With Esdeath's tacit approval, Nacita and a handful of her personal guards escaped, while everyone else—including the two Teigu users under Nacita's command—was wiped out.
"Well, if Lilith found out I let Nacita off, she'd probably be furious."
After realizing that Nacita had performed far beyond her expectations, Esdeath was delighted and decided to spare her.
It was like hunting: whenever she encountered a Dangerous Species that had yet to mature, she would let it go, because after some time, it would grow bigger and have more meat.
But then she thought of Lilith. If Lilith learned of this, she would definitely say something about letting a tiger return to the mountain.
So, instead of merely cutting off Nacita's hair as she had planned, she took one of Nacita's arms and one of her eyes.
"This should be enough to placate Lilith."
As for Minister Honest, who wanted Nacita dead—
Esdeath and Honest were merely collaborators. Besides, what Honest truly cared about were the elite soldiers Nacita had taken with her.
Now that all of Nacita's subordinates had been annihilated and Nacita herself had become disabled, there was nothing more to say.
When Honest learned of this, he was somewhat dissatisfied, but he said nothing.
Being able to leave behind Nacita's subordinates, the two Teigu users under her command, and their Teigu was already more than enough.
Besides, Nacita had already become disabled.
But as long as she was alive, Honest felt uneasy.
Still, considering that Nacita was crippled and had only a few subordinates left, Honest stopped taking her seriously.
He was now pondering how to make his private treasury even fuller.
But after some time had passed, those rebels unexpectedly became a force that could no longer be ignored.
It disgusted Honest as if he had swallowed a fly.
He knew that it was all because of Nacita.
She could not be allowed to live any longer!
So the minister sent the Empire's finest assassin to kill Nacita.
But who could have imagined that the elite assassin the Empire had spent untold effort cultivating—an assassin who wielded the Teigu One Cut Killer: Murasame—would also defect!
This time, the minister finally panicked.
He knew all too well how terrifying Murasame was.
That blade had killed many of his political enemies and rivals.
No one understood its power better than he did.
If he ranked all Teigu by how much he feared them, Murasame would definitely be near the top.
All because of Murasame's unsolvable curse poison!
Only after doubling the defensive forces around him, to the point where even Teigu users could not easily infiltrate, did Honest finally breathe a little easier.
"Seriously, I should have sent another assassin. Still, this is not entirely bad news."
Looking at it from another angle, a Teigu user skilled in assassination had been lurking at his side. If she ever found an opportunity, he would be in danger.
Though he had never appeared before those assassination units, and even gave orders through intermediaries.
Esdeath did not know that the Teigu user sent to assassinate Nacita had also defected. At the time, she was on her way back to the northern border.
She only learned of it after arriving at the border fortress.
As expected, Lilith was furious when she learned that Esdeath had let Nacita go.
Fortunately, Esdeath had anticipated Lilith's reaction. Using the excuse that she was exhausted from the journey and needed rest, she slipped away, leaving only the Three Beasts to face Lilith's wrath.
"Honestly... I don't even know what to say about her."
Lilith was both angry and helpless.
This really was just like Esdeath.
"One day, she'll suffer a huge loss because of this." Lilith sighed.
A little white-haired girl speaking in such an old-fashioned tone looked strange no matter how one saw it.
That angry little expression of hers was not frightening in the slightest. Instead, it only made her seem adorable.
Yet the Three Beasts standing before Lilith did not dare reveal the slightest expression. No matter what Lilith said, they remained stone-faced.
Within this fortress, Lilith's status was second only to Esdeath's. Everyone here might have feared Lilith even more than Esdeath.
That was because Lilith was far too strict. Not a single soldier who violated military discipline could escape punishment.
As a result, even the Three Beasts appeared extremely restrained before Lilith.
Nyau and Daidas in particular had once relied on their status as Teigu users to protest against Lilith's discipline.
Only after Lilith beat them up did they finally behave themselves.
"Enough. You've had a tiring journey too. Go get some rest."
The Three Beasts immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Nyau and Daidas exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of relief in the other's eyes.
Thank goodness, thank goodness Lilith had not taken out her anger on them.
Though in their view, Lilith's anger was somewhat inexplicable.
With Lord Esdeath's strength, Nacita could never have been a match for her. So what if she had been spared?
However, they wisely did not say that aloud, or they would inevitably have been beaten again.
"I didn't expect it to be at this point in time."
If Lilith had known that Esdeath took Nacita's arm and eye at this time, she would have gone along no matter what.
Unfortunately, it was useless to say anything now.
If she remembered correctly, Night Raid should be established in a few years.
Thinking about it, it was truly laughable.
The current Rebel Army did not even qualify to make the Empire take it seriously.
It had always only operated in the countryside and small towns, not daring to touch large cities at all.
After Nacita joined the Rebel Army, she relied on her prestige and methods to rapidly strengthen it.
In just a few short years, it had already taken on a considerable scale.
But as her prestige within the Rebel Army grew greater and greater, certain people could no longer stand it.
They practically drove her into the Empire to become an assassin who did dirty work.
The stated purpose was to kill the corrupt officials of the Imperial Capital and relieve the pressure on the front lines.
The real purpose was merely to keep Nacita away from the center of power.
If not for Nacita's personal charisma and methods, along with the fact that the assassin organization she founded consisted almost entirely of Teigu users, Night Raid would have long since been annihilated.
Still, Night Raid did tie down quite a few of the Empire's forces.
In particular, many Teigu users, whose value was immense, were pulled away to deal with Night Raid.
"Power... why are so many people obsessed with it?"
In her previous life, Lilith had been an ordinary person beyond ordinary. Those so-called powers had been far too distant from her.
And now, neither power nor money stirred even the slightest fascination in Lilith.
Only the Teigu that possessed all kinds of miraculous powers made Lilith curious.
"Is it because my race has changed?"
Perhaps it was, or perhaps it was not.
Lilith guessed that perhaps because she had obtained what others pursued their entire lives—immortality—she had no interest in such things.
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