The battle had begun. The battle between the Jaegers of the Imperial Capital and Night Raid from the Revolutionary Army had now initiated.

Akame had leaped into the air and charged towards her little sister, Murasame in hand. The two sisters clashed, Kurome had blocked Akame's attack with Yatsufusa, keeping her small smile as Akame gritted her teeth. 

Akame: (thoughts) 'When she's puppeting eight corpses, her movements are slowed. I can't lose this chance!'

The two sisters continued to fight, exchanging sword blows and slashes towards each other, but none of them were effective. No cuts or any injuries were made towards each other.

However, their quick skirmish ended when one of Kurome's puppets appeared in front of Akame. He had blonde hair with blue eyes, the a mask covering his mouth. The weapon of choice he was wielding was a spear. Akame's eyes widened as she recognized this person.

Akame: (gasps) "Natala!"

The ravenette jumped back, still in disbelief that a former comrade of hers is a puppet. There was only one possible explanation for this. Kurome had to have killed Natala. The blonde man gripped her spear tightly as he rushed forward and thrusts his spear forward multiple times. Akame uses her quick reflexes to dodge all of them, tilting her head to the side slightly so she could see her younger sister.

Akame: "Put him back in the ground where he belongs! You grew up with him as teammates!"

This time, it was Kurome who rushed forward. Yatsufusa and Murasame then clashed against each other as sparks flew into the air. Kurome still kept her grin on her face.

Kurome: "What are you talking about, sister? It was because he was my teammate that I want to stay with him. I'm going to add you to my collection too. Then we can be together again like the old days."

Akame: "...Don't even joke about that."

Kurome: "Too bad."

Abruptly, Natala quickly appeared in front of the red-eyed girl and thrust the blunt end of the spear. Being struck by it, Akame was launched back and sent off the Danger Beast's shoulder, but gasped when she looked down. Below her was Bols, his Teigu aimed upward as he uses Magma Drive.

A blast of flames shoot out of his flamethrower, Akame realizing that she had no time to dodge. Just as she braced for the attack, someone kicked off the wall and caught her. Akame had briefly closed her eyes before she felt someone catch her. Once she opened her eyes, she could see it was Akira who caught her, his gaze still set down on towards the battlefield. He then looked down at her.

Akira: "You're being too reckless. Don't charge in on your own."

Akame: "I'm sorry..."

The two landed next to Tatsumi, who was looking up at the bones of the Destaghoul. 

Tatsumi: "Looks like this won't be an easy opponent to take down."

Akira: "Indeed."

Kurome: "...Sister... Akira... You betrayed us to join them... Go! Destaghoul!"

The Destaghoul raised it's head up towards the sky and opened it's mouth slightly. An orb began to form at the top of it's mouth, it gathering energy before facing down at Night Raid. The Destaghoul then lets the built up energy released towards them, the blast firing in a large radius. 

Night Raid gathered behind the nearest area of cover, Akira grabbing the raven-haired girl by her hand as they ducked behind a tree. He held her close as they could feel the impact of the blast all around them, the blast devastating the area around them.

Once the blast had subsided, Akira and Akame peeked around the tree to find that nearly everything around them had been destroyed. Kurome sat atop on the Destaghoul's shoulder, laughing in delight as Natala stood next to her, acting as her bodyguard.

Kurome: "Just as I'd expect from Night Raid though... They skillfully dodged it."

Somewhere in the treeline, Lubbock could be seen holding onto a tree branch that was able to support his weight. He was nervous for not only himself, but also his allies. The battle had already begun and he was on high alert. Kurome and Bols could be anywhere at this point and get the jump on him.

He then remembered something that Najenda told him. It was crucial for the mission. 

Flashback

Najenda: "I'm ordering Chelsea to carry out guerrilla tactics for this mission. You're an expert in assassinations, but you're not cut out for direct combat. I'm leaving you in charge of the timing and other details too."

Chelsea: "You got it. I'll act it out efficiently."

Najenda: "Lubbock, you act as her lookout. Set up a barrier, and keep an eye on the skies too. Also... In the event Esdeath's gang comes here... Stop them with Cross Tail's Trump Card. This is an important mission. We have a plan in place to keep Esdeath and her team from getting here, but... We never know what the real battle will bring. I want to leave this to you because you're an adaptive thinker."

Lubbock: "Got it...! You can count on me!"

Flashback End

Lubbock: (thoughts) 'I'll carry out my duty without fail... Najenda... And...when I get back from this trip, I think I'll finally tell her about I really feel. If I don't take action soon, she'll be swept away by Su-san. ...But this is no time to be think about that! I've got to focus.'

Resuming back to the battle at hand, Najenda and Susanoo were facing against the Destaghoul. The bone skeleton of the Danger Beast had lunged forward and rushed it's arm forward, punching the ground. Susanoo grabbed Najenda and jumped away, dodging the Danger Beast's attack as Najenda gazed up at the skeletal structure.

Najenda: "The Destaghoul certainly packs a punch. Susanoo! We need everyone to bring him down!"

Susanoo: "That's the wrong call to make, Najenda. He's a strong opponent. But. I can bring him down myself. Put the rest of the team on the others!"

Najenda: (grin) "That's my Teigu, all right."

Before they could begin their attack, they heard someone land next to them. Turning their heads, they see it was Akira.

Akira: "Shall I summon someone to lend you a hand, Susanoo?"

Susanoo: "...Who did you have in mind?"

The black-haired teen closed his eyes before he took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His eyes glowed a dark green, him beginning some sort of chant.

Akira: "Surge, Abysswalker. Iterum ambulate in terra viventium. Servite mihi, cedicisse."

The ground began to shake as a green pillar of light had erupted behind the Ice Cold Reaper. The green light began to fade as it cleared, a large figure kneeling in it's place. The figure was encased in armor, a helmet plume, and a blue scarf. 

It's most notable feature was the large blade it carried. The large figure toward over them, it letting out a low growl as it's gaze hovered over to the large Destaghoul in front of him.

Akira: "There. He should be enough reinforcement for the time being. I can only do one at a time."

Najenda: "What is he?"

Akira: "During my time in the east, there were rumors of some sort of abyss knight that lingered in an area called the Royal Wood. At the time, I needed to test out my Teigu, and he seemed to be the perfect fit. It was a tough battle that was fought."

Najenda: "What's his name?"

Akira: "...Artorias the Abysswalker."

The former general eyed the large knight behind them before she looked to the Destaghoul. She then began to grin, knowing the battle was going to be interesting. 

Over with Mine, she had herself perched in a high place. Pumpkin was in her hand as she aimed towards Kurome, Natala standing next to her as her bodyguard. 

Mine: (thoughts) 'If I can just take out Kurome... This time I'll snipe her for sure.'

Before she could even do so, Natala seemed to have sensed her. He turned in her direction, the length of his spear extending towards the pink-haired assassin as she jumped back. Someone then jumped onto the long handle of the spear, it being a cowgirl. She whipped out two dual revolvers as she began gunning towards the sniper.

Mine: "A gun-fight, huh...? Fine by me." 

Just as her duel was about to begin, down below was Tatsumi encased in Incursio. In front of him was a sea of dust before it all faded away, coming out was an apeman. 

Tatsumi: "So he's the corpse of a walking Danger Beast too... I haven't seen his type before..."

The armored teen was then surprised as the apeman had suddenly charged forward. He jumped back to get away from him, but the apeman had already lunged forward and bit down onto Tatsumi's arm brace. Thankfully, he was protected by his armor. The brown-haired teen then reeled his fist back and thrust it forward, punching the apeman in his stomach.

Behind the apeman, a cloaked figure in red landed, a distinct mask on his face. The figure took out some sort of short sword and rushed forward, but soon jumped back when another figure quickly rushed down in front of him from the air. Unclipping Gin's sword off his back, Akira points it toward the masked man with Fenrir soon joining him by his side, clenching the ice dagger in it's mouth.

Akira: "Your opponent is me."

Henter: "You are weak...weak, weak..."

Akira: "Fenrir. Assist Tatsumi. Leave this one to me."

The wolf barks as it complies with it's master's orders. Once the grey wolf left it's master's side, Akira readied his blade as he grasps the handle with two hands. He began to bring his arms back slightly, as if he was imbuing energy into his sword. He let out a small, calming breath to himself, channeling his ice powers as he slowly began to imbue them into his blade, small amounts of ice spikes appearing all over the blade. 

Rushing forward, he kicks off the dirt as he rushes forward, thrusting his blade as charges with high speed. Henter simply dodges by jumping upwards, then landing on the blade. Henter grasps his short sword and slashes downward, Akira extending his arm up as he conjures an ice blade. Doing a somersault kick off of Henter, he kicks the masked man away, the masked man skidding across the dirt ground as he recovers from the attack, Akira recovering from his own attack as well. Henter took his own battle stance with Akira doing his own.

Meanwhile on the other areas of the battlefield, Akame could be seen battling Bols. The man raised his flamethrower up as he presses down on the trigger, a torrent of flames leaving the barrel as it was aimed towards the ravenette. But Akame was the quicker one, using her quicker reflexes to dodge the spray of flames heading towards her. Once behind him, she attempts to slice him with Murasame, but someone had stepped in. It was a man with a large shield on his back, the man wearing shades as he raised his arms up for defense. Had the man been alive, he would've dropped dead to the ground.

But Akame clicked her tongue, knowing that Murasame's curse wouldn't work on a dead puppet. However, she had shown a mere moment of vulnerability, the man kicking Akame back as she stumbled backwards, the girl grunting in pain as she fell onto her back. Leone had saw this and she attempted to assist her best friend, but something wrapped around her lower leg.

She turned her head around to see it was a red-haired man with a whip, the man pulling the whip towards him before swinging Leone to the cliff wall next to him. The blonde lioness was slammed against the wall, a crater appearing under her.

Leone: "Okay, mister. Now you've gone and done it. I can see right through your attacks..."

The blonde was confident, standing back up as she cracked her neck. Just as she prepared to attack herself, the man followed up with another attack, however it was a bit unexpected. She tried to raise her arms up to block the whip, but she failed to do so in time, the whip whizzing past her as it quickly brushes up against her cheek. He then began to thrash the whip all around, slapping and hitting Leone from all sides, giving her no time to retaliate at all.

Leone was surprised. Despite her enhanced vision due to her transformation, she couldn't keep track of the movements of the whip. And the corpse puppet wasn't even using a Teigu. Akame weakly looked up, seeing the battle raging on. Leone was still struggling against the red-haired man. Further away, she could see Tatsumi was fighting against an apeman and her boyfriend clashing with a masked man cloaked in red, the two constantly exchanging blows and slashes, seemingly without end.

Akame then looked upwards, up higher onto the cliff. Up above was Kurome, a joyous smile on her face as Natala stood next to her. She seemed to be taking great pleasure in overseeing the battle below.

Kurome: "Wow. What a battle royale. It's getting interesting!"

Akame: "Kurome..."

Kurome: "See? They're not too bad. My toys, I mean. Doya was a killer sent in from a northern tribe. You can still see that confident look on her face, though when I killed her, she was bawling her eyes out. Wall was a famous bodyguard. I killed him because he was protecting my target. Apeman's a meathead, but since he's easy to use, he's always been my favorite. Henter was the lone survivor of a savage tribe. He's got some tricky moves, so it was tough taking him down. I'm particularly proud of that one. Rokugou was a general from the Empire. He was found to have turned to the rebel army, so I killed him. Destaghoul was found hibernating in a cave, deep in Seiga. That was a lucky find.

Kurome: "And Natala's been my teammate since we were little. When I'm using Yatsufusa, he's covering my back! The last one is a Danger Beast I recently turned into a puppet. But I'll introduce him a little later."

Back with Akira, he seemed to be struggling against Henter. A kick was landed to his face, causing him to grunt as he stumbled backwards, Henter taking this initiative to rush towards him. Not only that, Henter had previously smashed his ice sword to bits, reducing it to nothing but shards on the ground. He sighed in annoyance as he clips Gin's sword onto his back and took out Harvester's scythe form, rushing back in to the fight against Henter once more.

With Leone, she stared down Rokugou, his whip still in his hand.

Leone: "So, mister. You were an Imperial general. Given your strength, I'm not surprised. But..."

Rokugou grinned as he thrashed his whip once more. Once it was aimed towards Leone, it seemed to be another confirmed hit. But this time, Leone was able to see the attack's pattern and dodged, shooting her arm forward and grabbing it.

Leone: "I'm already used to it! Don't think the same trick will work on me forever!"

Najenda: "Well done, Leone!"

Shocking Leone, Najenda had come in from behind and launched her metal fist forward, using the grapple function of it as the fist landed on Rokugou's face. Then using the metal arm's elbow, Najenda had Rokugou restrained to the ground, staring him dead in the eyes.

Najenda: "General Rokugou. As a former colleague, I will free you from this curse as soon as I can."

Leone: (sweat drops) "It's... It's been a while since I've seen the boss in a fight. All right, I'll join in too."

However, the unexpected happened. At quick speeds, something Leone wasn't able to sense in time, Kurome had dashed down the mountain and unsheathed Yatsufusa. Quickly slashing Leone, she cut her arm off, blood shooting out of her wound as Kurome tilted her head back with a smirk.

Kurome: (giggles) "That's what you get when you take your eyes off me. Once I see an opening, I go for it. And I'll keep going until you're all dead. Yatsufusa's latest puppet has been sent after the enemy as well. I think we'll wrap this sooner than I thought."

Leone: (grits teeth in anger) "Now you've done it..."

Somewhere in the forest, Chelsea could be seen standing a clearing. Gaia Foundation was at her side, a lollipop in her mouth as usual. Keeping it close to her, she begins to make her way to the battlefield.

Chelsea: "I'm also the kind of girl... Who goes right for an opening when I see it."