Akame Ga Kill - Split The Earth In Two, Quake

Chapter Forty Three: To Save Her From Herself

Across the forest, Akame and Wave are circling each other, looking for an opening in the other's defenses. "Just as I thought, she doesn't have any opening. She's definitely Kurome's sister. Then there's no other way...", Wave thinks as they both suddenly stop circling each other. The silence between the two is suddenly cut short as Wave shouts, "Here I come, Akame!!!", as he rushes head first at the assassin. He dashes in at a remarkable speed with his right arm pulled back, ready to punch Akame as he gets near her. As he throws his first punch, Akame side-steps the attack and goes for an attack of her own: a slice across the thinner part of his armor covering his abs. This attack does nothing to him as he exclaims, "What kind of idiot are you!? That katana of yours can't cut through my armor!!!" Akame doesn't let this comment phase her as Wave goes for a swift kick with his right leg. As she ducks under the attack, she slices across his armor again, causing the boy to let out a laugh before unleashing an onslaught of punches on the assassin. She continues to dodge his attacks before weaving her way through the attacks and landing another strike across his abs, then retreating with three back-flips. "Why is she still trying to cut me? I don't know what she's thinking, but now it's my turn!", he thinks before leaping up into the air. As he reaches the peak of his jump, he looks down and thinks, "I'll destroy her with a single blow!" He then uses the power of his Imperial Arm to come crashing down with all his might, shattering the ground with the force of the impact. His attack fails to meet its mark, however, as Akame dodges up into the air. She then uses the debris in the air as a backboard to launch herself at him, shouting, "It won't matter how large a radius it has if your attacks are so easily read! Don't underestimate my ability!!" As she flies past him, he feels another slash across his armor, causing his eyes to widen as he thinks, "What the... She keeps attacking the same spot over and over again... Don't tell me..!!" Once Akame lands a few feet behind him, she says, "That's right, your armor may be durable, but you should remember that my weapon is an Imperial Arm as well. It'll take a few tries, but if I keep at it, I'll eventually crack even the strongest of armor..." Akame gives the shocked warrior a stern glare before saying, "Long ago, a dear comrade of mine was killed by this same method, so I know firsthand that it'll work. This strategy is fool proof." Wave looks down at the fresh gash in his armor as Akame says, "If I recall, you landed that blow on me when we met at Kyoroch. That was only because I was in a rush to get to the Cathedral, so you only got an opening because I was trying to avoid a fight. But now...you've got my complete, undivided attention. So I won't have any issues dodging your attacks. Eventually, my slashes will chip away at your facade and split open that armor of yours." Akame returns to her usual stance, readying her blade before saying, "Given these circumstances, your defeat is inevitable." "My defeat...is inevitable..? Yeah right! You're not gonna beat me with something like that!!!", Wave shouts before charging at Akame again, preparing to completely obliterate her with all his might. He throws another devastating punch, but she ducks under it again before slashing at him again. Her attack lands perfectly on the gash in his armor, continuing to carve out his armor. As he continues to throw punches, Akame continues to evade his attempts to hit her. With each and every dodge, she strikes his armor right in its new weak point, causing the gash in his armor to grow with each hit. Wave continues to lose his cool, leading to his powerful attacks to become even more predictable than usual. With his powerful blows failing to meet their mark each and every time, Akame's attacks, however, continue to hit their mark. As they leap from the ground, their battle continues in the trees, both of them jumping from branch to branch. Akame lands yet another strike on Wave's armor before looking to his legs and thinking, "So that's how it is... that Imperial Arm... The area directly behind the knees are more vulnerable compared to the rest of the armor..." She observes his movements further as she dodges his attacks before thinking, "As expected, hitting that part of the armor is easier said than done... My only course of action is to do what I've been planning from the start... I'll come at him head-on!" Though she knew her plan might not turn out as she hoped, as she analyzed the situation, she decided to go with the plan the thought would be the best way of attack. With yet another strike from Akame's lethal blade landing perfectly on the heavily weakened gash in his armor, Wave grits his teeth as she retreats yet again. "Damn it all!! She really is outta my league... All I need is one hit! Then it'll all be over...", he thinks to himself as he goes for a quick punch. Akame dodges under his attack, slashing him as she moves past him. "I'm throwing everything and the kitchen sink at her, but every time she just dodges it without any effort...", he thinks to himself before landing on the ground. He looks over his shoulder to see Akame standing up on one of the tree branches, glaring down at him without any emotion in her eyes. "She isn't normal in the slightest! Who in their right mind can remain this calm in the midst of a battle like this!? Is this, just how much stronger she is? Is this the gap in our battle experience..?", he thinks to himself as he begins to panic. As his courage begins to fade, rage suddenly takes over his mind as he thinks, "Fuck that!!! I can't lose here!! I'll beat her, no matter what!!!" He leaps toward the assassin, rage filling his fist with unbelievable power and speed as she leaps toward him as well. In a quick blur, she passes by the warrior, slashing his armor one last time before the armor busts open, revealing his skin underneath! "My armor.. Grand Chariot... it's been...", he begins to think before his Imperial Arm subsides and his armor disappears. He looks down to Grand Chariot's key to see it's heavily cracked in the center of the blade. "No, I can't let it end here... I won't lose... I can't lose!", he thinks as his hands seem to tremble at the sight of his almost broken blade. His grip on his nearly shattered weapon tightens as he turns around to face Akame, thinking, "Even if it costs me my life, no matter what, I WILL get at least a hit in! Come, Akame of Night Raid!" As he does this, Akame sheathes her blade before saying, "This match is over." "Says you!!", Wave exclaims in dismay in response to Akame's blunt statement. As Akame stands up and turns to him, she says, "I told you there was something I wanted to discuss with you, did I not? All I ask for is a moment of your time... It's about Kurome." "Kurome..?", Wave asks in confusion as he continues to courageously hold his blade, ready to strike. He looks to see that Akame's cold glare seems to have subsided before looking down at Grand Chariot's key. "I don't know what she's planning, but at this rate, my defeat is certain. I can use Grand Chariot without it breaking one more time, but if I take even the slightest hit, I'm a goner...", he thinks as he contemplates his options. He reluctantly sheaths his blade and Akame says, "I'm sorry..." "Tell me this, Akame. Were you holding back with that last attack just now? You broke through my armor and could've killed me with your Murasame.", he asks with a stern glare at the assassin. She shakes her head no before telling him, "If I had held back, I wouldn't have broken through your armor. But since you managed to survive that blow and with Grand Chariot in its current condition, taking an intermission would be in your best interest." "Not a shred of mercy in her voice. If she had actually held back, it would have really annoyed me to no end, but at least then I would have had found something about her I could have exploited later on...", he thinks before saying, "I see, you really are a dangerous person." Akame takes a short step toward him before saying, "Wave, there's something I want you to do." Wave simply gives her a stern glare before she emotionlessly says, "I wish to meet my sister, face to face. So I want you to pass along this message to her. Tell her that I'll be waiting outside the Imperial Capital. Tell her I'll be waiting at 'that place.' She'll know where I'm referring to." "After all this time, now you're planning on killing her!?", Wave shouts in a rage, but Akame isn't phased. With a cold and calculated tone, she replies with, "No. I just want the two of us to meet in a place where we're sure we won't be interrupted." "That's ridiculous!", Wave continues in disbelief. Her tone suddenly becomes more stern as she says, "I'm sure Kurome wants that as well." This only causes Wave to grind his teeth in frustration before saying, "No matter how i play this all out in my head, your sole purpose of calling her there is to kill her, isn't it? It shouldn't matter if you two are enemies or on the opposite sides of battle, you're still sisters!! Why wouldn't the two be doing everything in your power to avoid this!? I just don't get it!!!" "The answer to that question... lays a while back... back when we were just kids...", Akame says with a saddened look on her face.