Tatsumi knelt with difficulty, clutching his chest. He looked at the blood on his hand, his eyes filled with nothing but hopelessness.
That last sword strike had been the strongest he could deliver with all his might.
Zanku was already the strongest enemy Tatsumi had ever encountered.
Before this, Tatsumi had been a swordsman who hunted low-level Danger Beasts in the countryside and had never crossed blades with a warrior.
Against a terrifying Teigu user like this, who could see through an enemy's fighting patterns and predict their movements, even boundless determination and courage left Tatsumi powerless.
If that strike could not kill Zanku, he would inevitably be cut down by him.
He did not want to wait for Akame's support. Tatsumi knew it was his own lack of strength that had kept him from buying enough time, and relying too much on his teammates was also a sign of cowardice.
Looking at Tatsumi, who was already on the verge of death, Zanku, who had taken a slash, spat on the ground.
Then his slight surprise gave way to his usual unbridled wildness.
"Interesting. Looks like you really want to go out with a flourish!"
Zanku walked up to Tatsumi in a few steps and raised his long blade.
That tiny movement alone was enough to send Tatsumi's life flashing before his eyes.
"Ieyasu... Sayo..."
When people sensed they were about to die, memories of their lives would flash through their minds.
But at that moment, the figures of his two companions filled Tatsumi's mind.
Tatsumi had once been just a village boy. With his sturdy physique and hot blood, he had practiced fighting back home with his two companions.
Then the three of them had come to the imperial capital full of ambition, only for Tatsumi to become separated from the other two.
With martial skills but nowhere to pursue his ambitions, Tatsumi had tried to join the empire's Imperial Guard, only to be rejected on the grounds that he was too young and had no qualifications. In truth, he knew it was because of the empire's corruption: he had not paid enough in bribes.
With that, Tatsumi had completely lost his means of making a living. Just when he had nowhere left to turn and could see no hope for tomorrow,
a doll-like noble girl named Aria had helped him. She had brought Tatsumi home and taken good care of him.
Not only had she provided him with lodging and meals, she had also patiently taught him all sorts of things about the imperial capital.
That had been the first time Tatsumi had felt any goodwill toward the people of the capital.
Before long, however, Tatsumi had discovered that it had all been his own delusion.
One day, an organization called Night Raid had slaughtered Aria's family, and the swordswoman leading them had been about to stab Aria to death as well.
Tatsumi had stepped forward then, demanding to know why Night Raid wanted to kill such a good person.
But Night Raid had taken Tatsumi to see the basement of Aria's house-
There, held captive, were the two companions Tatsumi had become separated from after entering the imperial capital-Ieyasu and Sayo!
The two had been mercilessly tortured and abused, whipped, branded, and had their fingernails pulled out.
Sayo in particular-she had been Tatsumi's childhood friend, and the girl he had secretly loved all this time.
She had actually been strung up and subjected to every imaginable form of torture and abuse for three days and three nights!
All of it had been the work of Aria and her family.
A family that had seemed so gentle and refined had actually been monsters who brutalized the poor like this.
In his fury, Tatsumi had cut Aria down with a single stroke. From that day on, he had joined Night Raid and sworn to possess unyielding determination.
He must never speak of giving up while he still had a breath left.
As Sayo's lovely figure flashed through those memories, strength flooded back into Tatsumi's body.
Executioner Zanku leaped forward with a downward slash, but the newly roused Tatsumi barely managed to dodge it.
"Sayo... Even if it's only for you, I can't die..."
Tatsumi endured the stabbing pain and shakily raised his sword.
His willpower was that tenacious, but unfortunately, to Zanku, it was all futile.
"Five Sights Omnipotent-Vision!"
This was the Five-Sight Eye's ultimate technique.
Of the five abilities possessed by the Teigu Observer, those suited to combat included not only technical enhancements such as X-Ray Vision, Insight, and Future Vision,
but also an utterly sinister and vicious skill: Vision.
Through illusion, it made the user appear as the person most important to their opponent, robbing the opponent of all will to fight.
"...Huh?!"
Tatsumi had just prepared to fight to the death for his two departed companions, but what he saw next sent all those thoughts flying.
"Sayo..."
Before Tatsumi's eyes, where Zanku should have stood, was now Sayo, the companion who haunted his every thought and dream.
The two had been apart for far too long. Sometimes Tatsumi even dreamed of their reunion.
In that instant, excitement overwhelmed every other feeling Tatsumi had.
"Tatsumi, the enemy's circled behind you! Be careful!"
The Sayo before him warned Tatsumi in a clear voice, while at that moment, he wanted all the more to believe her death had been a dream.
He wanted to forget Sayo's death and believe that the girl standing before him now was Sayo herself.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tatsumi looked behind him-
But a sinister smile appeared at the corner of Sayo's mouth. She immediately changed into Zanku and swung a blade down at Tatsumi's back.
"Die! Delightful!!"
But a tremendous crash rang out.
The blade he had swung down seemed to have become weightless. Zanku raised it, only to find that half of his swift blade, as long as a willow branch, was gone.
A red shock wave had struck like thunder, crushing and shattering the long blade with unstoppable force before dispersing into the air.
Neither Zanku nor Tatsumi had ever heard of such destructive power.
"Who are you drawing your blade against?"
That voice came from the side.
"Hey, hey, hey!! What a bumper harvest today!!!"
Zanku looked behind him, growing even more excited.
Sayo had turned into Zanku, and Tatsumi finally came to his senses, free of the illusion.
Tatsumi looked toward the source of the voice. It was a wildly arrogant man, and the blood-red color in his eyes was like the moonlight tonight, making one's hair stand on end.
"People just keep coming to their deaths. How unusual! How truly delightful!"
Zanku stepped closer, ready to use the same trick again and unleash "Vision" on Lin Feng before him.
Among his countless opponents over the years, not one had escaped this move. Who would willingly attack someone they loved?
"Once I kill you, I'll move all three of your graves together... Aren't I merciful? Hmm?"
But just as Zanku was about to use Vision on Lin Feng, he discovered that Lin Feng had already vanished.
"Hmm? Where did he go? Could it be a space-time Teigu?"
"Form Transformation-"
Lin Feng had already collapsed into a pool of shadow with no volume.
Beneath the crimson moon, Lin Feng's shadow blended with the shadows cast by the moonlight. Even if Zanku could see everything, he could not make out the location of a patch of shadow.
"What is this?!"
In the next second, countless slender shadows crawled over Zanku's entire body.