Chapter 315
"Strength... is being drained?"
Akame stared in surprise at the wooden tendrils wrapped around her body, unable to understand how something so innocuous-looking could be siphoning away her strength.
Was it some unusual Imperial Arms?
Or some kind of supernatural ability?
If she had merely been restrained, then with the brutal training Akame had endured over the years, she had plenty of ways to escape.
At worst, it would simply take some time.
But now her strength was constantly being drained away.
Her entire body grew weaker by the second, and even her eyelids were becoming unbearably heavy.
She felt as though she might fall asleep at any moment.
’No... I have to... keep going... I still have... a mission...’
Akame struggled desperately, wriggling forward inch by inch like a little caterpillar despite being completely bound.
The sight was somehow both bizarre and faintly amusing.
"All right, enough of that. Just stay put."
Kiriya lightly struck the back of Akame’s neck and finally knocked the stubborn girl unconscious.
Looking down at Akame’s sleeping face, he once again condemned the Empire in his heart.
’What a bunch of fucking animals. They work children this young like livestock and make them kill people every damn day...’
He silently decided that once this was over, he was absolutely going to find the people responsible and have a serious discussion with them.
An organization like this disgusted him simply by continuing to exist.
Besides...
Did these people really think there was no price to pay for sending assassins after him?
Remembering all the bizarre rules and contingencies professional assassins tended to have, Kiriya thought for a moment before prying Akame’s mouth open and carefully checking inside.
He found no poison capsules or anything similar.
Still, he did not feel entirely reassured.
So he used Forest of All Things to create a wooden gag and placed it in Akame’s mouth, securing it at both sides with smooth, finely shaped strips of wood.
Now he did not have to worry about her biting down on some hidden poison, or trying to bite through her own tongue and accidentally choking to death.
And why hadn’t he bothered doing the same for the Four Rakshasa Demons or the palace guards?
Well...
Treatment depended on whether someone happened to catch his eye.
Lord Kiriya’s sympathy was a limited resource. He was nowhere near generous enough to hand it out equally to everyone.
"Perfect."
Kiriya dusted off his hands, looking rather pleased with himself.
Although everything on his side had seemed complicated, in reality it had all happened in a matter of seconds.
Akame’s surprise attack had been neutralized almost instantly, while Ibara had been pierced by Murasame and killed before Kurome even had time to fully react.
"Big Sis!"
The moment Kurome saw what had happened to Akame, she cried out.
The calm expression on her pretty face disappeared, replaced by bone-chilling fury.
"You... pervert!"
She tried to rush toward Kiriya with everything she had, clearly intending to cut him into pieces.
Unfortunately for her, Jeanne was still standing nearby.
And there was no chance the Saint was going to let Kurome run wild.
Taking advantage of the girl’s distraction, Jeanne thrust her flagstaff forward like a striking serpent and slammed it hard against Kurome’s forearm.
Pain forced Kurome to release the black blade in her hand.
Jeanne immediately followed with a sweep across her abdomen.
Kurome’s slender body was lifted completely off the ground, the impact nearly forcing stomach acid and bile from her throat.
"Ugh..."
Kurome endured the pain and tremblingly reached toward Yatsufusa, trying to pick the sword back up and continue fighting.
Jeanne’s hand chopped against the side of her neck.
The girl immediately went limp and fell unconscious.
"Whew..."
Only then did Jeanne finally relax.
Not because she was tired.
She had simply been worried the entire time that she might accidentally use too much strength and seriously injure the child.
Kurome had ambushed her, and every attack she made had been aimed at killing.
But after seeing those fragments of the girl’s life through Revelation, Jeanne found it difficult to truly hate her.
More than anything, she felt pity.
Unlike adults who had already committed countless atrocities and whose beliefs had become deeply entrenched, children could still change.
"Don’t let your guard down."
Kiriya flashed over to Jeanne’s side.
Without hesitation, he gave the unconscious Kurome the full package—wooden restraints, gag, and Energy Drain.
Only after finishing did he wipe nonexistent sweat from his forehead and sigh in satisfaction.
"Done."
Then he noticed Ryuu and Jeanne staring at him as though he were some kind of degenerate.
"Huh?"
Kiriya looked genuinely wounded.
"Why are you both looking at me like that?"
"P-Pervert..."
Ryuu’s eyes were filled with condemnation for the shameless scumbag standing before her.
"Kiriya... they’re still children."
Jeanne nervously clasped her hands together, but eventually decided she had to say it.
"Isn’t this... a little inappropriate?"
"What? How am I a pervert? What exactly is inappropriate about—"
Kiriya was completely confused until he followed their gazes toward the gags in Akame and Kurome’s mouths.
Then realization dawned.
"Oh. You mean these."
He immediately straightened his expression.
"They’re precautions. You have no idea how crafty professional assassins can be. Who knows what kind of things they might hide in their mouths? What if one of them suddenly used something and hurt you?"
"And what if these two little girls decide they’d rather die than be captured and try to kill themselves the moment we stop watching them?"
Kiriya delivered the explanation with complete seriousness, wearing such a wounded expression at being misunderstood that Ryuu and Jeanne actually began feeling slightly guilty.
The two girls turned away with faintly embarrassed expressions.
"I’m leaving. My pride has been deeply wounded."
"Where are you going?"
Ryuu and Jeanne asked.
"To watch Esdeath fight."
Kiriya started walking.
"I want to see how much stronger she’s gotten and figure out what I’m going to do about it."
He sighed.
"I can’t exactly let her become strong enough to pin me underneath her and bully me however she wants, can I?"
Ryuu and Jeanne both flushed red.
After spitting out embarrassed protests, they picked up Akame and Kurome and followed him.
...
Elsewhere in the Imperial Palace, the battle between Esdeath and Great General Budo had already reached a fever pitch.
One was the long-renowned strongest warrior in the Empire.
The other was an ambitious newcomer intent on claiming that title for herself.
And now the two were fighting with everything they had within the Imperial Palace itself—the very heart of the Empire’s authority and prestige.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Budo summoned one lightning strike after another from the sky, each crashing toward Esdeath with tremendous force.
Yet she avoided them all.
"What’s wrong?"
Esdeath moved at high speed while continuing to counterattack.
"Is this really all you’ve got?"
"The great strongest warrior in the Empire is only capable of this much?"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a wave of her hand, countless ice spears formed and shot toward Budo like torrential rain.
Yet just before they reached his body, a barrier of electrical energy flared into existence and vaporized them.
Thunder God’s Rage: Adramelech.
It was an armor-type Imperial Arms that allowed Budo to manipulate lightning.
He could use it for crushing electrical attacks, invisible-force impacts, long-range lightning spheres, and even wrap his own body in an armor of thunder.
Offense and defense were both exceptional.
Even among all Imperial Arms, Adramelech stood firmly among the highest tier.
It was precisely because Esdeath was wary of that lightning armor that she avoided engaging Budo at close range.
Getting paralyzed by the electricity and then taking a full-power blow immediately afterward would be an extremely stupid way to lose.
"Heh. You’re nothing special either."
Budo answered her taunt with a cold laugh.
"Is that all your Imperial Arms can manage? These little tricks?"
It was merely battlefield provocation.
Anyone could play that game.
But despite his words, Budo did not relax for even a moment.
The reason was simple.
This woman was far too composed.
Whether he launched lightning spheres or called down even faster bolts from the sky, none of his attacks had so much as grazed her.
It was not because Esdeath could literally move faster than lightning.
Her reactions were simply terrifying.
Every time Budo initiated an attack, she seemed to read the danger instantly and reposition herself before the killing blow arrived.
’What a monstrous instincts... She’s practically a wild beast.’
Crack! Crack! Crack!
In the brief moment Budo spent analyzing her, Esdeath created an enormous field of icy thorns.
The frozen spikes surged toward him with a roar.
Budo had no intention of taking them head-on and leaped high into the air.
Esdeath ignored his earlier mockery and slammed both hands against the ground.
Cold instantly spread outward.
The earth froze at astonishing speed, while tall, thick walls of ice rose around the battlefield.
Budo did not dare linger on the ground.
He jumped even higher to escape the spreading frost—exactly as Esdeath intended.
"Gray Ice Giant Horn."
At her command, enormous ice spikes erupted from both the ground and the surrounding walls.
They shot toward Budo from every direction like lightning.
"Hah!"
Budo showed no fear.
He swung the heavy iron stakes mounted on his arms and smashed into the incoming spikes.
Backed by his tremendous physical strength, the massive ice formations shattered one after another.
"Good reaction!"
Far from being disappointed, Esdeath laughed in delight.
"Then try this!"
Cold gathered above her.
A gigantic sphere of ice nearly a hundred meters in diameter formed overhead... and came crashing down.
"What?!"