Aaron had pierced Leone's four limbs with weapons, but if she were still wearing her Teigu, these wounds, which hadn't hit the bone, would have been forcibly healed by her body in seconds.
But Leone had never expected that the little girl in front of her, in addition to her insane reflexes, also possessed such monstrous strength.
She had *barely* been able to suppress that white-haired brat *with* her Teigu!
*Are you even human?*
And now, the situation for Leone was obviously far worse.
With the Teigu forcibly removed, the healing of Leone's wounds naturally stopped.
Now, these wounds that should have been trivial were making Leone feel weak.
Pierced by the weapons, Leone was now pinned to the ground by Aaron.
If she didn't get treatment soon, even if Aaron left her alone, she would eventually bleed to death.
And now... would Aaron let her go?
The answer was clearly no.
The reason Night Raid had attacked Aaron back then was because he knew too much.
To be honest, Aaron understood Bulat's choice. Night Raid saw themselves as people destined for great things, and they didn't want to expose their relationship with the Revolutionary Army so early. Wanting to silence him was a normal move.
And Leone and Mine wanting to retrieve their comrade's Teigu was also understandable.
But understanding was one thing. These bastards had attacked him twice now.
Although they *said* they'd spare them if they handed over the Teigu, who would believe that?
Especially coming from Leone. In Aaron's eyes, the woman who had scammed Tatsumi out of his life savings at the very beginning had zero credibility.
Although Kiana had shown her excellent qualities as a warrior against the Three Beasts, Aaron felt it was better not to gamble right now.
Kiana's current mental state was still too easily provoked. If not for that, Aaron might have already slit Leone's throat.
*Sigh. I have to get Kiana to leave first, and then...*
Just as Aaron was thinking about his next move, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Kiana.
"...Sigh!"
The moment Kiana tackled him, Aaron heard a static-like noise and a sigh at the same time.
Then, seeing the threads that had just sliced through the air where he'd been standing, Aaron instantly understood what had happened.
"...Ha. You interrupted me again."
Aaron said helplessly, looking at the boy who was warily watching him.
"The thread Teigu. Its direct killing power might not match others, but its utility is a real pain to deal with."
"Well, thanks for the compliment, my man."
Looking at Leone pinned to the ground, Lubbock felt a massive headache coming on.
"Akame, calm down."
Stopping his furious companion, Lubbock said to Aaron.
"My man, my previous offer still stands. But now..."
"This misunderstanding between us has gotten too big. I give up on trying to recruit you."
"How about we just... pretend we never saw each other?"
"Lubbock."
Akame, held back by Lubbock, said to him.
"He injured Mine, too."
"I know. When I saw Mine wasn't providing backup, I guessed she couldn't shoot. But now..."
Looking at Leone pinned to the ground, Lubbock felt completely helpless.
If Leone had only been injured, Lubbock would have used [Infinite Uses: Crosstail]'s threads to pull his comrade back when he first ambushed the pair.
But the problem was, Leone was pinned, and it looked like her Teigu had been taken.
If Lubbock tried to use brute force to drag Leone back with his threads, it would take more strength than usual, and those two over there wouldn't just let him do it.
And even if he did pull her back, the action would definitely make Leone's injuries worse.
Without her belt Teigu, Lubbock couldn't guarantee that his actions wouldn't cause irreparable harm to Leone.
"My man, didn't you go a little overboard?"
"After seeing this reckless young lady, I made a hypothesis."
"Since you were here to ambush the Three Beasts, you couldn't have sent only two Teigu users. Night Raid only has so many Teigu users, and your Teigu is perfect for support. That meant the probability of you showing up was very high."
Flicking the hilt of one of the swords, Aaron spoke coolly.
"I did this precisely because I was considering the possibility that you were nearby, user of the thread Teigu."
"...So this was all to counter me, huh. Fine. We lose this round."
Raising his hands to show he wasn't planning to manipulate his threads, Lubbock said to Aaron.
"Look, man, I can see you don't intend to kill Leone. Just give us our comrade back. After taking her Teigu, she's useless to you, right?"
"Useless? Why would she be useless? There are so many things you can do with a woman with a figure like this after she's been... immobilized. Hey, little sister over there, don't make that face. Night Raid started this, both times."
Spreading his hands, Aaron chuckled.
"Just kidding. As an orphan myself, I hate human traffickers. I'd never do something like that."
"However, I'm not giving this lady back to you so quickly. For one, I don't trust Night Raid—so I need a hostage."
"And for another, me taking her is actually a good thing for her. If your Night Raid intelligence network is working, then you should have received the same message they did."
"Ah. That Esdeath was in the Imperial Capital minutes ago."
"Yes. Esdeath was in the Imperial Capital minutes ago. But... what about *now*?"
"A general who has cut down countless enemies on the battlefield is extremely sensitive to being watched. If it were one of you tracking her, you might not have been noticed."
"But your informants in the capital clearly aren't elites like you. So, with that in mind, think about it..."
"—What are the odds that Esdeath discovered your informant, tortured them, and learned about your plan?"