The Imperial Capital, inside the Imperial Palace...
Fuyu and Jast walked the vast halls of the Palace, having finished their meeting with the young Emperor and Commander Budo a few minutes prior.
The forward had explained in careful detail how the coup will be executed along with the role he'd like the Royal Guard to play during the act.
Of course, Fuyu and Jast didn't mention the existence of the Conqueror's Hand nor the fact that most of the members of the coup were brainwashed.
Best to leave details like that out otherwise it might create unwanted doubt and the Partas survivor knew all to well how doubt can ruin even the best laid out plans.
"So Jast, what do you make of these so called zombies assaulting Kyoroch?" Fuyu casually asked, starting the first conversation since they left the thrown room.
Jast turned his gaze to his friend beside him.
"It's concerning." He replied. "If the reports are true, and I believe they are, then that means there is a person or a group of people out there that are capable of utilizing forbidden magic."
"Necromancy huh?" Fuyu added.
He studied forbidden magic in the past, in the chance Prime Minister Honest or some other foe within the Empire decided to utilize their powers.
After all, they had no problem installing an entire assassination company of children or using any and all means of committing mass genocide or "executions" on their own citizens.
"Giving the timing, perhaps those Sons of Nores are the ones behind this."
"The same thought occurred to me as well." Jast replied, returning his gaze forward.
"I've been studying world history, I know everything the Empire knows about our neighboring nations and beyond. However, these Sons of Nores are...unfamiliar. Most likely some secret cult originating from one of the counties that study magic."
"You think they're from the Dominion?" Fuyu asked.
The Dominion or rather the country of Magi is a neighboring nation of magic casters located to the east. They are a relatively new country, formed 500 years ago at the end of the Imperial Civil War.
As such there as always been a sort of uneasiness towards their Imperial 'cousins' as they could aim to reclaim their lost land at any moment of their choosing.
One could say that has been a key reason why the nation had advanced so far in the magical arts in such a short amount of time.
Another would their inability to compete in an arms race with a nation that could quite easily outproduce them in weapons and traditional firepower.
"I highly doubt that." Jast answered. "The Dominion's sole focus is the practice of magic, but even they know better than to use forbidden magic."
"I have a good idea which nation they could be from, but I would like more information before jumping to conclusions."
"What do you propose?" Fuyu humbly asked.
"I need to watch these Sons of Nores in action." The senator answered. "That's the only way I can be certain were they come from."
Fuyu turned his head. "You wish to observe them personally?"
"If I can observe them I might be able to pick up certain hints." Jast answered, meeting Fuyu's gaze.
"Habits known in certain places of the world, dialect, sorts of daily rituals, the sorts of things that can paint a picture of where one comes from."
"If I pinpoint the nation they've came from, we can learn how best to deal with them. Best to rid ourselves of any unwanted problems before we launch the coup."
Fuyu smiled. His friend's reasoning was sound.
Given how these Sons of Nores would certainly become a nuisance it's best to eliminate them before they cause any real damage, especially if they were behind the little artificial Danger Beast event.
Of course there's no proof they were even involved, Fuyu suspected they played some sort of role in that mess.
"Point taking." Fuyu replied, turning his head back around. "Take Raryu and Pyro with you. I'll also have Serpentine's shinobi hosts station in that area assist you in anyway needed."
Jast smiled. "Thank you, I'll find out everything there is to know on our new enemy."
"And together we shall crush them." Fuyu added with a smirk.
"For our ideal world."
Meanwhile at Kyoroch...
The Jagears looked on in shook as the masses of zombies slowly moved towards the city walls.
The brave defenders unleashed volley after volley of arrows upon the undead but did little other that slow their already sluggish march.
"This is unreal." Wave said aloud, clearly as disturbed by the events before them as any other sane person should be. "How can something like this happen?"
"It's an insult to justice!" Seryu added, clenching her right fist. "Disrespecting the bodies of law abiding citizens! Have these people no shame?"
"I didn't think anyone else could control the dead." Run said more to himself but loud enough for the rest of his comrades to hear. "Though these...things pale in comparison to the one's Kurome uses."
The young black haired assassin nodded in agreement. "My puppets could easily overpower any of those routing meat bags, but they're sure are a lot of them."
"Whomever or whatever is causing this is obviously compensating quality for quantity." General Esdeath quickly deduced. "These walking corpses are clumsy, sluggish even but they seem to be extremely durable. On top of that there seems to be no end to them."
She smiled as several ideas of which moves she'd try out first flashed in her mind.
"Interesting. I look forward to seeing how much punishment these tools can take."
Drake glanced at his new, redesigned metal gauntlets.
He changed a few things from the last design.
Now one could electrify them at the press of a button located inside each gauntlet instead of flexing your arms out so your shoulder blades touch it.
There was more bulk to it now thanks to the added generators installed inside each pair, of course this made them heavier but it wasn't anything the clever engineer could not handle.
He added more armor plating to the backsides both as an added defense and to protect the generators located inside the twin gauntlets.
Now they look more like armored gloves from an old medieval armor set only with square fingers.
Though this new design came at the cost of being unable to fire electricity like a projectile.
As an added bonus, Drake order the crafting of two custom designed swords that allow electricity to flow through them without expelling outward.
Meaning that when he grabbed onto these twin swords they would instantly become wrapped in electricity.
Course the inside was the only special part about the swords, from the outside they looked like two ordinary blades that anyone in the Imperial Army would use.
He flexed his hand a few times, still growing accustomed to the added weight.
Drake dropped down from his horse, quickly pacing to General Esdeath's side.
"Mind if I take a crack at 'em?" He asked without turning his gaze from the zombie horde before them.
"What do you intend to do?" Esdeath asked in response without so much as a glance.
Drake took a step forward. "Just wanna test something." He answered, placing his hands on the hilt of his newly acquired swords.
Esdeath smirked. "Do as you wish."
Drake nodded in thanks, he drew his twin swords then slowly moved down the road and towards the mass of undead.
Meanwhile...
"What is this?" Najenda asked, eye wide with fear and surprise. "What the hell is this?"
Mass upon mass of what seemed to be moving corpses slowly approached the city of Kyoroch.
Volleys of arrows rained down upon them, yet seemed to do nothing more than slow the already snail pace march of the undead.
"Christ." Walker said. "What godforsaken madness have we walked into this time?"
"Are those things...zombies?!" Lubbock half shouted. "I thought those things only exist in manga!"
"Well they look real enough to me." Leone replied before taking a quick few sniffs.
She stuck her tongue out, making a bleck sound. "Smell pretty real too."
"Zombies or not those things are disgusting." Mine added.
"Necromancy..." Akame said under her breath. "Who would've thought someone other than Kurome can control the dead."
"Who in the hell is responsible for this?" Tatsumi replied, clenching his fists.
It was bad enough that Akame's sister could control the deceased bodies of those she killed but this. This is unforgivable!
Images of his close friends; Sayo and Ieyasu flashed in his mind. If whoever or whatever caused this somehow cast this spell or whatever on them...
"These bastards have some nerve using the dead like this!" The young man shouted. "No one should have to see those they know and love like this, no one!"
Bulat glanced at his student. He agreed with Tatsumi 100 percent. However, his emotions have been get the better of him all to often recently.
Then again, Tatsumi had gone through a lot of emotional stress over the past few months, mostly thanks to HQ's orders to terminate people they consider allies, even friends in some cases.
It's only a matter of time before he explodes and Bulat had every intention of stopping him should things get out of control.
First things first, they had to overcome their current problem.
"They're between us and the city." Bulat said, crossing his arms. "How do you wanna play this boss?"
"I...G-give me a moment..." Najenda answered, still unsettled by this development.
She placed her metal hand over her eye patch.
Another unexpected development, one that changes everything they had planned.
In order to get though this mass of bodies, they would have little choice but to cut through them.
Yet that in turn would announce their presence here and jeopardize the reason why they were here in the first place: To kill the rat within the higher epsilon of the Path of Peace organization.
If they couldn't do that, then the revolution won't begin at the desired moment.
But they simply can't ignore such a large threat as this mess before them. To do so would throw away what they were fighting for in the first place.
She had to think, to try to come up with a plan that enables them to deal with these zombies or whatever they were and somehow assassinate their target.
Moments passed with nothing to show for it.
Najenda grinned her teeth. 'There's no possible method we can use to save this city and assassinate Bolic without complication.'
Angry at the realization that she couldn't think of a way to accomplish both goals, the usually composed leader of Night Raid silently cursed at herself.
Walker glanced at Najenda and, once studying the latter's face, knew how nerve racking this whole damn thing has been on the woman.
He let out a sigh. 'Just one unpredictable event after another, must be a bitch given how you like to plan for everything best you can.'
Walker though as he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it soon after placing it in his mouth. 'I feel yeah boss.'
He let out a puff of smoke, slowly exhaling into the open air.
"Whole situation's straight out of a goddamn nightmare." He said in a casual, "Well fuck, this is perfect." kind of ways.
Walker glanced out towards the mass of bodies surrounding the city when something caught his eye; several sparks of lightning coming from the main road.
He tilted his head, biting unto his cigarette.
"The hell's that?"
Minutes earlier...
Drake casually walked towards the slow moving undead horde, twin swords in hand.
He could feel the eyes of the rest of the Jagears glaring at the back of his head, this didn't bother the double agent nor made him nervous.
Only helped him focus, to set an example that these things could be killed. Or rather re-killed.
"Time to see how these freaks handle this." He said aloud, pressing the buttons inside his metal gauntlets.
A moment after, electricity flowed through the twin gauntlets and into the swords he held in his hands.
The swords sparked with life as their blades electrified, creating a dull bluish glow.
Several zombies turned to the engineer, slowly shifting towards the man.
"Least they're eager." Drake said to himself.
Twirling one of the swords in his hand, he fast stepped towards the closest of the walking dead. He stabbed it in the chest, shocking the corpse as electricity flowed into it.
Its skin fried as it shook violently, Drake withdrew his sword and watched as the zombie slumped to the floor. He watched it for a moment before turning to face the next one.
'Looks like they fry good enough eh brother?' Drake's 'younger brother' said.
'Shuttup Rak, I'm trying to focus.' Drake mentally replied.
'Heh, just trying to reassure you is all.'
'Well if you want to help me so bad, go back to sleep. I'll call you when I need you.'
'Tsk, whatever.'
Drake sliced the head off the next walking corpse, its body dropped to the floor as its head flew in the air.
The engineer glanced at the head once it landed on the ground, it moved its mouth a few times before suddenly stopping.
"Ok, so chopping off their heads works well." Drake said to himself.
He turned and sliced into the chest of another zombie. It shook from the electrical shock, but stayed on its feet. Drake kicked it to the ground were it stayed.
"Electricity works for the most part." He said, turning to his text target. At that time, Drake noticed that more and more of these walking dead were turning towards him.
"Pretty popular ain't I?" Drake said with a chuckle.
'Now if only you had that same luck with the ladies.' Rak added with a high pitch laugh.
'Heh, well it's no thanks to you're attitude Rak.'
'What are you talking about?' Rak replied. 'I'm a charmer, but you'd know that if you weren't so goddamn awkward around women.'
"Whatever." Drake said aloud, decapitating several zombies at once.
He ran forward, impaling several of the corpses as he went. Each seemingly lit up from the electrical current flowing into his swords.
Drake withdrew his swords, spun around and cut through several of the zombies attempting to surround him.
The engineer stayed on the move, slicing into these seemingly endless corpses as he went.
A few moments earlier...
"Looks like there's someone fighting on the outside." Mine said, noticing the same spectacle Walker had seen.
"This might be the best chance we have to infiltrate the city." Akame added.
"A...Agreed." Najenda replied. She was still shaken up over this whole situation.
Walker crossed his arms, staring at his boss. Obviously she still need a few moments to regain her composure. He let out an inner sigh, knowing that he'd have to get the ball rolling.
"It should be Leone and myself." The merc stated. "Tatsumi can come too so long as he uses Incursio's camouflage ability."
The other members of Night Raid turned their gaze toward Walker.
"It's best that way since we need to plow through these things in a hurry." The latter continued. "Sides' the rest of you guys faces are known to the Empire, well aside from Lubbock but he sucks at fighting groups or so he says."
"Well...You're not wrong." Mine replied with a shrug, ignoring Lubbock as he shouted "What's that supposta mean?".
"...You're right Walker." Najenda said, seeming regaining her old self. "Very well, you, Leone and Tatsumi cut through this and make it into Kyoroch. The rest of us will meet you in the city once things calm down."
"Roger that boss!" Leone replied.
Tatsumi nodded before summoning Incursio.
"Won't let you down ma'am." Walker added with the tip of his hat. He turned to the his comrades. "Let's get this over with shall we?"
Several of the archers firing from the city walls noticed the blue flashes of electricity dancing off in the distance.
Though they didn't know who or what it might be, there was something out there fighting the horde of undead and that was good enough to raise the defenders spirits.
The stream of arrows picked up, though most did little against the mass of zombies.
Drake sent a few dozen heads a flight. He turned his head, noticing how far he traveled into the horde.
"Might've got myself into some deep shit this time." Drake said, dodging a wild blow before counterattacking. "Damn it guys, what are you waiting for? A written invitation?"
"Justice Cannon!" The all too familiar voice of Seryu shouted out.
An explosion rang out, followed by the pieces of those hit by Seryu's attack.
Drake smirked. 'Speak of the devil.' He thought.
'Aye, and it's your number one fan girl.' Rak added.
"Koro! Number 5!" Seryu shouted to her Imperial Arms. The dog like creature nodded, quickly consuming his master's cannon arm and replacing it with a massive drill.
Seryu's face distorted in a wicked smile as she pulled her drill arm back.
"Enma's Spear of Justice!"
Seryu lunged forward, drill arm spinning as she ripped apart any walking corpse in her path. Koro whipped back and forth behind her as she held onto his leach.
She can to a stop once she closed in on Drake, body parts and blood flew into the open air.
"Koro! Number 3!" Seryu yelled. Once again Koro consumed her weapon replacing it with a large sword.
"Now go Koro! Feast on these corpses tainted by the powers of evil!"
The little dog like creature started to pulse as it grew in size and shape.
Large bulky arms sprouted out from it's once tiny stub hands.
A mouth formed on the once small creature, it breathed heavily showing rows and rows of sharp white teeth.
Drake turned his head back to the orange hair girl.
"Careful, we don't know if these things might poison him or somethin."
Seryu smiled, nodding in acknowledgement. "Understood! Koro, if these walking corpses taste weird don't eat them alright?"
Koro grunted an acknowledgement, or at least that's what Drake assumed it was before lunging towards the closest group of zombies, tearing into them.
"Right. Now that's settled." Drake said, slowly pressing his back against Seryu's. "How bout we clean up the rest of these freaks?"
Seryu smiled wickedly once more. "As a hero of justice, it would be my pleasure."
The two dashed forward in their own directions, cutting into each and every walking corpse that stood in their way.
Meanwhile, on a different side of the city outskirts...
Walker blasted into groups of zombies forming up on the left and right, most dropped like flies.
Ahead of him Leone was doing her best to clear a path to the city, those these damn corpses kept filling up the corridor she's been trying to open.
So Walker had been blasting each and everyone one that wondered in while trying to keep pace with the lace.
He didn't need to worry to much about being grabbed at from behind as Tatsumi had his back.
It took a few tries for the three of them to figure out the only way to kill these things was to damage the head, that or crush their bodies beyond use.
Now it was all a matter of cutting through these sea of walking dead as fast as they could, then entering the city without drawing too much attention.
"Just stay behind me kid." Walker said. "Whatever you do, just stay behind me."
"No problem." Tatsumi said, he was a bit closer than Walker thought. "I'll make sure none of these guy grab you."
"Hey guys!" Leone called back, smashing two zombies head together. "You might wanna pick up the pace! From the sound of it that's the Jagears out there fighting these things!"
Walker cursed under his breath. "Just one problem after another."
He turned his head back, though he couldn't see Tatsumi he knew he was there.
"Looks like we got our work cut out for us this time kid."
"All the more reason why we can't fail here."
Walker smirked, turning his head back around. "Well said Tatsumi."
"Move in." General Esdeath commanded. "Wipe out all these so called walking dead."
"Roger that!" Wave replied, summoning his Imperial Arms.
He jumped off his horse, running forward into the horde.
"Someone's eager." Run said with a smile.
"He might just be worried about Drake and Seryu." Kurome replied before sliding off her horse.
"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
Run stared at the young girl for a few lingering moments. Though she might come off a harsh to most people, it was just her way of showing how she cared for those she considered her friends.
"Good luck." Run said with a smile. "I'll back you up as best as I can manage."
"Thanks, but I don't think I'll need it." Kurome said with the wave of her hand. "I have plenty of people in my collection who can do that for me."
"Of course." Run replied with a half chuckle.
He glanced to General Esdeath on his right. "Will you be joining us Commander?"
"Not in the same area, no." She quickly replied, placing a hand to her chin.
"I'll be attacking from a different angle completely away from you, that way I can use my abilities to the fullest. Problem is I can't decide which area to attack first."
Esdeath frowned before continuing. "Though I look forward to seeing how much punishment these walking corpses can take, they are rather dull creatures. I can't exactly bring myself to the usual drive I have when I'm about to crush an enemy force."
Run let out a single laugh. "I see you're point." He answered humbly before activating Mastema.
"On that note, I'll be taking my leave."
Meanwhile...
"Well isn't this something." Raven said with a widen smile.
He, along with his handpicked men tasked with casting the Call of the Dead spell watched the defenders of Kyoroch pitiful attempts at defending their city.
It wasn't until a week after they cast the spell had the Empire sent the Jagears to deal with the situation and they were plowing through the horde of undead like simple weeds.
Honestly, if teigu users couldn't manage this much against simple low level grunts like these there is absolutely no hope for the Imperials when the Corpse Garden has been completed.
Of course, these teigu users will fall to the power of the fushin. It's an inevitability.
On the other side of the city appeared a separate group cutting a path through the city.
If Raven had to guess, most likely they were Night Raid. After all, they have a perfectly good reason to infiltrate the city.
The removal of a certain rat Syura's father had place in the inner workings of these Path of Peace religious fools.
Bah, all religions who don't worship the god Nores are fabrications of lies.
Not that it matters, they along with the rest of this country will be consumed by the coming storm.
"This experiment is over. We have all the info we need." Raven said, turning his head to his men.
"Shall we drop the spell my lord?" The closest cloaked Son of Nores asked.
"No, not yet." Raven replied with a smile. "Let the Ice Witch and her minions have a few more minutes of fun. It's the least we can do."
Twenty minutes later...
"GRAND FALL!" Wave yelled, smashing into several zombies at once crushing them underneath the force of his boot.
He shot up, spun to one side and punched an approaching corpse three times in the face.
The young man flipped around, sending a downward kick at another foe attempting to grab him from behind.
He quickly stepped forward, delivering a right hook with enough force that it sent the hit zombie flying into several others pilled behind it.
"There's no end to them is there?" Wave said, more to himself than anyone.
With a break in the action, the young Jagear took the moment to keep tabs on his other comrades.
Drake, Seryu, and Koro were far up ahead mowing down these walking corpses like nothing. At first Wave rushed in determined to help them but from the looks of it those three have it well under control.
Off towards his right Wave occasionally saw ice bits fly from the sky towards the ground. Best guess that is were General Esdeath decided to unleash her own frozen hell on these freaks.
Run stayed in the air flying between all three of these positions, providing support as best he could usually in the form of a razor sharp feather storm.
It helped clear the path on his end, but these zombies seemed to be numberless.
Even with Imperial Arms, they can only fight for so long.
Wave glanced over his shoulder, seeing how Kurome was holding up.
Though she might hide it well, Wave knew she had to be hurting in one way or another.
Between fighting that masked guy and the stamina she drained controlling all those corpse puppets of hers, there was no doubt in Wave's mind that the youngest member of the Jagears was pushing herself before fully recovering from the last battle.
Or maybe...Maybe he was being overcautious around Kurome.
Maybe it came from his renewed determination to do everything in his power to keep his comrades from dying but...he couldn't exactly find the words.
It was like...Like how Seryu held Drake in such high esteem. Kurome's simply one of those people that Wave really cared about.
Currently, the black haired girl managed to cut through any zombie that got in her way. She summoned two of her own corpses; Apeman and Natala to aid in clearing the freaks out.
Natala stayed close at hand, slaying any who drew too close to his master while Apeman thrashed about like the wild Danger Beast he is.
Strangely enough, it seemed that the rotting horde of corpses completely ignored Apeman and Natala.
Aside from that, Wave noticed some sighs of exhaustion on Kurome's face. However slight those signs were.
"You Kurome, how you holding up?" He called back to her, the latter turned to him and smiled.
"Oh? I must be doing something wrong if you are concerned about me." She replied with a smirk.
"Just being a good teammate is all." Wave humbly replied, punching another zombie that wondered too close.
"That's cute, but I'm fine." Kurome replied, decapitating another walking corpse. "No need to worry, I have Natala here protecting me after all."
Wave smiled. 'Well at least she's still acting like her usual self.'
"Whatever you say Kurome." He replied, turning his head back to the girl. "If you need help though, don't hesitate to call me. I'll come running."
"It'll be a sad day when I need help from an idiot like you." Kurome said with a laugh.
Wave shrugged his shoulders in response before rushing off towards the next group of enemies.
Kurome watched him go, surprised.
She come to expect some sort of response from the so called "man of the sea" after an insult like that. Usually something that would prove that Wave is indeed an idiot.
It looks like Bols's death changed him and for the better it seems.
To many, including Wave, it always looked like Kurome treated the latter like a child. A sort of "tough love" situation if you would.
In reality, it is Kurome's unorthodox method of grooming those she considers her comrades.
The young girl had seen far too many of her friends and loved one die before her eyes. So she took it upon herself to protect those that seemed weak until they became stronger while motivating them in a "Prove me wrong" sort of approach.
It might be harsh, but it tended to work in most cases.
Kurome smiled. "Well, maybe I don't need to worry about you so much anymore."
She took another moment to gaze at Wave, taking pride in helping him evolve to what he is now. (Despite the fact that it was mainly thanks to Drake in this case, not that Kurome knows.)
Suddenly, Kurome felt a shock race through her body, following the loss of all her energy.
She dropped to her knees, unable to find the strength to stand.
Beside her, Natala knelt to help her then vanished from sight. Off in the distance Apeman disappeared like the Danger Beast never existed in the first place.
Next the light in her eyes started to fad faster than she could think. From what she could see, the young girl was surrounded my walking corpses.
'Darn it...Not now...'
Kurome felt herself falling forward, her vision clouded barely able to make out the shape of the zombies slowly closing in.
Or the armored shape of Wave rushing towards her.
"Kurome! KUROME!" The young man's fading voice shouted out.
It was the last thing she heard before everything went black.
Hours later...
Wave sat beside Kurome, the latter resting in a single bed.
They along with the rest of the Jagears where safely inside the city of Kyoroch, brought into the Path of Peace's HQ on the authority of Bolic, one of the high priests.
It seems like he had some...connections with the Empire, but right now nothing else mattered to the young man.
"You stupid girl." He said in a happy-sad tone. "You shouldn't have pushed yourself like that."
Wave held Kurome's hand between both of his. "Seriously, and you call me an idiot. You need to learn how to pace yourself Kurome."
At that moment, the door opened.
"Am I interrupting?" Run asked, stepping into the room.
"No, not at all." Wave said with a sigh. He turned to face his good friend. "What's up? Came to check in on Kurome?"
"Yes but I can't stay for long. I have a report for the Commander." Run replied, walking to Kurome's bedside.
"The doctor says she'll be fine given enough rest." Wave said, turning back around. "She collapsed from a mix of exhaustion and side effects from those drugs the Empire got her hooked her on."
"That's good to hear. About how she'll be fine I mean." Run replied, turning his gaze to Wave. "Do you plan on staying by her side until she wakes?"
"Yeah." Wave said with a nod. "It's the least I can do for her."
"I see." Run replied, crossing his arms behind his back. "I'll see if I can have someone bring you some food, dinner was a half hour ago."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." Wave said with a laugh. "Now that you mention it I'm starting to get hungry."
Run smiled. "Maybe if you eat in front of her, Kurome will wake right up."
Wave laughed. "Right? Given how much of a glutton she is, she'll spring right up and eat the rest of my food before asking if there's anymore."
Run chuckled at the thought. "That's certainly Kurome for you."
The two fell into an awkward silence, each looking at the bed written Kurome.
"I can't help but notice something." Run said, breaking the lasting silence.
"Notice what?" Wave asked, turning his head.
Run looked at his friend smiling. "At how much you changed."
Wave closed his eyes, chuckling. "I don't think I changed that much."
"Not true." Run bluntly replied. "You're a lot more level headed than before."
Wave reopened his eyes. Smiling, he turned back to Kurome. "Gotta thank the old man for that. He help me get through Bols's sudden passing."
"Ah yes. That does make sense." Run said in a mutter. "Either way, it's a positive change Wave."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"No problem." Run said, lowered his arms. "We'll talk again later."
The blond haired Jagear turned around, he made it halfway to the door before Wave called out to him.
"So, what sort of idea world do you wish for Run?"
The latter stopped, half turning back to his friend.
"I'm sorry?"
Wave smirked. "Let me put it this way," He said without so much as glancing at his friend. "Do you believe the Empire is corrupt?"
Run hand flinched slightly. He stared at Wave with cruel eyes.
'Does he know?'
The blond haired man fully turned to face Wave, glaring into the back of his head.
"Do you?" He asked.
"Well, let's say I've seen some questionable things going on." Wave replied with a smile. "You don't need to worry, what we say will stay here in this room. I give you my word."
Run hesitated for a few moments, his cold gaze poring into the back of Wave's head.
"I don't have any comment on the current status of the Empire, nor do I wish to discuss it at this time."
Wave closed his eyes. "I see." He said as Run turned around, continuing on his way to the door.
The latter reached for the handle, almost eager to leave the room.
"Something happen to you didn't it?" Wave suddenly said. Run's eyes widened in surprise. "If so, I am sorry."
Run shot his head around, glaring at the young man. His mouth opened but he stopped himself. There was too much at stake to blow it now.
"You know, I've was asked the same question not too long ago." Wave said, slowly rising from his chair.
"What sort of ideal world do I wish to create. It made me think, think harder than I ever have in my life. Honestly my head never hurt so much hehe."
He turned to face Run, giving the latter the most confident look he'd ever seen from Wave.
"I finally found the answer after Bols died. I wonder, is my answer the same as yours?"
Run blinked a few times, mouth hanging open. It was one thing to go through a change, but this. This was something else.
It was if the old Wave died and a new one was born in his stead. Run couldn't quite wrap his mind around it.
How did this happen exactly? Did Drake do this or was it this other, this one who asked Wave such an idealistic question?
Run turned around, meeting Wave's determined yet still friendly gaze.
"You have peek my curiosity Wave." Run said, still unsure how to take all this. "We can talk more about all this later."
Wave simply nodded. "I look forward to you're reply."
He turned around, sitting back in his chair before once again holding onto Kurome's hand.
Run gazed a Wave in wonder and surprise for a few lingering moments before opening the door and moving into the hall beyond.
After he heard the door close, Wave couldn't help but laugh.
"I sounded just like him. Ha, next thing I know I'm going to have a harem of maids and other women at my disposal."
He leaned back, gazing at the ceiling.
"Isn't that funny Chairmen?"
Minutes later...
General Esdeath sat in the room she was given by Bolic; one of the more fancy rooms reserved for important guests.
She looked out one of the large decorative windows, watching the townsfolk dance and sing about.
They were saved from the horde of undead after all, so it's only natural they celebrate that their lives weren't snuffed out this time.
None of it mattered to the famed general for her mind was preoccupied with two things.
The first is how exactly could the dead rise from the graves in such vast numbers?
The second was the same questing plaguing her very being: Where is her beloved Tatsumi?
Paying more attention to the forward rather than the latter, the work of such abominations border on the so called forbidden magic she heard rumors about.
Her brother always payed more attention to those sorts of things, he is a bit of a history fan though not as much as Senator Jast whom seemed to be Fuyu's friend.
She'd have to ask either of them more on the capabilities of forbidden magic the very next chance she has.
Esdeath heard a knock on the door.
"It's open." She said without moving her gaze from the window.
The door opened, Run appeared through the opening and stepped inside.
"I'm ready to give my report commander." He humbly said.
"Go on." Esdeath bluntly replied.
"Ma'am." Run instantly replied.
"As you are well aware, soon after Kurome had collapsed the enemy we were fighting simply fell all at once. No one seems to know what exactly caused this, nor had we found any answers from examining the corpses."
"Some of the people I interviewed assumed this was the work of a necromancer or perhaps a group of necromancers given the scale of the event."
"Given what little I gathered on the classified forbidden magic, it is possible that these corpses became undead through the practice of necromancy."
"Since we have no other possible suspects, let assume this is the work of a necromancer or maybe a group of them since we have no idea how powerful these possible magic casters are." Esdeath cut in.
"If this is the work of a magic caster, then it would explain why these corpses suddenly stopped all on their own."
Run nodded in agreement. "It either means the user ran out of magic power or they deliberately dropped whatever spell they had cast."
"If the latter, then that may mean whatever goal they had in attacking the city had been accomplished," General Esdeath added. "That or they simply gave up."
"Whatever the case, we simply don't know." Run said. "Now I would like to add my own personal witness accounts during the battle with these so called zombies in the event we end up fighting them once again."
"Aside from what Drake and the others have reported?"
"Yes commander." Run said with a nod. "Aside from what we already know on their strengths and weaknesses, there is one critical piece of information I noticed when flying about the battlefield."
"When observing Wave and Kurome I noticed that they completely ignored Kurome's corpse puppets. In my opinion, it seems like they're only attracted to living targets." Run deduced. "If so, it's rather fortunate that we have a necromancer of sorts on our side."
"Is that right?" General Esdeath asked, slightly turning her head. "In the event those things return, Yatafusa's ability might play a critical part in our counteroffensive. Rather unfortunate given the current state of its user, not that it could be helped."
"Of course..." Run replied. He paused a few moments before coming to the last topic in his report.
"There's one other matter I like to report." The young man started. "While I was flying above the city, I notice something rather interesting."
He paused long enough for General Esdeath to offer a reply. When she didn't, Run carried on.
"I saw fallen corpses stretched out in an almost straight path leading directly to the city. I questioned the guards as this path was made on the other side of where we were engaged."
"The guards told me a team of three, two men and one women managed to cut a path through the horde of undead and enter into the city. By their descriptions one of them shared a striking resemblance to someone we both know."
Run paused for a moment to breath.
"I am almost certain that one of the three that entered the city during the battle is in fact Tatsumi."
General Esdeath felt her heart skip a beat. She half rose from the chair she sat it, eyes wide.
'Tatsumi...is here?'
Elsewhere...
Drake leaned on the balcony railing, staring at the night sky.
He was dressed in a simple black tux with a red tie, matching pants and dress shoes.
The reason why he dressed up was thanks to a party the Path of Peace decided to throw as a symbol of thanks to their saviors.
Most of the Jagears however skipped the party for various reasons.
Hell only he and Seryu came out of the whole group. Though Run popped up earlier before leaving a few minutes ago.
Parties aren't exactly Drake's thing. He go to them sure but mostly keep to himself unless there is plenty of alcohol and this party had a pretty shitty selection.
So here he was, keeping to himself as Rak constantly bug him in the confinement of his mind.
Least till now that is.
"Hey~ Whatcha *hick* D-doin out here?"
Drake turned around, slowly stumbling towards him holding a two glasses was an obviously drunk Seryu.
She wore a green single piece dress with while opera gloves (those long ass gloves that cover up to your elbow) and high heels.
'You don't see that everyday.' Drake thought.
Rak laughed. 'Damn! Well now we know what she looks like in a dress, and how she is when she's drunk!'
Drake waited for Seryu to stumble over, catching her once she closed in. Now that he had a closer look, Drake could see the red lipstick she put on.
And here he though Seryu of all people would never wear makeup, even if it was only a little something.
She looked up staring at Drake with a mindless face, blinking a few times before making what the latter considered a rather lewd face as she started chuckling.
Just how drunk was this girl anyway?!
"Hey you~" She said, slurring with her words. "What's a handsum guy like you...doing out all alone like this?"
Drake let out a nervous laugh. "Well parties aren't exactly my thing."
"No joke! I'm the same!" Seryu said before bursting out laughing. "Hell I can't even stand wearing a dress!"
She calmed down after a few more moments. She place one of her drinks on the balcony.
With her now free hand, she began to lightly stroke her index finger up and down Drake's chest.
"But I don't mind it now, since you're the one looking at me."
'Bro she's totally into you! Don't fuck this up!' Rak screamed mentally.
"Uhh...A-are you even old enough to drink?" Drake nervously replied.
Despite the fact he survived the horrors of war, lived through unspeakable atrocities, and still for the most part remained sane the thing that would always unsettle the good 'ol engineer is when a women starts to hit on him.
'Dumbass stop cockblocking yourself, come on!' His alternate ego roared.
Seryu looked at him, pouting. Even drunk, women still get offended when it comes to there age.
Come to think of it, this was the first time Drake ever saw Seryu act like a normal, drunk off her ass flirty woman.
"I'm 26." She said, holding her pout face.
Drake blinked a few times in disbelief.
"No way, no way in hell you're that old!" He shouted.
"Well yeah, how'd you think I got into the Imperial Police Academy? You need to be at least 21 years old to sign up."
Drake's jaw dropped. All this time...
FOR ALL THIS TIME DRAKE THOUGHT SERYU WAS 16 YEARS OLD!
NOW HE LEARNS THAT NOT ONLY IS SHE WAY OLDER THAN SHE LOOKS, SHE ONLY 5 YEARS YOUNGER THAN HE IS!
This revelation shattered Drake's image of he and Seryu as a sort of father-daughter couple.
...
Kind of sounds wrong but you get the message.
Seryu raised an eyebrow.
"You mean...you didn't know?"
"Of course not!" Drake shouted. "I always thought you were 16 this entire time!"
Seryu turned to her left, turning even redder than the alcohol already made her.
"Ehehe, you really thought I was that young?" She said, swaying back and forth all lovey-dovey like with her free hand pressed to her cheek. "Naughty naughty, so you're into young girls huh?"
Drake grinned his teeth. "No it's not like that! It-it's just..." He took a few moments to calm down a bit before continuing.
"It's just that, I always thought of you like the daughter I never had..." He said after moving his right arm to his neck, rubbing it.
Seryu turned back to him. She looked into his eyes for a few moments before tears came rolling down her face.
'Real nice asshat, you went and made the girl cry.' Rak harshly said. 'Hope you're proud of yourself bro, cause I sure as hell ain't.'
"Ah shit I didn't mea-"
Seryu suddenly lunged forward, grabbing onto the double agent and almost knocking the two of them off the balcony.
She bawled her eyes out, crying far harder than the last time Drake seen her cry.
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' He mental scream.
Drake opened his mouth, but he couldn't think of anyway to fix this mess he created.
He hesitantly started to move one of his hands toward Seryu when the latter started to speak.
"I'm sorry, I'm just...I'm just so happy!" She managed to say between the tears. "I knew you cared, but-but to think of me like a daughter. I just- I can't I-I'm sorry!"
Drake felt his heart sink. Happy? She was happy?
"My parents died around my 18th birthday." Seryu continued, slowly calming herself down.
"After that, I didn't know what I would do. That's when I meet Ogre. He helped me when I was down, took me in and trained me until I was old enough to enter the academy then took me on as his disciple."
"Ogre became my only family at that point. Between then and my 23rd birthday I meet Dr. Stylish. Ogre introduce me and we talked about possible body modifications to improve my fighting capabilities."
"Since he told me it would help in my fight against evil, I gladly accepted. He even replace my arms when they were cut off by that Night Raid bitch, but now..."
Seryu snuffled, her tears picked up once again.
"But now Ogre and Dr. Stylish are dead! It's like everyone I ever care about dies! My parents! Captain Ogre! Dr. Stylish! Everyone!"
She stuffed her head deep in Drake's chest, crying as she grabbed onto his chest with her free hand.
Drake stood dumbfounded. He was at a loss as waves of emotions plagued his mind:
He felt sorry for the poor girl given all she went though.
He felt angry at Ogre and Dr. Stylish for twisting her into the person she is today.
He felt the need to comfort her, to hold her in his arms and tell her everything's gonna be alright even though that was nothing but a bittersweet lie.
He felt saddened that Seryu was nothing more that a victim of unfortunate circumstance after circumstance.
And finally he felt pissed off at himself for growing so goddamn attached to her.
"It's just...I don't know! I don't know what I would do if I lost you or the commander!" Seryu continued.
"The commander's so nice to me! She's kind and a symbol of strength I rely on when things go wrong! She helped me in so many ways to improve myself, I can't thank her enough."
'Well she's right to idolize Esdeath as a symbol of strength.' Rak added. 'Hell that bitch is crazy strong. I'll give her the whole advice bit cause she knows what the hell she doing, as for nice well hehe. We both know that's nothing but a farce.'
"And you." Seryu said, pausing so she could try and calm down.
"You were the first one to comfort me when Dr. Stylish died. You renewed my determination to fight against evil! I know I bugged you for awhile after that, always rushing to your side whenever I thought you were in danger."
Seryu eased her grip on Drake's chest. She took a few deep breaths. It felt like she held all this in for the longest time and now she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I know it bugged you, so I backed off a bit. But today, today I couldn't stop myself from worrying about you when you went off on your own like that!"
She glanced up, tears still flowing from her face.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Why didn't you ask me to go with you right from the start?! Why did I have to rush in after you when you were surrounded?! YOU IDIOT!"
She slammed her free hand into Drake's chest a number of times, with each hit yelling the word "idiot".
Drake closed his eyes and sighed. This was what he gets for bonding with her, noting but headaches, regrets and a deep echoing pain in his chest and it wasn't from her punching him repetitively.
"I only-"
"Shuttup! I wasn't finished!" Seryu shouted, cutting him off. She stopped hitting him at that point, burrowing back into Drake's chest as she cried.
Drake frowned. He moved his arms, embracing the Jagear.
Several awkward minutes passed as Drake held Seryu in his arms. All the while Seryu let out several sniffles, hasty breaths, and other crying noises.
After a few more minutes, Seryu finally seemed to calm down. She pushed off of Drake's chest slightly, looking up at the man that held her.
"I...I didn't realize it until today just how much you meant to me..." She said in a low voice. "I never felt this way towards anyone else but you..."
Drake lowered his arms. "What are you sayin?"
Seryu gazed into Drake's eyes. She gave the man a sad smile. "I'm saying I love you Drake. You old fool."
Before the old soldier could react, Seryu pushed up and kissed him.
Seryu kept her lips locked with his, closing her eyes as her heart fluttered.
Drake on the other hand stood petrified. The worst scenario had happened to him, already he could feel his mixed emotions tearing him up from the inside.
He couldn't do this anymore. He just couldn't. He gone too far and now...
And now he could help but admit his true feeling for this girl. This damn twisted, foolish girl who had to go and fall for him.
'Takes a broken girl to love a broken man, isn't that right ol brother of mine?'
Seryu pulled herself back, blushing as her eyes seemed to sparkle.
"That was my first you know." She said. "I'm glad I gave it to you."
Drake lowered his head. "I see...Thanks Seryu, it...it means the world to me..."
Seryu took a few steps back, smiling. "I'm going back to my room now. It's getting too hot for me." She said, slowly turning around. "I'll leave the door unlocked in case you want to...help me cool off."
'Damn. She's a keeper.'
Drake didn't reply, but Seryu was too drunk or too dense to care.
Cheerfully she walked the best she could back into the ballroom, chugging the drink she held onto this entire time and chucking the glass off to the side when she was done.
Once Seryu faded from view, Drake let out a single, loud roar to the heavens clenching his fists to the point were his fingernails dug deep into his skin.
He cursed up a storm soon after, hating himself more than anything else right now.
After venting for the better part of 10 minutes, Drake finally managed to calm down.
He grabbed the glass Seryu left, which SOMEHOW managed to stay in one place the entire time.
The double agent swirled the drink around, staring at it.
'So...I take it that you aren't going to tap that?' Rak's voice mentally spoke.
Silence was his only reply.
'Oooookkkkkkkk~ So if you're not do you mind if we switch for the rest of the night? I see you're going through some complicated shit right now and figure you could use a break, so whatcha say?'
Drake turned around, facing the city before him. He quickly downed the glass in one go, placing it back on the balcony railing.
"Do what you want, I'm done with all of this." He said rather detached, closing his eyes.
'Well then...' Rak thought, suddenly his eyes reopened switching from their usual blue to crimson red.
"Don't mind if I go and have some fun. After all, Seryu basically threw herself at us."
Esdeath leaned her forehead against her arm as she laid in her bed. (You can imagine her in that single white shirt if you guy want too. Ha you probably are now cause I mentioned it mwahahahaha.)
Today was filled with a great number of surprises. Walking corpses, the use of forbidden magic and the possibility of running into a necromancer in the near future, Kurome's sudden collapse and most of all: Tatsumi.
He was here at Kyoroch, somewhere with two other companions.
The news brought joy to her heart. She will finally reunite with the one she loves and bring him back into the fold. Finally, all her worries on whether he would join the Revolutionary Army would melt away.
Who were these two others with him? Members of the Revolutionary Army perhaps? Or some friends he made along his travels?
It didn't matter in the long run. Tatsumi was here and she would gladly tear apart this city to find him.
'Until tomorrow.' She thought before shutting her eyes.
And here ends another entry of the glorious Akame Ga Kill: Clockwork.
Finally managed to complete this now that I'm starting to get some more days off since it's the off season were I work.
Course we'll still be busy now and then but least I can plan things out now, maybe.
Anyway, a lot to swallow in this one huh?
First I want to touch on Najenda's seemingly uncharacteristic panic attack. Now to me, she seems like someone who wants to plan for any situation they can foresee.
If you start throwing unexpected event after event at a person like that, they usually lose their shit for a few minutes raking their brain at how to salvage a situation like the one Najenda found herself in.
Walker however is one of those "Expect anything and everything" types so he can adapt thanks to his time in the North were just about everything that isn't human is trying to kill you. Which is why he calmly suggested his own plan to Najenda and basically saved the day.
Second; Wave's transformation into an INTELLIGENT BEING OMG ITS A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE RUNNNNNNN!
In all seriousness, this transformation is brought upon from the seeds Fuyu planted in the young man earlier on along with Drake's guidance on getting passed Bols's death.
He's beginning to show signs of his, evolution if you will, that even the cleaver Run is having difficulty believing.
He's even throw for a loop when Wave took a page out of good ol' Fuyu's book.
Does this mean Wave will end up joining the forces of Clockwork and possibly bring Run along for the ride? Or does he have something else in mind? Only time will tell :)
And finally the last matter I want to bring up; DRAKE X SERYU YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Some of you most have saw this coming, but probably not in the way it went down.
In the manga Seryu openly says how she doesn't like dresses hinting that she's one of those people that don't really fit in at parties. Aside from that, she's sort of a tomboy so there's also that.
As her getting drunk...Best idea in this entry.
I felt the need to show a side of Seryu that not only people never got to see but also wouldn't expect. I mean I don't think anyone can see Seryu of all people flirting with others under normal circumstances.
Which is were the alcohol comes into play.
We all know that most drunk people are completely different than their normal selves, so what happens when someone with a broken mind like Seryu gets drunk?
In all honestly I have no bloody idea, but for the purpose of the story she acts a bit more like a "normal" girl with a hint of mood swings.
You gotta admit some of that was funny. Especially Rak and his comments.
Walker, Tatsumi and Leone successfully enter the city of Kyoroch, however General Esdeath knows her "beloved" is in the city! That's not all however as Jast AKA Joker will soon depart for the same city with Pyro and Raryu!
Raven also has his sights fixed upon the city, as something he wishes to acquire at all costs lies within the city walls.
What exactly is it? And how will these events affect Night Raid's mission?
Find out next time as agents of Night Raid try to spark the flames of revolution!
