gates.

Lubbock, however, remained behind inside a broom closet on the second floor. There, he sat against a wall, partially cradling Najenda's real body in his arms and looking at it with deep concern in his eyes. The Lord sat at up against the opposite wall, only he was wrapped in chains. Regardless of whether the current chain of events was truly his fault, Lubbock did not trust him in the slightest.

It wasn't long until the Revolutionary Army leader started coming to, signified by his eyes fluttering and the pace of his breaths changing. In mere moments, he awoke from his temporary slumber. He looked around the small room, curious to how he got there no doubt. He then immediately noticed the green haired assassin sitting across him as well as his beloved daughter in a seemingly unconscious state. "What have you done?!", he yelled.

"What have I done?", Lubbock asked incredulously. "That's what I should be asking you. You betrayed us. You betrayed your own daughter. What have YOU done?"

"I swear . . . if you've done anything to her, I'll . . ."

"She's fine! This is just a side effect of Susannoo's trump card. Right now, she's actually on the rooftop fighting Esdeath."

The Lord desperately began attempting to break away his chains. "That's even worse! We've got to get up there and stop her right now!"

"No, we'll stay put right here", Lubbock said with a stern look in his eyes.

"Listen to me, boy! You do NOT know what that woman is capable of. She is a demon beyond all demons. A demon beyond all hell's fury. No one can stand before her and live. No one! She doesn't just bring death. She IS death. You must stop Najenda right now before it's too late."

To which Lubbock sighed. "You don't really sound like a leader at the moment. Hell, you don't even sound like a priest. What happened to hope? What happened to faith? You used to stand for these things."

Hearing these words, hearing these questions, the Path of Peace leader was taken aback for a moment. These were in fact ideas he used to preach, both to his followers and to the army. He wondered to himself why he was all of the sudden not heeding his own teachings, only to be quickly reminded of the lengthy torture he endured at the Ice Queen's hands. He suddenly averted his gaze away from Lubbock, instead sadly looking up the floor. "That was before I met that woman. Please. I don't care what happens to me. But don't let her take my Najenda. She is all I have left in this world."

"All you have left?", Lubbock growled. "What about the entire army you've raised? What about all of the people who have supported us? They're all about to die now because you sold them out! Was it worth it? Was it worth betraying us? Do you even believe your own teachings? How has any of this resulted in peace?"

"I know. I deserve death. I deserve eternal torment for what I've done. And it's a price I will not hesitate to pay after all of this is over."

Then, with a uncharacteristically cold look in his eyes, Lubbock said the following. "Know this. The only reason, the ONLY reason I haven't killed you already is because you are HER father. I'm only down here because she asked me to look after you and her body. However, if anything happens to her today, it will have been YOUR fault and the things I will do to you will make whatever Esdeath did to you look tame by comparison. You have no idea how creative I can get with my imperial arm. You say you deserve death? Damn right you do, but you won't get off that easily. I'll see to that. Eternal torment is right up your alley, pal."

[. . . . The Strategist vs The Ice Queen . . . .]

On the rooftop, Esdeath continued to evade Najenda's barrage of throwing knives chasing after her. The more the knives chased after her, the better the Ice Queen appeared to get at evading them. "Come now, Najenda. I believe you were saying something about me having already lost. I suggest you go ahead and demonstrate before I lose interest."

"Very well", the Night Raid commander said ever so nonchalantly. Without any delay, she zipped towards the blue haired general, unsheathing the twin daggers at her side as she did so. The blades on said daggers glowed with an ethereal white light much like her many throwing knives.

Though Najenda's movements were incredibly agile, Esdeath didn't appear to be alarmed. On the contrary, she looked excited over the upcoming exchange. She readily held her rapier to the front of her body, slightly above parallel to the ground at her shoulder height and pointed towards her opponent. Any seasoned swordsman would immediately grasp the significance of the Ice Queen's posture; though her stance did not seem to offer much protection, it was one designed to help bait an opponent in closer.

But Najenda did not hesitate. She accepted the Ice Queen's invitation readily, closing the distance within an instant. Her first move was a left handed side swipe. A move Esdeath addressed by taking one step back and parrying the attack simultaneously; obviously, she intended to maintain the range advantage her weapon had.

The Night Raid commander pressed forward with a second attack, following up with a right handed side swipe. Esdeath yet again took a step back, parrying just like before. Unlike last time, however, the Ice Queen instantly followed up with a full-fledged forward thrust, smirking devilishly as she did so.

Najenda immediately ducked out of the way, crouching to the ground as she did so and swinging both of her daggers together, around Esdeath's rapier, in a pincer-like posture. It was as if her blade had been caught by a crab's claw. Esdeathl, nevertheless, pulled her weapon out of the Night Raid commander's hold with the utmost ease. "It's useless, Najenda."

However, at the very moment, the Ice Queen's eye's widened and she came to a troublesome realization. There was a distinctive crack on her prized rapier. "Impossible", she said. "This is composed of high grade reinforced orichalchum. Causing it any kind of damage should be almost impossible."

"Almost is the operative word", Najenda replied. "My weapon is comprised of pure adamantine. It's bad enough you don't have your ice to attack me with. Pretty soon, the same will be said about your precious sword."

"Adamantine? And here I thought that mineral was just a myth. Perhaps the existence of omega class danger beasts isn't so farfetched after all."

"Omega class beasts?", Najenda said, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

To which Esdeath let out a soft chuckle. "It doesn't concern you. Let's stick to the matter at hand."

"Yes, let's", Najenda said, zipping towards her adversary once more. This time her attacks were a lot more aggressive. She launched herself towards the Ice Queen with a rapid flurry of dual wielded swipes and slashes.

Esdeath didn't respond in kind. Unlike the previous engagement, she was purely on defense, constantly stepping back. She relied far more on outright dodging the Night Raid commander's attacks as opposed to parrying them. Now wary of Najenda's intent to break her only weapon, she was exerting a greater degree of caution. "Very impressive, Najenda. Your imperial arm's strength and abilities combined with your skill and legendary intellect. What a terrifying combination."

The Ice Queen leapt further back completely outside her opponent's range. But just as she did this, Najenda's seemingly autonomous set of throwing knives flew at her. This time, all 12 of them came flying at her in 12 different directions. "Careful Esdeath", the Najenda remarked with a knowing smirk. "As you should know by now, the blades on those knives are every bit as sharp and hard as the blades on my daggers."

Esdeath gritted her teeth, coming to fully realize the situation she was in. With the damage her rapier had already suffered, parrying too many of these knives would surely break her weapon. She nonetheless focused herself, using her superhuman athleticism to duck and dodge each and every knife. "Fortunately, I've already adjusted to the timing."

"It's useless, Esdeath", Najenda said, suddenly zipping right next to her with another flurry of attacks. "You fell right into my trap."

The Ice Queen swiftly stepped back, but this proved to be pointless as the autonomous throwing knives returned just as quickly, with one grazing her left shoulder and her right temple as she narrowly avoided becoming a human pincushion.

"While you were dodging my throwing knives earlier, I was watching you closely, getting a good grasp of your rhythm. With Susanno's superb attention to detail, locking your movements down into my mind was a piece of cake. Eventually hitting you in a vital area is only a matter of time. You can't afford to aggressively retaliate, less you risk breaking your only means of offense."

Despite the gravity of her situation, she simply smirked with an eager look on her face. She casually wiped away the blood trickling down the right side of her face. "Well done! The last time I received even a cursory wound such as this, it was while training with my father. This sensation; pain, however slight it is, is a sensation I completely forget about. By all means, try to inflict more!"

Boastful words, but none of which would be sufficient to psyche out the Night Raid commander. She went forward, launching yet another flurry of attacks with her daggers. Simultaneously, most of the autonomous daggers came hurling again in multiple directions, all set on the same human pincushion course as last time.

"You're not the only one who has gotten a good grasp of the other person's rhythm, Najenda", Esdeath said, still smirking. She quickly leaped backed away from the Night Rand commander's range. She then managed to avoid each and every throwing knife that came at her.

But as she dodged the last knife, Najenda was back at her, once again swiping at her sideways with the dagger in her left hand. Esdeath responded not by outright dodging, but with a parry. As the two weapons clashed, the crack in the blue haired general's rapier grew deeper, just about at a breaking point. Najenda followed up with a sideway's swipe with her right hand.

However, Esdeath was already following up with a murderous thrust of her rapier aimed directly at the magatama on Najenda's chest, Su's core. With Esdeath's rapier well beyond the range of Najenda's dagger, she was sure to hit before being hit.

And then, without any warning whatsoever, one of the Night Raid commander's autonomous throwing knives came bursting right through her stomach, propelling itself directly at the Ice Queen's face. Not just that, but this throwing knife was moving much faster than any the Ice Queen had adjusted to. Too fast in fact. There was no time to adodge.

All of this was transpiring within a split second, but Esdeath immediately understood her nemesis' true strategy. More importantly, she knew this battle was finished, that Najenda had won and that she was about to die . . . unless . . .

The surprise autonomous throwing knife was within a millimeter of touching Esdeath's forehead when a thick block of dark blue ice, unlike any ice that had been showcased before, covered everything within 20-foot radius of her. As soon as this happened, the Ice Queen found herself exhaling a deep breath of air. "That was close, Najenda. I didn't actually think I would need to resort to this."

She looked around the immediate area, noticing that everything, including Najenda and all twelves of her autonomous throwing knives, were frozen solid. The Night Raid commander, though encased in solid ice, was nonetheless conscious and cognizant of her surroundings. "This can't be . . . how is she able to use her ice all of the sudden?"

"You're no doubt confused", Esdeath said, seemingly aware of what was on her opponent's mind. "After all, I did say that upon using my trump card, I wouldn't able to create ice for every second it was activated. Were I to use it for four seconds, I wouldn't be able to create ice for a total of 32 minutes. Therefore, I shouldn't be able to use ice for another 5 minutes and 43 seconds, right? Suffice to say, that would be correct, had I used my trump card for the full 4 seconds back in your father's office. The truth is that I merely used it for one second."

"Damnit. She played me like a violin."

"Under ordinary circumstances, I probably would have been more candid with you if for no other purpose than the sheer challenge, but I had no idea what the full capabilities of your imperial arm was and decided to leave an ace in the hole in case you somehow came up with a strategy to beat me. As a result, you dismissed my explanation of my abilities as my usual sense of thrill-seeking and readily believed that I wouldn't be able to create ice for the full 32 minutes, am I right?"

Najenda attempted to break out the encased ice she was covered by, using every ounce of her strength to do so. But alas, she couldn't move a muscle, much less even blink. Even her autonomous throwing knives wouldn't move. "What is this? Her ice was never this durable. With Su's strength, I should be able to break out no problem. What's going on?"

"Ever since you left the army, I've been coming up with all sorts of ways to push the limits of my powers. This is just one example. I call it my Grade Two Ice. It's a bit more taxing on my stamina than my regular ice, but it's a lot more concentrated and a great deal more durable. Let me put it to you this way: Even if an entire building were to collapse on top of the ice you're frozen in right now, it wouldn't leave even a single scratch. Speaking of scratches . . ." Esdeath looked down upon her cracked rapier. With but a single gesture, her blade became laced with her grade 2 ice as well, effectively repairing it in an instant. "Good as new. No, better than new actually. I'd love to see how it stacks up to your adamantine, but I'm afraid the battle is over."

Najenda watched the Ice Queen, still trying desperately to escape the ice she was encased in, but it appeared to be of no use. How quickly the tables had turned to a hopeless situation. She suddenly heard Su's voice in her head. "That's enough. Return to your body. I'll take care over from here."

"No!", Najenda eplied. "She's going to kill you. Just give me a moment. There has to be a way out of this. There always is. I just need to think!"

"If you're still in my body, we'll both die! I won't allow that!"

Sensing that the end of the battle was imminent, the Ice Queen took a moment to bask in her victory. "Ingenious strategy by the way. You have my sincerest praise for that was by far the closest anyone has ever come to killing me. All that talk about adjusting to my rhythm and breaking my sword? It was true, but it was also misdirection, wasn't it? Your real goal all along was to hit me with that throwing knife at the end. You decided to make me think I had adjusted to the speed of your throwing knives, never disclosing their full speed until you were absolutely certain I was vulnerable. You also took full advantage of your imperial arm's regenerative abilities, using its body as cover for your surprise attack. My my, I can't underestimate you for a single moment, can I? If I'm the strongest in the Grand Empire, you are certainly the smartest. All the more reason using your father was so effective. The Najenda I know would've at least had some lingering suspicion something was off, but love seems to have the tendency of making people think and behave irrationally."

[. . . . Not quite in the nick of time . . . .]

As Run continued to monitor the battle on the beach, one of the officers on the ship approached him. "Warrant officer Stewart reporting, sir! There appears to be an unidentified air manta approaching from the north!"

"And?", Run replied, his voice full of disinterest. "Air mantas are homogeneous to this region. It's not anything out of the ordinary."

"Sir! Be that as it may, our scouts are reporting that someone is riding on the manta and it's not one of ours!"

"Hmm. It's probably one of the Revolutionary Armies spies returning back to headquarters to make a report. Regardless, he's got no idea what he's getting himself into. Use the canons to shoot him down at once."

"But sir, with all due respect, didn't the prime minister order us not to use the canons?"

"He ordered us not to use the canons to fire upon anything on the island. A lone air manta in the sky is clearly not on the island and is thus acceptable target practice."

Hearing his orders loud and clear, the officer gave a firm salute. "At once, sir!"

With that, several of the war ships set their aim on the lone air manta quickly approaching the bay. Sitting upon this flying danger beast was none other than Tatsumi who was deeply confused about the sight below. A full armada of warships drifting near the Revolutionary Army base made sense; the Revolutionary Army was an army after all, thus it wouldn't be farfetched for them to have access to such an arsenal. On the other hand, the Incursio wielder did not know what to make of the battle taking place on the beach. It had crossed his mind that the soldiers were perhaps engaging in a training exercise, but then why would they be training at night as well as be using live ammunition?

Before he could dwell further on the scene, canon fire from multiple ships blasted towards him, each shot fortunately missing. "Hey! I'm on your side!", he yelled.

The ships nonetheless kept firing, prompting the young man to activate his Incursio armor. Before another shell could be fired, he jumped off the air manta, diving straight down into the sea. As he did this, an explosive shell from one of the ships finally hit the flying danger beast, causing the innocent creature to explode into flames.

As Tatsumi swam to the surface for air, a spotlight from of the warships was flashed upon the area. Thinking quickly, he used the demon armor's camouflage ability to render himself effectively invisible. Thus, as the spotlight flashed over him, no one was any the wiser. He then plunged back down underwater, deactivating his camouflage power as he did. Moreover, he began swimming towards the island, thoroughly confused on the current state of affairs. "Why are they shooting me? Do they think I'm the enemy?"

He continued swimming, eventually coming back up for air upon getting significantly closer to the beach. There, his eyes were confronted with the terrifying truth. The Revolutionary Army soldiers were locked in battle with Imperial Army forces. "No! This place is supposed to be secret! How did they get here?"

To Tatsumi, the next course of action required no thought. No deep contemplation. No weighing of the evidence. He immediately leaped his way out of the water, planting his feet firmly on the beach sand as he landed. Around him were numerous soldiers of the imperial army, all confused about what the infamous 100 man slayer, to their knowledge, was doing dropping in out of nowhere. Nevertheless, no orders needed to be given on what to do next. He was a well known enemy of the Grand Empire, even if it wasn't known that the real 100 man slayer was long dead.

"Kill him!", one soldier screamed, as others pointed their rifles at the assassin.

Tatsumi reacted with the utmost swiftness, cutting ten soldiers down with his spear in mere seconds. As he did so, he could feel bullets flickering against his body from all sides. This sensation did not concern him, however. "It'll take a lot more than that to even come close to piercing this armor."

Though the Night Raid assassin's sudden participation in the battle did not go unnoticed. Both Run and Wave caught sight of the spectacle aboard their warship. Wave had even already activated Grand Chariot. "That one is mine. We've got a score to settle."

But with a mere shake of the head, Run didn't seem to share his comrade's sentiments. "No, that will be unnecessary."

"Wasn't this your plan?", Wave replied, his voice full of skepticism. "Wait until Night Raid shows up, then intervene."

"Who said we're not going to intervene?", Run asked, smirking knowingly. "Warrant officer Stewart!"

The officer from earlier marched up to the blond haired Jaegar, stood before him and gave yet another firm salute. "Sir!"

"Inform the troops to pull out at once!"

Back on the beach, Tatsumi continued to pit himself against the empire's hoards, mowing down as many as he could. So much so that entire groups ceased attempting to make their way up the incline, instead focused on overwhelming the lone Night Raid member. And unlike those old martial arts films where mobs of enemy henchmen would be gracious enough to fight the hero one at a time, the soldiers were attacking him from all sides.

Many had abandoned the use of their rifles as anything other than club to attack with. With so many attacking him at once, the Incursio wielder was starting to struggle. So many men were latching onto him, doing everything they could to hold him down while others attacked. His armor still protected him of course, but the sheer numbers were starting to become a problem.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Leone dropped in, knocking away a number of the soldiers latched onto her companion with a flying side kick. Her assistance freed up enough leverage for Tatsumi to knock away the remaining soldiers who had grabbed onto him.

"What kind of assassin runs out into the open to take on an entire army by himself?", the feral assassin teasingly said, placing her back up against Tatsumi's as she did. "You know it's bad when you're getting that kind of advice from ME of all people."

He twirled his spear around several times before adopting a combat stance, his back also placed close to Leone's "The kind who has no clue what's going on. Mind explaining?"

"Sure. You want the short version or the long version?" She smirked, punching one soldier hard enough to make his head spin 180 degrees. "Always wanted to do that."

Tatsumi swiftly decapitated three soldiers with a single swing of his spear. "Make it quick."

Leone continued slaying everything in front of her. "Short version it is. Esdeath somehow found out about this place. Now she's here to kill everyone and she's brought an army with her."

Hearing the Ice Queen's part in this made the Incursio wielder widen his eyes in shock beneath his helm. His heart beat sped up and he was at a loss for words.

"The boss isn't giving this up without a fight though", Leone noted, still simultaneously focused on killing enemy combatants. "You, me, Mein and Akame are supposed to deal with the Jaegers covertly, but I think you just blew our cover, so now things might get pretty messy."

Before the battle could continue, a war horn of some sort could be heard from the Jaegar's warship. A loud and bombastic sound no less. As if knowing the significance of the sound, the imperial soldiers immediately ceased their progress on braving their way up the beach's incline. Even the soldiers contending with Tatsumi and Leone ceased their efforts, instead heading back into their boats and making their way back to their warships.

There were many at the top of the beach incline insisting that now was the time to strike. To cut down the imperial army as they had a steadfast retreat, but superior officers positioned all throughout ordered their men to hold their positions, noting that their high ground advantage was the only reason the battle had progressed as far as it did and that giving it up could turn the tide's in the Grand Empire's favor.

Leone didn't hesitate to kill a few stragglers, laughing at the sight of them running away. "That'll teach him!", she said boastfully.

Tatsumi, still clad in his Incursio armor, didn't appear to share his companion's desire to bask in their apparent victory. Other matters seemed to be on his mind. "Where's Esdeath?", he asked with the utmost seriousness in his voice.

"I think her and the boss are still duking it out on the fortress' rooftop", she replied.

With a nod of his head, Tatsumi started walking up the incline, headed towards the fortress. He didn't make any more than five footsteps before Leone sprinted in front of him and firmly stood in his way. "What do you think you're doing? We've still got the Jaegars to deal with."

"The Jaegars don't matter. I'm going to the one person who can stop this madness."

Leone looked upon her comrade in disbelief. "She's not going to stop. You know that."

"You don't know her like I do. If I can talk to her for just a minute, she might-"

"Leone is right", Akame said rather bluntly, suddenly appearing on the scene with Sten's imperial arm tide to her waist. "You confronting Esdeath now is only going to make things worse. Think of how she might react when she finds out that you're part of Night Raid. All the lies you've told her up until now. Think of what she might do to your village."

Tatsumi found himself at a loss of words yet again, clearly not having thought that far ahead. He wondered about this for a few moments, never having considered how Esdeath would react were she to have discovered that he had been working to undermine her the entire time he had known her.

But alas, such thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a loud screech and the flapping of wings coming from the north. Akame, Leone and Tatsumi each impulsively looked towards the sky in that direction, quickly attempting to deduce the cause of this uncanny sound. With but a glimpse, the answer was all too clear. It was a full grown red scaled dragon speedily soaring towards the beach.

In meager seconds, the monstrous dragon reached the air above the beach. And out from its mouth it poured a pillar of intense scorching flames burning everything in its path. The heat from the flames was so intense that it instantly liquefied every grain of sand it touched upon contact. Thereafter, the beast quickly set its sights on the three Night Raid assassins, swooping in towards them as it did. The three began to make a run to safety, but it was too late, for the dragon was already above them with more blames about to pour out of its mouth. Thinking quickly, Tatsumi threw his arms around Akame and Leone, huddled them together and wrapped his cape around them as he did. He presumably intended to act as a human shield. There was no guarantee that even his armor could withstand the oncoming flames, but he didn't hesitate to try.

Tatsumi braced himself for the coming blaze. Yet for some reason, he didn't feel the scorching inferno he expected, much less a mere ember. He momentarily wondered whether his armor was truly that durable, but quickly shrugged aside such thoughts as he removed his cape from his two companions and looked all around the immediate vicinity. Everything within a 20 foot radius was not scorched or liquefied. It was as if the dragon had intentionally missed them.

"What the hell just happened?", Leone asked, unable to believe she was still alive.

Akame looked into the sky, keeping her eyes peeled at the flying dragon soaring around the air and causing havoc. She immediately noticed a figure riding on the dragon's back. "Kurome."

"Your sister?!", Leone exclaimed in surprise. "But how did she get a hold of a danger beast like that?"

"I honestly can't say, but it does explain why she spared us. In order for Yatsufusa to work, she needs to kill the target with the blade. Burning us, me included, would have made that impossible. She must've realized I was with you two at the last moment and pulled back."

"How do we fight something like that?", Tatsumi asked.

To which the red eyed assassin bluntly answered. "We don't. At least not at the moment. None of us are equipped to deal with a danger beast like that as long as it's in the sky."

Having witnessed the dragon's destructive capacity firsthand, the litany of Revolutionary Army superior officers throughout the top of the sandy incline ordered their troops to pull back as they were clearly in no position to deal with such a menace. But for many of the troops, it was too late as the dragon specifically started hurling flames upon them, liquefying their bodies no different than the sand. Either way, the line these soldiers had been holding was most certainly broken.

Run was closely monitoring this scene with a pair of binoculars. "What was Kurome thinking? She had them right where she wanted them. The whole point of holding her back until now was to definitively kill or at least cripple Night Raid."

Wave was still in his armor, practically raring to go down to the beach and deal with the assassins himself. He was nonetheless still paying enough attention to his comrade's strategy to comment on how it had played out thus far. "She's not going to kill them if she thinks it means killing her sister. At least not on her own terms. Have you already forgotten? She can't definitively tell the difference between alive and dead."

To which Run sighed. "Oh well. It matters not. Now that we've played our ace in the hole, we may as well capitalize on it."

"Does that mean-"

"Yes, it does. You go on ahead. I'll ready the troops at once. Their army is probably going to hold themselves out at their fortress, probably intent upon turning this into a battle of attrition. The Prime Minister wouldn't permit us to bring any siege weaponry and Kurome probably won't be willing to be of much help with her new puppet if her sister holes herself up in the fortress as well. Luckily, the presence of our commander will more than make up for that disadvantage."

[. . . . Fortune favors the prepared . . . .]

There, in the eastern tower, amidst evading close quarters combat with Seryu, Mein was getting closer and closer to reaching the bottom. Each time it looked like Seryu was closing in, the genius sniper would pelt the crazed Jaegar with a shot from her magnum. Though Seryu blocked each shot with the broad side of her sword, the power behind each shot was enough to knock her back, effectively keeping her from closing the distance.

This game of hit and run continued until Mein finally reached the bottom of the tower. Pumpkin was but a few feet away from the door leading outside. Without any further delay, she dove towards her imperial arm.

"Koro, knock that door down and use your roar! Now!", Seryu shouted. The dog like imperial arm was still in its berserker state. It had been standing outside the tower next to the entrance, no doubt waiting for additional orders from its master. Hearing her latest command, it did just as she ordered.

Before Mein could reach her imperial arm, she saw the monstrous canine thrust one of its fists clean through the door, shattering into pieces as it did. The bio-weapon then opened its mouth and let out a bellowing roar that could be heard all across the island. The genius sniper then gritted her teeth in response, taking the time to cover both of her ears with her hands.

Seryu immediately leapt off the stairway she was on, and swooped down towards her adversary in a once-again effort to deliver the coup de grace. The crazed Jaegar appeared to be immune to the effects of Koro's roar, leaving her un-stunned.

"Hey dumbass", Mein said, suddenly removing her hands from her ears and aiming her magnum squarely at Seryu's chest. "What part of prepared don't you understand?"

Befuddled, Seryu tried desperately to use her sword as a shield once more, but she was too late, for Mein had already pulled the trigger and a bullet had already flown clean through her chest , the force of which knocked her body back several feet yet again. Just as this had occurred, Koro's ceased roaring, instead quickly reverting back to its normal state.

Much like the head wound she received, trickles of blood started seeping out of Seryu's chest. She nonetheless regained her footing even quicker than last time, snarling as she got back on her foot. "How dare you continue to use these underhanded tactics. Have you no honor? It figures that someone as evil as you would resort to such trickery in a battle."

"What's that?", the genius sniper said mockingly, removing miniature ear plugs from her ears with her left hand while picking up her imperial arm with her right. "I couldn't hear you. I was too busy using my head." Indeed, the Mein recalled the subtle fashion in which she slipped said ear plugs into her ears while running down the tower's stairs and how Seryu was much too focused on blocking the shots fired out of her magnum.

"Don't think this changes anything! These little tricks won't save you forever!"

"You mean like the little trick you used to murder my friend?", Mein retorted before dropping her magnum to the ground and once again adjusting the parts on her imperial arm; pumpkin was swapped to its long barrel form

The crazed Jaegar looked down in frustration at her right arm, still functioning as a colossal blade. It was increasingly obvious that she was long overdue for a weapon change. So obvious that she immediately ran towards the exit, Koro being on the other side. "That wicked wretch got what was coming to her and so will you!"

But true to word, Mein had prepared for this encounter and was thus readily aware of her opponent's intentions. With but the pull of pumpkin's trigger, she fired an energy beam at the other woman's right shoulder, blowing her right arm clean off. "You just don't get it, do you?"

Seryu immediately looked down on what remained of her arm in great frustration, seeing sparks fly out of where her right shoulder once rested. "Damn you."

Mein followed up by setting her aim on the crazed Jaegar's left shoulder, preparing to blow it off as well. But just as she did this, Seryu turned her head slightly towards the sniper, the hidden semi-automatic gun in her mouth protruding outwards. She filed multiple shots towards Mein's face, but the Night Raid assassin used the broadside of Pumpkin as a shield.

Using that temporary distraction, Seryu dove towards her biological imperial arm with her left arm extended out. "Koro! Now!"

Mein reactively regained her footing from her adversary's temporary distraction, only to notice that the crazed Jaegar left forearm was now replaced with a giant armor reinforced missile. "What the? Is she out of her mind?"

Seryu visibly appeared to be struggling to hold her left arm up. With no right arm, holding such a weapon had to be a difficult task. She nevertheless maintained a crazed devilish look in her eyes. "Number 6: King Yemma's Judgment!"

No more than 10 seconds later, a massive explosion could be seen from the eastern tower. And with that explosion, the entire structure came crumbling down. A sight which caught just about everyone's attention, including Esdeath's, Wave's, Run's, Kurome's, Leone's, Akame's and Tatsumi's.

End of chapter . . .

A/N: Yet another chapter complete! By my calculations, that leaves us with 6 more chapters to go in this fic! As I said earlier, this part of the fic will be wrapped up by the next chapter. Lemme know what you think! And as always, thanks for reading!