On a bustling street, far behind a man with an unusual face, several passersby whispered over a poster.
The person pictured on that poster was none other than the Empire's former executioner, who had recently become notorious throughout the Imperial Capital.
He had an elongated jaw and features, a strange device atop his head, and a heavily muscled upper body.
His inverted-triangle build contrasted with his gaunt face, making that face seem even more distorted.
"How terrifying. I heard this man kills anyone he sees on the street! Apparently, he still hasn't been arrested!"
"The Empire won't do anything even about this? But I suppose that's just how the Empire is!"
"Among those keeping order around here, there aren't many who could beat a former executioner."
"Shh... keep your voice down! That man over there seems to be wearing an Imperial uniform! Don't let him hear you!"
Even with his back to them, the man in the distance could see everything clearly.
Hehe... more prey has come knocking...
Teigu: Five-Sight Omnipotent: Spectator.
A Teigu with five abilities-insight, farsight, X-ray vision, foresight, and illusion sight-it could greatly enhance its wielder's combat abilities.
The man turned his head toward the passersby. His distorted face brimmed with delight at the prospect of slaughter.
In an instant, screams and blood spilled out together, fading away in some dark corner of the street.
Night Raid headquarters.
Najenda braced both hands on the table and cleared her throat as she looked at the assembled members of Night Raid.
Just as she was about to speak, she looked at Tatsumi and suddenly felt a little unaccustomed to it.
Not long ago, Night Raid had gained a new member: Tatsumi.
Tatsumi was an ambitious young man from the countryside. Although he lacked practical combat experience, his swordsmanship was exceptionally accomplished.
In his very first fight against another person, he had managed to withstand three strikes from the professional assassin Akame.
That had caught the eye of Leone, who handled assassinations for Night Raid, and she had brought him straight into the team.
"Now, our assassination target this time is right here before you."
Najenda picked up a photograph with her mechanical right arm and slapped it onto the long conference table.
Although the relatively primitive film technology of this era left the photograph somewhat blurry, none of the Night Raid members had any trouble with it.
The man in the photograph simply looked far too distinctive.
"Zank the Beheader. He used to be the Empire's executioner, tasked specifically with executing prisoners. He beheaded hundreds of people every day."
Najenda spoke in a stern tone.
"Um... our enemy this time is from the Imperial military? No matter how you look at it..."
A petite girl with pink twin tails let out a sigh. Her name was Mine, and despite her delicate appearance, she served as Night Raid's gunner.
Her Teigu, Romantic Artillery: Pumpkin, could grow more powerful with Mine's emotional fluctuations, making her one of the team's strongest damage dealers.
"No. Strictly speaking, he no longer belongs to the military. He's now an unaffiliated homicidal maniac."
Najenda continued explaining.
"Years of work warped Zanku's personality. No longer satisfied with killing only prisoners, he's broken free of the Imperial Army's control and started slaughtering people in the streets. In fact, he's now wanted by the Empire too."
"I see. But doing the Empire's work for them... just thinking about it makes me sick."
Everyone present shared that sentiment, not just Mine, who had spoken.
"You must be especially careful with this man. He's different from Ogre. Although he has no guards around him, he's a Teigu user. That's why I'm assigning Akame and Tatsumi to complete this mission together."
"Giving the rookie a chance to train, huh? That's our boss! You really think of everything!"
The green-haired boy, Lubbock, joked with a cheeky grin, while Tatsumi was somewhat dumbfounded.
As a newcomer, having to face a powerful Teigu user on his very first mission inevitably made him a little worried.
"Akame still has a mission, right? Tatsumi will go fight him first. Akame's mission isn't difficult, so she can assist Tatsumi once she finishes. This is also to help you build up experience quickly, Tatsumi."
"...I'll do my best!"
Looking at this boy from the countryside, Najenda felt as though she saw her past self. His sincerity and enthusiasm reassured her.
"It's fine. Shoot at Koro!"
Seryu spoke with complete confidence.
"As long as you're aiming at Koro, it doesn't matter where you hit him! Koro is a biological Teigu that can regenerate endlessly!"
At Lin Feng's request, Seryu and Lin Feng were conducting live-fire combat training.
All of this was to test just how powerful Lin Feng's two pistols were.
In Seryu's view, no matter how Lin Feng attacked, he could never destroy Hundred-Handed Giant: Koro's heart, and Koro could revive endlessly. That was a characteristic of biological Teigu.
Lin Feng, however, thought otherwise.
[Alucard Template System: Release]
A blood-red aura poured from Lin Feng into the white pistol, Casull, and the heavy silver bullet in its chamber was also wrapped in dense blood energy.
When he sensed that his bullets could be enchanted with Alucard's vampire power, Lin Feng knew this shot would be extraordinary.
Deliberately aiming somewhere other than Koro's ears, Lin Feng fired a silver bullet from Casull.
But what Lin Feng fired could hardly be called a silver bullet. It was practically a blast of blood energy carrying tremendous power.
The silver bullet lay at the very center of the blast of blood energy, giving the middle of that blast even greater destructive power.
Seryu had been about to say, "Your aim is way off," but the sight before her made her eyes widen in disbelief.
The bullet clearly hadn't struck Koro, yet the impact of the blood energy alone had dissolved half his head.
After flying more than twenty meters, the bullet could still shatter the stationary target in the distance.
Koro's head also began continuously breaking down and reforming, returning to its undamaged state in an extremely short time.
"Looks like I was right. If my aim were a little more accurate, it really would shatter his heart."
Even harder for Seryu to believe than the incomprehensible power of Lin Feng's gun was the fact that his "Teigu" could have so many uses.
"Reporting, Captain of the Imperial Guard!"
A newly recruited Imperial Guard member ran breathlessly from the front hall to the firing range to report to Lin Feng.
"What's so urgent? Out with it."
"That executioner on the border between District Thirteen and District Twelve, the one the palace mentioned to you before, Captain-he's started moving."
"We've confirmed his appearance too. It's Zanku. We're awaiting your orders!"