Johnny: All right, the combatants are set. Time for the ninja showdown of elites.

Kym: It’s time for a DEATH BATTLE!

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It wasn’t a good day to be out strolling on the lone country road.

The sky was grey and overcast, and covered the ground in shadows. A slight wind blew through the trees and the grass, making them rustle ominously. And through this certain forest, a large dirt road ran through, winding and leading over the hills and out of sight. Small animals scampered through the trees, often leaping across the road and into the other side.

Something other than the creatures was lurking in the forest right now.

In the midst of a particularly tall tree, almost perfectly hidden from view by the branches and leaves, there was the slender figure sitting on the bough. Long black hair flickered in and out between the vibrant green. The scabbard of a long katana seemed to glow in the dim light. Blood-red eyes observed the road like a bird of prey.

Akame shifted her position on the branch slightly to hold onto her sword. She had been in the same position for nearly an hour now, yet she showed no signs of discomfort. What mattered right now was her mission. Night Raid had received information that a certain official of the empire was going to be traveling to the capital today, with a whole shipment of weapons. They knew which road he was going to take, and that letting him and his weaponry get into the capital would definitely spell trouble.

And so, here she was, waiting to launch an ambush the moment the party crossed her way. After that…

A clattering sound caught her out of a slight stupor. She looked up to see a large carriage come into view, rolling across the uneven dirt and gravel. Behind it, there came a much larger carriage, loaded with packages wrapped in fabric.

Akame slowly stood up from her perch, still making sure to keep herself hidden among the leaves. She would make this quick.

---------------------------------------------

Inside the carriage…

“Are you sure we will be safe?” the empire official, a beefy man with an overly long mustache, asked in a worried voice. “You don’t know who might try and attack us on these roads, you know…”

The question was directed at the man sitting across from him. Covering himself almost entirely with a cloak, the man seemed to ignore the other’s concerns, and started out the window. He might have looked like a regular inhabitant of the empire…if it hadn’t been for the flash of white hair under his hood and the metal band that ran over his eye.

“Raiden! Are you listening to me?” the official snapped, tugging on said bodyguard’s sleeve.

Raiden started, and looked at the official, fighting back an urge to smack the guy upside the head. This guy had been asking the same question ever since they left the Maverick warehouse, shivering in his boots. Being on guard never hurt, but this was just getting paranoid.

“As I stated two minutes ago,” Raiden said, a raspy voice coming from his throat. “that’s the reason why I was dispatched to guard you. Now can you keep your mouth shut for the next fifteen minutes?” he glared at the other man for a moment, and a flash of red came from his exposed eye.

The official immediately shrunk back, but still continued to glance fretfully around him.

Raiden sighed, and resumed looking out the window as well. He was beginning to wonder why he even accepted this job. And not just because of the constant pestering about danger either. Considering that war was about to break out any moment in the empire, he had agreed to act as the bodyguard of the official in order for security. He didn’t want a civil war on his hands, after all. However, delivering this massive cargo of weapons, all for the sake of preserving peace, just didn’t sit well with him. His superiors thought otherwise, which was why he was here, but still…he couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss.

Before he could pursue the thought any further though, an electric tingle went through Raiden’s body. His battle instincts, far more accurate than the empire official’s paranoia, was going haywire, telling him to move it. In a flash, Raiden crossed over to where the official was, and pushed him down to the floor. “Get down!”

“What the-” the official’s muffled cries were silenced as a blade pierced through the carriage wall. The metal tip of the katana passed mere inches away from Raiden’s face, cutting one wall in half and then sliding back outside.

“I knew it.” Raiden sighed, getting up. He turned to the official, who was crumpled on the floor. “Stay here. Don’t come out unless you want to die.”

For once, the man didn’t seem too talkative. He merely nodded, and shrunk further into the floor.

-------------------------------------------

Outside the carriage, Akame was about to strike again with the Murasame when she saw movement inside the carriage. She immediately leapt back, a good twenty feet away from it. Moments later, someone burst out the carriage wall and landed on the road, kicking up a cloud of dust. A dark cloak fluttered in the wind. Strangely shaped, metallic feet stepped on the ground. A clawed hand grasped a long katana with a light blinking at the hilt. The man slowly stood up, letting the dust settle around him.

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other from across each other. A slight breeze blew, running through Akame’s hair and Raiden’s cloak.

Akame was the first to break the silence. “You’re not a target.” She said, in a voice that was completely devoid of emotion. “Step aside.”

“That’s something I should be asking of you.” Raiden rasped.

“If you don’t-”

“get out of my way-”

“I’ll kill you.” Both said simply.

Raiden narrowed his eyes. “Seems like there’s not much reasoning with you.” He said quietly. He then grasped the edge of his cloak, and ripped it right off. The dark fabric flew away in the wind, revealing what lay underneath, and Akame couldn’t help but be surprised.

The man’s body was completely covered with a sheet of metal. His feet and hands ended in clawed tips. His lower jawbone was replaced completely with metal, and a metal band ran over his left eye. Under a curtain of long silvery hair, the remaining eye glared at its target.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…” Raiden said, and unsheathed his HF katana. Electricity crackled as he revealed its blade, and pointed it right at Akame. A mechanical visor slid into place over his eyes.

Akame simply took a stance, gripping the Murasame and readying herself. She said only one word.

“Eliminate.”

Akame was about to parry when her survival instincts – honed by years and years of dealing with weapons and warriors of mass destruction – screamed at her about impending danger. At that moment, she knew, that for some reason, she didn’t want that sword touching her own. This was made more evident when she tilted her sword so that Raiden’s HF katana glanced off of it, instead of outright blocking it. The Murasame only scraped against the mechanical blade, yet it instantly had a large gash running down it.

That mechanical sword was sharp, so sharp that it could potentially break her weapon in two. Which meant that parrying, blocking, or having the swords clash was in general a bad idea. It also meant that this fight suddenly got a lot harder for her.

All this flashed through her mind in a matter of a millisecond, before she dug her foot into the ground and leapt backwards, Raiden’s next strike passing dangerously close to her neck.

What happened next could only be described as a game of high-speed cat and mouse. Raiden pressed forward, slashing his HF blade in front of him, leaving streaks of electric blue energy behind. An upward swing. A downward blow. A wide arc aimed at her waist. Two slashes so quick that they looked like simultaneous blows.

For Akame, it was like having at least a dozen swords come to take her neck. And yet she managed to duck, roll, and leap back all at the very last second to avoid getting cut up. As Raiden struck again, she leapt up and twisted her body in midair so that the strikes nicked the tip of her long black hair.

‘-Kuh.’

Only about twenty seconds into the fight, and Akame could already tell the situation wasn’t good. Her attacker didn’t just have a sharp sword; he was also incredibly swift in his strikes. Akame was far from being a pushover in speed, but even she was having trouble constantly dodging his attacks, which seemed to come at a rate of three per second. Even worse for her, she was unable to get into an offensive position, and she knew she couldn’t keep this dance up forever.

Direct confrontation with this enemy would be disastrous for her. She needed a new plan to take him out. If she could distract him…

The forest to either side of the road immediately came into her view.

Unfortunately, the few seconds she took to formulate a new plan was all that Raiden needed. The HF blade came whistling at her waist. Akame nimbly jumped into the air, but Raiden then appeared out of nowhere right in front of her, his leg drawn back.

WHAM!

Raiden’s kick slammed into Akame’s gut. Pain instantly shot through her body and the all her breath was knocked out of her as she was blown back from the force of the blow. She crashed into the ground, leaving a giant mark on the dirt.

Gasping to draw breath, Akame’s vision refocused just in time to see Raiden’s fist hurtling towards her. Ignoring the throbbing down in her stomach, Akame pushed off the ground with one arm and flung herself into the air, right as Raiden’s fist smashed into the dirt with a crackle of electricity.

Raiden was quick to pursue his opponent, and within moments, he was right in front of her once more. Akame just had time to put up her arm guard in front of her before a flurry of kicks slammed into her, knocking her back at least ten feet with each one. The HF katana whistled through the air, and Akame managed to deflect it each time with what little armor she had. Raiden stabbed at her, and she pinned the blade between, trapping it. She twisted the blade in her grasp, trying to disarm her opponent-

Raiden, holding firmly onto the katana, jumped right off the ground, and then spun his body around, his leg extended. With a cry of pain, Akame was sent flying backwards once more, having received a solid roundhouse kick. She rolled on the road and slammed into a tree, covered in dust. Spilling to the dirt, Akame coughed up little red droplets.

“For all your bravado, you don’t seem to be doing so well.” Raiden remarked as he adjusted his grip on the HF katana. “Thinking of giving up?”

Akame slowly looked up, looking quite battered. However, her gaze was stoic, calm, not a single hint of pain or fear showing behind the blood-red pupils. “No.” She gripped the Murasame…

And then sprang to the left, jumping into the forest. There was a flicker of black amongst the leaves, and she was gone.

For all his reaction speed, this move was not what Raiden was expecting. “…okay…” he muttered, blinking a few times. The situation finally registered into his brain, and he scowled. “You can run, but you can’t hide!” he shouted, and ran after Akame.

It was as if a bolt of lightning was running through the forest. Sparks flew off of Raiden’s feet every time he touched the ground, and trees flew past in a blur. Running many times faster than a speeding car, Raiden looked around for his opponent, peering through the thicket of leaves that surrounded him.

Raiden frowned. He should have caught up to the girl by now, so why couldn’t he see her yet? Did she pretend to run into the forest, and then deviate off course? That didn’t matter, as he could scour the forest in a matter of minutes, but it was a bit troublesome, trying to hunt her down in the thick woods.

So where was she…?

A flicker of black registered on Raiden’s vision. He immediately dug his foot into the ground and braked, then immediately dashed off in that direction. A couple of branches blocked his way, but one swing from the HF blade turned them into wood shavings. He saw a shadow lurking behind a thicket of leaves, and he slashed down on it.

The foliage fell away into dust…and revealed that there was nothing but a particularly large rock behind it.

Raiden stepped back and growled, irritated. In his annoyance, he almost missed the silvery glint of a katana coming at him from behind.

Almost.

Raiden spun around and deflected a swing that came right at his head. He caught a glimpse of those blood-red eyes before she bounced off the strike and spiraled into the trees once more.

Raiden immediately went onto guard, raising his sword above his head. He turned from side to side, trying to see where Akame was going to pop out at him. His senses went haywire, his eyes darting from one tree to another.

A few tense seconds passed as Raiden looked around, searching for the long-haired assassin.

Only a whistle of wind on a blade alerted Raiden at the last second, and he leapt to the side, the Murasame stabbing into the ground just inches next to his foot. This time, however, Raiden retaliated faster than Akame had anticipated. His mechanical katana lashed out at a speed faster than a bullet.

SHING!

Akame leapt back with flecks of blood flying from a cut in her arm. Raiden tried to follow that up with a series of stabs, but Akame immediately opted for retreat, and she once more vanished into the woods. Only a few splashed of scarlet marked her trail.

Raiden narrowed his one visible eye. “Gotta admit, she’s pretty tricky.” He muttered, wiping off the blood from the HF katana, and resumed searching for where she might come back out again.

Wind rustled, shaking the leaves as Raiden grew still, his hair fluttering slightly. The dim light from the sky above danced on the ground, turning the forest into a whirlpool of color. Raiden’s vision went everywhere, searching every single nook or cranny, but the assassin had melted into her surroundings again.

A branch snapped, and Raiden whirled around, only to find that he had stepped on a twig. Sighing, he resumed his stance, but couldn’t help but be unnerved. It was somehow almost impossible to detect where his opponent was, as if she was cutting off her presence entirely. His fine-tuned ears strained to isolate the sound of breathing or running, but there was nothing. Other than the wind blowing, there was almost a complete silence, and the faint sound of water dripping to the ground seemed magnified tenfold.

…

…water? The day was dry, so why would there be water here? Unless…

…

…A drop of red.

…

Raiden sprang into motion, ducking low to the ground as the Murasame flashed over his hair. At the same time, he lashed out with a kick behind him. He felt his heel hit flesh, and a gasp of pain told him that he had succeeded. He spun around, the HF blade poised to kill.

Only by falling flat to the ground did Akame avoid getting her head chopped off. Ignoring the pain throbbing in her gut, she pushed off with her arms, saving herself from getting stomped into the dirt. She skipped towards a tree, and grabbed at a bough to pull herself to safety once more.

There was a flash of electricity in front of her, and Akame found herself falling down to the ground, the branch cut by Raiden’s blade. In midair, she flipped gracefully until she landed perfectly on the ground, only slightly shaken. The moment her feet touched the dirt however, she was forced to make a break for it as Raiden stabbed down with the HF katana.

“Fool me once, shame on you…” Raiden growled, stabbing at Akame, who barely managed to knock them to the side with the Murasame.

“Fool me twice, shame on me…” Six slashes came at Akame from every single side, cutting off all paths of escape to the side. Out of options, Akame leapt straight up into the air, just as the strikes converged with a crackle of electricity.

“Fool me a third time…” Before Akame could touch back down, Raiden leapt up to her height, “Yeah no, that’s not happening!”

The very air seemed to distort, bend, as Raiden’s sword traveled at speeds unknown to normal men. With a flash of lightning, Akame was thrown out of the air, blood spurting from various wounds all over her body. She hit the ground and tumbled into a bush.

Raiden landed back on the ground with a crack, and approached Akame, his HF blade glinting menacingly. “Your trail of blood ends here, assassin.”

Akame didn’t say anything to that, and stood up shakily, using her sword as a crutch. She looked at Raiden, who now was just a few feet in front of her…and then the Murasame flashed, not at the cyborg, but at the ground beneath her. A large quantity of dust nailed Raiden right in the eye, not enough to blind him, but it did startle him for a second. He quickly regained his composure and struck out, but his sword slashed thin air.

Raiden’s eye glowed red. “Slippery, aren’t you?” He tensed up his legs, and then sprang after the bits of blood left behind by Akame.

The forest once more turned into a blur to Raiden as he ran at the speed of sound. Yet his vision had no trouble keeping up with his speed, and he looked around sharply for potential ambushes. His foe was more troublesome than he had anticipated, not because of her physical prowess, but because it was nearly hard to detect her presence until it was too late. For all he knew, she could be leaping at him right now, her sword ready, and he wouldn’t be able to sense her.

That alone made Raiden’s body tense up even more, and he wove around trunks and bushes, trying to find where she was now.

A splash of red to his right.

Raiden twisted his body while running and struck out with the HF blade, forcing Akame, who had just leapt out from beside Raiden, to dodge instead of attack. She vanished into the trees, leaving Raiden running on the ground. This was getting seriously annoying for him. Either he was going to have to cut down her, or the entire forest.

Akame, meanwhile, had problems of her own. She had hoped that she could catch him off guard with an ambush, but he was far quicker than she had anticipated. In fact, she hadn’t been able to land a single hit on him, while she could feel her various wounds stinging. If she didn’t end this soon-

No, don’t think about that.

Whatever she did, she couldn’t start panicking. That would truly spell the end for her. Instead, she would simply go on with her initial plan, try to sneak in a blow, and slowly, get her foe to where she wanted him to be…

Raiden had just thought of going into the treetops as well when a black blur starting zipping around in his vision. Akame was leaping all across his path, jumping from his left, right, up, down, zigzagging around Raiden while he ran straight ahead. Every now and then, the tip of the Murasame shot out, but Raiden parried it away each time. Sparks flew in midair as the HF blade swung around. Akame gracefully dodged it, and went in for another blow.

Suddenly, Raiden broke away from his straight path, and leapt towards Akame. The assassin quickly zipped away in another direction, disappearing into the leaves, but Raiden wasn’t going to give her another chance to attack now. He ran after her, sweeping away branches with his blade. It was too troublesome fighting like this in the forest. If he could just get into somewhere more open…

Luckily for him, he began to see the trees thin, and saw light up ahead. Grinning to himself, he burst out of the forest and skidded to a halt on dusty grounds. He looked up to see a large, rocky mountain looming over him, with a large cave to his right.

A rustle from behind him was all the warning he needed turn around and swing his leg, his foot connecting with Akame’s side. Her strike going wildly off course, Akame tumbled through the air and crashed into the hard dirt. She struggled to stand up, but ended up falling to one knee, blood trickling from her forehead.

For a moment, a shadow of pity came into Raiden’s mind as he looked at the bloodied and bruised girl before him. She looked quite young…and yet she was already neck-deep in battle. And despite how she tried to hide it, he could sense her thirst…the thirst for blood. Seeing people like this always brought up memories from his own past…memories that he’d rather forget.

“Why did you even choose this path…” Raiden said softly.

“What?” Akame asked, wiping away the blood over her eye.

“You’re still young.” Raiden said in a low voice. “And yet I can feel the bloodlust in you. The drive to cut down your enemies. I know that all to well. Once, I…” he trailed off, and his blade tip seemed to dip a fraction of an inch. “Why did you have to fight?”

Akame didn’t say anything…and then the next moment, she was gone from the spot. Raiden blinked and quickly slashed the HF blade in front of him, warding off another attack from the assassin. “Do you really ask why?” she said, and for the first time since the fight began, a light seemed to come to her eyes. “Do you even know of the true nature of the empire? Or are you aware, and have you chosen to ignore it?”

“True…nature?” Raiden said, confused now.

Akame landed a few feet away, and narrowed her eyes. “So you don’t know…in that case, why do you fight? If you know what it means to bathe in blood, why do you continue to do it?”

Raiden met her gaze firmly and lifted his sword. “I fight for justice. To protect the helpless. To keep the people from fear. And assassins like you…”

A soft sigh reached his ears, and he realized that it came from Akame. “For justice?” she muttered. “And yet you fight for the empire? I can see that you believe you are doing the right thing, but you couldn’t be more wrong.” Her eyes went back to their blank state.

“What?” Raiden was really confused now.

“If you truly believe you’re fighting for justice, then all I can say is your justice is flawed. It is either an illusion or an excuse that you or the empire came up with to mask their true nature.” Akame said flatly.

Raiden’s eyes widened as the words struck deep. “How do you know…” he hissed, more to himself than anyone else.

But in a flash, that moment of insecurity was gone as Akame sprang forth again, forcing Raiden to ward her off once more.

“Tch.” Raiden said. “Maybe it was a waste of time, trying to talk.” He readied his HF blade for the kill. “But you won’t get the drop on me anymore.” He dug his heel into the ground to spring forward-

Thump…

Raiden froze in his tracks as the entire ground trembled under his feet.

Thump…

“Maybe I won’t…” Akame said slowly. “But that wasn’t my intention.”

Thump….thump…thump…!

The sound was getting louder…and was coming right from the yawning cave entrance right to their side. Raiden turned towards the gaping mouth of the cave. There was something moving inside…a flicker of bony white, and a flash of which seemed like a giant leg…

THOOM!

A massive foot, clawed and made of ghostly-pale bones, came out of the darkness. It crashed down on the ground, and the entire mountain seemed to shake from it. A leg soon followed, and then another leg. Then a torso…a giant ribcage…and then a wide chest with an X shape across it. Huge arms, also down to their bare bones, hung from massive spiked shoulders. And to crown it all, there came a monstrous head, shaped like the skull of a primeval dinosaur.

The super class danger beast known as the Desta-Ghoul emerged from the cave and rose to its full height, towering as tall as an eight story building. It opened its mouth, lined with rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth, and let out a roar that seemed to distort the air around it.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Raiden groaned as he looked up at the massive beast. He glanced at where Akame had been a second ago, and only found dust flying there. Too late did he realize that Akame had lured him to this very spot, and now he was stuck having to take down a hundred-foot tall monster.

“Fine then. Let’s see if you pack a punch!” Raiden shouted, and he readied his sword.

The Desta-Ghoul obliged, and raised its foot, aiming to smash it down on the ninja cyborg. Before the foot hit the ground however, Raiden was already gone from the spot, and had leapt up into the air. He landed on the danger beast’s leg and started running up its length, slashing his sword wildly in front of him. With each slash, a deep gash formed on the bony leg.

Raiden reached the beast’s knee and jumped once more, and this time his hands grabbed onto one of its huge ribs. He used his momentum to swing around until he was launched even farther up. In a series of electric flashes, he clambered up to its shoulder, and finally leapt towards its huge head. The Desta-Ghoul, surprised at its prey’s speed, swung its arm around, trying to swat Raiden out of the air, but the cyborg twisted his body gracefully in midair, and slipped through the giant fingers. He landed on its rough skull, raised his HF blade, and stabbed down.

The Desta-Ghoul screamed, and Raiden quickly leapt off as it swiped at its head. It backfired as the giant beast ended up punching itself, and Raiden landed on a cliff face, sliding safely back down to the ground. He looked up at the danger beast, who now had a large gash on top of its head. “Like that?” he growled.

In response, the Desta-Ghoul opened its mouth. A large sphere of energy began to grow in its maw, shining brighter and brighter. It aimed the sphere at Raiden, who tensed up, gripping his sword…

And then with a roar, a massive beam of energy blasted out of the Desta-Ghoul’s maw.

KA-WHOOOOOOOOM!!!

The blue beam of pure destruction swept across the land, right at Raiden…who was standing at the base of the mountain.

The result? The beam carved a massive hole through the mountain itself, with boulders being vaporized on the spot. There was a brilliant blue flash and an earth-shattering crash, and the mountain itself was torn asunder, the hard rock splitting from the inside. Cracks ran through the cliff sides, and then collapsed in a spectacular avalanche. Dirt and stone rained down from the sky, crushing about a hundred trees in the process.

When the light died down, it revealed that the mountain’s base had been broken through. A huge tunnel ran through it, with its edges clean like it had been laser-sheared. And at the center of it all, there was no trace of the ninja cyborg.

The Desta-Ghoul snorted, satisfied with its work, and rose to its full height again. Down below, hidden in a nest of trees, Akame looked on calmly at the carnage. She knew she was causing a lot of collateral damage, but her enemy must be dealt with first. And if this giant danger beast couldn’t take him out, she didn’t know what would.

…at least that was what she thought before she saw something flit across the sky behind the danger beast. Akame’s eyes grew wide in shock as she spotted Raiden, perfectly unharmed but looking very ticked off, leap across the trees and spring right at the Desta-Ghoul.

“All show and no substance, eh?” Raiden shouted as he shot towards the beast, his HF katana raised.

The Desta-Ghoul heard the noise, and turned around quickly-

SHING!

Though not quickly enough, as Raiden’s blade cut almost a third of the way through its neck.

The Desta-Ghoul let out a scream, and opened its mouth for another blast. The beam of light shout out, but Raiden was already well out of its way, and had hopped back to the ground. The danger beast raised its hands and slammed them down repeatedly, hoping to crush the cyborg beneath its fists. The ground shook as tremors akin to earthquakes ran through it, and giant cracks formed, new ravines and hills forming as a result. However, Raiden was more than nimble enough to navigate through all that, leaping across one crack and dashing out of the way of another bony fist.

“Angry now, are you?” Raiden shouted as he cartwheeled away from another giant punch. “Well, you’re kinda pissing me off as well!”

The next time the fist came down, Raiden jumped a good twenty feet into the air, landing on the fist itself. The Desta-Ghoul noticed this and waves its hand around, trying to shake off the cyborg. But Raiden held on like grim death, and began to run up its arm. Within seconds, he had reached its shoulder, and just as he raised his sword…

ZANDATSU!

For Raiden, time slowed down to a crawl as everything around him seemed to freeze to a near perfect stop. Even the Desta Ghoul was moving at a snail’s pace, moving about a centimeter per hour. Only Raiden was able to move normally here, and he grinned as to looked down at the beast.

“Mind lending me a hand?” he growled, and with that, his blade went to work. A series of electric sword swings swept across the danger beast’s shoulder. Each time, the blade cut cleanly through the bone, but as soon as they were cut, they also slowed down, giving Raiden more time to slash.

Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty... Raiden showed no signs of stopping, even when there were huge chunks of bone missing now. He continued to cut all over its body, cutting off its ribs, letting them slowly fall to the ground

Finally, after what seemed like a full minute of cutting for him, he jumped up, raising his blade like an executioner…and came down, swinging his sword, he severed the entire arm of the danger beast from its body.

Time resumed its pace.

To a bystander like Akame, it lasted only about five seconds. All she saw was a series of electric flashes in midair, and then the Desta-Ghoul was reeling back in pain, its arm falling from its body. Riding on top of the arm was Raiden, who landed safely back on the ground, the bony appendage flattening a few trees behind him.

That alone would have been shocking enough…but what came next caused even the normally emotionless-looking Akame to gape in utter shock. Raiden grasped the hand of the severed arm and started to pull. There was a deep rumble, and dust started to fall from the arm…and then Raiden effortlessly lifted the building-sized arm into the air. Holding it like a sword, he faced the Desta-Ghoul, who looked shocked as well.

“Get a load of this!” Raiden roared, and jumped, swinging the arm around like a huge club. It smacked the danger beast across the face, sending it reeling back. Raiden then started throwing the arm around at impossible speeds, hitting the Desta-Ghoul all over its body.

Angry about getting beaten up with its own arm, the Desta-Ghoul quickly charged up another beam. It aimed it towards Raiden, who landed back on the ground. The ball of energy grew brighter and brighter, and the danger beast was about to unleash it upon its enemy when-

SMASH!    

Raiden swung the arm one last time, landing a solid uppercut with the Desta-Ghoul’s own severed fist! The beast’s head snapped backwards from the blow, and the beam of energy was blasted into the sky, lighting up the entire area like a second sun and tearing through the clouds themselves for a moment.

The Desta-Ghoul stumbled, stunned beyond measure, and Raiden seized his chance. Letting go of the danger beast’s limb, he ran forward and grabbed into its bony foot. He grasped it in his arms, and started to pull. Lighting crackled, mechanical joints snapped and whirred, and Raiden gritted his teeth…

And the entire body of the Desta-Ghoul was lifted clean into the air. Raiden, supporting it from below, chucked it into the air as easily as one would toss a softball. The monster the size of an eight-story building soared into the air, covering the entire area in shadow.

Raiden leapt high, high into the air, clambering from mountaintop to the body of the beast itself, until he was hovering above the beast. He grinned, and lifted his HF blade.

“The bigger they are…” Raiden came down like an electric comet.

SLASH!

It was as if a bolt of lighting had struck the Desta-Ghoul. It howled as it fell back down to the ground…and then its body was split entirely in half. Raiden’s blade has cut it right down the middle. The two halves fell away, and landed on the ground, crushing the mountain below it. The very earth seemed to shake for the seventh time as the Desta-Ghoul, or whatever was left of it, fell down, kicking up a massive amount of dirt and rubble.

Raiden landed in the middle of all the carnage, boulders, chunks of bone, and dust all raining down around him. “…the harder they fall.”

In that moment of victory – in the moment when he finally took down what he thought to be the biggest threat in the area – Raiden let his guard drop. It wasn’t long, only for a few seconds before he was alert once more. But that was all the opening Akame needed as she finally sprang into action.

Raiden only saw a flicker of steel out of the corner of his eye, but this time he didn’t turn fast enough. A katana stabbed itself into his wrist, and at the same time, slender legs locked themselves around the HF katana’s hilt. Raiden flinched, and loosened his grip on his blade for the briefest of moments. And with a great tug, Akame ripped the HF blade out of Raiden’s hands.

The cyborg whirled around, trying to get his weapon back, but Akame wasn’t about to lose this briefest advantage. She twirled the HF blade in a flash and thrust it forward.

SHIIIIINK.

Raiden looked down slowly…to see the HF blade sticking out of his chest. Blood spurted from the wound, and Akame’s hands were gripping the hilt.

“You let your guard down.” Akame said flatly, and ripped the HF blade unceremoniously out of Raiden’s chest. After a few seconds, Raiden’s mechanical visor shattered, exposing his stunned face. Blood slowly dripped down the HF katana’s blade as Akame stood over Raiden, her face as expressionless as ever. “You chose the wrong side, and you tried to cover it up with the name of justice. It’s my responsibility to cut down such ideals. Now, drown in your illusions.”

And then…

“…heh.”

Akame’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the cyborg before her. His body was shaking…not from pain, nor anger, but from laughter. The chuckling soon rose into a mad cackle, as Raiden threw back his head and laughed.

Even Akame was confused by now, and she took a step back involuntarily.

“Hehehehehehe…you really don’t know who you’re fucking with…” Raiden said slowly, and his voice sounded different. Slightly higher-pitched, more raspy…and every syllable dripping with murderous intent.

“What…” Akame muttered.

“You know…you were right.” Raiden rasped. His blood was pooling at his feet now, but he showed no signs of discomfort. “My ideals, my goals…all the ‘fighting for justice’ part? Those were all lies. Just a mask I put on to hide how I really felt inside…but you know it too, don’t you? After all, I can sense the blood you have dipped your feet in…” He laughed again, and the gray sky seemed to darken.

“You see…while I might have tried to convince everyone – including myself – that I was fighting for the side of justice…deep down, all that mattered was that I hungered for blood. I cut through countless people, and I gloried with every single one. It felt good. Really good. I guess my more humane side realized that it might be a bit too batshit insane, and attempted to lock it up.” Raiden raised his hand, and the air sparked around it. From thin air, he pulled out a sheathed blade, which he clamped his hands around. “But now…with all this carnage…and the pain flooding through my body…the chains have been broken. I am free.”

“What are you saying…?” Akame said softly, as a disconcerting grin grew on Raiden’s face.

“My true nature…Jack the Ripper.”

Raiden…Jack slowly unsheathed the blade. It was red as blood, and crackled with crimson lightning as it was drawn from its sheath. Gripping it in his hands, Jack the Ripper turned to Akame. A red aura began to glow around his body, mixing in with his blood.

Slowly, almost lovingly, Jack ran his hand down the Murasama. “Yes…this is always what I was meant to be…”

“You’ve lost your mind.” Akame whispered, her hand tightening on the Murasame and the HF blade.

“Oh, on the contrary, I feel just fine.” Jack snarled, and he let out another cackle. Almost as if it was responding, thunder boomed overhead, and rain began to fall down. “Now…let me show you what I really am, without my illusions of ideals.” He leveled the Murasama at Akame, and his one eye flashed red.

“I think it’s time for Jack…to LET ‘ER RIP!”

Akame, knowing that waiting any longer would be disastrous for her, dashed forward, aiming to take Jack’s head off with the HF blade. However, in a flash of crimson lightning, the ripper was gone from the spot. A second later, Akame heard a mocking laugh behind her, and she quickly turned, blocking a potentially lethal strike. The HF blade and the Murasama clashed in a shower of brilliant sparks…

And then Akame found herself being flung backwards from the sheer force of the ripper’s blow. She skidded across the dirt, and quickly regained her balance with her two swords. However, the moment she had gotten back to her feet, she barely parried another vicious strike from Jack, which sent her flying into the air.

Five seconds in, and she was already getting bad feelings about her opponent. She already knew her opponent was far stronger than her, and that was before he fully gave into his bloodlust. Now, when he had activated his “trump card,” and was incredibly unlikely to hold back?

Akame knew that she was in a massive pinch.

Unfortunately, knowing that didn’t make the fight any easier, as Jack rocketed upwards to an airborne Akame, the Murasama crackling madly. Akame twisted in midair, blocking the strike once more, and with a brilliant explosion of sparks, she was easily tossed away.

Jack touched back on the ground and started running, and caught up to the falling figure of Akame in a matter of seconds. He began slashing madly at her, knocking her into the air each time, literally juggling her with the Murasama. As she was tossed helplessly in midair, Akame could only block with the HF blade, and even then some of the attack got through.

As Akame was tossed once again into the air, she flipped her body so that she was pointed straight to the ground…and right over Jack. She then fell like an arrowhead, the tip of the HF blade aiming to slip past the Murasama and plunge into Jack’s neck.

However, the plan backfired as Jack flickered to the side, leaving Akame to hit the ground painfully. He then landed a savage kick right to her abdomen, sending her flying back with a massive shockwave. Akame landed in a pile of rubble, clutching her side with a pained breath.

Jack ran toward her, intent of finishing her off-!

SHING!

But even in her pained state, Akame somehow managed to duck under the ripper’s strike and stab back, plunging the HF blade into Jack’s shoulder. Another spurt of blood flew, and Jack stopped in his tracks. He then looked up at Akame, not in pain, but in crazy delight.

“Pain…this is why I fight!” With a roar, he slammed his forehead into Akame’s knocking her away with her head spinning. She barely managed to see the blurred outline of the ripper before the Murasama clashed against the HF blade…and then forced through, slashing her on the arm. Gritting her teeth, Akame tried to counterattack with the Murasame, but Jack was simply too fast.

Jack dashed forward, and this time, locked the Murasama with Akame’s twin swords. However, instead of flinging her away, he reached forward and grabbed her shoulder, his clawlike fingers digging into her flesh. He then sped forward, and slammed Akame into a large pile of rocks. He could hear the gasp of pain from the assassin, but that only made him even more thrilled.

“Come on! Illusions of justice? Trying to mask your dark side?” Jack the ripper roared as he leapt up into the air. “You were preaching to me about all that just a few minutes ago!” He then threw Akame down, sending her body through a couple of trees.

Akame rolled out of the way as the Murasama clove the ground. Before she could get up, she was kicked away like a soccer ball, slamming into another tree. “So why don’t you cut it down as you said was your responsilibity?!?” Jack laughed as he ran up to Akame and mercilessly pummeled her with electric punches. The Murasama then swept through the air in a flash of red, and a brand new set of wounds opened up on Akame’s body.

Jack then grabbed Akame, who looked nearly unconscious at this point, by the arm, and threw her away into the mountainside. He then leapt toward her, rocketing forward like an electric missile. He threw the Murasama, and in a red flash, it had stabbed through the back on Akame’s shirt and pinned her to the cliff. As she hung there, Jack slammed into the cliff as well, and right into Akame. The only reason she hadn’t been pulverized? At the very last second, she had managed to deflect Jack’s blow with the HF blade.

However, that wasn’t going to be enough, as Jack grabbed at her, and kicked off the cliff, sending them both into the air. Then, his invisible compartment opened briefly, and a pair of wickedly sharp sais slid out. He snatched them up, twirled them around, just for show, and stabbed at Akame.

Somehow, Akame still managed to block them with the HF blade, but one could easily tell she was losing this struggle. Bruised all over, bleeding from multiple places on her body, and gasping for breath, even the most callous of people might have felt some pity at this sight.

Except for Jack.

“You know what I think? I think you only ramble on about illusions of justice because deep down, you are the same as I am.” Jack snapped as sparks flew between their blades. “After all, you’re an assassin. You must know what it feels like to cut down your victims, eh? Feels good, doesn’t it?”

Akame didn’t speak, but maybe that was because she had no strength left to talk back. She simply fended off the sais and the Murasama as well, which came at her from all sides, chipping away at her defenses.

“But then you call me out for reveling in the blood of my enemies? You, an assassin of all people? That is the height of hypocrisy!” Jack shouted, and he kicked Akame away by the chest, feeling some ribs break under the pressure. “Now you’re going to…” he shot forward at Akame, aiming for the killing blow…but then something made him pause.

He felt a soft tap on his back…and turned to see a small black object sticking to his back. One of his own grenades.

Eyes widening, Jack looked back at Akame, who was falling to the ground now. She looked up, as expressionless as ever…and let a pin drop from her hand. “You talk too much.” She said flatly, and crossed her arms before her to shield herself.

Only now did jack realize that Akame had swiped a grenade from his own compartment while he had opened it for a few seconds, but it was too late to react.

BOOM!

           

The explosion was devastating, and instantly engulfed the ripper. Fire swept over the rocks, blasting them out of the way, and the shockwave sent Akame tumbling back as well. She rolled down behind a large boulder just before the blast fully reached her, and she could feel the heat from it searing her skin. Gasping for breath, she slumped down against the rock, and closed her eyes. At least she could get a few moments to rest…

“Cute trick.” A voice growled from right behind her.

Akame somehow managed to leap out of the way as the rock she was hiding behind was split in two. Through the dust stepped forth Jack the Ripper, looking no worse for the wear…except that he looked a bit less playful than before, and more focused on slicing Akame up. “But now, you’re dead.” He announced, and strode forward to Akame, collapsed on the ground and out of options.

Darkness threatened to overtake her consciousness. She coughed, and blood splattered the ground. She tried to stand back up, but she couldn’t do it; her limbs simply wouldn’t respond anymore.

Could she even fight on anymore? It didn’t seem likely to her. She gripped her swords, but even they seemed to be slipping away from her grasp. Her eyes slowly closed as her body grew limp…

…

…

…

…

…

“Akame…”

Who was that?

“Akame…”

Who was calling her?

“Akame!”

Her eyes snapped open, and Akame was greeted by a curtain of gold over her face. “Eh?” she breathed, confused.

“Oh, so she lives!” a cheery female voice said.

Akame blinked, and a face flickered into view. A woman with golden-blond hair, yellow eyes, and a pair of cat ears that stuck out of her head.

“Knew you were tougher than that.” Leone grinned.

Akame couldn’t say anything. How was she here? Was she even here? No, this couldn’t be real, could it?

“Look, Akame.” Leone broke her thoughts. “You’re not gonna go down on us here, are you? You, the number one assassin of Night Raid? Well…maybe number one.” She grinned mischievously. “Point is, we all know you’re tougher than that glorified tin can over there. I’m counting on you. Everybody’s counting on you. So go ahead and kick his ass, like your big sister always taught you!”

“I…” Akame reached out to her, but with a scatter of gold, she was gone.

“Hey sis.” A young girl’s voice reached her ears this time. Akame stiffened, and slowly turned to see a face very similar to herself, with the same lean figure, black hair, and dressed in a similar outfit. However, the difference was that her hair was cut shorter, and her eyes, instead of blood red like Akame’s, were as dark as night.

“Kurome…” Akame whispered as she looked at her sister.

“I know we are going to have to kill each other eventually.” Kurome said casually. “But if you go down here, I can’t cut you down myself. So please, do me a favor and survive through this…I can’t stand the thought of someone other than me getting the final blow.” She then winked at Akame. “After all, I love you, sis.”

She faded into the darkness, leaving Akame reaching out after her. She hung her head for a moment, contemplating, when-

“Akame.”

Slowly, she raised her head, and a pair of emerald green eyes came into view.

“You…”

“Akame, are you really going to die here?” Tatsumi said, his face firm. “You and I both made a promise, didn’t we? That you would get through this alive, and I would too. You’re not thinking of going back on your word, are you? Because I sure as hell aren’t going to. After all, I don’t want to lose a friend no more than you want to.”

Then he smiled, the innocent smile that somehow made everyone around him a tad bit happier. He reached out to her. “So get up. You can do this.”

And as she looked on, she saw other faces as well.



The members of Night Raid, who had become like a second family to her, all looked at her, giving encouraging winks, smiling gently, or sternly urging her to rise. They all passed by in a flash…and then she was looking at Tatsumi again.

Slowly, slowly, strength started coming back to her limbs. She raised herself up, and grasped the helping hand.