Chapter 53: The Death of Hill

[Pre-reading warning, massive flood ahead! Run!]

In the training grounds, Lin and Akame exchanged blows. Neither held back their attacks, yet neither could inflict any real injury on the other.

"A thrust followed by a horizontal slash, a whip-back turning cut, a slicing upward sweep, a stepping-in close-range thrust to the waist and abdomen... A feint; the actual target is the throat... No, a double feint, the real target is the kick to the right leg!"

With the aid of the Teigu, Lin’s combat experience had surged exponentially, allowing him to force his way up to Akame’s level in just a few short days.

Yet, this was limited solely to defense and defensive counterattacks. The moment he launched an initiative attack, his hostility would be exposed, leaving him entirely incapable of inflicting even the slightest scratch on Akame.

Night Raid’s trump card was no joke.

"Hoo—"

After a clash where neither could find an opening to defeat the other, the two simultaneously broke apart. They put away their swords and exhaled slightly, bringing their morning practice to a close.

Akame wiped away her sweat and said with a pleased expression, "It seems your body has fully recovered, Lin."

"That's thanks to everyone's attentive care," Lin expressed his gratitude.

"Still, your combat proficiency has risen rapidly. Is there some kind of trick to it?" Akame asked with faint curiosity.

"It's probably because of the Teigu,"

Lin replied vaguely, "Maybe it's because I once carried [Omniscient and Omnipotent: Shamshir] and used it to peer into people's hearts. After gaining that experience, I somehow managed to guess a little bit of the enemy's psychology."

He couldn't exactly tell her that [Shamshir] wasn't actually broken, but had instead completely fused with him, could he?

No one could fully predict the effects of a Teigu, and residual effects were not entirely impossible. Akame did not probe further; she nodded, accepting Lin's explanation as valid.

Well, or perhaps she simply didn't care.

"Is morning practice over?" Najenda, passing by and catching sight of the two, greeted them naturally. "Just in time. A new mission has been issued. Follow me."

The two exchanged glances upon hearing this and followed behind.

……

"Our target this time is Chibur."

Najenda threw a portrait of a fat-eared individual before everyone and listed his numerous crimes, stating that Night Raid's mission was to eliminate him while completely eradicating all his wings!

Because his subordinates were equally guilty!

"The mission is arduous, but it doesn't matter!"

Najenda waved her prosthetic arm, boosting morale as she declared, "If heaven cannot punish evil, we shall deliver erasure from within the darkness! Everyone, give it your all!"

"Ooh!" xN

The members of Night Raid shouted in unison.

However, Sheele showed no reaction whatsoever. Mine, her partner, found this somewhat strange. Although Sheele was often absent-minded and spacing out, this time something felt thoroughly wrong, yet Mine couldn't quite put her finger on it.

With a hint of concern, she asked, "Sheele, are you alright?"

"……Eh? N-No, I'm fine." Sheele shook her head blankly, revealing nothing further.

"Is that so? If anything feels uncomfortable, make sure to say so right away," Mine puffed out her chest and said grandly, "In the past, Sheele was always the one protecting me, so this time I'll protect you instead. After all, we're partners."

"……You're so reliable, Mine."

"Of course!"

Yet Mine failed to notice the bittersweet, lost tone in Sheele's implication of "You've grown up." When she turned her head, she found Sheele gazing affectionately at Lin.

At least, that was how it looked to her.

However, Lin wasn't exchanging tender glances with Sheele. Instead, from her absent-minded and dazed expression, he could discern caution, trepidation, and even a sliver of fear—all of which ultimately transformed into sheer resolution.

It seemed she had already made up her decision.

If that was the case……

Lin raised his hand and spoke loudly, "Ruri and I request to deploy for this mission!"

"No! Your injuries haven't healed yet."

Najenda refused decisively. Forcing wounded personnel into battle went against Night Raid's consistent principles.

Because it showed irresponsibility toward both the mission and themselves.

Yet Lin persisted, "I'm not that fragile. You saw my fight with Akame—I have fully recovered."

"Is that true?"

Najenda glanced at Akame for confirmation. Upon receiving a affirmative nod, she said, "Very well, in that case, Lin, you will join as well."

Crucially, Lin had Ruri to protect him. How could a bunch of imperial parasites possibly defeat a Teigu user?

Little did they know that this very carelessness would cost them an irreplaceable comrade.

……

Deep in the night.

"Hah—hah—hah—"

"Sheele, w-wait…!"

Mine had terrible stamina, and trying to keep up with Sheele's blinding speed was exhausting. Moreover, she had no idea why Sheele was in such an anxious rush.

The two of them were the decapitation squad, and their target was Chibur himself.

However, because Night Raid continually stirred up bloody storms within the Imperial Capital, those imperial parasites lived in terror of being targeted one day, frantically recruiting guards to protect themselves. This elevated the difficulty of their assassinations by several notches.

Still, as long as the subjugation succeeded, it didn't matter—though Mine couldn't fathom why Sheele was acting so uncharacteristically tonight.

"Sheele, are you afraid of being discovered?"

Mine asked with strange amusement, "My effective range is over a thousand meters. Even if those guys discovered us, they couldn't possibly catch up, so we can afford to slow down a bi—"

"DANGER!!!"

Before she could finish, Sheele acutely perceived danger and, at the very last fraction of a second, tackled Mine to the ground, dodging a powerful strike descending from above.

"An enemy?!"

Mine was a professional assassin, after all; she instantly assessed the situation based on what had just transpired.

"To think she completely concealed her presence—it's obvious she's not in the same league as those trash fodder guards."

It seemed Sheele's caution had not been pointless after all.

"Sheele, we—"

"Mine! Run!"

"……Eh?"

Mine froze. She never expected that upon encountering an enemy, Sheele's first reaction would not be to counterattack, but to flee?!

"There's no way I'll let you escape... Just as I thought, your appearances match the wanted posters, confirming you as Night Raid's Sheele... Judging by the Teigu you wield, the other woman belongs to Night Raid as well... My nightly vigils here waiting have finally paid off."

From the smoke emerged the figures of a person and a hound.

Upon seeing the portraits of Sheele and Mine, the woman's smile twisted and broke down: "Finally, I've finally found you, Night Raid! I am Seryu Ubiquitous of the Imperial Capital Security Force! In the name of absolute justice, I hereby judge evil!"

"It seems our identities are completely exposed... Take this!"

Having her identity pierced by Seryu, Mine chose to strike first. After all, Seryu didn't look like the type who would peacefully walk away with them.

The Teigu in her hand instantly opened fire. Her spiritual energy transformed into bullets, forming a continuous barrage that rained down toward Seryu, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

"Did we get her?" Mine muttered softly.

Unfortunately, cursed by the "smoke means no damage" trope and the utterance of that exact phrase, all of Mine's bullets were intercepted by a giant-sized Teigu. Its surface was peppered with dense bullet holes resembling a honeycomb, yet they healed completely in the blink of an eye.

"Tch, no effect?" Mine clicked her tongue in annoyance, turning to her companion: "Sheele, we—"

"Mine, don't fight! Run quickly!" Sheele's tone carried a rare sense of urgency.

Mine found it increasingly bizarre, but while she was momentarily stunned, the opponent seized the opportunity.

"Koro, arms!"

The giant Teigu writhed, shifting to produce two muscle-bound arms.

"Predation! Pulverize!"

Roar—!

At Seryu's command, the menacing Teigu [Hecatoncheires] howled as it charged forward.

"Mine, get behind me!"

Seeing this, Sheele stepped forward and shielded Mine behind her.

The next second, she was subjected to a ferocious barrage of attacks from the biological Teigu. Its punching speed was terrifying—far beyond the realm of human capability—and the strength behind each blow was abnormally exaggerated. The resulting gale-force pressure was almost enough to blow the petite Mine away.

It was an entirely out-of-spec opponent!

Yet Sheele stubbornly held her ground, carving out a tiny sanctuary of shelter for the girl behind her.

Peep————

A whistle characteristic of the Security Force was blown by Seryu, who then looked at the two trapped figures with malicious glee.

Sheele seemed even more terrified. She hurriedly called out to her companion, urging, "Mine! Hurry up and run!"

"How could I possibly run away at a time like this?!"

Mine shouted aloud, "Subjected to a tempestuous assault while the enemy has called for reinforcements—this exact situation is what you call a crisis! Therefore... I'm going in!"

The greater the danger to its master, the greater the power of the Teigu.

[Roman Artillery] in Mine's hands fired a blinding ray of energy. Its formidable firepower, accompanied by intense heat, melted away a large portion of [Hecatoncheires].

Regrettably, the bombardment failed to destroy the core, and the biological Teigu rapidly regenerated.

"In that case, we attack the Teigu user!" Realizing Mine's fighting spirit was absolute, Sheele hoisted her giant scissors and dashed toward Seryu, shouting as she ran, "That person said it before—ultimately, a Teigu is just a tool. As long as you take out the user, it will stop immediately."

Take this chance to unleash her ultimate move in one go!

——[Culling Festival]!

A blinding light suddenly burst forth from within the scissors, plunging the night into a glare where nothing could be seen clearly.

Sheele brandished the scissors in a wild flurry, but she underestimated Seryu's strength; at the critical moment, the opponent intercepted every single one of her attacks.

"Not good!"

Sheele's onslaught grew increasingly swift, giving Seryu no room to breathe, forcing the opponent back step-by-step, and even severing both of the enemy's arms, drawing a painful shriek.

Yet this style of combat was merely mutual house-trading; whichever side succeeded in eliminating the other's key personnel first would win.

Mine was a sniper, and without protection, she was extremely vulnerable. After failing to secure a kill with her initial strike, Sheele grew frantic, her attacks becoming increasingly unrefined.

This gave Seryu an opening.

"Although the side effects are severe, I have no choice." She shouted her command to the Teigu: "Koro, berserk mode!"

"Gwaaahhhhhh!!!!!!"

Hearing her master's command, [Hecatoncheires] instantly turned crimson all over. Muscles bulged across its body, and its face twisted into a hideous expression. The ear-piercing roar made the three present feel intensely ill.

Taking advantage of Mine's momentary distraction and lack of defense, [Hecatoncheires] struck instantly, grabbing the frail Mine in its grip.

"Wh—!"

Both Mine and Sheele panicked immensely. Seryu laughed in a twisted, euphoric frenzy: "Koro! Crush her!"

"Aah————!"

[Hecatoncheires] immediately exerted force, causing the petite Mine to cry out in excruciating pain. A faint cracking sound echoed out—her arm must have been fractured.

Just as Mine believed she was going to die, Sheele abruptly appeared to save the day.

——Swish!

A chilling blade cut a flawless arc through the moonlight. The razor-sharp scissors sliced off [Hecatoncheires]'s arm, saving Mine from being crushed to death.

"Great, I made it in time."

Sheele smiled comfortingly at Mine.

Having survived, Mine felt a wave of relief and started to return the smile... but her expression froze instantly, her pupils dilating and contracting rapidly.

Bang!

The sharp crack of a gunshot suddenly pierced the brief moment of tenderness. Careless and off-guard, Sheele failed to defend against the sneak attack from behind.

A bullet pierced straight through her chest, speckles of fresh blood staining her soft, bright lavender silk qipao.

It wasn't over yet.

What was even more despairing was that, because the bullet carried a paralyzing neurotoxin, Sheele's body was rendered immobile, and Mine was left with a broken arm and unable to provide cover—at that exact moment, a ferocious hound lunged into the fray.

——Snarl!

It widened its jaws and savagely tore into Sheele, mercilessly biting off the young girl's upper body!

"Sh-Sheele——!!!"

Mine shrieked in disbelief. She never imagined Sheele would lose her life here simply to save her, and the fury within her instantly flooded her entire brain.

"How dare you... how dare you do that to Sheele... A mere fracture... I'll definitely overcome it!"

Forcing herself to her feet, Mine raised her Teigu, intending to put up a desperate resistance.

Yet how could she, currently on the verge of exhaustion, possibly defeat a Teigu that possessed endless regeneration?

Coupled with the Security Force members closing in from all sides, it was a dead end.

But at that very moment—

——[Culling Festival]!

The blinding light burst forth once more, obscuring everyone's vision.

"Run, Mine."

The gentle voice was soft yet slipped directly into her ears, sounding like a mother's reluctant, lingering instructions to her child on her deathbed.

Only then did Mine understand why Sheele had kept telling her to run away.

Sheele must have known all along that they couldn't defeat the opponent, yet Mine had acted stubbornly and caused Sheele to lose her life here.

Now, even in the final moments of her life, Sheele was illuminating a path for her to survive. Mine must not let her down!

Her professional discipline forced her to suppress her rage within a single second. She cast one deep look at Sheele, turned her head, shook off two crystal tears, and pressed against her sobbing shoulders. Taking advantage of the light blinding the enemy's vision, she turned and fled.

"Damn it! Koro, eat her!"

The light was too intense, prompting Seryu to issue the order to devour Sheele. Seeing Mine's retreating figure shrinking away, Sheele smiled with relief once more as memories of her life flickered through her dying mind's eye.

It's truly wonderful that I could be of use in the end.

I love everyone the most.

Life in Night Raid has been so much fun.

……Lin, will my death really save everyone?

If it can save them, then that would be wonderful.

……

In the distance, two figures stood atop a tall tower.

"That's why I told you to run the moment you ran into them! Besides, I already told her that as long as you take out the user, the Teigu stops immediately. Why on earth would you let panic override your judgment and rush in to rescue her?! Putting yourself in danger like that is even more baffling. What on earth was that absent-minded girl thinking?! Do you not understand the importance of confirming a kill?!"

One of the dark figures clutched his hair in frustration, muttering angrily as if deeply displeased with someone's actions.

However!

Peering into her innermost thoughts, the dark figure responded with confident, ringing certainty: "Death is merely another beginning. You will definitely save everyone, I guarantee it!"

At the exact moment when Sheele was about to be devoured entirely by [Hecatoncheires].

Time, stopped.

——[Imaginary Mechanism], activate!