Chapter 145: Did You Fall in Love with Me in Four Days? The Beginning of Battle-Infinite Immortal(His given name was Qi, and his courtesy name was Fangyuan.)

"This isn't bad either," Kurome said, biting into a biscuit.

"How is it? My subordinates are all pretty good, aren't they?" Esdeath sat beside Ice Odd, watching from above as her subordinates harvested the beast heads of Danger Beasts.

"Did you see clearly? Who is stronger, me or my sister?" Kurome raised her Teigu, the sword Yatsufusa, with a faint smile playing on her lips.

"There's not much difference between you. But if I really have to say, I feel like Akame is a little stronger."

"Hmph, I knew you'd say that. But when I encounter her, I will kill her, and then you'll know your judgment was wrong," Kurome pouted and said.

...

"Just how many days has it been? Ever since Great General Bude went missing, several people have gone missing inside the imperial city every single night. Over the last four days, more than a dozen people have vanished, and five of them were Teigu users. Do you trash have zero clues?"

The Prime Minister stood beside the young emperor, cursing furiously at the kneeling figures below. Of the direct troops he had just assembled, only his son remained, and the Rakshasa Demons had also vanished without a trace.

"Your subordinate is incompetent. The other party was able to make Great General Bude disappear without a sound; it is truly beyond our ability to discover."

"A pack of trash!"

The young emperor sat upon the Dragon Throne without a word, his gaze flickering as if calculating something.

...

"We've been out hunting for four days now, it's time to head back. Kaitian, have you fallen in love with me over these past four days?" Esdeath embraced Ice Odd and laughed.

"Heh, someone who falls in love with me wouldn't leave for my sake; similarly, even if I truly grew to like you, I still wouldn't stay for yours," Qi replied with a faint smile.

After a few days together, Qi was no longer as taciturn, but his resolve remained unshaken.

"Hearing you say that makes me very happy. Bols was right—don't give up, wait patiently. If a mere four days aren't enough to change you, then I will keep you by my side for ten years, a hundred years, even if you remain forever frozen in ice," Esdeath said in a gentle tone, yet her words carried an overbearing dominance.

"Squeak." A messenger falcon flew in from the horizon and landed on Esdeath's arm.

"Oh? Najenda and the other Night Raid members have been spotted. All forces assemble, we've found big game." Esdeath wore a long-overdue, cruel smile and issued the assembly order.

"Captain, what is it? Where is the prey?" Seryu asked, raising her hand.

"Word has come in: Najenda rode away on horseback toward the west, while two Night Raid members, Mine and Akame from the wanted poster, headed east. It looks like they want to split up into two routes, or perhaps it's a trap." Esdeath handed the message envelope to her subordinates to inspect.

"Sister... Heh, are we finally going to meet?" Kurome stroked the Yatsufusa sword, her smile radiant.

"How does the captain see this? Which direction should we pursue?" Run asked with a smile.

"As we could tell from the hunting over the past few days, your mood is quite good, Run. Najenda has always been skilled at strategy; showing herself on purpose this time, I wonder what her objective is?" Esdeath lowered her head in thought.

"No matter what her purpose is, since evil has appeared, we must execute justice and eliminate them," Seryu said with a cruel, morbid smile.

"We must pursue them for sure, the question is which side to chase? Or should we split our forces into two routes?" Esdeath pondered for a moment.

"I want to fight Akame-neesan. I must cut her down," Kurome raised her hand and said.

"Najenda is the leader of Night Raid and a former general of the Empire, so she has higher priority. I will take Seryu and Run to pursue Najenda. Kurome, Bols, and Wave, head east to pursue Akame and the others. Engage them with caution; none of the people in Night Raid are simple. Stylish died because he was careless against them." Esdeath quickly made her decision.

"I must avenge Master and Dr. Stylish, and make those heavy with sin receive the punishment they deserve."

"Understood."

"Sister, you must wait for me. Kurome is coming to kill you."

...

Riding on horseback, Kurome, Wave, and Bols passed through a large canyon and had their attention drawn by a scarecrow blocking the middle of the road.

"I'll go check it out," Bols said as he dismounted.

"Be a bit careful, let's move together," Wave said, following him down.

Kurome naturally could not be an exception.

"Could this be a trap set by Night Raid?" Wave asked doubtfully.

Suddenly, Kurome sensed an icy killing intent and a rapidly approaching sense of crisis. Her body abruptly dodged aside, and a glowing beam of light pierced right through her afterimage, exploding into a massive crater on the ground.

"Kurome, are you alright?"

Just as Wave turned around, the giant scarecrow blocking the middle of the road instantly shattered open, and the tall Susanoo rushed out. The experienced Bols had already fired the flames from his Teigu.

Susanoo agilely ducked to evade it, heading straight for Kurome.

"Get past me first!" Wave raised his heavy blade and blocked in front of Susanoo.

Susanoo did not want to miss the opportunity and swung his long weapon with all his might. Wave met the attack with his blade, only to feel an irresistible, immense force wash over him. With a startled cry, he was sent flying far up into the sky and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Wave!" Kurome, having barely landed, glanced anxiously in the direction where Wave had vanished.

"It's fine, Kurome. Wave's body is very tough, he shouldn't die. However, we're in a bit of trouble," Bols said, seeing the rest of Night Raid emerge from various cover points, including Najenda, who the intelligence reported had gone west.

"Although the snipe failed, our combat strength has been reduced by one, and you aren't our mission targets. Kurome, Bols, the most prominent targets among the Jaegers, prepare yourselves!" Najenda led the entire Night Raid team forward and said gravely.

Kurome didn't look at anyone else; her gaze was fixed entirely on the girl who looked so much like her, yet had crimson eyes and held a katana—her "sister."

"Kurome." Akame likewise kept her eyes fixed firmly on her younger sister.

"I've always wanted to see you. This is wonderful," Kurome broke into the most radiant smile of her life. "Let me kill you with my own hands and add Sister to Yatsufusa's collection. That way, we can be together forever."

Akame did not reply, solemnly drawing her sword, Murasame.

After speaking, Kurome raised the Yatsufusa high. A pitch-black dot of light appeared at the tip of the blade, and seven black streaks resembling lightning or distorted light shot from the dot down into the ground.

Following that, the ground struck by the black light began to fracture, and six figures crawled out from beneath the earth, resembling malevolent ghosts returning from hell. Then, the earth began to tremble.

"I'm different from before. Now, as long as it's a corpse, no matter what it is, I can turn it into my puppet." Accompanied by Kurome's words, a giant arm reaching toward the heavens burst out from beneath the earth behind her, followed by the emergence of a Danger Beast skeleton nearly a hundred meters tall.