Chapter 159

"If it can't be done, does that mean we shouldn't do it?"

Akame's words Nadjeshda look up sharply. Seeing the girl's unchanging expression, Nadjeshda couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"I never thought I'd be taught a lesson by you one day."

Yes, does that mean we shouldn't do it if we can't achieve it?

"Everyone who participated in the Night Raid..."

"The people who Night Raid did not fight side by side because they believed in the Revolutionary Army."

Akame's words were straightforward and simple, yet they struck a chord with Nadjeshda: "We fight because we believe in the path that the BOSS believes in."

"...!"

Nadjeshda's dazed state didn't last long. She quickly put the cigarette back in her mouth, took a deep drag, as if bidding it a final farewell.

Then she made up her mind. "Let's see Lady Necrass again tomorrow morning."

"Good."

In a magnificent mansion filled with rare treasures, an elderly man nearing seventy years old sat at a dining table, enjoying a hearty meal. He was overweight, but upon closer inspection, the faint blue veins visible under his skin indicated that his flesh was not merely filled with fat.

"Esdeath, I didn't expect you to come to see me so soon."

As Ernest stuffed a large piece of meat into his mouth, he said, "Have you lost interest in Night Raid?"

Not long ago, Esdeath annihilated the largest tribe among the northern alien races. Understanding the principle that wildfire cannot be extinguished and spring breezes can bring life back to life, Esdeath did not take the opportunity to eradicate the alien race completely, but instead retreated to the capital to await their next growth.

After all, if she kills them all, then she won't have anyone to kill. That's not how leeks are cut.

While waiting for all sides to gather their forces, Esdeath, in order to pass the time, turned her attention to Night Raid, the assassination organization that had been entrenched over the nobles of the Imperial Capital.

The organization of all members Imperial Arms User reignited Esdeath's blood that had just cooled down. While she certainly enjoyed the feeling of mowing down enemies on the battlefield, she also enjoyed the feeling of playing with her prey like a cat toying with it before finally killing it.

What's more, these prey were much stronger than ordinary rats, which aroused her great interest even more.

But...

That was before.

She now has someone she's more interested in.

"The ministers must have heard of the Dragon Woman who inherited the Imperial Arms of the Dragon Duke and raised her flag in the east."

Esdeath said with a smile.

"Ah, of course, she's Eugene's adopted daughter. She's the one who took care of the Three Beasts."

The minister naturally remembered Necrass; he had even met her in person when Necrass was a child, but that was not important.

Despite knowing that Esdeath had her eye on the Dragon Woman, the minister still used the Three Beasts to draw aggro on Necrass.

Esdeath is indeed a battle maniac, but in contrast to her high fighting spirit is her indifference to everything outside of fighting and torture; she doesn't care about gold and jewels, nor about power.

However, even someone like her has things she cares about, and that is her subordinates.

If other people's wealth is gold and silver, then Esdeath's wealth is her subordinates. The death of the Three Beasts did not bring her any sorrow. In Esdeath's eyes, who worships strength as everything, death only proves that one is weak, and it is only natural for the weak to be plundered by the strong.

But she would not ignore it. She would definitely pay for this blood feud, because she was the stronger one. Her property had been plundered by others, and she would naturally go and get it back.

"Since we're going to war with her, I might as well lead the team myself."

Esdeath volunteered.

Chapter Twelve: Ice and Fire About to Meet.

Despite Esdeath's offer of service, the minister did not immediately agree.

It wasn't that he didn't know how powerful Necrass was outside. As someone who knew all the Teigu, he was well aware of the danger of the Dragon Duke's Teigu. If he couldn't eliminate her in one go, she would only get stronger as they fought.

But... there are still two things troubling him.

One of these is Night Raid. Night Raid's existence has caused his once ubiquitous presence in the capital to shrink rapidly. His control over the capital is now far less than before, which is why he considers Night Raid a thorn in his side even though he is not worried about being assassinated.

Each time he had to train his hands and eyes, it cost him money and time, which Ernest found extremely unpleasant.

Another point is... he was worried about Esdeath's safety on this trip.

He knew all too well how powerful the Dragon Duke was back then. If Esdeath were to be taken as his servant, he would probably have no place to stand in the world. Therefore, he didn't want to take the risk if there was even the slightest possibility that Esdeath might lose.

Instead of taking risks, it's better to wait for the enemy to reach the capital. At that point, Esdeath, Bud, and the Supreme Imperial Arms, even Honest wouldn't know how to lose.

As for the resulting loss of territory... Ernest didn't care much. As long as he won this battle, he would still be the minister who ruled the world. Esdeath could then conquer the world again, which wouldn't be difficult.

Ernest shared his thoughts with Esdeath. Of course, to avoid Esdeath's displeasure at his questioning of her strength, Ernest didn't mention a three-on-one fight, but only said that Esdeath should make her move after the opponent Esdeath.

Esdeath is not good at playing power games, but she is not stupid. She can naturally guess Ernest's thoughts by referring to the context.

However, she didn't say much.

Because at least one thing Ernest said was right: the enemy would inevitably become stronger when they attacked, and after defeating them, he could experience a grand war like the founding of a nation.

Even Esdeath couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion upon thinking about this.

But... that doesn't mean Esdeath's enthusiasm has been suppressed.

Admittedly, playing cat and mouse with Night Raid is fun, but a bigger prey has appeared, and she can't hold back any longer.

With that in mind, she simply entrusted everything in the capital to the always reliable Lan, while she herself, along with Kurome and Wave, boarded Danger Beast.

Although she considered herself the strongest, it didn't mean she would underestimate her opponent. Fighting meant giving it her all and trying every possible way to win. Therefore, she directly estimated Necrass's strength to be similar to her own, or even on par.

In this situation, external interference becomes particularly unpleasant, which is why we brought two people along.

Kurome was somewhat puzzled by this extra mission, but she didn't have any objections. Although she would rather continue investigating her sister during the Night Raid, neither she nor Esdeath would be there for this mission, and with her sister's strength, it was impossible for her to lose to someone else and die.

Wave had no objections. After hearing that the rebels had captured two territories, one of which was a marquisate, Wave was filled with righteous indignation and decided to teach the rebels a lesson.

Can...

Is it really okay if there are only three of them?

Wave was somewhat surprised by the current situation.

He thought he was going to lead an army to suppress the rebels.

"Just going to say hello."

Esdeath explained, "If that guy isn't strong enough, then we'll just kill her. If she's strong enough, we'll wait until she arrives in the capital before killing her."

If she is truly strong enough, we might not even have to kill her.

Esdeath's hobbies are fighting and torturing, and she gets even more excited if the target of these acts is a strong person.

Depending on the situation, if the opponent is strong enough to make her exert all her strength, Esdeath really can't bear to kill them. Rather than killing them, she would rather keep such a strong person in captivity, make them even stronger, and repeat the process of fighting with strong people and the subsequent torture.

Revived Dragon Duke, I hope you won't disappoint me.

On the other side.

Having made her decision, Nadjeshda didn't hesitate any longer and went directly to Necrass, expressing her willingness to consider joining.

This is excellent news for Necrass.

As mentioned before, the only reason she needed the Revolutionary Army was because the Revolutionary Army had enough connections. Most of the people who were willing to rebel against the empire and speak out for the people's suffering were in the Revolutionary Army, and even those who were not in the Revolutionary Army Revolutionary Army had a list of them.

Nadjeshda is one of the high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army. Although Night Raid has been secretly designated as a pawn by the Revolutionary Army, Nadjeshda is different. If Night Raid is used as a tool by them, then Nadjeshda is someone who uses tools just like them.

Therefore, Nadjeshda was enough to compile a list for Necrass and secretly contact those with similar aspirations within the Revolutionary Army, ruthlessly poaching members from within the Revolutionary Army.

To be honest, the fact that Nadjeshda was sent to make contact with her laid an extremely important foundation for Necrass's rapid advance into the Revolutionary Army.

After deciding to Necrass, Nadjeshda immediately began to devise a plan for Necrass to poach more people and resources from the Revolutionary Army. She was not only a general with considerable fighting skills, but also a highly qualified civil servant.

Compared to Necrass, who is primarily driven by strength and secondarily by political acumen, and whose success is largely based on an omniscient perspective, Nadjeshda may not be as insightful about the big picture as Necrass, but she is undoubtedly far more authoritative in the details.

Eugene was in charge of managing and operating the territory, while Nadjeshda was responsible for acting as Necrass's inside man to undermine the Revolutionary Army. At this moment, their own power officially began to take shape.

After overcoming their differences in stance, the two immediately entered a honeymoon period of pleasant conversation. Necrass's ambition in every gesture, and the magnanimity revealed behind that ambition, Nadjeshda more and more satisfied with her decision. Meanwhile, Nadjeshda's dirty... clever methods against the Revolutionary Army also made Necrass realize how much benefit she could gain from the Revolutionary Army, which she had previously thought was useless.

Both of them were very satisfied with today's conversation.

And once the domestic issues are resolved...

The next step is to continue expanding outwards.

Necrass wasn't a warmonger, but her people and army needed to eat. The marquisate she had conquered had certainly provided her with a feast, but it still couldn't satisfy her appetite.

Early the next morning, Necrass assembled her army, which had expanded to nearly 8,000 men, and 4,000 servants.

Necrass, leading a force capable of easily conquering a marquisate, was naturally noticed by the sentries on patrol, who immediately relayed the message to Necrass's target, the Count Fieltz's territory.

Meanwhile, Esdeath and her two companions, who were temporarily resting in the Count Fieltz's territory due to exhaustion from their Danger Beast, had just stepped into a hotel.

Chapter Thirteen: Esdeath's Uncontrollable Esdeath.

"Damn it! That damned Dragon Woman! And the ministers! They actually said something like 'we can retreat to the capital for refuge first'!"

Earl Fields sat at his desk, listening to the scout's report, and couldn't help but curse aloud.

He only followed the minister for personal gain, but now the minister not only has no intention of helping him, but also wants him to return to the capital.

Returning to the capital would mean he would no longer be a fellow believer in corruption, but rather a fallen nobleman seeking refuge!

Thinking of this, Fields gritted his teeth.

He had initially thought that a marquisate would be enough to satisfy the Dragon Woman's appetite for the time being, but he never expected that in less than a month, they would attack, leaving him no time to continue exchanging benefits with his ministers.

But now is not the time to think about these things. If I don't leave soon, I'm afraid my fate will be no different from that of the Marquis Melville.

With things having come to this point, there was no other option but to flee.

"Assemble all soldiers! Order them to stand ready! Hold the city walls! These shameless traitors simply cannot comprehend the strength and foundation of the Empire! General Esdeath will soon arrive and annihilate these pathetic enemies!"

After he finished speaking, he ordered the scouts to relay the message, and then he went to find the steward and guards to collect all the valuables in the house.

According to the scouts' predictions, the Dragon Woman's troops would take about two more days to arrive, giving me plenty of time to pack.

Esdeath believes in the logic of the strong being supreme, but that doesn't mean she doesn't understand how to be considerate of those weaker than her. In fact, she is well aware that the so-called strength and weakness are relative. Although Wave and Kurome are both weak to her, from an objective point of view, they are both undoubtedly strong.

She treated her subordinates (and their property) with exceptional favor, especially since these two subordinates were strong men.

Even though she and Wave had already filled their stomachs, Esdeath showed no displeasure at the Kurome still enjoying her food. She simply chatted and waited for her to finish eating.

Even in situations not on the battlefield, her aura was still astonishing. However, for powerful individuals like Wave and Kurome, this aura seemed insignificant. Instead, her compassion and gentleness were more noticeable to them.

Having fought for many years and traveled to many places, Esdeath always had plenty of stories and topics to tell. Although most of them were about things like "that time I encountered Xxx who was quite strong", "that time Xxx's wails were quite pleasant to hear", and "hunting the Xxx Danger Beast that roamed in Xxx was very enjoyable", for Wave, a country boy from the seaside, and Kurome, a member of an assassination squad who only operated in the capital and surrounding cities, it was enough to be called an adventure story.

The two were happy to listen, and Esdeath was naturally happy to share as well. After getting a little carried away with the topic of interrogation and frightening Wave, she calmed down a bit and changed the subject. However, she thought to herself that it would be better to avoid discussing such 'girls' topics with Wave next time and talk about them when she was alone with Kurome.

Kurome didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, as a member of the assassination squad, she often had to interrogate enemies, and she even learned some techniques from Esdeath.

After Kurome had completely eaten her fill, the three of them left the restaurant, intending to head to the square to find a suitable hotel, when they witnessed an unexpected scene.

A soldier hung a recruitment notice in the most conspicuous place in the square, reminding all active and retired soldiers that war was about to break out.

The enemy they were fighting against was the rebel Necrass, who would arrive two days later.

The name was completely unfamiliar to the civilians and soldiers. Most civilians glanced at it and paid no attention, while a few soldiers treated it as just an ordinary defensive battle. However, the majority of soldiers and a small number of civilians smelled the blood.

They didn't know who Necrass was, but the city lord's urgent recruitment revealed a sense of crisis.

For the civilians and soldiers, this notice naturally caused them great concern, but for Esdeath, it was somewhat exciting.

Unexpectedly, before I could even go looking for them, they started heading my way.

"Captain Esdeath?"

Wave hadn't expected this situation. Should he still go to the Marquis Melville's territory? He wouldn't run into anyone there. Going directly to them would be different from the situation in the Marquisate; they now had an army with them.

This doesn't seem like the right time to come knocking...

"Isn't this a great opportunity?"

Esdeath smiled and said, "I was originally planning to just test the waters a bit, but now it seems I can enjoy myself a little."

"Huh...?"

Wave's eye twitched. "Wait, Captain? We don't seem to have official sortie clearance?"

Although he is a passionate young man, and he came along because of the captain's invitation and his sense of justice, operating in the shadows is completely different from fighting on the front lines... At least in the shadows, you can deny it to the death, but there is no such roundabout position on the battlefield.

Kurome glanced at Wave.