Fate: Kill

Chapter 31

Akame felt her heart hammering in her chest, adrenaline and purpose spurring her to move past doubt and reservation. The light that she and the others saw was one beyond simple descriptions of bright, warm, or captivating, but something closer to yearning- a wish, a cherished hope.
There was even the light shining atop her own head, a murky white revealing the nature of her soul mired in bloodshed, yet earnest in belief. One's hands inevitably end up bloodied in this world, but not all have the characteristic of remaining firm in the face of corruption and greed.
"

Ten minutes!"
Najenda's commanding shout reverberated within Akame, and within all who stood for a just cause, jolting them into focus.
'That's right. You already know what you must do.'
Akame's breathing evened, her grip tightening over the hilt of her sword. Her eyes narrowed, features growing frigid with resolve.
For what reason did she fight? For what reason had she been swayed by Najenda's words to join Night Raid all those years ago?
"The moment is now! There's no use for any grand speeches or bullshit like that to know what must be done!"
Before Akame and her allies, the targets had been set with a kill order.
"Aim for black. No mercy!"
Shoulders squared, numerous features hardening in the brewing storm.
Leone cracked her knuckles off to the side, Sheele pulling forth a massive pair of scissors.
"If you want to fight, then die for what you believe in!"
Bulat's form became encased in steel-like armour, the visor covering his eyes gleaming in the growing furor.
"If you want to live, then kill!"
Lubbock armed himself with freely flowing thread-like wires.
"For the true Emperor, take up your arms!"
Akame felt her emotions swell and ebb. For the longest time, she'd questioned the meaning of her existence. Why had she and her little sister been sold into slavery? Why had they been made into murderers? Was there ever really any purpose, or was it simply the lot life had given her?
Even now she didn't know, but this beating in her chest, this driving force telling her that her time of calling was here…
It was almost terrifying, this zeal.
"And for the rest of you!" Najenda's voice continued, this time directed outward imploringly to the Empire and Revolutionary troops. "If you're so blind to the meaning of what shines above your heads, then what are you fucking fighting for?!"
Silence, the wind carrying with it the end of an era and the beginning of another.
"If you want to see the future in the Sword of the Emperor's light- then Goddammit don't just stand there and watch! Buy the destined emperor time!"
Shots were fired, volleys, canons, arrows, bullets, all shot in retaliation to shut Najenda's mouth from the orders of both the Empire forces and Revolutionaries marked black. The rest with varying degrees of white, remained rooted, still in a daze.In response, the projected shield in Shirou's left arm shifted to block the onslaught, the echoing bangs and explosions creating a hellish backdrop of oppressive violence.
Akame could see the amount of strain Shirou was enduring even now from where she was standing; Najenda even more so as she stood next to him as a support.
"The true Emperor stands with us- the heir of the First! His sword to pave the way! His shield to encompass all!"
The words may not mean much for the common citizen, but those of higher class and upbringing knew of its significance, tying the legitimacy of a rightful heir to the great Founder of the Empire.
"Offer your hearts!"
Calla's forces charged, the fervency and passion in their demeanor practically toppling the uncertainty clouding their foes. Even Chouri's forces led by his daughter Spear exuded the same avidity and fervor. Those that had even been on the fence when Chouri campaigned to garner their support could no longer sit still.
Was it Shirou's charisma? Or was this all the result of the peoples voices deep in their hearts finally being allowed release?
None of this mattered to Akame.
Dashing ahead, her sword glinted in the glow of her own light seeking to smother the dark.
"Akame, Lubbock, Selka, Sheele, Bulat, Leone, form a team and assassinate the sharpshooters in the back line to ease the pressure on Shirou!"
A swerve left, a narrow twist right, then a thrust had blood splattering over Akame hair, a head flying.
Grunting, she acknowledged Najenda's words and regrouped.
"Mine, with me. We provide cover fire!"
Akame distantly heard Najenda last few words from the wind blowing past her ears, but it wasn't worth glancing back and taking her eyes off of her adversaries. Side stepping, she slid along the ground before her back pressed up against Leone's who was the nearest to her.
"You heard the boss," Leone remarked, lion ears twitching as she chambered a fist and threw a horizontal cross that snapped an opponent's neck.
"Mhm," Was Akame's apt response, tilting her head out of the way from a thrown dagger.
Just as she moved to eliminate the perpetrator, a sickening crack echoed from a flying heel-drop kick which cratered the ground and crushed bone. A crater formed, the person found beneath the sole of the foot dying instantly, spine snapped in a single decisive blow.
Backflipping, Selka gracefully landed on her toes before cartwheeling, balancing on her arms, and twirling her legs full circle to clear the area. The blades she wielded on both hands, one radiating fire, the other icy vapour, then formed an enshrouding mist.
Wary of entering, Selka, Akame, and Leone gained a reprieve.
"I didn't know you could do that," Leone remarked as Selka flipped back onto her feet, sweat glistening over her skin.
"I learned it while hunting a Danger Beast with keen eye-sight. Fire and ice together make a lot of steam." Selka patted herself off, blood, dirt, and grime having clung to her clothes through the nature of her fighting style.
"Murasame's more efficient," Akame commented uncharacteristically, competitiveness forcing the words out.
"And yet you use it like a regular sword instead of just trying to cut your opponents. What a waste," Lubbock said in exasperation while appearing next to everyone by rappelling down from suspended wires.
"Now this is no way to start a mission in an army like setting," Bulat's boisterous tone sounded through the mist before the towering giant of a man appeared donned in armour. "Comrades should be getting along, not bickering in the heat of a battle."
"Mr. Bulat's right," Sheele spoke up, making it evident that Bulat's tall stature had been hiding her form. "Ms. Najenda gave us a mission. That should come first."
"Any plans?" Leone got straight to the point, her hands resting over her hips. "I doubt this mist cover will last forever, and it won't take long before soldiers are ordered to enter it regardless."
"Well, I won't say it's the same for everyone, but I'm fragile," Lubbock grimaced. "Assassins shouldn't be in an open war, but here we are buying time. Based on our overall team composition, it shouldn't be a problem to assassinate the shooters if we get within range. However, crossing the gap unscathed is the problem."
"Leave that to me," Bulat swung the pointed end of the lance hefted over his shoulders. "I'll clear a way through with Leone and Selka. With us three, we should have the brute strength and if not-"
"I'll have the Hunters of Heiwa hurl boulders and toppled trees," Selka provided her input.
"Meanwhile, Akame, Sheele, and I will use the distraction to cross the gap. Moreover, we have the boss and Mine's cover fire." Lubbock concluded before nodding. "Let's do it."
The six members of the strike group stood in a line.
Ten minutes was neither long nor short, but in this battle, it might as well have had been an eternity.
Incursio was a Teigu created from the flesh and blood of the Super-Class Danger Beast known as Tyrant. As an armour-type Teigu, it enveloped its user in the Tyrant's near-impenetrable hide, granting bolstered physical capabilities and
defence.
Neuntote, Incursio's halberd was a massive pole-arm near two-meters long in Bulat's grasp.
As one of the few living Teigu of the Empire, it could evolve along with its user.
In Bulat's case, to augment his large build and frame, his physical strength was enhanced with denser armour and stronger destructive capability. The helmet and white cape over the armour's shoulders contained a hardness greater than that of even steel.
"Oooaaaraa!"
Mundane weapons and bullets could do nothing to stop his charge.
He bulldozed forward by cleaving through all before him. It mattered little if they blocked or dodged as the sheer momentum of each swing produced punishing gales that blew away the enemies.
The noise of squelching flesh and bleating shouts was only further accompanied by the rain of boulders and toppled trees hurled from a distance.
On Bulat's left and right were Selka and Leone. The two's physical capability granted naturally in Selka's case, and artificially in Leone's, allowed the two to remain head-to-head with Bulat. Lacking in any real weapons other than their fists and Selka's short range daggers, the two made due by letting Bulat toss them like live ammunition directly into enemy formations.
While Leone used the traditional method of bludgeoning and punching out, Selka's descents were accompanied by either storms of fire, or showers of ice and snow courtesy of the 'Teigu' Shirou had bestowed to her.
"Now's the time, let's go," Lubbock voiced, his shadow blending in with that of the raining debris.
Akame was no different. Unlike Lubbock who used his wires to hitch rides with the Heiwa Hunters thrown distractions, Akame weaved in and out of the Empire soldiers.
Many of the Empire soldiers with white light over their heads stood uncertain, not doing anything. Meanwhile, those with black light were constantly targeted and dying, forcing them to action. In any case, it wasn't to a point where those marked black would unconditionally fire on those marked white.
In the confusion and Bulat's charge, Akame was making quick progress to where the shooters were harassing the army. Sheele in contrast was just leisurely walking through it all with a vacant expression on her face as if she were one of those hesitating Empire soldiers. No one was firing on her...which in her own way was a type of skill to appear so absentminded in a war zone.
'Focus.'
Akame reminded herself, only to stumble in the next second.
"Tatsumi how the hell did we end up here?!"
"You, you idiot!"
At the edge of her vision quite near to where the Empire's shooters were stationed, Akame noticed two individuals that she recognized from so long ago. They were Tatsumi and Iyasu, part of the people she had helped save in her past less-than-thought-out escapade.
"Once you got it into your head that we can get the most merits by defeating the shooters in the backline you snuck away without warning when everyone was staring at the Lord!" Tatsumi shouted while blocking a sword aimed at his neck. "I just followed you!" He parried and stabbed with the enemy's heart in a well practiced motion.
However, Tatsumi seemed shaken a moment later. Everyone was like that when taking human life, but to his credit, Tatsumi put the issue beside him like any professional Assassin would on their first few kills.
Iyasu winced at Tatsumi's reminder, having the gall to appear sheepish. "Hey, at least we're getting more action than Sayo. Bet you she's jealous hanging with the reserve troop with Ms. Elaine."
"And not dying!" Tatsumi argued, nearly bashing heads with his friend.
"Fools," Akame chastised in monotone, dropping by near them and killing the soldier the two had neglected in their bickering. "Less talk. Pay attention."
Tatsumi and Iyasu blinked, but by then, Akame had already continued on as Sheele arrived on scene.
"Keep close," Sheele advised Tatsumi and Iyasu. Like it or not, they were already here, and they may prove useful. "The goal is to kill the shooters marked black."
"G-Got it," Iyasu stuttered before whispering heatedly to Tatsumi. "She's gorgeous."
"Not now, Iyasu! Do as Ms. Akame said. Pay attention." Tatsumi chastised, knocking Iyasu over the head and dashing after Sheele and Akame with Iyasu in tow.
The Empire shooters weren't exactly much in the way of organization and this was before the chaos and uncertainty introduced by Shirou's efforts. They were arranged in a protected line with Empire soldiers positioned in front of them that Bulat, Leone, and Selka were distracting. With the defence out of the way, what was left were a mismatched group of ranged Tiegu and gun users eyeing each other wearily.
Some were yelling for others to man up and start shooting, and only growing further incensed when their words ended in futility. There was no cohesion, nor trust in comradery. Instead, each man and woman marked black seemed ready to flee at the first sign of danger to their lives, heedless of others.
It was kind of tragic in a way that this was the current state of the Empire several decades after its original founding, but there was nothing more to be done.
"Sheele," Akame called out, Murasame leveled horizontal near her waist. "I'll take point. Intercept the stragglers."
"Understood," Sheele replied before Akame skeptically glanced at Tatsumi and Iyasu trailing behind Sheele.
"Oh, them. Ugh, how about they escort the people marked white away?" Sheele offered.
"Hn," Akame grunted before nodding.
"We won't disappoint you, Ms. Akame!" Tatsumi and Iyasu realized that this was a chance to prove themselves immediately. Whether their efforts would prove fruitful or not, Akame was too preoccupied with her own concerns and motives.
'These bastards keep shooting at Shirou…he's already exhausted enough.'
The crimson of Akame's pupils glinted with murderous intent as her brows narrowed.
'The first step,' she mouthed.
Her foot dug firmly into the ground, pushing off a second later and shifting her into a lowered stance. Her center of gravity shifted as her figure practically glided across the ground.
Close the distance, and kill in a single stroke.
"Murasame." She lashed out, flicking her blade's edge and cutting directly into the line of shooters.
Blood trickled down Murasame's length, steaming while dripping to the ground with a foul odour and menacing toxicity. Bodies crumpled one by one, each addition reducing the rate of fire aimed at Shirou and Najenda.
For all Akame skill however, her Teigu wasn't the best suited to eliminating numerous targets at once. That category fell into someone else's hands.
Thin wire-like thread formed an unseen and loose complex net around an entire group of shooters before abruptly tightening. The sharpness of the wire easily cut into flesh, the force and outcome like squeezing putty through a mesh.
Perched atop the numerous threads, Lubbock gestured with his fingers, each action setting off a chain reaction. A web of threads was soon apparent to all. With a tiny tug, skin ruptured, and bodies collapsed, leaving only those marked with white staring in disbelief at the killing efficiency.
"Mission accomplished," Lubbock puffed out a breath before leaping to the ground.
"Sorry, sorry for this. I really am. S-Sorry!" Sheele's troubled tone stood in stark contrast to the way her Teigu literally bisected the black marked shooters attempting to flee. The large set of scissors in her grip need only be squeezed and body parts would be divided.
Blood was smeared over all their clothing, but none of them even batted an eye much to Tatsumi and Iyasu's incredulity.
"So that's Night Raid," Iyasu whispered to Tatsumi. "I heard that they were strong, but this is-"
"They were enemies," Tatsumi shook his head at Iyasu's concern. He may have felt differently if Shirou hadn't illuminated the corrupt with his 'Teigu,' but now that the wicked were revealed, he felt little remorse at best. "It needed to be done."
Iyasu shut his mouth before he and Tatsumi moved the white marked shooters away from the fighting and regrouped with Akame and the rest.
With the shooters defeated, the burden on Shirou should have decreased considerably. However, in the overall spectrum of things, it made little difference for what still had to be done. The Empire's forces still dwarfed Calla's hastily gathered own.
"Regroup and fight," Akame said simply, Lubbock reluctantly agreeing while sighing about how his skill set wasn't fit for this kind of mission.
In the meantime, Sheele's constant apologies echoed in the background.