Akame Ga Kill - Split The Earth In Two, Quake

Chapter Eighteen: A Forgotten Love

We return to our previous situation from last chapter, Kurome has just unleashed seven of her eight puppets onto the battle field and stands upon Destaghoul, looking down on the enemy. Akame quickly leaps into action, aiming straight for her sister. With one strong downward swing, she attempts to eliminate her sister, but Kurome blocks the attack. "The user's movements will become slower the more puppets they unleash all at once! I need to take this opportunity to strike!!", Akame thinks as she starts to rapidly slash at her sister. Kurome continues to block until she sees an opening to strike. As she slashes at Akame, Akame dodges before trying to counter with a killing blow. It seems like Kurome will be too slow to dodge or block, but a man who Akame recognizes as Natala steps in the way, blocking the attack with his spear type Imperial Arm. "Return Natala back to the Earth already, Kurome! He's a dear friend, isn't he!?", Akame shouts as she dodges Natala's rapid slashes and stabs. Kurome rushes in for an attack, which Akame blacks before saying, "What are you talking about, Sis? It's because he's my friend that I want to always be with him. I'll add you to my collection as well, Sis. Then we'll be together like before~" "Stop joking around.", Akame as she pushes Kurome's blade back. Natala knocks her off Destaghoul with a quick blow from the blunt end of his spear, sending her right into Bols' sights. Bols charges an attack and shouts, "Magma Drive!", before shooting a condensed ball of flame at Akame. She sees the attack coming straight for her, knowing she won't be able to dodge she prepares to take the attack head on. Lucky for her, Tatsumi comes to her rescue and pulls her out of the way in the last second. "Don't rush in like that! This isn't like you, Akame!", Tatsumi says, scolding her as he carries her in his arms. "I'm sorry...", she replies, realizing her mistake. Kurome and Natala jump from Destaghoul's shoulder to the nearby cliff side to watch over the battle from a safer place. "Sis, you betrayed us and joined people like...that... KILL THEM! DESTAGHOUL!!!", Kurome shouts as Destaghoul starts to charge up a ball of energy in front of his mouth. "Move out of the way! That's a cannon shot, Mortal! Don't attempt to block or you'll surely perish!!!", Quake shouts, gaining Minazuki's attention. Minazuki quickly shifts everyone out of the way of the black before Destaghoul fires, destroying most of the terrain in its path. "So this is the power of an ultra-class danger beast! And to think Imperial Arms are made from such beasts! What absurd power!!!", Mine shouts in complete disbelief. "It seems like they all made it out of there alive, how unfortunate.", Kurome says as she sits down and starts eating her snacks. "Destaghoul, what destructive power. Susanoo, we'll all stop this thing together!!", Najenda says as she prepares to fight against Destaghoul with him. "That order is a mistake, Najenda. This foe might be fearsome, but... I can defeat it by myself. Have everyone else focus on the other enemies for now.", Susanoo replies as he easily knocks away Destaghoul's claw as it tries to crush him. "Very well, I leave Destaghoul to you, Susanoo.", Najenda says with a slight smirk. Mine takes aim again at Kurome as she thinks, "This time, I'm certain I'll get her! I'll defeat Kurome and dispel her puppets for sure!" Before she can take the shot however, Natala notices her and shoots the head of his spear at her. Mine and Sheele both dodge the attack, but a girl duel wielding pistols rushes across the wire the head is attached to. "Another opponent?", Sheele asks as she readies Ecstasy. "And she's using guns too, huh? Let's get her Sheele!", Mine says before opening fire on the girl. Over with Tatsumi, he's fighting what appears to be a part man part beast enemy. It resembles an ape, but fights with the intelligence of a warrior. Tatsumi manages to dodge his unpredictable attacks before landing a strong punch to the beast's chest, sending him skidding back. Another enemy appears from the beast's shadow and lunges towards Tatsumi with a blade ready to pierce his neck. Incursio's cape reforms in the form of a beast and bites down on the newcomer's blade, blocking the attack. "Another one!?", Tatsumi says as he summons Neuntote and slices at the shadowy figure. The figure easily dodges his slashes and stabs while saying, "Inexperienced..perienced...perienced." He eventually lands on top of the spears head before counter attacking, aiming for Tatsumi's head this time. Incursio blocks the attack again, this time forming a mouth on the helmet that bites down on the blade to stop it from piercing Tatsumi's skull. "The armor blocked the attack again, I'm lucky. He would've gotten me there if it didn't. What even is is this guy?", Tatsumi thinks to himself as the figure says, "I failed....failed...failed." Akame rushes toward Bols while shouting, "It'll be dangerous if he starts supplying them with covering fire with his Imperial Arm! I will end him swiftly!" "She's coming after me then!", Bols says as he readies Rubicante. He fires a large wave of fire at her, but she manages to run along the wall of the canyon to avoid it. As she goes to slash his back with Murasame, a bald man wearing sunglasses with a large shield on his back comes and blocks the attack with his arms. As she cuts the man, she thinks, "The curse won't work on the corpse puppets!!" The man quickly kicks her back, knocking her to the ground. Leone yells for her as she rushes to check on her condition, but something seems to wrap around her ankle. She finds herself slammed into the wall before seeing a man with short red hair wielding a whip like weapon standing as her enemy. "Old man, you've really done it this time.", she says as she gets up and prepares to fight this unknown man. He goes to hit her with the whip again, but she dodges and says, "I can see through a simple attack like that, Old Man!" He quickly flicks the whip with all his might, sending the end in all directions, making it nearly impossible to predict his next move. "What!?", she shouts in disbelief as the whip seems to hit her from every angle. "Damn it! My kinetic vision can't keep up with this kind of attack! Even in this form! He's not even using an Imperial Arm or anything and he's still this tough!", she thinks as she continues to take his attacks head on. Kurome just watches on from above and says, "Wow, it's a huge melee down there. Interesting!", before looking down to see her beaten up sister, Akame. "Kurome...", Akame says as she forces herself to her feet. "Hey, aren't my toys great? There's Doya, the cutie with the guns over there. She was an assassin sent in from the northern tribes. She's quite confident looking, don't you think? You should've seen her crying when I killed her, it was great. Then there's that baldy over there, Woll. He was a famous bodyguard before I killed him for trying to keep me from my target. That animal over there is Apeman. He's kind of a meathead, but he's fun and easy to use, so I keep him around. That sneaky bastard over there is Hentarr, a survivor from the Ban Tribe. His movements are so damn tricky, it mad him a real pain in my ass to kill him, so I keep him around kind of like a proud trophy. That red head over there is Rokgough, a former General of the Empire. He was exposed trying to betray us and join the Revolution, so he was eliminated. Then there's Destaghoul, who I found hibernating in a huge hole in Siega. That was a real lucky find. Then there's Natala, my friend from my childhood. He guards me completely during Yatsuhusa activation. And if these guys aren't enough for you all, I still have my eight puppet. I consider him my Trump Card so to speak. So look forward to that if you survive this onslaught.", Kurome says with a smile on her face as she looks down at her sister. "We still haven't seen one yet!? What could be so powerful that she'd be saving it like this!?!", Tatsumi thinks before being interrupted by Hentarr slashing at him. He manages to dodge, and goes for a counter attack, which Apeman intercepts. Apeman takes the attack head on and it goes straight through his stomach, but he isn't done yet. He grabs a hold of Neuntote and pulls it out before tossing Tatsumi into the air. "That's useless. They're puppets after all. They don't feel pain. They'll keep moving even after such a deadly attack, as long as I'm still alive, that is.", Kurome says as Apeman leaps into the air and uses all his might to power slam Tatsumi straight into the ground. Leone turns to the man she's facing and says, "Old Man, so you were an Imperial General. I thought you were tough, that makes more sense now." He goes to hit her with his whip again but she isn't phased by it at all and says, "But..." And before the whip can hit her, she grabs it right out of the air and shouts, "As you can see, I'm already used to this attack! Don't think that the same move is gonna work on forever!!!" A grin comes across Najenda's face as she rushes in while saying, "Good work, Leone!" She punches Rokgough with her mechanical arm, sending it with him as he goes flying before reeling herself in for another strike to his chiseled face. "General Rokgough, as an ex-colleague and former friend, I will free you from this state as quickly as possible.", Najenda says as she kicks him across the ground with all her might. "It's been a while since I've seen you fight, Boss.", Leone says in amazement from her superhuman like strength. With Leone's focus elsewhere, Kurome rushes in for an attack. Minazuki attempts to intercept, but Phi blocks his path and says, "I won't let you touch a hair on my comrades' heads!" Suddenly a blade made of wind comes from her direction, cutting through the very earth itself. "Wind? Could this be her Imperial Arm!?", Minazuki thinks to himself as the attack heads straight for him. Minazuki dodges her attack and hits the ground with all his might, sending earth spears toward Kurome. "I-it can't be...", Phi begins to say before Kurome quickly deflects the spears and retreats back up the cliff side. "I thought I had an opening. Phi, can you deal with that man quickly? He seems to be more than aware of his surroundings. He'll be a real hindrance if we let him live any further.", Kurome says as she starts to eat another treat. "I see, I'll try my best.", Phi says before turning back to Minazuki. Phi's murderous intent begins to spill from her body as she says, "I'll deal with this one, personally."