"Akame, just tell us—did the Security Minister threaten you? We'll help you, but please don't do this!"
Even now, the Night Raid members couldn't accept the fact that Akame had left them. She had always been the one who cared most deeply for her comrades.
"Kurome... please forgive your sister. I won't leave again, I promise."
Akame, having resolved to break from Night Raid, didn't answer their accusations. Instead, she looked toward Kurome with worried eyes.
"We'll talk later. I'm dealing with these people first."
Kurome didn't respond with forgiveness. Akame's past actions had left deep wounds, and Kurome wasn't ready to let her guard down.
"Enough. Now's not the time for this," Najenda cut in, calm and composed—perhaps the only one in Night Raid who still was. "Let's focus on dealing with the Security Minister first. We can settle things with Akame afterward."
Akame had once been one of Night Raid's strongest assets. With her gone, the pressure on them to handle Haruki had increased dramatically. Still, Najenda believed that if they all fought together, they could bring him down—though where that confidence came from, no one could say.
"Understood."
Everyone nodded, readying themselves for battle.
"Hmph. I don't know where you get your confidence from. But if you think you can defeat my brother, today I'll show you just how delusional that is."
As Night Raid prepared to launch their attack, Kurome stepped forward and stood protectively in front of Haruki and the others.
"You think you're something special? Even if you're strong, you're facing a whole team of Teigu users!"
Mine scoffed at Kurome's bold move. In her eyes, aside from Haruki's absurdly powerful Teigu, the rest were fairly balanced—and Kurome trying to take them all on alone was pure arrogance.
"Kurome, stop! Don't overdo it!"
Akame called out, worried, still unaware of the true extent of Kurome's power.
"Hmph. I'll show you just how wide the gap is between us—so you'll stop bothering us in the future."
Ignoring them all, Kurome raised her right hand. The Teigu March of the Dead: Yatsufusa appeared instantly in her grip.
Then, under everyone's stunned gaze, she pulled the blade and drove it into the ground. Half its length vanished into the earth.
"Hah? You think that's going to stop us?"
Mine sneered at the bizarre move.
But she never finished her sentence.
"Raaah... Awoooo... Screeeeech...!"
Six glowing portals materialized in front of everyone, followed by a chorus of monstrous, deafening roars.
When the lights faded, six massive, terrifying Danger Beasts of varying forms stood before them. Their size and presence were overwhelming.
These weren't ordinary puppets—they were Super-Class Danger Beasts Kurome had revived with Yatsufusa, handpicked by Haruki himself. Each one fully intact, fully functional, and nothing like the skeletal husk seen in the original story.
Together, they represented land, sea, and air capabilities—six of Yatsufusa's eight possible corpses. Two more, water buffalo-type beasts, had been held back due to the unsuitability of the terrain.
Unlike in the original tale, these beasts weren't just shadows of their former selves—they retained all the strength they had in life. Haruki had trained Kurome for this moment, making sure she could handle them all. Thanks to his rigorous physical training regimen and teaching of Rokushiki—the martial art that pushed human limits—Kurome was no longer bound by Yatsufusa's usual limitations.
Where most would be weakened by controlling so many corpses, Kurome remained unfazed.
And now, Yatsufusa's true power was fully unleashed.
The air grew heavy as the six Super-Class Danger Beasts loomed forward. The pressure was suffocating. Every Night Raid Teigu user trembled, their fighting spirit suppressed. Their weapons, crafted from slain Danger Beasts, paled in comparison to the living monsters before them.
Unless one had reached the level of Esdeath—capable of using their Teigu to its absolute limits—there was no matching the raw might of a Super-Class Danger Beast at full strength. And no one in Night Raid had reached that level.
It was a stroke of luck that Yuki had accompanied Seryu to the Security Department. Had she been present and released her full power—stronger even than these beasts—Night Raid might have collapsed without a single strike.
Kurome didn't flinch.
She raised her hand and commanded one dinosaur-like beast to charge forward.
"Boom!"
...
"Lubbock..."
In an instant, before he could react, Lubbock was crushed—reduced to a pulp.
After Akame's defection, Haruki had become Kurome's sole emotional anchor. Her attachment to him bordered on obsessive. The moment she heard Lubbock shout at Haruki earlier, she'd marked him as the first target.
With Lubbock dispatched in a single blow, Kurome turned to direct the other puppets forward.
"Kurome! Please, I'm begging you—spare them!"
Akame's desperate cry rang out.
Despite everything, she still held deep affection for her former comrades. Seeing Kurome overpower them so effortlessly—then watching Lubbock die in a flash—shocked her to her core. She couldn't bear to see more bloodshed.
But Kurome didn't stop. Her six beasts continued to advance.
"Brother..."
Akame turned to Haruki, her voice trembling with emotion, eyes pleading for him to intervene.
"I know what to do."
Haruki waved calmly to reassure her.
"Kurome, that's enough. Consider this a lesson for them."
The moment Haruki spoke, Kurome stopped.
She withdrew Yatsufusa from the ground, and the six monstrous corpses vanished. What remained was a group of Night Raid members shaken to their core—and Lubbock, lifeless and unrecognizable.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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