Fate: Kill

Chapter 16

His name was Lubbock, a member of Night Raid that specialized both in information gathering and subterfuge. He ran a covert operation within the Empire while posing as an owner of a bookstore where he gathered intelligence from passing citizens who were generally literate enough to understand the workings of the Empire. He didn't waste his skills on opening a bar of any sort as that was more along Leone's forte to swindle information and rumours from drunkards. Moreover, he'd been raised a rich Merchant's son.
D

ifferent from Leone, he was well learned and understood the behaviours and tendencies of the upper class who'd never suffered through hardship. It made it easier to get along with them and subtly build his own social networks amidst the wealthy.
His job had its ups and downs, but he of all other members of Night Raid had a past that was far less dark as the others. After all, he only joined Night Raid for the sake of the love of his life, not that he'd ever admit that to any of his allies.
Regardless, he'd already felt that something was odd about the way the Revolutionary Army had urgently tasked Night Raid with a new assignment; something about infiltrating the steel walls that had suddenly been erected at a previously impoverished area of the Empire.
'Odd' was a pleasant way of putting how insistent the Revolutionary Army had been. Honestly, it was more like a demand if anything.
Night Raid did not refuse for two reason. One, Night Raid relied on the supplies given by the Revolutionary Army, and two, some of Night Raid's members were missing in the general area.
Najenda, the leader of Night Raid had decided to make a personal visit, and there was no changing her mind. In which case, rather than endanger Najenda to unknown factors, he'd volunteered to act as a vanguard with another member of Night Raid supporting him: Mine, a sniper.
Everything had been going well since the beginning. What was even better was that he'd chanced upon a rare opportunity to bypass the target location's defences while its primary defenders were involved in some kind of skirmish.
As a member of an Assassin core, he hadn't wasted his opportunity and directly slipped through most of the fighting in order to make his way to the steel walls in the distance. However, that was when things began to go wrong.
He saw Akame, a member of Night Raid who'd been missing for months, heavily injured and weak. She didn't even have the strength to struggle out of the grip of the red-haired man that was carrying her.
Considering how long Akame had been out of contact and her present condition, she must have had been struggling for a long time to escape her captors. Worse, it would seem that her latest attempt had failed again since the red-haired man was carrying her straight back to the steel walls.
It had never crossed his mind that Akame had participated in the battle that he'd bypassed. After all, an open and suicidal battle was not something a hardened Assassin like Akame would put herself through.
Just as he had noticed Akame, Mine must have had noticed them sooner through the lens of her scope.
Mine had fired before he could even properly investigate.
Mine was a rational individual, but at times, her emotions still got the best of her. Especially when it concerned those that she'd deemed as friend.
He'd inwardly cursed at Mine's prompt action but had immediately rushed forward as a follow up regardless.
The sequence of events went as followed: He dashed in, grabbed Akame, and then dashed back out.
If you asked him if he had regrets, he would reply with a strained smile.
Awkward was a loose way of describing his present situation. One wrong move and he felt as if he'd be skewered and his head placed upon a pike in warning for others to come.
He swallowed nervously, unable to understand what was happening. Last he remembered, swords don't just randomly form from within the air and cage him in place.
"Shirou," he heard Akame mutter from the ground beside him.
She'd struggled too much in his grip and he'd accidently dropped her as a result. She was presently sprawled on her side, her head tilted up in worry, but he hardly noticed in his current predicament.
Beads of sweat formed over his brow and trickled down his face to his chin. He furiously contemplated whether or not the steel strings of his Teigu could block so many swords at once. However, he understood that without tethering them to a support first, his strings wouldn't offer much resistance at all. Think of the steel strings of his Teigu like a rope. Said rope would only offer resistance not in a loose form, but in a taut form.
Yup. He was going to die.
A charged magical shot suddenly impacted against the floating swords, producing a plume of smoke and dust that momentarily blanketed the area.
Mine. She was obviously trying to create an opening for him to escape.
Far from moving though, his feet remained planted in the dirt. The swords around him were lightly singed, but for the most part, they were still in tact. Evidently, they weren't normal swords to begin with.
"Shirou," Akame called out again.
It was only after Akame's voice echoed in his ears that he turned his attention back to the red-haired man that he'd left behind after grabbing Akame. The man was struggling to stand with an arm outstretched in their direction a pained expression on his face.
Lubbock registered that Shirou was the red-haired man's name, but promptly zeroed in on another assumption.
The swords floating in the air, Shirou was the one who'd created them.
Another Teigu user. He grimaced inwardly, yet Akame was showing no caution at all as if she was personally acquainted with Shirou himself.
"Wait, Shirou. Don't." Akame rasped out.
So, they were acquainted.
The way that Shirou looked from Akame then back to him made it clear that Akame's words had some sort of impact on Shirou's decision making.
Lubbock sighed. Evidently, his compression of the situation was utterly lacking. It would appear as if Shirou was more of a friend to Akame rather than an enemy.
He raised an arm and signalled Mine to hold her fire. It was better to get a better understanding of the situation before jumping to conclusions no matter how dangerous Shirou appeared to be.
Besides, he'd rather cling onto his life than risk losing it over a misunderstanding.
Seconds passed followed by a minute of tense silence before the swords hovering in the air vanished one at a time.
Lubbock calculated in his mind, trying to determine a Teigu that had the characteristics that Shirou was exhibiting. He couldn't recall any of the sort.
Was it a new Teigu then? Impossible. The method to manufacture Teigu had been lost to the Empire for decades.
After the swords vanished, he felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Akame staring right up at him.
"Carry me to him," she said urgently. Obviously, Akame didn't have enough strength to move on her own. Moreover, Shirou himself appeared to be afflicted by some kind of poison if the paleness of his complexion indicated anything.
Still, that didn't mean that Shirou wasn't dangerous.
Cautiously, Lubbock complied with Akame's request and hesitantly picked her up and carried her back towards Shirou.
"This is Lubbock," Akame introduced as soon as everyone was within hearing range.
"Uhm," Lubbock scratched at the back of his head while adjusting his grip on Akame.
"Lubbock," he said uneasily. He reached a hand out in greeting but faltered when he remembered that Shirou wasn't in a condition for formalities. "I ugh, guess my friend and I tried to kill you."
Lubbock could feel the way that Akame was glaring at him. "A misunderstanding I assure you."
"Shirou," Shirou simply introduced himself through gritted teeth, wordlessly implying that he'd let the previous matter drop.
The three fell into silence, Shirou swaying on his feet. Shirou was evidently not in any state to be moving. Akame looked over at him with worry.
"Hey Lubbock-"
Lubbock silenced Akame with a flat stare. No, he would not help carry a stranger so close to his person. Even if Akame vouched for Shirou, an Assassin's paranoia was one of their greatest assets. He wouldn't allow an opening on his person for a potential enemy.
Akame's mouth opened, then closed. She could tell that there was no convincing him because the two had known and worked with each other for so long.
Fortunately, someone else came and decided to break the tentative calm.
"Lubbock?" Leone was momentarily caught off guard as she arrived hopping down from an overhead tree. She landed on the balls of her feet; a small crater left on the earth beneath her soles.
She stood up straight and assessed the situation with a calm gaze.
Leone had previously been fighting alongside Selka but had been alerted that Akame had gone missing. She had abandoned the battlefield in favour of finding her friend after parting ways with Selka.
Different from the other members of Calla, Leone's Teigu had the ability to enhance her senses, allowing her to follow Akame's scent from the beginning.
"Leone, you're safe?" Lubbock called out in genuine surprise and relief. The two missing members of his team had up and appeared right in front of him. He hadn't accomplished his mission yet, but he had accomplished his personal goals.
His friends were safe and not dead. That was all that mattered to him.
"Yeah I'm safe," Leone approached. "Did the rest of Night Raid come too?"
Lubbock nodded before releasing a breath and clearing his mind. "I'll forget about my current mission. If the both of you are safe, let's head back and regroup with the others. They've been worrying a lot about you both."
Neither Leone or Akame answered. Akame just looked away while Leone's expression became somewhat strained.
"About that, I'll explain everything in due time," Leone deflated while Akame gave Leone a warning look. "Relax Akame, I know what I'm doing."
Lubbock frowned while watching Leone and Akame's interaction, but didn't pry because Leone had already said that she'd explain. However, Lubbock soon stiffened in place.
"You're actually going to help him?" He's dangerous. Lubbock said while watching Leone move to support Shirou. The last part of Lubbock's sentence was left unspoken but both Akame and Leone understood the meaning.
"I told you I'll explain later. Now pass me Akame too. I'm going to take them back to Calla before briefing you on what I've discovered inside."
"Right," was all that Lubbock could say as Leone took Akame from out of his hands.
Just as Leone had secured both Akame and Shirou on either arm, Shirou abruptly shook his head.
"Not yet," Shirou wheezed out panting. He was poisoned, but the clarity in his bronze coloured eyes was unmistakable. "I can't let him get away. Not with the kind of things that he's seen."
Akame's eye's widened at Shirou's words. She knew exactly who Shirou was referring to but couldn't understand how he intended on attacking someone who'd long since escaped.
"Just give me a moment to catch my breath," Shirou shut his eyes tightly while using a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose to concentrate.
Winds began to pick up, cold and unabated.
Lubbock shivered, his gaze darting back and forth for any cause of the wind but finding nothing.
Moments later, it was like a zap of electricity had run through everyone's bodies.
The wind began to pick up like an autumn storm as grass and tall reeds began to sway uncontrollably.
Radio static echoed outwards, a buzz of energy quickly growing in presence and drowning out all else.
Throughout the history of the Empire, the existence of magic had always been largely debated with the main consensus agreeing on its existence.
It was without shape, without form. Perhaps because it was never meant to be seen but 'felt.'
Goosebumps travelled up Lubbock's skin, his pupils dilating as he and everyone else soon confirmed the source of the current anomaly.
Shirou's eyes fluttered open, irises tinted with a dim glow.
"I am," the voice come out raspy, yet held a weight like none other. "The Bone of my Sword."
Magical energy flooded through him, a large majority working to locate and contain the poison in his blood through Structural Analysis while the rest was used to steady his breath.
The poison was secondary. He hadn't hesitated to consume it in front of the Lord of Hageshi precisely because he understood that it would have no effect on him in the long run. Avalon, the Sheath of the Legendary Sword, Excalibur, would make quick work of any abnormal statuses inflicted upon him. It was a sheath of potent healing. Even fatal injuries could be healed in a matter of seconds if he provided enough energy.
That being the case, Avalon was a Noble Phantasm that would consume more magical energy to trace than it was presently worth. For the time being, he couldn't waste his available energy because he still planned on a counter attack.
The Lord of Hageshi had seen him swallow a pill of poison. This meant to say, that his action of doing so had probably reduced the Lord of Hageshi's caution of him giving chase.
He grunted.
The Lord of Hageshi would be correct in his assumption. It was not him that would be giving chase, but something else. The Lord of Hageshi had made a single fatal error. The Lord of Hageshi had allowed him to draw blood from a minor graze.
A single drop had been all that he had needed.
The twenty-seven Magic Circuits within his body began to pulse and ebb while teal coloured interface patterns flashed across his skin.
"What in the?" Lubbock startled backwards at the sight and even Leone tensed from where she was supporting him with an arm.
He didn't have the time to pay attention to them.
Since he wasn't dealing with the poison immediately, its effects were causing his motor functions to deteriorate. He had to be fast.
He urged an arm out in front him and began to Trace a particular sword.
His greatest strength in Magecraft had never been about the power of his Traced projections, but in their versatility. So long as his inner armoury existed, he would never be placed in a situation where he had no means to act.
So, what if the enemy had long since escaped? No matter where they ran, they would never be able to hide.
In the history of another world; in the songs of olden times; there existed a tale of a man who pursed an elusive beast. It was a monster of man's own creation that terrorized the royal court of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. No matter who tried to purse and kill it, the beast's layer was never found, the beast too clever and meticulous.
One Hero stood out amidst the rest.
They called him, Beowulf of the Geats.
He was a brute, a braggart, but his capabilities were as unquestionable as the unique properties of his personal weapons.
Shirou zeroed in on the sword beckoning from within him in his inner world, and manifested it in his outstretched palm in a burst of magic.
The blade formed first, twisted black metal marred by an angry red. It stunk with the pungent odour of iron, leaving little doubt about could have caused the red discoloration apparent across the entirety of the sword.
It reeked of potent bloodlust to the point that Lubbock staggered back in a daze. "D-Did he just make a Teigu from thin air?"
No one answered Lubbock's question. The air was too stifling.
After the blade formed, the rest of the sword followed. It looked like an ordinary chunk of obsidian metal fashioned into the form of a double-edged great sword.
Without a moment's hesitation, it hovered over a blood stain on the forest floor.
Looking at their current location, Akame was the first to realize that she was back in the place where the confrontation with the Leader of Hageshi had occurred. This meant to say, that the blood stain that the sword was hovering over was the blood of the Lord of Hageshi.
The sword's tip lowered and touched against the drying blood.
Eerily, the blood seeped up the sword's edge, causing the already red tinted sword to pulse with red vein-like structures.
"What kind of sword is that?" Leone swallowed nervously.
The deed was done. Shirou let out a breath and turned to address Leone's question. "A special one," he said before willing the sword closer to him.
It seeks the blood.
Already, he could feel the sword tugging towards a specific direction. There was no longer any escape. All that he had left to do was to release his hold on its restraints.
For that, he needed higher elevation. His body was refusing to listen to him so he had to rely on the support of another.
"Please take me up the tree," he said to Leone.
"Y-Yeah, uhm, right," Leone's movements were stiff. She first put Akame down before hesitantly carrying him up to stand over the branch of a tall tree. "What do you plan on doing with that?"
He considered not answering, but everyone was staring at him in trepidation. In some ways, perhaps it was justified. For the sword that he'd Traced was beginning to violently shake in anticipation.
"It seeks the blood." He said solemnly. "No matter how far you run, or where you hide, this sword will never stop until it pierces the body of its victim and bathes in their blood. Can you see it?"
He was referring to the way that his Traced sword's tip was pointing violently in a certain direction. "It can sense it's target even from here. I intend to set the sword loose."
Lubbock swallowed before staring up nervously. "Y-You've got to be joking. Doesn't that mean that that Teigu can kill anyone? What if someone tried to stop it?"
He shook his head. It didn't matter if anyone tried to stop it. The sword would not care and continue towards its target.
Lubbock took his silence for what it was: Confirmation.
Lubbock stared in disbelief, yet actions would speak louder than words.
He raised his hand once more and formed his black bow, the sight of which no longer surprised Akame, but still caused both Leone and Lubbock to shudder involuntarily.
He sucked in a breath, willing his Traced sword to approach him as he used Alteration to directly change its form. It thinned, the flat of the blade compressing into a cylinder-like structure while still maintaining its sharpness.
From the perspective of others, it appeared like a bastardized version of an arrow.
That was exactly what it was.
Listen to the wind, it hears the call.
Legends once spoke of its name with reverence and awe.
The call of a hunt. The scent of fleeing prey.
It never missed.
Never ending, never ceasing. Unrelenting
Straining his muscles, he nocked the 'arrow' over his bow and pulled with all of his strength. All preparations were completed, violent swirls of magical energy building up around him and causing Leone to yelp in surprise.
A predator, a rabid dog.
Reach the twilight of the Hunter's moon.
His fingers loosened their grip on the string of his bow, the arrow violently shooting forward in a resplendent crimson light.
A hound of the bloody plains.
"Hrunting."
It was the sound of deafening thunder. A roar of nature.
Several pairs of eyes looked up to the night sky only to see a flash of brilliant red followed by a destructive gale that caused the trees to splinter and groan. It happened so fast, but the chill that everyone felt travel down their backs could not have had been anymore real as if death had swept by them.
In the distant forest away from where the battle between Calla's forces and its enemies were occurring, another army was quickly marching to aid its allies.
"You're certain that the Lords of Hageshi, Raiko, and Houju are under attack?" The woman who spoke was riding on a horse, her sleeveless shinobi leotard accentuating her form in a way that further pronounced her lithe figure. In the young woman's words, 'if it distracted the enemy, then it served just as well for armour.'
Her name was Raiko, the current leader of the Ninjas of Jinsoku. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and her eyes were naturally set into a cold expression that although she didn't tell anyone, she was acutely sensitive about. She was only seventeen since she'd inherited her father's position after his death, and every suiter that her mother introduced to her had been scared away by her indifferent expression. Even the one's she liked ended up asking her what they'd done wrong to be constantly glared at.
Moving on, her personal life was part of her own matters.
Right now, she had to focus on the situation at hand. As a leader of one of Wakoku's warring clans, the migration of her governed people towards another country was a matter she could not ignore. This was the same for all clan leaders, leading to the first coalition in Wakoku in the last few decades.
"Yes, the information is accurate," the ninja who was using a movement technique to match the speed of her horse reported calmly.
"Very well. I thank you for the prompt report." She dismissed her fellow ninja.
The ninja nodded before vanishing in a flurry of leaves to rejoin with the rest of the brigade hopping through the overhead trees.
Meanwhile, the other three leaders she was riding alongside on their own respective horses began to grimace.
"Have our movements already been noticed?" One of them asked.
"I told those fools this would happen the moment that they decided to capture groups of travelers."
"Idiots."
Raiko calmly refused to participate in a conversation that wasn't anywhere near productive. Instead, she urged her horse into a gallop in order to reach her allies faster. Noticing her actions, the other bickering leaders put aside who was to blame and increased their speed.
Just like her father had once said. The actions of one will always cause the movement of others.
If one truly wishes to lead and inspire loyalty amongst his or her men, then command unwaveringly from the front. Lead not by words, but through merit of achievement and a display of courage.
Leading the army from the front, she was the first to notice traces of movement in the path ahead of her.
She pulled on the reigns of her horse and allowed it to gallop into a stop. The other leaders soon imitated her actions. After all, the people of Jinsoku were known for their perception and ability to ascertain traps. They were born and raised as ninjas through and through. Raiko was the same.
"Hold," she raised a fist behind her and signalled the rest of the marching army into a stop.
The bushes in front of her rustled violently before a man jumped from out of them.
Raiko and the other leaders' eyes widened.
"Lord of Hageshi," she inclined her head in greeting. The other Lords followed her example. "You escaped the enemy-no never mind. Forget I asked."
The fact that the Lord of Hageshi had reached them obviously meant that the man had escaped.
"Prepare a warm blanket and supplies. The Lord of Hageshi must be tired," another Lord spoke up from beside Raiko.
The Lord of Hageshi nodded in a show of thanks. The man looked completely tired. A few blood stains marred his clothes and body, yet for the most part, the point that Raiko noticed the most was the contemplation over the Lord of Hageshi's face. The man must have had discovered something important about the enemy.
Good.
A smile subconsciously crossed over her face. With knowledge, there would be less loss. Less loss meant more of her people returning home alive.
Just as a group of people moved forward to welcome the Lord of Hageshi, something in the air abruptly changed.
The Gods must have had been angry.
It was the first time that Raiko had ever had such a thought.
The world was shaking, the breeze shifting into a storm as divine crimson light illuminated an area in the sky and dyed it completely red.
The horse beneath her buckled and neighed in apprehension before she got it back under her control. However, trepidation was growing. Others who were not as skilled as her lost control of their mounts who quickly ran off into the distance.
Whatever it was quickly approaching in the sky, everyone believed that there was no way a human could have had caused it.
Tremors were travelling up through the ground and reverberating deeply within her chest. It was like the deafening howl of a maddened beast.
There was no escape.
What had appeared as a dot in the horizon quickly enlarged in view as a testament to the speed it was travelling at.
It was impossible to react. It was too fast.
The Lord of Hageshi had still been in the midst of turning around to see what everyone had been looking at before the expression on his face twisted permanently into disbelief.
A twisted metal sword pierced through the Lord of Hageshi's heart like a rabid animal starved of food. The impact cratered the ground and formed cracks that soon split apart into fissures.
"W-What demon of an object is this?" The Lords beside her backed away in abject fear.
The twisted sword that had stabbed through the Lord of Hageshi's heart seemed to be drinking the Lord of Hageshi's blood. Not one drop fell onto the earth. Instead, the life fluid eerily travelled up through the grooves of the twisted sword before bleeding into it and disappearing.
For each drop of blood absorbed, a fierce red hue began to emit from the twisted sword's metal frame as if it was alive. It pulsed, the red hue around it shifting into a rich vermillion.
None dared draw near.
All could only watch in befuddlement as the weapon itself soon began to vanish in mots of golden light as if it had never existed. No weapon of man, Teigu or otherwise would ever just fade away in the same manner that the twisted sword had.
Many swallowed audibly.
Retribution. Judgement of a higher being.
They looked across at each other.
What sort of enemy were they facing here?
She shivered before making up her mind and pulling on the reigns of her horse.
"Retreat and regroup!"
She decided that caution would be the highest level of prudence. She looked at the Lord of Hageshi's corpse and shook her head.
No one wished to be the next target of Divine Might.
Lubbock felt numb. Ever since the events of the past few hours, his body had been moving on auto pilot. Just like Leone had promised, she had returned Shirou and Akame back to Calla before making her way back to meet up with the rest of Night Raid.
In the mean time, Lubbock had done his own personal reconnaissance to disprove the words that Shirou had said only to have his expectations utterly crushed.
The Lord of Hageshi was dead.
It really killed him.
Lubbock felt his hands grow clammy.
Speculating on an outcome was one thing, but ascertaining it was another.
Lubbock could still recall the way that Shirou had labeled the Lord of Hageshi's death a certainty. It was only now that Lubbock realized that Shirou hadn't been lying.
No matter where one would run or hide, the sword would surely strike.
Nowhere was safe. Then did that not mean the same for him? For anyone? The thought alone was terrifying and during the course of his way back to the hideout that Night Raid had set up within an obscure cave, he couldn't help but wearily stare up at the sky.
Should he ever hear the roar of thunder on a clear evening's twilight, then surely that would have had been his death.
He swallowed before shuddering as he made his way into the obscure cave.
Mine, a pink haired brat in similar pink clothes, a shawl and dress, was on him in an instant and demanding answers that he was too weary to give. She had been too far away to understand what had happened earlier, but she was present to see a crimson comet break through the sound barrier and shoot off into the distance.
"Some other time alright?" He smiled weakly before gesturing to his fellow comrades in the room. "It's a pretty serious matter right now for everyone to be so quiet."
Mine hesitated, but shut her mouth and grunted unwillingly.
He escaped before she changed her mind.
Leone arrived half an hour later, following the trail of marking that he'd left behind on the bark of trees.
The lighting within the cave was dim, a sparse number of lit candles illuminating the dreary exterior. Night Raid had only brought the bare necessities to undergo a long-term mission. They couldn't make the cave more welcoming in the off chance that it drew attention and exposed their whereabouts.
By the time that Leone made her way in, he was leaning his back against the cave's far wall, shadows obscuring his form much like the others. This was an official mission. Not something to be taken lightly.
The only one who's features remained visible under the light of the flickering candle wicks was Najenda who sat cross-legged over a make-shift desk lined with a row of papers and mission intelligence.
Najenda was a stern woman who'd once been a High Commander of the Empire's army. She was taciturn and always level headed, but the knitting of her brows revealed her inner struggles.
One of her eyes was covered by an eye patch where her eye used to be before an injury had blinded her on one side. Said injury extended to her missing right arm which was replaced by a multi-utility mechanical limb. She wore a black suit that exposed a large portion of her cleavage behind a web-patterned inner garment attached to a choker around her neck.
She glanced up at Leone as soon as Leone arrived. The current issue was serious. A lack of information in enemy territory almost always led an Assassin to death.
"You've got some explaining to do, Leone." Najenda leaned her chin over her prosthetic arm, her gaze hardening. "What is going on? I hear that you've found Akame as well?"
"Honestly, I don't know where to start," Leone sighed. She stood across from Najenda, her arms crossed and brows knit together.
Najenda hummed in thought. She cleared the papers over her make-shift desk and devoted her full attention on Leone. Najenda's entire disposition shifted to assume the role of an experienced leader. "Then start from what's most important."
Najenda's words entered Leone's ears and prompted her to think.
It didn't take long.
She stared directly into Najenda's gaze; her expression unflinching.
"I found an Emperor."
Her words echoed.
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