Akame ga KILL!: Vanity's Final Virtue

Chapter 7: Kill the Resignation

"No!" furiously shouted Seryu, "That can't be..."

"Sorry, but it's clear the Empire wants you dead."

She tried to think of a refute, but couldn't. Even for someone like Seryu, the evidence up to this point has been overwhelming. Despite her wanting to deny with all her might, it was apparent she had been betrayed. Accepting it, however, made it that much harder. Just as the fleeting trio was crossing the moonlit courtyard, Seryu fell to her knees. The weight of everything was smothering her.

"Hey!" said Lubbock. "Are you too injured from that hit you took earlier?" He came to a realization when he saw Seryu trembling and hugging herself. The shock of everything that's happened is finally hitting her. Damn it, this is the worst possible time! Lubbock was about to say something until Mine stepped up to Seryu and grabbed her harshly by the collar.

"Look, you need to suck it up, and get your ass in gear! In case you didn't notice, there's a whole army coming for us right now! Are you going to sit there and die—or are you going to fight back!"

As tough as her words seemed, Lubbock could tell Mine was trying to encourage Seryu. Whether it was because Mine was warming up to her, or she was that desperate, was too hard to tell. Despite Mine's passionate monolog, Seryu fell back to her knees as if she didn't hear a single thing that was just said.

Mine was about to explode with rage. "You're nothing but a coward!" Before Lubbock could do anything, Mine slapped Seryu hard enough for the sound to echo across the courtyard.

"Mine!" yelled Lubbock.

"She deserved it!" snarled Mine. After taking a deep breath, she spoke in a more controlled tone. "Just leave her there. Right now, we need to—" Mine gasped since Seryu tackled her to the ground in the blink of an eye.

"Who are you to speak down to me when you're nothing but an assassin!" yelled Seryu, pointing her tonfa guns directly at Mine's head.

"Stop it, Seryu!" exclaimed Lubbock. His request fell on deaf ears when he could tell Seryu had no intention of moving. He felt helpless as his worst fear about this mission was happening.

"What are you waiting for! If you're not going to do it, then get off!" Mine was putting on a tough act, but it was obvious she was terrified.

Seryu's expression didn't change when it looked like she was about to pull the trigger.

"Don't do it!" shouted Lubbock, close to whipping out some strings to bind Seryu.

Whatever was going to happen next was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a wall getting smashed, making the Teigu users turn their heads. Dorothea ended appearing along with Izou.

"That wasn't a good shortcut," added Izou.

"We're here, aren't we?" snarled Dorothea before turning her attention to the bickering group. She tilted her head while inspecting the weird scene in front of her. "Whatever you guys were...doing, you should just give up now. Every single exit in this place has been locked down."

You have to be joking, thought Lubbock. We wasted too much time! Lubbock put aside his thoughts on escaping and focused on the current situation, which was getting past Dorothea and Izou.

Mine took this opportunity to push Seryu off of her. She elected to see if Seryu would retaliate, but she just sat there. After she secured Pumpkin, Mine didn't waste any time firing at the duo.

Dorothea snickered while she and Izou dodged. "Up close, the Teigu called Pumpkin can be dodged easily by those who can read it's trajectory," she said.