Chapter 7 – Confrontation

Night Raid – Forest of Dorn

How is this possible. The thought went through Najenda head, commander of Night Raid. Someone killed Honest on their own. Its just impossible. Ever since she had gotten the news from one of the revolutionary army's informants that Honest was dead, Esdeath had been the only thing on her mind. She thought it impossible to kill Honest without dealing with Esdeath first, after all Honest was supposed to be locked within the imperial palace, which by itself was impossible to infiltrate alone. Yet when she found out that one man had walked into the capital, straight into the imperial palace and killed Honest. She couldn't believe. It was impossible. A fairy tale. A really shitty joke. Yet apparently its true. As not only was Honest was killed, but all his supports and allies were accused of treason against the Empire and were trialed by the emperor himself. Yet the thing that amazed her the most was that it only occurred in a few days, the empire was flipped on its head. In just three days. With Honest dead everything I have been fighting for… no everything the revolution army has been fighting for could finally become a reality. Yet she still was worried. According to their intel Esdeath was still alive and was being utilized by the empire. This could not be allowed, as if she was still alive then everything that's happened could be torn down by her hand.

Right now, Night Raid was currently pursuing two individuals. One was unknown while the other was confirmed to be General Esdeath herself. A golden opportunity to take her out of the picture, however there was doubts in the group. As many of night raids members expected this to be some sort of trap or trick, to lure them out and finish them off. Yet the information was considered reliable, as it came from an informant that the revolutionary army have been using for years. So, they couldn't miss this chance to finally remove her. Even so the group was nervous, though they tried to hide it. You wouldn't tell if you were an outsider or a new member. Yet Najenda knew her team to well, her family. But it didn't matter a job was a job and this was probably there most important one yet.

"Our destination is just up ahead" Najenda then said to her team. "You know the plan, everyone get into position."

"Roger" the group replied and then all scattered. Najenda had been very specific about their plan of attack and extremely thorough when analyzing their surroundings. The place where they would spring their trap was the Forest of Dorn, a dense forest with only one road going through it. This is where they would strike. As Esdeath and her companion was scheduled to walk through this forest to reach a village called Snowford beyond the mountains of Grim. Najenda knew this would be the best place to attack, as its isolated and far enough away from the capital that they can't signal for help. Creating a detailed plan to subdue and kill Esdeath. Calculating ever small detail as to how she would react. Her strengths in a forest environment. Her tactics and exit strategies. Everything to the smallest detail. Including her own teams' strengths and weaknesses. She carefully positioned them all in the best possible place for the best possible chance for survival and success. It was good odds. Yet she still was nervous, as she knew better than anyone how terrifying the Ice Queen could be.

"Commander" Leone suddenly asked, "were all in position." Leone spoke those words fast and it was a clear indicated of how tense she was to Najenda. As she normally was quite laid back, even on missions. But this time her body was tense, something that didn't occur with the young lioness very often unless she felt cornered.

"Good now we wait" she replied. The plan itself was rather simply, ambush Esdeath in the forest where her mobility and attack power would be limited due to her large attacks and the terrain. Surround her on all angles, including from on high and down low. Make sure she can't use her Teigu to ultimate effectiveness and distract her long enough for Akame to slice her. Najenda look around at her companions, the four on the ground included herself, Leone, Susano and Tatsumi. While in the trees Lubbock, Mine, Chelsea and Akame waited. With the four on the ground engaging her on foot while Mine and Lubbock supplied support on far and Akame and Chelsea would wait for an opportunity to strike a killing blow. The plan was simply but effective. All they had to was wait until she made an error and Akame and Chelsea would ponce.

After a few minutes of dead silence, there was finally movement. Esdeath and her companion arrived. From a far Mine saw her first and silently signaled to the others letting them know of her presence. In doing so everyone one stayed as still as possible to avoid detection. Getting even closer now Najenda could finally see her rival and old comrade in person. She hasn't changed much she thought still the same cold Ice Queen. Najenda to this day still respected Esdeath, seeing her as a remarkable warrior and physically a beautiful woman. However, no amount of beauty could make up for the horrifying sadistic monster within her soul. To this end she must die. Najenda then looked over at her companion and was slightly puzzled, who is that? She could now make out that her companion was a man in a cloak, obstructing her vision. She couldn't see his cloths or face due to the hood but what she could tell was that he was strong. He wasn't as tall as General Budo or Bulat only being a bit taller than herself she estimated. Yet his shoulders were wide, and you could tell even under the cloak he was built with muscle. Claiming her curiosity, she first thought that this was just some new soldier or travel companion of Esdeath's. Yet as she continued to look, he didn't appear to be intimidated or weighed down by her presence. In fact, it almost looks like he was the one who was leading her. As he was holding onto the reigns of the horse Esdeath was riding. Which was unusual as it was a stable horse not a war horse which she usually rode. This is strange, she thought Esdeath wouldn't ride a stable horse unless there was nothing else to ride and that cant be right either as they were coming from the capital. There must have been something else and she especially wouldn't let someone else hold the reigns for her. She just isn't like that. Now even more intrigued by the mysterious companion Najenda decided she wanted to know who this was before engaging in a fight.

Esdeath looked deep in thought, yet she sighed aloud and began to look around at her surroundings. Causing all of night raid to stop breathing. She looked around for only a moment and yet Najenda knew immediately she was aware of their presence. Then suddenly her companion stopped and yelled out "whoever you are come out we know your there!"

As those words echoed around the forest Night raid tensed up and was about to charge forth on Najenda command. Yet Najenda signaled them to stop and wait. They all looked at her puzzled for a moment as she then walked out of her hiding spot and approached the two.

"Ok you caught me well done" she said to the pair while clapping.

Esdeath looked at Najenda with a sadistic smile "Ahh Najenda its so good to see you again, how's your eye?"

You checky bitch "Gone thanks to you, but I only need one eye to see how much of a freak you are" she replied with sass.

Then the mysterious man butted in "now girls I know you to have a bit of a history together but let's try not to kill each other right away, ok?"

Ahh so he speaks. "Well it seems like you know who I am but who might you be Mr. Mysterious?" Najenda than asks. The reason why she carelessly walked out into the open to commune with the pair was simple: she wanted to know what she was dealing with. She knew Esdeath well enough, but she wasn't sure about this guy. She knew nothing about him and wanted to make sure they could handle him or at least get to know his objectives.

"Hi, my name is Arthur" he says casually while removing his hood, revealing a magnificent helmet. Najenda stared at the helmet for a while taking in its design. Noting the two dragons surrounding the tree and the solid gold frame. Logically having gold armor is considered a bad idea, as not only is gold more malleable but its also a great deal heavier than other metals such as steal or iron. Yet Najenda could tell that this wasn't any normal helmet as the designs were too precise for any regular smith. Concluding that it was a Teigu or some advanced weaponry from another land.

So, he's not just a travelling companion I'm assuming he's a member of the Jaegers but where's the rest of them? "So, you brought one of your Jaegers with you Esdeath, tell me where's the rest of them hiding?"

"Oh no, I'm not a Jaeger" the man suddenly said with a laugh "she would never let me join the Jaegers, she can't stand me. Also, I wouldn't join even if she wanted me too, I hated Honest and the empire."

Completely surprised by his response Night Raid all had the same thought, What!? Is this guy talking nonsense, I mean hating the Empire was fair enough, but he said 'hated' as in past tense… no it can't be… those reports of one man killing Honest… it's not him, is it? Quickly composing herself Najenda then questioned "So its true, Honest is dead?"

The man looked down at the floor almost looking regretful, but he quickly raised his head again and said "yes, it is true. I killed him myself."

"Bullshit! The revolutionary army has been at war with the Empire for years now and one of their top priorities was to kill Honest. Yet you just somehow managed to get through all the capital's defenses, walk into the Imperial palace past the thousands of guards and straight into the throne room and kill the Prime minister the most influential and powerful person in the entire empire? Ha you expect me to believe that?" Najenda shouted "not only that, but you would also have had to deal with the Ice bitch behind you and Great General stick-up-his-ass as well. How the hell did you manage to do that?"

After that little outbreak Arthur was about to respond until Esdeath let out a little giggle. "What are you laughing at?" Najenda asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, its just after that it really puts into perspective how pathetic Night raid and the revolutionary army are. Like honestly, they have been fighting for years as you said yet you hadn't even gotten close to Honest let alone dealing any major blows to the empire. Yet you." She said while pointing at Arthur. "An absolute nobody managed to accomplish what they have been fighting so hard for in a matter of days. As if it were easy. Hell, even I'm slightly impressed at what you have done. Yet I can't help but laugh at how pathetic you make the most feared assassins in the empire and their entire revolution look" Esdeath said while laughing to herself.

Wait so he's telling the truth? No, that can't be Esdeath must be saying this to confuse me. It's a trick. Yet Najenda had a feeling he was telling the truth. "What proof do you have that he's dead?" Najenda than further questioned.

"Only my word, if you desire to see further proof you could go to the capital and check for yourself" The man replied. Najenda and the rest of Night Raid was now feeling completely confused and crushed. This can't be true if it is then Esdeaths right why weren't we able to do what he's accomplished. Were supposed to be the best assassins in the world yet he managed to do what we couldn't and in such a short time. It's just not possible. Some of Night Raid were also feeling the same, having doubts in their minds thinking they were pathetic if what he says is true. While Mine and Tatsumi were filled with rage at the comments wanting to lash out and kill Esdeath now. But the stoic Susano was the one to stop them holding them back whispering "ignore her, we must follow the commander's orders."

Esdeath smiling sadistically at her old comrade's face, felt wonderful. She's been feeling so pent up over the last couple days and now she's finally able to have some fun. Not only that she even felt the despair from some of the other members that were still were hiding. She was so tempted to get rid of them right now and enjoy ripping Najenda to shreds, yet she bid her time. As she knew that Arthur just wouldn't stand there and let her fight them, also she didn't have her Teigu, so she was at a disadvantage. Deciding the best course of action was to get Night Raid engage Arthur, hopefully giving her a chance to get away from him. "I mean when you really think about it you guys are really just a bunch of miss fits who thought they were special-"

"That's enough!" Arthur interjected. Everything went quiet for a while and Arthur sighed he looked down solemnly at his feet, remembering some painful memories. But he then suddenly perked up and laughed a little "I wasn't alone and trust me it took a whole lot longer than just three days. It took three years of work and there's no way I could've done it without the friends and allies I made along the way."

Arthur was about to tell Night Raid his story and what really happened to the Empire, however Najenda had heard enough. "Well regardless of whether you're telling the truth, we cannot allow you to leave with Esdeath. So, either you hand her over or well take her by force."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let her out of my sight and if I hand her over to you, I will be failing my mission." Arthur replied sternly "I don't want to fight you, but I know what you think of her and that you want to kill her. But I won't let you."

Najenda wasn't very happy with his response. Now usually she would try to reason with her enemies or at least come to some diplomatic solution. But at this point she was thoroughly pissed off. As not only was her rival and biggest problem right in front of her but also some guy who claims to have killed Honest was standing her way. Its like fate was laughing at her. So unfortunately, she concluded that this guy had to go.

"Well, I'm sorry to her that" she said. Then she signaled to her team with a wave of her hand to attack. Suddenly a blast of energy from mine's Pumpkin was shoot straight at Arthur, however the attack simply bounced off Arthur's helm into a neighboring tree causing it to fall. In that moment the ground team engaged, with Tatsumi and Leone going for Arthur and Najenda and Susano charging at Esdeath.

At this point Esdeath was still riding Buck and Arthur was holding onto his reigns. But as soon as the blast hit Arthur, Esdeath jumped off bucks back. Her goal was simply: getting as far away from Arthur as possible. Yet Susano had other idea's as he swung his giant mace at her, causing her to dodge straight into Najenda's fist.

Leone and Tatsumi both in their Teigu forms charged at Arthur, they closed the gap at extremely fast pace raising their fists to smash into the golden man. But Arthur was already recovering and manage to block the double attack, but Tatsumi and Leone weren't done yet unleashing a series of combination attack with punches and kicks, pushing Arthur back. Tatsumi now feeling confident brought out his spear and targeted Arthur's head with an overhand swing. while Leone went low and went for Arthur's chest with a right haymaker punch. However, they were to slow. Even with being hit by Pumpkin's blast and the duos onslaught, Arthur recovered quickly grabbing Tatsumi spear mid swing and smashing him into Leone on the ground. Not even bothering to check if they were out Arthur looked to find Esdeath and saw she was busy.

Esdeath was ducking and weaving through the barrage of attacks from Najenda and Susano, trying to overwhelm her with numbers. Even so she fought back viciously, as when Susano would attempt a swing she avoided, and counter attacked keeping him on the defensive. Causing Najenda to go on the offensive which allowed her to maintain the flow of battle. As she knew ever since Najenda had lost her eye and arm her offensive abilities had plummeted significantly and to make up for that lose she focused on defense or a supporting role in a combat situation. So, forcing her to go on the offensive and keeping Susano on the defense gave her the upper hand. Esdeath is a master at hand-to-hand combat and even without her iconic ice magic and saber she still was a force to be reckon with. As she let rip a flurry of kicks and punches in back-to-back combos. Keeping Susano off balance by being as unpredictable as possible causing him to block with his giant mace that was a meant for large offensive attacks not precise defensive blocking. While doing this she also was managing to redirect and counter Najenda's attacks, as she fired her prosthetic arm and attempted to land a powerful kick at her. Yet Esdeath seemed to be a step-in front of her, as she always manages to avoid the attack or redirect into a nearby tree or rock. Unfortunately for her she couldn't find an opening between the two to land a blow with any real significance as they were in perfect sync. Most likely due to their connection of 'Teigu and Master' giving Esdeath a challenge to say the least.

Seeing this Arthur charged at the three-combatants smashing into Susano from the back with a shoulder charge, causing him to go flying into a nearby tree. He then grabbed Esdeath by her hand pulling her close and then picked her up bridal style while binding the magnetic cuffs on her legs and wrists. You see Arthur had placed those bands on her before they left as he felt that he might need them if they were to run into trouble and found some way of escaping. Reasoning that it would be a lot easier to find her if she couldn't move. Yet Esdeath wasn't very happy about her new jewelry and gave Arthur one hell of time getting her to wear them. She was extremely unhappy now and yelled "Hey! Let me go you idioit were in the middle of a fight!"

Which Arthur responded appropriately "yeah I know, that's why I'm holding you to make sure you don't kill anyone or do something stupid like get away when you think I'm not looking."

Looking back now at Night Raid, the members that Arthur had fought had begun to recover. Well, this didn't go well at all Arthur thought to himself, I can't deal with night raid and the revolutionary army right now. Not until I get Esdeath in a secure place, her presence alone makes it impossible to engage in diplomacy with these people. Also, I don't have the advantage here in this fight, there's to many and I also gotta deal with Esdeath so the only thing I can think of right now is…

Najenda was just about to give the order to attack again, as not only were her team fully recovered but mine and Lubbock had set a trap behind their opponents when they were talking. Now we've got them… Najenda thought, but she then at her words as Arthur suddenly bolted pass them in one leap. At a speed that she could barely even mange to see. Even so Night Raid immediately gave chase.