Hey! I'm back cause I actually have time, which is a first in a eternity. So yes, the explanation continues and I promise we'll be out of this phase soon everyone so stay tuned. Thanks for all your beautiful reviews! Keep the comments and death threats coming! It fuels my determination to keep this story up and running. Soooo. Where were we again?

Sounds of cackling, scorching fire scraped against the walls like deathly knives, leaving harsh, black as marks in their absence form the contact. Around the two assassins, a fiery blaze raged on, enveloping them in intense, concentrated heat complimented by a wall of orange and red. Akame's usually monotonous, but now frantic voice rung through, but was blocked out of his ear drums by the numbing sensation of ground-shattering timber and crumbling of stone.

"So as you know, Ayora is nothing but a possessed spirit, a she-demon presence."

That speech pattern broke through his senseless, bubble, reaching in and tearing his body from the flashback, right into the depths of a suffering reality. His green spheres scanned the area, only to see ruin and chaos. The air had the odourless presence of death woven into it's hot influence. Through gritted teeth, Tatsumi glared at the imposing figure above. It had been five long years since he committed the ultimate, unforgivable offence, and was hence banished for his actions.

Necromancy. That 'process' he under took was brutal, and utterly disgusting. The man had killed fourteen people, three of which were village elders and two were children. Two times it took to silence his wrath, and in those two times it meant killing the mindless Ayora off again. The first time, it took all of his will, all of his emotional maturity to strike the hollow body down.

It had started when she decided on her teigu training, not having a reliable teacher to aid her in using it. eventually, the demon sealed inside the cursed relic broke out due to her weak spirit. It's name was unknown to men, but it's habits were not. It assumed a possessive attitude, locating a victim through haunting objects, then a succubus-like process where it lured another victim in after eating the body from inside out. The monster devoured her slowly, allowing all the searing pain in the world to seep through her body, into her mind until she drove herself insane, and losing all of her dignity and mentality over a span of weeks. Knowing that she suffered while she died, and not doing a think about it or even knowing, was what nearly cause Tatsumi suicide Memories, emotions, personality all withered away into nothing, feeding the demon inside. All affections and feeligns of love and caring for nature, people, hobbies, dissipated. Everyone around her, the ones who cared for her were all unaware, until it chose to strike, and it's first target was Tatsumi.

All that was left was a hollow body, with a remnant of the person, however, Ayora was different. It did attack mercilessly on her, but she would allow it. the demon did eventually kill her, through persistence, but inside, there was more left than a shard. She endured all of the torturous treatment, but in the end it wasn't enough to win against it. What was most disturbing was that...she...or part of her still remained, but mixed with a horrible, faceless creature. Arata was out with most of the other village hunters, gathering food and killing game that night.

That wanting to live, gave way to a new kind of demon. One more vile and dangerous, a spirit so sinister that it made the original just a fragment of it's power. The insidious being was not just any hell spawn. It was as if the real Ayora, was and had always been, a creature of pure malice and hate, evil in a sense that wanted to destroy and corrupt the world. She was a true horror.

It was a terrible night that she came to him. Tatsumi was under the impression that she wanted to sneak out into the forest for a walk, but instead she had...ulterior motives. The crippling strike crashed into his abdomen first, but the second he ducked and rolled to the side. Confusion met fear in a whirl of instinct. Questioning what she was doing, he finally realised the look in her eyes: Death. That was when he understood, Ayora was already gone. When words fell from her mouth, his heart stopped beating and the world around him just shuddered.

"Help...me...Tatsumi" It was possible, however slight chance, that a tiny bit of the old Ayora, was still alive.

There was nothing else he could do, and that was when he decided what needed to be done. It was all over then and there. He just picked up and sharp rock, and closed his eyes, grabbing her neck, wanting, wishing desperately, that the pain would subside, would end for good, and he would be able to leave her at rest. It was for her own good, thats how he thought in that moment. He had read about the demons during studies, and knew what would come about next. They had to be eliminated, immediately.

When he opened his eyes again, blood soaked his jacket, splattered everywhere around him in a pool of gore. Beneath his hunched form, the remains of a once beautiful girl was plastered on the ground. Emotion clouded his vision, causing tears to form at his eyes and blur everything. He thought it was all over, that he couldn't go one without her, but he at least had friends comfort him, and the despair, sorrow, guilt all washed away in a matter of months. Thats what people thought though, but in his time alone, he would cry, bask in depression and anxiety. Tatsumi couldn't let her go, no matter how hard he tried. The trauma of killing someone however, killing her, stayed, weighing on his shoulders and scaring him. Her last words struck a chord, poking at his heart like a cold rod that he felt would forever remain as a bearing curse.

"I love you...Tatsumi..." That was when the Ayora he knew died, and the demon inside prospered.

What made the situation even more strikingly terrible, was that the one person that saw him in that pool of crimson, was him. Was Arata. His eyes were widened with fearful awe and he felt to his knees, just watching the scene in front. The friend that was his, had turned into a monster. He had killed his sister. He was...sickening. The following days, he wouldn't face Tatsumi, just stayed locked up in his room while an investigation of the attempted murder took place. That just made him feel worse inside, like bringing back the shock of the killing was enough. No, more emotions had to keep at him, assaulting his mind and dragging him down into hell slowly, like he was indeed dying inside without the help of a demon.

Just because he was older, didn't mean he was capable of being mentally stronger. Every time Tatsumi would catch a glance at Arata, he was met with silence, shunned and ignored. He didn't understand that doing that hurt him him than Arata

Arata fell into despair, just like Tatsumi, but different. through all his sadness, all his lingering feeling of death, a goal arose, one that he would give anything to achieve. He had made a decision, to lead down a dark path of murder and sacrifice. He went insane, mad beyond belief, obsessed with the concept of hurting Tatsumi and hell bent, on bringing her back to the world of living. It was supposed to be impossible, but by mastering her teigu and bringing it to knew heights with the reveal of it's sacred triumph card, he abused the power and used it to prosper the dark being After all, Arata wanted him to suffer more than he ever did. All the essence from the teigu was fused inside both the devil spirit unknowingly by Arata, and into himself accidentally, crushing his persona and replacing it with one of similar trait to the possessive demon: a reflection of himself occupied by a creature form hell. Magic couldn't have existed, but teigu unfortunately did. Necromancy was impossible, but somehow, with the aid of teigu, it worked a single time. Tatsumi knew very well of the supernatural relics now, but had no idea of its power back then.

After the revival, that disturbing dark magic had boosted her powers, making her even more powerful. Ieyasu had sprinted to notify Tatsumi of the burning fires encasing the neighbour village, and in no time, he was there. It was already hard the first time, but the second just pulled down the emotions. His opponent was formidable, but with the help of his friends, they defeated Ayora, again, which was not only a physical struggle for Tatsumi, but it tore at his heart once again. Ieyasu and Sayo both noticed his emotional change, and guarded him as best as they could.

It killed him inside each strike it took on her body, slicing through her still spasming body even while the spirit was expelled form it's stitched up figure, but when it came to Arata, Tatsumi was unrelenting, and somehow manage to best him, fortunately breaking his wrist. Ayora's body was broken, completely destroyed and burnt into ashes. Arata was banished and never seen again. IT was supposed to be over.

"Arata..."

" Tatsumi old pal! And my new name is Marcus, but only you can call me that... if not it's Astaroth." ending his sentence he eyed Akame expectantly.

"I'm...not your pal."

"What the hell is going one here?!" Akame's furious expression intruded on their short conversation. She stared daggers at both Tatsumi and the hooded man in front, crimson eyes gleaming with anger.

"Akame..." Tatsumi's earlier provoked madness ceased, diminishing into understanding. "She ahs no idea what is going on..."

"Oh he hasn't told you? Well let me enlighten you of course!"

"No don't you dare-"

"I'm Ayora's loving brother, and Ayora, was Tatsumi's loving girlfriend, you know, the one he slept with first."

"How can you speak about your own sister like that!?" Outraged, he lashed forward, blade poised forward and brought down with the force of a fully grown dragon, only to be blocked easily with his bare hand. A gush of air burst from the spot of contact, winding the surrounding papers and sending them into the fire. Akame gasped at his sentence, but was even more shocked at Tatsumi's defence and protectiveness of her. "Shes dead...so why is he..."

"It's because she's my sister, that I can talk about her. Baka."

"SHUT UP!" Tatsumi continued to relentlessly, and uncontrollably rush forward and slash, in a fuelled trance of rage, being blinded by a heavy anger. 'Marcus' just nonchalantly talked while deflecting his pointless barrage.

"So as I was saying..." Pushing the hero to the side, his white smirk could trace through the darkness of his cowl. "I struggled through studying...books and-hey that was close! To finally find a ritual worthy of my dear little sister... and-woah watch it their Tat- and brought her back to life, where in which i had to gather...ingredients, or rather disembowel many village- shit- village people who possessed the right...constellations! Then it was a matter of finding her body, and waiting for the right time."

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU OVER A HUNDRED TIMES SO YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MOVE YOUR STUPID MOUTH!"

"Letting me go back then was a mistake you idiot."

Tatsumi struck again, only barely missing, but following up with a spinning back kick that connected with Astaroth's stomach, feeling the strings of muscle contract and collapse under his boot. Pushing off his body, the hero jumped back into a leaning stance, blade still ready. Astaroth glanced over to the side, off balance for a crucial second before regaining posture and applauding his enemy with mock enthusiasm. This time, he charged forward at blinding speed, combating Tatsumi at an extreme rate, throwing punches and kicks in combination at quick jabs, striking up, down and to the sides. He couldn't keep up, and soon found himself up against the wall, open for a hit, which the demon assassin took, kicking him with such velocity across the wall he tumbled to the right while grinding roughly agains the brick. Akame opened her mouth to yell out his name, but nothing came out, and her body was immobilised, frozen in place.

The two ceased the fighting, both panting heavily. Fatigue set in, sneaking into there skin like an injection. that was when he decide, it was time to get serious.

Tatsumi took his chance and drew his key, raising into the air. With a mighty shout, he unleashed his hidden power into the burnt air, letting go of all his rage and fuelling power, channeling it into his transformation.

In that moment, the whole building combusted into fire. Destruction plagued the district.

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Akame awoke tot he numbing sound of desperate screams and tragic yells of help, but no signs of their owners in sight. Her clouded eyes tried to focus on one point, but all she saw was fire, and a gleaming set of silver armour, with gigantic, monstrous dragon-like wings protruding form the back and curved talons reaching down to the humanoid figure's thighs. Curled horns stuck out from the persons head, the helm forged with a mix of hatred, denying fear and explosive temper.

Her helpless form was sprawled over the rubble, clawing at the ashes around her in an attempt to raise her self. The black gloves she wore were tattered and wrecked, along with her clothes and bottom half of her skirt. "Damn...Itaaa...Where...is Tatsu- Oh no."Her eyes opened again in realisation. She quickly jumped up, fighting though the pain spreading past her limbs and ran, stopping behind Tatsumi with Murasame brandished.

"He's gonna win...He better." She reassured herself, not completely confident, but believing that he had the potential to succeed in the battle. She watched on as Tatsumi battled Astaroth, observing their fluid fighting techniques and dodging motions as they played out. The hero would attack with his right arm, using his reliable blade to jab multiple times in the front while assaulting on the left second, then finally swiping with both and finishing with some kind of kind o break manoeuvre. His opponent would counter each one easily, then look for the right moment to strike, like when he would drop his guard, which almost never happened. Almost.

Tatsumi leapt up and went for a frontal hilt slash, slamming into the ground after arcing his spear down and following up by feinting to the left before jumping high and summersaulting through the air, slashing in a dual fan opposite ways while he catapulted down past his flip. That move, was one of his signature plays, a deadly weapon in his arsenal. Akame had faced it many times, and still found it puzzling to get by, but his enemy just blocked and elbowed him aside as if his fighting was child's play.

"Wait thats not fair...free fighting?" Akame questioned, alarmed at his sudden change of fighting stance. She looked on as Tatsumi, thought still holding his blades, began to throw punches and kicks out of his style, efficient and terribly effect, but slower in comparison to his speed type prowess. "Where did her learn that?" She wondered out loud. The utilisation of his body rather than blades astounded her, mostly at his stupidness rather than motion. He would switch between his normal bladed stance, to the fluid, street fighting-like technique, through to a heavier, stronger hitting posture. Unfortunately, Astaroth could block and deflect all of them.

"I need... to get into the fight..." As soon as she tried, her sickly body lurched forward, and she fell to the ground in heap. "Not...now...ahhh!" She exclaimed in frustration.

Tatsumi started to employed dirty tactics, kicking up soft rubble and viciously tapping his shin, making Astraoth fall to the side, off balance for less than a second, which was all the time in the world. With the window, The assassin collided his fist straight with his face, savouring the crack of bone under a bruised knuckle, then rolled over his back, tucking his arm in and winding up his short-sword into a vertical curve, rising upwards. He managed to land that one hit, just so that it sliced at his skin. He felt the flesh separate under the sharpness, but fled back with a grunt, not daring to continue.

Astaroth traced his exact movement, dodging two parallel horizontal slices to the chest and adding his own floury of attacks, a set of fast, rapid jabs of twin daggers, then ended with about to the gut and three elbow strikes tot he chest. The first six or so were blocked, the next five were felt. They traded hits continuously until they drove into a lock, eyes gazing daggers, impacting as hard as their weapons.

"You know you'll never be able to beat me, and definitely not our boss either, he especially wants to kill you, so my orders are-"

"I don't fucking care about your stupid orders! I'll kill you all!" His grip tightened around the leather hilt, and he raised it for another go, as well as summoning his spear in the other arm, fanning it on his left side. His dragon armour was heavy, but his strength surpassed it. With red eyes glowing, he readied a stance, aiming for speed rather than unadulterated force.

"You don't want to know who he is? Thats a shame I was gonna tell you after I broke your two arms!" Akame remained silent, curious still, but still laying on the ground. She could spot his blind spot with ease while the tattoo-like patterns burnt into her skin glowed a bright crimson shade.

"Oh I have a surprise for you! Guess who's body we're using to revive our dear here!" As he talked, he unveiled the casket, opening the door to reveal a horrific corpse.

The two assassin eyes both widened in shock, frozen from the magnitude of disbelief and guilt they suddenly felt. No one could do something as cruel as this, and they could definitely feel all the poisonous emotions return, corrupting their minds. The two were staring at the cold, dead eyes of there close friend: Mine. both hearts stopped beating.

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for those who didn't understand: Ayora was possessed by a demon spirit residing in her teigu. Arata went mad when he tried to revive her, and lost all feeling towards Tatsumi. Tatsumi killed her twice, first time he broke her body, which Arata stitched back together and revived. Second time Tatsumi fought both, heavily injuring Arata and completely incinerating Ayora's body so that she would come back alive. Now Arata is using Mine's dead body as the host for Ayora's sealed spirit which he found and binded in another teigu. Anyways wow I totally made Akame a side character in the last few chapters...I'll make her bigger in the coming volumes so don't worry! Keep ging with the reviews everyone and thanks for the support. Also... sequel to 'More lollipops sweet fun'? hmmmmmm...