"No need to doubt it. I was the one pushing all of this behind the scenes, because I stuffed money into the pockets of your superiors and seniors."
"..."
The atmosphere instantly became delicate.
But Iori seemed completely unaware and continued, "As for why I went to such lengths to gather all of you here, it's naturally because you have corresponding value.
"As rare Imperial Arm users, aside from this Mr. Stylish, all of you are nobodies. Your outstanding talents can't be put to use, and you never get promoted by your superiors."
This was something Iori had really wanted to complain about even in his previous life, 'Why is it that you're clearly Imperial Arm users, yet you're used like ordinary foot soldiers?'
And Imperial Arm like Demon's Extract or Grand Chariot, they're obviously meant to charge across battlefields. Why are they being used as assassins or police forces?
The Revolutionary Army is an organization rebelling in the provinces, yet their strongest combat power is all stationed in the Imperial Capital as assassins.
On the Empire's side, Imperial Arm users are also treated as consumables… Truly a pair of "hidden dragons and crouching phoenixes."
Maybe it was because, in their eyes, what mattered was the Imperial Arm, not the person using it. After all, people like Esdeath, who could break a Imperial Arm's upper limit, were extremely rare. Most Imperial Arm users could only bring out the Imperial Arm's inherent power.
Some Imperial Arm even consumed the user's life, literal "consumables."
But Iori wouldn't waste things like that. Familiar with the anime's settings, he easily found these Imperial Arm users within the Empire's massive military structure.
Aside from Mr. Stylish, whose rank was relatively high, the others were just foot soldiers or lower-to-mid-level officers. The handsome blond Run, who was slightly less good-looking than Iori, was even a civil servant. It was said he used to be a teacher.
So, while the minister hadn't openly turned hostile yet, while Syura's name was still useful, and with a little bit of cash power added in, it was easy to transfer them under his command.
"But from now on, your destinies have changed!"
"I value talent, not background. Anyone with ability can receive the treatment they deserve under me."
"Don't panic. Sit down first and have a cup of tea. There are no enemies ahead of us!"
If Iori hadn't barged in, then according to the original plot, Wave and the others would have been taken in by Esdeath, who had lost the Three Beast Warriors, and formed a special police unit called "Jaegers," specifically to deal with Najenda's assassination squad, Night Raid.
Although they were villains in the original work, Iori felt no psychological pressure at all using these people.
Breaking it down one by one, Wave was a textbook hot-blooded youth, honest, diligent, steadfast, and also the easiest type to deal with.
Bols looked gloomy and sinister on the outside, but his personality was actually decent. He had done plenty of dirty work for the Empire in the past and hid a strong sense of guilt deep inside. Besides that, he had a beautiful wife and a cute daughter, a true winner in life.
There's nothing easier to control than a man with a weak spot…
Even though this honest guy probably wouldn't dare betray the Empire, once he boarded Iori's pirate ship, it wouldn't be up to him anymore.
Hey, this was for his own good anyway. Even if he became an imperial traitor by following Iori, he and his family couldn't possibly end up worse than in the original story… Maybe he'd even get lucky and gain rank and honor for his wife and children.
As for the blond beauty "Run," there wasn't much to say. A pervert once brutally tortured and killed students he cherished, something Run had never been able to get over.
Using the Revolutionary Army's and Syura's intelligence networks, Iori successfully found that pervert, brought him before Run, and let him take revenge with his own hands. After that, this elegant and intellectual handsome man had long since become Iori's diehard loyalist.
The only ones with real problems were Seryu and Mr. Stylish.
Both of them had issues on a mental level. One was overly obsessive, the other overly pleasure-seeking. They were the kind of people where even if you knew all the intel, it was still hard to find a weak spot.
Mr. Stylish was a scientist, but he loved human modification and had absolutely no moral sense. He was the type who would trample any law or ethics for the sake of experiments.
To be honest, Iori didn't like people like this. But he had to admit that this guy's technological ability was top-tier in the entire world.
So he had already set three ground rules with Mr. Stylish, civilians were not to be used as experimental subjects.
In compensation, Iori would provide him with more research funding and bring him very high-quality test subjects, such as high-level Danger Beasts, or the Four Rakshasa Demons.
Mr. Stylish agreed readily, but judging by his carefree attitude, he'd probably break the agreement sooner or later.
It didn't matter. Since Iori had already decided to make a big move in this world, he naturally wasn't going to wait for the plot to slowly unfold. Maybe before the original main storyline even began, he'd already be done with everything.
And by then, if Mr. Stylish didn't know what was good for him… well, Iori had already done more than enough.
Seryu Ubiquitous, nicknamed Justice Girl, or Dog Girl.
She was even more troublesome than Mr. Stylish. Her sense of justice was so extreme that she couldn't distinguish good from evil, and her personality was so naive it was cruel.
This kind of person only believes what they want to believe, has no weak spots and no desires, and is completely impossible to communicate with.
But who was Iori?
A hero who could laugh and chat with Mayuri Kurotsuchi, why would he limit himself to conventional thinking when solving problems?
Without the slightest psychological burden, he decisively chose to use a hypnosis device on Seryu.
Additionally, Iori had already thoroughly investigated her background. Her parents died early, and throughout her growth she had idolized her teacher, the Imperial Capital Guard Captain "Ogre."
She obeyed him unquestioningly, and her twisted sense of justice had been instilled in her this way.
Unfortunately for her, she clearly hadn't watched Bleach and didn't understand what "idolization" really meant. In reality, this Ogre was an out-and-out scumbag. Even Seryu's parents had been killed by him. Afterwards, he hypocritically taught and guided her, merely to cultivate a convenient tool for himself.
On Seryu's second day in the team, Iori had someone bring Ogre over and used Mr. Stylish's truth serum to make him confess all his crimes, including how he murdered Seryu's parents for profit and disguised it as a robbery killing.
Seryu, standing outside the room, heard everything. She immediately had a mental breakdown, rushed in and killed Ogre, then collapsed unconscious from the shock.
Taking advantage of the situation, Iori used the hypnosis device to slightly adjust the "absolute justice" in her heart that had become obsessively twisted.
He didn't completely brainwash her because Seryu's willpower was very strong, and Mayuri's product wasn't the kind that worked by brute force. It could only perform conceptual substitutions on certain perceptions in her mind.
Originally, her standard for judging "evil" was "enemies of justice (the Empire)." Iori changed it into "enemies of the general."
Basically, Iori represented the Empire and represented justice, so his enemies were the Empire's enemies, that kind of logic.
At the same time, Ogre's previous "mentor" image would be replaced by Iori. In this way, although it couldn't purify Seryu's heart, it would make her usable. Iori was very satisfied with this.
On the third day, Iori used Shambhala to transfer Bols's family to the far eastern island nation, then showed them his influence there.
He spoke very frankly to the masked man, the situation was getting worse and worse. Although you are a Imperial Arm user, in turbulent times it's easy to lose your life.
And when that happens, what kind of fate awaits a young and beautiful widowed mother and daughter in such an era… was easy enough to imagine.
Then Iori gave Bols an offer he couldn't refuse.
Settle his wife and daughter in a certain city in the far eastern island nation. It was a neutral area rarely affected by war, and the generals guarding it and the dojo instructors were all swordsmen trained by Iori himself. They had witnessed Iori's power and revered him like a god.
Bols's wife and daughter would have dedicated protection there, far safer than staying in the Empire.
And as long as Bols swore loyalty to Iori, his wife and daughter would receive this guarantee.
Good man Bols thought it over seriously, then agreed.
What else could he do?
Not only would you no longer be made to do dirty work, your family would even be settled in advance, what more could you want?
These benefits were absolutely one-of-a-kind in a feudal empire.
Besides, they'd already been transferred to the far east. If he refused, was he supposed to swim back?
, And just like that, although he used some methods that weren't exactly presentable, Iori managed to subdue these five Imperial Arm users in just three or four days.
With his warriors added in, his overall strength had already surpassed the original "Jaegers."
As one side rose and the other fell, even if Esdeath returned to the Imperial Capital, forming another Imperial Arm squad would be extremely difficult… If Iori took the time to kill a few more Imperial Arm users, the Empire might be left with nothing but regular soldiers~
———
On this day, Iori led his subordinates to a certain prefecture and, as usual, began confiscating property, building presence and favor among the people.
However, his CG didn't update immediately. Clearly, turning "reputation" into "legend" and then into art-style value required a certain amount of accumulation and settling.
Back when he wiped out the Hundred Demons in the far eastern island nation, his art-style value had risen so smoothly largely because the local populace was deeply superstitious, they loved making gods in the first place.
The Empire's common people were relatively much harder to please… but Iori believed things would come naturally and didn't feel anxious about it.
That night, he stayed in the governor's mansion and thought alone in the study about what to do next.
"In the original story, the Revolutionary Army was able to rapidly capture cities after rising up, causing the Empire to collapse at an unimaginable speed."
"Aside from the Empire's military being corrupt and incompetent, it probably also had something to do with the local governors being fence-sitters… There were likely many of their people within the army as well."
"But I never planned to rely on regular troops to compete for supremacy anyway. What really matters are those top-tier Imperial Arm users."
"Akame is strong, but her Imperial Arm has limitations. Brand, the user of Incursio, is a fierce general, but he's probably hard to sway. Then there's Mine with Pumpkin… In the end, is the key Najenda?"
"She genuinely cares about the people. Night Raid probably won't become my enemy."
"That leaves only General Budo and… Esdeath."
Iori pondered silently. "The Ice Queen's personal strength is the ceiling of Akame ga Kill. Her personality is resolute and ruthless, with no weaknesses. She worships survival of the fittest and doesn't respond to sweet talk, only force works."
"On top of that, she has immense personal charisma and is skilled at commanding troops. A battle maniac with a brain."
"It's a good thing she isn't very interested in power and is simply obsessed with battle and cruelty. Otherwise, if she had even a bit of ambition, becoming 'Empress' wouldn't be too hard."
"…Tsk, looks like there really isn't any other solution. Do I have to fight her head-on?"
This was probably the strongest enemy Iori had ever encountered. Even the Dragon King of the far east would likely fall a bit short.
Everything else could be dealt with, but that move, "time-space freeze," really needed caution… Though in the original story she only developed it after meeting the protagonist. At this point in time, she probably didn't have it yet? Even so, he still had to be careful.
Feeling a bit irritated, were there just too many trivial matters these past few days, affecting his state of mind?
"Hey, it's almost dawn. You four still planning to make a move or not?"
Iori clicked his tongue and spoke to the darkness outside the window. "Perfect timing. I'm sick of these trivial matters and need some opponents to vent on!"
Bang!
The window, crafted from fine wood, shattered instantly. Amid the glass shards flying like blades, a long, slender spike shot toward Iori like a crossbow bolt.
Whoosh!
The wind swept through everything in the room. Shattered glass cut into the expensive carpet and left knife-like marks on the table. Yet the spot where Iori stood remained completely unharmed, as if protected by an invisible shield.
The attacker's eyes widened in shock, her pupils contracting as she stared forward in disbelief. Her proud ability, nails that could freely extend and retract and easily pierce steel, had been pinched between someone's thumb and index finger, unable to advance even half an inch.
"Is that all?"
Iori abandoned chanting, raised two fingers on his right hand, condensed a point of white light, and swung them together.
'Hado No. 2, Byakurai!'
Szz!
A chilling flash of cold light passed through, and the slender assassin's chest instantly burst with a large spray of blood.
"Ah!!"
With a scream, the female assassin clutched her wound and was sent flying backward, while Iori glanced at the nail he was still holding in his hand.
An interesting ability, complete control over every part of the body. She even let her nail detach voluntarily. Decisive enough.
Unfortunately, a huge gap in strength isn't something willpower and decisiveness can make up for.
Iori flashed to the outside of the window. In the darkness, aside from the injured woman, three more figures stood on the wall, looking down at him from above.
With a quick sweep of his gaze, Iori gave a nearly imperceptible nod, as expected, the Four Rakshasa Demons.
These four were the minister's personal bodyguards and his most capable assassins, having helped him eliminate many political enemies.
By the way, both the minister and his son Syura had trained in martial arts at the Imperial Fist Temple, and the Four Rakshasa Demons were precisely its most outstanding successors. That they served at the minister's side, hard to say whether it was due to this connection.
Perhaps the Imperial Fist Temple was also one of the minister's supporters.
"Looks like Honest can't tolerate me anymore."
Iori showed no awareness of being outnumbered and even had the leisure to joke. "Or did that guy take enough money and decide it was time to 'set things right,' handing me over to appease public opinion?"
"..."
The Four Rakshasa Demons didn't answer. On the wall, a petite, provocatively dressed girl with wheat-colored skin spoke cautiously to her companions, "This guy injured her in an instant. She's the second fastest among us… This target isn't some nobody."
"That's exactly why we need to move! Everyone attack together, once his subordinates react, it'll be troublesome!"
A massively built man directly stomped and shattered the bricks, crashing down toward Iori like a thousand-pound boulder.
His hands and feet were abnormally large, his clenched fists like heavy hammers.
BOOM!
The shockwave blew away the surrounding dust. Iori's body shook slightly, and the tiles beneath his feet instantly cracked and exploded.