Not long after they returned to the base, Tatsumi came back too. When he saw Kurome and Sheele sitting together chatting, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"K-Kurome? H-how come she's sitting with Sheele?"
"Kurome is my little sister. You spent so many days in the palace, so you should know her, right?"
"Yes, yes! I even know she eats candy every day."
"Tatsumi?" Kurome had spotted Tatsumi too. She was a little puzzled as to why a member of the Jaegers would appear at Night Raid's base.
"Tatsumi's back!" Sheele waved happily at Tatsumi and explained his situation to Kurome.
The happiest one in the entire base was none other than the Teigu Xiaobi, who followed behind Tatsumi like a wagging tail.
During the meeting that evening, Akame told Boss about her plans to go out hunting Danger Beasts with Kurome. Boss readily agreed. After all, Esdeath, whom she feared most, had left, and the situation was now entirely within her grasp.
In the early hours of the morning, a furtive figure slipped into Akame's room. Akame suddenly sprang up and pinned the intruder to the bed, only to discover in astonishment that it was Kurome.
"Big Sis! I ran out of candy!" Kurome wrapped her arms around Akame's slender waist and wheedled.
"You can't keep eating candy all the time! You need to gradually cut down!" Akame stroked Kurome's little head.
"I know, but I have to take it slowly, don't I? Give me another box, please?"
Helpless, Akame gave her a box of a new flavor. Kurome eagerly tried a piece, and her eyes lit up. This was her first time having this fruit-flavored candy! It was delicious!
After Kurome left, Akame was just getting ready to sleep when Lin Ran suddenly appeared on her bed.
"Hehe, little Tongtong, it's time for another physical examination!"
With a chuckle, Lin Ran pushed Akame down onto the bed. Blushing, Akame put up a token struggle or two before letting Lin Ran do as he pleased.
Over half an hour later, Akame nervously grabbed Lin Ran's wandering hands.
"That's enough for today, right?" Akame asked timidly.
Seeing that she still wasn't ready, Lin Ran didn't force her. He pulled her into his arms and held her as they slept.
Having slept poorly that night, Akame got up late for once, making everyone eat breakfast over two hours later than usual.
After Sheele and Kurome reluctantly said their goodbyes, Sheele watched the two sisters disappear into the forest.
The two headed north, their route actually overlapping with Esdeath's!
The farther north they went, the more sharply the prosperity declined. Some places even bore traces of Danger Beasts' rampages, and many villages had been destroyed, leaving a few surviving villagers struggling to get by.
A Danger Beast's roar suddenly rang out ahead. Akame and Kurome moved in unison, charging straight ahead. Only when they drew close did they discover that the person fighting the Danger Beast was actually Esdeath.
"Hey! Kurome, what a coincidence!" Wave greeted her first.
Kurome nodded and looked at the Danger Beast. It was only a level-five Danger Beast. The reason Esdeath hadn't finished the fight was that she was fighting it hand to hand.
"If she had you, she'd probably be much stronger than I am now, wouldn't she?"
"Well, obviously. She single-mindedly pursues great power. If she had me, or even a clone of mine, she could probably hunt all the powerful Danger Beasts in this world to extinction!"
"You can have Kurome finish off this Danger Beast. It'll be a good chance to improve her strength."
As soon as Akame finished speaking, Kurome charged into the battlefield without hesitation. A flash of sword light swept past, and the Danger Beast's body crashed to the ground.
"Kurome? What are you doing here?" Esdeath muttered, a little puzzled.
"My big sister brought me here to hunt some Danger Beasts and improve my actual combat skills."
"Oh, all right. Want to come with us?"
"We'd better not. We're heading that way." Akame pointed to the right and left with Kurome.
After they had gone some distance, Kurome received the Blade of Devouring's Feedback, and her aura immediately grew stronger.
Just as the two were about to press on, heaven and earth underwent a tremendous change!
Ten purple pillars of light descended from the sky, slamming heavily into the ground like ten world-destroying meteors. In an instant, everything within a thousand li of the pillars was utterly destroyed.
[Warning! The first defensive layer of this world's Heavenly Dao has been completely infected! The Source of Strangeness has sent down ten World-Destroying Seeds to harvest the wish power of heaven and earth! This will accelerate the infection of this world!] [Side quest issued: receive five million Origin Points for every World-Destroying Seed killed!] [Side quest issued: collect the Seed of Cataclysm. Completion rewards one Ultimate Lottery Ticket!]
"System, how strong are these World-Destroying Seeds? Can Akame kill one with her current strength?"
[Answering the dormitory: no. Every World-Destroying Seed commands a natural disaster, with terrifying destructive power!]
"All right, got it."
[The dormitory is advised to purchase an Emperor Heart Pill!]
"??? System, you're freaking doing this on purpose, aren't you? Are you trying to bleed my Origin Points dry?"
[Answering the host: absolutely not! Compared to the gains from killing a World-Destroying Seed, this investment is insignificant.]
Lin Ran gritted his teeth and spent two million Origin Points on an Emperor Heart Pill.
"Tongtong, see that pillar of light reaching from the earth to the heavens in the distance? A terrifying Danger Beast has been born inside it. I need you to kill it, but your strength is a little lacking. Take this pill. It should increase your strength considerably."
Akame blushed. Divine Abyss was getting more and more improper. Tongtong was what Divine Abyss only called her when the two slept together at night.
Akame looked at the pill in her hand, which radiated a hazy divine glow, and swallowed it without hesitation. Incomparably vast medicinal power immediately erupted within her, yet it was very gentle. This was what made the Emperor Heart Pill special: despite containing an ocean of medicinal power, taking it would not cause the body to explode and kill the user.
Akame felt as though she were in an immortal realm, every cell in her body cheering and leaping for joy. Just like that, she drifted peacefully to sleep while the Emperor Heart Pill continued releasing its medicinal power.
As Akame's strength grew, Divine Abyss's dormant power was drawn out as well.
[Detected that Divine Abyss's host has met the requirements. Ice and Fire Two Aspects Saintly Intent unlocked!]
An ice-blue pattern and a scarlet pattern spread from Divine Abyss's hilt along its blade.
Over six hours later, Akame suddenly opened her eyes. They had changed from scarlet to golden-red. Sensing the power within her, Akame couldn't help feeling startled. Was this power a human could possess?
"What about now, System? Can she beat that World-Destroying Beast?"
[Thirty-seventy, I'd say.]
"Who's thirty and who's seventy?"
[The host could die seven times in three minutes!]
"Motherfucker!"
[The dormitory need not rush. You only need to guide Akame into killing more Danger Beasts infected by the power of the strange origin. Divine Abyss will then unlock its second form!]
"Okay! You should've said so! Say that sooner next time!"
"Go kill Danger Beasts first and improve your and Kurome's strength. You're still no match for that World-Destroying Beast."
Akame was startled. Even with her current strength, she was still no match for the World-Destroying Beast Divine Abyss had mentioned?
As the ten pillars of light dissipated, ten World-Destroying Beasts radiating terrifying auras appeared at the centers of the enormous craters. These World-Destroying Beasts varied in size: the large ones stood nearly a hundred zhang tall, while the small ones were no bigger than ordinary cats and dogs. There was also one particularly unusual World-Destroying Beast that looked no different from a human!