Please, could I ask you to pay some kind of subscription?
-If each of you can be kind enough to pay me one euro per month, I promise to publish one chapter per day.
-If someone pays me 3 euros, he has the right to choose the next chapter that I have to write.
If you can grant me this act of kindness, please go to ( gbrazibi gmail .com )
"What?" Said a soldier. "A bounty of eight thousand gold coins for the man who attacked the palace ? And six thousand for the two men who fought against the three beasts?"
"Indeed!" Said Esdeath. "I don't know their place in the Night Raid, but these three men seem to be very strong opponents! They are not to be taken lightly!"
"Perhaps, but ..." Began the soldier, looking at the portraits of the three men drawn on sheets of paper. "How will we be able to recognize them with their masks on their faces and the absence of their names?"
"This is only the beginning of the trail." Said Esdeath. "Given their power, it is clear that Najenda will use them often against us! In any case, I'll take care of the guy who attacked the palace myself! I make a promise! But now, let's forget about that for a moment and concentrate instead on what I asked you yesterday."
The man immediately took several leaves and handed them to Esdeath, and said.
"Here is the information you asked for! The high officers of the various armies of the empire have sent us the information about their best soldiers! Some already have teigus, others have enough strength to match them!"
"All right, let me see it."
Then settling down at a desk, Esdeath began to read each of the reports, one after the other, focusing mainly on the physical condition of the members of her next group.
"All right, I'm going to form a group of ten people! With me and my personal guard, there are already four of us, so all I have to do is get six more people together!"
Very quickly, she formed two piles of paper. On the left, the potential recruits and on the right... the "small fry" having no interest in the general. Finally, having quickly finished choosing her six choices, Esdeath lingered a little while to read the data of the last person on the list, who was nothing more than a simple recruit, recommended by lieutenant Furick. To her surprise, Esdeath was somewhat interested in her original and powerful fighting style, without using teigu.
"This person... she could be useful to me."
Nevertheless, she showed her dissapointment on her face when she saw the number of victims of the soldier in question. None at all. This soldier had never killed a single bandit, and she hardly ever wounded them in battle. Reading this, Esdeath had to make a choice. Finally, she cried out.
"I have decided! The selected candidates will be the following soldiers: Run; Kurome; Seryu; Wave; Bols and..."
Hesitating a few moments, Esdeath finally decided, while putting the last card on the pile of the ''small fry'' and chose the soldier she had already selected.
"Stylish!"
"Good, General."
Seeing her father's head being decapitated before her eyes, Spear was startled at the moment. Waking up suddenly, she began to feel her pain again, before wincing, because of the wound in her abdomen. Letting herself fall back on her bed, she tried to recognize the room where she was, without success.
"Where... Where am I?"
Thinking back to her father's attackers and those who had killed the guards, Spear began to get scared. Thinking she was in their lair, she quickly got out of the bed she was in and walked to the door to get out of the room.
She glanced down the hallway and discreetly entered, looking for something that might look like a weapon, in case she needed to defend herself.
Unfortunately for her, nothing could fall into her hand before someone showed up at the other end of the corridor.
Lost in thought, Mine looked up to see Spear in front of her, and the two girls jumped out of fear at that moment.
"Who... Who are you?" Wanted to know Spear, getting into battle position.
However, moving too abruptly, Spear felt one of her wounds make her suffer and made a groan of pain. Seeing her fall to her knees, Mine cried out.
"Quiet! I mean you no harm."
"Liar! You must be one of the barbarians who attacked us."
"No, on the contrary! I'm friends with the man who came to your rescue."
"The man who...? Where is my father? Is he here, too?"
"Unfortunately, according to Gajeel, you were the only one still alive when he arrived."
Hearing this, Spear's eyes began to widen before a tear could be seen. Then, hitting the ground with force, she roared.
"Those bastards! Those bastards! Those bastards! They... They have... How could they kill him? My father was a good and respectable man."
"I know that." Assured Mine, moving slowly towards her. "That's even why he was killed."
"What...? Don't... Don't talk nonsense! No one can die because he's good! It doesn't make any sense! I can't trust you anyway! If you're really a friend of the man who saved me, I demand to see him to find out if you're really comrades."
"He was in the infirmary with you." Mine assured. "He's the man who was in the bed next to yours."
"Huh?" Spear wondered. "But there was no one with me."
"What?"
Running at that moment to the infirmary, Mine opened the door violently to find Gajeel's bed completely empty. There wasn't the slightest trace of the wizard and his cat.
"But that's...! Impossible! Where is he?"
Feeling a draught, Mine turned her gaze to the wide-open window of the room. It didn't take her long to understand what was happening.
"That idiot! He's off to fight again!"
"WATER CANNONS!"
Seeing River's attack fly towards him, Bulat positioned his spear in front of him, before swirling it at full speed. Acting as a shield, his weapon pushed the water back without harm, leaving the man unharmed.
"What...?" River wondered.
"The time when your strength surpassed mine goes back a long time." Bulat assured. "And since you are my enemy, I will give you no gifts."
"Arrogant bastard! Your rebellious side has always been a flaw in you."
"We're all like that at Night Raid."
And to prove it, Tatsumi made himself heard with a war cry as he charged Nyan.
"Didn't you have enough to collapse, you vermin?" Asked the boy, countering his sword with his flute. "You can do whatever you want, but you can never defeat my teigu!"
"Don't make me laugh!" replied Tatsumi, in spite of his wounds. "You're nothing compared to Akame or Bulat against whom I trained again and again!"
Suddenly, coming out of the ocean, an enormous column of water in the shape of a snake could be seen.
"This is an attack worthy of a warrior of your kind." Said River. "ABYSSAL SNAKE!"
Unimpressed, Bulat only displayed a mocking smile behind his mask. Then, rushing towards the attack, the man easily cut through the water column in an instant, while affirming.
"It's not a little water that will beat me." He said, as he fell back on deck with River.
"I knew it." River assured him, as he stuck a syringe in his arm. "That's why I'm going to pull out my last card, just for you!"
"Huh? A tonic?"
"BLOODY SWORD!"
In an instant, dozens of blood spurts came out of River's body and shot straight towards Bulat.
"What...?" Said Bulat, warning himself.
Widening his eyes, seeing the number of attacks coming at him, Bulat growled as he saw.
"I couldn't dodge them all."
"Lily!" Shouted someone suddenly.
Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed Bulat's back and he felt himself rising in the air, while River's attack punctured the deck of the boat where he had been before.
"But what...?" The two men wondered.
"Arrived just in time!" Said Lily, as he flew, carrying Bulat...
Landing on the deck of the ship, Gajeel stood facing River, and said to him.
"Glad to see you again! I'll be able to take my revenge on you."
"Gajeel?" Tatsumi shouted, while Nyan's blow was being parried. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"What...? You...?" River wondered, as he was now having the greatest difficulty standing upright.
Examining Gajeel's head, he finally found:
"I recognize you! You're the guy in the mask from last time! Then you're a member of Night Raid, too! Did you come to save your friends?"
"Not in the first place! However, the other guy is currently my training partner, so it would be bad if you start hurting him to death."
"Unfortunately, it's too late for him." Said River.
"Hmm?" Said Gajeel, looking at Bulat.
Still floating in the air, the warrior was waving in pain as he had two holes in his right leg.
"I managed to hurt him." River chuckled. "And with the toxin I've inserted into his bloodstream, he'll die in no time! And there's no antidote."
"You sacrificed your life ... just to have a chance to kill him?" Gajeel wondered.
"If this allows Esdeath-sama to reach the top, I will do it again and again, no matter how many times I have to reincarnate."
"You fool!" Gajeel growled, turning his arm into a sword.
Running then, he ran straight towards Lily and Bulat and jumped into the air.
"What...?" River wondered, before spitting blood.
"Bulat!" Shouted Gajeel, showing his arm. "I'm sorry, but I have no choice."
Quickly understanding what he was going to do, Bulat smiled before advising him.
"You'd better leave my second leg in one piece."
"IRON DRAGON'S SWORD!"
Looking up, everyone could see Gajeel waving his sword towards Bulat, before cutting off his leg with two holes in it. Despite clenching his teeth, Bulat couldn't help but cry out in pain as his amputated limb fell off in front of River.
"Im... Impossible!"
"Bulat!" Tatsumi horrified himself.
Yet despite the pain, Bulat tried to smile at Gajeel, before assuring him.
"When we're done, remind me to buy you a drink."
"I'll be two minutes!" Assured Gajeel simply, coming down.
Falling back in front of River again, the wizard began to smile at him, and said.
"Too bad for you, your sacrifice was for nothing! I'm going to ..."
Stepping forward, Gajeel suddenly grimaced in pain, before laying his hand on a wound in his abdomen. As blood flowed out of the wound, it showed that it had just reopened due to the magician's abrupt gestures.
"Shit! I pushed too hard."
Seeing this, River cried out.
"If this is what you wish, it is you who will die with me."
Seeing him get a new syringe, Gajeel grumbled as he understood what he was going to do.
"He is already half dead and yet he still has the strength to fight! If he touches me, I'm dead! I need something to help me recover as soon as possible."
Suddenly, seeing something shining not far from him, Gajeel noticed Daidara's lifeless body and his teigu dragging on the ground.
"His axe... It's metal!"
Having no other idea, he ran straight to it, while River cried out.
"BLOODY SWORD!"
Hearing the attack coming at him, Gajeel quickly grabbed the old Daidara teigu and bit him without hesitation.
River wondered, seeing Gajeel's teeth crack the axe.
Striking the place where he was, River's attack pierced everything he encountered and destroyed part of the ship in this way.
Then falling to his knees, River put his hand over his heart, saying.
"This victory I dedicate to you, Esdeath-sama."
"Not bad! But it lacks power." Replied Gajeel suddenly.
River astonished himself, looking up to stare at a silhouette through the smoke.
Covered with a layer of metal, Gajeel stood before him, with no new wounds visible on his body.
"Impossible!"
"Your buddy's axe was delicious." Gajeel said, swallowing his last bite. "It really was pure metal! Without it, I can assure you that you would have won the battle!"
"Did you eat his teigu?"
And as proof, Gajeel concentrated for a few moments, before bringing out two blades from his forearms, looking like the two parts of Daidara's teigu.
"Interesting! Not only did this teigu give me energy again, but it seems to have merged with my body!"
"You... You're a monster!" Roars River, activating his teigu.
Using his very last strength, he concentrated to pull several columns of water out of the ocean, before shouting:
"JUDGMENT OF THE HEAVENLY WATER DRAGON!"
Seeing the attack coming at him, Gajeel concentrated before murmuring:
"New technique!"
Turning at full speed, he raised his arms to his sides and used his new blades to create sharp air currents.
"IRON DRAGON'S SPIRAL!"
The columns were cut off one by one and exploded to fall onto the boat in the form of droplets.
"He sliced them?" Wondered River.
Then rushing towards River, Gajeel positioned his arms in a cross before shouting:
"IRON DRAGON'S GUILLOTINE!"
And in an instant he found himself behind River, while the latter was left with a huge cross-shaped wound in his abdomen. Unable to hold on, the man finally collapsed, muttering.
"What strength!"
Weakened, too, as he felt most of his wounds open one by one, Gajeel collapsed, unable to make the slightest movement. But as soon as he had time to catch his breath he saw a figure jumping over his body.
"You scum!" Roars Nyan, as he positions his flute towards Gajeel. "You're going to pay for this!"
Appearing in his turn, Tatsumi managed to parry his attack with his sword.
"Hey! It's me, your opponent."
"You're getting annoying." Nyan roared.
Exerting more force, Nyan managed to eject Tatsumi on his side, who collapsed to the ground, finally falling down with fatigue. Giving him a mocking look, Nyan said.
"No matter how hard you try, you'll never make it to my ankle! I am one of Esdeath-sama's elite men, don't forget that."
"It doesn't matter who you are! I will never give up."
"Die!" Nyan shouted.
Nevertheless, before he could strike him, Lily, in his warlike form, parried his attack while affirming.
"I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me last time."
"Are you still alive? What the hell are you? A teigu?"
"No, an exceed! But let's stop talking and fight."
Retreating, while seeing the two opponents start to fight, Tatsumi ends up hearing a voice behind his back.
"Tatsumi!"
"Aniki!" cried Tatsumi, seeing his friend leaning against one of the railings.
With only a stump in place of his leg, Bulat had made a tourniquet, using the sleeve of his sweater. Nevertheless, from the pale look on his face, he had already lost too much blood to fight again.
"Tatsumi, I entrust it to you." Said the warrior, trying Incursio.
"What? Use your teigu ? Me? But that's impossible! I will never be able to resist the pressure it will exert on my body!"
"You don't have to worry about that! You're strong enough, by my standards."
"But I don't have your physical condition."
"Idiot!" Bulat roars. "Think about all your training! You fought against Akame! You fought against Gajeel! You fought against me! In front of so many strong people, your body only got stronger, day by day! Don't underestimate your talent."
"But I..."
"What are you doing now?" Suddenly wanted to know, Lily.
Suddenly gaining in height, Nyan now faced him with a muscular body, while saying.
"This is my last trump card! Now I have every chance to beat you."
Running towards Lily, he then had no trouble getting her to back off, while the overhang tried to parry all the blows he was trying to give him. However, he immediately understood that Nyan wasn't bluffing he had managed to increase his strength tenfold.
"Tatsumi, you have to do it." Bulat cried, continuing his tender Incursio. "If you use it, I know we can win this battle! You are our last hope."
"Aniki?"
"Move your ass, you idiot." Gajeel roars then. "What are you waiting for? To be killed by that transgender?"
Suddenly screaming in pain, Lily was kicked in the abdomen and crashed into a wall. Spitting blood, as his wounds opened, he fell to the ground and regained his small shape.
"Haha!" Nyan laughed. "Next!"
At that moment, knowing he had no other choice, Tatsumi grabbed Incursio and pointed him at Nyan.
"After Aniki told me all this, there's no way I'm going to disappoint him."
The seer wanting to fight, Nyan cried out, running towards him.
"I'm going to kill you, you brat."
"Go ahead, Tatsumi!" Bulat shouted.
"INCURSIO!" Shouted Tatsumi.
Brilliant then, Incursio transformed himself into a white armor which covered Tatsumi's body. As he expected, he felt as if he suddenly had to bear a pressure of several tons on his shoulders. However, he refused to give up when he felt he was on such a good path.
"What...?" Nyan wondered.
"This is from Aniki, Gajeel, Lily and all the guys you killed." Tatsumi cried, pointing his fist at him.
Unable to avoid the latter, Nyan felt his blow hit his abdomen before piercing it. Barely able to utter a scream, his body dropped and returned to its original shape.
"And three." Tatsumi said as his armor disappeared.
Smiling, understanding that he had just won, Gajeel mumbled.
"God job, kid."
"I ... I did it?" The boy wondered, looking at the Incursio he was holding in his hand. "Did I really defeat him?"
"Tatsumi!" Called him Bulat. "I'm proud of you! From now on, Incursio belongs to you."
Then, falling on his side, Bulat's body fell to the ground.
"Aniki?" Tatsumi wondered. "ANIKI!"