A middle aged man who was dressed as a nobleman was on the ground trembling as two of his guards in front of him dropped dead to the floor. He was backing to the back of the wall away from the assassins who were in front of him.
"You won't get away with this Night Raid! The empire will have your-" He attempted to threaten them but was cut off by a pistol aiming at him. He was now terrified.
"No, wait! I could give you what you want! Name it! Is it money? Women? Just take-"
*Bang*
A bullet went through his head and falls to the floor dead.
"Already got what we needed." Alan said to him as he puts his pistol away.
"Is that the last of the guards?" Akira asked as she had her staff out.
"Yeah, I think so. They were also targets for supporting it." He answered as he looked at the dead guards.
"Did you find the women that were kept here?" Alan asked as he turned to his partner. She nodded.
"Yes, I freed them from the basement a little while ago and I also got them out safely." She answered.
"But when I found them, most of them were traumatized by the experience they went through. It's hard to say if they'll ever recover from this or not. I wish we could have done more for them." Akira said sadly.
"Same here, we can't exactly save everyone but we've managed to free them and prevented any more from happening. I say that's a success." Alan said. She nodded.
"We should get out of here before the imperial guards show up." Akira mentioned.
"Right." He nodded. The two began to exit the mansion.
On their way out, they passed by the corpses of guards they killed. Akira took a deep breath as they remembered the work they did as they were after their target. The two finally exit the mansion. Luckily, the authorities haven't arrived yet and so they exited the front gate. Alan decided to call the others to report.
"This is Alan, we finished up on our side. What about you?" He asked through the comm.
"We're already done with these bastards. I felt so good taking them down." Leone answered.
"Our target was a little difficult to find but we just finished." Mine said.
"How do you use this thing again?" Sheele asked confused.
"Sheele, I told you five times already. Did you really forget?" Alan asked.
"Sorry."
He sighed in response then smiled in amusement. "Don't worry about it, you're using it right anyway."
"Oh, I am? That's good." Sheele replied.
"I'll explain it to you again when we get back." Alan said.
"Hey, uh Leone? Is there anything we can do about those girls we saved?" Akira asked, concerned.
"I know a retired doctor close by. I'll let him know what happened. He has a liking to girls so he's willing to help out." She answered.
"Thanks, Leone." Akira smiled.
"One of those girls I saved was a friend of mine. That's the only reason." Leone explained.
"Still, I appreciate it." Akira said.
"At least those girls will have a chance to start over again." Tatsumi said.
"Alright, I'll see you all back at base." Alan told him.
The two continued to walk back to Night Raid headquarters. Knowing that everyone has completed their missions, He believed the others shouldn't have any trouble getting back.
Mine and Sheele ran across the streets as they were also returning to base.
"These things really are useful. At least I know that Alan's team finished their job." Mine said.
"Were you worried?" Sheele asked.
"Nn… No! I'm not worried or anything." Mine denied. "They know how to fight. It's just they're the only group that lacks a teigu, I thought it might take longer."
"Well at least everyone's completed their missions." Sheele smiled.
As they pass the streets, a young girl in an imperial guard uniform with orange long hair was waiting on the tree branches with a killer intent grin. Beside her was mini sized white and black dog. She was about to begin her surprise attack.
Mine and Sheele were caught back and immediately jumped out of the way. They both landed a few feet away from the killer as she impacted the ground.
"Who is it? An enemy? I couldn't even sense her." Mine commented.
"She's different from the other imperial guards." Sheele said as she readied her weapon.
The imperial guard took out the poster of Sheele and looked at her.
"You're Sheele of Night Raid, aren't you? And judging from your friend's weapon, she's with Night Raid too. I'm glad I've been waiting for you. It was totally worth it." She said.
"Now! I finally found you Night Raid! I'm the imperial guard, Seryu Ubiquitous! In the name of justice! I will destroy you evil doers' right here and now!" She shouted.
"Well, now that you've seen our faces, why don't you save us the trouble and come with us? Or you could die here instead." Mine told her.
"You'll die here. I will deliver justice! People like you are the reason my father was killed in the line of duty. Then my mentor, captain Ogre was murdered by you! That will never be forgiven, Night Raid!" Seryu exclaimed.
"She really wants to fight, huh? Okay, have it your way!" Mine said as she aimed Pumpkin at her.
Mine rapidly fired her gun at Seryu. Seryu's dog stood in front and blocked the bullets from Mine's gun. Smoke began to rise from the bullets impact.
"Is that it?" Mine asked.
As the smoke cleared, Seryu's dog grew two times larger than them as it growled at them. The bullet holes on it regenerated back to normal as there was no scratch on it.
"Is that a…" Sheele said.
"Yes, she has a biological type of teigu." Mine stated.
Seryu stepped forward as she pulled out two machine pistols.
Tonfa Guns!" She yelled as she fired rapidly at Mine and Sheele. They both dodged out of the line fire as they both prepared their next strategy.
"Prey, Koro!" Seryu pointed at them. Koro lunged at Sheele as it opened its mouth, showing its many teeth.
Sheele waited for it to come closer to her until she struck Koro with her scissors. She cut through Koro as it was tumbling to the ground and crashed to a light pole.
"I'm sorry." Sheele apologized.
She was walking toward Seryu as she wiped the blood off her scissors. Seryu however still had a sadistic smirk as she knew it had more in store for Sheele.
Behind Sheele, Koro got back on its feet. Sheele turned around and was shocked as it growled at her. Koro's wound regenerated again then was about to lunge to bite her. Mine's gun powered up and shot Koro from behind. The shot pushed it back then stopped itself, landing next to Seryu.
"Can't you remember what the book said, Sheele? Biological type teigu have hidden core somewhere in their body. They'll keep regenerating if it's not destroyed. Akame's sword won't do anything either since it lacks a heart." Mine explained to her.
"This will be a tough opponent." Sheele commented.
"Koro, Arms!" Seryu ordered.
The biological teigu grew itself long muscular arms with visible vein marks that could crush a person.
"That is disgusting." Mine commented as she was grossed out.
"Pulverize!" She exclaimed, pointing at them.
Koro was charging at Mine as it was swinging it's fists for punches.
"Mine, Get behind me!" Sheele exclaimed as she stood in front of her, ready to defend.
Sheele successfully blocked all of Koro's punches as she struggled to keep her stance. While she was blocking, Seryu got out her whistle and blew it as she was calling for help. Mine noticed what she was doing.
"Damn, she's calling for reinforcements." Mine said.
"What was that?" Akira asked as they both heard the whistle sound.
"I don't know but it sounded like someone was calling for help. Could be the imperial guard and its pretty close by." Alan said.
"You think one of our teams are involved?" She asked.
"I hope not but we better hurry over there before the guards arrive." Alan told her. She nodded. The duo began to run fast to the destination where the fighting is taking place.
Meanwhile, a young teen in a black collared uniform turned in the direction of the sound of the whistle. He smirked deviously.
"That sounds like fun. I wonder if it might be them." Sakaki said as he already knew it was Night Raid. He started walking towards the direction as he was looking forward to meeting them.
Mine jumped up and aimed Pumpkin at Koro.
"Eat this!" She exclaimed as her gun powered up and blasted it point blank. Seryu was covered herself from the impact of the blast.
Mine landed back on her feet as she stood in front of it. She saw that damage she did on it only regenerated itself again.
"Shit, it's already regenerating." Mine cursed. Seryu laughed at the outcome.
"Don't underestimate Koro's durability!" She said as she watched. While Seryu was distracted, Sheele hid in the smoke of the blast and struck her by surprise.
"Teigu are weapons, so if I kill the user, it should stop!" Sheele said as she ran towards her.
"Damn it!" Seryu exclaimed as she prepared to defend.
"Extase!" She shouted as Sheele got close enough and used Extase's trump card which caused her scissors to shine so brightly. Seryu had to use her arms to cover her eyes.
"It's over!" Sheele exclaimed as she took the opportunity to strike. Seryu however had enough time to block her attacks as Sheele rapidly tried to cut her with her scissors.
Koro sensed that its owner was in danger and was about to help her. But Mine shot through Koro in the back as it was distracted.
"Did you forget about me?!" Mine told it as she had her gun aimed at Koro. The biological teigu turned back to her and growled viciously.
Seryu was kicked back to a metal fence as she was forced to the ground. She got up and jumped out the way as Sheele attempted to cut through her. Seryu tried dodging back away from her as she tried to get distance but Sheele kept catching up to her to attack. Seryu tripped on a small rock behind her and dropped one of her guns. Sheele took the chance to strike as Seryu covered her face with her arms.
Sheele cut them both clean off as Seryu screamed in pain. Sheele was shocked that she would go that far to avoid being killed. Though it mattered little to her as she was about to go for the killing blow at Seryu.
"JUSTICE ALWAYS WINS!" Seryu shouted as she had two guns aimed at her. They were hidden inside her arms. Sheele was also slightly caught back by this.
"A special gift given by my captain!" She shouted.
She fired her shot at Sheele. Though she was able to successfully block it with Extase. Seryu was stunned as she was able to block it up close. Sheele cut off both of her weaponized arms then Seryu once again screamed in pain as blood poured out of her. Seryu was on the ground as she was unable to use her arms. Sheele was about to finish her off.
"I'm not finished!" Seryu told her. She was running out of options as she wanted to avoid using this ability.
"I've got no choice. Koro! Use trump card! Go berserk!" She called.
Koro's eyes and body started to turn red and its collar loosens. Koro muscles grew larger and strong. It roared loudly as Mine and Sheele had to cover their ears from the sound. While Mine covered her ears, She was suddenly grabbed by Koro with one hand.
"Sheele!" Mine cried.
"I'm coming, Mine!" She called.
"Good! Now squeeze!" Seryu yelled with a sick grin.
The teigu complied and began crushing her with one hand. Mine was screaming in pain as her body was starting to shatter.
Suddenly, someone ran up and performed a powerful slash on Koro's hand. It was cut off and dropped to the ground. Mine freed herself from the hand and looked up to wonder if Sheele saved her though it was not her.
"Alan?" Mine gasped.
"Are you alright, Mine?" He asked.
"Alan! I'm glad you're here." She smiled in relief.
"Looks like I made it in time." Alan replied as he did the same.
Sheele smiled at watching Alan saving her. Behind her Seryu was about to use another gun she had hidden in her mouth to shoot at Sheele. However, Akira ran up to her and knocked her back. Seryu missed the shot and was on the ground, frustrated as her attack failed. Sheele turned around saw what Seryu was trying to do.
"More of you evil doers! How dare you interfere with justice! JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL!" Seryu shouted.
"Thanks, Akira." Sheele smiled.
"We should get out of here. More guards will show up soon if we keep fighting." Akira told her.
"Right." She nodded.
"Now why would you want to leave when we're just getting to know one another?" An unknown voice mocked. They were both caught off guard as turned to the newcomer.
Mine and Alan were currently facing the raging teigu
"So Mine, you mind telling me what the hell we're fighting? It looks similar to a danger beast." Alan said.
"It's a biological teigu. Its body will keep regenerating unless you destroy the core. I haven't found it yet but I'm getting close. But be careful it's activated its trump card." Mine explained.
"Got it. I'll keep cutting until I find its core." Alan said.
"I can still fight so I'll help you find it." She said readying her gun.
"Mine you're injured. You shouldn't push yourself like this." He argued.
"I'll be fine! All I need is enough energy to fire one big shot." Mine told him. He wanted to protest but didn't have time to argue.
"Fine, just don't do anything reckless." Alan told her.
"Like you're about to?" Mine asked. He smirked in response. They both turned back to Koro as they were both about to start their plan of attack.
Suddenly, Sheele and Akira were sent flying and landed near Alan and Mine as they both groaned in pain.
"Akira! Sheele!" Alan exclaimed, shocked as Mine had the same expression.
"I'm okay, I just let my guard down." Akira said as she slowly got up.
"Is she that strong without her teigu?" Mine asked.
"No, it wasn't her. It was…" Sheele said.
"So this is the infamous Night Raid I've heard so much about." A male voice unfamiliar to them. They turned and saw a teen close to their age. He had his sword in his sheath.
"Who is he? Is he with the empire?" Seryu thought as she was trying to figure out if he was on the side of justice.
"You're with the imperial guard, correct?" Sakaki asked. She nodded.
"Tell your pet to stand down. I'll handle this." He told her.
"You can't order me! I must kill these evil doers! They stand in the way of justice!" Seryu exclaimed.
"Unfortunately for you, I can. I've been given the assignment to hunt down Night Raid. So orders from me are orders from a general. Don't worry they'll still die." Sakaki said. Seryu was shocked by that info and was about to protest.
"So that means you're obviously with them." Alan stated as he pointed his guns at him. Mine did the same thing as Sheele and Akira got ready to attack.
"Who are you?" Akira demanded.
"Nobody important. Just the person who will carry out your death." Sakaki smirked deviously as he gestured them to strike.
"Let's see what you're capable of Night Raid and please make it entertaining." He said.
Alan and Mine began firing their guns at him. Sakaki however easily dodged out of the way as he makes his way towards them. When he got close enough, Sheele tried to cut him in half with her scissors but he dodged out of the way and then punched her in the stomach which knocked her back. Akira tried to attack him with a few strikes.
Sakaki easily dodged all of her attacks but in her last strike, he caught her staff with one hand.
"What?!" Akira, shocked.
"My, that's a Blaze isn't it? I wonder what someone like you is doing here?" Sakaki asked. Akira's eyes widened as he knew what her weapon was.
Alan quickly switched to his katana and attempted to strike him. Sakaki once again dodged out of the way and threw Akira at him. He still held Akira's scimitar staff. At this point he was simply toying with his opponents. Alan and Akira both helped each other up after getting knocked down.
"The Blaze can hold a great amount of power from the body of a soul." Sakaki said as he examined Akira's Blaze.
"How does he know what a Blaze is?" Alan thought as this shocking information to him.
"But that can also make you more easy to defeat." He stated as he crushed the staff into pieces with one hand. The staff disintegrated.
As the Blaze was destroyed, Akira was crying out in an intense pain in her body until she passed out.
"Akira!" Alan cried.
"What happened to her?!" Sheele asked, worried.
"When a Blaze is destroyed, the person suffers a terrible amount of pain since their soul is used as a weapon." He quickly explained. Mine aimed her gun at Sakaki.
"You bastard! You're going to pay for hurting her!" She said angrily as she powered up Pumpkin.
Mine fired her shot at him but once again he dodged out the way without a scratch on him.
"How is he so fast?! What kind of teigu is he using?" Mine thought.
As their fight continued on, Koro was about to lunge at the four from behind with its jaws open. But Sakaki quickly went in front it and slash it in half with his sword. Both halves of Koro flew past them. As it's body parts landed by Seryu.
"How dare you hurt Koro! Justice must be served!" Seryu shouted.
"I thought I told you to keep your pet out of this." Sakaki told her. Seryu growled in frustration. He turned back to the Night Raid members.
"Now, shall we continue?" He smirked.
Alan and Sheele both rushed at him. Alan attempted to perform to strike in every direction fast but Sakaki was able to see through it and dodge all of them. He then responded by using some martial arts techniques and then kicked Alan a few feet away from him. Sheele was using her scissors to stab him quickly to get a hit.
"Is this the best you can do? Because how I see it, you're just too slow." Sakaki taunted as he was dodging her attacks.
As Sheele continued trying to land a blow on him, Sakaki eventually decided to draw out his sword and cut off one of her hands. Sheele had dropped Extase as she was in shock of pain. Sakaki was about to finish her off until Mine aimed her gun at him and fired rapidly in rage in seeing Sheele injured.
"You're dead!" Mine exclaimed, angrily as she continued shooting. Sakaki was dodging out of the way as he makes his way toward her.
"As much as I enjoy playing with you guys, I'm afraid I must end it here." Sakaki said as he was close enough to deliver the finishing blow to her.
As Mine was unable to defend herself and injured, She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Though after a few moments, Mine opened her eyes and saw Sheele in front of her with a sword through her. She was using her body to shield Mine. Mine's eyes widened in horror as her eyes were tearing up.
"SHEELE!" She screamed.
"Sheele, no." Alan gasped in shock.
Seryu smiled darkly as she watched one of the assassins about to be killed despite not doing it herself.
"So you wished to die first do you? Very well then." Sakaki said with a smug. "I was expecting you would at least put up a better fight than this but I guess you're just too weak."
"You… Damn you. How dare you do that to Sheele! I'll kill you!" Mine roared as he looked at him with fury.
As Mine was about to use her gun again. Footsteps are heard as they both noticed imperial guards are approaching them.
"Damn, this is bad. Akira can't move and we can't beat this guy. What do we do?!" Alan muttered.
Sheele who was barely alive whispered something. Her scissors shined brightly blinding the guards.
"What?!" Seryu exclaimed as she was trying to cover herself from the blinding light.
"Sheele?" Alan gasped.
"Ex.. tase." Sheele said weakly as she was holding the scissors.
"Sheele!" Mine cried.
"So you still have trick up your sleeve. But that won't save you." Sakaki said as he closed his eyes from the brightness.
"Quick, Alan take Akira and Mine and get out of here now." Sheele said.
"Sheele… But we can't just…" Alan protested.
"No way! We're not leaving you behind!" Mine exclaimed in tears.
"Please. While there's still time." Sheele said weakly. She looked at them with a smile as in a goodbye smile.
Alan clenched his fists as he was forced to make a difficult decision. He ran to Akira and picked her up to carry her. He looked at Mine.
"Mine, we need to go!" He told her.
"Alan, but Sheele needs…" Mine said as she cried.
"We don't have a choice! We have to leave!" Alan cut her off. He hated leaving Sheele like this but he couldn't let Akira or Mine die too.
As Mine hesitated, She decided to run with Alan away from the fight with Sakaki. The two ran fast to get away from the guards with Akira with them.
"Hurry up and kill her! They're getting away!" Seryu shouted.
As Sheele watched her friends leave her, she was remembering all of the times they spent together.
"Thank you, Alan, Mine. I'm glad I can be useful to you. I had so much fun with all of you. Night Raid. You were all family to me. Tatsumi, I'm sorry I won't be there to comfort you again. Julie, I'm sorry I won't be seeing you anymore." Sheele thought sadly but she still had a smile on her face and then closed her eyes. She dropped the Extase as she lost her grip.
Sakaki pulled his sword out of her and sliced her in half, killing her. Both halves of her fell to the ground. He put his katana back in its sheath and then looked at Sheele's corpse.
"So you gave your life to save your friends. I wonder if it's worth the sacrifice." Sakaki said as he kept that smile.
"Quick! After them don't let them get away!" Seryu ordered the guards.
"No, let them go." He told her.
"What?! Why?!" She demanded.
"The loss of their comrade will give them grief. They can send the message." Sakaki answered.
Some of the guards were questioning who he was as they saw him. Koro ran to what's left of Sheele's bod and devoured it. Sakaki knew that his mission was complete and later returned to the palace to report back to his general.
Alan and Mine eventually made it back to Night Raid. It was raining at the time. All of the members were out as they were stunned by the news they told them. They were all sadden by the loss of Sheele.
"You mean Sheele is…" Tor gasped.
"No. Not her." Leone said, shockingly.
"Sheele, no." Julie said as she collapsed. She was on the verge of tears. She lost another person that she cared about.
"What about Akira? Is she okay?" Najenda asked, concerned as she saw Alan carrying her.
"She passed out from the pain she sustained. Don't worry, she won't die. She just needs some aid and time to heal." Alan answered sadly as he stared at her.
"Mine, Alan, who did this to you? Please tell me." Tatsumi asked as he got closer to them. Neither of them responded.
"Please tell me!"
"Tatsumi, why do you need to know this?" Alan asked.
"To get revenge! So this person can pay for killing Sheele!" Tatsumi roared.
"I can't let you do that." He refused. This angered Tatsumi and he grabbed Alan's shirt.
"Sheele was just killed! We're just going to let this person get away with it?! I won't just stand by and…" Tatsumi shouted. He was interrupted by Bulat as he punched him in the face hard enough to hit the ground
"THAT'S ENOUGH! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, TATSUMI! We told you that any one of us could die! We told you when you joined us!" Bulat shouted. Tatsumi stayed there and had his head down. He knew that he was right and had to accept it.
Mine looked at the ground as she thought of Sheele's killer.
"I don't know who you are or if you were just doing your mission or not. But you killed Sheele and what's worse you called her weak." Mine said to herself.
Tor had his hand on his head as he was being reminded of his sister's death and her killer. He can tell that she was going on the path of revenge like him.
"You'll be after the rest of us too along with Seryu Ubiquitous. But when I find you, I swear I will destroy you!" Mine sworn.
"Sheele's death was not in vain. The empire's seen our weapons and what we're capable of. They'll come at us with more teigus to fight. But that means we'll have increased chances in gathering more teigu. And remember these battles are to the death." Najenda stated.
The group was more determined to see this through to the end and knew that the real struggle had just begun.
The next day, the iced general Esdeath was sitting on the Danger Beast dragon she rode as she gazed at the Capital in the distance.
"Finally, I returned home at last." Esdeath smiled.
A/N: What do you think?
Yes, I planned to kill off Night Raid characters. I haven't fully decided about letting some of the members live or not. I did decide to do part of the manga through the series.
See you next time!