In the dead of night within the Imperial Capital, under the bright moonlight at a secluded crossroads, the sound of clashing blades echoed intermittently. Each strike sent sparks flying into the air.
After wiping out a noble family, Daniel Davis was on his way back when he noticed these sparks from a distance. Curious, he approached the scene, and to his surprise, he recognized one of the combatants.
With long black hair, a tight-fitting outfit that accentuated her slender figure, and a red katana in hand, there was no mistaking her. It was Akame.
Akame was engaged in battle with a large man wielding a massive sword, who wore a peculiar device on his forehead. The moment Daniel saw the device, he recognized it as the Imperial Arm known as Spectator, which had five abilities: X-ray Vision, Telescopic Vision, Clairvoyance, Foresight, and Illusion.
During his time in the palace and the minister's residence, Daniel had gone through the records of the existing Imperial Arms. Apart from those that had been destroyed for various reasons, the rest were still in circulation.
Spectator had been assigned to the warden of the Imperial Prison. With its five abilities, it was incredibly useful for interrogating prisoners.
To Daniel, this was a waste of the Imperial Arm's potential, but for the Empire, it was considered a practical use.
Of the forty-eight Imperial Arms, not all were controlled by the royal family. Many were held by the Empire's officials, with the royal family only keeping a few key ones.
"Looks like I'm in luck," Daniel thought to himself, a smile spreading across his face. Spectator was one of the Imperial Arms he had been wanting to obtain.
To Daniel, Spectator was a powerful tool, but it seemed that no one in this world had been able to fully exploit its potential, or perhaps it had been overlooked for other reasons.
The man Akame was fighting was Zank the Beheader, the current owner of Spectator. He had once been an executioner for the Empire, but after beheading too many criminals, the constant screams and whispers of the dying drove him to madness. To cope, Zank developed a habit of constantly talking, even when he was alone, to drown out the voices in his head.
His incessant chatter not only helped him suppress the voices but also served as a means of unsettling his enemies. Unfortunately for him, this time his opponent was Akame.
Akame was the type who spoke little but acted with deadly precision. Despite her usual calm demeanor, once she made up her mind, she was capable of killing even her own sister without hesitation. It seemed her sister shared the same ruthless determination.
"Why... why didn't you hesitate at all?" Zank muttered, staring in disbelief at the thin wound on his chest.
Earlier, Zank had used Spectator's Illusion ability, a technique he had relied on many times before. No matter how strong his opponents were, they always hesitated when caught in Spectator's illusions, giving Zank the perfect opportunity to strike.
But this time, Akame didn't hesitate. She continued her attack, landing a decisive blow with her Murasame—a sword that could kill with even the smallest cut.
Akame offered no explanation. She simply looked at Zank with her usual calm expression. To outsiders, Akame's actions might seem strange, but to her, it was all perfectly normal. Even though she now fought for the Revolutionary Army, her principles were still rooted in the assassin training she received from the Empire.
Trained from childhood to fight for the Empire's concept of justice, Akame's beliefs led her to eventually betray the Empire and join the Revolutionary Army's Night Raid. She came to realize that the Empire was steeped in darkness, and the true path of justice lay with the revolution.
"Room. Baton." Just as Zank collapsed, his body covered in dark curses, and Akame reached out to claim the Imperial Arm on his head, Daniel acted first, snatching the Spectator before she could. Akame immediately lunged at Daniel with her lethal Murasame.
At the same time, Mine, who had been on standby, opened fire at Daniel with her Pumpkin Cannon.
Pumpkin was a gun-shaped Imperial Arm that converted the user's mental energy into shockwaves. Its power increased based on the level of danger the user faced. Mine's strongest attack with Pumpkin had been enough to take down General Budo, the Empire's strongest guardian.
If it could defeat Budo, then theoretically, it could also take down Esdeath.
Snap.
As Mine's attack closed in, Daniel casually raised his left hand, stopping the attack with his palm. At the same time, his right hand lifted his sword to parry Akame's Murasame.
"Calm down, I'm not your enemy," Daniel said as he sensed Mine preparing to fire again. He swiftly stepped back several meters, dodging her attack. The shockwave from Pumpkin obliterated a nearby streetlamp.
"Who are you?" Mine demanded, her Pumpkin Cannon trained on Daniel. Akame, standing beside her, gripped her Murasame tightly, her expression unchanging as she focused on him.
"In any case, I'm not with the Empire," Daniel replied, glancing upward as he raised his left hand to grab a figure attempting to ambush him from above. He then slammed the figure down in front of him.
"Leone!" Mine and Akame cried out in concern when they recognized the figure as their comrade.
The woman had short blonde hair, her body transformed into that of a lion, with powerful claws on her hands. This was Leone, the user of the Lionelle Imperial Arm.
"Impressive physique," Daniel remarked, slightly embarrassed as he turned his head away. His left hand unconsciously squeezed a few times.
When Daniel had grabbed Leone, it wasn't her arm he had caught but her clothing, inadvertently touching some areas that were off-limits.
"Lionelle," Daniel muttered as he looked at the belt-shaped Imperial Arm around Leone's waist. After a moment of contemplation, he threw Leone to his right, where no one was standing.
However, instead of crashing to the ground, Leone seemed to float in midair as if suspended.
"Princess carry, huh?" Daniel noted with a raised eyebrow as the air around Leone shimmered, revealing a man in armor catching her.
"Brand," Akame and Mine both snarled in anger as they prepared to attack again, recognizing the man as their former comrade, Brand.
"Hold on," Brand said, raising a hand to stop them. At his signal, Akame and Mine reluctantly halted their attack.
"Evil Warding Armor," Daniel mused, glancing briefly at Brand before turning to leave.
Grand Chariot was a powerful armor-type Imperial Arm, one of only two such armor Imperial Arms left in the Empire. It was a war machine in its own right.
However, Daniel wasn't particularly interested in it. Even if Grand Chariot evolved to its ultimate form, becoming a true dragon-like Super Danger Beast, it still wouldn't be a match for Daniel. The Imperial Arm had its limits.
"This Imperial Arm is excellent, though it's a bit of an eyesore." The next day, Daniel, eager to test the Spectator, took it out and began scanning people on the streets. Its X-ray Vision proved quite effective, but Daniel quickly switched to its Telescopic Vision after a while.
"This range rivals that of a high-end telescope," Daniel remarked as he tested the other abilities one by one—X-ray Vision, Foresight, and Illusion. These tests gave him a deeper understanding of the Imperial Arm's capabilities.
Each ability was impressive in its own right, though the Imperial Arm's appearance left much to be desired. Daniel mused that if its design could be improved, it would be even better.
"Kill Esdeath!" At the northern border of the Empire, a massive army of 400,000 northern tribesmen, led by Prince Numa Seika, charged toward the northern army under Esdeath's command, chanting for her death.
The Empire's territory was located in the center of the continent, surrounded by four different tribes. Even though the Empire had been slowly encroaching on their lands since the time of the first emperor, the tribes had never been completely eradicated.
Among the four tribes, the northern one was the most formidable in battle, inflicting significant casualties on the Empire. In terms of pure combat ability, the Empire's soldiers couldn't match the northern tribesmen, whose bodies were far more resilient from living in the frigid northern regions.
The four tribes surrounding the Empire were similar to the Xiongnu, Donghu, and Quanrong from the world of Qin Shi. They were nomadic people who didn't engage in agriculture.
However, all that changed with the emergence of Esdeath. She drove the once-dominant northern tribes from their ancestral lands, forcing them to retreat further north.
"Attack!" Standing on the icy walls of her fortress, Esdeath remained unfazed as the 400,000-strong northern army approached. Under the command of her Three Beasts, her troops flung open the gates and charged at the enemy.
A weak general leads to a weak army. Given the Empire's corrupt leadership, it was no surprise that its army had also decayed.
The Revolutionary Army's rapid rise was due in no small part to these Imperial soldiers. Among the Empire's five major armies, only Esdeath's northern army still retained its combat prowess.
Even General Budo's central army couldn't compare, despite Budo's tireless efforts. The central army had almost no real combat experience.
In contrast, the
northern army, under Esdeath's leadership, constantly fought against northern tribes and various Danger Beasts.
With Esdeath's immense strength and charisma, the northern army had essentially become her private force.
As a general, Esdeath was highly competent, sharing both hardships and rewards with her troops. She distributed the gold and silver bestowed upon her by the Empire among her soldiers, earning their unwavering loyalty.
By comparison, the other armies were plagued by embezzlement, corruption, and the practice of "ghost soldiers" (soldiers who existed only on paper to draw extra pay). Even the central army wasn't immune to such issues.
But in Esdeath's northern army, no one dared to engage in such behavior. Those who tried were quickly turned to ice and shattered into nothingness.
Moreover, the minister's favoritism toward Esdeath meant that the northern army received far better treatment than the other armies.
"Levi, Daites, how about we see who can capture that northern prince and present him to the general first?" Neiu, one of the Three Beasts, suggested while playing her flute.
"Agreed," Daites replied, hefting his heavy twin axes.
"No problem," Levi added with a nod.
With all three in agreement, they simultaneously unleashed the power of their Imperial Arms. As their abilities came into play, the number of northern tribesmen's corpses around them began to skyrocket.
"General, a messenger from the capital has arrived with orders from His Majesty." Esdeath, watching the battle with interest, frowned as a soldier reported this to her. After a moment of silence, she reluctantly agreed to receive the messenger.
"What a spectacle. Though it seems a bit unfair," Daniel mused as he climbed the icy walls, marveling at the sight of the massive fortress that stretched for miles.
"This must be Esdeath. Akame is certainly beautiful, but she can't compare to Esdeath in terms of presence." Approaching Esdeath, Daniel couldn't help but be struck by her stunning appearance. Her long, water-blue hair and the perfectly tailored blue military uniform that accentuated her figure were truly breathtaking.
"What business does His Majesty and the minister have?" Esdeath asked as Daniel observed her.
"They order General Esdeath to immediately conclude the battle here and return to the capital for a new assignment," Daniel replied, handing her a letter written by the minister himself.
Daniel's identity as a messenger wasn't a ruse. Given his actions in the capital and Honest's injury, the minister had already been planning to recall Esdeath. After taking control of the minister, Daniel discovered this and decided to take advantage of it by posing as the messenger.
"I didn't expect the minister to be attacked and injured. That's quite interesting." Esdeath remarked, watching as the letter in her hand disintegrated into icy shards. In the next instant, she swung her leg toward Daniel's head.
Bang.
A dull thud echoed across the icy fortress. Esdeath's sudden attack caught Daniel off guard, but he easily blocked it without even shifting his stance.
"What is the meaning of this, General?"
"You must be the assassin," Esdeath declared. Without any apparent movement, a series of massive ice spikes erupted from the ground beneath Daniel.
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