"I will handle whatever it is you need. It's a big sister job to care for her brother"
— Shizuru Hoshino, Princess Connect Re:Dive
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That night, in the meeting room of Night Raid's headquarters, Najenda issued another mission.
"Our target this time is the serial killer who has been the talk of the Imperial Capital" she announced. "He's known as Zanku the Beheader, a nighttime prowler who specializes in decapitations."
"He was once the executioner at the Capital's largest prison, but due to the Empire's tyranny and the countless executions he carried out, he went mad. Now, he roams the Capital, killing indiscriminately."
Najenda looked at the Night Raid members. "Your mission is to eliminate him."
"Yes!" they responded.
"We'll work in pairs. Let's go!"
The Night Raid members formed pairs.
Roy was assigned to Chelsea's team.
They set off into the Imperial Capital to hunt down Zanku.
Due to Zanku's recent activities, the Capital was heavily patrolled by Imperial Police.
After arriving at their designated area, Roy led Chelsea to a quiet spot and waited.
Chelsea, seeing that he wasn't actively searching for Zanku, asked curiously, "Roy, aren't we going to look for Zanku?"
"No need. He'll come to us," Roy replied with a mysterious smile, leaning against a wall.
Chelsea hesitated. She could transform into a cat to avoid detection by the Imperial Police while searching.
Just as she was contemplating whether to go off on her own, Roy spoke up.
"He's here..."
He had sensed a gaze filled with malice directed at him.
He instantly identified the source: Zanku.
Zanku stood atop a tall tower, observing them from above.
None of the Night Raid members escaped his notice.
"Huh? Where?" Chelsea looked around but couldn't find Zanku.
"Over there." Roy pointed towards Zanku's location.
Chelsea followed his gaze and gasped. It was indeed Zanku.
"Wait here. I'll take care of him," Roy said before vanishing in a flash.
"Hey, wait..." Chelsea tried to stop him, but he was already gone. She quickly followed.
...
"Even assassins have appeared. This city is truly dangerous! Kekeke, whose head shall I take first?" Zanku mused, looking down at the Night Raid members from his perch atop the tower.
"I think... you can start with your own," a voice said from behind him.
"Who's there?!" Zanku spun around.
A young man stood there calmly.
Zanku instantly recognized him as one of the assassins he had observed earlier.
"So it's a Night Raid assassin. Hahahaha!" Zanku laughed, not taking Roy seriously.
"Are those your last words?" Roy shook his head. He wasn't one for idle chatter.
He drew his sword and struck without hesitation.
Thwack!
Blood splattered as Zanku's head flew off his shoulders.
"Why... couldn't I see?" Zanku muttered in confusion before dying.
Roy understood his question. Zanku's Teigu was "Spectator," which granted him five different vision abilities: Insight, Farsight, Clearsight, Foresight, and Illusionsight.
These abilities allowed him to perceive emotions, see distant objects, see through obstructions, glimpse the future, and cast illusions.
Zanku had activated Foresight, but he couldn't see anything, hence his confusion.
In the original story, Zanku, with his Teigu, could hold his own against Akame for several rounds. He was no weakling.
But without his Teigu's abilities, he was instantly killed by Roy.
After all, Roy was a Maou-Class. The difference in their strength was too vast for Spectator to foresee his future.
"Roy, where's Zanku?" The other Night Raid members arrived.
"There," Roy said casually, pointing at the headless corpse on the ground.
The Night Raid members were dumbfounded. Zanku had been killed so quickly?
"That's definitely Zanku," Chelsea confirmed, pointing at the severed head. "That thing on his forehead must be his Teigu."
Lubbock retrieved the Teigu from the head. "Well then, the mission is complete. Let's head back."
"That was easy!" Leone exclaimed, stretching.
"Indeed. Let's return," Chelsea agreed.
The Night Raid members headed back to their base.
...
The next morning, Roy woke up to find someone sleeping beside his bed.
"Hey, Sheele, why are you sleeping here?"
"Mmm..." Sheele sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. "Because starting today, you're my partner. Please take care of me."
Roy was speechless. She had come to his room so early in the morning just for that?
He knew Sheele loved to sleep in.
They then set off on their mission.
It wasn't really a mission, just a chance for them to get to know each other.
Sheele was quite airheaded and clumsy, often messing things up.
So, she wasn't assigned any chores at the base.
They arrived at a riverbank, and Sheele, in a rare display of motherly affection, offered Roy a lap pillow.
She then shared her past with him.
Sheele had grown up in the slums of the Capital. She was often ridiculed for her lack of talent and clumsiness.
Once, she had killed someone to protect her friend, but she had faced retaliation, and her parents were murdered.
However, she had managed to kill all her attackers with surprising efficiency.
That's when Sheele discovered her talent.
She was clumsy and inept at almost everything, even walking without tripping.
But when it came to killing, she was incredibly gifted. She was born to be an assassin.
She then joined Night Raid.
After hearing her story, Roy couldn't help but think that everyone had their own unique talents.
Sheele, who couldn't do anything right and tripped over air, was a natural-born killer.
Roy then shared his own story, though he embellished some details and omitted others.
They spent a pleasant day together.
...
The next day, Roy and Leone went to the slums.
Their mission was to investigate the area.
There were rumors of a group manufacturing and distributing a drug similar to a hallucinogen.
They lured women from the slums with money, then controlled them with the drug, forcing them into prostitution.
Roy and Leone's task was to eliminate this group.
After a day of investigation, they finally located the group's hideout.
That night, they prepared to take action.
"Alright, it's time to work and pay off my debt," Leone said, cracking her knuckles.
Having grown up in the slums, she often helped the people there.
This had led to her accumulating quite a debt to Night Raid. She was essentially working to pay it off.
"By the way, Roy, you haven't seen my Teigu yet, have you?" Leone asked, approaching him with a mysterious grin.
"I haven't," Roy confirmed.
"Then feast your eyes!"
"Activate: [Beast King Transformation: Lionel]!"
Leone's short blonde hair grew longer, reaching her waist.
Two beast ears sprouted from her head, a tail emerged from behind her, and her hands transformed into claws.
She had become a beautiful beast-eared girl.
In this form, Leone's strength and senses were greatly enhanced.
"Haha, how is it? Isn't it amazing?" she asked excitedly. "I get so pumped up whenever I transform!"
"Yes, it's very impressive. But this tail..." Roy chuckled, reaching out to touch her tail.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Leone snatched her tail away, her face flushed crimson.
Her tail was a sensitive spot.
"Ahem, I was just curious. Let's focus on the mission," Roy said awkwardly, quickly changing the subject.
Leone glared at him, then sighed and followed him.
They climbed onto a rooftop, and Leone removed a tile, peering down into the building below.
The room was filled with purple smoke.
Dozens of women were smoking, their expressions vacant, lost in a drug-induced haze.
This was the hallucinogenic drug created by the group.
It was highly addictive and incredibly harmful.
The door opened, and two men entered.
One was tall with an eyepatch, the other short and stout.
"Good, good. Keep earning money, and I'll give you more of the drug," the tall man said with a greedy smile.
"Yes!" the women replied in unison, their minds clouded by the drug.
These women were forced into prostitution, their bodies exploited until they died.
"Boss, look at her..." the short man pointed at a woman lying on the ground.
"She's useless now. Dispose of her," the tall man said dismissively.
"Bring in more women from the slums. Those women will do anything for money."
"Yes, Boss!"
The two men left.
"Scum!" Roy muttered coldly.
"I recognize some of those women from the slums," Leone said, her voice low and dangerous.
"This is infuriating! Let's finish them off quickly!"
Leone was enraged by the sight.
Roy and Leone followed the two men to a meeting room.
They were discussing how to expand their drug operation.
Crash!
The door burst open, and Roy and Leone entered.
"Scum, your reign of terror ends today!" Leone declared.
"Intruders! Kill them!"
The men reacted quickly, summoning their guards.
However, they were mere humans, no match for Roy and Leone.
Roy and Leone showed no mercy. Within moments, everyone in the room was dead.
"Huff... Cleaning up trash is so satisfying," Leone said with a grin.
"Since it's still early, how about we check on Mine?" Roy suggested with a smile.
"Eh?" Leone looked at him, then teased, "Still denying your interest in Mine? Why else would you be so concerned about her?"
"Leone-san, I never said I wasn't interested in her. In fact, I'm most interested in you," Roy replied with a playful grin.
"Hmph! You little flirt," Leone scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Let's go."
If they didn't hurry, Sheele might be torn in half.
'Reconstructing a body weakens one's power,' Roy thought to himself.
They rushed towards Mine and Sheele's location.
...
Mine and Sheele had completed their mission and were returning to base.
However, they were intercepted by Seryu Ubiquitous of the Imperial Police.
Seeking revenge for her Teacher, Ogre, she had been searching for them throughout the Capital.
Roy had been shocked by Seryu's character when he watched the anime.
She appeared to be a sweet and innocent girl, but she harbored a twisted sense of justice.
To defeat evil, she had undergone horrific body modifications.
Her entire body was riddled with scars, a testament to the pain she had endured.
But Seryu, driven by her twisted ideals, had persevered and gained immense power.
She also possessed a biological-type Teigu, "Hekatonkheires," which she named Koro.
Its trump card, Berserker, could drastically increase its power.
The two sides clashed.
Mine faced Koro, while Sheele fought Seryu.
Initially, they had the advantage, with two against one.
However, after Sheele severed Seryu's arms, Seryu activated Koro's Berserker mode.
The situation reversed instantly. Mine was caught off guard and held captive by Koro, about to be crushed.
Sheele came to her rescue, severing Koro's arm and freeing Mine.
But then, the tide turned again. Seryu shot Sheele in the heart.
Koro lunged at Sheele, its massive jaws wide open.
"Sheele!" Mine screamed, watching in despair as Sheele was about to be devoured.
Suddenly, a massive ice pillar shot from afar, impaling Koro.
Two figures appeared.
It was Roy and Leone.
"Sheele!" Leone's eyes burned with rage as she glared at Seryu.
"Die!"
Enraged, Leone charged at Seryu with incredible speed and punched her with full force.
Seryu's body was torn apart, her death instant and brutal.
Leone, still fueled by fury, turned towards the approaching Imperial Police and attacked them.
Roy rushed to Sheele's side, gently lifting her and carrying her to Mine.
Mine, her body riddled with fractures and her arm broken, struggled to get up.
Roy gently pushed her back down.
"Mine, I'm glad I could be of use in the end," Sheele said with a weak smile, her life fading.
"Sheele... Sheele..." Mine sobbed uncontrollably.
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