-The time for hesitation has reached its end.
Shirou's hand twitched, his muscles spasming down from the shoulder, then through the rest of his body as magic energy coursed through his sword and flared over his magic circuits. Like adding pressure to a damaged container, a mist of blood burst out in a thin haze from unhealed wounds seeping through the cracks.
The sword he'd activated by calling out its name and overloaded was exerting its pressure in full.
-The time for doubt will be cast away.
Stumbling, Shirou maintained his balance and breathed heavily. Only his eyes remained full of strength and conviction while the rest of him looked ready to keel over from blowing wind.
Nevertheless, strength remained in his grip.
Though staggering, he could still walk.
Though battered, he could still breathe.
-A weapon needs only its purpose to be pointed at its intended direction.
A blade not broken is one that remains unbending.
"You..." Budo faltered, expression darkening across from Shirou. Hesitation spurred by reluctance caused even the towering giant of a man to withdraw and hunch his shoulders. "Must you push yourself to this extent?"
Shirou's only answer was to step forward, blood leaking from wounds he acted as if he couldn't even feel. Trickling down his legs, the blood began to pool at his feet, leaving red imprints on the tiles that paved the way into the Royal Palace.
Budo pursed his lips, holding back the admiration he was feeling as a warrior and soldier. What pushes a man to continue even at the expense of death could only ever be a motivation greater than that threat.
Was it for his comrades?
A man could die for a brother or a sister, but Budo could see right away that Shirou wasn't fighting for such a singular cause. Rather, his eyes that were looking past Budo were focusing on what could only have been the future without room for alteration or the notion of failure.
Magnificent.
Admiration aside, if Budo put away his thoughts as a warrior and soldier and viewed Shirou objectively as a king and member of the royal family, his duty forbids him from acquiescing.
He must stop Shirou here, not only for a promise with Najenda, but for that very same future Shirou was fighting for. What future would there be if the new emperor himself was not there to direct it?
Therefore, Shirou must be stopped. Any further, and he'd push himself beyond recovery. That sin would lie with Budo.
Then what?
How was he supposed to stop that?
Budo's countenance grew grim.
A fight was only inevitable if both sides had the resolve to hurt the other to the bitter end. If one side could not commit or compare to the other's will, that was the side that was lacking.
A brittle sword could never compare to cold steel even if that steel was battered and chipped.
"...How unreasonable." Budo muttered dimly.
Where does he hit, if any hit cold be fatal? Light blows would never cut it considering the determination in Shirou's eyes. Therefore, it had to be a strike with enough strength to knock him out.
Beyond whether Shirou could dodge or counter, what was Budo supposed to do if such a strike could kill?
Budo lifted his fists, but then gradually let them fall.
It wasn't that Budo had given up due to lack of effort, but rather, out of duty born from concern.
Budo's dignity and family honour would be smeared by his own hands if his attack meant to dissuade Shirou's advance ended up killing him.
There was no time for this!
The matter with the accosted child emperor was still at hand.
Budo could never be standing still in this situation, and yet here he was now.
"You are making things difficult," Budo gnashed his teeth.
Shirou continued forward, raising his sword up, flaring with blue magic energy that dimmed when he noticed Budo easing his stance. If a fight could be avoided, Shirou would naturally do so, especially when Budo looked reluctant.
"Neither of us have the leisure to just be standing here." Shirou said. His armour clinked with every step, but even still, he was steadfast until he walked right in front of Budo.
Tensing as Shirou lifted his sword, Budo felt that he'd rather it if Shirou had struck him instead of plant his sword into the ground.
Shirou looked Budo in the eyes in earnest, resolve colouring his features a pale white. No, that was exhaustion plain as day, but the will in his expression said it all.
"Move aside, or strike me down."
As if he understood Budo's character and disposition, Shirou gave Budo the choice.
It was an ultimatum easily understood.
The only way to stop Shirou now, was to kill him, and that was something Budo could never do.
In the end, was this really a choice?
In the tension, Budo laughed. This kind of emperor, no; this kind of leader would no doubt change the trajectory of the Empire's decline itself.
Budo stared at Shirou with budding satisfaction in the face of defiance.
A man who reeked of iron and blood, moving for the purpose of his nation vs a child swayed by the words of snakes and jackals.
The choice was clear.
Budo grunted and stepped aside, only to fall silent as Shirou stumbled and crouched onto a knee, panting for breath.
Budo hadn't been lying about Shirou's condition. Whatever Shirou did to activate the power of the sword in his hand was taxing enough to exhaust him further. If he would have been able to reach his destination before, now that answer wasn't so certain.
As such, Budo reckoned that even if he let Shirou past him, Shirou would never reach Honest and the others in time.
"Budo."
Shirou suddenly called while Budo did his best not to respond, knowing what was likely to be asked of him.
He could not allow himself to be swayed.
He'd leave Shirou here, and go on his own.
"I will give you my first, and final order as an Emperor."
An order? What gave him the right?
Budo mused, staring back to Shirou and then quickly hardening his features.
With no inauguration nor formal recognition, the title should have meant nothing yet.
But still-
What was loyalty?
Loyalty to follow orders? Loyalty to follow will? Or loyalty for the sake of ignoring a detrimental request?
"Will you listen to it, Budo, Head of the Royal Guard?"
Budo's expression flickered.
"Akame!"
Najenda's scream echoed in the face of a towering giant quickly emerging from the Empire's underground.
Akame, the recipient of the yell, tensed in preparation.
"Kill him!"
She heard and received the order with an iron will to see the mission through.
There was no looking back. She couldn't allow herself to, if only because she'd hesitate at the sight of the giant and what countermeasures Najenda was taking at its sudden appearance. All that she should focus on was herself, just like she'd been trained.
A rush of air struck her as the giant took its first steps behind her, but Akame used it to quickly propel her forward as she kicked her feet beneath her.
She accelerated, sword drawn, and attention focused on Honest and the dozen or so body guards protecting him. They formed a wall, the bulkier brutes standing in the front with unnaturally bulging muscles, and the sleeker ones hiding behind.
Narrowing her eyes, Akame searched for a gap to exploit but found none.
A straight on fight it would be.
In a heart beat, she collided with a wall of flesh, sparks grating as the enemy's weapons met her own.
A spear sought to stab her, but she planted a heel on the ground, pivoted around it, and then grabbed the spear's shaft in a bid to pull the user within range of her sword.
The action was obstructed by a thrown dagger aimed at her eyes. She recoiled, disengaging by flicking her sword in a fan motion, reengaging the thrower.
Wordlessly, the enemies killed her momentum, hiding behind plated armour, teamwork, and their weapons.
Akame clicked her tongue, a feeling of desperation welling up within her. She couldn't afford to waste time here. A lot was riding on her shoulders.
If she could just kill Honest, then there would be no need for Najenda and the others to defeat the giant intent on shielding the fat bastard. They could retreat, and no one would have to get hurt.
Therefore, what she had to do was kill.
Akame charged back into the fray, her stab wound aching as fatigue began to build in her muscles. The grunts were worth nothing, but Honest would not have surrounded himself with the mediocre.
The momentum of Akame's attacks began to slow, causing her to purse her lips as she saw Honest slinking away by escort.
Voices carried in the wind, mixing with the sound of choked breathing and splattering blood as Akame guarded against numerous attacks.
"Lubbock, lock down the area!"
The voice was Nejenda's, revealing that even if she had moved to engage the giant, her attention was still here.
All too quickly, threads of wire formed a cage within the underbrush, killing any who would wander full speed into the sharpened metal.
"Leone, Selka, with me!"
Shaking her head, Akame stabbed her sword into an enemy's stomach. A moment of inattentiveness from Lubbock's interference was all that it had taken to reveal an opening. Akame would not miss it.
Without rest, she pulled her sword out, and moved onto the next adversary.
Time was the enemy. The longer it was drawn out, the less advantageous the battle became.
"Najenda, you can't be serious!"
Lubbock? He sounded agitated.
Akame perked her ears, filtering out the screaming and clashing steel to focus on the words of her comrades.
"There's no way you can defeat that thing with just the three of you!"
Akame bit down on her lips, urging her to go faster.
She swept her body left, tilted her neck enough to dodge a sword, and then beheaded the nearest enemy beside her.
"D-Damn it, be careful! That's Akame, she was part of the old assassin program-!"
Akame punched the speaker's throat hard enough to shatter the larynx, coughing blood, the woman dressed as a rogue wheezed and then lost her head in the next second.
Where?
Backstepping, Akame kicked with her leg and swept an enemy off his feet. Vulnerable, she immediately gutted her adversary and moved on.
Where are you?!
Akame was squinting, searching for Honest within the gaggle of limbs, blood, and gore.
"It's not about defeating it."
Whether or not that giant could be defeated was already clear considering the personnel on hand.
Akame didn't think it was possible...which could only mean the others could see it too.
"Najenda, you can't be-"
What must be done.
"Life or death no longer matter. Kill fate, and put an end to the corruption plaguing our Empire."
Najenda sounded subdued, but this only instigated Akame further into desperation. If right this second, she could kill Honest, then everyone could retreat.
"It's up to us to choose how we die and are remembered. We are Night Raid, the black wings that shroud the Empire."
Akame's swings grew faster and faster, but as she slaughtered the rabble, all that were left were the elite among the elite.
The next time she attacked, she was parried, throwing her off balance and forcing her to maneuver away from another Teigu user. Strands of her hair were torn apart by barely visible wind blades.
"Lubbock, you've always listened to me so far. I know its unreasonable after saying its our choice to decide our deaths, but just one last time."
Akame could no longer break through, but that was when it happened.
Steel wires wrapped around the arms and waists of her enemies and began to pull them a part.
"Akame!"
For the first time, Akame glanced back, seeing Lubbock with bloodshot eyes urging her to hurry.
Although caught off guard, the wires were only a temporary measure and nothing more. Some were already forcing their way out by pressing their weapons against the steel mesh.
Regardless, by preventing the body guards from congregating together, the momentary reprieve allowed Akame to lock on to Honest's position within the chaos.
For a second, she shut her eyes.
She could no longer waste any time, not knowing what dangers Najenda and the others had to endure.
There was a way. A method she'd shied away from since she abhorred it for what it had once made her become.
A cold-blooded tool.
-Fight not as a swordsman, but once again...as an Assassin.
From the darkness and corruption that had made her, she would now return that tuition in full.
Akame opened her eyes to reveal unwavering red pupils that gleamed in the darkness.
Murasame, the poisoned sword named after autumn rain.
In a blur of speed, she vanished.
Her grip on her sword slackened, losing power in her swings and thrusts, but becoming incomparably more agile.
It was painless, barely a nick, and yet the man began convulsing as fatal poison coursed through his veins and corroded him into lumps of flesh.
One cut, then move on.
All armour had open gaps to allow for mobility. The arms, the legs, and the shoulders were all subject to Akame's eyes, and her dexterity enabled her to quickly react.
She dodged a strike to her head, countered, and then nicked the side of the enemy's cheek. In the same motion, she crouched low and lacerated through the thin leather shielding the knees.
Bounding forward, she began dismantling all resistance and steadily made her way to Honest.
In the background, the earth was shaking while numerous magic bullets and physical reverberations targeting the giant Teigu's core continued to echo. Judging from the look on Lubbock's face, the effort was not going as well as intended.
More wires quickly cleared the way, barring all interference and even entangling Honest in place.
Akame would not miss the chance.
Pressing her feet to the ground, she pushed off with such strength that her feet gouged holes beneath her.
Wind kicked her hair back, the sudden acceleration causing her pupils to dilate as she finally reached her target.
Honest smiled when Akame aimed to stab him through the heart.
The man's fat was utterly deceptive. He suddenly moved with such speed that there was no room to react despite the restraints binding him, a light shining from a Teigu on his person.
No, something was wrong-
Lubbock's expression shifted in disbelief. The tension in his Teigu all but vanishing at Honest's whim. "No, Akame move!"
Honest revealed a dagger in his hands, placed in-between Akame's trajectory.
An attack once executed was difficult to alter.
Having dashed in with a thrust, Akame quickly tried to kill her momentum by digging her feet into the ground, but all that did was make her stumble forward. Moreover, it wasn't as if Honest would just wait for her to stab herself.
He readily moved to murder her.
Akame's life flashed before her eyes.
As her body lurched forward, Honest thrust his weapon to her chest. Murasame moved to counter, but in a split-second, Akame reconsidered.
A life for a life.
Her eyes hardened, her blade staying true to its course and suddenly, Honest was the one sweating.
He of all people would not accept this trade.
As willing as Akame was, unlike Honest, there were those who'd never accept that outcome.
"You fat pig."
A fist abruptly punched Honest right in the face, while a kick parried Akame's strike.
Spittle flying, Honest smashed into the ground where the impact sent him rolling, his limbs flailing from the sheer power in the blow.
A man stood between Akame and Honest, one that towered above them both.
He was the chief and head of the Royal Guard.
Budo.
Budo cracked his knuckles and strode forward.
"Teigu aren't everything," he muttered, staring with contempt at the Teigu Honest always carried on his person.
More importantly-
"Shirou?" Akame said dumbly at the person Budo was holding on his right arm.
Akame could not follow what was happening. Perhaps no one else but Shirou and Budo could, and Budo looked torn even now.
"Do it." Shirou said, bracing himself.
Budo's face twisted before he sighed in defeat. "Don't die."
Swinging his arm back, Budo threw Shirou threw at the Primus Imperator without another word.
Squinting his eyes, Shirou did his best to keep his vision steady in the turbulent winds surrounding him.
With a body that felt weak to the point it might as well have been broken, steadfast determination was all that held it together.
Fractured bones, bruised skin, burns, and lacerations, there was not one part of him that could be described as 'intact.' Nevertheless, he thrust himself into a situation that was beyond his body's current limits.
Budo had been right.
It wasn't possible to handle everything on one's own, but at the very least, if by a single action, the burden upon others could be made easier, then by all means.
He would do it.
"Tranquil lake that reflects the moon."
Blood spurted out of his mouth, his vision wavering into mottled black.
"Blessed moon that touches the water's surface."
The droning chaos bleeds into a deafening silence shrouded by an ephemeral glow that spreads out towards the horizon.
The glow encompasses him, overlapping his form until only a streak of blue that pierces through the veil of mystery remains.
Even if this body were to burn out by surpassing its capacity, let it shine with a brilliance contrasting the coming dawn.
"Arondight, an Oath to the King."
His body continued to accelerate, numbness spreading down from his face to his legs.
The energy surrounding him flickered like a matchstick, carving a trail through the air that grew steadily brighter as it approached its zenith.
"Reaching the very end beyond any boundary."
The sword's edge was pointed at a giant on its descent, its glow fading into the likeness of a shimmering mirror.
"Cut through to the other side, and look upon its light!"
An unfading glory that shines beneath the twilight.
"Arondight...Mortuary's sword!"
.
.
.
A reality that could have only bled into dreams unfolds.
A soft light, a soft radiance befitting the moon, that possessed an edge to sever even the strongest steel.
The giant Teigu's arms were directly severed, a streak of blue flashing by as Shirou sailed through the air and crashed somewhere deep on the other side of the forest.
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Next update: Fate Kill
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