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Chapter 16: The New RecruitsAfter the battle was over and morning came, everyone took only the most valuable and left their old base and flew on the giant flying mantaray creature.

Mine and Lubbock showed to be rather uncomfortable with it, but Tatsumi was all too happy to show his enjoyment for the ride, even if it was childish. "Woohoo! Yeah this is amazing!" He yelled in a childish manner. That caused the newest recruit for Night Raid, Chelsea, to laugh. "Your so innocent that it's hard to picture you as a killer, Tatsumi. It's funny. I'd never expect that." She said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Leone, Sheele, and Akame were also enjoying the ride as they relaxed and enjoyed the view bellow this. "I never rode on one of these before. This is a really fun time." Sheele said. Leone went on to add with a laugh, "This is better than I thought." Akame also seemed to enjoy herself alongside her friends. "Indeed. This feels so nice." Akame added.

However, Austin sat back with Mine and Lubbock and dreaded his experience. Seemed most natural as he had a bit of a fear of heights. "I wouldn't exactly use the word 'nice', Akame." He said to her as he laid completely on his belly on the beast as he struggled not to look down. Mine went on to add to that with, "This isn't nice at all!" Behind Mine, Bulot laughed and said to the three. "Hahahaha lighten up, you guys. Another ride or two on one of these babies and you'll be as use to it as you can be." He said, clearly enjoying himself as the wind flowed through his hair.

Seemingly endless more minutes for Austin, Lubbock, and Mine went by before the beast came close to reaching the destination. Najenda went on to explain, "This mountain region is crawling with danger beasts, making it impossible for humans to live here. It also makes it perfect for us to live here until the Revolutionaries find us a new hideout closer to the capital. Until then, we'll just have to buckle down here and level up." Upon that explanation, the giant mantaray landed and it caused everyone to disembark from it.

Once everyone was off, the flying creature began to fly off. "Hey. It's getting away. Shouldn't we try to catch it?" Mine questioned. Chelsea only replied with a sarcastic tone, "It's only returning to base." She then began laughing after saying, "Wow, Mine. I'm surprised you weren't smart enough to figure that one out." As she laughed, Mine got a tick mark on her head and clenched her fist in rage as she said, "Great. I hate you already!"

"Oh yes. Perhaps I should introduce our newest recruits." Najenda said, referring to the new members. When she raised her hand towards Chelsea, she found Chelsea wasn't there, but behind Akame, touching and raising her hair. "I knew you were cute, but you're adorable up close, Akame." Chelsea said to the ravine haired girl. "Why are you touching me?" The confused Akame questioned. Ignoring Akame's question, Chelsea looked to everyone and introduced herself. "Oh right. My name is Chelsea. Since we're going to be killing people together, I hope we all learn to get along." She happily said before pulling out something from her pocket. "Here. This is for you." Chelsea said to Akame, holding a lollipop in her hands, causing Akame's eyes to chicldishky sparkle. "Welcome to the team." Simply said to the smiling Chelsea. "Did she just win Akame's heart with a lollipop?!" Tatsumi questioned, but Shelee stepped forward and said, "Oh I'd like one too, please."

Tatsumi turned to Najenda and questioned, "You know, with how she looks, she looks least likely to be an assassin like Mine and Shelee." Najenda replied, however, "Don't judge a book by it's cover. Chelsea is an expert killer that's completed just as many assignments as Akame.", which surprised Tatsumi. "So she's just as experienced as Akame? That's impressive." Bulat stated.

"As for this fellow." Najenda stated, referring to Susanoo. "He's a dormant Imperial Arms that awoke when he felt my pressense. The best part I see that he relies on his own energy source so even when I'm exhausted, he can still fight." Najenda explained, a hint of pride in her voice at her new Imperial Arms. Tatsumi approached Susanoo with a bit of eagerness to meet the second of his new comrades. "Oh wow. It's nice to meet you." He said, raising his hand for a hand shake, but Susanoo gasped in the shock of Tatsumi's shirt being untucked. Faster than anyone could see, he tucked Tatsumi's shirt back in. "Fixed." He said with a sigh of relief. That reminded Najenda as she said, "Oh and I forgot to mention. He's a bit of a neat freak." Mine then added, "Well that explains why he fixed my hair earlier."

Austin thought to himself, "Chelsie and Susanoo. Saving them might be a little difficult since one fights Kurome and her familiars and the other fights Esdeath." That made a cold sweat drip down the side of his cheek, but still he remained determined in his goal. But despite that worry, Austin found himself smiling and giving a little chuckle. "Ah listen to that. And here I thought I wouldn't give two shits at first. These guys..."

"So what can he do exactly? Or is he just built for combat?" Bulot asked Najenda, but the boss started to chuckle to herself, rather eager that Bulot asked that. "I'll show you." She said before raising her arm to her Imperial Arms and saying, "Susanoo, proceed!", ordering him to begin. "Understood." The horned man simply said before getting straight to work. True to his name as the "Lightning Fast", Susanoo began chopping down trees faster anyone could see. And in only mere minutes, a house began to erect in the clearing set by him. Austin’s mouth was agape as he saw this unbelievable achievement being done while everyone else looked simply with impress and interest. “Th....that fast?!” Austin thought, genuinely surprised he did it as fast, if not faster than how he did this in the anime.

Once the house was complete, Susanoo went to work cleaning some of the laundry and even getting to work cooking. “Okay, that’s all impressive, but what is he doing?” Lubbock questioned. “It looks a lot like...chores.” Tatsumi answered, equally confused. Najenda, however, only looked very enthusiastic about her new partner’s skill. “Wonderful, isn’t it?” She asked. “Susanoo was created to be a bodyguard for royalty and other high ranking nobles. Not only does he have several high power combat abilities, he’s also capable of many cooking and cleaning skills so he never has to leave his master’s side. He can do it all! And the best part, he possess knowledge on a massive variety of recipes.” Her explanation did little to impress Mine though, who only asked, “How is that going to help us in a fight?” But Najenda simply replied, “Now, now. I’m sure you can see his usefulness soon enough.” Her proud demeanor taking over again, she then concluded with, “Last but not least, he also has a trump card for combat.”

Austin stood off to the side as everyone started socializing. “Oh my goodness, you’re flat as a board!” Chelsea commented about Mine’s physic, causing the pink loving sniper to practically flare up in anger. “SHUT UP!” She yelled. Shelee stood between the two. “Come on, let’s not start fighting. I’m sure we’ll become goof friends.” Shelee said, before turning to Chelsea, who smiled and held hands with Shelee. “Oh you must be Shelee. You look a whole lot prettier in person than on some wanted poster.” Chelsea expressed happily, making Shelee blush. “Oh thank you very much.”

Bulat stood next to Susanoo, leaning on his shoulder and suggested, “Hey, I know you’re an Imperial Arms, but what say you and I do some training from time to time. Sound good?” Susanoo, although seemingly emotionless, simply said, “That sound good. Thank you.” Bulat’s face grinned and gave the horned man a thumbs up. “Awesome. I think you might be able to help me train Tatsumi up even harder.” He added. Lubbock stood to the side with grumbling tone in his voice. “Didn’t know you were recruiting glorified handmaids for training.” The green haired young man commented.

“Hmhm.” Austin chuckled to himself. “Things might just get a bit more fun around here.” Tatsumi looked a little nervous, however. “Let’s hope we’re able to work together.

~~Meanwhile, Imperial Palace~~

Esdeath sat at her desk, looking rather concerned, yet stern. A knock came to the door before two men entered: Run and Bols. “Commander.” Run said, greeting his superior, to which Esdeath silently acknowledged. “We’ve searched the quarters of both Dr. Stylish and Kaku. I’m afraid neither gave any details on where they were leaving, or if they were planing in leaving at all. They left nothing behind.” Run reported, rather grim in tone. “I see.” Esdeath said standing up. “If they haven’t abandoned us, we can only assume they both have been killed.” She walked towards the window, taking in the sight of the sunset as Bols added to the report. “And none of his materials or his research subjects were left behind either. We can only assume they were all killed as well.” He said. Esdeath said nothing for a short moment before she let out a sigh. “They were weak, but still they served us well.” She said as she made her way to the door. “You two are dismissed. Thank you for investigating.” She said to her subordinates. “Where are you going, commander?” Run asked. Esdeath stopped at the door and answered the blond man, “We took a major blow. Two members of our team have been slain. We must replenish our numbers.”

Outside in the courtyard, Esdeath walked alone along the walkway, making her way to two men standing there, waiting for her. One was a dark haired man who wore a mask over his eyes and nose, leaving only his mouth visible, leaving little of his fair skinned face visible. He had simple cloths, looking to that of a middle class citizen. The second man looked younger, but much more stern in stature. He had long black hair similar to the first man with grey eyes and a x-shaped scar under his left eye. He wore a hood that obscured most of these features, though. He had on strong looking armor, although medium in appearance, it appeared light to him as he stood with ease. Plain steel armor adorned his chest, arms, and legs with black clothing underneath. At his waist was a katana that he rested his left arm on.

“Lady Esdeath. A pleasure.” The masked man said as he bowed to the icy commander upon her arrival. Surprisingly, he showed no fear upon meeting her, despite clearly knowing her. “I take it you are Shu?” She asked. “Indeed.” The man answered. “Consider me a long admirer of your work. Burying a thousand men under snow just to shut em up? Genius.” He said in a joyful tone, despite the subject matter he stated. Esdeath chuckled at the statement, however. “Thank you. I am flattered.” She thanked, seemingly pleased. “Now then, I was told by the minister that you had a worthwhile recruit.” Shu then turned to the young man next to him as gestured his hand towards him. “That would be this young man here. This is Ten, my only son.” The young man named Ten, looked towards Esdeath and bowed his head to her. Esdeath looked unconvinced. “The Jeagers may be in need of comrades, but we don’t just accept anyone. How do we know he will be a good addition?” She asked. “I knew you were gonna be picky, but I assure you, his abilities with his Imperial Arms is astounding. He’s practically bored slaying top, S-Class danger beasts so he needs a good challenge.” Shu said.

“We are a service division of the emperor. Not a challenge group.” Esdeath corrected. “Fair enough, but the point is he is far stronger than you think. His power will grant you the heads of each Night Raid member.” She explained, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder with a smirk on his face in encouragement of Esdeath. Still looking stern, Esdeath said, “I will be happy to at least test his strength. If I am satisfied, he will join the team.” Upon hearing that, Ten smiled with eagerness as Shu clapped his hands together with joy. “Wonderful. You won’t regret this, my lady.” Shu stated in his joy. “Please give me a moment with him more before he goes off to join.” Esdeath simply nodded. “Of course. This may be the last you see of him, assuming he impresses.” Esdeath says before walking off back into the structure.

Ten let out a sigh as he turned to his father. “Surely, father, this is unnecessary. Nothing’s going to change.” He said. Shu’s tone instantly changed as he spoke back to his son. “No. This is very necessary. In fact, if we don’t do this, we may very well be in deep trouble.” Shu expressed in discern with an uneasy stature. “I don’t know who wielded that sword, exactly, but I know it certainly belonged to her.” He said, causing Ten to get nervous himself. “Are you saying she’s involved?” Ten asked, clenching his fist in the process. “I don’t know. It’s possible, but we have no evidence pointing towards it. All we know is that this “Shadow” is not suppose to be here and his being here can deeply interfere with our objectives with this pathetic empire.” Shu replied with a sigh himself. The atmosphere around them turned tense with both men looking very uneasy. “Shadow is apart of this Night Raid group. Kill him and ensure the sword is taken by this Esdeath and her little party band. I don’t care about the rest of those assassins. Kill them if you wish.” Shu continued, explaining the objective to his son.

“It will be done, father. But I do need to know more than that. Surely you can tell me.” Ten questioned, not wanting to press the matter, but needing to know more. “I’m afraid I can’t. Everything else is speculation and concern and little else. When I’m more certain, you will be the first to know. For now, know that our plans for this empire are deeply on the line and if we don’t deal with this threat, we may need to give up on them entirely.” Shu explained. Ten remained unsure, but bowed his head as he answered, “That’ll be enough for me, father. For now, at least.” Shu smiles again before placing his hands on his son’s shoulders. “I could not be more proud of you, my boy. I could not have been more lucky to have such a worthy heir. Perform your duty and preserve our glorious visions. The time is near and we can’t afford any interferences.”

~~Night Raid Temporary Hideout~~

Austin and Tatsumi were training together outside the temporary hideout with Bulat refine them both in their training duel. He stood firm and heavily invested in the duel, even as it took place with only wooden weapons. “Austin, control your ferocity. You’re leaving yourself too open! Tatsumi, dont stay on the defensive too much. You’re throwing away too golden of opportunities to strike back!” Bulat barked at them. Both brown haired young men seemed evenly match. Just as Bulat was invested, they were too, striking and deflecting each other’s attacks. Finally, the duel ended with Austin being tripped up and landing on his rear with Tatsumi closing in and pointing the wooden sword at his throat. “Guess I won this one.” He said with a cocky tone of voice. Austin chuckled in response as he pushed the wooden sword away while he stood back up. “Please. You just got lucky.” He stated. “Lucky five times in a row?” Tatsumi asked in a joking tone. “Y-yeah. Lucky.” Austin assure in the weakest attempt while Bulat only laughed. “Alright, alright. We can keep this up tomorrow. Let’s see what this Su guy’s gone and made us for tonight.” He said after his laughter, referring the two younger men to the small house.

The three entered to find a massive fish placed on the table, cooked and ready to be eaten. Within less than an hour, the fish was eaten, leaving only the head, tail, and the bones. “Ahhhh thanks Su. That hit the spot. I feel like I can take on the world.” Leone happily said, holding her full stomach in pure satisfaction. Akame, who was holding some of the dishes and standing next to Su, simply said with a cheerful tone, “Thank you for all your help.” Her thanks earned a slight nod and, “Don’t mention it.”, from the tall man. Tatsumi then went up to him, wooden sword already in hand, and asked, “Hey Su, you think we can train together tomorrow?” Before he could respond, Bulat, from across the table, stated, “Now you hold your horses, Tatsumi. I still haven’t gotten to test him out just yet.” As her subordinates fawned over the new Imperial Arms, Najenda grew a fast, proud grin. “I know you all would come around when you saw how handy he can be.” She said. Tatsumi easily caved to that as he replied, “It is pretty cool that the guys at headquarters would let you borrow such an awesome weapon.”

“They said Susanoo had been in hibernation for quite some time. However, when he felt my presence, he activated immediately.” Najenda replied, the pride in her voice growing ever so slightly. “Well that’s certainly a great sign. You must be glad to get the chance to be using an Imperial Arms again, right?” Bulat asked her, earning a chuckle from Najenda in response. “Indeed I am, although it is easy to see why.” She said before she placed her right hand under her chin and added, “My feminine charm, of course.”

Her self admiration was shortly lived as Susanoo clarified, rather happily in his own right, “Actually the general is like a spitting image of my previous master.” “That makes sense.” Leone commented.

“If she was like me, then she must have been a wonderful person.” Najenda added, still stoke the flame for her pride in herself and her new living weapon companion. Susanoo’s attitude quickly changed from a happy one to that of reflection and respectful nostalgia as he said, “Yeah. Not only a great leader, but also a good man.” That instantly set Najenda off. “A man?!” She yelled in her disbelief.

Leone and Tatsumi instantly began to giggle and snicker away at the statement. Austin as well, but he covered his mouth with his metal left hand to try and quiet his sounds better as he knew the very painful consequence of what would happen should his laughter be heard out loud. The previous two, however, did little to hide thei amusement. “BAHAHA! See boss? You totally look like a dude!” Leone laughed out, kicking her legs in her hysterics. “Cut it out! She’ll freak out and kill us!” Tatsumi said, unable to contain his laughter. Austin wanted to say something to save his friends, but found himself unable to for fear if he opened his mouth, his own laughter would be released.

Bulat attempted to do that for him by saying, “Tatsumi! Leone! Don’t!”, despite his own amusement to the comical statement, however, he was too late as Najenda stood behind the two, he right hand cracking with silent, raging twitches. She needn’t say a word as the two quickly understood the predicament. “Oh...uh....yeah sorry.” Leone muttered out while Tatsumi could only grumble in fear. A split second later, the two found themselves each with a sharp knock to the head and throbbing bumps left from it. “Owww...” They both muttered while Najenda looked Bulat and Austin’s way. “Noooo laughter here, boss.” Bulat said, holding his hands in assurance to the fact. Austin managed to uncover his mouth to add to that assurance as his own laughter died down.

Over by the seats, Lubbock, Mine, and Shelee saw the scene with Lubbock looking rather envious of his new rival. “Jeez, I still don’t get why everyone is so quick to cozy up to that guy.” He said in his jealous frustration. “Well he is not only a strong fighter, but a very helpful hand around the house. He built this very house in a few minutes after all.” Shelee reminded him. “Yeah, but I was the mister cool, suave, and awesome around here before he showed up.” Lubbock replied, earning a bit of a scoff from Mine, who was eating a slice of strawberry cake while sitting next to Shelee.

”Are you sure you wanna go there, Lubbock? Because I’m pretty sure I’m, like, at least five times more attractive than you.” Austin said to him from the table. That didn’t make Lubbock very happy. “Oh don’t you start with me, Austin, unless you want to give you bolts that don’t work next time you wanna resupply.” Lubbock said in anger. Austin instantly retracted his statement. “I will now shut my face.” He said.

“Don’t worry about it, Lub. I’m pretty sure no one considered you suave in the first place.” Mine corrected the green haired young man before the door creeped open, revealing a small, blonde and brown furred feline creature entering the premise. “Oh wow. Is that a baby panther cub?” Mine asked as the inquisitive little creature approached the three of them. “They’re surprisingly comfortable around humans, aren’t they?” Lubbock curiously pondered out loud while the cub jumped onto the armrest, near where Shelee was sitting. “Awww hello.” She saw, beginning to pet the kitten like animal, gently petting its head and under the chin. “I’ve never seen one of these before, but I have heard a lot about them. They’re so sweet.” She said in a smitten tone of voice.

Austin watched from the table with slight amusement as he knew exactly where this was going. “Yep. Must be Chelsea’s Imperial Arms moment. Maybe I should go mess with her. Call out that little stunt.” He thought as he almost went to stand up, but instantly stopped himself before he could rise as he thought for a moment. “Wait a minute, there’s no logical way I could know about her Imperial Arms. Boss hasn’t given us her files or nothing and no way I could have been able to just know ahead of time. If I go and break her deception without any way of knowing outside of me seeing in the anime, that’ll certainly raise some eyebrows.” He pondered before fixing himself back into his seat and mentally sighing. “I can’t tell them. I just can’t. I can only protect them.” He concludes to himself and abandoning the potential funny prank he could have played on Chelsea. However, his uncertainty did not go unnoticed as Bulat saw him in that uncomfortable state before he fixed himself, but thankfully shrugged it off as nothing.

“Oh...okay. Maybe just one bite.” Mine said, giving in to the “cub’s” persuasion to allow her to have just a taste of her cake. But that was before the panther cub began to his and lunges at it, grabbing the cake, plate and all, in its mouth and landing on the other side of the room they were in. A small puff of smoke came from it and it turned into Chelsea, suprising everyone but Austin, who was holding the cake in one hand and standing up in a gloating triumph. “What a puuurfect little snack.” She said with a victorious laugh. “Whaa?! It’s you!” Mine proclaimed, standing and pointing at the deceptive assassin.

“Oh Mine, you just made it so easy, I couldn’t help myself.” Chelsea replied before eating the cake she stole. “A brilliant performance. Though I am the one and only expert on bad puns here, but since you did that against pinkie, I will allow it.” Austin said jokingly as he approached them. “Screw you!” Mine yelled at him in response.

Shelee looked very impressed with the display, however, and asked in her interest, “That was really impressive, Chelsea. Was that your Imperial Arms?” Chelsea replied with a confident smile, “It sure was. It can instantly transform into anything I want. It’s called Gaea Foundation and it’s perfect for stealth operations.” That instantly reminded Austin of what bothered him about that Imperial Arms. “Only stealth? But what if you’ve been tipped or your cover completely blown? Couldn’t it turn you into an earth dragon or something and crush your attackers?” He asked. That resulted in a laugh from Chelsea. “See? Saying stuff like that makes me a bit concerned you’re an assassin and not a soldier, Austin.” She said, although lightheartedly, but the subtle dig at Austin was certainly intentional and he picked up in that. “But that is a fair question. While it’s true, Gaea Foundation can turn me into anything I want, there is a limit. If I turned myself into something like an earth dragon, it would almost instantly drain my energy and actually leave me helpless. Not to mention it’s mostly cosmetic so while I would get some of the base abilities of the danger beast in question, like burrowing underground, I wouldn’t get the more advanced skills like enhanced strength or endurance.” She explained. “If it was in the hands of someone like Bulat, then maybe that could happen, but that’s still very unlikely. It’s why Gaea Foundation and I make such a good match. We rock the deception game.” Austin placed his hand on his chin as he took that info in. “That makes sense.” He thought.

But after that, Chelsea instantly turned her attention back to Mine and said with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek mannor, “Which I must say, Mine, if you aren’t more careful, you’re gonna get yourself killed soon.” The already angry Mine only yelled at her more, with, “Excuse me?! If the enemy finds out about your weapon, then you’re screwed. I mean, you just admitted you can’t use it to fight after all!” However, Chelsea remained calm and unoffended by that statement. “Admittedly, yes. However, that’s what makes the art of deception so exciting.” Chelsea replied before pointing at Mine and adding, “That look of shock on your face a minute ago makes it all worth it.”, before beginning to laugh

Austin crossed his arms and found himself chuckling with Chelsea. “I gotta hand it to her, she has a point.” He said before going in full on laughing with Mine’s face turning completely furious with the pair of them. “DAMMIT, I HATE BOTH OF YOU!” Mine yelled at the top of her lungs.

~~One Month Later~~

Austin and Leone ran across the landscape, hunting large raptor like danger beasts surrounding the rugged terrain. Two of them stood on the edge of a cliff before they noticed the assassin duo and roared at them. However, before they could attack, Leone delivered a powerful punch with her Lionel fist engaged against the skull of one while Austin activated his saw blade delivered a fatal cut to the neck of the other, killing both of the creatures. Both of their bodies fell from the cliff and down to the clearing bellow while Leone and Austin basked in their small victory. Austin clenched his metal hand, moving its fingers around and adjusting it as best he can. “Still not use to that?” Leone asked him. “Gonna take a while, but at least it’s fun to use.” Austin replied with a smile, not looking to be rather torn up about it. He was maturing to his new circumstances better now.

The duo looked down into the clearing bellow them and saw packs of those danger beasts, some gathering around the two dead bodies that just fell from the cliff. “Well ready for the hunt?” Leone questioned her partner in crime, who chuckled when she did and said in reply, “By all means. Ladies first.” That made Leone chuckle in response before saying, “Such a gentleman.” With that, she jumped off the cliff and landed near the group of danger beasts, looking back at them with clear eagerness in her eyes. Some of the beasts charged her, but using her Imperial Arms’s granted swiftness, she dodged their direct attacks, on by one, before she went in for a counter attack, slamming her fist against two or three as the fight went on, doing her best to maintain this balance of attacking and counter attacking.

Austin soon joined, leaping into the fray with his sword in one hand and his buzzsaw equipped in the other. He followed Leone’s lead of dodging and counter attacking. Two attacked him at once, lunging their heads forward to snap at him, but Austin quickly passed through them, working to avoid direct attack before positioning himself behind them and striking. One he hit with the full strength of his blade, imbued with its lighting, delivering a killing blow as the creature was nearly cleaved in two. The other was slashed with the buzzsaw, cutting through its neck for a fatal blow as it slumped forward. “Not too shabby, Austin.” Leone complimented him as she stood at his back as more and more surrounded the duo. “Same to you, but don’t get cocky.” Austin replied, looking rather eager and enjoying himself a bit as the fight went on. “Hey, you may have been with us for a while now, but don’t think you can boss me around.” She said, joking of course, but still trying to get the message across. Austin only shrugged his shoulders in response. “I lost an arm for this group. I think I earned some for of superiority complex.” Austin joked back, to which Leone wanted to rebuke, but soon they found themselves surrounded again but the dinosaur like danger beasts.

“I’ll correct your little mistake later.” She said, turning back to face them while Austin turned to have them standing back to back. “Kill more than me and maybe I’ll listen.” He continued the joke before the duo sprung back into action. They continued this pattern of dodging and counter attacking over and over as the beasts’ numbers dwindled more and more. The two grew more relaxed as it continued, but still had their guard up. “We should be almost finished!” Austin said cutting down yet another. “It’s not over until the leader is found and killed. Otherwise, more will come.” Leone replied, earning a, “Roger that.”, from Austin. The young man plunged his sword into another one of the beasts, but found himself being attacked more swiftly as yet another charged him while his blade was stuck. “Shit! They’re adapting.” He though as he activated his knife in his left arm while he ducked while the attacker lunged for a bite. While under it, he flipped the knife underhanded and stabbed it into the creature’s throat and with one big tug, slit the neck open to fatally wound the attacker. As it fell over dead, Austin had one more assailant to worry for. ”Austin!” Leone yelled as one last of the creatures rushed him, much faster than the others, mouth agape to bring its jaws down upon Austin. With only a single second to react, Austin raised his left arm in defense as the creature bit down onto it with tremendous force. Thankfully, the materials for Austin’s mechanical arm we powerful enough to withstand the force, but still it took it’s toll as Austin could see visible damage being done to his arm. “Dammit! Lubbock will kill for having to repair this!” Austin cursed as he pushed against the biting beast, but it refused to let go and pushed back, forcing Austin to the ground on his back. “Damn you!” Austin said in frustration rather than fear. Leone was separated from him as she was forced to deal with others of the creature’s pack, but Austin was not out of the fight yet.

With a quick glance, he saw his sword still embedded in the corps of one of the previous danger beasts he slew. Thinking fast, he raised his right hand to pull the sword to him and once it reached his hand, quickly he kicked the raging beast off of him, causing it to land on its side. Before it could rise up again, Austin picked himself up and jumped from his location, driving his sword into it’s side upon landing, finishing it off completely. Austin drew his sword from the beast and swung it downward to throw the blood off of it. “Nasty little fucks.” He mumbled to himself. Leone only approached him and asked, “So where was that badass attitude there, hot shot?”, in a sarcastic tone. “Oh ha ha.” Austin responded in equal sarcasm.

As the two spoke, they then heard loud yelling from not too far away from where they were. It belonged to both Bulat and Tatsumi as they too engaged with the creatures. “Well aren’t they giving it their all.” Leone said with a chuckle as Austin looked on happily. Even with Tatsumi in the armor and his face hiding behind that helm, he could tell Tatsumi was having the time of his life, fighting side by side with Bulat. “Yep. I did a good thing here.” Austin thought to himself with a grin.

Bulat swung his powerful bostaff left to right, generating more air around himself as he continued fighting off the ferocious beasts. “Been a long time since I took on danger beasts like these guys. Man is it a workout!” He declared, ramming one end against the skull of another danger beast. Viewing him as a major threat, the creatures began charging Bulat faster and faster until he was finally surrounded. The tall man remained calm and confident, however, as he was circled. “I think I could get use to a place like this.” He added in before the creatures began charging him. In retaliation, he swung his staff around as fast as possible generating more air around him before ramming the lower end into the ground, causing a practical explosion of wind, sending the attackers flying. The wind would then solidify and start carving up the beasts while they were in the air, slaying them before they even reached the ground.

Austin was impressed and he folded his arms over one another, but Leone had a look of complete shock on her face. “Holy crap...” She said in her awe, catching Austin’s attention. “You look...shocked.” He said to her as she turned to him. “Don’t tell me you don’t see it yourself.” She said, half jokingly with her usual grin on her face. But there was also a sound of seriousness in her question. “I’m thinking Bulat’s even stronger with this new Imperial Arms you and Sheele got for him than he was with Incursio.” She suggested. “You’re shitting me...” Austin said in his own disbelief. “Then again, he is learning how to use that thing faster than I’m learning how to use Raiden. Maybe it’s meant to be.” Austin then thought.

The remaining few of the danger beasts began charging Bulat again, but Tatsumi would intervene. “I got these guys, bro!” He declared. “Alright, but don’t do anything reckless. Remember how to fight these bastards.” Bulat called out. “On it!” Tatsumi responded in confirmation. From behind his helm, his eyes burned with determination, swiftly, he charged through, dodging the bites and slashes before he finally raised his right hand. A ball of light generated from it and then came a long, heavy looking spear that he swung to counter and finish off the oncoming attackers. Bulat smiled with astonishment once he saw that spear. “He actually did it!” He thought an excited thought. “Neuntote. It took me three whole months worth of training to unleash it for the first ever time. But Tatsumi did it in less than half the time.” Bulat thought in his surprise while Tatsumi swiped the blood off the blade. “There’s no doubt about it. He’s going to surpass me and sooner than I expected.”

Later on, back at the temporary base, Najenda gathered everyone up front. Austin fiddled with his busted metal arm as he arrived, looking a bit frustrated with both it and himself. “That’ll certainly teach me.” He grumbled. “Aw man, you really got your arm messed up. Not much to worry about, I think I can repair it in an hour or so.” Lubbock states when he saw the state Austin was in. “That would be nice. But I lost that hidden knife in the fight.” He said in response, but not causing much concern to Lubbock. “Not to worry. I think I can help with that.” He replied.

Not long after, Najenda came out to greet everyone as they stood there waiting for her. Chelsea came out with her and stood behind her as she addressed everyone. “Everyone, I would like to say well done to you all. You have proven you can now easily kill the danger beasts in this area.” The commanding woman said, truly pleased with her subordinates’ achievements. “These ones aren’t too different to what I faced back in my army days so it wasn’t too big a deal.” Bulat said in spite of his growing from this constant battling. “I noticed the different types like to attack out of nowhere so it sure keeps us on our toes.” Tatsumi added, fully aware of what their surroundings held for the squad. Leone had a look of pure enjoyment from the simple thought. “Well I like it. It makes things a whole lot more interesting.” She said. Najenda continued on by saying, “The air’s very thin up here, so by training in such a harsh environment, I trust you all have been getting stronger.”

Shelee was the first to acknowledge this. “I can attest to that. I’ve been feeling a major difference for a while now.” She said. “So can I.” Mine added.

Najenda finally turned to Chelsea and asked her, “Chelsea, tell me: What do you think of Night Raid now that you’ve been with us for a month?” Austin silent swallowed as he saw this already, but his quickly felt a bit of reassurance considering that Bulat and Shelee were still alive. “Hmm. You’re all strong. In fact, far better than I expected. You’re definitely stronger than anyone back on my old team.” She said. Austin smiled, but Tatsumi and Mine gave bigger reactions with small laugh from the former and confident fist pump from the later. “Thank you, Chelsea.” Shelee even added. But Shelee may very well retract that thanks shortly. “That said...” Cheslsea said, catching everyone’s attention.

”Just because you’re more than I expected doesn’t mean you’ll survive this. I took the liberty of looking through you’re old reports and that left me more concerned than I expected to be.” Austin narrowed his eyes as she explained. “What could she be talking about?” He thought.

“Bulat, Shelee, and Mine, you all were nearly killed on two recent missions. And the only reason you weren’t was because, on both occasions, Austin swooped in to save you. And that’s a huge problem.” Chelsea said giving off a chillingly cold expression on her face. “I’m not gonna like this.” Austin mumbled to himself under his breath.” Chelsea continued by asking, “And both those occasion came at extreme cost to you, haven’t they Austin?”, now addressing him. “On one of them, you lost your arm. On both, you nearly died. And it’s worth pointing out that you left your previous missions to go to theirs to do this rescuing. That’s where the problem lies.” In her saying that, Austin gripped his metal arm and mumbled once more, “Where does this chick get off?”, a little louder this time as he knew where this was going and didn’t like it at all. “Austin, let it go.” Leone whispered to him.

“What I’m saying isn’t, at all, pleasant, but needs to be said. The issue isn’t whether Mine, Shelee, and Bulat are good people. It’s that you three really needed a new recruit to mess himself up really badly to rescue you from your responsibility, then you are clearly incompetent.” She said, that cold expression remaining, causing anger in Mine as she said, “WHAT?!”, with Shelee staying silent and looking downward and Bulat simply closing his eyes and taking a breath. Tatsumi didn’t look at all pleased either. “And if Austin is going to be so reckless and thoughtless, then you are less than incompetent.” Unlike the rest of them, Austin could not take that lying down.

“Oh that’s fucking rich.” He said as he took a step forward. “Austin...” Lubbock said gently, but warningly to his friend. However, it did nothing to dissuade him. “Some of us actually have to stand our ground and fight. Not run hiding into a bush to slap some make up on only to run away again.” He proclaimed, but was quickly stopped. “Austin, enough!” This came from Bulat who placed his hand on Austin’s shoulder, making him stand down. Chelsea only sighed before proceeding to walk into the house. As she did, she simply said, “Take it however you want, but all I’m trying to say is if you don’t get it together and soon, then none of you will live to see this fight to the end.” Upon her closing the door, Austin pulled himself from Bulat’s grasp.

”That does it! That bitch just went to a whole new low!” Mine said, clearly holding back a vast majority of her anger as she got out what little she could. Najenda simply sighed and stood there with crossed arms. “Well that’s Chelsea for you. She’s as honest as they come.” She then looked to Austin, who was looking to the ground in his frustrated anger. “Austin? Would you like me to talk to her?” She asked. Austin looked up at her, but simply sighed and waved it away. “Nah, forget it. Ain’t worth pursuin’.”

Susanoo, likely able to tell the awkward tension, broke it by saying plainly, “We should eat something.” He then referee to the massive pile of animal corpses Akame had brought home. “Let’s go ahead and get a head’s start cooking what you hunted.” He said. Said raven haired girl placed her hands behind her back and happily said, “Can’t work on an empty stomach.” Where everyone’s attention quickly turned to dinner plans, Austin only turned right and began walking off. “Austin? You’re not joining us?” Akame asked. She was simply answered with, “Lost my appetite.”, from him. Though said calmly, it was clearly laced with anger. It was better seen as Austin kicked a rock against a tree while he left. Mine looked his way, unsurprisied at his reaction. “I agree with him on this front, but man he’s still such a softie.” She said. “You were just as hurt at what she said.” Shelee said. The others were quiet. Tatsumi seemed especially concerned.

To Be Continued