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"Considering you all have entertained me so well, I'll give you a warning!"
"If you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave at all!"
Without turning back, Mika's voice echoed through the forest.
Watching Mika's disappearing figure, Mine finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The pressure Mika had put on them was immense.
"Wait, Akame!"
Recalling Mika's words, Mine quickly picked up "Pumpkin" and used its scope to look toward the battlefield where Akame and Leone were.
What came into her view was the increasing number of soldiers surrounding the area where Akame and Leone were fighting.
"Clang!"
The sound of weapons clashing rang out once more. Facing Tatsumi, whose combat strength was continuously increasing but still not surpassing her own, Akame's eyes revealed a hint of seriousness.
They had been surrounded.
Akame was well aware of this, but in the current situation, they found it difficult to respond.
Although Akame had the upper hand in her battle with Tatsumi, she couldn't secure victory due to his strong defense.
Even more, his tenacity was astonishing.
No matter how many times he was defeated, Akame couldn't extinguish his fighting spirit, making him fight more and more fiercely.
As for Leone, because she couldn't break through Koro's core, she could only continue to drag out the fight.
But as always, this was the Imperial Capital, the capital of the Empire.
It was also the place most likely to have Teigu users appear.
"Sister!"
Standing atop a high rooftop, looking at Akame who was battling Tatsumi in the distance, Kurome, the Teigu user transferred from the Empire's assassination unit, curled her lips into a slight smile.
But that smile looked so eerie.
Because at the moment she saw her sister Akame, Kurome had already thought of how to kill her.
That's right!
Akame and Kurome, this pair of sisters, were determined to kill each other.
Slowly drawing her katana-type Teigu, "March of the Dead: Yatsufusa," Kurome's smile became even more ferocious.
But just as she was about to leap down and challenge Akame, a crisp voice forcibly stopped her.
"Wait!"
Looking toward the direction of the voice, what entered Kurome's eyes was Airmid walking out from the darkness.
As the leader of the newly formed secret unit, with assassins and the police force clashing, it was naturally her responsibility to handle such matters.
"Kurome! If my memory serves me correctly, I just warned you before we came!"
"You're currently in a state of recuperation. If you want to restore your body to its optimal state and not affect your future strength enhancement, you shouldn't be taking action recently!"
"But it seems you haven't taken my words to heart!"
With sharp eyes staring fiercely at Kurome, Kurome's body trembled upon feeling Airmid's astonishing aura, and she hurriedly stepped back, saying:
"I'm sorry, I was just too excited."
"Good that you realize your mistake!"
Satisfied with Kurome's attitude, Airmid nodded slightly.
Seeing this, Kurome's previously tense heart couldn't help but relax.
Kurome was quite afraid of Airmid.
On the first day they met, after an examination, Airmid clearly stated all of her symptoms and provided methods to resolve them.
From that moment, Kurome knew that the other party was no ordinary person.
After that, even though her Teigu had been confiscated, she had sparred with Airmid but never gained the upper hand.
At that time, after giving her a harsh lesson, Airmid told her that she could heal her body.
Later, she could even enhance her strength.
It was precisely because of this that Kurome was so obedient.
She needed strength.
Kurome was well aware of her sister Akame's true strength.
Whether in combat power or potential, Kurome was inferior to her sister Akame.
And the reason her body was in such poor condition now was that she had taken many drugs to enhance her strength in order to catch up to her sister's shadow in her early years.
If Airmid could truly enhance her strength, then she would have hope of fulfilling her wish.
To kill Akame!
But Airmid required that unless she healed her body, she would absolutely not provide methods to enhance her strength.
For Kurome, who was already serving in the secret unit "Night Crow" and had personally witnessed those members rapidly growing, this was undoubtedly unbearable.
Glancing at the restless Kurome, Airmid said seriously, "Don't be anxious. Now that you've come to the same battlefield as her, there will be plenty of opportunities to fight in the future."
"So, what you need now is not an opportunity to fight, but strength sufficient to battle her."
"Mm."
Kurome obediently nodded.
But Airmid saw impatience in her eyes.
Seeing this, Airmid couldn't help but shake her head.
"Fine, let's go over and take a look."
Airmid said helplessly.
In her view, Kurome's obsession was particularly deep. If she didn't let her go, it might be detrimental to her body.
"However, the rules are still necessary. Do you remember?"
"Yes!"
Having received permission, Kurome responded loudly.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
In the air, Akame's figure and Tatsumi's figure crossed each other continuously.
In their ongoing battle, both had pushed their bodies to the peak, leaving trails of afterimages and echoes in the air.
"Damn it!"
"Is this my full strength?"
Looking at Akame, who remained calm and composed under his full-force attacks, Tatsumi's expression was extremely grim.
Although he had indeed entangled Akame, preventing her from retreating smoothly, he hadn't caused any substantial harm to her. The reason he could do what he had done before was thanks to the armor given by Mika.
For Tatsumi, who wanted to catch up to Mika, this was a huge blow.
"Damn it!"
With a roar, Tatsumi's speed increased dramatically, suddenly appearing in front of Akame.
This unexpected scene shocked Akame.
But Akame's skills were not to be underestimated. She reflexively placed "Murasame" horizontally in front of her, blocking Tatsumi's thrust.
But besides the surge in speed, Tatsumi's strength had also increased several times.
The violent force directly sent Akame flying.
"What is this?"
Feeling the power emanating from Tatsumi, Akame, who hadn't expected that he hadn't yet reached his limit, exclaimed in surprise.
"This is power beyond my own!"
At this moment, Tatsumi had entered the second stage of "Fighting Spirit."
That is, starting to enhance his strength at the cost of self-damage.
Before that, the power Tatsumi displayed in his battle with Akame, besides the boost from "Fighting Spirit," also included the "Mark" state recreated by Gabriel when she reinvented the breathing technique.
That is, a powerful secret technique that greatly enhances one's combat power by consuming physical strength or other energies.
This is the new "Mark."
"Argh!"
Continuous roars stimulated Tatsumi's adrenaline.
Having entered the second stage of "Fighting Spirit," his eyes now only had Akame in them.
Gripping the Holy Sword "Durandal" tightly, he continuously thrust forward, striving to inflict damage on the formidable enemy before him.
But Akame was no ordinary enemy.
After a brief shock, she reined in her scattered thoughts and immediately adapted to Tatsumi's explosive state, protecting herself from harm.
But Akame knew very well that this state couldn't last long.
Not to mention that she couldn't figure out the limits of Tatsumi's outburst.
Most importantly, there were more and more soldiers around.
When she had been entangled with Tatsumi earlier, she had noticed with ease that more and more soldiers were gathering around.
Actually, she should have retreated at that time.
But they didn't retreat.
Because unlike Akame and Leone, who used Teigu to enhance their bodies and were the aces of Night Raid, Mine and Sheele, who had escaped earlier, did not have top-level physical capabilities.
If the two of them had fled at that time, they could indeed have left.
But the slightly less physically capable Mine and Sheele would be in danger.
In that case, their previous actions would have been in vain.
Therefore, for the sake of their comrades, the two of them, even knowing that the longer they stayed, the more dangerous it would be, still remained to distract the enemy forces.
Akame believed that with herself being a "celebrity," the enemy commanders would surely focus their attention on her.
And as time went on, things indeed developed that way.
Now, in Akame's view, Mine and Sheele should have reached a safe place.
In this way, their goal was now only to retreat.
But Tatsumi's sudden outburst disrupted her plan.
Now, she and Leone were in even greater danger.
"Clang!"
With a fierce clash of weapons, Akame and Tatsumi separated to two sides.
Taking advantage of this brief moment, Akame quickly took in the surrounding scene.
Seeing the situation around her, Akame couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.
She and Leone had been completely surrounded.
In this case, the only way for them to escape was to break through by force.
"Ah!!"
An angry roar sounded again.
After only a fraction of a second's pause, Tatsumi charged again.
His speed increased once more.
"Damn it, what's going on? Drugs? Why is his strength still increasing!"
Regarding Tatsumi's condition, Akame felt particularly troubled.
As time passed, the opponent's strength kept increasing, and he was about to catch up to her level.
For Akame, who wanted to break through, he was definitely the most difficult opponent.
"No, I must find a way to eliminate him!"
Akame knew very well that she couldn't let this continue.
She had to find a way to end the person in front of her.
Even if he was wearing armor, Akame had to do it.
So how exactly should she do it?
Just as Akame was staring intently at the rapidly approaching Tatsumi, planning how to deal with him in her mind, a crisp voice suddenly rang out.
"Stop, Tatsumi!"
Hearing the order from behind, the charging Tatsumi immediately stopped.
Then he leaped back and exited the "Fighting Spirit" state.
"Miss Airmid! Why are you here!"
Seeing Airmid walking slowly from behind, Tatsumi hurried forward to greet her.
Among Mika's three companions, Tatsumi respected and appreciated Airmid the most.
Because it was Airmid's magic that saved his close friends Sayo and Ieyasu, giving them a new life.
He would never forget this gratitude.
"With bandits acting so rampant in the Imperial Capital, how could I, as the leader of the newly formed unit 'Night Crow,' not come?"
Nodding slightly at Tatsumi, Airmid turned her gaze to Akame.
Although Tatsumi had entered the second stage of "Fighting Spirit" earlier, causing considerable damage to his body, the time was short, and it hadn't reached the level of serious injury.
With such injuries, the armor Tatsumi wore could heal itself.
Healing was one of the abilities of this armor.
It was also created by Mika by combining the development abilities of "Mystery" and "Forge."
Of course, the healing ability was something Mika added later.
It was specially added because of Tatsumi's self-destructive skills.
Otherwise, who knows, maybe one day when Mika wasn't paying attention, he'd end up in mutual destruction with someone.
Of course, this kind of healing could only heal not-too-severe injuries. If the injuries were too severe, even this armor couldn't heal them.
Because of this, Airmid nodded in satisfaction.
After all, Tatsumi's injuries hadn't reached the level where she needed to treat him.
When Airmid looked at Akame, Akame had already been watching her for a long time.
Or rather, Akame had been watching Kurome beside her for a long time.
Although Akame had long expected such a day, when it truly came, her heart still became extremely complicated.
She and Kurome had finally come to the same battlefield.
"Kurome!"
"Sister!"
The gazes of the two crossed.
But through this line of sight, the emotion conveyed was killing intent.
"I must kill you!"
"I will definitely kill you!"
Staring intently at Akame, who was close at hand, driven by this atmosphere, Kurome reached for the Teigu at her waist, "March of the Dead: Yatsufusa."
But Airmid's cold words immediately suppressed her impulse.
"Kurome, have you forgotten my words again?"
Hearing Airmid's command, Kurome immediately stopped her action and then retreated behind Airmid.
Awakened by Airmid, Kurome was no longer filled with reluctance.
She had seen her sister.
And she had obtained the path to enhance her strength.
What she needed to do next was just to train silently, and then kill her.
"Miss Airmid, this is?"
Seeing Airmid stop Kurome's action, Tatsumi asked in confusion.
"This is Kurome, a Teigu user transferred from elsewhere. However, it seems she had taken many drugs to enhance her strength before, so I plan to heal her."
"And before her body recovers, I have ordered her not to take action, so the next battle will still be led by you, Tatsumi!"
"I understand!"
Hearing Airmid's words, Tatsumi once again looked at Akame.
Facing Akame as an opponent was exactly what Tatsumi wanted.
Seeing Tatsumi full of fighting spirit, Airmid couldn't help but shake her head.
Apparently, this child had forgotten Mika's previous words.
Just as she was about to remind him, a beam of light suddenly shot rapidly toward Tatsumi.
An unexpected change occurred.
...
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