After breakfast, Boss sent Mine and Sheele into the city to meet a contact. A thought stirred in Lin Ran's mind: could this be the outing where disaster struck them? But Sheele had now been reborn, and who would win the hunt remained to be seen. To be safe, he would still go over and take a look when the time came.
During the day, Akame went with Boss to gather intelligence. When night fell, Lin Ran said a word to Akame and transferred straight to Sheele.
Better to arrive at the right moment than early-the two were facing off against Seryu Ubiquitous!
Lin Ran studied this girl who had turned herself into a biological weapon for revenge and could not help feeling a little sorrow. In her eyes, Night Raid and the others were the ones guilty of unforgivable crimes.
Battle erupted at the slightest spark. The two women immediately pinned Seryu and Xiaobi down and pummeled them. Even after the Teigu Xiaobi entered its berserk form, it could only be toyed with by Mine.
Sheele also completely overwhelmed Seryu, until she severed both of Seryu's arms with one slash, nimbly dodged the bullets fired from the gun barrels that suddenly emerged from Seryu's arms, and cut both arms off at the roots with another slash.
Lin Ran was keeping constant watch on Seryu and discovered that she was playing dead on the spot, hoping to launch a sneak attack! He hurriedly transmitted his voice to Sheele, reminding her to finish the job.
Sheele nodded with a adorably blank look, swung her black sword, and dismembered her on the spot!
Only when the berserk Xiaobi suddenly reverted to its original form did Mine stop. This Teigu was rather interesting. Lin Ran wondered whether that kid Tatsumi could wield it-after all, he had a sense of justice too!
Lin Ran did not immediately recycle this Teigu. These were small change, really. Only The Supreme Throne was valuable. It did not matter whether he recycled these ordinary Teigu; killing a few Super Danger Beasts would earn him considerably more Origin Points.
After they returned to the base and Boss learned what had happened, she was a little stunned too. She had not expected anyone to dare ambush the members of Night Raid single-handedly.
Tatsumi excitedly picked up the Teigu Hundred-Armed Giant. To everyone's surprise, he actually won its recognition!
Xiaobi came back to life and clung to Tatsumi's neck, refusing to let go. The place immediately filled with joy. Lin Ran watched the scene cheerfully. According to the original storyline, Sheele would already have died in Xiaobi's jaws by now, and everyone would have been steeped in grief.
Now, everyone had a happy ending. But when the imperial minister learned that Night Raid had not only killed members of the guard but also stolen a Teigu, he flew into a rage and immediately began recalling General Esdeath and a group of Teigu wielders stationed elsewhere.
Lin Ran had yet to realize that he had accelerated the main storyline. From this point onward, the subsequent plot underwent unknown changes.
For a while afterward, the Night Raid squad turned into Danger Beast hunters, constantly gathering information on Danger Beasts of special class and above. Akame took Mine out to hunt Danger Beasts.
That left Sheele on her own. Whenever Lin Ran had time, he would teleport over to guide her swordsmanship and check her body for internal injuries while he was at it!
Over half a month later, Akame returned with Mine. Each radiated an even stronger oppressive presence than the other. During the evening meeting, Bulat and Tatsumi were out hunting Danger Beasts, and Boss assigned a mission concerning the Three Beasts under Esdeath.
The moment Lin Ran heard what the mission was, he knew the situation. Only this time, Akame and Sheele would be going!
Since both women were on the wanted list, they simply boarded the ship without a care. This was an imperial plot to begin with, after all-the question was whether they dared come.
As the ship sailed away from shore, a melodious flute sounded, and the tourists around them swayed and collapsed to the ground.
Sheele and Akame looked calmly toward the interior of the cabin. Lin Ran looked at Sheele in puzzlement. What was going on? Why had the flute not affected her? He could understand Akame resisting the music, but this little airhead Sheele was also acting as though nothing had happened. Did being naturally ditzy come with this benefit too?
Clap, clap, clap. Applause rang out as three figures emerged from the cabin. They were none other than the Three Beasts.
"As expected of the Demon Sword Murasame, whose very name strikes terror into people's hearts. You resisted the intrusion of Nyau's Teigu through willpower alone," General Liver said with a smile, seemingly convinced that victory was already in their grasp.
Akame gripped Divine Abyss's hilt and looked expressionlessly at the three.
"Hmm? The Teigu in your hand doesn't seem to be the Demon Sword Murasame. Did you change Teigu?" Liver asked in some confusion.
"His name is Divine Abyss!" Akame uttered those words, and her figure abruptly vanished. Sword light flashed, and that blockhead Daidara was already dead. Lin Ran recycled his Teigu on the spot as well.
General Liver watched Akame with a grave expression. The ring on his hand glimmered, and the surrounding lake water transformed into water dragons that charged at Akame. Sheele blinked with an adorably blank look, then took the initiative and rushed at Nyau.
Extase swung, leaving Nyau beset by danger. By the look of it, he would be going down in less than two minutes!
Seeing the battle turn one-sided, Liver did not panic and continued concentrating on dealing with Akame.
Akame cut through all the water dragons with a single slash. Just like that, she pressed straight toward General Liver through their attacks.
One slash cut Liver in half at the waist. There was nothing to be done-the gap between their strength was simply too great. With Akame's current strength, she could probably pin down and thrash even Esdeath, the strongest in the Empire.
Though Liver had been cut in half, a faint smile appeared on his face. All the blood gushing out transformed into blood threads and shot toward Akame.
In the original story, Bulat had died to these highly poisonous blood threads. Akame remained expressionless. Divine Abyss's blade shuddered, and a strange pulse erupted from it, dispersing all the incoming blood threads.
Akame had just used the Sword Resonance Technique. Seeing his desperate, all-out attack so easily neutralized, Liver closed his eyes in bitter unwillingness.
Seeing that Akame's battle had already ended, Sheele abruptly intensified her assault. Under Nyau's terrified gaze, she cut off his head with one slash.
Then she handed Nyau's flute to Akame as though presenting a treasure. Lin Ran stood on no ceremony and recycled it directly.
Only General Liver's ring Teigu, Black Marlin, remained. This Teigu was fairly good and quite powerful wherever there was water.
"Akame, you can try wielding this Teigu."
"Huh? But each person can only wield one Teigu."
"Uh... to be precise, Divine Abyss isn't truly a Teigu. You noticed when you used Divine Abyss that it doesn't drain your vitality or mental energy. It's more a matter of using your strength to draw out Divine Abyss's own power. I only explained it that way back then to make it easier for you to understand. You can treat this as something unique to Divine Abyss. After all, Divine Abyss is the only mythical-grade Teigu in this world."
"Oh, I see. But I still don't want it. Having you is enough!" Akame said from the bottom of her heart, reaching out to stroke Divine Abyss's blade.
"All right, suit yourself. Now that we've killed three of Esdeath's subordinates, we'll probably get to fight her soon."
"Maybe. Boss told me how formidable she was ages ago. This time, I'll finally get to see for myself."
Akame gazed at the lake, countless thoughts swirling through her mind. Lin Ran guessed that she was thinking about her younger sister, Kurome. Once he met that rebellious girl, he would make sure she learned what cruelty meant!