Imperial Capital.
Due to the attacks from rebel armies across the nation, this usually bustling and lively city seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gloom.
However, the Imperial Palace remained unaffected, becoming even livelier than usual as Minister Honest gathered his officials to host a grand banquet.
In the night, melodious and joyful music and singing almost enveloped the entire palace.
At the same time,
figures quietly infiltrated under the cover of night, amidst the music and singing.
"Hey, Izo!"
Shura, the Minister's son, walked up to a man with a leaf in his mouth, holding a wine glass, and slung an arm around his shoulder.
He said with dissatisfaction, "What's wrong with you? Not drinking or playing with women. Didn't I tell you to enjoy yourself properly?"
"My apologies."
The man named Izo shook his head, his expression serious, and said, "I do not enjoy drinking, nor am I fond of women. I cannot partake in such pleasures."
"Hmph, what a boring fellow!"
Hearing this, Shura grew even more displeased. He directly downed the wine in his glass, then pulled Izo and started walking out, saying, "Since you don't like wine or women, I'll take you to kill people. I remember you like that, right?"
Izo's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately abandoned the thought of refusing. Grabbing the katana at his side, he allowed Shura to lead him away from the banquet.
He was a swordsman, and although not an Imperial Arms user, he had, with his beloved sword 'Kōsetsu', slain more than one Imperial Arms user. Therefore, his strength was highly recognized by Shura. Besides combat, Izo's hobby was making blood sacrifices to his beloved sword.
Thus, killing was his greatest hobby!
Coincidentally, Shura's hobby was similar, though he preferred torture. Now that he had finished drinking, Shura desperately wanted to torment someone.
Biu!~
As the two stepped out, a flash of light suddenly shot from a distance. Before Shura could react, his head was shattered by the flash, splattering red and white matter all over Izo's face.
"Lord Shura!"
Izo exclaimed, not bothering to wipe the blood from his face. He immediately gripped the hilt of his sword, assumed a defensive stance, and then shouted loudly toward the palace behind him, "Enemy attack!~"
---
Inside the hall, Akame's figure suddenly appeared behind Minister Honest, and her Murasame mercilessly slashed toward his neck.
Clang!
Esdeath's figure flickered, blocking Akame's attack for Honest. Then, with an excited expression, she laughed, "To directly attack the Imperial Palace—you assassins are truly daring!"
Akame remained silent, merely flickering backward to create distance between them.
At the same time, Bulat, Leone, and Lubbock also appeared, standing back-to-back behind Akame.
"That was close!"
Honest flickered, hiding behind Esdeath, then said to her with lingering fear, "Esdeath, I'll leave this to you. I'll retreat first."
With that, without waiting for Esdeath's reply, he swiftly fled.
"The assassin group Night Raid."
Esdeath paid no attention to Honest's escape, her gaze fixed on the four of them—Akame in particular—and she smiled. "I've been looking for you for a long time. I didn't expect you to deliver yourselves to me. Perfect. I'll deal with you all here today, and then use your heads to commemorate my lovely subordinates!"
"You're the one who's going to die, you perverted woman!"
Leone couldn't stand Esdeath's provocation and immediately darted forward, attacking her.
Seeing this, Akame and Bulat also quickly followed suit.
Lubbock's eyes flashed, and he chased in the direction Honest had fled.
"Ha!~"
Esdeath paid no attention to Lubbock's departure, her gaze still fixed on the three charging toward her—Akame foremost. Then she raised her left hand and waved it toward the charging trio.
A large number of ice cones condensed out of thin air and shot toward the three.
Seeing this, Bulat rushed forward, blocking Akame and Leone, and rapidly spun his spear, deflecting all the incoming ice cones.
Akame and Leone took advantage of this, simultaneously charging out from behind Bulat and attacking Esdeath from the left and right.
"Hah!~"
The Beast King's Fist, carrying heavy wind pressure, and the One-Shot Killer Blade struck simultaneously.
Esdeath, however, showed no panic. She first used her rapier to block Akame's blade, while simultaneously raising her leg to kick Leone's fist. As her foot and fist collided, a massive ice pillar descended from the sky, crashing down on Leone.
Seeing this, Leone had no choice but to retreat, creating distance to evade it.
With her hand freed, Esdeath exerted force, shaking off Akame, who was grappling with her, then delivered a fierce kick, sending Akame flying out of the palace.
Whoosh!~
At this moment, Bulat's figure appeared above Esdeath, his large spear descending toward her with a piercing whoosh.
Seeing this, Esdeath merely raised her arm slightly, and a thick layer of ice instantly appeared out of thin air between them, blocking Bulat's attack.
Crack crack!
After Bulat's attack ran out of power, Esdeath placed her palm on the ice layer. The ice instantly shattered, transforming into countless ice shards that shot toward him.
Ding ding ding!~
Bulat couldn't defend in time, and his body was continuously struck by the incoming ice shards. The powerful force sent him uncontrollably flying backward, then crashing heavily against the wall.
"Cough!~"
Bulat struggled to stand, coughing up blood from under his face mask. If he hadn't been wearing Incursio, those ice shards would have riddled him like a sieve.
"Wind Breathing · Fifth Form—"
At this moment, 'Akame', who had been kicked away earlier, returned, holding her long blade and attacking Esdeath from above, swinging down a massive spinning wind blade toward her.
—Cold Mountain Wind!"
"Hmm?"
Esdeath raised her sword to block the slash from 'Akame', but her clothes were torn by the spinning wind blade. Then she stared at the person in front of her with a puzzled expression.
She felt that this 'Akame' was a bit off; both the fighting style and the power of the moves were completely different from before, as if she had been replaced by someone else.
Esdeath's feeling was correct. The 'Akame' in front of her had indeed been replaced. The one standing before her was no longer the real Akame, but Naruto, using the 'Illusory Sight' ability of the Imperial Arms, All-Seeing Eye: Spectator, making her perceive him as 'Akame'.
Second Form · Claws · Purifying Wind!
Esdeath had already sensed something was amiss, but 'Akame' gave her no time to think, attacking her again.
The long blade in his hand swung down, unleashing four claw-shaped wind blades at her.
Esdeath in response thrust her long sword, and a massive ice cone extended from the blade, instantly shattering the incoming wind blades.
Then, with undiminished momentum, it continued to stab toward 'Akame'.
Third Form · Clear Storm Wind Tree!
'Akame' swung his blade, instantly unleashing three wind blades centered around himself, cutting through the incoming ice shards. Immediately after, he changed his stance, gripping the blade with both hands, and forcefully slashed at Esdeath.
"Sixth Form · Black Wind Mountain Mist!"
A massive wind blade howled, releasing black sword qi wherever it passed, enveloping Esdeath.
"Ice Armor!"
Esdeath's eyes narrowed. She raised her right arm toward the sky, and a hard layer of ice spread from the blade in her hand, instantly forming a hexagonal enclosed crystal around her, protecting her entire body. The wind blades unleashed by 'Akame' left only shallow marks on the ice layer.
"Heavenly Thunder!"
After blocking 'Akame's attack, the ice crystals around Esdeath shattered. Then she raised her hand and pointed at 'Akame'.
A spherical ice bolt, as massive as a small mountain, instantly formed above 'Akame's head, then rapidly crashed down.
Whoosh!~
However, 'Akame' seemed oblivious to the massive ice bolt falling from above. He simply took a deep breath, then once again assumed a stance of charging and swinging his sword toward Esdeath.
Whoosh! Whoosh!~
Leone and Bulat appeared beside 'Akame', simultaneously leaping up and attacking the falling giant ice bolt, using all their might to shatter it.
At the same time, 'Akame's charge was complete. His figure, like lightning, dashed toward Esdeath, instantly closing the distance to her. He circled her at extreme speed, then fiercely swung his long blade.
"Wind Breathing · Ninth Form · Idaten Typhoon!"
Rapid, continuous revolving slashes unleashed a large number of incredibly swift wind blades, enveloping Esdeath like a typhoon.
!!!~~
The incredibly fast wind blades cut countless wounds into Esdeath, who had no time to defend. As blood splattered, a chilling aura suddenly erupted from her.
"Ice Storm!~"
An extremely cold blizzard suddenly erupted centered on Esdeath, instantly tearing apart the wind blade typhoon surrounding her, then filling the entire palace and causing the temperature within to drop by dozens of degrees in an instant.
When the storm subsided, the entire palace seemed to have transformed into a world of ice and snow, covered in a thick layer of white frost.
Even the three—'Akame' included—were covered in a thin layer of frost.
However, Esdeath was not doing well either. Her military jacket was almost completely torn to shreds by the previous wind blades, and her exposed skin was covered in small cuts where the blood had already frozen into frost, making her look quite disheveled.
"Haha!~"
Esdeath raised her hand and licked the blood on the back of her hand, her face showing an expression of almost insane excitement. She laughed loudly. "Being in such a disheveled state now—it seems like this is the first time. You've done quite well. I think I'm getting excited!"
---
'Akame' looked at the excited Esdeath, feeling a bit speechless. The Ninth Form just now was one of the strongest move he could currently perform, yet it only caused her superficial injuries—and it seemed to have made her even more excited.
"This is truly…"
'Akame' gripped the hilt of his blade, thinking to himself, "It seems that to force her to use that 'Time Freeze' move, I must enter the Mark state!"
"Hmph!~"
Thinking this, 'Akame' took a deep breath, preparing to forcibly break through his body's limits and enter the Mark state.
"Mahapadma!~" (Ice Time Freeze)
Just then, Esdeath's voice came, and he suddenly felt the world before his eyes fall into stillness. Although his thoughts continued, his body was unable to move, as if frozen by some power.
"Although I don't know what's going on."
In the palace, Esdeath, the only one still able to move, slowly approached 'Akame', raised her rapier, and slowly plunged it into his body, saying, "But I feel that if I let you continue, things will become very troublesome. So it's better to stop here."
As the long sword pierced through 'Akame's body, the frozen time returned to normal. Then Esdeath saw that the person whose body she had just pierced had a smug smile on his face.
"Maha—"
Esdeath saw the smile on 'Akame's face and instantly realized something was wrong. She was about to unleash another powerful move, but it was already too late.
Pfft!~
A sharp long blade pierced through her from behind, and dark curses rapidly spread from the wound, instantly corroding her entire chest.
Esdeath looked down at the long blade piercing her chest, then looked at the person in front of her. Her eyes instantly widened, then she said with a smile, "All-Seeing Eye? So that's it. But for the user to be you—it truly surprises me, Your Majesty!"
"I'm sorry, Esdeath."
Naruto raised his hand, grabbing the rapier that Esdeath had used to pierce his own body, then said to her apologetically, "Because you are too strong, we truly couldn't think of a way to defeat you, so we could only use this method."
If possible, Naruto would certainly have wanted to defeat Esdeath fair and square.
But he truly couldn't think of any way to break her time-freezing ability, so he could only resort to this method.
"It's fine. I already enjoyed the battle just now."
Esdeath shook her head, then looked down at the curses that had already taken over her entire body, and then smiled at Naruto. "Since you were able to make me feel joy, I'll give you one last free reminder: Don't think that by just killing me, you can win this battle!~"
After speaking, Esdeath's eyes gradually dimmed, a satisfied smile still on her face, and the hand holding the sword fell limply.
Pfft!~
Naruto exerted force, pulling out the rapier that had pierced his body, and immediately felt a wave of weakness. He fell backward, but landed in a soft embrace.
Akame supported Naruto, gently laying him down against herself, then knelt, letting Naruto's head rest on her lap. She looked down at him, smiling gently. "You worked hard, Your Majesty!~"
Naruto's face flushed, and just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a violent tremor from the ground, followed by a series of heavy footsteps, as if some colossal object were approaching.
Hearing this commotion and recalling Esdeath's dying words, everyone's expressions suddenly changed. Then they all looked up, their gazes piercing through the shattered roof, and saw a gigantic figure already standing before the palace they were in, leaning down to look at them.
That massive figure was none other than the Supreme Imperial Arms—National Defense Machine God · Supreme Throne!
---
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