You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Helpless, Iori could only hold the rifle-shaped weapon she had just acquired in her hand, like carrying a hand warmer outdoors in winter: the effect was mediocre, but it was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, he is still a pure "Grim Reaper". If he breaks through the limits and learns the Quincy's Spirit Particle Clustering, he will be able to actively extract the spiritual particles from objects, instead of slowly "warming up" like he is now.

If they had Imperial Arms, the situation would be better, but unfortunately the Imperial Arms was placed at a safer supply point.

All of this meant that Iori could only try to control his spiritual pressure more meticulously and reduce its consumption, which significantly improved his concentration. Saito's guidance could obviously be used in areas other than Shunpo.

On this day, while the Imperial hounds were searching for Akame's whereabouts in the valley, elite Revolutionary Army troops suddenly attacked them from the shadows, severely defeating the scattered military police and assassins. Akame seized the opportunity to escape from the encirclement and headed northwest without hesitation.

Seeing this, Iori guessed that she must have made some kind of agreement with Najenda, and now was the perfect time for her to make her move!

He thought this was the end, and with only a third of his spiritual pressure remaining, Iori planned to return directly to Soul Society. However, something that happened next changed his mind, and he hid in the tree canopy, watching the excitement with great interest.

'I love watching women, especially pretty high school girls in short skirts fighting!'

……

"Cough... Kuroko, why are you..."

"Hehe, I was careless, sister."

A short-haired girl, who resembled Akame but lacked some of her cold elegance and possessed more of her charming cuteness, stood in front of the injured Akame, dressed in a black sailor uniform and holding a katana.

Even a complete stranger would instinctively assume they are two sisters.

The dangerous girl with jet-black pupils and a fake smile is Akame's younger sister, Kurome. The two grew up together and survived the Empire's brutal training. However, they were forcibly separated because blood relatives were not allowed in the same assassination squad.

Even so, their hearts remained tightly bound together. Even now, with swords drawn against each other, they were each other's one and only treasures in the world...

Akame had previously tested Kurome's intentions when planning her defection, but the short-haired girl was heavily brainwashed by the Empire and resolutely refused even her own sister's invitation. Akame intended to persuade her several more times, but then Najenda's situation forced her to defect prematurely…

She never imagined that when she was just one step away from gaining her freedom, it would be her own younger sister who would stand in her way.

"Get out of the way of Kuro-hime... or else—"

"Are you going to kill me? It's so heartbreaking, when we're the only people in this world we can rely on."

Black Eyes smiled as she gazed at her sister, but behind that lovely face seemed to lie something dark and murky, causing Red Eyes' heart to sink.

"I thought it was a joke at first, but I never expected that you, sister, would actually want to betray the empire... and betray me as well."

"Kuro-telephoto, listen to me! The Empire is only using us as emotionless weapons, but we can say no!" Akame tried one last time. "If the Empire continues to oppress the people at will, this dark society will never—"

"enough!"

Black Eyes suddenly shouted, the smile on his face vanished, and the upper half of his face seemed to be swallowed by shadows as he stared coldly at Red Eyes.

"The people and society have nothing to do with me! Why can't you just be a 'tool' and obey me? If you just obey, we can stay together!"

"Black pupils..."

"You said it, you clearly said it, that you would never leave me, but now—you're going to betray me?"

Even so... I won't let you escape, sister!

Kuroko raised her katana high: "The dead march!"

"do not want!"

"It's too late, sister, become my 'doll' too! That way we can be together forever!"

Chapter 19: I am your "Grim Reaper"!

puff!

As Kurohime raised her katana, the ground in front of her suddenly bulged up, and a ferocious beast resembling a gorilla burst out of the earth, transforming into a black shadow and pouncing towards Akame.

"Well!"

Akame had a wound on her side, a scar left during a previous chase. Her movements were not as agile as before, and she could only barely dodge the wide-ranging attacks.

boom!

The gorilla-like dangerous creature possessed astonishing destructive power. It slammed its fists together onto the ground, creating a half-meter-deep crater in the soft soil, and the resulting shockwaves sent a storm of falling leaves through the air.

call--

It didn't behave like a wild beast; after its attack missed, it immediately pounced, trying to overwhelm Akame with its size.

In that dangerous instant, Akame suddenly exerted her strength, rushing out like an arrow to meet the incredibly powerful gorilla head-on. Her slender figure brushed past the fist like a willow branch, while several cold flashes of light appeared.

puff!puff!puff!

The man and the beast swept past each other, blood splattering from the gorilla's limbs as the blade precisely sliced ​​through its wrist and Achilles tendon.

Against a normal opponent, Akame's attack would have been enough to decide the outcome, because the katana she wielded was a powerful Imperial Arm called "One-Slash Kill: Murasame".

Anyone cut by it, regardless of the size of the wound, will inevitably be infected with a deadly curse, which has no antidote and takes effect rapidly, literally meaning "to kill upon drawing blood."

But this time was different. The injured gorilla was not harmed by the curse, and even the fact that its muscles and tendons were cut open did not hinder its movement. It still turned around and charged towards her with great energy!

'As expected, puppets that can ignore curse poison are too troublesome...'

Instead of confronting it head-on, Akame nimbly leaped over the gorilla's head, causing the ferocious beast to miss its target once again.

Ultimately, this thing doesn't have many combat techniques; it's all brute force. Even if Akame is injured, she can handle it with ease.

But don't forget, her opponents aren't just gorillas—

laugh!

In a swift and cunning attack, the short-haired girl successfully slashed Akame's forearm on her first strike, leaving a long, bloody gash.

"Black Eyes!"

"You've given yourself away, sister."

Black Eyes smiled slightly, not pressing her advantage, but instead controlling the gorilla to entangle Red Eyes again, giving her no chance to breathe.

At the same time, the ground rose again, and a beautiful woman dressed as a cowgirl, holding two guns, stood up, expressionless, and pointed the guns at Akame, who was locked in combat.

The number of puppets has increased again—Akame's heart sank, but she also became aware of the situation.

'It seems our only options are to stall for time and wait for the Revolutionary Army's reinforcements to arrive, or have Kurome summon more puppets... Just one more, and another one more, and that will be our chance!'

She knew Kurohime's fighting style very well, so she waited for Kurohime to activate her ability again. However, Kurohime seemed to understand this as well, and simply smiled as she watched Akame being attacked by the puppets, her hand always on the hilt of her sword.

— Both sisters are betting on who will reveal a weakness first!

Judging from the battle situation, the one with the advantage is undoubtedly Kurohime, who is in good condition and unharmed.

The katana in her hand is also an Imperial Arm, named "March of the Dead: Hachifusa." Its physical destructive power is average, and it's not coated with poison, but it possesses extremely terrifying abilities:

Control the dead!

The user of the Imperial Arms can manipulate those killed by this sword through curses, and can control up to 8 corpse puppets at the same time. The puppets are in the same state as when they were alive and retain most of their combat power, but they are not as agile.

This is practically a low-budget version of Edo Tensei!

If she carries a sufficiently powerful puppet, then Kurohime alone is equivalent to an army, and in a head-on confrontation, she would naturally be far superior to Akame, the lone wolf assassin.

However, Kurohime is not without her worries. The more corpses "Hachifusa" summons, the more Kurohime's own ability value will decrease, making her body more vulnerable.

She knows her older sister well; Akame is a formidable opponent. To prevent being ambushed, she must ensure that her stats don't drop so low that she can be instantly killed, so she can't summon too many puppets.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that she doesn't have a very powerful puppet. After all, she hasn't had this katana for very long and her experience is not deep enough.

"Trying to conserve your energy for a surprise attack? But I won't give you that chance, sister."

As Kuroko watched Akame grow increasingly disheveled and gradually unable to hold on, a complex mix of emotions flashed in his eyes, but ultimately, they were overwhelmed by his morbid obsession.

"Isn't your resistance a bit too intense? I don't want to damage your body too much, otherwise I won't even be able to make a doll."

"Black Eyes... wake up! We don't need to escalate this!"

"That's just what you think, but to me, your actions are betrayal!"

Black Eyes said sharply, "I will kill you, and then you can stay by my side forever!"

Before Akame could respond, a sound of lingering fear came from above the battlefield.

"Tsk tsk tsk, is this what a yandere/obsessive woman looks like in real life? She's really crazy... What was I thinking, that I would like this kind of trait?"

"It's him?"

"enemy!"

The two sisters showed completely opposite expressions. Without thinking, Kuroko leaped lightly, treading back and forth between several large trees, and quickly reached the top in two attempts. She drew her sword and slashed at the source of the sound.

With a single stroke, the thick tree branch was severed, but there was no one behind it.

Immediately afterwards, a loud bang was heard—

Bang!

Hei Tong hurriedly looked down and saw a man completely covered in a trench coat who had somehow moved to the middle of the battlefield. He was holding a rather strange-looking silver spear in one hand, and the muzzle was slightly red, as if it had just been fired.

Upon closer inspection, the gorilla-like Dangerous Species summoned by Kuroko had already flown several meters away and landed on the ground, with a hole the size of a thumb on its forehead...

"With a gun?" Kuroko felt a sense of absurdity. Fortunately, the connection between the gorilla and her was not completely severed, so the puppet should still be usable.

But soon, an even more absurd scene unfolded:

The female gunslinger wielded two guns in each hand and fired bullets at the unknown figure. However, the figure vanished from its original spot in a flash and suddenly appeared in front of the woman. It raised its hand, put two fingers together, and gently touched the female gunslinger's forehead.

The doll could have dodged, but for some reason it just stood there dumbfounded.

hum!

A glowing, ancient-style emblem bloomed at Iori's fingertip, was engraved on the female gunslinger's forehead, and slowly sank into it.

Death God-type universal skill: Soul Burial Ritual!

'Sorrowful soul, wherever the future may lead, I will break your bonds. Set out now and journey to the other side of this world.'

A burst of light, barely perceptible to the naked eye, erupted, and the surrounded female gunslinger revealed a vivid expression that belied her doll identity, giving Iori a grateful smile. Then the light dissipated, and the doll's corpse collapsed limply to the ground.

"Varied……"

Black eyes naturally cannot see the color of a soul. From her perspective, Iori destroyed her doll with just a casual touch... However, what is puzzling is that the female gunner clearly had no wound on her forehead!

The short-haired girl jumped down, gripped her Teigu katana tightly, and asked with hostility, "Who are you? What did you do?!"

"I?"

Iori turned around, his expressionless white mask seemingly reflecting the calm and undisturbed state of his heart.

"I am your 'Grim Reaper'!"

Chapter 20: Transformed into a "Sister Slave"

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

Black Eyes' eyes turned cold. After the shock she had just experienced, she quickly recognized "Faceless," the infamous villain in the empire.

"So the Faceless One was also a member of the Revolutionary Army... With intelligence support from traitors, no wonder the military police couldn't catch you."

"I'm a revolutionary? Ha, you overestimate them." Iori couldn't help but chuckle.

"Enough with the nonsense. Do you really think you can take me down with just two people? I don't know what tricks you've used, but since physical contact is necessary, I'll make sure you can't get close!"

Kurohime raised her katana again, intending to summon a new puppet, but this time she failed. Iori, who had been observing her actions, suddenly burst into action the moment Kurohime raised her hand, closing in instantly.

Clang!

Faced with the powerful slash, Kurohime could only dodge. However, Akame launched an attack in coordination with Iori at the same time, and the cursed poison katana attacked Kurohime from behind with a one-hit kill.

"hateful!"

Barely managing to block the attack with a stance resembling drawing a sword from behind, the girl nimbly turned around with light steps, swung her sword again, and clashed with Akame once more, brilliant sparks flashing in the air.

Kurohime knew that her skills were inferior to her sister's. She had only gained the upper hand by using her numerical advantage to suppress the injured Akame. However, in a one-on-one fight, she would not be able to gain any advantage, not to mention the addition of the mysterious and unpredictable Faceless One.

We must find an opportunity to summon puppets to act as meat shields!

Therefore, the short-haired girl unleashed a flurry of attacks, and her rapid offensive left the exhausted Akame temporarily unable to keep up, allowing Kurome to successfully break free.

Her slender figure leaped high into the air, her dark eyes darting towards a thick tree branch. In her haste, she glanced at the faceless figure, only to find that the other made no move to pursue, calmly watching her escape, and then, just as before, raised a finger—

[Binding Spell No. 61: The Six Pillars of Light Prison]!

Six beams of light flew out from the void, forming a circle and shooting towards the black pupil. The girl in mid-air had no way to dodge and was firmly locked in by the beams of light in horror!

Ka!