Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Bellatrix POV.
I laughed out loud as I charged at Esdeath once more. I ignored the icicle that pierced my head and kept charging toward her without a care. She hurled a pillar of ice several times my size at me. I enveloped my fist with earthquake power and punched the pillar, shattering it without breaking stride.
I approached Esdeath once more. She growled in annoyance as she dodged Jackal's bullet and impaled me repeatedly with ice stakes. I had to give Esdeath credit; my body was incredibly resilient now that I'd become a Campione, but she could still pierce through me and turn me into a pincushion with ease. Even so, that didn't stop me. I continued attacking with a huge grin.
I summoned Kazikli Bay to attack her head-on. She formed an ice sword and took my attack head-on. I snorted, turned my body, and attacked again with my spear. Esdeath prepared, but I only looked closely at the sword and turned my spear to hit a specific point.
Esdeath's sword was destroyed in one blow. Esdeath looked surprised as her eyes opened, and I shot Jackal point-blank, taking advantage of her distraction.
Esdeath reacted immediately, creating thick layers of ice. They didn't stop the bullets, but they deflected them enough so they only grazed her body. Lines of blood appeared on her skin. To my surprise, she just smiled broadly. She recovered quickly, enveloping herself in a massive ice golem much faster than I expected. In an instant, the golem's giant fist sent me flying away.
I spun in the air before stabilizing myself and began firing bullets with Jackal. The god-killing bullets were able to crack and shatter the golem, but not fast enough; she continued to regenerate immediately, even after I fired shots that transformed into hundreds of pellets and riddled the golem.
Esdeath barely flinched. I snorted before lunging at her. My spear collided with the golem's fist; the vibrations from my attack shattered its arm, but Esdeath didn't seem bothered. She simply tried to attack me with her other arm. I raised Jackal and began firing.
Four well-aimed shots and the arm was instantly destroyed, but she was already regenerating it. I grunted in annoyance, ignored the attacks, and turned into mist before appearing beside Esdeath. She turned quickly, the lower part of my body destroyed by her golem's blow, yet I still used Kazikli Bay to strike the golem's body.
The body was destroyed immediately, but Esdeath, who was moving, created dozens of icicles and pierced me with them.
"How many times do I have to kill you?" Esdeath asked irritably before punching me and sending me flying once again. I just spun around, turned into mist, and the icicles fell to the ground. I reformed and looked at Esdeath, amused.
"Oh? Interesting, did you notice?" I asked, genuinely curious. Esdeath narrowed her eyes.
"You die and lose one of your souls. It was hard to feel. I've fought against Phenex; I recognize and know what regeneration feels like, even when I destroy their body. In you, I can feel death; I can feel that I'm constantly killing you, but you don't die."
"It took me time to reconstruct it, then I remembered the army you're capable of commanding. You're a vampire; you feed on living beings, and you're able to absorb their souls. You can summon them and use them to cheat death by letting them die for you; you're using them as substitutes." Esdeath said calmly. I smiled broadly.
"Wow, I'm really surprised. You were able to solve it," I said, genuinely impressed. "Even so, if you want to know the number, you still have to kill me 237,418 times," I said with a mocking smile. Esdeath froze rigidly, her eyes widening in surprise before her gaze hardened.
"You know, I wasn't exactly thrilled about this snake," Esdeath said, raising her hand as Ophis's symbol appeared. "But I must admit, it has its uses. Normally, I can only use this ability once a day, and then I'm weakened for the rest of the day. But thanks to Ophis's snake, I no longer have that weakness." Esdeath said coldly. Then her demonic power erupted, and ice formations began to form beneath her.
Thousands upon thousands of ice centaurs formed beneath her like a vast army, and she still flew above without breaking a sweat.
"The nearest city here is territory belonging to the current Satan faction, just like the others. My ice cavalry will run in all directions without stopping and raze those cities. Will you be able to stop them all?" she asked easily.
"Clever, I like it," I said playfully. I could see what she was doing, and it really was a good way to fix it. I let my body transform into mist, and my familiars began to emerge in a rush.
From people to fantastic beasts, an entire army composed of all kinds of beings, from dragons to vampires, all fell beneath me and awaited my command. Tens of thousands of souls were waiting.
"HAHAHAHA! COME ON, ESDEATH! TRY TO KILL ME!" I laughed out loud before launching myself at her at full speed. My army followed immediately. The dragons flew and began breathing fire on Esdeath's entire ice army, which withstood the onslaught and began destroying and killing everything around them.
Esdeath simply smiled broadly and lunged at me. We began fighting once more as our respective armies clashed beneath us. For every centaur she destroyed, Esdeath slew dozens of my souls. But more importantly, she could regenerate those centaurs, while I could not.
It was only a matter of time before she beat me in stamina alone. I laughed out loud at the situation. I could use my authority to negate any advantage Esdeath had by preventing her from killing any of my souls, but that wasn't necessary; it was more fun this way.
We continued facing off head-on while our army was torn apart below for what felt like an eternity. I just smiled broadly the whole time; unfortunately, I'd have to end this fight quickly.
I gripped Kazikli Bey tightly and hurled it with all my might toward Esdeath. The spear shot off at a terrifying speed, though Esdeath easily dodged it to the side.
Behind her, mist formed, and a clone of me appeared. Or rather, a stupidly strong soul, which Serena had enhanced with all the leftover characteristics from when she created her Zanpakutou; she had stripped the souls of everything unnecessary until they were completely blank.
But that meant they had to go somewhere; she placed them in a sufficiently resilient soul. The result was a familiar capable of moving and striking as hard as an ultimate-class devil. She used my shapeshifting ability to make that soul adapt to my appearance.
That soul grabbed Kazikli Bay and began attacking Esdeath, catching her off guard. I lunged at her. I holstered Jackal and drew two weapons from our Pocket Space. The chains immediately wrapped around my arms and tightened, my hands closing on the hooks that glowed a faint purple.
The Claws of Hades. Ottar had access to the weapons Kratos had acquired throughout his life. The Claws of Hades were one of them, one he didn't use and which he had allowed me to claim.
I smiled maniacally, then swung my arms and attacked Esdeath with the hooks, catching her off guard. One claw sank into Esdeath's shoulder; I smiled as I felt it grip her soul and began to pull.
Esdeath's eyes widened in horror before she screamed in fury and unleashed her demonic power. She managed to hold onto her soul as I released my claw from her shoulder, yet she stared at the weapons, horrified.
My clone and I grinned sadistically before launching our attack on her once more, this time simultaneously. Esdeath couldn't keep up with both of us, so she took increasing damage, especially as she tried with all her might to escape my grasp.
"Mahapadma!" Esdeath shouted, and I tensed. After a few moments, my eyes opened slightly. I felt the shock of her ability, but I definitely didn't feel the effect of Esdeath's own ability. My body's defenses immediately repelled the ability, and they also kept my clone active.
From what I remembered, The Company's defenses prevented a time stop from completely affecting me, and that was more than enough time for me to react, with my remaining abnormal resistance negating the rest of the effect. Esdeath tried to attack me, and I struck back, taking her by surprise once again. Esdeath's eyes widened slightly.
My clone and I lunged at Esdeath once more and began pummeling her relentlessly. I destroyed everything in my path, everything she threw in an attempt to defend herself, but it was no use; I simply kept going. One of my claws latched onto her leg, and I began to pull at her soul, but she severed her own leg without hesitation. Kazikli Bay cut her hand at the wrist, and the other was reduced to pulp when it collided with the vibrations of the Gura Gura no Mi.
"Mahapadma! Mahapadma! Mahapadma!" Esdeath screamed, almost panicking, and tried to play her trump card again and again, but none of them stopped me. Even without limbs, she was able to generate a massive amount of ice, enough to make her body explode in a huge blast.
She practically froze everything for miles around; everything was covered in ice like a new ice age, including me. I had turned into a giant icicle. But that only made me smile once more. I passed through the ice effortlessly, becoming intangible. I didn't even bother to break it.
I became tangible again and grabbed Esdeath's head with one hand, tearing off her clothes with the other before sinking a row of sharp teeth into her neck. My bite was reckless, almost to the point of tearing off a piece of her neck, but I didn't care; I began to drink her blood without hesitation.
I could feel her still trying to kill me with her ice, truly impressive; I'd give her that. But her attempts began to weaken rapidly, becoming weaker with each passing second; I could feel her life slipping away.
I was tempted to finish eating her and absorb her soul, but I just snorted and let her go. I looked at Esdeath's battered body; she was still conscious, staring at me with narrowed, almost glassy eyes, but still, there was a fighting spirit in them as they glared at me. I could see a piece of ice forming in front of her.
My eyes shone with genuine amazement, but I ultimately used magic to knock her unconscious. Her eyes closed immediately, and she finally fell unconscious, the magic she had tried to use quickly dissipating.
Just like the ice cavalry. Each centaur began to disintegrate, and I absorbed their souls again now that the fight was over. Finally, I grabbed her by the hair and flew toward Lucifaad.
---------------------------------
Akame POV.
Murasame moved swiftly, cutting through all the guards in front of me as we entered Lucifaad's largest building. Leone was the only one keeping up with me. The others had split up and were fighting their own battles.
I stumbled as the city shook once more, then adjusted my center of gravity and kept running. Leone did the same beside me. A guard appeared in front of us, and Leone punched him in the face, sending him flying through a wall.
"Damn it, the city hasn't stopped shaking since the fight started, those damn monsters." Leone said, looking out a window toward the dome. "And on top of that, we can't see what happened because of the dome." Leone grumbled in frustration.
"It's thanks to that dome that we were able to get this far," I reminded Leone. "And we still have to finish our work; worry about what happens outside after that." I said simply as I continued running through the corridors.
"Do you think the others can stop General Budo?" Leone asked through gritted teeth. I felt the city tremble again before I saw Lucifaad's fake night light up and lightning crackle near us, and then something exploded.
"They'll have to do it," I said tensely. "We have to kill Honest; we can't fail," I said firmly. Leone's eyes hardened.
"We'll do it," Leone said. With that, we kept running. The papers Lord Lucius had given us contained a very detailed floor plan of the building, including Honest's most likely location. I still had no idea how they'd gotten it, but it let us navigate the building with ease.
We kept running until we finally reached a huge room. We looked around cautiously; this was one of the rooms where Honest was supposed to be, but it was empty.
"Let's look elsewhere," Leone said quickly. I nodded, but then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.
"Leone!" I tried to warn her, but I was too slow. Honest appeared beside Leone and punched her in the side. I could hear Leone's ribs crack as she was thrown hard to the side.
I lunged at Honest with Murasame drawn. One attack; I only needed to graze him to kill him. So I attacked as fast as I could and tried to strike. Honest dodged every attack with far more agility than his obese body should have allowed.
"Hohoho, you've really annoyed me." Honest said, sounding furious. "I-"
"Nobody cares!" Leone growled, appearing next to Honest to punch him. Honest intercepted the punch with his fist. To my surprise, Leone lost, and her fist flew backward. Honest moved nimbly and landed another punch, which Leone blocked with her arm.
"Fine, you don't want to talk? Then die for daring to attack me," Honest said simply as he continued his assault. He defended himself against both of us at once; his strength and agility were far greater than I expected. I gritted my teeth as he continued to push my body harder and harder.
Leone screamed in fury, her body partially transforming into a lion, and attacked Honest. Honest dodged and returned the blow. Leone didn't dodge; she let the punch land on her stomach and immediately grabbed Honest's wrist with a savage grin. Then she used her fist to punch him, leaving Honest no choice but to defend himself with his free hand.
I didn't waste the moment; I began attacking him with Murasame. Honest growled, trying to break free from Leone, but her claws dug deep into his skin, and her hand gripped his so tightly it was practically an airtight seal. Even so, Honest didn't stop. He was strong enough to move Leone's body with ease and positioned her in my path. I stopped rigidly to avoid accidentally hitting her with Murasame.
Leone growled and kept trying to hit him, but without much effect, until Honest's punch landed on her jaw. Leone's head snapped back, then she recovered and moved quickly, opening her mouth and biting Honest's arm, disabling it as well. I didn't waste the opportunity.
Honest couldn't break free. He tried to move Leone, but she planted her feet firmly on the ground, and finally Murasame pierced Honest's back. I breathed heavily as I watched my sword plunge into his back.
I could see the curse beginning to take effect. Leone immediately released him and stumbled away. Honest's eyes opened, and he tried to back away, but I only drove the knife in even deeper. Honest fell forward, and I climbed on top of him, finishing driving Murasame into his body even further before withdrawing it.
Murasame's curse spread throughout his body, and Honest finally died. I took a heavy breath before moving Murasame once more and decapitating him. Then I grabbed his head as a prize.
"Let's go." I said shakily to Leone, and she nodded, almost in shock. We had done it. We had killed Honest. This… wouldn't eliminate all the corruption, all the power of the old devils, all the abuses suffered by the lower-class devils and commoners, but… but it was the right path.
The two of us jumped out of a window and began to descend. We spread our wings, landed on a building, and flew away. We headed toward where the others had been fighting Budo.
We finally arrived and found them completely exhausted, huddled around a burned body. I recognized Budo's Sacred Gear on the corpse.
"Akame!" Najenda was the first to see us. "They could—" she stopped when she saw Honest's head in my hand. "You did it." Najenda said in shock.
"They did it!" Lubbock exclaimed happily, then burst into joyful laughter. I finally allowed myself to smile.
"Honest is dead; our mission is complete," I said, completely satisfied. At that moment, the dome's ice began to crack, and we all tensed. There were four possible outcomes. One of them would kill the other; if Lady Belaltrix won, it was a complete victory; otherwise, we were all dead.
The other possibility was a draw and a withdrawal; that would also mean Esdeath would retreat to Lucifad and attack us. The other possibility was that the fight was moving toward the city, which would be dangerous for everyone there.
We all stared tensely at the sky as the ice dome began to break apart rapidly. Enormous cracks formed, then shattered, and huge chunks of ice began to fall; then those pieces broke off and vanished.
Slowly, the dome disappeared, and finally I saw the dot in the sky. My heart leaped with joy and disbelief. Lady Bellatrix was flying through the sky with a huge, bloody grin. Blood was all over her mouth and trickling down her chin, staining her white dress, and in her hand… was Esdeath's corpse.
It was the only way to describe her—a corpse. Esdeath was dead. All her limbs were useless, completely severed or destroyed; her entire body was covered in wounds and cuts, and there was a massive bite mark on her neck as if an animal had attacked her. Esdeath was completely pale, much paler than usual; no blood trickled from her body; it seemed as if Lady Bellatrix had completely drained it.
"Esdeath is dead," Najenda murmured, equally shocked. Lady Bellatrix glanced at Lucifer once more before her gaze settled on us, then she simply teleported away. My heart pounded.
"We did it. We really did it. We killed Honest and got out alive." Leone said, then let out a truly incredulous laugh.
"We still have to escape," Lubbock replied playfully, but he, too, wore a silly, satisfied grin.
"Lady Sargatanas," a voice interrupted, and we all stood at attention. A man who appeared to be disguised as a sloth suddenly appeared several meters away. "My name is Alcor, and I come on behalf of Lady Serena," the man said.
"Alcor... the Big Dipper." I said quickly. "You're a star." I said, realizing, and Alcor nodded.
"Yes, I have the honor of being a star in Lady Serena's service," Alcor said, bowing slightly. "My duty is to deliver a message to her if you manage to escape alive," Alcor said matter-of-factly.
"Uh... Akame, who is this guy?" Mine asked, frowning.
"You said you have a message from Lady Serena, right?" Najenda said, taking a step forward. Alcor nodded, then reached into one of his… pockets? And pulled out a coiled rope.
"Lady Serena offers you all sanctuary. You can live in Pentagram City without any problems if you wish. Or... she offers you a job at Astrarium," Alcor said matter-of-factly. My eyes widened slightly. "This is a Portkey. If you accept, or those who accept once you've gathered all your members, you must all touch the rope at the same time and say 'Evergarden' while holding it, and you'll be teleported to the base." Alcor said, handing the coiled rope to Najenda, who looked confused. "There will be someone there who can answer all your questions," Alcor finished. And with that, Alcor disappeared from our sight.
"Wait!" I said quickly, but Alcor had already disappeared, and I couldn't find him anywhere. My mind started racing. Was this why Lord Lucius had decided to take me to Evergarden? To reveal the identity of the Astrarium and the Garden? So that I would know about them, right now? What had they really planned?
"Akame... explanations?" Najenda asked tensely, eyeing the rope in her hands cautiously. I sighed.
"It's best if we leave Lucifaad first. I'm sure more people will come to investigate all the deaths any minute now," I said easily. "I'll tell everyone everything I know. It'll be easier that way, and I won't have to repeat myself," I added. Najenda just nodded.
"Come on, it's time to leave Lucifaad, back to base!" Najenda shouted as she crouched down next to Budo and removed the Sacred Gear from his arms. Then we all started running.
Author's Notes: Okay, I was going to make this shorter, but I liked it better this way. With this, everything related to Lucifaad is complete. The whole thing with Honest and the others was just a minor detail I wrote because I liked it; it was never meant to be a major plot point, so it ended up being resolved this way. There will be a few follow-up chapters, especially with Night Raid joining in and all that, but there shouldn't be many.
And also, Yaaay, chapter 300! A new milestone!