You Are Strong, But My Art Style Is Above Yours!

"Obviously, we're not friends close enough to entrust our lives to each other. We've met fewer than ten times in total... Yet you saved me once a while ago, and now... Have you been following me and protecting me in secret this whole time?"

"Yes." Iori answered immediately.

Akame hadn't expected him to be so straightforward. She froze for a moment, then became even more uneasy.

Given the environment she had grown up in and the education she had received, she naturally didn't believe there was such a thing as kindness without reason. Yet Iori had unquestionably treated her differently. From sparing her life when they first met to helping her in every possible way now... There had to be a reason for it.

"Then why exactly are you—"

"The main reason is that you're a beautiful girl," Iori said without hesitation. "And I like cool beauties with long black hair."

"..."

Akame's pupils trembled violently. Iori's words had stunned her. "L-Like...?"

She had little concept of such things. Teammates had confessed their feelings to her before, but Akame had felt nothing and merely handed them friendship cards. Yet for some reason, her heart was now in turmoil, shaken as never before.

"Of course, I also like tomboyish girls with short hair, busty older sisters, cold female teachers, blonde young ladies, tsundere twin-tails, scheming glasses girls... and silver-haired, red-eyed girls, who will forever be number one!"

"..."

Iori declared openly, "If two complete strangers fell into the water, I'd decide which one to save based on my preferences—that's my answer!"

"..."

Being frank to this extent was somehow refreshing instead.

Once Akame came back to her senses, she became inexplicably annoyed. "You only... take special care of me because of my appearance?"

"Your appearance is part of you too. Did you expect me to see the beauty of your soul at first glance?"

The corner of Iori's lips curled up. "But seriously, a beautiful appearance alone can't save your life. I'm not someone who goes easy on others just because they're beautiful women. After all, the more beautiful a woman is, the more dangerous she tends to be.

"If all you had was your appearance, I might pay you a little extra attention, but I wouldn't put in this much effort.

"As for why I... Well, there really is a special reason."

"That is...?" Akame held her breath. "What exactly is it?"

Of course, it was to farm more Bond Value and favorability, naturally get closer to the protagonist's group in the future, collect more CGs, then take down the Empire and divide up its resources~

Besides, putting effort into beautiful girls was much more pleasant than trying to win over men, wasn't it?!

Of course, Iori wrote (smut) books. He was still an artist of sorts, so he couldn't say that directly. He had to polish it a little:

"Probably... because I want to know you better and become closer to you."

"Gasp!"

As though she had suffered a mental attack, Akame averted her gaze and said, "It's a promise, then. See you in ten days." Then she hurriedly picked up the dazed Kurome and left, like a rabbit fleeing from a hungry wolf.

Oh dear, had she misunderstood something?

Iori sighed and shook his head slightly... Then he couldn't help grinning crookedly. (Dragon King.jpg)

—I did it on purpose!

If I Use Cheats, How Will You Respond?

CG Recorded

I. Wanderer and Vagabond

Category: Art Style CG

Level: --

Quality: --

Rewards:

Art Style Value +2

Note: Total Art Style Value is now "35." Reiatsu Limit increased to "460."

Current Reiatsu value: 421

II. Undertaker's Flutter

Category: Bond CG

Level: B

Quality: Rare

Rewards:

Mobility · Slightly increased

Accuracy · Minimally increased

Evasion · Moderately increased

Talent:

Precision

Meticulous, cautious, thorough, attentive to every detail, yet decisive without hesitation when necessary—these were essential qualities for an assassin. Some acquired them through training, while others were naturally gifted.

· Improves bodily coordination, fine control over muscle movement, and the overall flow of force.

· Improves neural reflexes, allowing quicker and more decisive responses to unexpected situations.

· Precisely gauges "the distance from danger," allowing one to walk along a blade's edge while remaining composed. Even when living day and night with a demonic blade that kills at the sight of blood, one can ensure they will not suffer its backlash.

Skill:

Assassination Swordsmanship

· Offense over defense; an extremely aggressive swordsmanship style that preserves oneself by killing the enemy.

· Increases the attack speed of "Iaido" and "Drawing Slash."

· While this swordsmanship can pose an enormous threat to enemies, it also places its user in danger.

One talent, one skill, and two Art Style Value? Leaving aside everything else, that was quite a haul of attribute points... It had been a long time since he'd reaped such a rich harvest. Sure enough, following the protagonist meant there was meat to eat~

Luckily, he was wearing a mask. Otherwise, passersby might have seen someone trying desperately not to laugh, the corners of his mouth twitching from time to time in a ridiculous manner.

Seeing his Reiatsu Limit getting closer and closer to the Vice-Captain standard, Iori's excitement was only natural.

Still, Vice-Captain and Captain were merely job titles, not actual Reiatsu ranks. It depended on the individual circumstances.

For example, Shubaku Jiro, the Vice-Captain of the First Division, was a veteran who had been around since the founding of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. He had also mastered Bankai long ago. If one had to say it, he was absolutely qualified to serve as a Captain.

Generally speaking, the hard requirement for promotion to Captain was mastering Bankai and receiving recommendations or recognition from multiple Captains.

The requirements for Vice-Captain were vaguer. After all, many seated officers and even elite squad members could master Shikai. From that alone, there didn't seem to be much fundamental difference between the two.

However, according to Iori's judgment, there was still an invisible threshold:

Being able to withstand Captain-level Reiatsu head-on without losing the ability to move.

After all, a Vice-Captain was supposed to assist a Captain. If they couldn't even withstand the Captain's Reiatsu, wouldn't they become a burden in battle?

And those capable of intervening in Captain-level battles and influencing the final outcome could be considered top-tier Vice-Captains. Shubaku was one example, as were Renji Abarai and Shuhei Hisagi in the future.

If quantified numerically, the threshold was probably around five hundred. As for the upper limit... that was harder to judge. Some Vice-Captains had mastered Bankai yet still lagged far behind proper Captains, which showed that every minor stage after Bankai involved an enormous improvement.

Iori's Reiatsu Limit was already close to the Vice-Captain threshold, while his actual Reiatsu had reached roughly the level of a Fourth Seat or Third Seat. Even within the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he was no longer a minor character. If this were an anime, he might even earn a certain amount of screen time.

Of course, being satisfied with that would be far too pathetic... In Bleach, seated officers and ordinary soldiers died in droves!

After calming his excitement over the harvest, Iori quickly returned to his usual state. He did not immediately return to the Soul Society. Instead, he traveled day and night to a hilly region in one of the Empire's eastern provinces, wandering around until he followed his unique markers to an unremarkable little lake.

The area was rather desolate. The nearest village was over five li away, and the main road was even farther. Apart from wild animals occasionally coming to drink, there were almost no traces of humans. Yet this remote place was Iori's destination.

"Good. The Reishi markers haven't been disturbed."

Iori came to the water's edge, startling several deer and rabbits away. Then he removed his hat and other outer garments, leaving only the uniform of a Candidate Shinigami. He rolled up and tied his sleeves, looking as if he were about to enter a Sumo match. The next moment, he plunged fiercely into the icy lake...

Splash~ Splash~ Splash~

After quite some time, just as the surface of the water was about to settle, a dark shape broke the stillness and returned from the water to the shore—it was Iori!

This time, however, he had an extra length of rope in his hand. Its other end was tied to a rectangular object as tall as a person. Its surface was smooth and gleaming, but a closer look revealed that it was wrapped in layer after layer of thick oil paper.

Iori patiently untied the rope and peeled away the oil paper layer by layer. Inside was a tightly sealed iron box. When he opened it, a large pile of miscellaneous items came into view:

There was gold used as hard currency, beautiful gemstones that looked quite rare, something resembling noble crests, and two sets of replacement clothes.

Among the many miscellaneous items, several stood out: three weapons.

The first was a pitch-black longbow strung with a silver bowstring. The second was a golden rapier only two fingers wide. The third was a pair of huge axes that looked tremendously heavy.

The first two were Ministerial Tools Iori had collected. The seemingly worthless axes were one of the mere forty-eight Teigu.

—These three were Iori's greatest gains since arriving in Akame ga Kill, aside from another Ministerial Tool hidden elsewhere.

Of course, now there were two more to add!

He placed the silver sniper rifle and the newly acquired "Yatsufusa" into the box as well. Before closing the lid, he gave the demonic blade one more meaningful look.

"This will do for now."

After taking out several gold ingots, Iori packed everything up again and carried the box back into the water.

He did not trust this world's banks or inns, nor did he have anyone suitable to safeguard his belongings. Besides, these things were enormous temptations to anyone, so he had simply hidden them in the wilderness.

Even then, he still wasn't at ease. Taking advantage of the benefits of his spirit body, he had dived deep underwater and dug an absolutely secure hiding place for his treasure.

If someone could still stumble across it... then it could only be fate!

"Teigu: Yatsufusa... the power to control the dead? It's rather interesting.

"But ever since ancient times, abilities like this have only been used to draw hatred, pad out the plot, milk sentiment, and help the protagonist's group level up. It lacks a little too much style~"

Iori curled his lip. "I'll consider it a backup option for now... I wonder when I'll find the perfect 'blade blank.'"

—He was making preparations to forge his own Zanpakuto.

A Zanpakuto was the "embodiment of a Soul Reaper's soul and will." By injecting one's Reiatsu into a blank katana called an Asauchi, one would eventually nurture it into a personal weapon.

It was somewhat like awakening a martial soul or an innate combat ability in a fantasy novel.

The students of the Soul Reaper Academy were all Candidate Shinigami. After two years of basic training, screening, and elimination, they would generally receive an Asauchi in their third year and begin training to nurture a Zanpakuto.

Those with outstanding talent could even apply for an Asauchi as soon as they enrolled. In short, Soul Society was a very realistic society. The strong had privileges and needed no explanation.

By all rights, Iori should have sought out an Asauchi early on and tried to learn Shikai as soon as possible instead of foolishly waiting for one to be assigned.

—But he had his own concerns.

Because Bleach had a hidden setting:

Without exception, every Asauchi, the foundational vessel of a Zanpakuto, was forged by Blade God, Nimaiya Ōetsu, one of the Zero Division—the Soul King's guards.

By working together with another member of the Zero Division, the Great Monk who claimed to know everything in the world, he could learn the true names of every Zanpakuto in existence!

He could even know the release commands for Shikai and Bankai before the Zanpakuto's owner did.

In the Bleach worldview, true names were extremely important. The Great Monk also possessed the ability to "strip away names." That meant the Zero Division had the power to suppress any Zanpakuto. Even old man Yamamoto would not be able to get past the Great Monk!

That was why, despite Soul Society having existed for so long and powerful figures emerging one after another, no one had ever said, "The Soul King's throne changes hands every year; next year it'll be mine."

On the surface, Yamamoto was keeping everyone in check. In reality, all powerful figures born from the Soul Reaper system were utterly countered by the Zero Division!

In the original story, it would probably be another one or two hundred years before the original Aizen would say, "Is the Soul King's position hereditary?"

—Then he would be locked in a little dark room.

He had not even reached the Soul King Palace...

Iori was wary of the legendary Zero Division. That was why, after all these years, he had never gone looking for an Asauchi to begin training in Shikai.

Theoretically, as long as he did not threaten the Soul King, the Zero Division would not intervene. Iori had no intention of staging a coup, so he should not have needed to worry so much.

But he knew that if he wanted to become a top-tier powerhouse in this worldview, he would inevitably have to become involved with the Soul King in some way. After all, whether Soul Reapers or Quincy, the source of their powers was fundamentally the Soul King.

If Iori became a "Transcendent" in the future and accidentally combined multiple power systems, then the Great Monk might take one look at him and think, Hey! This kid has a strange art style and excellent talent. He's perfect candidate material for the Soul King...

That would be a tragedy!

The Soul King was supposedly the Lord of the Three Realms, but in reality, he was a lamb placed upon an altar, turned into a limbless human stump by a pack of ungrateful traitors... Even being only a candidate was more than Iori wanted.

Don't think that the Zero Division would never do something like that just because they belonged to the "righteous faction." In the original work, the Great Monk had considered that if things got out of control, they would have no choice but to turn Ichigo Kurosaki into a human pillar to replace the Soul King and support the Three Realms.