"At any rate, humans ge over time based on their as. Truth be told, at the end of the day, equality is just a fantasy. And most of us gh life denying the fact that we live in a meritocracy."— Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, of the Elite

  <><><><>

  ~ If you like the story, please leave a review :)

  <><><><>

  Just then, Esdeath suddenly pointed her sword towards a nearby pile of rubble.

  "Whoever's hiding there, e out now, or I'll attack."

  Roy and Kurome also turheir attention to the rubble. They, too, sensed someone hiding there.

  "Impressive. I thought I was well-hidden. As expected of the Empire's stro," a man's voice said as he emerged from the rubble. He wore a hooded coat, his face obscured in the shadows.

  He hadn't po get involved in their flict. In his mind, having Esdeath eliminate Night Raid would be beneficial. He didn't sider the possibility of Night Raid winning.

  "Now that you know our secret, you're not going anywhere," Roy decred coldly.

  He instantly reized the man as Syura, the son of Minister Ho.

  Roy had already marked this man for Death.

  In the manga, Syura raved individual who had orchestrated the assault and murder of Bols's wife and daughter while they were visiting Bols's grave.

  He had also set his sights on Kurome. And to top it off, he was the son of the corrupt Minister Ho.

  For all these reasons, Syura was a dead man walking.

  "Oh?" Syura sneered, looking down at Roy with disdain. "You think you stop me?"

  "Teigu, [Shambha], activate!" he shouted.

  A purple magic circle appeared beh their feet.

  "Trying to teleport us away? How amusing..." Roy scoffed.

  He keleportation magic. Even if Syura mao teleport them, Roy could easily teleport back.

  Moreover...

  "Too slow!"

  Roy swiftly scooped up Esdeath and Kurome, carrying them out of the magic circle's range before it could activate.

  Shambha's activation time was too slow. Although it only took two or three seds to teleport, it was still ay in a battle against Roy.

  Esdeath had fallen victim to it in the inal story only because she was unfamiliar with the Teigu's ability.

  Syura was taken aback, but Roy didn't hesitate. He appeared before Syura in a fsh.

  His ice rose sword sliced through Syura's neck without mercy.

  "!!!" Syura gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief as his body was instantly encased in ice.

  Esdeath stared at Roy's ice rose sword, a mixture of surprise aement in her eyes.

  He could trol ice, just like her.

  She had chosen well. Her gaze intensified.

  Sensing her inteare, Roy turo her. "Esdeath, you go baow. No matter the oute tomorrow, we'll be together, won't we?" he said, his voice filled with fidend a hint of tenderness.

  Esdeath smiled and nodded. "Indeed."

  She summoned her dragon Danger Beast and flew away.

  Roy and Kurome returo the Night Raid hideout.

  <><><><>

  Wheher Night Raid members returned, Roy informed them of his agreement with Esdeath.

  They were stunned.

  Najenda frowned.

  She knew Esdeath's strength better than anyone.

  A direct frontation with Esdeath was a risky move, in her opinion.

  However, before she had returned from headquarters, she had received orders to respect Roy's decisions.

  This put her in a difficult position.

  Of course, those orders were Roy's doing.

  He had been trolling the leader of the Revolutionary Army from the start.

  When he first arrived in this world, he had set his sights oeigu.

  Teigu were powerful ons. Esdeath's Teigu, "Demoract," and Akame's Teigu, "O Killer: Murasame" were parable to Sacred Gears, and the other Teigu were also on par with powerful artifacts.

  Roy had taken trol of the Revolutionary Army to turn this world into his own domain.

  Once he figured out how to create Teigu, he would have access to an endless supply of powerful ons.

  This would be crucial for the development of the Lucifuge .

  In the end, Najenda agreed to Roy's pn.

  The ht Raid members didn't object either. They knew how strong Roy was.

  And even without Roy, Akame and Kurome together could potentially defeat Esdeath.

  ...

  ...

  The day, Night Raid set off for the designated battleground.

  Esdeath and the remaining Jaegers were already waiting for them.

  The Jaegers were a sorry sight now. Seryu and Dr. Stylish were dead, and Kurome had defected to Roy's side.

  Only Wave, Run, and Bols remained.

  Night Raid, oher hand, was at full strength.

  Not only were all the inal members alive, but they also had Kurome, Saeko, and Roy. Even Najenda had joihem.

  "Yo, Esdeath, you're early," Roy greeted her with a smile.

  "I couldn't wait to defeat you and keep you by my side forever," Esdeath replied, her cheeks slightly flushed.

  "Oh? You're quite fident, Esdeath."

  "Let's discuss the rules then."

  "Since you only have three members, I'll also send out three. We'll have one-oches."

  "And finally, we'll have our duel. How does that sound?"

  "No problem," Esdeath agreed without hesitation.

  To her, the oute of the matches between their subordinates didn't matter.

  Her battle against Roy would decide the victor.

  But some appetizers before the main course wouldn't hurt.

  "Bols, you go first," Esdeath instructed.

  "Yes, Captain!" Bols stepped forward.

  His Teigu was "Rubite," a fmethrower-like on that could unleash iinguishable fmes and even unch magma.

  Its trump card was a rge-scale self-destru, incredibly powerful but also destructive to the Teigu itself.

  "Who wants to fight him?" Roy asked the Night Raid members.

  "I..."

  "I'll do it!" Akame decred, interrupting But.

  But shrugged and stepped back.

  "Alright, Akame, you're up. Remember, no killing," Roy reminded her.

  He didn't dislike Bols. He wasn't ily evil, so there was o kill him.

  Akame nodded and stepped forward.

  Perhaps it was fate, but Akame, just like in the inal story, faced Bols.

  However, this time, Bols, didn't have Kurome's corpse puppets to support him, and Akame was far strohan before.

  The oute redictable. Within moments, the match was decided.

  Akame's bde was at Bols's neck. A slight nick, and Bols would be dead.

  "You win the first round. Wave, you're ," Esdeath said calmly, unfazed by Bols's swift defeat.

  "Yes, Captain!" Wave aowledged.

  Wave's personality was simir to Tatsumi's, and his Teigu lica of Incursio called "Grand Chariot."

  Although its performance was inferior to Incursio, Wave's strength was reized by Esdeath.

  Seeing Wave step forward, But immediately volunteered.

  "I'll take this one."

  "Go ahead," Roy nodded.

  Both of them wielded armor-type Teigu, and Grand Chariot was modeled after Incursio.

  This was a battle of fate.

  However, in terms of raw power, But had the edge.

  Wave was still young, and Incursio's performance surpassed that of Grand Chariot.

  As expected, But emerged victorious.

  Run, the st remaining member of the Jaegers, stepped forward.

  "Then I'll be the challenger," he decred, activating his Teigu and taking to the sky.

  His Teigu was "Mastema," a pair of white wings that allowed him to fly and unch feather projectiles. Its trump card could reflect projectiles.

  With his aerial adva was difficult for ordinary fighters to reach him.

  "I'll hahis. He's in the air. Only I reach him," Mine decred fidently, holding up her Teigu, "Pumpkin."

  Roy, however, shook his head. "No, Mine. His Teigu deflect ratacks. It pletely ters your Pumpkin."

  Mine was unvinced.

  "Don't worry. We'll leave this to Kurome," Roy said, patting Mine's head and turning to Kurome. "Kurome, you're up."

  "Yes, Onii-!" Kurome replied happily.

  She was eager to help Roy.

  She activated her Devil wings and took to the sky.

  pared to Run's Teigu, her Devil wings were far mile.

  Without his aerial advantage, Run was quickly defeated.

  "Cp, cp, cp!"

  "What aing battle! This is far more eaining than the martial arts tour," Esdeath praised with a smile.

  "Now, it's our turn."

  Roy stepped forward with a grin.

  "Go, Roy!"

  "Roy, defeat her!"

  "Onii-, you do it!"

  ...

  ...

  The Night Raid members cheered for him.

  "The me experience your strength," Esdeath said, drawing her rapier and pointing it at Roy.

  Roy summoned his ice rose sword.

  In the instant, they both vanished.

  g! g! g!

  Csh! Csh! Csh!

  The two swordsmen cshed, their bdes a blur of motion.

  Esdeath's swordsmanship was honed on tless battlefields, a purely lethal style with immense power behind every strike.

  Roy's swordsmanship, however, was a culmination of various styles, incorporating the strengths of each.

  His movements were effit and precise, each strike carryiating force.

  His mastery of Breathing Styles further enhanced his swordsmanship.

  Their intense duel amazed the onlookers.

  "They're s! I 't eveheir movements!"

  "Their swordsmanship alone is incredible, and they haven't eveheir Teigu yet!"

  "If Roy uses that ice giant teique from before, he should be able to defeat Esdeath."

  "They both use ice!"

  ...

  Esdeath, realizing that her swordsmanship was no match for Roy's, leaped back, creating distaween them.

  "Your swordsmanship is truly impressive, Roy," she admitted with admiration.

  "Haha, yours isn't bad either, Esdeath-san," Roy replied with a smile.

  "Then how about this..."

  Esdeath waved her hand, juring tless ice spikes that shot towards Roy.

  Roy chuckled.

  "I do that too!"

  "Ice Breathing, First Form: Flog Ice Bdes!"

  He swung his sword, unleashing a barrage of ice projectiles that flew towards the ining spikes like a flock of birds.

  The ice projectiles and spikes collided.

  A cloud of ice mist filled the air, but her attack could overe the other.

  Esdeath leaped into the air and snapped her fingers.

  A massive ice sphere, about a hundred meters in diameter, materialized above her, blog the sunlight.

  She thehe ice sphere hurtling towards Roy like a meteor.

  Roy smirked and raised his hand.

  "Secret Art: Twilight Snowfall!"

  The ground shook.

  A massive ice mountaied from the earth, intercepting the falling ice sphere.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  The tip of the ice mountain pierced the sphere, shattering it into tless pieces.

  Esdeath then jured a massive ice pilr and thrust it towards the ice mountain.

  However, the ice pilr shattered upon tact with the mountain, like an egg hitting a rock.

  Esdeath's ice was no match for Roy's. It was on a pletely different level.

  Esdeath nded, realizing that her ice attacks were iive.

  "Roy, you truly are strong. It seems I'll have to use my trump card. I developed this teique just for you," she decred, her eyes filled with determination.

  <><><><>

  This was the first time Esdeath had entered an oppo who could match her strength. her her swordsmanship nor her ice attacks could defeat Roy.

  However, during their first enter, frustrated by her inability to catch Roy, she had developed a eique.

  It was Mahapadma.

  In the inal story, Esdeath had created this teique to prevent Tatsumi from esg.

  This time, she had developed it to capture Roy.

  Roy, hearing her words, uood her iions and prepared himself.

  He knew about Mahapadma. It wouldn't be difficult to ter it.

  Esdeath's Mahapadma could freeze time and space within a radius of several dozeers.

  He could simply escape the area of effect before she activated it, just like Akame had done in the inal story.

  Or he could freeze himself.

  He estimated that Mahapadma's time-stop effect sted for less than five seds.

  So, as long as he could withstand Esdeath's attacks for five seds, he would be fine.

  Roy chose the sed option.

  As Esdeath charged towards him, Roy smirked and uttered a few words.

  "Secret Art: Millennium Ice Prison."

  This teique was inally meant to trap others, but this time, he used it on himself.

  He was instantly encased in ice.

  Esdeath activated her trump card.

  "Mahapadma!"

  Time and space froze. All movement ceased.

  Even the birds flying in the sky were frozen mid-flight.

  Only Esdeath could move freely.

  However, seeing Roy encased in ice, she was momentarily stunned.

  She had to break the ice to harm him.

  Realizing this, she didn't waste any time.

  She jured an ice spear and thrust it towards Roy.

  But it was useless. The ice spear shattered upon tact with Roy's ice, like an egg hitting a rock.

  Esdeath frowned.

  But before she could think of another solution, Mahapadma's time-stop effect wore off.

  Roy, though unsure what had just happened, khat Esdeath's trump card had been iive against him.

  "How did you ter my teique, Roy?" Esdeath asked, fused.

  This was the first time she had used Mahapadma, yet Roy had encased himself in ice beforehand, as if he had anticipated her move.

  And Mahapadma could only be used once a day.

  Roy deactivated his ice prison and chuckled at her question.

  Could he tell her that he knew about her teique beforehand?

  "I just had a feeling," he replied with a shrug. "I didn't know what was going to happen, but I sensed danger."

  "A feeling, huh?" Esdeath wasn't satisfied with his answer, but there was no other expnation.

  "Since your trump card couldn't defeat me, does that mean I win?" Roy asked with a smile.

  "Hmph! If you wao admit defeat, you'll have to beat me," Esdeath decred, her pride unwavering as she pointed her sword at Roy.

  It seemed he had to pletely defeat her to quer this woman.

  "Very well," Roy sighed dramatically.

  He held out his hand.

  "Secret Art: Ice 9-Dragons."

  Nine massive ice dragons materialized in the sky, r silently.

  They encircled Esdeath, ready to strike.

  <><><><>

  Support & Read 18 Advanced Chapters. Ahead of the rest!

  https://p-atreon./dragonnx

  (Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

  Apply this dist code : C8BD2

  There is 9 Exg Fanfics already avaible on my Patreon!