Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Akame POV.
Today was the day. I hadn't had a single chance to get rid of Kurome; we'd been too busy learning the mansion's chores, especially after we were separated and taken to different places. I hadn't seen Kurome for hours yesterday.
Today was our last chance to act. According to our intelligence source, the Rating Game between Gremory and Astaroth was scheduled for today; that was when Khaos Brigade and the old Satan faction would attack.
That attack would keep the Satans and Lady Serena occupied, and without her, the city would be completely unprotected. I couldn't fail; I needed to get rid of Kurome even if I had to kill her. I took a deep breath. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby.
Then I pulled Murasame out of the pocket dimension where I had hidden it. I gripped the cursed sword firmly and took one last breath before reaffirming my resolve. I let my feelings for Kurome fade, at least for now. I had to carry out a murder.
With my determination at its peak, I began running through the halls to search for Kurome. I ran quickly through the empty corridors. Most of Lady Serena's peerage had left, so the mansion was mostly deserted. Except for—
"Ah, Akame, it's good to see you, just the person I was looking for." Lord Lucius's voice came from behind me. I stopped stiffly, then straightened up and hid Murasame behind my back. Where did she come from?!
"Lord Lucius, what can I do for you?" I asked politely, bowing my head slightly. Lord Lucius chuckled softly and looked at me with amusement.
"Come on, I have a job for you," Lord Lucius said, then turned away. I bit my lip, then glanced down the empty corridors. I knew that Lord Lucius was possibly the weakest of Lady Serena's entire Peerage; he preferred hiding behind piles of paperwork to fighting. I could easily escape him. "Oh, and bring Murasame along. You'll need it," Lord Lucius added as he continued walking.
I froze, my eyes widening. I could feel my heart pounding. He knew about Murasame. Had he seen it before? Was he… not as weak as he seemed? I watched Lord Lucius turn around a corner and glance at me sideways; then he smiled at me like a snake. Wide and slimy, as if everything were going according to his plan.
I shuddered slightly before starting to run after Lucius. I turned the corner and saw him waiting by a door; he kept smiling before going inside. I quickly followed him.
Inside the room, Lord Lucius stood beside a small altar with a small cup upon it. Lord Lucius was gently touching the cup.
"Come, Akame, we have to go somewhere. Just tap the cup," Lord Lucius said with the same smile. I just looked at him cautiously. I approached slowly, and since I didn't need to hide Murasame, I stayed on guard. Lord Lucius didn't seem to mind; he just stood there watching me and smiled amusedly.
Finally, I got close enough and carefully reached out before touching the goblet. Then I felt as if my whole body tightened and spun around. When it finally stopped, we were in another room; Lord Lucius was already leaving. I pulled my hand away from the goblet as if it were burning me.
I looked around in shock. Had we… teleported? I followed Lucius quickly and cautiously, looking around, only to be left speechless.
The hallways had completely changed; they were truly different from those in the mansion. It almost felt like we'd been teleported to the ruins of a castle. The hallways were wide, with high ceilings and Gothic arches made of ancient stone, as if they were centuries old. But most importantly, vines and flowers grew on the walls, columns, and balconies, yet… it was too tidy to resemble wild vegetation.
Especially since the floor looked like polished stone; not a speck of dust on it. Lord Lucius simply walked on, and I stopped at one of the windows. My eyes widened at the sight of the kaleidoscope of colors that was the Dimensional Gap.
I quickly looked at Lord Lucius, who had already walked away, and quickly ran to his side.
"W-where are we, Lord Lucius?" I asked awkwardly, looking around.
"We're at Evergarden," Lord Lucius said casually before stopping in front of a massive door. I could only blink in confusion, which made Lord Lucius chuckle. "You know, it was easy to figure out you're an assassin," Lucius said calmly. My eyes widened, and I backed away from Lord Lucius.
"It's not what it looks like!" I said quickly, almost panicking. "I was trying to help, Kurome-"
"She's trying to breach the city's defenses to let in the Khaos Brigade and the Old Satan faction, I know it," Lord Lucius said calmly. And I stopped dead in my tracks.
"If... you do know... why aren't you arresting her! The city is in danger!" I insisted forcefully. Lord Lucius chuckled slightly.
"Now, that's not necessary. Everything is going as it should. Kurome shouldn't be interrupted," Lord Lucius said with a broad smile. I shuddered in shock and looked incredibly. I didn't even hesitate before drawing Murasame and pointing it in Lord Lucius's direction.
"You're with the Khaos Brigade?! You brought me here to separate me from Kurome?" I asked quickly, my mind racing. I had to get back to the mansion. To my surprise, Lord Lucius laughed with amusement. I stared at him in disbelief, but still, I didn't put Murasame down. Lord Lucius finally stopped laughing, wiped away his tears, and then used two fingers to push Murasame aside.
The push was weak, but even so, I let him deflect the sword with a frown, my body still tense; at this distance, I could kill him with ease.
"Well, already thinking of killing me so easily?" Lord Lucius said, amused. My eyes narrowed even more. "Come, let me show you something; it will all make sense." Lord Lucius said with amusement, then ignored me before the enormous door burst open. My eyes widened as I stared ahead.
There was a… garden. A beautiful garden, overflowing with flowers, and the ceiling resembled a starry sky, like the one in the mansion's Great Hall. To my surprise, candles floated all around. There, I saw three women in the center of the garden, three succubi who were monitoring everything around them and the sky before their gazes turned to us.
"""Lord Lucius!""" the three of them said at the same time as he bowed deeply.
"No need, my dears. Good work, carry on," Lord Lucius said gently. The three succubi nodded and continued, moving from flower to flower while jotting things down on their tablets. Lord Lucius began walking calmly toward the garden. "This is the representation for the Auror, the Garden, and the Astrarium," Lucius said grandly. I frowned.
"The Aurors? The City Police?" I asked quickly. "But... what are The Garden and The Astrarium?" I asked, confused. Lord Lucius laughed.
"You think we'd only have police?" Lord Lucius asked playfully. "The Garden and The Astrarium are two secret organizations that answer only to Serena. Their job is to protect the city from the shadows, from any threat that may arise," Lord Lucius said matter-of-factly. My eyes widened.
Secret organizations?! I… well, I couldn't really say anything, since I literally belonged to one myself, but I didn't think Lady Serena and Pentagram City had secret organizations. The city's only been around for a few months, and the fact that they already have secret organizations, specifically in the plural, was truly surprising.
"Wait, does that mean you're not with Khaos Brigade?!" I asked, surprised. To my astonishment, the succubi stopped and glared at me, their eyes practically blazing with hatred for my words. I shuddered slightly. Lord Lucius just laughed and gestured for the succubi to calm down.
"No, I'm not," Lord Lucius said, amused. "The Garden is composed mostly of succubi, experts in gathering information through seduction. Each one is named after a flower. The Astrarium, on the other hand, handles infiltration, intelligence gathering, and expiation in a more traditional manner. The Aurors are the visible organization, the visible force of the city. All three work together to keep Pentagram City safe." Lord Lucius said with ease, gesturing to the things around him.
"The flowers... there's one of each kind," I said immediately, looking around. "The candles have names," I said after looking at them, and my gaze finally settled on the ceiling. "Stars are missing, entire constellations," I said quickly, trying to understand what I was looking at. Lord Lucius laughed.
"This is the monitoring room at Evergarden. Every flower, every star, and every candle is linked to the life force of every member of The Garden, The Astrarium, and the Aurors, respectively."
"Flowers bloom when a person is awake; they close when they are asleep. They bow when tired, they tremble in the face of danger, they wither and lose their eyes when wounded, and they die when their counterpart dies."
"The stars shine when they are awake; they become dim when they sleep. They flicker during combat. They change color depending on the danger, from white, yellow, orange to red depending on the danger, and they begin to fade in their death."
"Candles have a steady flame when they are awake, and it diminishes when they sleep. They grow when they are fighting and increase in intensity when they are wounded; the flames consume the candle until it is completely consumed, and they are extinguished when they die."
"Each member is monitored to ensure their safety, and in case of an emergency, help can be dispatched," Lord Lucius said. I just stared in shock, then looked around again to see what it was. There were hundreds of plants, stars, and candles lined the room, and apparently each one represented a person. That... was wow.
"This... who created this?" I asked in shock. "Was it Lady Serena?" I asked, surprised. Lord Lucius nodded.
"Yes, she came up with the idea based on the Weasley Clock," Lord Lucius said matter-of-factly. I just blinked, confused. That name didn't ring a bell at all. "Don't worry, I didn't expect you to know of it," Lord Lucius said easily, chuckling, then gestured for me to follow him. I moved carefully through the flowers and followed.
We continued walking through long corridors, encountering various people who readily greeted and bowed to Lord Lucius before continuing on their way. After several detours, we finally reached another large door, which opened by itself once again.
Here, almost a dozen people were milling about, twirling and walking back and forth while staring intently at what appeared to be a hologram in the center of the room.
"Lord Lucius!" a relieved voice called out as a small succubus stepped out of the group and approached.
"Maria, I hope everything is going well," Lord Lucius said with a smile.
"It is. Everyone is in position, ready to act at any moment," Maria said firmly. Lord Lucius nodded and approached the hologram. I followed. In it, I could see a replica of Pentagram City. I stared, confused, at the city's realistic holographic replica. There were tiny lights, hundreds of thousands of lights illuminating every corner.
"This is a map of the city; each light on it represents a person. This map is capable of accurately identifying each person and revealing their real name. It's not capable of, let's say, seeing exactly what they're doing, much less hearing what they're saying, but this serves to monitor the entire city."
"The blue lights are civilians, the colored ones are our members, and the red ones are those marked as enemies. We'll be monitoring everything from here, keeping everyone safe," Lucius explained easily. I stared in shock.
"Are they monitoring the entire city?" I asked in shock. Lucius nodded.
"Not just anyone can enter here. Those who do have their tongues tied by a curse, unable to say anything about what they see, much less interfere in people's daily lives. This is used solely for the safety and defense of the city, and nothing else," Lord Lucius said firmly.
"And it's an honor to be here," Maria said beside her, smiling. I could see the other members puffing out their chests with pride as they continued with their work. I could only stare in shock at what I was seeing.
"Wait, what does that have to do with Kurome?" I asked quickly, shaking off my shock. "I mean, it's all really impressive, but if we don't stop Kurome, the Khaos Brigade and the old Satan faction will start attacking the city!" I said urgently. Lord Lucius chuckled softly.
"Do you really think we didn't notice? That we wouldn't act accordingly? Would we leave the city's defenses so unprotected that anyone could breach them? Especially after bringing a terrorist to our mansion? " Lord Lucius asked condescendingly. "It's all planned, Akame."
"We cannot directly attack the old Satan faction, at least not Lucifaad's, Honest and his people. While anyone affiliated with Khaos Brigade is declared a terrorist on the spot and can be eliminated or arrested, Honest and his people have not made any public statements, so we cannot attack them directly, even though we all know who they support."
"But... why would we pass up the greatest opportunity of them coming straight to our door?" Lord Lucius smiled contemptuously. "Since they attack, they're the terrorists, which means we can annihilate them without any repercussions," Lord Lucius said mockingly. I stared at him in shock.
"Are you going to let them attack the city so you can wipe them out?" I asked in shock. It was... a good plan, an excellent one in fact, but... "What about the civilians? They'll be caught in the crossfire!" I said urgently. Lord Lucius shook his head.
"Everyone is being evacuated right now; they're locking themselves inside their homes. The defenses Kurome will destroy are fake; we'll only lower some of the false shields for show, but the real ones, all the others, will be placed above the houses. Those shields will be able to stop any attack they receive if the enemy survives long enough to attack the city," Lord Lucius said with ease. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then... why am I here?" I asked, still confused. "I... it seems everything is settled; my mission was... completely pointless from the start, so... why am I here?" I asked, and Lord Lucius laughed amusedly.
"As I said, Honest hasn't officially declared his side yet. Even if the Khaos Brigade attacks the city right now, we won't be able to go against him. I must admit, it's shrewd of him. By not participating in the attack, he can blame his followers if they fail and wash his hands of it, getting away with it. As I said, shrewd, but very annoying."
"So, as long as he's alive, he'll be a thorn in our side. But... if a certain assassination organization takes advantage of the moment, when most of Honest's army is elsewhere, to sneak in and kill him... well, how lucky for us, right? " Lord Lucius said with a broad smile. My eyes widened.
"You want us to assassinate Honest?" I asked in shock. Lord Lucius shrugged.
"You? I have no idea. I'm just saying, anyone could exploit that huge gap in their defenses, especially when Bella distracts Esdeath and draws her away from Lucifad. Honest's defenses will be at their lowest. I'm sure anyone could take down Honest and the other corrupted devils." Lord Lucius hummed. I stopped in shock. Lord Lucius wasn't looking at me, but I knew what he meant. I swallowed audibly and nodded.
"If you'll excuse me, Lord Lucius, I just remembered something I have to do," I said, my voice trembling. Lord Lucius simply waved his hand.
"Go. And by the way, be careful with the papers and the clock on that table; they're... somewhat sensitive. I wouldn't want certain people taking them." Lord Lucius said amusedly as he looked away. I followed his finger before I even saw the papers. I glanced at Lord Lucius and the other succubi, all looking away from the desk even though they were smiling.
I swallowed audibly, approached the table, grabbed the papers and the watch, and started running out of the room. I ran through the corridors with the papers under my arm, found the first empty room, and teleported to the Night Raid base.
"Akame?" Lubbock asked, surprised. I ignored him and looked at the watch on my hand. It was a timer; less than half an hour remained. My eyes widened.
"NAJENDA!!" I shouted loudly through the building. "NAJENDA!! EVERYONE!!" I shouted again as I grabbed the papers and began to review them. They were profiles of people, of Luciferian devils; they were extensive and very complete, mentioning everything they had done and where they should be.
"Akame?!" Lubbock exclaimed in surprise. At that moment, Najenda and everyone else came downstairs, completely shocked and on high alert.
"Akame! What's happening? " Najenda asked, completely on guard.
"We need to move, now!" I said, almost panicking. "We need to prepare to attack Lucifaad!" I said quickly.
"Attack Lucifaad!? Huh?! Have you gone crazy?!" Mine asked in shock as she lowered her weapon.
"Akame, is everything alright?" Leone asked, frowning.
"Akame, calm down and explain everything. What happened with the mission? Were you able to stop Kurome?" Najenda asked calmly, the others quickly approaching. I breathed shakily.
"They knew," I said quickly as I started pacing. "Lady Serena already knew about the Khaos Brigade attack. She allowed Kurome and me into the mansion for her own purposes. They let Kurome destroy the defenses to lure the Khaos Brigade and the Old Satan faction affiliated with Honest into the city, giving them an excuse to get rid of them by labeling them terrorists."
"They wanted me there to deliver a message. She wants us to get rid of Honest. Honest's forces, his army, will be busy with Pentagram City, opening gaps in his defenses. We can easily overcome them, attack, and kill him." I said quickly. Everyone stopped stiffly.
"Wait, wait, wait, that happened too fast; say it slower, I can't understand it!" Lubbock said in shock, blinking. "Were all of us just playing around in Lady Serena's palm just now?" Lubbock asked in shock. I could only nod, equally surprised.
"Yes, they want to get rid of the old Satan faction, but they can't attack Honest since he hasn't been declared as such, but we-"
"We can do it," Najenda said, catching up. "Truly impressive. Lady Serena is using Pentagram City as a decoy—a very tempting one. They'll draw everyone's attention. Honest will try to seize control of the city, especially the Distracted Globe. He won't hold back in the attack." Najenda said before frowning. "But there's still Esdeath. She won't leave Lucifaad. Maybe we could defeat her? Or at least distract her so we can attack?" Najenda said, thinking quickly.
"It's not necessary. Lady Bellatrix will get Esdeath out of the city," I said quickly. Najenda looked at me.
"How?" Najenda asked, frowning. I opened my mouth, then closed it.
"I... I don't know. Lord Lucius mentioned it; he... gave me this timer. There are a little over 20 minutes left until the attack happens. And he also gave me this list of devils who are members of the faction." I said quickly as I handed the papers to Najenda. She took them and began to look through them quickly.
"We had already confirmed many of them; some we didn't have the necessary proof for, and others we were completely unaware of, like... how did they get this information?" Najenda asked in shock.
"There's no time; I'll explain later. We need to get in touch with all the other groups; we need to meet." I said quickly. Najenda stopped and nodded.
" Alright, everyone! Prepare to attack Lucifaad! I'll start calling everyone! We'll leave as soon as they arrive!" Najenda said without hesitation. We all moved immediately. Najenda started calling to the other groups and shouted from side to side, but within a short time, our numbers increased.
We were scattered groups, trying not to work together in case one group got captured. But now wasn't the time for that, so we all quickly gathered. A little over 100 people. Najenda started handing out the groups objectives on slips of paper.
Then we began moving toward Lucifaad.
All of us, along with the other groups of assassins, ventured into Lucifaad without any care and stopped on the roof of a house. We were attracting a lot of attention, but there was no other way.
"Akame! How much longer?!" Najenda asked loudly. I looked at the watch; the stopwatch was at 0.
"It should have already started-"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ESDEEEAAAATH, COME PLAY!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lady Bellatrix's deranged laughter, which made me shudder with fear, echoed throughout Lucifaad. We all looked up and saw Lady Bellatrix flying. Then all of Lucifaad seemed to shake violently. We turned toward the forest and paled with fear.
A sea of blood. A menacing sea of blood surrounded Lucifaad. A massive wave of blood began to form, growing larger and larger. I looked up in shock as I watched a huge wave of blood threaten to engulf all of Lucifaad. Not just one, but from all sides; all of Lucifaad seemed surrounded by blood, so high it would consume and destroy everything in its path.
"Y-you've got to be kidding me," Lubbock said shakily beside me. The wave of blood finally reached the edge of the city, and instead of destroying everything in its path, it kept growing and seemed to form a dome around the city before a wave of cold hit us. The next instant, all the blood froze completely, encasing Lucifaad in a reddish ice dome.
Esdeath had arrived.
"Oh… was Esdeath always at that level?" Leone asked in shock.
"It doesn't matter; we have to move. Lady Bellatrix did her job," Najenda said, making us all look at her immediately. "Feel it; there are anti-teleportation defenses and, most importantly, the blood dome. she knew Esdeath would freeze it; she didn't want to destroy Lucifaad. Esdeath's ice is difficult to break; no one will be able to escape from here. They're trapped. And most importantly, the false sun is covered; she gave us shadows," Najenda said, gesturing toward the city.
As she said, everything had gone dark, like an artificial night. My eyes opened in shock.
"Now we can move freely," Najenda said with a bloodthirsty smile. "Everyone!" Najenda shouted, turning to face the group. "You have your objectives! This is our only chance! Lady Serena and Lady Bellatrix have just cleared the way for us! Assassinate your targets, even if you die! It's time to kill the rot of Lucifaad once and for all! " Najenda shouted. No one cheered; we weren't an army, we were assassins, but we all moved instantly. The nearly 100 of us began running in all directions and melted into the shadows. My target: the tallest building in Lucifaad. Honest was my target, and I would kill him, no matter the cost.