Well here is chapter 4! Please be sure to review!

(Imperial Palace)

Esdeath's return had immediately roused Honest and Makoto from their slumber as they quickly summoned the General and her Three Beasts to the throne room. Messengers had already been sent out to other areas of the Empire to spread the word of the Empire's Strongest' return, in order to moralize the Empire soldiers and reestablish order amongst the citizens. Honest also predicted it would give the Northern and Western Forces pause in any possible attacks, as well as make the Revolutionary Army cautious too.

"We're very glad to see you in one piece General Esdeath." Makoto began as he sat on his throne. Honest was beside him and as usual was eating a piece of red meat.

Before them was a kneeling Esdeath with her Three Beasts behind them. The three appeared a bit bruised up, with some bandages covering their faces but besides that appeared okay. Esdeath herself looked perfectly fine, wounds she had sustained had healed into scars, which had faded completely now. However hidden behind her hair, was a large scar going down her back, left behind by END's claws. The doctors had done their best to hide it but Esdeath made them stop, she was not ashamed to show a scar such as that. It was after all, a testament to the fact that Esdeath faced END and survived. It also served as an inspiration and a reminder that there was someone else stronger than her, someone that could give Esdeath a true challenge, even if it was a Danger Beast.

"I was lucky your majesty, had I not moved quickly, I might not be here right now." Esdeath said. Truth was that during the moment where the flames were just about to reach her, Esdeath had somehow managed to reach a new level of her Teigu's power and freeze time. The duration of the frozen time was short, but enough for her to get out of path of the flames. But she had used up a lot of energy and was close to losing conscious. It was only thanks to the loyalty to her Three Beasts, who had stayed behind to help her, Esdeath would have been lying in the snow of the North right now.

"I also apologize that I was not able to subdue the Northern armies as ordered." Esdeath replied while she had her hat pressed against her breast.

"Yes, well while that is unfortunate, we are happy to have you back General. Your presence in the capital will help inspire our soldiers to fight. Though I must ask what became of your army." Makoto asked.

"They are currently resting near the northern border of the Empire. Myself and my Three Beasts came went ahead to inform you of our status." Esdeath explained. "However because of END's sudden and brutal attack, out of the 10,000 soldiers I commanded, only 500 survived."

Honest internally grimaced. To have gone from 10,000 strong to 500 was not a good thing. And this was Esdeath's army they were talking about. She commanded some of the best soldiers in the Empire, with the Imperial Guards under Budo's command being their equal. The Revolutionary Army and other forces would most certainly take advantage of the decrease in skilled soldiers to advance on the Empire's borders towards the capital. It would be quite some time until Esdeath could refill her army with new soldiers and that was if they meet her expectations.

"Well we were prepared to give you 10,000 gold pieces as a reward for conquering the Northern Tribes, but I suppose it could be given to your soldiers as well as the families of those who were killed by END." Makoto said.

"Thank you your majesty, I shall be sure to let them know that." Esdeath responded.

"Now even though you just returned from such a horrific event, I'm afraid we still need your services." Makoto began. "An atrocious group known as Night Raid has been running rampant around the capital. I wish you to find them and purge them from my city."

"I understand your majesty, however I have heard that the group consists of warriors who use Teigu. And it takes a teigu to defeat a teigu. So I must request for a six man team of teigu users in order to combat Night Raid." Esdeath asked.

Makoto seemed unsure about that, likely not very comfortable about the idea of having so many teigu users in the palace. However a reassuring nod from Honest erased those worries. "Very well, we will give you the six teigu users you desire. I trust in you to rid us of Night Raid once and for all." Makoto said.

"Thank you your Majesty. I assure you, Night Raid will be eliminated." Esdeath responded.

"I still feel as if we should give you something else. Even if you were unable to subdue the Northern Tribes, your past successes earn you a reward. Name it and it will be yours." Makoto said.

Esdeath was silent for a moment. She then looked up to Makoto with a smile on her face. "Actually there was something your majesty. For some time I have been thinking of trying to be in love."

Both Makoto and Honest paused, trying to comprehend what they just heard. For Esdeath, one of the most sadistic people in the world, to say she was interested in love, was impossible. Makoto was the first to recover. "Th-That's right! You are of marriageable age and yet have not married!" He said as he put his fist into his open palm in realization.

"But the General surrounds herself with those who adore, does she not?" Honest asked as he finally realized he did not mishear things.

"Those are 'pets'." Esdeath replied. "I have a list of the criteria written here." She pulled out a scroll from her uniform. "Please let me know if you find anyone who fits the specifications."

"Very well we shall keep an eye out and let you know." Makoto replied before dismissing the General.

Sometime later Esdeath and Honest could be seen walking through the palace garden. The two were currently conversing about Esdeath's desire for love. "It's quite strange. Up till now I have only desired carnage and warfare. Even I do not understand where these feelings come from." Esdeath commented.

'Talking about things such as love really don't suit her at all.' Honest thought as he said. "Well you are a living being. I suppose it was only natural for you to desire the opposite sex. Though to be honest I always thought you were a bit slow in that area."

Esdeath hummed. "Hmm, perhaps it's a bestial instinct." Than her eyes narrowed. "Or maybe being close to death's embrace made me suddenly desire love?"

Honest frowned, it was the first time he ever heard Esdeath speak about dying. "For you to say something like that, and the scar on your back, that dragon must've given you one heck of a fight." The Prime Minister commented.

Esdeath chuckled. "I would not call it a fight. I could tell that END was not taking me seriously. At the very least, he saw me as a nuisance. It was both annoying and an eye opener that there are beings in this world who can overpower me. And I did learn somethings about my Teigu that I am most eager to try out later." She finished with a malicious smile.

"I feel sorry for the fool who comes on the receiving end of that." Honest commented. "Speaking of Teigus I feel that six of them might be a bit difficult don't you think?" He asked.

"But you'll do it anyway, right?" Esdeath asked in return, a dark glint in her eyes.

In response the Prime Minister formed a malicious smirk and with the horned crown, made him look exactly like a devil. "Of course, granted you can make certain annoyances…disappear?"

(The Next Day, with Night Raid)

Najenda and the rest of Night Raid stared at Sheele and Mine, the latter having her broken arm held in a cast. "So basically you two were confronted by a biological Teigu and its user and just as Mine was about to be crushed, that Natsu fellow you mentioned before saved your ass. And then the Teigu suddenly became scared while staring at him and fled, taking its master with it. Did I summarize that correctly?" Najenda asked.

It had been a day since Mine and Sheele had returned. The two had rested though Mine had to have her arm checked before they could explain what had transpired in the capital. Of course they had to ensure that no one followed them as well as tightened up security around their hideout, especially since they lost contact with their local team, leaving the assumption that they were dead. Once that was done did Mine and Sheele began explaining about what transpired a day ago. Needless the say, the events had left Night Raid rather confused towards the subject of the mysterious pink haired young man.

"I swear all he did was stare at the Teigu, and the overgrown mutt was sweating bullets, like it was looking at a demon or something." Min commented. "Then it bolted, taking that nutcase with it too."

"I wonder why he came to save you." Bulat mused. "Since we attacked him, he didn't have any reason to help you guys. What happened to make him help?"

"It sounded like he knew the Teigu or something, and he seemed pretty angry." Sheele commented. "Perhaps an old grudge or something?"

"Whether or not it was a grudge, the questions is what do we do now?" Tatsumi asked. "He's basically a wild card since we do not know who he is affiliated with. And we don't know where he is either."

It was then that Akame spoke. "Maybe we should recruit him." Akame suddenly suggested with a straight face.

Everyone minus Najenda stared at the red eye assassin as if she was insane. The leader of Night Raid appeared to be considering the idea. "Oi, Akame not to be rude but are you crazy? I don't think that Natsu guy will want to join a group that had tried to kill him not to long ago." Lubbock said.

"He did not kill us even though he could have." Akame said. "Also from how he reacted when I accused him of being an Imperial spy, it seems he holds hatred towards the Empire. If he could take us all on with ease, scare off a biological Teigu by just looking at it, then he would be a valuable asset."

Najenda was the next to speak, getting everyone's attention. "Akame brings up a good point. This Natsu character would make a valuable ally if we could find him and convince him to join." She said. "But for now we have more important things to bring up. I've just received word from our spies that Esdeath and her Three Beasts have returned to the capital, while the remnants of her army were licking their wounds near the Empire's northern borders after END's attack."

The room had gone dead silent at the news. While some of them were hoping that Esdeath had been killed, they knew better than to keep their hopes up. "Well I guess that should have been expected. That woman is a monster after all." Bulat commented.

"Indeed." Najenda said, having a flashback of when Esdeath took her right arm and eye. "However we do not know what she is up too or what she is doing now. Either way her presence in the capital will cause trouble for us. Leone, if possible, try to scout her out and observe her movements."

"Roger that boss!" Leone said cheerfully. "I always wanted to know what type of person she is."

Najenda stared at Leone. "She's a homicidal maniac who enjoys slaughter. Be on your guard." She ordered.

"Yeah, yeah" The blonde replied with a mischievous grin. 'And then, I'll be a good person and take her out when I have the chance. The extremely sadistic general known as the Empire's strongest…taking her out would have the same impact as killing the Prime Minister!'

"Along with that some more bad news has come up. Apparently there have been a string of murders, the targets being civil officials. So far the count has been four officials and sixty-one bodyguards. However the problem is this" Najenda began as she showed a flyer with the Night Raid emblem on it. "These have been found at each scene, thus insinuating us for the murders."

"They're framing us for the crimes?" Bulat asked. "It's easy to see that they're fakes."

"But that's obvious isn't it?" Tatsumi asked. "I mean for us to be claiming responsibility is a bit too far-fetched."

"That's what I thought for the first and second case, however now it seems like it could have been us." Najenda replied.

"Why?" Sheele asked.

"After each incident, the officials have increased their security but despite that are still being killed." Najenda explained. "In the last incident former Prime Minister Chouri and around 30 skilled guards were massacred. That also includes his daughter, a disciple of the Imperial Fist Temple's Master. No one but us could accomplish such a feat, is the popular opinion."

"In other words the enemy is just as strong as us." Akame summarized. "That could also mean they are Teigu users."

"Exactly" Najenda said as she lit a cigarette. "The officials killed were good people and wanted nothing to do with the current Prime Minister. They were people that made the Prime Minister sick at ease, in other words the Prime Minister is getting rid of his enemies and placing the blame on Night Raid. These are good people who are being killed, people who will be invaluable to leading the new country. As such we cannot allow these murders to continue, agreed?" Najenda asked and smiled when she received roars of agreement. "Very well, we already have a few possible targets leaving the capital so we'll dispatch two teams to protect them. One will be Akame and Lubbock and the other will be Tatsumi and Bulat."

"What about the rest of us?" Mine asked.

"Mine with your broken arm you need to remain here. Sheele will also stay here too while Leone observes Esdeath." Najenda replied. "We also need to keep an eye out for that Natsu character in case he reappears in this part again. I have the strange feeling that he is on the move right now."

(Elsewhere)

Natsu let out a yawn as he sat down on the ground, the night sky above him and illuminated by the many stars. Behind him was Tensui Village, located in the Eastern region of the Empire. The villagers were currently packing up all their belongings onto carts while children, elderly and women were already seated on carriages as the men continued packing. The village had been discovered of giving supplies to foreign mercenaries and thus were marked to be slaughtered by the Empire's assassination unit. Natsu had found out about it due to passing by the campsite of the assassins two days ago. So he decided to warn the villagers and have pack everything they could and flee while he dealt with the assassins. Natsu even gave them a map and instructions to the villagers to head towards where the Path of Peace was located.

Currently Natsu was fiddling with his scarf when his ears picked up some noise. Lazily Natsu looked up and saw what appeared to be around fifty Imperial assassins, armed with different weapons ranging from swords, axes, spears, bows and arrows etc. "Damn you guys are really slow, you know that?" Natsu commented.

The assassins blinked in surprise, having not expected to be greeted by someone. It was only a few seconds later did they snap out of it and one of the assassins addressed Natsu. "Are you with the villagers?" He demanded.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "You mean the ones you were sent to kill? I guess, though they just left. You can probably catch up with them…" Natsu began just as several assassins zoomed past him, deciding to ignore the pinkette and focus on their goal. However that proved to be a mistake as they just went past Natsu, a large wall of fire appeared out of nowhere, consuming the assassins. The others could only watch in horror as their comrades were burned alive, screaming in agony until death silenced them. "…If you can get past me." Natsu said as he stood up. "You guys should've waited for me to finish my sentence." He commented towards a nearby charred corpse.

"You bastard!" A large man cried, charging towards Natsu. He pulled out a battle axe and prepared to split Natsu in half. But Natsu merely stopped it with two fingers, shocking the larger man. He had little time to think as Natsu shot a fist-shaped fireball from his other hand, which burst through the larger man's chest, killing him instantly.

"Shit! He must be wielding a Teigu!" One assassin said as he and the others drew their weapons.

"Quickly, surround him and attack from all sides!" Another ordered.

The other assassins nodded as they began moving until they completely encircled Natsu, being sure to avoid the wall of fire. Those that had bows readied their arrows to provide support. Natsu however remained where he was, not the least bit concerned of being surrounded. "Attack!" The leader shouted as he and several others lunged at Natsu, weapons raised high. However the pinkette merely did a swing of is hand and suddenly there multiple combustions all around, consuming the assassins in fire. They all screamed briefly before the explosions cut off their voices.

The assassins that did not get hit continued charging until they were upon him. But not a single one of their attacks hit as Natsu dodged them all. Infusing his fists with flames, combined with his immense strength, Natus delivered lethal blows to his opponents. The assassins were either blown away by the punches, or ripped in half. Five assassins tried to dog pile Natsu, spears pointed forward. But the Dragon Slayer unleashed a barrage of fire infused punches that upon impact, released multiple explosions that obliterated the assassins. The archers fired their arrows at once, having coated them in poison for more lethal effect. However that proved fruitless as Natsu once again outdid them by shooting out multiple miniature fireballs from his mouth. The fireballs incinerated the arrows on contact while still flying towards the archer. Some of them managed to avoid the fireballs while those who were too slow were pierced by the deadly projectiles.

A sound caught Natsu's ears as he quickly spun around and raised his left arm, blocking a sword strike just in time. The wielder was a young girl with short black hair and matching black eyes. She wore a black and red sailor uniform with red gauntlets. There were a few scratches on her body, meaning she had still got caught in Natsu's attacks despite dodging them. Still the fact she managed to reach him impressed Natsu. The girl jumped back when Natsu swung his leg, and then charged forward again, sword raised. Natsu simply dodged the blade strike and the one after that and so on.

"Kurome has got him distracted! Move in and support her!" An assassin yelled as he and the others charged forward.

Natsu scoffed at that comment before disappearing. The girl, Kurome, was shocked as Natsu reappeared behind her, a flame foot heading straight towards her head. She raised her arms up just in time to block the blow with her gauntlets. However the impact sent her flying backwards several feet. Then turning his attention towards the other assassins, Natsu delivered a powerful punch. The magical energy released, combined with Natsu's immense strength, release a powerful concussive force that blew the assassins away while ripping some of them in half.

Kurome, who had managed to recover from Natsu's kick, noticed this and that there were only a few of her comrades left. Worse, she saw that the flame wall had begun to spread, slowly encircling around the battlefield. 'He's trying to cut off our escape route! We have to retreat or else he'll kill us all!' Kurome deduced. She could summon her most powerful puppets thanks to her sword teigu, Yatsufusa, but she had a feeling they would do little good against this guy and she might need them for later.

"Everyone! Pull back!" Kurome ordered. The remaining assassins, after realizing their current situation, quickly complied with her order and began falling back, away from Natsu. Said person stopped his attacks and merely watched them go, deciding to spare them. Once the assassins were gone from sight Natsu dispersed the fire wall, revealing that the villagers had already fled.

"Hmm well that was fun. Wonder what I should do next?" Natsu muttered to himself as he burned the corpses around him to ashes. When nothing came to mind, he just decided to head back to the Capital to see if anything interesting was happening there. So with that decided Natsu summoned flame wings from his back and took off into the air.

(Back at the Capital)

"You know this place looks even worse every time." Natsu commented as he walked through an unusually less crowded street. He did not seem to mind the few looks from people as he kept strolling without a care in the world. Even from his position, the palace could still be seen, though it seemed out of place, what with its clean and expensive appearance compared to the small, slightly dirty and rundown facilities around it. Crocus was completely different, with the buildings matching the castle in terms of appearance back then. It was just another reason of how this Empire had fallen in Natsu's eyes.

And then there was the constant crime happening, along with the public executions where people would be crucified and left in the squares for all to see. It just burned Natsu's blood that there had been times when he wanted to transform into his dragon form and burn the place to the ground. But he managed to control himself; Natsu knew that doing such a thing would kill innocents too, and he did not want that. Though he was starting to see why Zeref hated humanity so much.

So focus was he on his thoughts that Natsu did not seem to notice that the streets became gradually emptier as he continued walking. It was only until his senses began to act up did he realize that up ahead were two women. One was Esdeath, who was calmly sitting on a bench to his left, after asking for something to eat. While the other was the blonde girl from a few days ago, hiding on top of the roofs to his right. Though slightly surprised of seeing Esdeath again, and alive for that matter, Natsu however just shrug it off and continued walking at a leisurely pace.

Meanwhile, Leone, her teigu activated, watched Esdeath from her position on the roof. She was crouched and ready to move as she observed the general. 'Esdeath is by herself and away from the palace, this is my chance to attack…is what I would normally think but…!' A cold shiver ran down Leone's spine as she watched Esdeath calmly wait for her ice cream. 'I know I can attack while in my beast form…but moving by herself is probably a trap to lure out assassins!'

Leone shifted a bit until she felt murderous intent being radiated from the General. That caused her animal instincts to go haywire, telling her not to attack. 'Such murderous intent! Thinking I could take her out was naïve! I should…'

Leone let out a silent gasp as another presence reached her, completely covering Esdeath's killing intent. It was one of hot, uncontrollable, great power that seemed to burn over the entire area, though not in a literal sense thankfully. However it also felt familiar to Leone, as if she felt it before. Turning her head she saw the source and couldn't believe her eyes. 'W-what's he doing here?!' Leone wondered as she watched Natsu casually walk down the street. She noticed that he was about to walk by Esdeath.

Meanwhile Esdeath was eating her ice cream when her body suddenly froze. The Danger Beast Blood within her began to pulse rapidly and the scar on her back was burning. It was as if it was responding to an imposing force that was nearby. The burning presence she felt envelop her only solidify that fact that someone powerful was nearby. It couldn't be the assassin that had been following her, and there was no one else in the vicinity…except for the pink haired young man walking past her. Without a second thought Esdeath got up from her spot and made her way over towards the young man.

"You…" Esdeath began as she reached out to touch Natsu's shoulder. However the moment her hand made contact, Esdeath flinched as her hand recoiled. She looked at it and saw that it was slightly burned from touching Natsu's shoulder. 'How did he do that? Does he possess a Teigu?' Esdeath wondered as she looked back at Natsu, only to be shocked to see that he vanished. Esdeath was so surprised by this that she did not really pay attention, nor really cared, that Leone had retreated, the blonde intending on informing Najenda of what transpired.

Elsewhere in the capital, we can see Natsu sitting cross-legged on top of a tall building, overlooking the city. His cloak and scarf flowing in the breeze as he closed his eyes. The ancient being could feel it: big changes were coming soon. With him now being active after so long, it was only a matter of time until the Zenith-Class Danger Beasts would begin to make their move, though whether or not they come after his head or not, Natsu would have to wait and see. It was only natural that animals would fight one another to be at the top of the food chain.

"I wonder what I should do this time? Observe or participate?" Natsu asked himself sniffed the air. "And with the Zenith-class beginning to move, things are going to get even more interesting." He added before Natsu disappeared in a swirl of flames.

And there you have it! Natsu ponders on whether he should take part in the human war or just continue watching as he usually does. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and be sure to review. Also more information about Zenith-Class Danger Beasts will be explained piece by piece in future chapters.

Wacko12.