The Imperial Minister, Honest, was in a towering rage. The Revolutionary Army and the Northern tribes had somehow formed an alliance right under his nose without him knowing a thing.
Honest didn't have a shred of evidence, but for a man like him, evidence was unnecessary; suspicion was enough. Judging by the current state of affairs, only such an alliance could explain the situation. Why else would the Revolutionary Army make a move the exact moment the Northern tribes finished off his 300,000 soldiers?
Was it because the people in the Revolutionary Army were kind-hearted and volunteered to coordinate with the North?
Impossible!
Although Honest had never personally met the leaders of the Revolutionary Army, he had dealt with them for years and knew exactly what they were after.
The Empire was tyrannical, and he was tyrannical; Honest had a very clear understanding of this. He found it perfectly normal that ordinary people would want to resist such an Empire and himself.
But therein lay the problem. Who said those who want to overthrow a tyrannical Empire must be good people? Couldn't they just be another batch of tyrants? The world is full of stories about heroes slaying dragons, but there are just as many stories about those heroes becoming the dragon themselves.
In Honest's eyes, the primary reason the Revolutionary Army wanted to topple him was simply that they wanted to occupy everything he possessed. In the end, it was a dispute over interests. He simply didn't believe the high-ranking officials of the Revolutionary Army would act out of the goodness of their hearts to support the North; there must have been some exchange of benefits.
"That old fossil Budo... if only he could be deployed directly, how much trouble would I be spared?"
The Empire's only current Great General, Budo. He was a textbook traditionalist, strictly adhering to ancestral teachings by not interfering in political affairs—a representative of the traditional warrior class.
However, this Great General seemed to have no intention of leaving the Imperial Capital. He had the vital mission of protecting the Emperor, so the disturbances caused by the Revolutionary Army elsewhere had to be handled by other departments of the Empire.
"Still, looking at it now, having a son seems to have been a good choice. If I had fathered a few more back then, perhaps I could have formed a decent army of my own?"
As expected of Honest. Even his own flesh and blood was nothing more than a consumable soldier in his eyes, someone of little significance. He even entertained the thought of breeding more.
★ ★ ★
On the other side.
The reason the Revolutionary Army could move so swiftly was thanks to a specific occurrence.
"I didn't expect so much to happen. You've truly worked hard, everyone from the assassination clan..."
A beautiful man with androgynous features, white hair and purple eyes looked at the four returning individuals with a gentle smile. These were the four assassins who had traveled to the Northern Empire: Barbara, Merraid, Chelsea, and Taeko.
"Enough nonsense. Lord of the Path of Peace, you must have known all this would happen, right?"
As the eldest of the four, Barbara stepped forward without hesitation, her tone quite sharp. Before heading north, they had no idea they would encounter Cerydra's group, let alone be hired by them to kill the Northern Emperor, Numa Seika.
"I am deeply sorry. Although I possess the ability to foresee the future, I still failed to anticipate this... perhaps an anomaly occurred?"
The Lord constantly searched his memories of the futures he had predicted, but those powerhouses Barbara described had never appeared. In the end, he could only attribute it to an accident.
"Do you think we'll believe that?"
As one of the high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army, Barbara was naturally privy to countless secrets. She knew the man meeting them was no ordinary human... it was even debatable if she could be called human at all.
The Lord of Path of Peace religious sect. His specific name was unknown; everyone simply addressed him as the Lord, and most treated him with extreme respect.
In truth, the Prophet was not a pure human, but a half-breed of human and Danger Beast—a taboo in the eyes of many. Because he was born with the ability to heal wounds and foresee the future, combined with an extraordinary personal charisma, he was able to carry the entire Path of Peace on his own.
The Revolutionary Army wanted to overthrow the corrupt Empire, so they naturally recruited all sorts of talented individuals, even if they were only half-human. However, after making contact, everyone discovered that this Prophet... seemed to be a pathologically good person.
This was the world of Akame ga Kill, where trash was as common as dogs and scumbags roamed everywhere. For such a "goody-two-shoes" to be born in such a world could be considered the world's good fortune.
"If you don't believe me, there is nothing I can do."
The Prophet rested his forehead in his hand, feeling somewhat helpless. His precognition used to be reliable, allowing him to see vague fragments of the future. But ever since the members of the assassination clan went North, the Prophet could see nothing at all.
No, that wasn't quite accurate. His ability to foresee the future could still see something, but all that met her eyes was a blinding, radiant gold. Aside from that, there was nothing.
The Prophet himself was confused; how could he possibly convey his power clearly to others?
"It's best we don't find out you're lying, or the consequences won't be something you can endure!"
In the eyes of the assassination clan, the fact that they met Cerydra on the way to the North was purely a setup by the Lord. How else could everything be explained? Now that he was denying his previous words, how could Barbara and the others feel at ease?
However, seeing as he was currently on the same side, the assassins didn't intend to cause him trouble for now. They prepared to leave after giving him a warning.
Yet, when they raised their heads to look into the Lord's eyes, they found his amethyst-like pupils had suddenly turned the color of gold... even the Lord's expression became vacant.
"This is... this is?"
The precognition that had previously failed was suddenly triggered, forcing the Lord to witness events yet to come.
In the vision of the future, a colossal Danger Beast let out a roar toward the sky, easily smashing the walls of the Imperial Capital to rubble. Following this, countless individuals radiating golden light charged into the capital, fighting to the death against the legendary Ultimate Teigu.
And their leader was a girl with blue and white hair.
"I found her... I actually found her?"
A look of excitement appeared on the Lord's face, causing the four assassins who were about to leave to stop in their tracks.
"There's no mistake, it's her!"
"As long as we can find her, the Revolutionary Army's goals will surely be achieved, and the people of the world will live good lives!"
Looking at the girl radiating golden light in the future, the Lord's eyes moistened, as if he had seen an illuminating sun.
"She is the Cerydra you mentioned, isn't she?"
"Her Majesty the Empress is truly adorable. It seems I cannot continue to wait here; I must do something for Her Majesty..."
"What are you talking about? Why are you suddenly talking about an Empress?"
Hearing these nonsensical words from the Lord, the four assassins looked at each other, completely failing to understand what he intended to do.
"But she IS the Empress!"
The Lord's matter-of-fact tone shut down any further words from the assassins. He even wore an expression of supreme piety.
"Assassins, you have worked hard."
"Leave the rest to me."
"I will go persuade the high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army to cooperate with our operations!"
With those words, the Lord raised his head once more, gazing into the sky of the distant future.