CHAPTER 23: KILL THE JAEGERS PART 2

(3rd Person POV)

Now that the Fierce Teigu/Zodiac battle has begun, the sisters face off immediately, with Akame and Kuraime leaping up towards their respective younger siblings who stood on the shoulder of Destaghoul. The Scarlet eyed assassin immediately locked bladed with her onyx eyed sister, who just grinned at the sight of her sister's determination and desperation.

Akame's thoughts: "The user's movements will become slower if they control eight corpses at once. I will NOT miss this opportunity!!!"

The sisters broke the weapon lock and ended up standing on opposite ends of Destaghoul's shoulder before the elder of the two immediately did a 180 and charged back while the younger was still recovering, however, a young man with a mask and light blonde hair stepped in between the two and blocked her attack, taking her by surprise, but she was more surprised by the person she was seeing... her former friend.

Akame: "Natala!?" 

As she called his name out in shocked, he suddenly kicked her back before rushing over to the second pair of sisters, Kuraime and Akaruime, whose scythes were locked together before the elder used her >Raven Blitz< to speed behind the younger to strike her, however, Natala was the one to entrap her scythe with his spear. Her eyes widened from shock, giving him the chance to throw her over his shoulder and thrust his spear forwards to her stomach, however, she narrowly blocked it with the shaft of Ketsuekime which caused her to return to the side of her red-eyed best friend.

Kuraime: "What the...!? Why is Natala...!?"  She didn't have time to process what was happening as the revived man rushed towards the two, thrusting and slashing at incredible speeds, though the two assassins had time to dodge each strike.

Akame: "Return him to the earth already, Kurome!"

Kuraime: "Isn't he a childhood friend to you!? Why won't you just let him rest!?"  Immediately after saying that, a ball of hot plasma collided with her side, sending her skidding away from her best friends, but when she spotted the attacker, her eyes widened as she recognized the half red, half white haired teen in front of her...  "Pyro!?"

Akame: "Pyro too!?"  She yelled in shock before she blocked an incoming strike from her sister.

Kurome: "What're you saying, sis? It's because they were our friends that we want to always be with them."

Akaruime: "Exactly."  She said as she attacked her elder sister from her blindside, however she managed to block it barely with the left arm armor of Ajax that appeared on her left arm.  "And soon enough, I'll add you to my collection too, sis."

Kurome: "And if we do that, we'll all be together like before, just the four of us."

Kuraime: "Tch... You..."

Akame: "...Don't joke around..."  The two elders gritted their teeth at their sisters, however, their younger sisters just grinned at them.

Kurome and Akaruime: "How unfortunate."  With powerful strikes, they launched their elder sisters off of the shoulder of the giant sized Destaghoul, where Bols waited on the ground with Rubicante pointed upwards.

Bols: "Magma Drive!!"

Kuraime: "Wait...!"

Akame: "That Teigu can do long distance shots too...!?"

Purgatory's Invitation—Rubicante
Trump Card: Magma Drive

"Magma Drive allows Rubicante to fire off individual blasts of flame, giving the Teigu long ranged capabilities."

As the blast of flame hurled towards the two free falling Assassins, they were swiftly saved by the two armored assassins, Dairoku and Tatsumi.

Dairoku: "Damn, never seen you this riled up, babe."  He said to his scarlet eyed girlfriend as his Barbatos Wings sent them safely one side of the canyon's cliff.

Akame: "Daiku..."  In the meantime, Tatsumi landed next to them with Kuraime in his arms.

Tatsumi: "Don't rush in by yourselves. This isn't like either of you, Kuraime, Akame."   The scarlet eyed assassin just looked away

Kuraime: "Sorry..."

Tatsumi: "Looks like this isn't an enemy we'll be able to defeat easily..."  He commented, looking up at Destaghoul and the massive skeletal quadruped Dragon Danger Beast, Fafnir just as Kurome, Akaruime, Natala and Pyro leaped over to a side of the cliff with a forest behind it before the two younger sisters stared down their elders, who kneeled next to their armored partners.

Kurome and Akaruime: "Sis..."  The four looked up to the two partners.

Kurome: "You both betrayed us, and joined people like that..."

Akaruime: "Tch... We'll swiftly remove them from the equation."  The two gestured towards their gigantic skeletal beasts.

Kurome and Akaruime: "Kill them! Destaghoul! Fafnir!" 

Following the commands of their masters, the two Ultra-Class Danger Beast Corpses roared loudly as they began charging before they unleashed massive blasts of energy that completely decimated the canyon and forced the Night Raiders to get into hiding to protect themselves. Nearly the entire canyon was completely leveled just from the attack.

Mine: "So these are the Ultra-Class Dander Beasts that's a material for Teigu...! What absurd power..."  She sweat dropped before she looked down to the silver band on her left arm.  *thoughts* "Maybe now would be a good time for Absolute Zero... No, I should still put off using it. I'll use it if those two Danger Beasts stay out for too long."

Akaruime: "Oh my, I feel like they used a bit too much power."

Kurome: "Ahaha, they changed the terrain completely."  The two sat atop a rock with Natala and Pyro by their sides, standing guard while the two ate their cookies.  "But I guess it's as what I should've expected from Night Raid..."

Akaruime: "Yeah... They neatly dodged the attacks without even a scratch."  She said as she noticed the assassins down below coming out of their cover, completely unscathed.

The battle immediately resumed with Destaghoul throwing a slow moving clawed punch towards the trio of Najenda, Susanoo and Saber, who all dodged it neatly, before Fafnir growled and swung its massive tail towards them, only for it to miss as backed out of the way, with the biological Teigu carrying his master.

Najenda: "Destaghoul, Fafnir. As expected, what incredible destructive power."  Then she turned to her Teigu.  "Susanoo! We'll all stop them together!"

Susanoo: "That order is mistaken, Najenda."  She looked at him questionably, before noticed the determination in his eyes as he easily blocked a strike from the Destaghoul before slamming his Wolf's Fang Mace against it.  "It's certainly a fearsome foe... However, I can defeat it by myself... Have everyone else go for the others!"

Najenda: "As expected of my Teigu."  She smirked.

Dairoku: "Saber!"  The knightly Zodiac-Spirit was looking up at Fafnir, glaring intensely at her foe, before she turned and looked up at Dairoku, who was still standing on top of the cliff.  "I command you to slay the Ultra-Class Danger Beast, Fafnir!"  The Command Seal underneath the armor that covered his left hand glowed as Saber gained a look of determination.

Saber: "Roger, Dairoku!"  She responded, full clarification in her tone as she gripped Excalibur with both of her armored hands. Dairoku was surprised that she referred to him by his name but smirked under his helmet.

Dairoku: "Alright!!" 

Sword of Promised Victory—Excalibur
Zodiac Form: Sacred Sword
Wielder: Saber

"Excalibur is a mysterious majestic holy sword that symbolizes King Arthur. As that which can be called the physical actualization of her ideals and the symbol of her heroism, it is her greatest and most powerful Noble Phantasm. Not much is known by its power, besides that it was the strongest super weapon out of the Zodiacs and Teigu to exist, before Absolute Zero was created. Only those with the with the heart of a warrior who vows to bring peace to the land is able to unsheathe the sword from its pedestal. Excalibur is only wieldable by the one who pulled it from its pedestal, and her wielder, Saber. It is also the very first Zodiac created, making it the oldest super weapon ever created."

King of Knights—Artoria Pendragon (King Arthur)
Zodiac-Spirit
Saber-Class Servant
Master: Dairoku

"Artoria, or as she goes by, Saber, is the first and only Zodiac-Spirit to be created and once her Master is chosen, said master will be given a Command Seal on the back of their hand that claims of absolute obedience, the crystallization of great magic, that a Master has over a Servant. Upon being born during creation of Imperial Empire, Artoria was the servant of the original Emperor himself and managed to fall in love with him, getting married and giving birth to his child, despite the fact that she was a relic. But like humans and animals, even she is able to experience emotion and therefore fell in love with him. In his final breath, the Emperor encouraged Artoria to live on for herself. However, upon all of her power being drained in a final battle for the Empire, she fled to a temple in the northern region of the Empire before going into a multi-year stasis, waiting to be reawakened by the next person to pull Excalibur from its pedestal. All that is known of her physical abilities, is that she's more than a force to be reckoned with, being comparable to an army of at least 1000 soldiers."

From her vantage point, Mine looked through the scope of Pumpkin, having her sights on the ring leaders of this circus.

Mine's thoughts: "If I can just defeat either Kurome or Akaruime, this battle would be much more manageable...I'll aim for Akaruime, since Himitsume's more dangerous than Yatsufusa. I'll shoot her down this time for sure!!"  However, immediately as her sights focused on the green eyed reaper, Natala stood in front of her, his spear suddenly extending to strike the sniper, though she barely dodged.  "A TEIGU!? KUH!"

She grunted as a beam of plasma energy collided with her left shoulder, singeing her sleeve a bit as a cowboy and cowgirl dashed across the elongated spear, both wielding dual pistols

Mine: "You both use guns, huh... Bring it on!"  She got ready to take on the two of them but they both were suddenly tripped by an invisible force.

Levi: "Don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun."  The ninja deactivated her camouflage, appearing next to the pink haired sniper, wearing her Srivatsa armor and with Ventus on her arms.

Mine: "Levi!"

Levi: "Let's do it!"

Mine: "Right!"

Down below, Tatsumi and Dairoku stood back to back surrounded by an Apeman and a Medusa , the former growling aggressively while the latter hissed with a snake tongues flicking back and forth.

Tatsumi: "So these ones' the corpse of two Danger Beasts too, huh..."

Dairoku: "I've seen them before but never actually fought them... Be cautious, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi: "Right, Aniki!"

Immediately, the two charged their respective opponents. The Apeman threw multiple wild and quick punches at the young armored teen, Tatsumi, before he went in for a bite, which the teen blocked with his armored right forearm before dealing a powerful blow to his gut, sending him flying back.

The Medusa unleashed acid attacks from her mouth which the Death's Harbinger easily dodged before rushing up to her, however remembering that this kind of Danger Beast can do, Dairoku quickly grabbed it by the face, making sure to cover its eyes before he kneed her in her abdomen, sending her crashing down.

Dairoku: "Yeah. I don't feel like becoming stone today."  However, a sinking feeling triggered the Vampire to turn around, to see a dark cloaked figure with a red mask dashing towards him, almost too fast for him, but thankfully Barbatos' tail protected him by parrying the intruder's blade strike.  "Damn you..."

He gripped Yoake in a reverse grip, turning it into its bladed tonfa form as he dealt rapid strikes to the newcomer, throwing in punches and kicks in between combos, but the figure easily dodged them all.

Maraud: "Inexperienced... Perienced... Perienced."

Dairoku: "The fuck are you echoing your own voice for?"  He questioned as he made a downward slash with Yoake, which the newcomer easily dodged and attempted to strike his head with his blade, only for Barbatos' tail to parry it again. Dairoku retreated to Tatsumi's side, only to be surprised that he was fighting a similar opponent.  "Seems like we're in a bit of a predicament..."

Tatsumi: "What the hell are these guys!?"

Hentarr: " I... failed... failed."

Akame and Kuraime faced Bols, charging forwards to swiftly end the man's life, especially after seeing the capabilities of his Teigu, being able to handle both short and long ranges.

Kuraime: "Tch... That Teigu's too dangerous to linger around."

Akame: "Then we will eliminate him!"

Bols: "To think they would come straight at me..." 

He prepared Rubicante, aiming it at the two ravenettes as they ran at him, before he pulled the trigger, unleashing a stream of flame towards them. However, Akame leaped over while Kuraime slid underneath him and his flames, ending up behind him. The man was shocked and terrified underneath his mask as the two assassins roared and made horizontal slashes to his back, only for them to strike two bald men who both worse shades, however they didn't die from the strikes, meaning...

Akame and Kuraime's thoughts: "KUH! Murasame and Ketsuekime won't work against the corpse puppets!!"  Immediately, the two bald men dealt powerful kicked to the ravenettes, sending them crashing down to the ground with grunts of pain.

Leone: "Akame!"

Mira: "Kuraime-Chan!"  The two got ready to dash over to them, only to be halted with a whip wrapped around their legs, around Leone's left leg and Mira's right leg, basically tying them together before they were slammed into the side of the canyon.  "Ow! Leone, your tits are suffocating me!!"

Leone: "Ehehe Sorry!"  The two got off of each other and glared at the attacker, being an older man.  "Old man, you've sure done it now. I can see through an attack of that level."  She cracked her shoulder but immediately her eyes widened upon the man unleashing a series of high speed whip attacks.

Mira: "Can you see though that!?"

Leone: "I can't!?"  The two blocked the attacks with their arms, however, the whip stung against them, especially for Leone since she had on no form of armor.  *thoughts* "My kinetic vision can't keep up, even though I'm transformed!? Even though he's not using a Teigu, Zodiac or anything..."  *out loud*  "Kuh... This guy...!"

Mira's thoughts: "I... I can't see an opening... And he's managing to hurt me even though I have on Alkonost...??"  Mira tried to fly out of the way of the whip, but was stopped when the man slammed her into the ground by wrapping the whip around her leg.  *out loud* "Ow!"

Kurome: "Woow, It's a battle royale!"

Akaruime: "Wow, interesting! Though it's unfortunate that Himi can only summon 6 puppets at a time."  The two sat upon their rock throne above the battle without a care in the world while their elder sisters glared up at them as she laid on the ground, bruised from the kicks they endured.

Akame: "Kurome..."

Kuraime: "Akaruime..."

Akaruime: "Aren't they great? Our toys."

Kurome: "Doya is an assassin sent from the northern tribes. Her confident nature shows on her face even now, see? But she was crying and screaming when I killed her, if I recall."

Akaruime: "Alec is Doya's boyfriend, believe it or not. He was sent from the northern tribes along with her. The two were definitely a formidable pair to deal with. Haha, you should have seen his face when Kurome killed his beloved Doya."

(Alec)

Kurome: "Woll and Verde were famous guardsmen. But I killed Woll because he was protecting a target of mine. Akaruime killed Verde, since he was extremely persistent."

Akaruime: "Apeman's a muscle head, but he's easy to use so he was Kurome's favorite for a while. Medusa on the other hand was a tricky kill for me, considering if I was too slow, I would be turned into stone. But I managed to cut her head off."

(Medusa)

Kurome: "Hentarr and Maraud were survivors from the Ban Tribes. Their movements are tricky, and Akaruime and I sure had a hard time killing them. We've very proud of owning them."

Akaruime: "Rokgough was a General of the Empire. He was exposed trying to betray us and join the Revolutionary Army, so he was assassinated by Kurome. And as for Destaghoul and Fafnir, we found them hibernating in Seiga."

Kurome: "Destaghoul was hibernating in a huge hole while Fafnir was hibernating in a massive cave. That was lucky. And Natala and Pyro are our friends from childhood."

Akaruime: "Mhm! They guard us completely during Yatsufusa and Himi's activation!"

Kurome: "And the last one for me is a Danger Beast I made into a puppet just a while ago, but you'll have to wait a bit more for its debut."

(A/N: "God that smile's too adorable...")

Akaruime: "And that's all of our Puppets! Aren't they awesome? Ehehehe!"

Tatsumi's thoughts: "So you're saying... That there's still one that hasn't appeared yet!?"  He narrowly dodged a thrust from Hentarr just as the Apeman approached him.  *out loud*  "Shit!!"  He thrusts Incursio's spear into the heart of the Apeman, who coughed up blood in response, however he immediately grabbed the spear head.  "What!?"

Akaruime: "It's useless. They are puppets after all."

Kurome: "They'll keep moving even if you pierce their hearts. As long as you don't defeat us, that is." 

As she said that, the Apeman grabbed Tatsumi by his legs and slammed him into the ground. Dairoku wasn't having an easy time either as he barely dodged a blade strike from Maraud, however immediately after, Medusa wrapped him in her snake body and squeezed him tightly. He grunted in frustration and annoyance before Medusa began looking into his eyes again.

Dairoku: "Oh no you don't! Armor Release!"

"Change Star Sonic!"

Barbatos' armor purged, becoming skinny enough for him to slip out of Medusa's grip and back away, though he was panting as his armor returned to normal.

Dairoku: "Damn... These guys really are annoying..."

With Leone and Mira, they were in a standoff with the former Imperial General, Rokgough, though the two assassins looked a bit worse for wear, with bruises covering Leone's body and Mira's Alkonost armor damaged in some areas.

Mira: "He was planning to defect... but was unfortunate and got caught..."

Leone: "Old man, so you were an Imperial General. I thought you were strong."  He just grinned and lashed his whip out at her.  "But, as you'd expect, I'm already used to it! Don't think that the same move is going to work on me forever!!"  She yelled, grabbing his whip and taking him by surprise.

Najenda: "Good work, Leone!"  She grinned, dashing towards them before she launched her mechanical arm at Rokgough, hitting him in the gut and sending him crashing to the ground with a powerful blow. Leone and Mira both had on shocked expressions, seeing their boss actually fight an opponent.  "General Rokgough, as an ex-colleague I will free you from the binding as quickly as possible.

Leone: "It... It's been a while since I've seen the boss fight..."  She sweat dropped but unknowing to her, Akaruime was dashing down to her, with Himitsume drawn. Mira however, spotted her immediately as her eyes widened.

Mira: "LEONE!!!"  She dashed towards her feline teammate, just as she turned around to see Akaruime, however, she was shoved to the ground as the blood curdling scream of the blonde sorceress echoed though out the canyon. All Night Raiders looked on with widened eyes as Blood flew from Mira's back as her Alkonost Armor was broken. She fell to the ground, with Genso no Sutoraikā lying by her side. Her eyes became dull just before she lost conscience.

Leone: "MIRA!!!!"

Akaruime: "Fufu, you shouldn't take your eyes off of me and Kurome completely. Because if there's an opportunity, we'll attack as much as we can... until you all die."

Leone just dropped to the ground, stuck in a state of everlasting shock as she stared at the unconscious Mira, blood staining her white mage cloak. Her knuckles cracked loudly as she clenched her claws and gritted her fangs while she glared at Akaruime who returned to Kurome's side, angrily.

Leone: *vengeful* "You've done it now...  I'll show you just what happens... WHEN YOU ANGER A LION!!!" 

Najenda: "Don't charge in, Leone! Kurome and Akaruime have guards! First go support Akame and Kuraime, then go for Kurome and Akaruime after that! I'll take care of Mira."  She looked at her boss, vengeful and venomous as she approached Rokgough. 

Najenda: "We're both ex-generals over here... If the opponent doesn't use a Teigu, I'll be able to do something about them." 

Leone was still hesitant as she looked at her boss, before she looked at Mira. Her fists clenched tightly before and kneeled down to her and moved her over so she leaned against the wall and Genso no Sutoraikā lied in her lap.

Leone: "Thank you... and I swear I will get revenge on that bitch."  She stood up straight and glared up at the two puppeteers.  "Just you wait. I'll be heading over there afterwards!"

Akaruime: "Aww, I hurt the lion's feelings. How sad."

Kurome: "And how tough. I might want to have you in my collection."

Akame and Kuraime, normally would have no problem with their targets. However, with it being a 3v2 and with two of them being immune to Murasame and Ketsuekime's abilities, they were struggling.

Kuraime: *whispering* "Kuh... Those guards are preventing us from getting anywhere near Bols... We can't thoughtlessly jump in."

Akame: *whispering* "But if we keep moving, an opening should appear."  The two looked at each other and nodded before they sprinted circles around Bols, Woll and Verde, though they were going opposite directions.

Bols' thoughts: "They're moving around, trying to find an opportunity... Then I'll casually make that opening for them." He aimed Rubicante and fired off its streak of flames, forcing the two Assassins to stop and dodge, seeing the opening.

Akame and Kuraime: "There!"

They both rushed forwards together, though Woll and Verde got in the way again. However, this time they were ready as Akame slid under them while Kuraime used her >Raven Blitz< and sped around them at blinding fast speeds, ending up behind Bols. With their demonic weapons glowing ominously, they struck Bols, Akame thrusting Murasame forwards while Kuraime swung back, aiming for his neck, but both were shocked to see him block their attacks. Bols used armor on his left palm to block Murasame's thrust while he parried Ketsuekime's blade with Rubicante's barrel.

Kuraime's thoughts: "He blocked it...!"

Akame's thoughts: "Protection here, too...! Countermeasures against Murasame and Ketsuekime!!"

The buffed man fired Rubicante, while whipping it around to get the two of them, however the two assassins backflipped cleanly out of the way of the flames before regrouping.

Bols: "Those were amazing backflips!!"  The two got ready to charge again, only to have Woll and Verde interfere and kick them away. The two assassins were slowly becoming exhausted, mainly from the unexpected attacks the two puppets were dealing to them. 

Bols: "...I wonder if I could ask one thing. Akame, Kuraime, why did you two join the Revolutionary Army? If you had stayed our allies, you would've been heartening presences."

They both remained quiet, remembering all of the people they've each slain. Akame then slammed her fist against her chest, a look of full determination on her face. 

Akame: "For me, it's because my heart decided that that was correct. I walk the path that I believe in."  As for the purple-eyed assassin, she remembered a very specific moment in her life...

(Flashback)

The battle was over... between the violet eyed Assassin, Kuraime and the leader of the Oarburgh... Merraid. She let out heavy, exhausted breaths as she fell to her knees, her Shingu lying next to her as she stared up to the blood red mood with bloodshot and painful eyes.

Kuraime: "I did it... I won... That was for you... Corey... Gin..."

Light footsteps caught the girl's attention as she looked over to her right, spotting her scarlet eyed best friend, Akame approaching her with tears staining her face. Though, this wasn't a surprise for Kuraime, knowing how much Akame worries for others.

Akame: "Why...? We were supposed to take her on together... To be there for each other... Why did you force yourself to do it alone...?"  Guilt filled the heart of the reaper, seeing her best friend in so much emotional pain.

Kuraime: "... I'm sorry... I felt so helpless and useless when we were captured... Seeing Akaruime in that state broke me on the inside...... I couldn't do anything... I couldn't protect my baby sister in that moment... I'll never forgive myself for that... This... was my only way, to ever feel like I contributed to this mission..."

Akame: "You idiot... You did a whole lot... You provided me with comfort and reassurance... You even took all of Merraid's advancements in my place. Don't say that you were useless. You were far from that..."  The violet eyed assassin's face displayed no change but her heart warmed significantly from hearing that from her best friend, to the point she smiled

Kuraime: "Thank you..."

There was a brief moment of peace between the two before the sadistic cackling of Merraid caught their attention; Kuraime had failed to land the killing blow. All she did was laugh... no words or anything of the sort, just an unsettling, sadistic and seductive giggle. The two knew they weren't done yet as they looked around, alert though they saw nothing. But upon looking down, they spotted the culprits... Explosive Fire Ants.

Akame: "Crap...! We have to get out of here!" 

The ravenette quickly dashed to her best friend, supporting her over her shoulder before she began to swiftly hobble her to safety, but their combined weight was significantly slowing her down. Kuraime noticed this almost immediately and knew that even if they got away from the area there was no telling how large the blast radius was. And she knew she wouldn't be able to fight for a long while, from how serious and life-threatening her wounds were. With a deep breath, she forced her best friend to stop moving.

Akame: "What are you doing!? We HAVE to get out of here."  However, she was taken by surprise to see Kuraime shove her to the ground using whatever physical strength she had left. The Scarlet-Eyed girl looked at her confused and shocked, only to see a sad smiled on her face...

Kuraime: "I'm sorry..."

Akame: "No... NO DON'T!!"

She stumbled to her feet, trying to get to her, only to blocked off by a purple barrier. In fact, the small area around Kuraime and the dying Merraid was incased in a light purple dome; it was the first time Kuraime used her unique Raven abilities to create a barrier and will most likely be her last. She slowly stumbled her way towards the edge of the lake, sitting down as she gazed upwards to the starry sky.

Merraid: "It's beautiful..."

Kuraime: "Yeah... It is..."  She kept looking up at the sky, staring directly into the moon's surface before she spoke again.  "Mera...? I would like to thank you..."

Merraid: "For what...?"

Kuraime: "We were friends... and foes... You taught me a lot as well... And in your room... I was acting, but there's one thing that I told you that was truthful...."  Merraid looked at her questioningly before remembering what she said and she lightly giggled.

Merraid: "I knew my eyes... weren't seeing things... Kuraime, if I may be so bold to ask you of one last thing... Before we perish, I want to see you naked."  The purple-eyed assassin didn't seem surprise at all.  "I'm sure you're shocked... I'm surprised myself. But I guess my sickness can't be cured even in death... I want to die beholding something beautiful..."

Kuraime remained silent, before she slowly got back up and weakly walked over to her. Merraid was expecting for her to slash her with what remained of her weapon, however she was surprised to hear the sound of a belt buckle being undone. She gazed as she witnessed Kuraime undressing herself, down from removing her shirt, skirt, tights, shoes and even her underwear. Her long raven hair blew in the wind and blood trickled down from the wounds that covered her body, but she stood before Merraid, completely without any clothes.

Kuraime: "I'm covered in wounds, but this is me..."

Merraid: "...Exquisite... I'll see you on the other side, Kuraime..."  She closed her eyes as she released a lifeless sigh as Kuraime fell to her knees next to her, staring up at the sky, accepting her fate...

Kuraime: "Yeah... I'll see you there..." .........  *thoughts* "Sorry Akame... for pushing you down... but please... tell Akaruime and Dairoku... that I love them both..."

"Sayōnara..."

The scarlet-eyed girl hacked and slashed away at the barrier, hopping for it to fail, but then she heard it... The explosion. Following soon after was the entire light purple dome shattering into nothing but small purple particles. She immediately dashed into the area, frankly searching it but found no sign of either Kuraime or Merraid. All that was left, was the broken remains of the scythe Kuraime once wielded, scorch marks and craters from the explosive fire ants... Kuraime had perished... gone with the wind... She was the fifth casualty...

(End of Flashback)

That memory still broke the violet-eyed girl on the inside, but now she had her answer to Bols' question.

Kuraime: "In what I thought was my dying moments, Merraid's words had reached me... The corruption of the empire, I had fully seen it now... I hate nothing more than corruption and hated myself for letting them control me. That is why, I now fight to rid the country of all corruption!"

Bols: "Those are easy-to-understand answers. Thank you. But, to burn you, along with that belief and will, is my job!"  He aimed Rubicante at them, getting ready to fire again.

Leone: "Wait just a second!"  The lioness leaped down from above, landing by the ravenettes' sides  "Let me in too! With this, it's a 3 versus 3."

Kuraime: "Leone..."

Leone: "After we kill these bastards, we're going after both of your sisters to make them pay for what they did to Mira!"  They looked at her but nodded with looks of determination.

Akame: "He's strong, be careful."

Leone: "Yeah. Let's defeat Bols and go to where Kurome and Akaruime are!"

To be Continued...