Ambush

"That attack... that had to be Pumpkin, right?" Lilith mused to herself.

When it came to the miraculous Imperial Arms, Lilith had gotten her hands on every piece of information about them that she could find.

Naturally, she had not forgotten about Pumpkin, which could materialize mental energy into attacks, and she had paid quite a bit of attention to it.

She was rather curious whether her mental strength differed from that of ordinary people—and whether she could use Pumpkin.

Almost the instant the beam passed beside Lilith's head, a white figure leaped out from the shadows and charged at the three riders.

His target was Lilith, who had just evaded the attack!

The weapon Susanoo held looked extremely strange, like an enormous cotton swab.

But that was only its usual form. Rings of blades sprang from the head of the bizarre weapon, and with a buzzing hum, they began spinning wildly.

If someone were struck by that outrageous weapon, they would inevitably be reduced to chunks of flesh!

Wielding that weapon, Susanoo swung it at Lilith!

"Don't even think about it!"

"Hahaha, die!"

Not only Lilith—even Nyau and Daidas noticed the utterly undisguised Susanoo.

Their actions were astonishingly identical.

Even though Lilith was the target, neither of them moved to shield her. Instead, they attacked Susanoo.

If this continued, even if the two of them managed to kill Susanoo, Lilith would still be doomed to die.

But that was only under normal circumstances!

Neither Lilith nor Susanoo was normal!

Faced with Daidas's great axe and Nyau's flute, Susanoo had no intention of holding back. He remained calm and unhurried, showing no trace of panic as he resolutely swung his weapon at Lilith.

Lilith lightly sprang up and leaped down from her horse, evading Susanoo's attack.

But the instant she landed, a laser shot in from the distance, still aimed at Lilith's head.

This time, Mine's sniper shot achieved nothing either. Her timing had been perfect, yet it only took a strand of white hair by Lilith's ear.

"Damn it, I still missed? That's ridiculous!"

Mine's attack had come without warning. For Lilith to evade it meant she had been on guard against her attacks all along.

But wasn't that too outrageous!?

Didn't she see that absurdly huge weapon Susanoo was swinging at her? Yet she could stay calm without panicking in the slightest.

Her heart was way too damn big!

On the other side, Daidas's and Nyau's attacks struck Susanoo almost simultaneously.

Their weapons sank deep into Susanoo's body, blood spraying out as if it cost nothing.

"What a pity. You looked like a strong opponent, yet you died just like that."

Nyau wore a delighted expression. She had not expected to kill someone so easily. If anyone was to blame, it could only be this person for being too foolish.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Looks like I've gained quite a lot of experience again!"

Daidas burst into laughter.

But in the next second, neither of them could laugh anymore.

Susanoo, who had suffered fatal wounds—and had nearly been split in two by Daidas's axe—expressionlessly swept the bizarre weapon in his hand to the left!

Nyau's expression changed, but it was already too late. Unable to immediately pull her weapon out of Susanoo's body, she was struck head-on.

Even Imperial Arms users were made of Flesh and Blood.

In an instant, countless pieces of flesh flew everywhere as Nyau's entire chest was sliced into chunks of meat.

When Susanoo's weapon finished sweeping past, only Nyau's legs and head remained relatively intact.

As it fell to the ground, Nyau's head bounced with a series of thuds.

Even at the end, her lifeless eyes still held confusion.

Why had she died so easily? This shouldn't have happened!?

"Nyau!! Damn it!"

Watching Nyau get killed right in front of him, it was impossible for Daidas not to be shaken. After all, he would be next.

But his axe was lodged too firmly, and naturally, he could not make the foolish decision to abandon his weapon in order to escape.

However, the properties of his Imperial Arms allowed him to pull it out of Susanoo's body.

The great axe in Daidas's hands instantly transformed into two throwing axes.

The Imperial Arms changing shape created gaps in the Flesh and Blood trapping it, and Daidas took the opportunity to pull it from Susanoo's body.

Having freed himself, Daidas stared tensely at Susanoo.

"...This guy is actually a Biological Imperial Arms. This is troublesome."

He had already experienced the power of Biological Imperial Arms through his teammate's Imperial Arms, Koro.

If its core could not be found, then it was an existence that could not be killed. As for where its core was hidden, perhaps only it and its Imperial Arms user knew.

"Burial!"

A low shout came from above Daidas. He looked up.

The blinding sunlight overhead made him instinctively shut his eyes. At the same time, beneath that glaring light, two slender figures leaped down.

One was headed for Lilith, while the other came straight for him...

"Not good!"

At that moment, Daidas did not care whether he still had weapons in hand. Guided purely by instinct, he hurled both spinning axes at the figure rushing toward him.

The next second, a searing pain exploded across his back, making him cry out!

"Ah!"

Thud~

Daidas fell helplessly to his knees. Akame's downward slash had cut deeply, and the sharp Murasame had even severed his spine.

Even without Murasame's cursed poison, Daidas could not possibly survive such an injury.

Thud~

As Daidas lay on the ground, black curse marks could be seen spreading from his spine across the exposed skin of his body, devouring his life.

"So this is... how it ends for me..."

No matter how unwilling he was, Daidas still closed his eyes.

At the same time, Leona, already transformed into her beast form, leaped down from above.

Leona had chosen the same target as Akame.

Attacking the spine from above was indeed much easier.

Though she had wanted to go straight for Lilith's head, she doubted it would be that easy.

Facing the claws slashing down from above, Lilith not only failed to dodge, but instead jumped up and spun around, kicking Leona in the stomach and sending her flying heavily into the rock wall behind her.