Budou did not lose his time and summoned several lightning bolts, aiming at Esdeath.

His gauntlets Teigu with pistons, Adramelech, was able to control thunder and electricity. Like Esdeath's Demon's Extract, it could be put to great use if the user had skill and imagination.

However, it had a flaw: Adramelech had a limited amount of electricity stored. Would the user use all of it, it would cease to work… but the amount itself was quite formidable.

Esdeath, faster than the lightnings, avoided them all.

(Come to think of it, I never fought Budou seriously. In the arena against Night Raid, he went all out, but in my opinion, he lost because he underestimated them at this time… I wonder if he has more tricks up his sleeve.)

Budou did not talk, excepted when he summoned the thunder.

(Is his hair spiky naturally or because of the electricity?)Esdeath thought, observing her enemy's concentrated face.

Seeing several Kingdom's soldiers blown out by lightnings, Esdeath realized their fight was causing severe collateral damages.

"Najenda!" Esdeath shouted. "Evacuate this area! I'll isolate Budou and me from the rest of you!"

"Copy that! You heard her?! Get away from here, get away!"

As Najenda gave her orders, little by little and despite the ambient chaos, the Kingdom's troops managed to distance themselves from the two former generals battle.

The Northerners imitated them when they understood their purpose.

When she estimated she had enough space to move and fight Budou, Esdeath created high, tall ice walls all around them: their own fighting arena.

She could still hear the sound of battle, but not see it: the walls she had created were tough ones.

Budou looked at the walls then at Esdeath with disdain.

"Hey, old geezer, why don't you talk to me?" Esdeath questioned.

At first, Esdeath thought he was bound by some kind of spell, restraining him from speaking. However, it was not clear.

If the order was 'do not talk at all' then Budou would not be able to shout his attacks' names.

Which meant he could speak, like the corpses they had fought. The question which remained was: to what extent could he?

"…"

"Come on, stop ignoring me."

Budou clenched his fists.

Fortunately, Esdeath knew him, his way of thinking and the things he valued.

(If I choose my words wisely, I could get the intel I need…) Esdeath thought.

"So, do you like it, being manipulated by someone else?" she laughed.

A vein pulsed up on Budou's temple.

"The Great General Budou, puppet of someone's else, fighting blindly and not even admitting his weakness. Pathetic, truly. What would the former Emperor think of you? What would your father think of you?"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, ESDEATH!"

Budou's roar was filled with hatred, anger and powerlessness.

"I have no choice but to fight. I have been brought back to life and I must obey. I am ashamed but I am powerless! All I can do is fight!"

He paused and looked at his Teigu.

"When I died, I thought I had accomplished my duty. Fighting and dying for the Empire was all I ever asked for. And now… my honor, my convictions, my pride have been stomped. Battles are the only thing I can live for now. They are why I have been brought back, so, I shall fight to the end, no matter the cause. Fight me, Esdeath, try to put and end to me! I shall do the same!"

Esdeath, who was carefully listening, pitied Budou. For a man of honor like him, being resurrected and forced to fight against his will was hard to bear.

That was why he tried to remain silent and focus his mind only on the battle. He tried to erase his shame and his anger.

(But I get valuable information thanks to that. Still, Budou was grilled fish when we recovered the body back then and Adramelech was broken. How is it the two of them are now in perfect shape?... Hopefully, Akame and Tatsumi will find the answers.)

Esdeath ceased her pondering. She had a more urgent task: kill Budou once and for all.

The Great General was a fearsome opponent, all cladded with a black and golden armor, emanating power and lightning.

"I'll give you the death you wish for, old geezer!" Esdeath declared, readying herself.

Budou clashed his gauntlets one against the other.

"ADVENT OF THE THUNDER EMPEROR!"

Tens of lightning pillars suddenly pierced through the dark clouds covering the sky, falling upon Esdeath's location.

Esdeath, wishing to save her stamina, did not protect herself with ice barricades but dodged all the pillars with only her speed and reflexes.

(Wow, he's going all out that early? I thought he would be careful about his charge…)

As soon as the attack would end, Budou would be right on the open.

When the moment came, Esdeath launched one of her favorite moves: a rain of ice bullets, as fast as deadly.

Budou did not bulge but a ray of light emanated from him and when the bullets came to his contact, they all vanished, turning into dust.

Esdeath's eye caught a glimpse of what happened.

(My projectiles have been…crushed? Since he did not move and since we're talking about Budou here, it must be…)

"Weissschnabel!"

Just to confirm her suspicions, Esdeath launched rows of icicles to pierce Budou.

But again, in front of the former Great General's inflexible face, the icicles vanished… or so it seemed.

(A dense, powerful field of electricity able to nullify everything that enters its perimeter), Esdeath figured out.

Esdeath knew Budou had several techniques he created but never used because of a simple reason: they used too much electricity, too much charge.

However, if he was using this kind of moves now, it was probably against his will. Probably an order given by his manipulator, something like 'defeat your enemy at all cost'.

(Good news and bad news. I only have to temporize and earn time before he runs out of charge, but if it's an all out Budou, it'll be far more difficult to hold him!)

"How long will you be able to keep your armor up if I increase the cadence, old geezer?" Esdeath asked.

Her plan was simple: fire more and more projectiles to force Budou to strengthen his electric field and thus consume all his charge in no time.

"AS IF!"

With an incredible speed for someone that age, Budou closed the distance and hit Esdeath with the piston of his gauntlet.

Esdeath reacted half a second before the impact by protecting her stomach with thick ice. The blow broke the ice but did not inflict her severe damages.

(Kuuh…my movements are dull because of the electricity…)

Budou's blows were charged with electricity and the latter ran through Esdeath's limbs, affecting her nervous system.

Her parades were slower, her moves disordered.

(I could try to end this with Mahapadma but if I fail, I'll be too vulnerable… she thought, sustaining another strike. Still, my hand is not empty!)

"Kalte Umarmung!"

Laying a hand on the ground, Esdeath froze Budou and his immediate surroundings at once. This technique was different because she did not only create ice around her opponent: she literally froze every particle of water in her range…including the enemy's body.

A cold embrace and a certain death.

Budou still looked enraged under the ice, his face froze in a furious yet silent shout.

"Well, now, I have to–"

Esdeath's satisfied speaking was interrupted by a vibration.

A heartbeat later, the ice that imprisoned Budou imploded, sending shards all around.

"What? How did you do that?" Esdeath frowned, taking a few steps back.

"…before my very body froze, I released an electric wave to block your power. After that, I only had to increase its intensity to entirely free myself."

"Tch! If that's the case…"

"ENOUGH TALKING! LIGHTNING CRASH!"

Esdeath had to jump on the side to avoid the several lightnings Budou summoned once again.

(I don't have the slightest idea of his charge level right now but I have to keep it up, she thought. It's an endurance battle.)

(It can't be. It can't be…)

Tatsumi's emotions were confused: fear, anger, sorrow but also joy… the joy to see his comrades again.

This feeling alone was terrible.

He had in front of him his precious comrades but he knew he needed to kill them, when everything he wanted was to be with them.

Such cruelty.

Plus, there was no mistake: they 'truly' were Bulat and Mine. Their eyes, faces, haircuts were the same, flawless. Exactly as in his memories.

Only their clothing was different: they were both wearing black assassin outfits with coats, light and easy to move with.

"Big bro…Mine…you're…you've been resurrected as well?" Tatsumi asked.

Both of them nodded.

"…you are our enemies?" Akame questioned with a cold tone, as she was trying to suppress her emotions.

Bulat shook his head, his flashy and absurd pompadour moving along.

"To think you'd be our opponents…I'm sorry, but I can't say I'm not glad to see you again."

Akame frowned, ready to attack. She suspected a diversion. After all, even if they were their comrades, they were controlled and took their orders from somebody else.

Noticing her stance, Bulat laughed and laid down his axe, as Mine did the same with her pistol.

"Relax. We are to attack anyone who tries to sneak up in the encampment. As long as you don't take a step forward, we're good… why don't we talk a bit? I'm sure you have plenty of things to tell us."

His tone was so cheerful and natural it could've deceive Akame and Tatsumi. However, his sad eyes betrayed him, showing he wanted to discuss only to postpone their

(If we can learn more about this resurrection thing, it may be worth it…) Akame pondered.

She glanced at Tatsumi, who was looking at Mine with a strange face.

(Oh, no…)

Akame understood Mine and Tatsumi's awkward silence.

When they had saved Tatsumi in the arena, Mine had managed to kill Budou but the effort had killed her.

She had confessed to Tatsumi and kissed him before dying… but now, Tatsumi was married to Akame and Esdeath.

How was he supposed to announce this kind of thing to Mine?

"But still, Tatsumi, you became a fine young man… not as beautiful as me but that's good, very good!" Bulat said with a shining yet somewhat scary smile. "And…well, talking about Akame's body would be a dead flag so I won't do it. I take it you overthrew the Emperor and get rid of the corruption, yes? You killed Budou, since I've seen him alongside with us… what about Esdeath? It must've been a tough fight, no?"

Bulat was talking nonchalantly and did not even notice he just hit the bull's eye.

"…concerning Esdeath, we…" Akame hesitated.

But at this moment.

"Tatsumi!"

Mine spoke up with a nervous voice. Her expression too was embarrassed; it sure was a strange thing to see a dead person blushing and acting so 'humanly'.

"What I said…last time… I meant it!"

Tatsumi remembered the taste of her kiss, even if it happened years ago. He remembered her last words.

'I love you.'

"Even…even if I'm dead…even if I'm forced to fight you…I love you, Tatsumi!"

"Mine…"

"So…do you love me too?..." Mine asked, her head so red steam came out of her ears.

Tatsumi felt cold sweat on his back. Truth to be told, questions were swarming inside his head.

(What am I supposed to say? How can I tell her now I married Akame and Esdeath? Wait, did I love Mine before? I didn't even consider that since she was dead and because of the war, but did I?... And confessing his love to someone dead, isn't it being necrophile? Even if she's beautiful for a corpse and still young…wait no that's not what I meant! Mine is still Mine! And besides, I'm a married father! But what am I supposed to do?!)

Akame decided to change the subject.

"Well, Bulat, to answer your question…we did not fight Esdeath in the end. We did fight her on several occasions but we managed to…make her leave the battlefield and defect from the Empire, as to say."

"Esdeath, leaving the battlefield? Incredible! How did you that? Surely, defeating her in single combat would've been easier than doing this?!" Bulat exclaimed.

Akame realized she could no longer hide the truth. She inhaled deeply.

"…long things short, she gave up the Empire to save Tatsumi along with me. And…she and I married Tatsumi."

Bulat's jaw made a weird sound, as Mine's.

Tatsumi closed his eyes as if his last hour had come.

"…you're telling me, thanks to Tatsumi's charisma and libido, you managed to erase the biggest threat the Revolutionary Army ever met?"

"Hey, my libido has nothing to do here!"

Bulat was aghast but eventually gave Tatsumi a thumb up.

"Way to go, Tatsumi! Way to go!"

"But I didn't do anything! I was unconscious back then!"

"And you seduced the Strongest of the Empire like this?! And in top of that, you married Akame too?! Dang, Tatsumi, you're a true Casanova!"

"More like the Sleeping Beauty" Akame rectified. "Plus, we have two daughters now."

"Two?! I'm impressed!" Bulat cocked his eyebrows.

"Why are you putting it like this?! And who are you talking about? Casanova and the Sleeping Beauty don't even exist in our background!" Tatsumi protested.

"Come on, don't mind such details, the author writes what he wants" Bulat replied.

"WHY ARE YOU ALL ACTING LIKE THIS?!" Mine suddenly screamed.

Her anger silenced them.

"Why are you acting like... nothing happened? Why are you joking, laughing over this? We're dead! We're dead, we're forced to fight you, we don't want this, we suffer only from seeing you, and so do you! Still, you laugh?! You dare to laugh at this situation?! Why? WHY?!"

Mine was right.

All their discussion was an act. An act to disguise their true feelings: sadness, anger, pain, sorrow. From their point of view, it was better to laugh and act than to suffer. But one did not accept this.

Mine did not accept this.

"... you're right. We shouldn't do this..." Akame eventually said. "But...doing this... our tsukkomi, our jokes, our pointless talking... it's like we're back in the good old times. It's like Night Raid is still alive. I'm sorry, Mine. I just... we just wanted to have this feeling, once again."

Tatsumi sadly nodded.

"Akame said it all. I wanted, only for a moment... to talk and laugh with you two. But you're right... this time is over. It's all over. There is no turning back."

Bulat's expression changed.

"Well, I think we've talked enough. It was good to get news from…life. I'm glad you managed to get through all of this. Now, you have a mission, aren't I right? But to accomplish it, you'll have to kill us…again. And we're forced to try to do the same to you. Sadly, we can't tell you who brought us back, we can't tell you anything that would profit you in any way."

Tatsumi raised the Water Dragon Sword.

"Big bro. I agree with you. It was good to see you again. I'm sorry but we'll kill you and live on for you."

Bulat nodded and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, talking about that, where is Incursio? I entrusted it to you, but…"

"…sorry, big bro, I broke it… but it saved my life several times."

"Ooh? Well, it can't be helped. Shit happens. I'm happy it served you well."

He clapped his hand.

"One last thing. I told you, we're here to kill anyone who tries to enter the encampment."

This statement implied 'if you want to make plans, go on, since we won't attack unless you force us to', which both Akame and Tatsumi understood.

Mine raised her head.

"Tatsumi!"

"Y-yes?!"

"…if you don't make Akame happy, I'll kill you. And you, Akame…"

"…"

Akame was uneasy. When they were together in Night Raid, they never talked about love stuff like this. And now, she was married to the man Mine loved…

"…I'm dead jealous, pun intended but I wish you happiness with Tatsumi…and…Esdeath…"

Mine had obviously some difficulty to buy the fact Esdeath was part of their family.

"Yes. I'm glad you found some joy in this world, Akame" Bulat nodded. "You seem to have realized you weren't born only to kill."

"…yes…"

Akame wiped the tears in her eyes. Her comrades' words touched her but now was not the time to let emotions take over.

"So, shall we begin?" Bulat asked, lifting his battle axe.

"Tatsumi…you'll be alright?" Akame whispered.

"…It's not like I have a choice. As Eren Jaeger once said: If you win, you live. If you lose, you die. If you don't fight, you can't win! So… in order to live, I have to fight them…even if they are my beloved comrades."

"…it's pretty much like this, indeed. Do you recognize Bulat's axe?"

"…Belvaac? I thought the Revolutionary Army had it…" Tatsumi frowned.

"Whatever. I need you to hold Bulat while I'm taking care of Mine. A swift cut and it'll all be over."

"Copy that. By the way, I wonder why Mine has a pistol instead of a precision rifle. It doesn't look like her…"

"Who knows. Let's go. We need to put an end to this as soon as possible… I don't doubt Esdeath will win her fight but casualties are unavoidable."

Tatsumi vigorously nodded.

"And Tatsumi…remember what I told you about the Water Dragon Sword."

"As if I'd forget…"

Tatsumi leaped forward and—

"!"

He immediately get down.

Two axes almost decapitated Tatsumi, spinning and twirling in the air. They came back to Bulat who had thrown them with an incredible strength and speed.

"Fuck! He didn't joke when he said he would attack as soon as we'd try to pass!" Tatsumi gasped.

The Teigu Belvaac was a double-edged axe that could be separated in two and then thrown to the opponent, turning into homing projectiles.

It required a huge amount of strength and for Bulat, it surely was a piece of cake.

(Belvaac is a trouble...if I stay away, I'm getting the two axes. If I come closer, the big one awaits me. But I need to do it for Akame!)

Having made his mind up, Tatsumi once again charged Bulat, waiting for the twin axes.

He heard a gunshot and not a second later, Akame, on his left side, deflected a bullet with Murasame. Tatsumi stopped moving, trying to figure out what was happening.

He realized Mine had fired with her big revolver, however…

"Akame? Why did the bullet come on my left side since Mine is firing in front of us? Thanks for saving me, by the way!"

"I'm sorr,y, I just recognized it… This gun is also a Shingu. It allows her to have free control on her bullet's trajectory" Akame explained quickly. "Its weakness is the accuracy decreases if used in succession."

"And Mine, our Genius Sniper, has this?! Unfair!"

"Quiet and focus on fighting!"

"Yes!"

"Get into lines! Don't spread!"

Najenda was shouting her orders and her voice could be heard over the rumbling battle.

Because of Budou's breakthrough, their formation and ranks had been shaken and perturbed, leading to a complete chaos among the men.

(We suffered losses because of this melee…but now, the experience of our soldiers is taking over), Najenda thought.

The battle was still quite confused but the Kingdom's soldiers were slowly rallying around the Teigu users, allowing them to hold their ground.

Surely, they would win but not without severe casualties and that matter worried Najenda.

(If only Esdeath could help us, not kill them but intimidate them…it would greatly help. But she's busy with Budou…)

Najenda looked to the gigantic walls Esdeath had created to avoid collateral damages, securing an area for Budou and herself alone.

(We can win if Esdeath kills Budou, and we can win if Tatsumi and Akame succeed in their assignment…so, why am I so anxious?...)

Esdeath was dancing around, dodging lightning attacks and occasionally firing icicles, waiting for Budou to run out of electric charge.

(Let's end this), she decided.

"Trump card: Ice Cavalry!"

Concentrating, Esdeath created tens of ice centaur soldiers, faceless but armed with long ice spears. On her command, they charged Budou with a resounding din.

Budou reacted with a raging thunderstorm that tore apart the ice soldiers. However, Esdeath replaced them as and when they were destroyed, not letting the Great General catching his breath.

Slowly but surely, the ice centaurs overcame Budou with their sheer number.

(If I corner you, you'll be forced to use more of your strength and endurance. And it'll be the end of you!) Esdeath smiled.

"ADVENT OF THE THUNDER EMPEROR!"

Budou used one of his favorites moves once again. The summoned pillars of lightning crushed and annihilated the ice cavalry all around him.

(Useless. I only have to create more of them!)

As Esdeath was materializing more ice centaur soldiers, Budou activated a device on Adramelech. A charge meter came out of the gauntlets, and the Great General winced when he looked at it.

(Hmf. You just betrayed yourself.)

Esdeath launched her newmade soldiers on her enemy, sure of her victory.

Budou did not look despaired; in the contrary, he looked more determined than ever.

He aimed at Esdeath with Adramelech, using a scope that could only mean one thing: he was about to use his trump card.

Esdeath had seen Budou firing his trump card only once and she knew he used Adramelech's scope only for that purpose.

(But his Solid Shooter won't be able to wipe out the entire ice cavalry. Is he aiming at me? I only have to dodge…)

The ice cavalry was almost upon Budou. Esdeath was on the edge, ready to move as soon as he would fire.

Suddenly, Budou changed his target. He did not aim at Esdeath not the ice centaurs, but at…

(The sky?!)

"SOLID SHOOTER!"

Budou fired a black beam of pure electricity, his most powerful move, aiming at the sky, filled with black clouds he previously summoned.

Exceeding the speed of sound, it only lasted a moment and disappeared in the clouds.

A tenth of second later, the heaven answered with a stream of lightning that crashed upon Budou, engulfing him in an unbearable light.

When the light faded, Esdeath clearly saw the leftovers of her ice cavalry, crushed by lightning…

And Budou, with sparkles running on his armor and gauntlets, emanating brute power and electricity, smiling.

(That old geezer, he just!...)

It was simple. Budou had fired electricity towards the sky only to provoke a backfire reaction.

The black clouds of a storm were like amplified mirrors: if you fired electricity to them, they would return it to you but with its power multiplied.

Budou used this phenomenon at his advantage, destroying Esdeath's ice minions and recharging his batteries.

(So, my all plan is a complete failure…damn it. If this truly is a battle of endurance, he'll win for sure if he's able to recharge like this!) Esdeath gritted her teeth.