Author's Note: Alrighty guys, after TOO MUCH delay and as promised here is Chapter 20 for your reading pleasure. Yet again I would like to apologize for this chapter's extreme tardiness, work has been a little hectic recently on top of the fact that me and my family has been experiencing a deep rash of passings since the end of 2019 that has put my mental elsewhere. ALL that I can say in regards to this is that I'll try my absolute hardest to pick up my pace in the future, especially with summer coming up and thus me being off from my main job during such. As always, your continued support has been GREATLY appreciated as are your reviews, comments and concern as I urge you all to please continue to send them, they mean the WORLD to me as I'll keep my promise to reply to EVERY one of them. As always I would now like to give special thanks to Brachms, Darkknightsvengeance, PlayXboxfan, WM05 and kizrock94 for having since beginning to follow my story. More special thanks to AmericanFamilyShow, AncientEdict, Best4DS, DonkMaster, DragonsWearingShirts, Dreagon D. Dragon, Fishbreed, Zero Vader Sparda Alucard and dakotaraylarson for having since beginning to favor my story. And a VERY special thanks to Jshy, Lt. DemonKing, NormanX, Puyking, Rs1565, Sensei 69, Shiraor1, Victor Ribeiro, Yami no Hebi, grant. walker581, hack47005, lancelambomatg, nbgb31, virtexrican and zen82005 for having since down both, you mean the world to me guys. And without further ado... I present to you for your reading pleasure... Chapter 20.
Chapter 17: Burn Down the Soulless Puppets
"Ooh, how wonderful, an all out war between Imperial Arms users, I wonder how many of us will lose their lives", said Kurome while perched atop the left shoulder of a towering reptilian skeletal beast before Akame would then say,
"With the more corpses that she controls, the more her reflexes are impaired, I CANNOT lose this advantage", before charging her sister, scaling the large creature's body as she did so, before meeting her sister on it's massive skull and attacking her with a vertical overhead slash which Kurome would then promptly block as the clash of these two legendary blades would send sparks flying throughout.
Akame would then dash backward to give herself distance before then immediately charging her sister again as the more prepared Kurome would then attempt to behead the incoming Akame who would then duck under before again ducking under another follow up slash in the reverse direction which would then cause her to leap behind her sister and surprise her with a downward slash only for it to then suddenly be intercepted by a young man that would only be slightly older than Akame in appearance, with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes being the only thing identifiable on his face, as the rest of it would be shrouded behind a white face mask with a symbol in the shape of an "m" upon the mouth. He would be dressed in a long and matching white and black trench style coat and gloves as he would then block the unsuspecting Akame's incoming attack with a halberd that had a mechanical appearance as the now surprised Akame would then say,
"NATALA!"(NA-TUR-RA), while seemingly recognizing him from her past before this "Natala" would then attempt to attack her with several slashes only for her to then dodge and block them without much difficulty before saying,
"NO, KUROME, we were raised together, he MUST be allowed to rest in peace, PUT HIM BACK", before Kurome would then giddily reply,
"How could you even say such a thing, big sister, he WAS our teammate, that's exactly why I'll keep him around with me forever and ever..., JUST like I'm going to do to you, big sister, so we can be sisters again, just like the old days", after tactically avoiding a strike from Akame causing her to then end up behind her before a now further perturbed Akame would then say,
"NOT as long as I still breathe", before again attempting to cut her sister from her position behind her only for Natala to then suddenly appear and forcibly block the strike as the recoil would then send Akame flying off the large creature's skeleton as Kurome would then say,
"Aww, that's just too bad".
As her body went soaring through the air, Bols would then aim his weapon at her before saying,
"MAGMA DRIIIVE", which would then produce a large ball of fire headed directly for her on her decent, causing her to then think,
"Oh no, his Imperial Arms are also capable of ranged attacks", in a bit of a panic only for her to then be intercepted out of the air by Yoryu, who then said,
"GIRL, CHILL the FUCK OUT, what the hell do you think you're doing fighting them all alone, WHAT THE HELL AM I HERE FOR THEN", in an annoyed tone which would then cause her to then refocus before saying,
"Forgive me", in a determined tone before Yoryu would then land and place his lover down before he would then continue,
"Because this AIN'T bout to be no walk in the park", as the giant skeleton would then lower Kurome and Natala onto the nearby cliff overlooking the valley before saying,
"Oh Big Sister, it is such a waste that you left us for them, NOW, DEATH TAGOOL, FLATTEN THEM", before the creature would then rear it's head back and begin to create a large ball of destructive energy at it's mouth before firing a beam as wide as the canyon towards Night Raid as they would all alertly rush to cover as the blast would then devastate the entire surrounding area.
As Mine, who had avoided the blast from her perch on the cliffs, would then survey the devastation that the creature had caused, she'd then think to herself,
"So this is the damage an S-Class Danger Beast, like the ones they use for Imperial Arms, is capable of, this is FAR worse than I could've imagined", before Kurome would then begin to sarcastically laugh hysterically before saying,
"HAHAAHAAAA, he's redecorated the landscape for us, it looks better now, but I must say, this is just what I expected from Night Raid, you all still dodged it quite skillfully, bravo", while clapping playfully before then chomping into one of her cookies.
At this moment, Tatsumi would then take the opportunity to unsheathe both of his swords after yelling, "WHAT ARE Y'ALL WAITING FOR, LET'S GET THIS SHIT STARTED", before quickly charging towards Yoryu, who would then likewise unsheathe Seishintama before quickly engaging Tatsumi, seemingly in combat, as Kyouta and the rest of Night Raid would then instantly take notice before Kyouta would then think,
"WOW, that's actually pretty smart, ESPECIALLY coming from Tatsu, him and Yo have sparred each other so much that they know each other like the back of their hands, they could throw down with each other all day and people would NEVER be able to tell it wasn't a real fight", before he would then shout,
"ALRIGHT, WE CAN FORGET ABOUT YO'S HELP IN THIS FIGHT", to everyone's surprise with the exception of Akame, who then thought,
"Yoryu and Tatsumi know each other so well that this MUST be a diversionary tactic to keep our enemies confused so that Tatsumi doesn't blow his cover", reassuring herself.
Several acres away, in the nearby forested area, Lubbock, who had set up his wire perimeter there and after having been slightly knocked from his perch in one of the trees of the forest from the shockwaves of the blast would then think to himself while remembering Najenda's orders for him,
"Lubbock, I will have Chelsea employing a more covert approach in this because, as you know, direct combat isn't her forte. I'll have you act as our lookout, I want you to set up a perimeter in the surrounding forest while also keeping an eye on any possible aerial assaults", before she would then firmly place her hand upon his shoulder before continuing,
"It could come down to an all out brawl with the Jägers which is why I need you to be ready to use Cross Tail's Trump Card at any moment, I'm counting on you Lubbock, you are one of the most strategic minds that I have", before he'd then say,
"YOU CAN COUNT ON ME BOSS", while blushing before he'd then think, while at his perch,
"I promise you, I WONT fail you Najenda, just as I never have, and when this mission is over, I'll tell you how I really feel before Su winds up sweeping you off your feet, if he hasn't done so already", before he'd then become quickly agitated with himself before thinking,
"DAMMIT, I shouldn't be thinking about that now".
Back on the battlefield, the Death Tagool would then attempt to crush Susanoo with it's massive claw only for him to then swiftly dodge it before then saying,
"This Death Tagool is every bit worthy of it's classification", in awe before Najenda would then say,
"That means that we're gonna have to bring that thing down as a team", before Susanoo would then quickly reply,
"Incorrect", to Najenda then immediately visual surprise before he'd then continue,
"Although this Death Tagool is indeed quite formidable, I specialize in the extermination of such enormous creatures, use the rest of the team for the Jägers", before a now proud Najenda would then say,
"Ha, only MY Imperial Arms, right there", in admiration just as Mine would then find and line up Kurome in her sights while thinking to herself,
"If I can just take out Kurome's puppeteering ass..., I GOT HER", but just as she was about to pull the trigger "Natala" would then stand in front of Kurome before pointing his halberd towards Mine before it would then extend at a rapid rate directly towards her before she'd then think,
"Is that an Imperial Arms", while dodging it before a blonde haired woman dressed in brown cowboy styled vest, hat, skirt, gloves and boots with matching leggings, a white long sleeved undershirt with a red scarf tied around her neck would then begin to sprint her way across the halberd's extension while being armed with two revolvers before Mine would then think,
"Ah, another gunslinger, like Kyouta, this could be a merry old time", as the two firearms users would then face against each other while Kyouta had found himself opposite a large gorilla like creature that had been three times Kyouta's height in his armor with brown fur and all red eyes before he'd then think to himself,
"Oh fucking REALLY, how did I end up fighting the goddamn Devil Ape, those things are already fifty times stronger than a human, and that's BEFORE it being undead, FUCK ME", before the feral beast would then charge toward him and unleash a lightning quick combination of educated punches while Kyouta would think,
"And JUST my luck that this one ISN'T just some dumb ape with THESE punches", in annoyance while dodging them before the gorilla, taking advantage of his perturbed state, would then be able to bite down onto Kyouta's right forearm as it's teeth would be able to break through his armor and pierce his skin to which Kyouta would react with a,
"SON OF A BITCH", before producing his revolver in his other hand and attempting to blast the creature's head off only for it to be able to slightly dodge it but would still be blown back from it's shockwave as it's body would flip several times midair before it would land and come to a skidding halt on one knee before looking up with a more aggressive look upon it's face.
As Kyouta watched the creature's body tumble away from him he couldn't help but notice it's bare backside before he'd then think,
"UUUGGH, AND it's bare ass is out, FUCKING GROSS", while holding his bite wound before he'd then notice another figure now heading towards him.
This figure's would be completely shrouded by a long dark and tattered hooded cloak, leaving it with an appearance of being a disembodied cloak with a red mask and having only eye holes as it would seemingly float in the air towards Kyouta. As this figure approached, Kyouta would repeatedly fire at it with his revolver only for the figure to then elegantly dodge them as it floated through the area with some of the bullets leaving holes in it's cloak as it neared before Kyouta would then materialize Incursio's spear before attempting to plunge it into the middle of the figure's mask only for it to dodge it in midair while appearing to coil it's way around the spear before it would then produce a blade and plant it squarely onto Kyouta's helmeted forehead, momentarily surprising him before he'd then slash in retaliation, which the figure would then be able to barely dodge before floating away several yards behind Kyouta as he then thought,
"GOT to be more careful, if I wasn't in Incursio right now, I'd be dead as a bitch, the fuck is that", as this figure would seemingly float in the air.
Meanwhile, Akame would also be heavily occupied in her own right as she would find her constantly dodging blasts of fire from Bols as she would then think to herself,
"The rate at which he's firing is unbelievable, but I WONT let you deter me", with added vigor before charging him headfirst which would then take him by surprise before he would then think,
"Charging in directly, such an ill advised move", which would then cause him to fire a much larger and wider blast of flames directly at her as Akame would then quickly jump over him at a blinding speed before the flames could spread too wide and begin her descent behind him while he had been completely unaware of her leap.
Just as she had been poised to decapitate him however, her slash would then be unexpectedly blocked by a surprising new figure that had just arrived. This figure would turn out to be a tall, bald, clean shaven man wearing dark sunglasses and a white business style suit, while wielding a large ballistics shield, as Akame's slash would only in turn be able to cut him on his upper left shoulder before she would then think to herself,
"That's her advantage over me, Murasame doesn't work on her puppets because they're already dead", before the bald man would then kick at Akame, which she would then block as the force behind it would then send her soaring through the air. As Akame's body would then fly through the air, Leone would take notice and then quickly start for her while shouting,
"AKAME", only for her right leg to then be snagged from behind by a long bullwhip before being whipped through the air by it and then slammed in to the rocky wall of the canyon by what would be revealed to be a man with shaggy red hair and scruffy short facial hair wearing a red, Imperial Military style uniform as the recovering Leone would then think to herself,
"Oh great job, you've actually managed to piss me off", before saying to herself,
"And your weak ass moves are NOTHING I haven't seen before", while dusting herself off before, with just a few spins of his arm, he would then seemingly appear to multiply the whip by the dozens as it rapidly lashed at Leone as she then thought while guarding herself,
"Or maybe I haven't, DAMMIT, even with Leonelle's enhanced vision, I STILL cant track that damn thing, it's not even a fucking Imperial Arms, WHAT THE HELL", as her frustrations would steadily increased.
Meanwhile, at her perch from the cliffs above, Kurome would still be seated atop a boulder while surveying the battlefield with Natala as she enjoyed her cookies before saying,
"Oh my, it's a real battle royale down there, all between Imperial Arms users, how exhilarating", as the now recovering Akame, having heard her sister's jest, would then angrily state,
"KUROME!", before Kurome would then continue,
"You see, Big Sister, don't I just have the absolute BESTEST toys to play with, there's Doya the Gunslinger you see, she used to be an assassin from the same northern tribe that our great leader very recently wiped out. She even still has that same highly confident look on her face that I'm sure was inspired by her Prince, too bad that by the time I killed her, that face had been crying like a newborn. Wall here was a world renowned bodyguard when I killed him while he was protecting one of my targets, heh heh, while I absolutely adore using Ape Man's incredible strength for my own despite the fact he's simple. Henter was the last surviving member from a barbarian tribe and was a tall task taking down, I'm particularly proud of this one, just from the difficulty alone. Then there is Rokugou who use to be a general in the Imperial Military before he attempted to betray us by joining the Revolutionary Army, so I killed him before he even got the chance, I just so happen to come across this Death Tagool while it had been hibernating in cave in the Saiga wilderness, how fortunate was that. And last but definitely not least, as you know, Natala here has been with me since I was a wee little girl, he's always there to look out for me, especially while I'm using Yatsufusa", she said with pride before then holding her left index finger to her lips and saying,
"But the last one I have in store for you guys is a surprise, you'll just have to wait and see for him", before Kyouta would then think to himself,
"Dammit, she still has another one of these fucking zombies floating around here somewhere, GOD DAMMIT", before he would then find himself being attacked again by "Henter", who had "floated" towards him and slashed at his midsection to which Kyouta would then block, but as he had done so, the mysterious Henter would quickly float his way behind him, to Kyouta's surprise, as he would then attempt to counter this by just as quickly turning with a slash of Incursio's spear only for the spear to find it's way imbedded into an unfazed Ape Man's midsection, to Kyouta's shock.
The undeterred Ape Man would then grab the embedded spear and snatch Kyouta towards him, before leaping high into the air with him in it's grasp, and then crashing Kyouta back down into the ground head first while Kurome had said,
"That wont work you know, you can hack away at them all you like, they'll still keep coming after you, you'll just have to kill me first", she said.
Meanwhile, a pool of blood had collected on the ground surrounding Leone as she found herself littered head to toe in bloody lashes from the whip that she had been unable to dodge as she then said,
"Well then, I'm not surprised to learn that you were an Imperial General with how much of a pain in the ass you've been...", as he continued to whip upon her before she would then surprisingly catch the whip and continue,
"..but that same old ass shit AIN'T gonna keep working on me", before Najenda would then rush in while shouting,
"PERFECT LEONE", before she would then thrust her mechanical fist directly into the mid section of this "Rokugou", sending him flying backward as the surprised Leone looked on before Najenda would then say,
"General Rokugou, as a former comrade, it is my duty as a fellow soldier to see to it that you are freed from this curse that you are under and put you out of your misery once and for all", with great determination in her tone before an inspired Leone would then think to herself,
"Oh MAN, I can't remember the last time the boss was this enthused about a fight, let alone actually fighting herself, now I'm REALLY ready to kick some serious ass", while flexing her arm in preparation to re-enter the fight while, unbeknownst to her, Kurome would be descending upon her at a rapid pace, preparing to unsheathe Yatsufusa, only for Matoko to then come rushing in toward Leone while shouting,
"LEONE, LOOKOUT SILLY", as she would then attempt to block the incoming slash with Extase only for her to not be in time and thus be out of position to fully protect herself as Kurome would then wind up cutting of her arm instead as Nayako, who had been trailing a good distance behind Matoko, would catch both her and her severed arm before either could hit the ground as Matoko would then scream,
"OWWWWWW, OWWW OWW OW OW, NOOTT AGAAAIN", as a panicking Nayako would then tear off a piece of her dress and tie it around Leone's bleeding shoulder to stop Matoko's bleeding before reattaching her arm, which would then elicit another loud scream from her, before a now prideful Kurome, who had already managed to return to her perch, would then say,
"Heh, heh, heh, exactly why it's a deadly mistake letting me out of your eyesight, any opening that I see is as good as struck", while Leone would think,
"DAMMIT, I couldn't even seen that", before Nayako would then say,
"I'll make you pay for what you did to my Koko", as Kurome would then notice Nayako having reattached Matoko's arm with intrigue before remarking,
"Oooh fantastic, you can reattach your body parts, I can't wait to add you to my collection", with an almost carnal look upon her face after licking her lips before Nayako would then say,
"OH, HELL NO", in anger before Leone would then say,
"You little bitch, you were aiming at me with that, oh THAT'S IT, I'M GONNA FUCKING DISEMBOWEL YOU FOR THAT" as her anger rose before Najenda would then shout,
"LEONE, NAYAKO, CONTROL YOURSELVES, you cannot afford to go after her now, she still has the high ground and is too well protected, we should all focus our efforts down here for now instead, leave General Rokugou to me, he doesn't have an Imperial Arms, I can handle him", she commanded before a conceding Leone would then say,
"Fine, but just you wait, when we're done with your puppets, your ass is mine", before Kurome would then reply,
"Toodles", in a giddy tone.
Elsewhere, in a completely different region of the same canyon, Esdeath would be riding through the valley on horseback when she made a concerning discovery as she then said,
"Seryu, You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard right now, will get there eventually, save your strength for the enemy", she commanded before Seryu would then reply,
"Yes Ma'am, but I feel there is something that I need to ask you", in a nervous tone before Esdeath would then reply,
"Go on", in a stern tone before Seryu would then reply,
"Um..., it's just that it seems to me that you have been taking special care with me personally here recently, you've even decided to have me on your team for this mission. I would've been certain that you would have had Tatsumi accompanying you on this mission but instead you have chosen me, is this because I have failed you in some way My General", in a despairing tone before an unfazed Esdeath would then reply,
"Hmph, I did plan the mission this way for a multitude of reasons, the only member of the Jägers that's as strong as Tatsumi is me, therefore I wanted each unit to be as balanced as possible. Also, I have been informed that you might be emotionally compromised and thus could be potentially at risk and as your commander I will see to your well being as much as I can, hence why I have been more focused upon you recently", she said before Seryu would then reply,
"Oh thank so much, My General, I will dedicate EVERY fiber of my being to see to it that this kindness is repaid", with her eyes welling upon before Run would then say,
"Should I use my Imperial Arms to scan the area from the sky, My General", before Esdeath would then reply,
"Don't bother, you should save any abilities from your Imperial Arms for actual battle, but it is very strange that we have not met up with the others yet", before Run would then reply,
"Yes, that most certainly is odd", before Esdeath would then have a concerning revelation as she then said,
"Huh, this could very possibly a diversion and they could all be focusing on Tatsumi's team, hurry, we should retrace our tracks and try and find them", before she would then quickly turn her horse around only for her, Run and Seryu to then be surrounded by a large gang of desert bandits as a now surprised Seryu would then say,
"Where on earth did they come from all of a sudden", before Run would then say,
"General Esdeath was right, this IS some sort of trap", before one of the bandits would then say,
"Looks like what they told us was right boys, they showed up here just like they said, AND it's General Esdeath's sexy ass, I CAN'T wait to have some of that, all we got to do is gang up on them", before an unimpressed Esdeath would then say,
"And they've sent a band of mindless thugs from the east after us", before Seryu would then say,
"So, these disgusting thugs are in league with that scum Night Raid then", before Esdeath would then notice Run unusually scan through the ranks of the bandits before she would then ask him,
"Is there something in particular about them that bothers you Run", out of curiosity before Run would then reply,
"No Ma'am, other than the fact that these are criminals of the most repugnant breed", which would still leave Esdeath concerned as Run would then think,
"No, I don't see him here anywhere", before Esdeath would then say,
"Right then, we will crush them, Seryu, Run, I want you two to eliminate all but a handful of them and leave the rest for me, there are some questions that I will have answered", with a sadistic smile upon her face,
Elsewhere within the canyon, Akame would find herself in a disadvantage in her fight as she then thought,
"I can't get close enough to him for any sufficient offense but what I can do is...", before she would then begin to rapidly encircle her opponents at a blinding speed before Bols would then think,
"She's circling me at a high speed, hoping that I'll give her an opening, okay I'll do just that", before he would then fire at an area she would be approaching, which would then stop her in her tracks as she then thought,
"I've GOT you", before she would then make her move towards him as Wall would then attempt to intercept her with his shield only for her to then surprisingly slide under his legs and continue towards Bols and attempt to slash him only for him to then catch Murasame with a piece of armor that had been attached to his left hand as the surprised Akame would then think,
"Hidden armor!?, He had a contingency plan in place just for Murasame", before Bols would then pull her in and attempt to fire at her at point blank range only for Akame to then bend herself back and narrowly miss the incoming blast of fire before she would then backflip away from him as the then shocked Bols would then think to himself,
"Her agility is unbelievable", before Wall would then rush in and land a kick to Akame's mid section before she could properly regain her footing, sending her flying several feet backward through the air before she'd then recover in mid air and gracefully backflip to land on her feet with a huff before Bols would then say,
"Akame, there is something that I've been wanting to ask you for quite some time now, why did you decide to join the rebellion, so many of us would've felt a great deal more confident in this war if you had've remained with us", before Akame would then somberly lower her head in deep contemplation for a moment before then reassuring herself and raising her head with renewed determination before replying after pounding her chest with her left fist,
"I became a member of Night Raid because that is the way my heart guided me and felt right and I will ALWAYS walk the path that my heart guides me to", with a matching determined look on her face before Bols would then reply,
"That is a very respectable quality out of you, so I MUST apologize...", before the turbine that powered his Imperial Arms began to spin as he would then continue,
"Because it is my sworn duty to scorch ALL acts of rebellion regardless of how respectable they may be", before Leone would then jump in from behind Akame, while shouting,
"HOLD IT", and stand between her and Bols before continuing,
"Lemme get in on this and even out the odds", before both Nayako and a now recovered Matoko would then join her as Matoko would then say,
"More than even them Nene(Leone), I owe these dirtbags for the now TWO WHOLE arms they took from me", before Nayako would then reply,
"But you still have that one", before Matoko replied,
"That don't make it no better", in an annoyed tone before Nayako would then reply,
"Good point", before Akame would then have a look of concern on her face for Matoko, who had taken notice of Akame's concerned look, when she would then say,
"Oh you don't have to worry bout me Big Sis, this is NOTHING, and even if it wasn't...", before Nayako would then cut her off,
"I'VE GOT HER", saying rather possessively before Akame would then nod affirmatively before continuing,
"Careful guys, don't underestimate them, they are quite formidable", before Leone would then reply,
"Fine, let's just hurry and kill these guys so we can go get Kurome", in an eager tone.
Elsewhere, Najenda would still be embroiled a heated battle with the former General, as she was currently attempting to create distance between them as she then thought,
"Impressive, considering the fact that I'm only nearly half as strong as I was before my fight with Esdeath, I'm still much faster than anticipated", before Rokugou would then spin his whip in such a way that it would then slam into the ground with such force that it would leave a small crater and cause tremors after Najenda had dodged it, which would slightly catch her off guard, as she then thought,
"WHOA, THAT'S a new one", before he would then hold the whip high above his head before slamming it back onto the ground, which would cause another larger earthquake as the ground in his immediate vicinity had been caved in by the whip before Najenda would then think,
"A ground tremor", in slight panic as she would then leap into the air before the whip would then, having tunneled it's way underground, spring from under he feet with her still airborne, attempting to strike her before she would then extend her mechanical arm to vault herself off of the nearby canyon wall, propelling her away from the whip's attack before saying,
"There IS no more surprising me at this point Rokugou, as much as we've been through together, I know you like the back of my hand", before then firing her arm at him only for him to dodge, as her mechanical fist would then be embedded into the canyon wall behind him before she would then press a button hidden in the shoulder of her arm, this would then cause her extended arm to retract at a blinding pace, propelling her towards her opponent before delivering a devastating roundhouse with her right leg to his head.
The sheer force behind this kick had been powerful enough to completely decapitate the former general as a shower of blood would then gush forth from where his head had been before his body would then collapse to the ground with a thud as Najenda would then begin to reminisce about the time she shared with her comrade as she thought back to a moment they had shared,
"Hey Naje, how''s about we head out for a drink after duty", he had asked her with a welcoming smile upon his face as she recalled this with a warm smile on her face before she would then be interrupted and brought back to her senses by the sudden movement of Rokugou's body as his headless form would then stand and begin to make it's way toward the now enraged Najenda as she then thought,
"What sort of abomination IS this Imperial Arms", before then angrily kicking Rokugou's body skyward as she would then leap after it while still enraged before she would then land a devastating punch directly into his sternum, which would send him rocketing towards the ground, while she would emit a near feral growl in frustration.
Elsewhere, as Susanoo would continue to stare down with the enormous Death Tagool Skeleton, he would then notice a blemish on it's upper left torso before it would then launch another devastating beam attack that Susanoo would then leap high into the sky to avoid as the body of General Rukogou would fall directly into it's path, completely disintegrating it, as Susanoo would then say,
"Doesn't look like you have any quit in you, good, neither do I", before a now landing Najenda would then say to him,
"Looks like it's still just as strong as ever, despite the fact it's decayed to it's bones now, are you sure you still want to take this one alone", before Susanoo would then reply,
"Yes, I'm quite sure, however, there IS something about it that has been bothering me", before he would then point out the blemish that he had noticed to Najenda before then continuing,
"That disgusting 'thing' on it's left breastplate has REALLY been annoying me for this ENTIRE battle, it's distracting asymmetry is the only reason it's been able to hit me this whole time", before a now disappointed Najenda would then reply,
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me, you know, this OCD problem of yours is really starting to become an annoyance and if we don't put an end Kurome's menace soon, we're going to be suffering some major casualties. Therefore, as your Master, I demand that you now utilize yourself to the fullest and activate your Trump Card", before a compliant Susanoo would then reply,
"Yes, understood"
Elsewhere within the canyon, Kyouta would still be having his hands full with Ape Man and Henter when he would then think to himself after dodging their simultaneous attack of Ape Man's punch from his rear and Henter's dagger at his right flank,
"Their fighting styles compliment each other way too good, I think the only way I can get out of this is if I take one of them out first, but which one is gonna give me that opening first", while attempting to read them as the two of them would then continue to synchronize their attacks as their attacks would be a mixture of individual, consecutive and simultaneous attacks before Kyouta would then eventually find a brief opening as he would then duck under a fist meant to decapitate him from Ape Man while also adding to the momentum of the punch as he had slightly pressed into the elbow of his fist which would then slightly alter the trajectory of the fist and send it into the masked face of Henter which dent it while sending him flying away as Kyouta would then think,
"Oh, that makes things SO much easier", before he would then quickly bisect the beast man vertically before then quickly firing his charged revolver thart a large blast would then be fired from that would then completely obliterate Henter's now unconscious body.
Back upon the cliffs where Kurome had been perched upon a boulder, she would then think to herself,
"Hmmm, oh Maaan, the time between my snack breaks keep getting shorter and shorter", while chomping down on one of her cookies before thinking,
"But still, I wonder if Wave is alright after that hit that he took...", in slight concern before reassuring herself an thinking,
"Naah, he's gotta be way tougher than that, he's a MORON AND a darn cute one at that, he'll be okay", before she would then come to a sudden and startling realization,
"Oh no, Rokugou, Ape Man and Henter have all been neutralized, oh well, guess it's time for me to get back into it before I reveal my last puppet", as she would then stand from her perch, with a cookie still in her mouth, while retrieving Yatsufusa from where it had been reclining against the boulder she had been seated on.
Elsewhere, in a groove far from where the battle had been taking place, lay a semi conscious Wave as he then thought, while in immense pain,
"Oh man, that was one hell of a hit, if I hadn't of blocked it with Grand Chariot I'd most definitely be a goner by now", before he would then attempt to get up while thinking,
"But I gotta make it back to Kurome and Bols, they wont be able to take them on their own for too long, Kurome may act real tough all the time but she can be a real softie in certain times, I GOTTA", while straining to get up before he would then realize that he was unable to make it to his feet which would then cause him to think,
"Dammit, that hit was REALLY devastating, I can't even get up", as despair would then slowly begin to set in on him.
Back at the battle, Mine would find herself in a heated gunfight with Doya as they had been constantly exchanging shots with each other before Mine would then land several of them upon Doya's abdomen before thinking to herself,
"Even though you're a really good gunslinger, you picked the WRONG person to get into a shootout with, they don't call me,
'The Badass Super Sniper' for nothing", as Doya's body would then begin to fall from the sky before a long, slimy and prehensile tongue would then emerge from the brush just behind Mine and coil around her before lifting her up into the air as she would then yell in pure disgust,
"EWWWWW, WHAT IS THIS DISGUSTING THING", as the creature would then reveal itself to being an enormous brownish green toad, four times the size of a human, with red spots on it's back as Kurome would then say,
"Ooh, he arrived here pretty quickly, this here is our newest teammate, the Kaiser Frog, it's a deliciously dangerous Danger Beast with digestive acids that are capable of dissolving anything it eats within minutes", before Mine would then shout,
"FUCKING LET ME GOOO", while struggling against it before Kurome would then say,
"Oh, that is just plain useless, the more you struggle against it the easier you make it, I sure do hope you'll enjoy being my new buddy's first snack though", as she would then giggle innocently before a defiant Mine would then reply,
"OH HELL NO, THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY I'M GONNA DIE LIKE THIIIIIISSSSS", before the frog would then slurp her into it's mouth as she screamed helplessly before Kurome would then say,
"These fights are starting to end far too soon, how dull, oh well, ready for your next meal buddy", while petting the frog before Kyouta would then throw the two halves of Ape Man's lifeless body at Kurome's feet before saying,
"It's over Kurome, give it up now and I'll let you live, and DON'T think that just because your sister is fucking my little brother that I'm gonna take it easy on you", before Kurome would then reply,
"Oh my, I had NO IDEA, my big sister has found love? Oooh, I have TWO WHOLE big brothers now, oh my, I can't wait to add all of you to my collection so that we can be all be one big happy family", she said rather obsessively before instantly darkening her demeanor and tone before continuing,
"And you ARE MIGHTY resilient, Big Brother, but Natala here is ten times stronger than that dirty old monkey", with a devious smile upon her face.
Elsewhere within the canyon, the Death Tagool would then begin preparing itself for another large attack as Najenda would then take notice before thinking to herself,
"Everyone is doing their best to turn this battle back into our favor, we cannot allow that thing to shoot off another one of those blasts otherwise this will have all been for nothing. Go Susanoo, use your Trump Card and finish this bastard off", before a compliant Susan would then cage his fingers in front of his chest before saying,
"MAGATAMA MANIFESTATION", which would then cause the emblem on his chest to begin to directly absorb the life energy from Najenda and strengthen Susanoo, a technique that Najenda knew she could only use three times in total before it would kill her.
This would would then drastically alter Susanoo's appearance as his clothes save for his pants would be blown off, leaving them to flare and frilled upward from his torso, as his skin tone had become paler, his horns black, his eyes becoming a golden hue, his hair turning a luminous white with an enormous four pointed ring levitating behind him. Just as the creature was about to unleash it's blast, Susanoo would then hold his left palm up toward the beast before saying,
"Eight Headed Mirror Shield", which would then produce a large bronze coin shaped shield which would then absorb the Death Tagool's blast and redirect it back to itself creating a large explosion, staggering the beast, before then quickly dashing in on the beast and producing a several story long sword of blue energy before shouting,
"HEAVENLY CLOUD SABER", before completely obliterating the monster with it causing a now gushing Najenda to then say,
"I would expect nothing less from my Imperial Arms' Trump Card, at this rate, Tatsumi's cover isn't even at risk, we can handle this all on our own", before a confident Susanoo would then reply,
"Oh, I can absolutely deal with things myself at this point", causing Najenda's pride to swell even further.
Back atop the cliff, Kyouta would be embroiled in a heated clash with Natala when he would then think,
"Dammit, this guy IS a fucking HANDFUL, I can DEFINITELY see where he could've been raised the same way Akame was, he's DAMN near just as fast as her and I haven't gotten quite used to lugging this heavy ass armor around yet, HELL I'm not even sure I can win this one even WITH Incursio, this guy is a BEAST", as he found himself unable to resist enjoying the peril he might had been in while the spectating Kurome would then gleefully think to herself,
"Just as I expected, it is good to see that Natala can hold his own with the VERY best that big sister's team has to offer", before she would then suddenly notice her Kaiser Frog shifting uncomfortably and apparently wincing while drooling heavily before she then said to it,
"AWW, is something wrong with Mommy's little monster", in a giddy tone while placing her hand on it in apparent concern before it's skin would begin to vigorously vibrate as if it was being attempted to be torn apart from inside it before Kurome would then come to a stark realization before thinking,
"Oh no, how is she still able to fight, she should've been WELL digested by now", before she would then notice two holes located at it's right flank that had been leaking stomach acids before then slapping her head in regret while thinking,
"OH noooo, those aren't sposed to be there", before several more of these quakes would happen followed by a large beam of light then exploding from it's back leaving a gaping chasm in it's wake.
Mine would then emerge from this bloody crevice gun first with her clothes in tatters and in a furious mood before saying,
"Oh I'M fixin' to KILL somebody for THAT disrespectful ass shit", before Kyouta would then arrive in support before then saying, in a puzzled tone,
"Huh, MINE!?, Quit goofing off, we DON'T have time for this, our lives are on the lines here", before a now even more flustered Mine would then reply,
"OH FUCK OFF KYO, I just got out of THE MOST disgusting shit you could imagine so lay THE HELL off, and STOP STARING YOU PERVERT", while attempting to cover herself before an annoyed Kyouta would then reply,
"Shut yo ass, you cant even tell where I'm looking", before Najenda, who had now been arriving at their location, would then say,
"Alright, that's enough you two, we still have a battle to win", while soaring through the air on Susanoo's shoulders before landing prior to turning to Kurome and saying,
"I'm sure that when you asked how many of us will die, you had no idea that you were referring to your own team", causing Kyouta to then think,
"FUCKING OUCH", with a winced look on his face before Kurome would then put a sinister grin on her face before saying,
"Ooh, you mustn't get cocky just because you've killed most of my friends here, this fight is FAR from over", while slowly and maliciously drawing Yatsufusa.
Elsewhere, back within the canyon, Akame, Matoko, Leone and Nayako we're in an offensive dash towards their opponents of Wall and Bols with Leone and Matoko dashing Bols from his front while Akame and Nayako charged Wall from both his rear and front respectively. Just as Wall would then attempt to sidestep his would be attackers, Akame would then quickly close in on him before he could react and cut both of his legs off in one swift motion before Nayako would then remove his left arm from the elbow down as he fell to the ground just as Leone and Matoko had approached Bols. With him seeing his comrade fall in the fraction of a second before they reached him Bols would then think to himself,
"Why are the attacking me so foolishly head on like this", before he'd then quickly fire Rubicante in a wide array in their direction which Leone would then side step without breaking her stride toward him while Matoko would barely avoid as she leapt into the air.
Just as Leone would then near Bols should would then find herself suddenly impaled through her midsection by a short spear before looking to find the still living Wall as the source of the attack only an instant before Matoko would then decapitate him as Leone would then think,
"Damn him, you resilient FUCK", before she would then find herself staring down the barrel of Rubicante with Bols poised to end her life at any moment as she then quickly thought,
"OOHHH SHHIIIIT", only for Matoko to then swoop in before he could fire and deliver a devastating punch, both breaking her hand and the end of Rubicante's barrel, causing her to then scream in pain while holding her mangled hand before Leone would then say,
"Well at least you wont be pissing blood for a few hours", before she would then pull the spear out of her while grunting loudly as blood gushed from her mouth through gritted teeth before Bols would then say,
"Did you really just ACTUALLY punch the barrel of my weapon to bits", in a shocked tone before Leone would then say,
"Give it up, it's over man, you can't even use your Imperial Arms anymore", before he'd then think to himself,
"Just because my Imperial Arms is inoperable doesn't mean that it's out of tricks, I STILL have ONE ace in the hole left", before he would then launch then turbine to Rubicante high into the air, causing all near him to then panic with the exception of Tatsumi and Yoryu, as they would then collective say,
"Oh BET", while Leone would then think,
"OH NO, WAIT", before Bols would then produce a detonator that he would then quickly depress which would then cause the turbine to combust into an enormous explosion.
This explosion would then grow minimally as Tatsumi would then quickly begin to absorb it's fire and redirect it towards the remaining members of the Jägers there as the light it produce would then obstruct the vision of all present. The resulting devastion would then reduce what had remained of the Kaiser Frog, Henter, Ape Man, Doya, General Rokugou, the Death Tagool and Wall to ashes as Tatsumi and Yoryu would then collectively notice that Kurome, Natala and Bols had all escaped as Tatsumi would then say,
"DAMMIT, that might've been my best chance to take her out so sis didn't have to", in a disappointed tone before Yoryu would then reply,
"I'm not sure how she would've felt about that bruh, she REALLY feels it's her right and duty to kill her sister, she might've wanted to kill you behind that", before Tatsumi would then reply,
"Oh yeah, you DID tell me about that, she honestly doesn't even really want to kill her sister, she just feels as though she don't have a choice", before Yoryu would then reply,
"Uh-huh, and you and I BOTH know that's bullshit", before the two brothers would then nod to each other affirmatively.
Some distance from where the explosion had taken place where Natala had managed to safely transport Kurome within his arms, she would then think to herself,
"Bols self destructing Rubicante like that sure created one HEAVY explosion, I even lost track of Tatsumi, I SURE hope that he isn't dead and that he finds his way back otherwise Lady Esdeath is gonna be fuming because there is no way I can win this fight without Bols AND him. I sure hope big sister made it out alive too, ONLY I can be the one to kill her", before she would then loudly wince in pain while holding her head with her right hand before thinking,
"AHHH, they're beginning to wear off", as she continued to recover from the shockwaves of the explosion.
Back near the center of the explosion, a recovering Akame would then assist an even more ailing Leone from under a pile of debris, just as Nayako had been doing for Matoko at that very moment, before she would then ask Leone,
"How are you faring Leone", in concern for her teammate before an ever boastful Leone would then reply,
"Ehhh, this is no sweat sis, I was just making sure that you ain't have to go all out, I...", before she would then collapse mid sentence, just as Matoko would do the same moments after Nayako had helped her up, before they'd then be both caught by Akame and Nayako respectively before a panicking Akame would then say,
"Leone, you're good right, Leone, LEONE, oh no, this is BAD", as she shook her fallen comrade while Nayako would then say in regards to her similarly fallen spouse,
"OH NO, THEY'VE HURT MY KOKO AGAIN... THIS IS TERRIBLE", with tears in her eyes as the rest of Night Raid would then rally around them.
Several acres away, in an opposite direction of the canyon from Kurome, Bols had made it a good distance away from Night Raid before they could recover, with him using the explosion to cover himself as he made his hasty retreat, before he'd then think to himself while heavily battered and bruised,
"Okay, I think this is far enough, they wont find me from here, but still, that was an awful thing to do, leaving them there like that, now I can only hope they made it out alive, how can I ever face them after that especially after General Esdeath has placed so much faith in me", as he would then recall a time when he did not want to dine with his teammates over a meal he had prepared over the trivial matter of not wanting to remove his mask for this formal event for fear of his appearance, a fear that Esdeath would have none of before physically forcing him to remove his mask and into the dinner.
This reminiscence would have the defeated member of the Jägers sorely yearning for one last time of peace with his teammates as he had continued to wonder about in self pity and deep thought before he would then come across a small girl in a yellow dress and short brown hair sobbing and hiding behind a tree before he would then hastily approach her in slight panic before then gently saying,
"Oh no sweetheart, you CANT be here, this isn't a place for children at all, you could get yourself hurt REAL bad", with concern in his voice before the little girl would then look up from her sobbing to see Bols masked face which would then cause her to then shriek in terror before saying,
"EEEEK, A MONTSEEER", while continuing to shriek before Bols would then quickly reply,
"OH NO, honey, I'm no monster, I'm a friend, I'm here to protect you, oh please don't cry", while trying to be reassuring to her before he would then notice a scrape on her left knee before saying,
"Oh no, I see that you hurt there, let me help, now please be still darling", before he would then produce a roll of cloth bandages before then dressing her wound to the little girls continued shrieking and squirming against his attempts to affix the bandage leading to it ending up misshapen on her knee as he would then say upon completion,
"Now there, all better, see, there's a big girl, just let that stay on for a day or so and your leg will be good as new", in a pleasant tone before the girl would then notice the bandage and then lighting up in adulation as she then said,
"Oh thank you you SO MUCH mister, it already feels better", before then wrapping her little arms around his neck in an affectionate hug before he'd then reply,
"Awww, such a big g...", before she would then then stab him in the back of his neck with a needle like dagger, killing him nearly instantly, as he heard her say before his passing,
"Such a shame that all the people you've burned wont have that same chance", as he would then experience the last thought of,
"I always knew that it could end like this, I just wish that your beautiful faces could've been the last thing that I seen", as his last thoughts would be centered around his wife and daughter as Chelsea, having now revealed herself to have been the little girl in disguise, would then say,
"That little girl was from a village you burned down for the crime of simply being suspected of aiding the revolution, but you killed so many countless numbers of villages like this that you could never remember any specific one", in disgust before she would then walk away from his body in pity while thinking,
"That's what I hate about this line of work, I could feel that man's sorrow as he died, such a shame", before Lubbock would then suddenly approach her and say,
"Oh sweet Chelsea, you were able to kill that guy before he could get away, nice", before she'd then reply,
"Oh, it's good to see you here to help me out, but I'm afraid you're a little late, I'm headed after Kurome now", before she'd then turn to leave only for Lubbock to then say,
"Hold on a sec, even though she's escaped my perimeter, I can definitely tell you which way she went but don't you think we should regroup with the others first, Kurome is too dangerous of a foe to take on by yourself", he said before she would then reply,
"We can't afford to wait that long, she's weak from this battle and if we allow her to escape she could potentially acquire even more powerful puppets, she would be too dangerous to let go and we can't miss this opportunity. Tell that to the others, they'll understand, and see if you can convince the boss to send two of our better brawlers to help me out once you get back", before the now relenting Lubbock would then reply,
"Okay then, just PLEASE don't do anything that'll get you killed out there, I don't want that on my conscience", before she'd then reply,
"Oh don't worry, relax, if she happened to make it back to Esdeath by the time I find her, I'll just turn right back around", before a more reassured Lubbock would then reply,
"Okay then, I'll get you some help back here as soon as I can", before he would then hastily make his departure while waving her goodbye before she would then shout to her departing teammate,
"I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT", while waving to him before his warning of her proceeding on her current mission alone would then echo throughout her head as she would then think to herself,
"There is some truth to what he's talking about, I HAVE been acting like I've had to prove myself to the team more than usual, I wonder if it could be those Nandeya boys, we've ALL been acting a little strange since they've come around", before she would then giggle to herself as she then thought,
"I think I actually might have a crush on them, too bad their ALL taken", before giggling even further with her left index finger in her mouth while blushing before then snapping herself out of her swooning while shaking her head before then thinking,
"Can't think about that now though, Kurome, your MINE", before she would then retrieve several items from her Imperial Arms before then instantly transforming into a duplicate of Bols before saying,
"I still have a mission to complete", in a determined tone.
Several kilometers away, in the forest located just outside of the canyon, Kurome would be enjoying a leisurely stroll whilst recuperating from the battle as she had sent Natala away to gather any sort of sustenance for her as she continued to snack on the few cookies she had remaining. She would then have herself a seat on a rock located on the path she had been walking as she would then begin to reminisce about her childhood with her sister. She would recall her first memories of how they were orphans from the countryside that had been abducted and raised by the Empire from before she could remember, how she and her sister had been raised to be the most perfect and complete assassins for the Empire under the strict guardianship of their adopted father Gozuki. In a story that Akame had already shared with her new family, Kurome would recall how, early in her life, she, her sister and countless other children that had been abducted by the empire would be sent away countless times to the Southern Jungle(a harsh forested area similar to the Northern Tundra Forest in terms of life threatening Danger Beasts) to survive in it's extreme environments. She'd recall how she and her sister would become the sole survivors of these endeavors every time, no matter how many different groups of children that had been sent off with them. They had managed to survive these perilous assignments mainly by constantly depending on each other with Akame carrying the brunt of their survival as she had carried Kurome as they walked a lot, killed the majority of their predators and hunted for the majority of their food with Kurome only able to offer any sort of competent aide in these areas after she had built up enough strength to withstand the harsh jungle terrain, which had taken several months, or when Akame had become exhausted and only out of desperation and filled with adrenaline and an overwhelming will to protect her older sister could Kurome summon the strength to kill any threat to her or her sister's lives. It wouldn't be until after several years and several near death experiences before their adopted father Gozuki, not wanting them to be in the disposition of constantly depending on one another, would decide to split them up, which would in turn, turn out to be a traumatic experience for both of the sisters with Kurome being effected the worse without the support of her older sister. Worsening her already fragile psyche after her separation from Akame would be the empire constantly subjecting her to several experimental drugs that would both make her more compliant and enhance her already sharp assassination skills at the cost of deteriorating her already weakened mind. As she continued to reminisce about these experiences in her life while she continued to enjoy her cookies she would then think to herself,
"Boy, that battle has me spent", rather nonchalantly.
Back at Night Raid's temporary headquarters, the entirety of the assassination squad had already regrouped at the location, save for Lubbock, as Mine would then say,
"URGGH, CAN'T you put a bow on this already, I got a new dress that NEEDS trying on", in an impatient tone to Susanoo, who by this time had reverted back to his original form, who had been dressing her injuries, before replying,
"Hold your horses Mine, you're not going ANYWHERE until I see to these injuries", in a rather forceful tone, slightly startling Mine.
In another part of the house Akame and Kyouta had been seeing to a recovering Leone when Akame would then ask,
"How are you faring Leone, you took among some of the worse abuse from that fight", before Kyouta would then add,
"Yeah, a spear the the gut ain't NO joke", out of concern before a high strung Leone would then reply,
"Oh PLEASE, this is NOTHING, this hole has already closed up, honestly you guys SHOULD be more worried about Koko, she lost a WHOLE arm", before, as if on queue, a well bandaged Matoko with her recently reattached arm in a sling and Nayako would then walk into the room before Matoko would then ask,
"How ya doin' Leone", before a now shocked Leone would then reply,
"WHAT THE HELL, how the HELL are you up walking around already, I KNOW you took more damage than me, and you lost that arm, WHAT GIVES", which would embarrass Matoko, making her blush, before Nayako would then reply for her,
"Well, I guess my Koko is just that much better at healing than you are", in a slightly defensive tone before Leone would then reply,
"And you were able to reattach her arm without stitching it back on, I gotta say, that's pretty badass", before Kyouta would then say,
"WOW Leone, you can reattach lost limbs too", before Leone would then answer,
"Ones that have been gone for days too, just as long as I have Lub to sew it back on, it's one of Leonelle's secret abilities called Regenerator", she said boastfully before Najenda would then enter the room and say,
"Well that's all well and good but My Susanoo here is able regenerate instantaneously", in a condescending tone before Leone would then reply,
"Yeah, whatever Boss Lady, he's your glorified slave though", before Mine, from the other room, would then say,
"Well I gotta say that's a pretty lame Trump Card for a brawler's Imperial Arms", before Leone would then reply,
"All that sounds like to me is that your jelly you don't have a Trump Card", in a teasing tone before Mine would then reply,
"HA, Pumpkin is SO good it doesn't even need a Trump Card, WHY WOULD it, the more danger I'm in the more powerful it is, so I never have to worry about a thing", while gloating before Susanoo would then say,
"Alright, I'm applying the antiseptic now, this might sting a little", before he would then rub an ointment into Mine's injuries which would then cause her to scream loudly in pain while flailing juvenilely before Kyouta would then say,
"There you go again, always tryna act cool when in actuality you're as big ass brat, a spoiled one at the", as this would completely take Mine off guard, causing her to look completely flabbergasted before she'd then say,
"Oh FUCK OFF, you know-it-all jackass", while blushing from embarrassment which would then elicit a cruel chuckle from Kyouta.
Elsewhere within the cabin, Yoryu and Tatsumi had been conversing with one another for some time as Tatsumi had relayed to him the details of his time with Esdeath and the Jägers when Tatsumi would then say,
"Y'know, if I didn't know better I'd say it almost seemed like you really wanted to kill me back there Lil' Bruh", in a sarcastic tone before Yoryu would then reply,
"Maaan, QUIT your bitchin', you JUST said yourself that your woman's squad ain't stupid, we couldn't let them know in NO WAY that we was pulling our punches, HELL, it's bad enough you let Kurome get away, she COULD be on to us y'know", before Tatsumi would then reply,
"Well egg-fucking-SCUSE ME, you try holding back a WHOLE FUCKING NUKE, and then concentrate on ANYTHING else, Y'ALL were SPOSED to kill them while I was holding that bomb back", rather defensively, but before Yoryu could reply, Lubbock would then burst through the front door near them while out of breath before saying,
"Huuh, huuh... Chelsea..., she decided... to stay back and go find Kurome on her own", which would then cause Kyouta to then say,
"Godammit".
Back within the forest where Kurome had been, she had currently been taking a small stroll when she thought to herself after groaning in annoyance,
"Natala is the only one I have left now, that was a killer squad that Night Raid just tore through like that, I don't think I'll EVER find another squad quite like that one again", in slight despair before then taking a bite out of one of the cookies she had in her snack sack which would then cause her to think,
"Well, at least I still have these scrumptious snacks", before she would then suddenly sense a presence behind her only for her to then quickly put herself at ease upon realizing that it was Bols(Chelsea in disguise) approaching her before "he" would then say,
"Oh thank goodness Kurome, I was hoping that was you, I'm SO glad to see that you aren't hurt", before a now surprised Kurome would then say,
"I'm honestly shocked that your still alive that was a REALLY big explosion and you were at the center of it", before Chelsea would then reply,
"When I first joined the Incineration Squad, they put me through a ritual that made me completely flame resistant, with help from my Imperial Arms", before an even more astonished Kurome would then reply,
"WOW, that is incredible, do you know if Tatsumi made it out too, I know Lady Esdeath would be REALLY sore if he didn't", with a hint of worry in her tone before Chelsea would then reply,
"I couldn't tell, he was located so far from us and I lost my Imperial Arms in that explosion so I wouldn't have been any use to him if I had remained there, I am such a miserable failure, I COULD NOT defeat my enemy", she said while trying her best to sound as pitiful as she could in his voice before Kurome would then reply,
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself Bols, the was one tough battle, I don't think I'll EVER be able to find toys as good as the ones they beat today", while trying to console her teammate as Chelsea would then think while still conversing with Kurome,
"Everything that I've learned from Tatsumi about the Jägers seems to be paying off, it doesn't look like Kurome suspects a thing, but I shouldn't try to make my move just yet. Akame said that's she all juiced up and that could prove to be a BIG problem if I'm not careful, I should wait for the absolute best opening before making my attack", as she continued to converse with Kurome.
Back at Night Raid's Cabin, Lubbock had just relayed to Night Raid what Chelsea's intentions had been when Najenda would then say,
"So, I understand that after she killed Bols, she then decided to go off on her own to kill Kurome", before Mine would then say,
"Oh no, the way that she was out there dodging every attack I sent her way, there HAS to be a lot more at work with her than just dope. I think that there is a whole lot more going on with Kurome than even Akame knows about, Chelsea could be in HUGE trouble, we should probably get some help to her QUICK", before Najenda would then urgently say,
"Alright, you heard her, Kyouta, Akame, Yoryu, I know that you haven't had ample time to recover from the last battle but I NEED you to...", before Akame, Yoryu and Kyouta would then say in unison,
"ON IT", before departing as she would then say,
"Tatsumi, you think that you would be able to aid them without revealing your position on your way back to Esdeath", she asked him before he would then reply,
"GOTCHA, Boss", before leaving as well.
Back at the forest, both Chelsea and Kurome would be walking along it's path when Chelsea would then say,
"We must be nearing the next village soon up ahead", before Kurome would then reply,
"But, we'd never know that an ambush could be waiting there for us", before Chelsea would then think,
"What is with this girl, I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something odd about her, and she hasn't even given me any openings to take advantage of, maybe I should just get out of here now before things get too dicey", before Kurome would then continue,
"And besides, Lady Esdeath should be meeting up with us pretty soon, we should just stay on the safe side until we meet up...", before she would then groan loudly while doubling over in pain, clutching her left eye as she collapsed to the ground before Chelsea would then come to her aid and say,
"Kurome..., what's the matter", in apparent concern before Kurome would then say,
"I shouldn't have stopped eating my cookies", before Chelsea would then reply while comfortingly rubbing her back,
"What can I do to help you", in a concerned tone before Kurome would then reply,
"I just need to eat some snacks", while reaching into her bag before Chelsea would then say,
"Oh, you poor thing, you seem to be in a lot of agony... ah ha, I know JUST what to give you that'll make you feel ALL better", before Chelsea would then plunge her dagger needle into the back of Kurome's neck before then transforming into her original form as Kurome would then go limp before saying,
"There, see... you won't feel pain ever again", before a weakly Kurome would then whimper,
"But...Big...Sis...ter", before then lifelessly collapsing to the ground as Chelsea would then say,
"That makes both targets now neutralized", before she would then think to herself,
"It's actually saddening that your last thoughts were apparently of you big sister, but this death is just a small price to pay for all the murders you've committed ruthlessly", before she would then reminisce back to her time as a clerk in an Imperial Government office.
She'd remember how her original plan, to either rise or marry into high social status, would be quickly shattered upon her realization of the empire's extremely corrupt ways. These feelings of contempt would then only be exacerbated by the fact that the Viceroy in command of the outpost that she had worked for would be a sociopath that had been addicted to having game hunts for human prisoners as if they were animals, a sight Chelsea had uncomfortably grown accustomed to, increasing her ever growing resentment. She would then recall how, just as she had been nearing her own corruption, she had first heard about Gaia Foundation being stored in the basement of the assembly where she had worked, and how it had only been stored there because of it's incompatibility, until she had happened to find it one day, before it would then quickly resonate with her the moment that she had laid her eyes upon it. It would then go on to not be long after this that Chelsea would then use her newly obtained Imperial Arms to kill the commanding Viceroy, an act that would be massively celebrated amongst the people under his fealty as his replacement had been far much more of a humanitarian. It had been this memory that inspired her to use her new power to help create a world where people like her Viceroy wouldn't be the norm as she then pridefully thought after giving Kurome's lifeless form one last glimpse,
"I'll see to it that the world that you helped maintain will come crumbling down, it's just a shame that you wouldn't see how much better the world that would rise from those ashes would be", before she would then turn to leave only for her to then be stopped dead in her steps by a completely unrecognizable and dark,
"HEY", which would then startle Chelsea to her core as she would then turn to find a risen Kurome with her left hand concealing her face and a noticeable black aura as she then said in a demonic voice,
"OH, I'M SORRY DOCTOR, THAT REMEDY DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK, I'M STILL IN AN AWFUL AMOUT OF EXCRUCIATING PAIN", before a now panicking Chelsea would then say,
"I severed your spinal column, HOW", before a crazed and bloodied Kurome would then reply,
"After my sweet Big Sister left me behind, the good scientists at the Empire pumped me full of all sorts of experimental drugs meant to increase my combat effectiveness and I MUST say, although they do take a heavy burden on me, that is WELL worth it, I could NEVER have dreamed they would improve me THIS much", she said before then putting an ever determined look upon her face while brandishing Yatsufsa before then saying,
"Now, it looks like the only way to get rid of me is decapitation or destroying me heart", with a sadistic, yet joyous, grin on her face before a now rattled Chelsea would then hastily deploy a smoke bomb directly before Kurome before then quickly turning and fleeing her before a determined Kurome would then clear a lot of the smoke by cutting through it with Yatsufusa before then thinking to herself immediately after discovering Chelsea's escape,
"Oh, you WILL NOT escape me", before then quickly following after her in much haste.
Several acres away, Chelsea had found herself being in quite a desperate mood as she would then think to herself,
"Oh no, she's a complete demon now, I'm gonna have to transform if I wanna have ANY chance of escaping her now", before she would then retrieve Gaia Foundation and then attempt to open it only for this attempt to then be quickly stymied as Kurome would then sever Chelsea's entire left hand just as she had unlatched Gaia Foundation, causing all off it's contents to then spill out onto the ground which would then cause the now even more panicked Chelsea to then think,
"FUCK...", in terror as she would continue to flee undeterred as Kurome would then collapse to her knees, using Yatsufusa to keep her balance before thinking to herself,
"Arghh, I MUST be at my limit, I can't move at all, well that's alright, I'm just gonna make sure that woman dies HERE AND NOW if it kills me. Now a second ago she just said that BOTH targets are down, that would mean that she managed to kill Bols at some point", before then saying,
"I WILL AVENGE HIM! NATALA, DICE HER INTO PIECES",in a commanding and desperate tone.
Cheslea would then make it several acres away from Kurome before she would then reach a flower filled meadow like clearing just outside of the forest before Natala would then suddenly appear, heading off Chelsea's path, as she would then attempt to reverse her direction, Natala would then quickly sever her entire right arm, which would then stun her before he would then impale her through her abdomen with the blade of his pole arm, causing her to then regurgitate blood before he would then extract his blade causing a bloody shower before she would then lifelessly collapse to the ground. Now, in a defeated attitude, she would then think to herself,
"So, it will be me that'll be the one atoning for their sins today, well, at least I went out spectacularly, while taking out one of theirs", before she would then put a prideful smile on her face just as Natala would then stand over her, poised to deliver the final blow as Chelsea's last thoughts would be on her Night Raid comrades and more specifically, the Nandeya siblings.
Back near the canyon, in one of it's surrounding forests, Wave would still find himself staggering along while in search of his Jägers comrades, as he would then think to himself,
"Oh MAN, I hope I catch up with them quick, the General may skin me alive if I wind up being the only one that leaves this mission alive because they SURE could ALL be dead by now for all I know", he thought as Tatsumi, who had just located him but had decided to remain hidden by the forest's brush, would then think to himself,
"Fucking stupid ass, I could kill you now if I really wanted to, you're hella lucky your a real good dude and that I think we could sway you to our side, otherwise I'd kill you right here and now", before he would then produce a fireball from his right hand before throwing it, several yards behind Wave, immediately startling him, before revealing himself to Wave, who would then say,
"SHEESH Tatsumi, you scared the crap out of me, what happened, where are the others", before Tatsumi would then reply,
"Oh, It's YOU Wave, MAN you SHOULD annouce yourself fo' you end up smoked, I didn't know WHO the hell you were and I WASN'T bout to ask. I ain't got no clue where errbody else is, Bols decided to blow himself up before we could kill anybody and that scattered us, you were the first one I found, for all I know, me and you could be the only survivors", before Wave would then reply,
"OH NO, if that's the case, the General will hang us for that", before Tatsumi would then reply,
"Ah, ah, ah, yo ass MUST'VE forgotten, I'm the love of that woman's life, she's gonna hang YOU, she'll just 'punish' me with something I'll actually enjoy", which would then cause Wave to put an incredulous look on his face before then saying,
"Oh boy, lucky you", in a sarcastic tone with tears nearly in his eyes before Tatsumi would then reply,
"DAMN straight, now let's hurry back, whoever is still alive probably already made it back and we DON'T wanna keep my lady waiting", before they would both then depart with Wave having a cringed look upon his face as he did so.
Elsewhere, in the forests just on the outskirts of Capital City, Kyouta, Yoryu and Akame would be in search of Chelsea in a torrential downpour when Kyouta would then think to himself while following a blood trail,
"If we follow this trail any further, we could risk being seen", before then saying,
"It looks like if we get any closer than this, they might see us, I'll go stealth and then check it out, I'll get out the second I see anything weird", before Akame would then reply,
"You be careful Big Brother, you just need to get in and out, get out the second anything goes wrong", before Kyouta would then reply,
"WOW, thanks sis, you got mo' concern for me than this sack of shit", in reference to Yoryu, who would then say,
"You a big boy, you'll be straight", before Kyouta would then reply,
"DAMN, that's cold", before departing.
As Kyouta would then follow the blood trail while in his stealth mode, he would then think to himself,
"Dammit, this ain't Chelsea at all from what I know of her, she would NEVER take the enemy head on like this, this don't look good", before he would then reach the town square, finding that a crowd had gathered there before he would then think,
"OH NO...", before he would then move closer to the crowd all the way until he would be in it, at which point he would then notice what they had gathered for which would cause him to then drop to his knees in utter disbelief at what stood before him. What he had saw would be the lifeless head of Chelsea mounted on a long post in the middle of town square on display for all to see and entertain themselves with as he then thought to himself,
"Chelsea...", in stunned silence.
Author's Note: As always I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I had typing in the very least. As always please keep ANY questions, review or concerns coming, I greatly appreciate and learn well from them. As always I have already started on the next chapter and expect it's release, which I have of course already started on, in a CONSIDERABLY quicker time than this chapters release, until then, I wish you ALL the absolute best in what you do and will hope that you all cherish each other for every second. Until next release...
TAWTH