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End The Reign

01

Test

From my seated position atop a tree, I followed the carriage with my eyes. Not that I was going to do anything, I was just watching it pass by. It was a nice way to pass the time, and it was interesting to see what kind of people were in each carriage.

This one had what looked like group of four merchants. From past experiences, they were probably headed for the Capital in an attempt to make it big.

Something that struck me as strange, however, was the crack located directly in front of me. The crack itself wasn't strange, but how it was growing was. I slowly moved a hand to one of the shortswords positioned at the back of my waist, preparing myself for if my suspicions were true.

And it turned out to be so, as something large erupted from the ground, blocking the path of the merchants. I drew the sword. The Danger Beast was long and cylindrical, and it had no arms or legs. In fact, the only feature It did have was a circular mouth with sharp looking teeth lining the entirety of it.

It may not have looked scary, but this wasn't one you'd want to mess around with.

"G-Ground Worm?!" The merchants exclaimed.

I rose, slightly tightening my grip on the brown hilt.

Thirty millimetre thick skin... this should take one slice...

Positioning myself to the edge of the branch, I bended my legs and took aim.

Here we go, I jumped, angling the sword downwards. The sword made a soft clanking noise as it made contact with a tooth. I put all my weight into forcing the sword down through the brown skin, the sound of spurting blood following me.

When I felt the tip of my black combat boots touch the dirt, I forcefully swung the sword to the right, making a sort of 'L' shape. I brought my left hand to the ground to stabilise myself as I watched the Ground Worm fall backwards.

It hit the ground with a loud thud, kicking up dust. After it settled down, I stood up and took out a white cloth to clean the blade.

"You guys okay?" I asked, walking over to the group.

They stayed motionless for a short moment, until one finally took a step forward to me, "Th-that was..." He started, "That was amazing!"

I sheathed the sword and brought my hand up to my head, "That wasn't even a high Class one, though."

"Regardless," He took my hands in his, "You were able to kill it in one move!"

His hold only strengthened when I attempted to free my hands.

"Miss, where did you learn that skill?"

"..."

The merchant gave me a confused look that quickly changed into a fearful one. That was probably to be expected, since I was basically giving him a death glare, "M-miss?"

"I'm..." I ripped my hands out of his grip and clenched my fist, "... not... a girl," The words came out more aggressively than I had hoped for but he got the idea, quickly apologising and rushing back to the carriage.

"All the time..." I muttered, looking to the ground, "Oh."

My clothes were covered in dust and blood.

"... Filthy..."

Before I was able to complain to myself any more, the group stopped next to me.

"Hey," One of them said, "You need a lift to anywhere? It's the best we can do for saving you."

I pondered for a moment, Well... I do need to go to the Capital, but...

"I'll have to decline," I answered politely.

I scanned the area around me. Aside from seeing forest in every direction, there wasn't much else going on. I was standing in the middle of a small circular clearance, taking a little break from all the walking I had been doing. It was a pretty peaceful day to be honest, a clear blue sky usually meant this.

A rustling sound caught my attention completely. Eyes trained in the direction of the sound, I instinctively grabbed the hilt of one of the blades.

"You're too noisy," I announced, "Show yourself."

A figure sped from the bush with a sword aimed directly at me. I barely had time to bring up my own to block, and I felt the tip of their blade just barely graze off my arm. As the swords clashed, I grabbed for the second shortsword with my left hand. I slashed across as it unsheathed, directing it at their knees to try and disable them.

The attacker jumped back before it connected, giving me the chance to see who it was. Long, black hair and red eyes were the features that stood out most, but this girl wore some sort of black sleeveless dress with a red tie.

"Who are you?" I asked.

No response. The girl rose her sword and gripped it in both hands and I prepared to block her attack.

"Why are you attacking me?" I tried again.

Still nothing. This time, she charged.

I rose both my swords into a cross as she went for a straight thrust. The swords clashed and a sharp metallic sound rung through my ears. Whoever this girl was, she was fast, and she seemed intent in killing me. Instead of going for a disable, I'd need to go for a kill too. I forced her sword upwards and broke the cross, keeping my right sword still to stop hers and bringing down my left one to prepare for an attack of my own.

No... she'll jump back again, I thought, I'll need to do something different.

I pushed her sword to the right and quickly thrust with the left blade. Yet, she somehow managed to spin around the thrust, and used her new gained momentum for a powerful swing to my neck. I ducked under it, swinging at her legs once again. We kept moving back and forth, neither of us being able to land a single hit. From what I had gathered, the girl relied on agility over strength, like me.

Our fighting styles were similar, which likely contributed to this stalemate. We eventually distanced ourselves from each other to try to catch our breaths.

Before we re-engaged, however, another figure emerged from the bush behind the girl. It looked to be another female, with short blonde hair and golden eyes.

"All right, Akame," The person said, "That's enough."

"Wha-?" I started, not knowing what question to asked.

The girl, presumably Akame, nodded her head and sheathed her sword. The other turned to face me and I tensed up, raising my swords.

"Woah," She held her hands up as if she were surrendering, "Can you put those away?"

I gave her a fixed look, deliberating whether or not it was the right move to do so. My gut feeling said no, and my mind said yes. I lowered them, still tense, before finally sheathing them slowly.

"What...?" No correct way of going about asking was able to form in my head.

She seemed to know what I was trying to say, and walked up to me, placing a hand on my arm. This one was quite a fair bit taller than me, "Think of this as a test," She said and smiled, "You've passed."

Without letting me say anything in response, she began dragging me off effortlessly to who knows where. Black-haired girl followed suit, watching me with cautious eyes. I was too tired and confused to argue, so I let this blonde girl drag me.

After about an hour of silence, I finally spoke up.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Leone," She responded, then she rose a hand and pointed to her accomplice, "That's Akame. You're Sidney, right?"

"Y-yeah..." How do they know my name? "So... where exactly are you taking me?"

She turned her head, "To HQ."

"HQ? What for?"

"Night Raid."

My eyes widened. Night Raid was a group of assassins; they were murderers, and I was being taken to their headquarters? Were they going to torture me or something?

"Don't worry, we're not gonna torture you," She said, as if she had read my mind, "We were told to test you to see how good a fighter you were."

"Eh? Why?"

"The boss said that she wanted to track you down and have you join us or something."

I fell silent.

"Before you go on a rant about how we're good for nothing murderers who kill for fun, you should really loo-"

"No," I interrupted, "I wasn't. You guys probably have your reasons as to why you assassinate who you do."

"Oh? I thought you'd be more resistant." She seemed to have the slightest hint of disappointment in her voice.

I looked to Akame, who'd finally stopped eyeing me down, "Well, after literally being dragged for an hour or so, I've kind of given up being resistant. Actually, why are you still dragging me?"

"So you don't run away." She answered instantly.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day...

So I wanted to make an Akame ga Kill! story.

And then I did.

That's the thrilling story of how this came to be.

Anyway, I hope to see you in the next chapter.