The Desire for Tranquility

Under Esdeath's leniency, Nacita and her few close guards escaped, while everyone else, including the two Imperial Arms users under Nacita, were annihilated by her.

"Well, if Lilith knew I let Nacita off the hook, she'd probably be furious."

After discovering Nacita's performance far exceeded her expectations, Esdeath was very pleased and decided to let Nacita off the hook.

It was like hunting; when she found a Dangerous Species that hadn't grown yet, she would let it go. Because after some time, these Dangerous Species would grow up and have more meat.

But then she thought of Lilith. If Lilith knew about this, she would surely say Esdeath had let a tiger return to the mountains.

Thus, intending only to cut off Nacita's hair, Esdeath instead took one of Nacita's arms.

"This way, I should be able to fool Lilith."

As for Minister Honest, who wanted Nacita dead.

She and Minister Honest were merely collaborators. Moreover, what Minister Honest truly cared about was the elite soldiers Nacita had taken.

Now that all of Nacita's subordinates were annihilated, and Nacita herself was crippled, she couldn't say anything.

When Minister Honest learned of this, although he was somewhat displeased, he said nothing.

Being able to leave Nacita's subordinates, along with the two Imperial Arms users under her and their Imperial Arms, was already going above and beyond.

Furthermore, Nacita had already been crippled.

But as long as she was alive, Minister Honest would be uncomfortable.

However, thinking that Nacita had been crippled and only had a few subordinates left, Minister Honest no longer kept her in mind.

He was now contemplating how to make his personal coffers even fuller.

But after some time, those rebels actually became a force that could not be ignored.

This made Minister Honest feel as if he had swallowed a fly, disgusting him.

He knew that all of this was because of Nacita.

She couldn't be allowed to live any longer!

So, the Minister dispatched the Empire's most skilled assassin to assassinate Nacita.

But who could have imagined that the elite assassin the Empire had spent who knew how much effort cultivating, the assassin who wielded the Imperial Arm [One Cut Killer: Murasame], had also defected!

This time, the Minister finally panicked.

He knew very well the terror of [Murasame].

This blade had killed many of his political enemies and rivals.

He was all too aware of its abilities.

If he were to rank the Imperial Arms he feared the most, [Murasame] would definitely be at the top.

It was all because of [Murasame]'s unsolvable curse poison!

With the surrounding defenses doubled, making it difficult for even Imperial Arms users to infiltrate, Minister Honest finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Honestly, I should have sent a different assassin, but this isn't entirely bad news."

From another perspective, an Imperial Arms user skilled in assassination was lurking by his side. If she found an opportunity, he would be in danger.

Although he had never appeared before those assassination squads, even giving orders through others.

Esdeath was unaware that the Imperial Arms user sent to assassinate Nacita had also defected. She was currently on her way back to the northern border.

She only learned of this matter after arriving at the border fortress.

As expected, Lilith was furious upon learning that Esdeath had let Nacita go.

Fortunately, Esdeath had anticipated Lilith's reaction and used the excuse of being tired from the journey to go rest, leaving the Three Beasts to face Lilith's wrath.

"Really... I don't know what to say about her."

Lilith was both angry and helpless.

This was truly in Esdeath's style.

"She'll definitely suffer greatly because of this sooner or later," Lilith sighed.

A little girl with white hair speaking in an aged manner looked incongruous no matter how you looked at it.

Her angry little expression, far from being frightening, made her look incredibly cute.

However, the Three Beasts standing before Lilith dared not show the slightest expression, maintaining a blank face no matter what Lilith said.

In this fortress, Lilith's status was second only to Esdeath's, and everyone here probably feared Lilith even more than Esdeath.

This was because Lilith was too strict; no soldier who violated military discipline could escape punishment.

This made even the Three Beasts appear very uneasy in front of Lilith.

Especially Nyau and Daidas, who had once relied on their status as Imperial Arms users to resist Lilith's discipline and protest.

After Lilith beat them up, they finally restrained themselves.

"Alright, you must be tired from the journey. Go rest."

The Three Beasts immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Nyau and Daidas exchanged glances, seeing a hint of relief in each other's eyes.

Fortunately, fortunately, Lilith didn't take her anger out on them.

Although, from their perspective, Lilith's anger seemed a bit inexplicable.

Because with Esdeath's strength, Nacita was no match for her, so what if she was released?

However, they wisely didn't say this out loud, otherwise they would have been beaten again.

"I didn't expect it to be at this point in time."

If Lilith had known that Esdeath had taken an arm from Nacita at this time, she would have gone along with her no matter what.

It's just a shame that it was too late to say anything now.

If she remembered correctly, Night Raid should be established in a few years.

It was quite laughable, really.

The current Rebel Army didn't even have the qualifications to be taken seriously by the Empire.

They had only ever operated in the lower regions and small towns, never daring to approach the big cities.

This time, after Nacita joined the Rebel Army, she used her prestige and methods to rapidly expand the Rebel Army.

In just a few years, it had become quite substantial.

But because her prestige within the Rebel Army grew larger and larger, certain people couldn't stand it.

They almost drove her out of the Empire to become a killer of unspeakable deeds.

Her mission was euphemistically called "executing corrupt officials in the Imperial Capital to alleviate pressure on the front lines."

The real purpose was simply to keep Nacita away from the center of power.

If it weren't for Nacita's own charisma and methods, coupled with the fact that the assassin organization she founded was almost entirely composed of Imperial Arms users, Night Raid would have been annihilated long ago.

However, Night Raid did tie down a significant portion of the Empire's forces.

Especially the Imperial Arms users, who were of great importance, many of whom were drawn away to deal with Night Raid.

"Power, why are so many people fascinated by it?"

In her past life, Lilith was just an ordinary person, and such things as power were too far away for her.

And now, whether it was power or money, none of these things held the slightest bit of fascination for Lilith.

Only the Imperial Arms, with their various magical powers, piqued Lilith's curiosity.

"Is it because my race has changed?"

Perhaps, perhaps not.

Lilith guessed that perhaps it was because she had obtained what others pursued their entire lives – eternal life – that she was not interested in these things.