We are back to a normal reasonable pace with normal reasonable delays. Reasonable.
When decay is king.
Even if she couldn't see anything, Akame still managed to press the attack.
She was completely surrounded with the fumes of Morbus that Makeias had exhaled. But she had her mask and she had her instincts. She could still perceive Makeias movements. As long as he stayed in motion.
Makeias didn't dare to remain still and the tunnel they were in was not big enough for him to move outside of Akame's perceptive range. After a little while he jumped backwards, out of the gas. Since it didn't seem to aid him.
He landed some steps beside Kurome. She had her sword drawn but was not moving.
"Could use a little bit of help here!" Makeias said with a smile as he jumped backwards again. Just as Akame herself jumped out of the smoke in front of him.
Makeias weighed his options in his head. He needed to get out of there rather soon. For every second he kept fighting Akame, the bigger the risk of his death became. Just one failed block, one unpredicted move or one slip of his feet and it would be over. He had no safeties at all in this fight. And it scared him greatly. He wasn't used to fighting like this. He usually had some tricks or backup plans he could rely on to save him if things went south. But not this time. He could literally be moments from his death.
His first instinct was to flee but he wasn't sure that was an option right now. If he tried to flee, he needed to create a diversion. Otherwise he would run the risk of being ambushed as he fled. Since he didn't know if Akame had any tricks up her sleeve. Or if he even was fast enough to outrun her in the first place.
Akame landed a few steps away from Kurome as she moved out of the smoke. Yet Kurome didn't move away or prepare for combat in any way. She just stood there. Struggling in an internal conflict.
"Kurome!" Makeias said a bit louder. His tone harder.
This caused Kurome's eyes to move up to his but she still didn't move.
"Did you get lost during your time in night raid's custody?" Makeias asked sharply as he moved backwards. Avoiding Akame's advance. "Have you forgotten where your loyalty lies?"
"She hasn't forgotten." Akame said as she swung against Makeias. The man barely moving out of her range in time. "She has remembered it."
Makeias spun around as he moved backwards. Sending a rain of small black droplets against Akame. Causing her to momentarily stop her advance as she moved out of the way of the attack. Easily dodging it even if it cost her some of her momentum.
"Foolish." Makeias said. A small bit of his stress showing through in his voice. "Have you forgotten why you came to me, Kurome? I have Wave!"
Kurome's eyes widened a little bit at that. Makeias had hit the nail on the head. If the choice was hers, then she would have easily chosen her sister's side in this conflict. But she had come to this point by following Wave. It had been him that she had followed from the start. And she knew that Wave had come to Makeias because he was convinced that Makeias got the best chance at toppling the empire.
She didn't know if she could convince Wave to join Akame at this point. And how would Wave react if she killed his ally. She herself had never considered Makeias a true ally but she knew that Wave did. If she killed the pillager then Wave would be forced to join Akame, but would Wave forgive her if she did so? She wasn't certain and that made her hesitate.
"Kurome." Akame said. Jumping back from Makeias. Momentarily stopping her attack. Her voice kind and gentle when she spoke. "Wave has a good heart doesn't he? He will know what the right thing to do is. He will come with you."
Kurome looked at her sister. A little bit of doubt lingering in her expression. Akame only smiled faintly at her. "Think about who he is, Kurome. I think you already know the answer."
A bit of the doubt disappeared from Kurome's face. Calm determination taking it's place.
Makeias didn't like what he saw one bit. It was going to be a challenge to survive this without Kurome's help in the first place. If she turned against him as well, then he was as good as dead. While it wasn't quite of Murasame's caliber, Yatsufusa was still not an easy opponent for him. The dolls and puppets that the teigu could summon would probably be unaffected by Morbus. Thus robbing him of his usual way of attack.
He would not stand a chance if they both turned against him. He couldn't take anymore risks. Even if it was a bit early, he decided to go for his final solution.
"I see that the eventuality bothers you, Kurome." he said. Raising his hand in her direction. "Allow me to remove the choice for you."
He closed his hand. Activating the infection he had put in her arm, back at the first meeting. Just before she left for the exchange.
Kurome yelled out involuntarily as it awoke in her flesh. Spreading in all directions inside her arm. She dropped Yatsufusa. Falling down on her knees as she grabbed her hurting arm. Morbus starting to easily tear, gnaw and eat it's way through her muscles.
Akame looked at how her sister grabbed her arm in surprise. But after some moments, she could see how the skin on the underside of Kurome's arm started to turn darker. Fast enough to be seen by the naked eye. Kurome bending forward. Holding her arm against her chest.
"Damn you!" she said and looked at Makeias.
Makeias smile was almost apologetic. "I have seen all I need to see. You still value her in some way. So if you don't want her to die here and now, I suggest that you fall back."
Akame scowled at Makeias but then returned her eyes to Kurome. She knew that her sister's physical condition was not the best. She took a lot of medicine and drugs just to stay afloat. Her body and immune system would not be able to put up much of a fight against Morbus. Now that it was already inside of her.
"Curse you and your tricks!" she shouted at Makeias. Momentarily losing her cool.
"Well, I would return with "A pox on your house." but... you know." he said and twisted his fist. Causing Kurome to scream out again. "Fall. Back."
Akame glared at him and then looked back at Kurome. Sweat started to form on her temples. Now the decision was in her hands instead.
She could most definitely assume that Kurome would die if Makeias didn't stop Morbus. She had no way to stop it and nothing that indicated that it would stop, even if she did kill the pillager. She had a simple choice.
Kill Makeias or save Kurome.
Her gaze flickered back and forth between the both of them. Makeias noticed her hesitation.
"Just turn around and move back through the tunnel that you came from." Makeias said as calmly as he could. Trying to sound diplomatic. "No one of us needs to die here today."
"How do I know that she just won't die anyway?" Akame questioned loudly.
"I can't give you any absolute answer." Makeias said. His face serious. "But I need her. Because I need Wave on my side. And I can promise you this: If you continue with your attack now, then at least two people will die here in this room today."
Akame looked back at Kurome again. She knew what she wanted to do. But that was not the same as what she thought that she needed to do. She couldn't allow Makeias to escape her again. Last time it had cost her so much when he had managed to escape her.
She looked at her sister as her own face slowly started to show pain. She needed to stop Makeias. She couldn't fail her predecessor. Her mind was racing for another solution but she could find none. Desperation and panic starting to slip into her mind. She needed to focus and go into fight mode. But she knew that if she did that and focused on Makeias, then she wouldn't be able to think about anything else. Then Kurome would be lost.
She slowly started to reach a decision. Even if it hurt her so much. She reached down and put both her hands on her sword.
She looked at her sister a last time. Akame knew that doing this would break her own heart. She doubted that she would ever be able to feel warmth and joy again. She doubted that she would ever feel love again. She was convinced that after this, she would forever be dead inside. But everybody trusted her to stop Makeias. Everybody had put their lives on the line for this. She couldn't allow her own selfish wishes to stand in the way of the trust that had been put in her.
She smiled faintly at her younger sister. A final goodbye. Then she turned her eyes to the pillager. His smile was gone and his eyes focused on her. Holding his spear up in front of him with one arm and holding the other out in Kurome's direction. She took a deep breath and started to focus energy into her legs.
"Sis!"
She was about to make the leap when her sister's call halted her. She knew that she shouldn't look over at her. Everything would be much harder if she did. Yet she couldn't stop herself. There was a need in that voice. A search for a connection. She didn't have the heart to ignore it. Even if she felt that it would make this more difficult.
She slowly looked over at Kurome. Her sister had managed to straighten up a little bit. There was pain in her eyes but Akame saw something else as well. An urgency that wasn't there before.
With a trembling body, Kurome let go off her hurting arm and reached down into the pocket of her skirt. Bringing up a folded piece of paper. Akame's invitation to her and Wave. The message clearly stating that they would both be welcome to join night raid at any time, if they only abandoned Makeias and his ways.
Kurome held up the paper in front of her. In Akame's direction. Then in a weak and silent voice, she simple said "Trust me.".
She didn't manage to get much strength into her voice but Akame understood both what she said and what she meant. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.
I'm sorry, Najenda.
Akame understood that Kurome had chosen a side. And she was asking her to trust that Wave would follow as well. That made Akame take her decision. Makeias had stated that he needed Wave to succeed. Kurome was asking her to leave the death of Makeias to her. She had stated her allegiance.
She didn't know why she was so certain of it but she was. She knew that that was what Kurome meant.
And now the choice was an easy one for Akame. Even if she still didn't like it. Now it stood between sacrificing Kurome in order to kill Makeias and also lose Wave, or she could let Kurome live, get Wave on her side, and possibly have Makeias meet his end either way. Either through Kurome or because Wave's forces left him.
And if Makeias had told her the truth back in the corrupted garden, then all the revolutionary army's camps were currently being attacked by his forces. They would need Wave's reinforcement to survive after that.
Both courses of action carried risks and eventualities. But now Akame knew what she was going to do.
The nod was so small that it was almost hard to see. But Kurome noticed it.
Makeias was unsure of what was going on. He didn't know what the the piece of paper meant or what had just happened here. "Akame." he said in a pressing voice. "The time is ticking. The longer this goes on, the more unnecessary damage is inflicted on Kurome's body."
Akame turned her eyes to Makeias. "Your time will come soon enough, pillager."
Makeias' smile returned as he realized what was going to happen. He shrugged. "Yeah. Probably."
Akame held his gaze for a little while longer. She then spun around and leapt away. And in two seconds, she had moved out of their sight.
Makeias stood there for some moments. Still holding Kurome's life in his grip. Then after a little while, when Akame's presence faded away outside of his perceptive range, he closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. Letting his arm fall down to his side. Making the infection inside of Kurome withdraw. Forcing it to become dormant once more.
Kurome took some deep breaths as the pain subsided. Looking at how the darkness under the skin of her arms stopped spreading and then started to slowly withdraw.
Makeias rolled one of his shoulders a bit as he walked up to Kurome. "Really sorry about that, dear. But I was certain that Akame would give in."
Kurome grabbed Yatsufusa and slowly rose up as he approached her. Her unfriendly eyes drilling into him.
"You see, I have used this trick on her once before. But that time it was her subordinates. Yet it went the same way. So I reasoned that if she chose her subordinate over killing me, then she would certainly do the same if her sister was involved."
Kurome was emanating hostility towards him but he still walked on. He needed to mend this as quick as possible.
"You know that I wouldn't kill you, right?" he said. His voice friendly. "I told you already. I need Wave and therefore I need you. I am your ally in this. You understand that right?"
Kurome didn't show any signs of lightening up on the hostility. Makeias thought about it for a second, then he shoved his spear down into the ground and took the last few steps towards her. "See? Now I am undefended."
Kurome just gave him a doubtful look.
"You see, Kurome, to me it doesn't matter if you strike me down now or later. I need you on my side either way." Makeias said with a smile.
"You were going to kill me." Kurome said lowly.
"And you were close to betraying me. Tell me, how have you yourself reacted to betrayal in the past."
That made Kurome pause for a moment. Makeias smile widened. "Yeah sure, if it came between saving you or destroying the empire, then I would chose your death. Any day of the week. But I would do the same if it was my own life we were talking about."
Kurome looked at him for some moments. Then she sighed again. Seizing her direct hostility towards him. "Fine. Let's just get back to Wave and the others."
Makeias clapped his hands together. "Yeah! Let's get moving." he said in a more happy tone and turned around.
After he had taken some steps, Kurome started to follow him. Walking down the tunnel. She looked at his back as he picked up his spear. She needed to talk to Wave about Akame's offer before she did anything against Makeias either way. This was fine. For now.
They both started to breath out a bit as they walked on. Their heartbeats starting to slow down as they both allowed themselves to relax.
And then it woke again.
Makeias just heard a loud hiss behind him. Which caused him to immediately turn around. Behind him, Kurome was bending forward once again. Holding her arm. "What is wrong?" he asked. Not really understanding what was happening.
"What are you doing?" Kurome said in a struggling voice. Looking at him accusingly.
"I didn't do anything." Makeias stated plainly. "What is going on?"
Kurome showed her arm to him. Showing how the darkness under her skin had started to spread again. Makeias eyebrows raised up in disbelief. He truthfully hadn't done anything. His teigu was acting on it's own. Morbus had awoken without his order to do so.
He immediately reached out to his teigu internally. Ordering it to stop. Using his willpower to suppress it's resistance. Taking control of it's power and then using it as he reached out to the piece of Morbus that was placed in Kurome's flesh. But he got no response. For the first time since he had gotten control over Morbus, a part of it didn't respond to him at all. As if the thing in Kurome's body had a will of it's own.
He reached out with an arm in her direction. Trying to see if it would respond to him if he got closer. But it didn't change anything. "What a hell..." he said silently as he felt how the panic started to gnaw at the side of his mind again.
Kurome clenched her teeth. "What is going on?" she asked in a pained voice.
"It isn't responding." Makeias said and moved closer. His voice a mix of worry, shock and fear. He crouched down in front of her so that he could look closer at the arm. It was spreading really fast, to his horror. It moved through her flesh as if he had ordered it to go all out. He reached out and put his hand just beside her arm. Some centimeters from her skin.
He put all of his focus into reaching the infection. Using all the control he had over his teigu. Gathering all his power into it in silence. But nothing changed. He might just as well have tried to stare the infection down.
"Oh gods!" he said and quickly rose up.
"What?" Kurome said. Her face covered in sweat. Her breathing rough. The fight inside of her body making itself known.
"We have to cut off your arm." Makeias said and reached for his spear. His voice fast and panicked.
But he hadn't even reached it before Kurome attacked him. Swiping at him. But Makeias was still quick. Moving out of the way by pure instinct. Able to move his body away fast enough for her swing to do nothing more than cut him lightly across the chest.
He came to a halt two meters from her. His spear drawn. "Kurome!" he yelled at her.
"You and your damn tricks." Kurome said lowly as she held her sword up against him. "You're never really honest, are you?"
"Lay down you weapon, Kurome. We have to cut Morbus from your body. It will kill you like this." Makeias shouted. His voice filled with fear and urgency.
"Shut up!" Kurome shouted back. Even if her voice getting weaker by the second. "You just want to take away any threat that I might pose."she continued in a low mumble. Kurome's mind was wavering, due to the stress on her body. She had a hard time thinking straight. But her instincts warned her that the thing that was damaging her was also a part of Makeias. Misguiding her.
"I have to get back to, Wave." she mumbled and tried to take a couple of steps to the side. But she had no strength left in her. She stumbled and fell over. Dropping Yatsufusa as she did.
Before she could hit the ground, Makeias caught her. "Kurome." he said. His voice filled with genuine worry. He had been prepared to kill her to reach his ambition. He was not prepared to let her die by pure happenstance. Those two things were worlds apart. Especially when his actions were the cause of it.
But as soon as his hands grabbed her, he felt how Morbus immediately started to move through his skin and into her. Causing him to immediately draw back his hands from her. Moving as if she was really hot. Letting her fall down painfully with her back to the ground.
"Goddammit." he cursed and immediately went down on his knees beside her.
Kurome mumbled something inaudible as Makeias wrapped a part of his ruined cloak around his hands. Allowing him to momentarily touch her. Even if he didn't dare to hold her for long.
He immediately started to move away the cloth of her short sleeve. He had done his first field amputation long before he got the powers of Morbus. This was going to be messy but he knew how to go about it.
It never came to that, however. The middle of Kurome's arm was completely black. All around. And then it spread out towards her hand and towards her shoulder. And when Makeias pulled back her sleeve over her shoulder, he saw that a long black vein was already spreading past her shoulder and to her chest.
Makeias momentarily stopped at the sight of that. Realizing that it was too late to save her by just amputating her arm. He slowly sat back down on his knees.
"This can't be happening." he whispered to himself as he tried to think of something. His eyes moving around the room. Doing his best to stay calm as he tried to analyze the situation.
As he was thinking frantically, he didn't notice how Kurome's healthy hand slowly moved to the side. Grabbing Yatsufusa, which had landed a bit beside her. She slowly started to lift it up.
Even if she was very strained, she knew what was happening to her. She knew that she was dying from Morbus. But she had an idea. Something she had thought of but never dared to put into practice.
Her teigu, Yatsufusa, allowed her to take control of the things she killed with it. Or corpses that she stabbed with it. It allowed her to control them despite their life being gone. So what would happen if she took her own life with the teigu? If she killed herself with the blade, would she then be able to still remain in control of her body? Would she be able to cheat death? She had never felt any need to test it but now she couldn't think of any other rescue.
She put her strength into moving her sword up towards her. Barely managing to lift it up. Her hand shaking slightly as she placed the blade against her throat. The image of a blue haired young man passed through her mind as she started to put strength into her her arm.
But as the blade was about to pierce her throat. Makeias hand came down and stopped it. Grabbing it around the handle. Beside Kurome's hand. He had finally noticed what she was doing.
"Stop that, Kurome." he said in a deeply troubled voice. "It is way too early to give up. Fight it!" he said and pulled the blade from her hand. Throwing it away. He was too stressed out to realize what Kurome was trying to do. Thinking that she was only trying to take her own life in order to end the pain.
"No." Kurome whispered as her teigu landed a few meters away from her. She tried to speak but now it was too late. She had no energy left. She could barely speak more than a few more words. Definitely not having the strength to lift up her sword again. Despair grabbed her. Deeply and harshly.
"Wave." she whispered silently. "I'm sorry." Tears starting to slowly pour down the side of her cheeks.
It was so faint that it was hard to hear but Makeias heard it nonetheless. He clenched his teeth in an expression somewhere between pained and angry. He reached over and grabbed his spear. Quickly standing up after that.
He couldn't think of a way to stop this at the moment but he knew of a way to buy time.
Morbus was still one entity. He was sure of it. Even if a part of it had suddenly gotten outside of his range and control. But he knew that it was still one single conscious. At least to some extent. And as such, the teigu had a limited amount of attention and power. And he was still it's host body. He knew that the teigu needed him to survive. Otherwise it wouldn't have kept him alive for this long.
So he knew how he could buy some time. He would give the teigu something more urgent to worry about. Forcing it's focus away from Kurome. And then he would use his willpower to fight it's influence. Hopefully buying enough time for a permanent solution to reveal itself to him.
He took a deep breath and grabbed his spear with both his hands. This would be fine, he tried to convince himself in his head. Probably.
It was a desperate move but he had no others right now. He closed his eyes and raised his spear up.
Then in one swift, strong motion, he shoved his spear through his chest. Piercing his own heart with it. Destroying his own blood circulation. The blood system that Morbus had taken control over.
With a silent gasp, Makeias fell down on his side, a meter from Kurome. The spear still going through his chest.
Makeias drifting out of conscious as Morbus immediately started to bubble around the new damage. The breathing of Kurome beside him growing thinner and thinner.
"That took a bit longer than expected." the prime minister said and stroked his beard.
He was walking down a long ornate corridor without any windows. Accompanied by what looked like Bellany. Waiting for him when the meeting was done.
"Did anything unexpected happen?" the Bellany look-alike asked.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. There were some objections to the new ministers that we are going to assign the coming week." the prime minster said in a relaxed tone.
"Ahh, did things get scary?" the young woman beside him wondered.
"Ohh no. Not at all. I wouldn't have advisers if I didn't want their opinions. They all know why they are there. There is only a problem if they don't have a good reasoning behind their complaints." the prime minister said and put his hands in his pockets.
"And they did?"
"Of course. They know when to talk and when to shut up."
"So the prime minister only surrounds himself with competent people then."
"Well, I try to." he said calmly. "Don't get too full of yourself though."
The girl giggled lightly. "So.. have you managed to find your new puppet yet?"
"Well, not quite. It is proving very difficult. I think I have found a good candidate but we will see how he is."
"Who is it?"
"A very distant relative to our late emperor Makoto. It is a boy that has been living outside of the empire ever since he was born. I have sent some of the best bounty hunters we have at our disposal to fetch him and bring him to the capital."
"So things are finally going to go back to normal? Sounds great!"
"We will see." the prime minister said. Sounding a bit more doubtful. "He is actually a little bit too old. The boy is already a teenager. It might be too late to turn him to a proper puppet. And if I don't have complete control over him, then he won't do. We can not take any risks with this."
"Couldn't he just be brainwashed down in the torture chambers, if that is the case?"
"Maybe. That type of procedure doesn't give the best results on some people. Many turn unstable or fragile after such treatment. But I guess that if nothing else works, then it might be worth a shot."
"Talking about torture." the younger woman said. "How are things with great general Esdese? I had heard that she has been in quite a dark mood ever since we made her kill her man."
"Quite so. She wasn't happy with the extension of her time as head of state. She doesn't like to play the political game. She is a warrior at heart. All the charades and theaters grinds on her patience. If she didn't have her duty, she would probably punch in the face of the next politician that tried to play nice and get on her good side in order to get some power."
"Sounds dangerous."
"She is dangerous by nature. But don't worry. Esdese is loyal to the imperial court. Or rather what remains of it. She will do her duty. Even if she doesn't like it. So we will have to live with her bitterness for now. Having her relationship with that boy turn sour didn't help, of course. I think she is still trying to make it work with him."
"Wait.. "work"? I was told that she killed him in the fight she had with him after the meeting."
"That is what we have been telling everyone. The truth is that she only incapacitated him during that fight. She is keeping him locked up in her quarters. Even if the general public doesn't know anything about it."
"Now that sounds really dangerous. Why isn't he kept in the dungeons or in a prison? Having a top ranked assassin in the higher levels of the palace sounds like a huge risk. No matter how chained up he might be."
"I do actually agree." the prime minister sighed. "But as you can understand, the situation is quite delicate. It is hard to go against Esdese's wishes concerning this."
"Maybe he should be removed then? Once and for all."
"It is a high risk game. The instincts of the great general are superb. She can almost sense danger before any threat even appears and it would be very troublesome if she found out that we tried to go against her in this. But yeah. I have been giving it some thought. I think I have an idea."
"I hope that it doesn't involve me." Bellany said and waved a hand in the air. "I still haven't recovered fully from the chair she threw at me."
"Ohh don't worry. You have played your part in that. I won't ask you to do anymore in that conflict. That was not why I called you over. I do, however have another job for you. You might have to change your appearance a bit again."
"Well, I am always open for more work." the girl said and put her hands behind her head.
"That is good to hear, you see..." the prime minister began but halted himself.
They had passed around a corner in the long corridor, finally reaching the end of it. However, the door leading out of that corridor was locked. It was a giant double door. Made out of thick iron. It was closed with a large iron beam fastened across it. Both of them stopped at the sight of it as theey crossed the corner.
"I don't remember this door being closed." the prime minister said and stroked his beard.
"Maybe the guards chose to close it?" the younger woman suggested.
"We haven't passed any guards yet and... this door has been closed from the inside." the prime minister said. Sounding a little bothered.
The would be Bellany was about to say something but was interrupted by a loud bang against the other side of the door. Causing the both of them to take a quick step back from it. Then another.
Bang!
The loud sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the room. The hit strong enough to make a bulge in the metal of the door.
"An assassin?" the young girl asked. Her voice surprised and scared.
"Probably." the prime minister said and started to back off. "We should leave."
They started to move away from the door when they heard the strong and booming voice of general Gallus from the other side of it.
"Open the door! In the name of the empire!" the general shouted as his hammer hit the door again. The loud boom of the impact once again filling the room.
"General Gallus?" the prime minister said in suprise.
When the large minister took another step back, Tatsumi attacked.
Neither the minister or the doppelganger heard his approach. He only made himself visible in the last moment. Deactivating the invisibility. The only perceivable sound was something that sounded like a faintly blowing wind. Caused by his quick movements.
He suddenly appeared up in the air. Behind his target. Slowly spinning around in the air. Moving his giant spear around.
For Tatsumi, it felt like the moment went on forever. Like he was locked in time. As if the entire world had stopped. Such was his urge to reach his target.
His mind was completely focused. His entire existence centered around this task. Fueled by a vicious, underlying flame of emotions.
This was what everything he had lead to. This was what all the suffering had resulted in. This was the most important moment in his life. If there was one thing his entire existence had been leading up to, it had to be this.
And as gravity finally brought him to his objective, a couple of images passed through his mind.
A man with ridiculous hair, lying dead in the rain, on the deck of a ship. A grave without a name. Two heads placed on spikes. One a red haired girl in town square. One a green haired boy on a wall. Two young teenagers, dead in a hidden torture chamber of a noble. A human in the form of a teigu, destroyed to the core. A couple of bones in a pile of ash. The leader of night raid, lying abandoned and dead in a burning city.
This was it!
IEYASU!
SAYO!
BULAT!
CHELSEA!
LUBBOCK!
SHEELE!
SUSANOO!
NAJENDA!
MINE!
"JUUUUUUUUUUUUUSTTIIIIIIICCCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Tatsumi roared as he swung down.
The spear hit the prime minister in shoulder and then went sideways through him. Cutting away half of the prime ministers chest from the rest of his body. Most of his shoulder, along with his head and an arm were separated from the rest of the minister. Just as Lubbock had met his end.
The prime minister was dead before he realized that he was being attacked.
With silent thump, the separated part of his body hit the floor. And then the moment passed.
Bellany screamed out in panic as blood sprayed from the collapsing body of the prime minister. Landing on both her and Tatsumi. She fell down on her back in pure shock. Sitting down on the floor as what remained of the prime minister went down on the floor. Her eye wide and mouth open.
Tatsumi slowly straightened up. Staring at the head of the prime minister. Then he brought his clawed foot up and stamped down on it's throat with all his strength. The immense power of Incursio making the neck of the man literally explode in blood and gore. Sending the head flying in one direction and the shoulder, chest and arm flying in another one.
The act made Bellany start to crawl backwards. Away from Tatsumi.
He dismissed Incursio. Making it disappear into thin air. The blood that had been on it fell down on him when the armor went away. Covering half his face with it. But he didn't care. He wanted to experience this directly.
He walked over to the head. Passing by Bellany without looking at her. The woman immediately started to crawl in a different direction. He bent down and grabbed the head of the prime minister by the hair. He lifted it up to his face.
The prime minister's expression was relatively blank. Since he hadn't had time to react to what was happening. His eyes were half shut. His mouth was however, completely open. Since blood had been forced through it as his throat exploded. The lower half of his face was covered in the blood. Coloring his white beard red.
Tatsumi calmly stared at the dead eyes. "Everything you have ever tried to accomplish will now be torn down. Your entire legacy will be ruined. All your plans will turn to dust. Soon enough, nothing will remain."
He slowly lowered his hand to his side but kept his grip on the hair. "But then again, knowing what kind of man you were, you probably didn't care about what would happen to the world after your death in the slightest." he sighed.
The moment felt unrealistic to him. He had dreamed of this for so long. So now that he was here, he could almost not believe it. He looked up at the ceiling, his mouth open a little bit. He felt empty inside.
Then he slowly started to laugh. Small at first but then slowly growing louder and louder. Until he was almost howling. He was unsure why. He didn't feel particularly happy.
He was brought out of his cackling by the small whimpering of Bellany. Sitting with her back against the wall. Panting heavily in fear. Staring at Tatsumi. He slowly turned his head towards her. A calm smile on his blood splattered face.
"I actually forgot that you are here as well, Bellany." he said and started to walk over to her. Still holding Incursio. The loud banging sound of Gallus hitting the door still filling the room.
"Shit!Shit!Shit!" Bellany hissed and tried to scoot away from him more. Unable to do so because of the wall behind her back.
She held her breath as Tatsumi crouched down in front of her. "Are you sad that I killed the leader of your beloved empire." he said and smiled emptily at her.
She didn't answer. Just pressing herself back against the wall. The moment of silence only lasted for a couple of seconds.
"ARE YOU SAD?!" Tatsumi roared at her out of nowhere. He lifted up the prime minister's face in front of her own. Pressing it against her.
"I -d-don't.. I can n-n-not.." she stuttered as she tried to move away from the contact. The blood smearing across her face as she tried to move away from the dead head that he pressed against her. Tears starting to flow down her cheeks.
"Yeah, figures." Tatsumi said calmly and moved the head away from her. "You probably feel that Esdese is the true leader of the empire."
When he moved the head away, Bellany turned over to the side and threw up. Tatsumi waited until she was done before he continued. A calm and empty smile on his face. "Your beloved great general. You know what though, Esdese's body feels goddam amazing."
Bellany tried to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand but just started to retch again. Tatsumi just shook his head. "But then again you probably don't care about my privileges as Esdese's partner. Bellany hated them. But you aren't really Bellany, are you?"
That made the woman in front of him draw a sharp breath. Her eyes moving up to his again. Tatsumi just nodded. "I figured as much. You are not used to violence. Bellany was a seasoned warrior. She wouldn't have been rendered impotent by watching some gore. Where is the real Bellany?" he asked and tilted his face slightly to the side. His smile staying.
When Bellany didn't answer, Tatsumi slowly trailed the tip of Incursio along her shoulder. "I may not be no Esdese." he said thoughtfully. "But believe me, I can make this hurt."
"She is dead. She died a long time ago." she quickly blurted out when Tatsumi had said that.
He nodded again and started to stand up. "Good. You are a pretty excellent doppelganger though, I will give you that."
The girl put her hands over her head when he rose. Expecting the final blow to come. Silently starting to sob. Tatsumi looked down at her for some moments. He considered just shoving his sword down through her pretty little skull. But in the end, he didn't see any reason to. He didn't find it necessary and he had little blood lust left in him. He just felt empty.
He took a couple of steps away from her. Turning around to the door.
It was only when he did that that he noticed it.
Gallus pounding at the door had stopped while he was talking to Bellany. Now there was not a single sound coming from the other side of the doors. He took a couple of steps towards it and then stopped.
He was about to activate Incursio when the voice called out to him from behind the doors. The sweetest voice Esdese had calling from the other side. Making the hair at the back of his neck rise and filling his empty chest with a storm of emotions.
"Can Tatsumi come out and play?"
With a single strong hit, the double doors were torn from their hinges. Flying into the room. Landing on each side of Tatsumi as Esdese walked through the doorframe.
Author's note:
And now there is only one chapter left in this very long arc. Proboably going to be a longer chapter then the other parts of this finale. As such it might take a little longer than normal. But I will still say 10 days and hope for the best.
Before the long break over the holidays, I was actually in a hurry to get this chapter out. Because I thought that I had figured out how the fight between Kurome and Akame would end. I always thought that Akame would cut Kurome and then Kurome would kill herself with Yatsufusa before Murasame killed her. Thus gaining control over her body even after it was dead. I thought that would be her trump card. But my theory was wrong and there was never any need for me to be afraid that it would look like I was not putting any thought into it myself.
I wanted to give thanks to Lavameme777(Flozo23?) for promoting Bent but not Broken in one of his own stories. It apparently happened some time ago but it was only brought to my attention now.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks a lot for all your feedback.
Until next time, take care of each other.