Back again! Finally! Missed me?

First of all: I hope you all spent a merry Christmas with your families. Also: Happy New Year to each of you :)

Now, I could complain about live, love and more. I could try explaining this delay. But you´ve waited long enough. And I don´t think anyone is here to read about my personal problems :P Therefore, I´ll spare you xD

This time there were no real questions. So instead I´d just like to thank each of you for the support. And a big shoutout to my Beta who has to deal with me. He´s got nerves of steel xD

Just for "RIP fanfic": I try my very best :P

Winner of the competition: "anotherboarduser"! Shoutout!

Now enjoy :)

DISCLAIMER:
I DON´T OWN ANY RIGHTS TO THE "AKAME GA KILL"-FRANCHISE. THE MANGA WAS WRITTEN BY TAKAHIRO AND ILLUSTRATED BY TETSUYA TASHIRO.
THIS FANFIC HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN FOR PROFIT!
IT MAY CONTAINS SPOILER!
IT´LL INCLUDE BRUTAL CONSIDERED SCENES!

Chapter 11: Kill the threat

Slowly, her monstrous body wriggled through the woods. She felt the hunger grow stronger with every passing second. There had been no prey for her for quite some time now, as any kind of living being seemed to avoid wandering her territory at all. She was the queen of this forest, and everybody was aware of that fact after they found the umpteenth crushed skeletons left behind.

Nonetheless, the creature couldn´t be proud of it, simply because she didn´t understand the logic of other living beings. But even if she were able to, she most likely wouldn´t care.

The only important thing for this beast was to survive. But for that, she´d need some nourishment. And thus, she roamed the northern woods in search of anything which could satiate it.

It was then a distant sound picked her interest, making her stop her body´s movement for a second. Seemingly, her search would end pretty soon...

Driven by her hunger, the giant monster changed her direction towards the sound, eager to get a hold of her still living food...

Tatsumi and Esdeath

The boy sighed in frustration. Up until now, he hadn´t been able to find any signs of being near their prey. No, it was even worse: He hadn´t even found clues of its existence... And Esdeath was of no help at all...

He knew about her reputation as an exceptional hunter; she had tracked him down by herself during his attempted escape after all. But right now, she made nothing at all to help him with his search. In fact, she just surveyed every move of his closely. He felt like a student being supervised by his mentor during training...

"Have you found any tracks?"
Slowly, he turned his head. The youth knew that this question was futile. He assumed the answer after all.

"Nope."

"Have you even looked for any tracks...?"

"This is your hunt. There´s no way I´m gonna´ help you. But so far you haven´t missed any clues. I have to admit you´re quite a good hunter, but there´s still a lot for you to learn..." the General stated matter-of-factly.

For a short moment, Tatsumi thought to have heard a slight change in her voice. Something was making her sound... pleased? But, right now, he had no time to be distracted by such little things.

"Could you please start helping me out instead of behaving like a teacher? I´d like to find this thing as soon as possible."

"But I am your teacher, for your skills are inferior to mine."
A mocking grin, directed right at Tatsumi, formed on her face. Her beloved had quite some way to go, if he hadn´t noticed the same presence she had sensed about a minute ago. As expected, he had failed that little test...

"Either you prove it, or stop mocking my skills...!"

"Fine... Gletscherwand!"
With just a snap of her fingers, a thick wall of ice dashed forward out of the ground right next to her surprised lover.

The wall rose just in time to shield Tatsumi from the gigantic Danger Beast which had leapt out of the bushes to his left in order to devour him completely. With a dull impact, the beast´s body hit the wall of ice, bouncing it back at least several meters away. No traces of the impact could be seen before the ice dissolved into a sparkling cloud of dust, leaving a startled youth behind, trying to process what had just happened.

A threatening hiss brought the boy back to the present, making him properly look at the creature for the first time. Before his eyes laid a snake-like creature at least fifteen meters in length. Its body as wide as a trunk. The poisonous green of its scaled body made Tatsumi feel sick to his stomach. Apparently, the impact was fierce enough to make it stumble over and under itself, as its softer underbelly was presented in front of him.

The youth had never before seen a creature like this one. He didn´t even dream, much less assume something like this could exist. After all, it didn´t resemble any kind of Danger Beast he had heard of before.

Watching the being before his eyes carefully, Tatsumi slowly pulled his claymore out of its sheath. He was pretty sure there was no need for him to go all out and use the abilities of his Teigu.

The muscles in his body began tensing up as that thing started to move, revealing its upper parts which had been buried under its massive body. To the youth´s shock, two toned arms pushed a human-like form up from the cold ground, revealing a naked female upper torse, colored the same sickish green as the scales. The beast´s face was that of a beautiful woman. Tatsumi had to admit it to be quite charming, even though, it wasn´t as sightly as Esdeath´s.

Clearly angered, a thin membrane spread aggressively around the monster´s neck, supporting a wide open jaw lined with poison-covered fangs and a long forked tongue. Undoubtedly lethal, Tatsumi forced himself to tear his imagination away from what would happen if just one drop of that venom entered his body. It hissed loudly as it rose, at least two meters above Esdeath's own tall figure, threatening his life.

Tatsumi stared right into the beast´s black slits, which were following his every movement. He somehow had the feeling Esdeath wouldn´t aid him in this fight, unless he was about to die. But he had no intention to play with that option again. He had to deal with this thing alone.

Without another moment of hesitation, the youth dashed forward, trying to surprise his opponent. The monster´s tail, powerful enough to end this fight with one hit, rushed at him at high speed. However, the boy jumped high into the air and counter-slashed down at the head of the beast.

But much to his surprise, a scaled arm got in the way just in time, which was hard and tough enough to deflect his blade perfectly. Using his momentum to perform a backflip, Tatsumi, in reverse, barely evaded the sharp claws of the beast´s right hand himself.

"Its scales are hardened enough to block any slashes with a sword. You either have to hit its weak points or use brute force to pierce its skin. You should think more about the abilities of your opponent before you attack," Esdeath remarked matter-of-factly.

"Thanks for that advice after my attack failed! I found out that much by myself!"
Tatsumi couldn´t hide his annoyance any longer. If she wasn´t going to help, he was fine with it, but he just couldn´t stand her gloating attitude regarding his mistake!

Nonetheless, the boy knew she was right. Far too often, he had been rushing into battles without thinking, and sure enough, it delivered him right up towards brink of death more than just once. He wouldn´t always be that lucky...

Contrary to `her´ massive size, the monster had proven to be astoundingly fast. Given the way it could move the lower body, Tatsumi assumed the junction between `her´ upper torso and serpentine tail to be the most muscular one. A critical hit there should slow the beast down badly. But at the same time, it would be the most dangerous course of action. If he were to be hit by its tail, he would be out cold for sure. No, just having his blade caught in-between those thick muscles would seal his fate.

He had to end this with his next move, if possible...

`Use brute force...´
It was by then Esdeath´s words came to mind. It was true he had to think about his actions more and evaluate every possible solution, but sometimes, the right answer was just that simple. Sometimes, it was safer to rely on strength alone.

And one of those moments was right now.

Prepared for his enemy´s counter, the youth rushed forward once more. As predicted, the creature´s muscular tail aimed at his torso again, trying crush most of his body in one go.

But without much of an effort, the boy evaded it.

Tatsumi was well aware he had to use his full momentum and a lot of pressure to pierce the beast´s scales. But, according to the laws of physics, he knew he wouldn´t be able to add extra pressure to his attack. He was, after all, just a weak human in comparison to that thing before him and, furthermore, his Teigu wouldn´t be able to simply enhance his body´s strength. In one motion, he had to pierce the body from beneath and pierce through the vitals, evading the follow-up claws from this monster.

Most likely, this would be his only chance to win this fight without the help of the general. He knew she´d fight if he asked – no, begged her to, but he also knew it´d come at a cost. And he wouldn´t give her that favor so easily...

Confident, the youth rushed on, shirking from the creatures razor-sharp claws, trying to separate the boy´s head from his torso right after `her´ tail had missed him.

That was his chance. In order to attack him with its claws, the monster had been forced to bend down low enough to allow Tatsumi to reach its vitals from underneath. With full force, he drove his claymore right into the beasts body, causing loud shrieks of agony and pain to erupt. But he pushed on regardless, causing the gigantic body to start twitching, losing the fight against the Grim Reaper little by little.

Fully aware of his impending victory, Tatsumi used his chance to throw his body to the right, rolling out of harm´s way, right before the dying beast collapsed on the snowy ground, driving his claymore even deeper into the massive body, right through `her´ spine and back.

"Well done. You actually observed your opponent and decided on the best course of action."
Extending her right hand, the general helped her lover back to his feet. Finally, he seemed to have learned the lection she wanted to teach him so badly. Finally, he had begun observing his foe before rushing into a fight blindly.
"And you actually listened to me, too..."

"Thanks..."
Even though he didn´t like it, Tatsumi had to admit Esdeath was right. Nonetheless, there still was something, bugging the boy.
"But what exactly is that thing? I´ve never even heard of such a creature before..."

"These creatures are called Desert Demons. Normally, they only appear in the south-eastern deserts where they can easily hide beneath the sand dunes, waiting for their prey. They are poikilothermic creatures," the huntress explained.

"Poik-what...?"
The youth didn´t understand a thing. He wasn´t stupid by any means, but that term simply exceeded the things he had been taught thus far. He couldn´t even remember having read this term in a book before...

"Poikilothermic. That means their blood heat depends on the ambient temperature around them. The colder their environment, the lower their body heat. They become less active. If it´s too cold, they die."

"But if that´s the case, how could this thing survive here then?"
Curious, he asked her further.

"For once, I have to admit I can´t answer this question too," Esdeath responded with a frown.
"It could be a genetic mutation... There is also the possibility it escaped from smugglers... But I don´t think that´s the case here. Not this far up in the north. Normally, I´d order someone to examine it. But this time, there´s no one around, and we can´t take it back to the capital either... Most likely, we won´t ever find an answer to that..."

Unsatisfied with their knowledge, the pair had no other chance as to return to the village. Their work had been done. There was no point in wasting more time...

`That´s really bugging me. How could such a thing get to this place and survive in an environment, contrary to its needs... Maybe I can delve deeper into this in my personal time...´

A laboratory somewhere north of the Capital

"What an unstilish mistake of mine..."
Gesturing wildly, a tall man wearing a lab coat stormed through his laboratory. The white streaks among his pitch-black hair made the man look much older than he actually was.

"This shouldn´t have happened..."
Halting in front of an empty cage with broken locks hanging from the bolts, the man tore his hair out in frustration.
"This stilish experiment of mine seems to have fled. Now, I won´t even be able to conduct my research..."

Cursing this mess, the man turned around and left the laboratory, not caring about the whereabouts of his experiment in any way. As long as it didn´t terrorize the Empire, there was no reason to fear any consequences at all for his illegal researches...

Tatsumi´s village

Their return was welcomed by a festive atmostphere, brimming with joy and relief. Upon seeing them coming back unharmed, everybody knew there was nothing to fear anymore. Whatever had caused all of them to be wary of was gone.

Having fulfilled his duties, Tatsumi was sure the past would come to rest now. His mind became somewhat at ease for the first time since his friends´ death, and he bid farewell to the assembled villagers for now.

He would have loved to stay for a bit longer, but he knew they had to continue their journey to the capital. Therefore, he promised himself to return once he would have the possibility to do so.

"Ready to go?"
The general had waited silently for her beloved to bid farewell. She had no clue why it was that important to him, but she knew it wouldn´t be wise to interfere.

"Yes," Tatsumi responded as he finally separated from the elder.
"As long as you can guarantee the safety of the village, you can call Gorgoth here."

"Agreed."
Pulling the whistle out of her uniform´s pocket, the general didn´t hesitate to call their flying mount.

In response to his master´s call, a loud roar could be heard from high above, making the villagers back away in fright. Slowly, the flapping of wings grew louder as the dragon descended through the clouds towards the earth until he landed right in front of the general, his back turned towards the anxious villagers.

After strapping their luggage to the saddle and mounting Gorgoth, Tatsumi gazed towards the villagers one last time, promising aloud he would return, before the pair leapt into the air, continuing their way towards the capital.

Western border of the Empire

The sun stood at the zenith, the temperatures were nearly unbearable for almost any human being. Nonetheless, none of the soldiers complained. They had been given a task by their beloved emperor and they would never disappoint him.

"Colonel Takamori, sir, we´ve just closed the encirclement!"
Saluting his superior, a young soldier of the Empire reported their newest achievement.

Colonel Saigo Takamori was a grey-haired man of 31 years-old. Being a bit smaller than average in height, he wasn´t really physically imposing, nonetheless, his posture demanded respect from anyone facing him. His muscular body was tanned from lots and lots of hours of training, while his blue eyes exuded the experience of uncountable battles.

Normally, he wasn´t too keen on the pressure and responsibility of his position, but with his sense of duty and loyalty he felt towards his emperor, he just couldn´t bring himself to retire.

"Finally!"
Hunched over an enlarged map of the entire eastern lands, the colonel didn´t bother to turn around.

The chase for those partisans had been dragging on for weeks. Up until now, they had caused quite a lot of trouble for the Empire, starting commotions all over the eastern parts of the Empire. Most likely they were affiliated with the rebellion...

That was the reason he and his men had been dispatched by Prime Minister Honest on behalf of his majesty Makoto weeks ago. Their mission was simple: find and exterminate any troublemakers in the west. But that´s easier said than done... Given the large area, and the fact he had only 4000 men at hand, it proved to be an extremely difficult task to find them.

Driven by their sense of duty, admirably, not one of his soldiers had faltered. And finally, they had managed to rout them together... Not a single one of those pests would be allowed to escape. Even though he hated to be that gruesome and ruthless, the colonel had his orders.

And there was just no way in hell he would violate them.

"Tell the commanding officers to close in from all sides simultaneously. Don´t let any-one escape. You´re dismissed."

He could hear the messenger run on the dry earth outside his tent, when he finally let out a sigh.
`Finally, this task is over. I can´t wait to return to my beloved Capital.´

Slowly, the colonel rose and turned around. He grabbed his Teigu in shape of a spear, being well wrapped up in layers of cloth, and went on to supervise the execution of his orders.

A hidden base somewhere south-east to the Capital

"Shit! And you´re a hundred percent sure about that, Lubbock?!"
Leone could barely believe the information they received. Every single one of the assembled members was shaken to the core, icluding the person she had been shouting at just a second ago.

A green-themed, pretty short young man, with matching shoulder-length hair and coat, and clad with blue jeans and a white shirt, serving as Night Raid´s top spy and messenger.

Lubbock. Normally, his attitude was rather easy-going and optimistic, but his expression this time was the complete opposite...

"Affirmative. Confirmed by Najenda herself..." The concerned youngster gravely explained,

"Esdeath and her army have decimated the Northern forces, and made an example of their civilians. The rebellion has lost one of its most powerful allies..."

"We´ve clearly underestimated her..."
Being the first one to regain his calm, Bulat drew all of the attention at himself.

As a former Imperial Officer, he struck an imposing figure in his mid-twenties. Sheer hard work, an uncountable number of battles and hellish daily training, forged his body into a muscular frame. Being bigger than the average man, Bulat looked even more imposing. As his skin-thight black shirt ahowcased his figure, the `One-Hundred Men Slayer´ moniker fit him just right. Just like Lubbock, though, his usually cheerful behavior was nowhere to be seen.

Looking down at the table, most of his face was darkened by the shadow of his black hair, which he wore in a combed up, heart-shaped there with crossed arms made him look quite frightening.

"We should have expected the worst right from the start, given we´re talking about that demon in human shape..."

"She´s human nonetheless. And once I cut her with Murasame, she´s dead!"

Tightening the grip around the sheath of her Teigu, `One-Cut Killer: Murasame´, the Vice-Leader of Night Raid spoke aloud, her voice as hard and emotionless as her face.
Only the red orbs of the teen emanated a single emotion: hatred.

Normally, someone wouldn´t believe such a beautiful young girl like Akame to such a dark expression and bitter voice. Her long, smooth black hair, silky skin, petite face and short black dress made her resemble a high-class doll, matching her relatively short height.

However, contrary to her appearance, she once was one of, if not the best assassin working for the Empire. But having recognized its true corruption and evil, she defected into Night Raid months ago. And now she was the rebellion movement´s trump card. Also, given the power of her Teigu, she was the only one with a chance of killing the Empire´s strongest warrior.

"That may be right, but don´t rush things. Right now, we don´t stand a chance against her."
Even though Lubbock hated to admit it, he knew they were far too weak right now, either individually or as a group. Back in the day, before both of them defected, when he worked as an Imperial Officer under General Najenda´s command, he had once seen the full abilities of the `Ice Queen´. Just thinking about it made him shudder in fear.
"Per Najenda´s direct orders, we are not to engage her directly for now. We still have to pave the way for the Revolutionary Army by killing as many of those monsters in human shape as possible. Esdeath will be our target, once we got the backup for it."

His suggestion was met with quiet disapproval, though they didn't show an outright rejection to it. They were not an army, but assassins, and they preferred going for their target in the most efficient manner possible. Every single one of them was tremendously skilled, capable of taking dozens, if not hundreds of decorated soldiers alone, but they stood no chance against their most powerful foe right now.

Furthermore, the return of the `Empire´s Strongest´ would definitely complicate things on that end. Since Great-General Budo, the only other living person, being said to be on par with Esdeath´s strength, rarely left the palace, it gave them room to breathe and , with Esdeath to worry about, their situation would most likely change. They had to be even more careful in the future...

Above the Capital

With the setting sun illuminating their way back, the two mismatched lovers had reached their destination. From above, the Capital looked even more imposing than looking up from the ground. Tatsumi couldn´t believe the sheer size of the city beneath them; now he had an actual horizon to compare its entire picked his interest the most was the giantic palace, which was getting closer with every flap of Gorgoth´s wings.

"Hold on tight!" Esdeath said without looking back.
"We´re going to land."

Following this advice, Tatsumi held on tightly to the general´s waist, not wanting to fall off. For him, it also meant feeling up the perfectly toned, yet still femininely soft waist of hers, as well as inhaling the chilly scent from her hair. Slowly, Gorgoth descended, until he landed on a large place right in front of the Imperial palace, right among a group of astounded palace guards. Never before someone had landed on the back of a dragon inside the inner walls of the palace. Normally, that would carry a harsh penalty, perhaps deserving of even an execution on the spot, but given the identity of the person on the dragon´s back, none of the guards dared to make a move. They simply hoped nothing bad would happen to them.

Without so much as even glancing to the guards, the pair dismounted from the dragon, which immediately leapt into the air once they had gotten off of its back.

"You!"
With authority, Esdeath pointed directly at one of the guards. Instantly, the poor man´s whole body began to shiver.
"Go and tell the Emperor that General Esdeath has arrived, and is on her way towards the throne room."

Technically, Esdeath lacked the authority to announce herself to the Emperor, even in this indirect manner. The Emperor was supposed to summon her himself, only then she would be allowed to march in. However, clearly, no one had the balls to even think mentioning this to her, much less reprimanding her attitude or pointing out that only the Great General held direct authority over the Imperial Guard. Therefore, the man she pointed to hurriedly turned around and delivered her message.

"What should I do while you´re meeting the Emperor...?" Tatsumi asked, already dreding the answer.

"What a dumb question. You´re obviously coming with me!"

Unable to reply to that, Tatsumi simply started tailing the General, not noticing the glances filled with pity from the remaining guards around them...

Explanations:

- "Gletscherwand" = "Glacier Wall"

- Colonel Saigo Takamori

Age: 31

Height: 1.75m (5ft 9)

- Lubbock

Age: teens

Height: 1.65m (5ft 5)

- Bulat

Age: mid-twenties

Height: 1.85m (6ft 1)

- Akame

Age: teens

Height: 1.64m (5ft 4)

That´s it for today. But the next chapter is already in progress. And I try keeping my good resolutions: I wanna write at least 200 words a day xD.

Additionally to the winner of the competition, this Chapter contained my second OC: "Colonel Saigo Takamori" by "crow woyzeck".

As always:
Feel free to ask questions and tell me your opinions. Feel free to review.
Feel free to send in your (OC-)requests.

Until next time,

Marcel M.