In the end, Gozuki still didn't manage to get Natala and Gin back from Bill.
Although they had reached a level where they no longer needed his teaching—meaning Gozuki didn't need to spend energy on them anymore.
The reason the Elite Group only had seven members was simply that Gozuki's ability only allowed him to teach seven.
Even bringing Kaede and Kurome into the Elite Group was because of their strength; even Kurome definitely had the qualifications to enter the Elite Group.
Similarly, the same went for Natala and Gin. Their strength definitely qualified them for the Elite Group. The reason Gozuki didn't take them was partly because the Elite Group didn't need that many people, and partly to leave a few good prospects for that old man Bill.
Though perhaps these prospects had already been ruined by Bill's drugs, they were at least very strong for now.
The days that followed were peaceful. Kaede returned once again to her days of solo training. However, unlike before, having fought Esdeath so many times had yielded obvious results; at least Kaede felt her close-combat abilities had improved somewhat.
As for the others in the Elite Group, they naturally trained occasionally and went on missions. It could only be said that Kaede was a complete exception, or perhaps it could be called the privilege of the strong.
An old, dilapidated castle was situated in a place where Special Class Danger Beasts roamed—the Sun Moon Swamp.
However, the place was not uninhabited; instead, it was filled with the bones of Danger Beasts, which had already piled up like mountains.
If someone could see these bones and identify them, they would find that most of the bones inside were the remains of High Class Danger Beasts, with a few Special Class Danger Beast remains among them!
Just what kind of person could live in such an environment and achieve this?
At this moment, several people stood atop this castle. Most were young girls, with only one old man dressed as a butler.
Beside him sat a beautiful young girl with long black hair wearing very revealing clothes—Mera, the leader of Obergehr!
At this moment, Mera was eating food from a plate: chunks of meat freshly carved from a Special Class Danger Beast.
As for who carved it, it was the girl nearby still practicing her sword swings, Taeko, whose eyes were filled with killing intent and hatred.
"By the way, they should be finding this place soon, shouldn't they?" Mera took a handkerchief from the maid behind her, wiped the stains from the corner of her mouth, and asked the butler beside her.
"Yes!" The butler Daniel couldn't help but show killing intent in his eyes as well. "We must slay the target. If we fail even once, it will affect the credit of our Obergehr."
"Tsk." The corner of Mera's mouth curled slightly as she looked at Daniel playfully. "I say, Daniel, you're only being this proactive because this involves an old grudge over Barbara, right?"
"...You're right." Daniel fell silent for a moment before closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they overflowed with endless killing intent. "I, Daniel, swear to avenge Barbara!"
"Don't worry." Mera looked at Taeko nearby. Seeing the expression on her face, which was completely different from before, killing intent also surfaced in her eyes. "To think they turned my little Taeko into this... they must die!"
Taeko seemed to hear something and looked up, revealing eyes full of murderous intent.
"Is it finally time... for revenge!"
...
As the strongest assassin organization, Obergehr naturally required this mission to be treated with high priority.
Therefore, for this mission, not only Kaede, but even Gozuki, who had barely taken action, would participate. This showed how much importance was placed on this purge of Obergehr!
"So... these two paths lead to two different places. What should we do?" Kaede asked, looking at the fork in the road. This fork led to two salt production plants, and they couldn't be sure which one it was—perhaps both—so it was a difficult situation.
"Well, we need to destroy both places this time, so we'll split into groups," Gozuki replied.
Then Gozuki looked up and said, "Akame, Kurome, Green, Chikushi, and Kaede in one group. The others will come with me." At this moment, Gozuki was somewhat relieved to have Kaede there; she could serve as insurance.
"Understood," everyone said in unison.
"Poney, your injuries haven't fully healed yet. Don't push yourself too hard," Akame couldn't help but say, seeing Poney's joyful expression.
"I know, but I won't hold everyone back."
With that, the two teams split up, each heading toward their respective targets.
"Aren't Special Class Danger Beasts supposed to appear here frequently?" Kaede said as she walked.
"Hmm? Now that you mention it, you're right." Green also frowned and looked around. Forget Special Class Danger Beasts, it was hard to see even a shadow of a regular Danger Beast.
"Special Class Danger Beasts, huh? It seems our enemy this time is very strong~" A smile appeared on Kaede's lips. Even Special Class Danger Beasts were no match for them? The current situation suggested they had all been hunted down.
Although current Special Class Danger Beasts weren't as formidable as those legendary ones, they were still quite powerful. Being able to kill a Special Class Danger Beast already qualified one as a powerhouse.
Even for the members of the Elite Group, if they were alone, they probably couldn't kill a Special Class Danger Beast, though they likely wouldn't be in any danger either.
Well, perhaps Nahash could manage to kill a Special Class Danger Beast alone? But it would only be Nahash.
Akame could also kill one, but she would likely have to rely on the effect of her shingu, Kiriichimonji, to do so.
However, if Kaede knew that several of the leader's maids from Obergehr could hunt Special Class Danger Beasts individually, she would probably be even more surprised.
Soon, they arrived at their destination, but it seemed they had come to an empty building. No matter how they searched, there wasn't a single person inside; even the spiderwebs had piled up significantly.
"It seems the mission target is on the Instructor's side," Kaede said.
"Yeah, Father's side won't have any problems." Green was still very confident in their father.
"Well, we still have to destroy this place, right?" Kaede looked at the castle-style salt plant and couldn't help but feel a headache. If only Guy were here; his crusher king was specialized for this kind of work—no, wait, he was very good at this!
Now, they could only dismantle it slowly.
At the same time, Gozuki and the Elite Group members were staring at the scene before them in stunned silence. Mountains of bones were piled up, and remains of Special Class Danger Beasts were scattered everywhere.
Only then did Gozuki realize just how terrifying the enemies they were about to face were.
"Return the way we came. Hurry, go back!" After a low growl, Gozuki immediately took the lead and rushed out.
... Even the usually calm Nahash saw this scene and his eyes constricted violently. Finally, he gritted his teeth and followed behind Gozuki.
...
Aren't you going to keep them here? Daniel asked Mera as he watched the fleeing enemies.
Beside him, Taeko seemed to be looking for something among the Elite Group. Eventually, she lowered her head again, clearly failing to find the person she was looking for.
No rush~ Mera noticed this, ruffled Taeko's hair, then put on a cold expression as an insect crawled out from between her fingers.
I actually want to let them go back~ and then round them all up in one fell swoop!
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