Esdeath had become famous long ago. Her battle record was simply too dazzling.
Najenda did not know where Uesugi Ryu got the confidence to defeat Esdeath.
But with Night Raid's current capabilities, they probably no longer had the qualifications to negotiate terms with him.
Najenda nodded and agreed to Uesugi Ryu's condition.
She turned to look at Tatsumi.
"Tatsumi."
Tatsumi clenched his fists.
Demon Armor was the symbol of Night Raid, and it was something Big Bro had personally entrusted to him.
And now he had to hand it over.
Tatsumi was extremely unwilling, but he had not lost his mind.
Although he had grown much stronger now, he was still far inferior to Uesugi Ryu.
Canceling the transformation, Tatsumi looked reluctantly at the longsword in his hand.
Just as he was about to hand over the key to Demon Armor, a booming voice suddenly rang out.
"Please wait a moment."
A large number of soldiers appeared not far away within sight.
The Imperial Guard had withdrawn, allowing the Revolutionary Army to arrive at the Imperial Capital unimpeded.
The one who spoke was a middle-aged man with black hair. Like Najenda, he had once been a general of the Empire.
Najenda looked toward the rear in surprise.
"Naga! Why are you here?"
Naga revealed a hearty smile and waved at Najenda.
"Najenda, it's good to see you're alright!"
"For some reason the Imperial Guard withdrew. It saved us a lot of trouble."
Naga looked toward Uesugi Ryu on the opposite side.
"This must be the renowned Lord Uesugi Ryu. A pleasure to meet you."
Without needing to guess, Uesugi Ryu already knew that the matter with the Imperial Guard was probably Chelsea's doing.
But it did not matter. To him, it was all irrelevant.
Uesugi Ryu glanced at him and said coldly,
"Military Music Fantasy and the two great axes are here too. No matter how many Imperial Arms you have, I might as well collect them all at once."
Naga frowned, displeasure rising in his heart.
This guy was far too arrogant. Hundreds of thousands of troops were standing here. Did he think he was Esdeath?
"Our Revolutionary Army acknowledges your contributions. We will not demand the Imperial Arms currently in your possession."
"But don't go too far. How can Imperial Arms used to serve the nation fall into the hands of one person alone?"
Uesugi Ryu sneered, his dazzling golden eyes stabbing directly toward Naga.
"My contributions? Ridiculous!"
Being stared at by Uesugi Ryu, Naga swallowed hard.
But he was still a former general. He would not be scared witless by a single glance from Uesugi Ryu.
Looking at the army behind him, the fear in his heart eased slightly.
The moment Najenda saw Uesugi Ryu's expression, she already knew there was no hope of a peaceful negotiation.
Bringing a massive army here at a time like this would undoubtedly touch his nerves.
The Revolutionary Army had no single clear leader. Major decisions were basically discussed jointly by the highest-ranking officers.
Najenda gave Naga a look, signaling him to shut up for now.
"All of Night Raid's Imperial Arms can be handed over to you. As for the others, we need to discuss it first."
"Tatsumi, hand over Demon Armor."
Tatsumi no longer hesitated and directly tossed Demon Armor to Uesugi Ryu.
Naga's expression darkened. With a massive army in hand, why make such concessions?
"Najenda, you..."
Uesugi Ryu caught the key to Demon Armor. Demon Armor itself did not improve him much.
What interested him more was the soul of the Super Danger Beast Tyrant hidden within it.
"Looks like your internal opinions aren't very unified. Then I don't need to treat the rebels and Night Raid as one entity anymore."
"Step aside, Najenda."
Thin streams of water swirled around Uesugi Ryu as he looked around.
Ahead of him, as far as the eye could see, there were armored soldiers everywhere.
"It seems numbers have given you a lot of confidence."
Naga rode his horse backward and waved his hand. Large numbers of soldiers immediately stepped forward.
"So you want to fight? Looks like taking the Imperial Capital without bloodshed really isn't possible."
Najenda had underestimated Uesugi Ryu many times, and every single result had ended in crushing defeat.
The shadows of repeated failures piled together, leaving her psychologically scarred by Uesugi Ryu's strange abilities.
That was also one of the main reasons why she had agreed to his demands so readily this time.
Najenda hurriedly tried to stop things.
"Wait, we..."
Snap!
A crisp finger snap rang out as the thin streams of water shot outward in a semicircular arc.
The soldiers at the front were charging forward. They raised their shields and weapons in front of themselves.
Whoosh~
The clear streams of water pierced through their bodies, dyed crimson with blood as they continued spreading backward. Large amounts of severed limbs instantly flew into the air.
Like a scythe cutting wheat, before the ultra-high-pressure water streams, everything was sliced cleanly in half.
The screams had not even escaped their throats before the blood inside the soldiers surged wildly out from their wounds.
Fine streams of blood gathered toward a single point, forming a massive blood sphere in less than a second.
In that brief instant, a huge empty space appeared within the densely packed army.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the blood sphere suspended in midair.
The thick stench of blood was so overwhelming it nearly made people vomit as it spread across the battlefield.
"What is that?"
Tatsumi's eyelids twitched violently. Without even looking closely, he knew this was definitely some terrifying ultimate move in preparation.
He grabbed Najenda and immediately ran toward the ruins nearby.
Melodious music began playing from behind.
The soldiers who had still been shrinking back in fear and shock instantly resumed their charge.
"Advance!"
"Kill him!"
"Tatakae!"
Uesugi Ryu paid them no attention at all. He rubbed his chin, carefully experiencing this newfound power unlike anything before.
"A qualitative change. The weakness in my anti-army capabilities has finally been fixed."
The boiling battle cries rang beside his ears. Uesugi Ryu waved his hand impatiently.
The blood sphere in the sky suddenly began expanding violently like a crimson sea urchin.
The next moment, countless blood arrows shot out from within.
The crimson barrage covered the sky. Every living thing within twenty meters of Uesugi Ryu was instantly riddled with holes.
People continuously charged in, while the blood sun above acted like the most efficient slaughterhouse imaginable, harvesting every life within its domain.
Uesugi Ryu stood directly beneath the blood sun.
He lowered his eyes in contemplation, expressionless like a stone statue.
The charge continued. Blood arrows fired from the blood sun intertwined with blood threads sprouting from corpses.
The blood sun above showed no signs of slowing down.
Instead, as more soldiers entered, it continuously expanded, casting an enormous shadow across the ground.
The blood sun shifted from glaring scarlet to dark crimson.
No one knew how much time had passed. Perhaps only an instant. Perhaps a full minute.
The music stopped. The sounds of battle ceased.
The soldiers knelt at the edge of the blood sun's range and no longer advanced.
Not because they no longer wished to advance, but because they could not.
The soldiers at the front would rather be trampled into meat paste by their comrades behind them than take another step into that hellish domain.
The scorching sunlight shone upon them, yet it could not suppress the coldness rising within everyone's hearts.
Looking at the enormous blood sun overhead, cold sweat endlessly poured down Naga's forehead.
Only now did he understand why Najenda had been so yielding.
This terrifying godlike power was not a gap that mere numbers could bridge.
The battlefield had become deathly silent like the end of the world itself. Everyone unconsciously slowed their breathing, not even daring to make a sound.
The black-haired man standing in the center with his arms crossed slowly raised his head.
Within the shadows, his golden eyes became the only source of light.
As Uesugi Ryu raised his head, the blood sun above seemed to awaken.
The massive dark crimson sphere began deforming, sprouting limbs and a tail.
A ferocious blood beast landed upon the ground.
Its hollow, deathly beast eyes passed through the crowd and fixed directly onto Naga.
It slowly walked forward like an agent carrying out the will of a god.
The soldiers along its path dragged away their noodle-like legs and crawled aside to escape its advance.
A sharp pain suddenly stabbed into Naga's heart, and his entire body felt as heavy as lead.
He wanted to run, but his body refused to obey.
The blood beast stopped before him, lowered its head, and opened its jaws wide.
Blood dripped from its seemingly solid fangs onto Naga's face.
His tiny figure was swallowed whole, becoming nourishment for the blood beast.
The blood beast returned along its original route and crouched beneath Uesugi Ryu's feet.
Uesugi Ryu leaped onto the blood beast's head and looked down upon the crowd below.
The blood sun descended, and the true sun reappeared.
The enormous blood beast stood atop the ruins and roared toward the heavens.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
The countless soldiers beneath instantly fell to their knees like crashing waves, trembling as they worshipped the monstrous beast.