Modified Humans

Night Raid.

Night Raid, which had become a little livelier with the addition of Susanoo and Chelsea, once again fell into deathly silence.

Though they had spent little time together, they had long regarded Chelsea as a true companion. Even Mine, who often bickered with Chelsea, felt the same.

No one had expected Chelsea, who possessed the Teigu with the greatest disguise ability, to sacrifice herself after completing her assassination mission.

For a time, the members of Night Raid were immersed in the pain of losing a companion. What was more, the one who had killed Chelsea was the same person who had killed Bulat.

For Night Raid, Lilith's blood debt had grown even heavier.

"Now is not the time to grieve. We will settle this debt sooner or later. Right now, another order has arrived from headquarters."

The members of Night Raid could only turn their grief into motivation and throw themselves into their mission. Perhaps that was the only way they could forget their sorrow.

Nacita then explained their mission.

"This mission concerns a religious organization, Anning Dao."

"Anning Dao? The one that says doing good actively brings happiness and longevity? Even in my village, I had heard of that religion."

Tatsumi remembered the Anning Dao wooden carving the village chief had given him when he left home. That was what had blocked Akame's killing blow, allowing him to stand here now with companions who shared his ideals and change this country.

In recent years, Anning Dao had gained more and more followers. It had even recently formed its own armed force and had become a considerable power on the eastern side of the Imperial Capital.

"They have even recently shown signs of launching an armed uprising."

"Wait!? An armed uprising? How many people will have to die because of that? If that's the case, shouldn't we stop this rebellion?" Tatsumi could not help shouting upon hearing this, unwilling to see the people suffer.

Nacita naturally understood that, but...

"Even if we stop Anning Dao's rebellion this time, rebellions will arise elsewhere next time. As long as the Empire's atrocities do not end, the people will never truly find happiness."

Nacita clenched the mechanical arm she had installed after Esdeath severed one of her arms.

"Now is the time to end all of this!"

"Even if Anning Dao launches an armed uprising, suppressing it should be easy enough with the Empire's strength. But if we add our strength to theirs, things will be different!"

"While Anning Dao launches its armed uprising, the Western Foreigners, who are allied with the Revolutionary Army, will attack the Empire's borders. Our Revolutionary Army will also begin a revolution in the south, then push all the way to the outskirts of the Imperial Capital in one go!"

"But... will it really be that easy?"

Tatsumi had not let his blood run so hot that it clouded his judgment.

After all, there were several checkpoints between the Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Capital. Breaking through even one was difficult under normal circumstances, let alone several in succession.

"Under normal circumstances, of course it would not be so easy. But we have long since won over the officials in those cities. When the time comes, they will open the gates before anyone else can react. By then, everything will already be decided."

"We should be grateful that Ozneth has yet to take the Revolutionary Army seriously. He believes our strength is insignificant. That is hardly surprising, considering the Empire's two greatest fighting forces are both in the Imperial Capital."

"With those two there, no matter how many troops we send, they will likely find it difficult to make a difference."

"But even so, no matter how many sacrifices we must make, we will definitely liberate this country!"

At this point, Nacita paused.

"However, Anning Dao, which is the key to all of this, is also fraught with danger within. If things go wrong, all of Anning Dao could fall into Ozneth's hands."

"How could that happen?"

Lubbock scratched his head. How had this become connected to the minister again?

"The person the leader of Anning Dao trusts most, his assistant Bolic, is actually a spy the minister planted within Anning Dao. At any moment, he may kill the leader of Anning Dao, make him into a true 'god,' and then take his place himself."

"Then... why not tell Anning Dao's leader about Bolic's identity and let them clean house themselves?"

"That likely will not work. Lubbock holds considerable power within Anning Dao. If we inform them of this, it may force Lubbock to act immediately. That would greatly weaken Anning Dao, and it may no longer be able to restrain the forces on the eastern side of the Imperial Capital."

That was something the Revolutionary Army could not accept.

"Therefore, our mission this time is to go to Anning Dao and assassinate Bolic!"

Night Raid: "Yes!!!"

"At the same time, we can no longer ignore the Hunters. They have been targeting us constantly, and the people we have developed within the Imperial Capital are also in grave danger. This time, we will lure the Hunters out of the Imperial Capital and ambush them there!"

Rather than being afraid, the members of Night Raid were filled with fighting spirit.

"The full-scale war is finally beginning!"

Nacita then named three of the Hunters whom Revolutionary Army headquarters hoped they would kill.

One of them was someone they knew very well: Lilith.

They could more or less guess the reason. Lilith's Teigu provided far too much support to Esdeath's Teigu.

If Lilith remained alive, Esdeath's strength would become even more terrifying.

The other two were relatively unfamiliar to them.

"Dr. Stylish?"

"He seems to have joined the Hunters recently. How strong is he?"

Nacita: "In terms of strength... he is very weak. Even weaker than Lubbock."

Lubbock: "Huh? Me?"

Nacita: "His Teigu has no offensive capability whatsoever, but combined with Dr. Stylish's own abilities, it has become extremely frightening."

"According to Revolutionary Army intelligence, Dr. Stylish is highly skilled in human modification. He uses prisoners to conduct human experiments on criminals."

"At present, no one knows exactly how many Modified Humans he has created. But if those Modified Humans are still under Dr. Stylish's control, they will be an extremely terrifying force."

Mine was somewhat curious about these so-called Modified Humans, so she asked, "Just how strong are they in combat?"

Remembering the intelligence the Revolutionary Army had obtained, Nacita felt a chill in her heart.

"...Very strong. Any Modified Human that survives may not possess the combat ability of a Teigu user, but each is far stronger than an elite soldier. Among them, the strongest one..."

Nacita looked at Akame and fell silent for a moment.