Chapter 53: The Death of Sheele
In the training ground, Kobayashi and Akame went back and forth, their attacks holding nothing back, yet neither could harm the other.
"A thrust followed by a horizontal slash, turn and draw the blade back for a chop, a parry into an upward slash, a long stride to close the distance and thrust at the waist... a feint, the real target is the throat... no, a double feint, the true target is a kick to the right leg!"
With the help of his Teigu, Kobayashi's combat experience was increasing at an incredible rate. In just a few days, he had forcibly pulled himself up to the same level as Akame.
But this was limited to defense and counter-attacks. If he took the initiative to attack, he would expose his own killing intent, and he would be unable to harm Akame in the slightest.
Night Raid's ace was no joke.
"Hah—"
After a clash, seeing that neither could get the better of the other, they separated simultaneously. They sheathed their swords and let out a light breath, ending the morning's training.
Akame wiped her sweat and said with gratification, "It seems your body has recovered, Kobayashi."
"It's all thanks to everyone's meticulous care," he said, thanking them.
"But your combat skill is improving very quickly. Do you have some kind of trick?" Akame asked with some curiosity.
"It's probably because of the Teigu."
Kobayashi said vaguely, "Perhaps because I wore [Spectator] and used it to peer into people's hearts, I've gained some experience and can now unexpectedly guess some of the enemy's thoughts."
He couldn't very well tell her that [Spectator] wasn't actually destroyed, but had completely fused with him, could he?
No one could say for sure how a Teigu's effects worked. It wasn't impossible for some residual effects to remain. Akame didn't press the matter, nodding in acceptance of his explanation. Well, it was also possible she just didn't care.
"Is morning training over?" The passing Najenda saw the two of them and called out, "Perfect timing. A new mission has been issued. Come with me."
The two exchanged a glance and followed her.
"This time, the target is Zibool."
Najenda threw a portrait of a fat-headed, big-eared man in front of them and listed his various crimes. The mission for Night Raid was to kill him while also eliminating all of his underlings! Because his men were all guilty of the same crimes!
"The mission is difficult, but it's okay!"
Najenda waved her mechanical arm and said, rallying their spirits, "If heaven is powerless to punish evil, then we shall bring about its demise from the darkness! Everyone, let's give it our all!"
"Yeah!" xN
The members of Night Raid shouted in unison.
But Sheele had no reaction. Her partner, Mine, found it a little strange. Although she was often dazed and distracted, something felt different this time, yet she couldn't put her finger on it.
She asked with concern, "Sheele, are you alright?"
"...Eh? I-I'm fine," Sheele shook her head dazedly, giving nothing away.
"Is that so? If you're not feeling well, you have to tell us," Mine said, puffing out her chest proudly. "In the past, you were always the one protecting me. This time, let me protect you. After all, we're partners."
"...You've become so reliable, Mine."
"Of course!"
But Mine didn't hear the disconsolate tone in Sheele's voice, the feeling of "you've grown up." When she turned her head, she found Sheele and Kobayashi staring deeply at each other.
At least, that's how it looked to her.
However, Kobayashi was not exchanging flirtatious glances with Sheele. Instead, from the dazed girl's eyes, he saw apprehension, trepidation, and a hint of fear, but in the end, it all transformed into resolution.
It seemed she had made up her mind.
In that case...
Kobayashi raised his hand and announced loudly, "I, Kobayashi, and RyuZU, request to be dispatched!"
"No! Your injuries haven't healed yet."
Najenda refused flatly. Not allowing injured members to force themselves into battle was a consistent rule of Night Raid. It was irresponsible to both the mission and to them.
But Kobayashi insisted, "I'm not that fragile. You saw my fight with Akame. I've fully recovered."
"Is that so?"
Najenda questioned Akame with her eyes and, receiving an affirmative answer, said, "Alright. In that case, you can join in too, Kobayashi."
The key was that he had RyuZU's protection. How could a group of the Empire's parasites possibly defeat a Teigu user?
Little did she know, it was this very carelessness that would cause them to lose an important companion.
Late at night.
"Hah— hah— hah—"
"Sheele, w-wait...!"
Mine's stamina was poor, and it was quite an effort to keep up with the extremely fast Sheele. Moreover, she didn't know why Sheele was so anxious and hurried. The two of them were the decapitation unit; their target was Zibool himself.
But because Night Raid had been stirring up a reign of terror in the Capital, those imperial parasites were afraid they would be targeted one day and desperately hired guards to protect themselves, which had raised the difficulty of their assassinations by several levels.
But as long as they could successfully complete the mission, it was fine. She just didn't know why Sheele was acting so abnormally tonight.
"Sheele, are you afraid of being discovered?"
Mine asked strangely, "My range is over 1000 meters. Even if those people discover us, they can't possibly catch up. So we can slow down a little..."
"Danger!!!"
Before she could finish, Sheele's sharp senses detected danger. At a critical moment, she tackled Mine to the ground, dodging a powerful blow that came from the sky.
"An enemy?!"
Mine was a professional assassin, after all. She instantly understood what had just happened.
"To think I couldn't sense her presence at all. It seems she's on a different level from those small-fry guards."
It seemed Sheele's caution was not for nothing.
"Sheele, we..."
"Mine! Run!"
"...Eh?"
Mine was stunned. She hadn't expected that upon encountering an enemy, Sheele's first choice was not to fight, but to run?!
"I absolutely will not let you escape... Just as I thought, your faces match the wanted posters. Identified as Sheele of Night Raid... and from the Teigu she's holding, the other woman must also belong to Night Raid... It wasn't a waste for me to lie in wait here every night."
A figure of a person and a dog emerged from the smoke.
And when she saw the images of Sheele and Mine, her smile gradually broke. "Finally, finally I meet you, Night Raid! I am Seryu Ubiquitous of the Imperial Guard! In the name of absolute justice, I will pass judgment upon evil here!"
"It seems we've been completely exposed... Take this!"
After her identity was revealed by Seryu, Mine chose to strike first. After all, Seryu didn't look like someone who would come along with them quietly.
The Teigu in her hand instantly opened fire. Her spiritual power, transformed into bullets, formed a continuous barrage that shot towards Seryu, kicking up a thick cloud of gray dust.
"Did I get her?" Mine muttered softly.
Unfortunately, thanks to the "smoke but no harm" law of anime and her own words, all of Mine's bullets were intercepted by the now-enlarged Teigu. The dense bullet holes looked like a honeycomb, but in the blink of an eye, they healed completely.
"Tch, no effect?" Mine clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned to her partner. "Sheele, we..."
"Mine, don't fight! Run, quickly!" Sheele's tone was uncharacteristically urgent.
Mine found it more and more strange, but while she was stunned, her opponent seized the opportunity.
"Koro, arms!"
Two muscular arms wriggled out from the enlarged Teigu.
"Devour! Pulverize!"
ROAR—!
Under Seryu's command, the menacing Teigu [Hekatonkheires] howled and charged forward.
"Mine, stand behind me!"
Seeing this, Sheele stepped forward, shielding Mine behind her.
The next second, she was subjected to a powerful series of blows from the biological Teigu. The punching speed was extremely fast, far beyond what a human could achieve, and the force of each punch was ridiculously exaggerated. Even the wind from the punches nearly blew the petite Mine away.
This was a completely overwhelming opponent!
But Sheele still held on bitterly, creating a small, safe harbor for Mine behind her.
Tweet—
Seryu blew a special police whistle, then looked at the two of them, who had no escape, with pure malice.
Sheele seemed to grow even more afraid. She hurriedly called to her partner, "Mine! Run, quickly!"
"How can I possibly run at a time like this?!"
Mine shouted, "We're under a torrential attack, and the enemy has called for reinforcements! This is what you call a crisis! So... I'm going in!"
The more danger the master was in, the stronger the Teigu's power became.
A beam of light shot out from [Pumpkin] in Mine's hand. The powerful firepower and high temperature melted a large part of [Hekatonkheires].
Unfortunately, the blast didn't destroy its core, and the biological Teigu quickly healed.
"In that case, attack the Teigu user!" Seeing that Mine was determined to fight, Sheele had no choice but to raise her scissors and run towards Seryu, saying, "That person said it. In the end, a Teigu is just a tool. As long as you take out the user, it will stop immediately."
Now, I'll use my trump card in one go!
"—Extase!"
A strong light suddenly burst from within the scissors, making it impossible to see clearly in the dark night.
Sheele brandished her scissors, stabbing wildly, but she underestimated Seryu's strength. At the critical moment, Seryu intercepted all of her attacks.
"Damn it!"
Sheele's attacks grew faster, not giving Seryu a moment to breathe, forcing her back again and again. She even cut off her opponent's arms, making her cry out in pain.
But their current fighting style was just a base race. Victory depended on which side could take out the other's key figure first.
Mine was a sniper. Without protection, she would be very vulnerable. After failing to land a decisive blow, Sheele became anxious, and her attacks became crude. This gave Seryu an opportunity.
"It has a big side effect, but I have no choice," she shouted a command to her Teigu. "Koro, Berserk!"
"ROOOOOOOAR!!!!"
Hearing its master's command, [Hekatonkheires] instantly turned crimson, its muscles bulged all over its body, and its face became incomparably hideous. The piercing roar made the three people present extremely uncomfortable.
[Hekatonkheires] took advantage of Mine's surprise and lack of defense, and in an instant, it grabbed the delicate girl.
"Wh...?!"
Both Mine and Sheele were in a panic. Seryu laughed, a twisted and gleeful sound. "Koro! Crush her!"
"Aaaah—!"
[Hekatonkheires] instantly applied force, causing the petite Mine to scream in pain. A faint cracking sound was heard; her arm must have been broken.
Just as Mine thought she was going to die, Sheele appeared in an instant to save her.
—Swish!
A cold light traced a perfect arc under the moon. The sharp scissors cut off [Hekatonkheires]'s arm, saving Mine, who had been on the verge of being crushed to death.
"Thank goodness, I made it in time."
Sheele smiled at Mine with relief.
And Mine, having survived, returned the smile in relief... but her expression immediately froze, her pupils dilating and contracting repeatedly.
BANG!
The sound of a gunshot suddenly pierced the brief, warm moment. The careless Sheele did not defend against the sneak attack from behind. A single bullet passed through her chest, and a splash of crimson stained her soft, light purple silk cheongsam.
It wasn't over.
What was even more despairing was that after being shot, Sheele's body was paralyzed by the neurotoxin in the bullet. With Mine's arm broken and unable to provide cover, a vicious dog rushed in.
—CRUNCH!
It opened its mouth wide and viciously bit down on Sheele, mercilessly tearing off the girl's upper body!
"She-Sheele—!!!"
Mine screamed in disbelief. She never thought that Sheele would lose her life here to save her. In an instant, anger filled her entire brain.
"How dare you do this to Sheele, to Sheele... A mere broken bone... I'll definitely overcome it!"
Mine forced herself to climb up, raised her Teigu, and tried to fight back with all her might.
But now, nearly exhausted, how could she possibly defeat a Teigu that could constantly regenerate?
Furthermore, with the city guards continuously surrounding them, it was a certain-death situation.
But at this moment—
"—Extase!"
A bright light burst forth again, blinding everyone.
"Run, Mine."
A gentle voice, very soft, reached her ears, like a mother's reluctant and caring words to her child at the end of her life.
Only then did Mine understand why Sheele had been telling her to run all this time.
It turned out Sheele had known all along that they couldn't defeat their opponent. It was because of her own willfulness that Sheele had lost her life here.
Now, at the last moment of her life, Sheele was still lighting a path for her to survive. Mine absolutely could not let her down!
Her professional discipline made her forcibly suppress her anger in one second. After taking a deep look at Sheele, she turned her head, shed two crystal tears, and, with her shoulders shaking from suppressed sobs, took advantage of the light blinding the enemy's eyes to turn and run away.
"Damn it! Koro, eat her!"
The light was too strong, so Seryu ordered Koro to eat Sheele. Seeing Mine's shrinking figure, Sheele once again smiled with relief. Her life flashed before her eyes in her final moments.
It's so good that I could be of use in the end.
I love you all so much.
My life in Night Raid was so happy.
...Kobayashi, can my death really save everyone?
I hope it can.
In the distance, two figures stood on a high tower.
"That's why I told you to run as soon as you encountered her! Besides, I already told her that all she had to do was take out the user, and the Teigu would stop immediately. Why did she have to get flustered out of concern and go for a rescue?! Putting herself in danger is even stranger. What was that dazed girl thinking! Does she not understand the importance of securing the kill?!!!"
One of the dark figures was anxiously pulling at his own hair while muttering, as if he were very dissatisfied with someone's actions.
But!
The dark figure, who had been peeking into her heart, responded with a confident and loud voice, "Death is but another beginning. You will absolutely save everyone. I promise you!"
At the very moment Sheele was about to be completely devoured by [Hekatonkheires].
Time stopped.
—[Imaginary Motion Mechanism], activate!
(End of chapter)