Lubbock was in shock. "Hey, hey, how are we supposed to fight this?"
Leone suggested, "Maybe we should split up and run?"
Sheele added, "But what about Mine?"
Mine, feeling guilty, said, "I'm sorry, everyone. It's my fault you're all in danger."
Najenda also looked grim.
Facing Budo meant losses were inevitable, even if they tried to escape.
If that happened, what would have been the point of their rescue mission?
She called out to Akame, "Akame, is there any way to make a deal with Haruto to cover our retreat?"
The best scenario would be for Haruto to step in and help them escape.
Akame silently initiated a trade request.
[Ding! Akame has sent a trade request!]
[Trade Content]: Cover their retreat.
[Ding! Please select trade terms!]
Haruto let out a quiet sigh, a hint of playful disappointment touching his expression as he shook his head. "Yare yare, not even a quick skirmish first?"
He had secretly hoped for a bit of action, perhaps a chance to test his blade against the Empire's might.
Nevertheless, with a calm acceptance, he chose the final trade terms available from Akame and quickly received the confirmation.
[Ding! Trade started!]
[Trade Content]: Cover their retreat.
[Trade Terms]: Body usage rights for one time.
[Duration]: 3 hours.
Standing nearby, Mai looked at Haruto with a complicated, narrow gaze.
She suspected Haruto had orchestrated this whole scenario on purpose, yet... she couldn't find a concrete reason to object.
General Budo's ferocious reputation loomed heavy in the air, and deep down, she didn't want Haruto to take unnecessary risks against the Empire's strongest.
However, she had fundamentally misunderstood the situation—to Haruto, Budo's legendary might was hardly worth a second glance.
[Possession]: "Adramelech: The Demon's Wrath."
Budo's true lethality stemmed entirely from his Imperial Arm, though even that divine relic failed to spark any genuine awe in Haruto's eyes.
Meanwhile, thousands of imperial soldiers, gripping blazing torches high, completely encircled the shadowy perimeter of the forest, casting flickering waves of amber light as they steadily advanced.
General Budo sneered, his voice cutting through the chill of the night. "I'll give you one last chance to surrender."
"Surrender?" Leone scoffed, a fierce grin touching her lips as her beast transformation rippled across her skin. "We'd just get summarily executed anyway. Let's show them how Night Raid fights!"
Mine, gritting her teeth and clutching Pumpkin tightly, muttered, "I'm so sorry, everyone. This is all because of my blunder."
"Heh, no need for reckless heroics," Haruto said casually, his tone unbothered by the sea of steel and fire surrounding them.
"If you want to thank anyone, you should thank Akame."
As he spoke, thin, ghostly tendrils of biting frost began to escape from his lips, crystallizing the humid air into glittering diamond dust.
"Hmm?"
Budo's sharp gaze instantly locked onto him, sensing an ominous surge of power.
But before the veteran general could react, a cataclysmic torrent of freezing energy erupted forth.
"E-Esdeath?!"
The sheer, bone-chilling intensity of the frost instantly brought the dreaded General Esdeath to Budo's mind.
Before he could even muster a countermeasure, the overwhelming wave of absolute zero surged forward, instantly engulfing not just him, but swallowing the thousands of advancing soldiers and their blazing torches in a flash-frozen expanse of absolute silence.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Najenda and the others shivered involuntarily as the ambient temperature plummeted to bone-chilling depths in a matter of seconds.
In the blink of an eye, General Budo and the entire surrounding battalion of imperial soldiers were transformed into towering ice sculptures, their forms encased in thick, crystalline frost.
The dense forest for miles around was locked in a deep, absolute freeze.
"Nani—it wasn't Esdeath?!"
Najenda stared in sheer disbelief.
Hadn't Haruto just demonstrated a scorching ability to command flames?
Now, he was effortlessly displaying ice powers that rivaled, or perhaps even surpassed, the Empire's strongest.
Just what kind of monster was he?
Haruto, accompanied by Mai and the bewildered group, strolled forward to inspect the frozen wasteland.
"I've fulfilled my end of the contract to cover your retreat, so stop lingering and head back to your hideout."
Najenda snapped out of her stupor, though she remained deeply wary, eyeing the frozen silhouette of Budo.
"Budo isn't someone who goes down that easily," she warned cautiously.
In her long experience against the Empire, even Esdeath's terrifying ice couldn't guarantee a permanent kill against someone of Budo's caliber.
Unfortunately for her, the force behind this attack wasn't Esdeath's quirk—it was Haruto's absolute authority.
With an amused smile, Haruto raised his hand lazily and snapped his fingers.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
One by one, the pristine ice statues fractured into a million glittering pieces.
Right before their wide eyes, the frozen elite soldiers, and even the formidable General Budo, disintegrated entirely into fine dust, carried away by the wintry wind.
For the very first time, absolute shock shattered Najenda's composed demeanor.
"Budo... is dead?"
Her voice trembled slightly as the grim reality set in.
There was no recovery from this; those shattered remnants could never reform into a living human being.
Gulp.
Lubbock and the others swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out across their skin.
Leone stared blankly at the floating dust.
"He wiped out an entire division... just like that!"
"Just what kind of person are you?" Mine stared in awestruck reverence at Haruto's profile.
This enigmatic man who had saved her possessed a terrifying, otherworldly strength that made her heart race uncontrollably.
Budo—a legendary general whose mere name commanded absolute fear throughout the Empire—didn't even get a chance to draw his weapon before he was utterly erased.
"The obstacle is gone. Now depart; don't waste my time."
Haruto clearly had other matters demanding his attention.
Akame, misinterpreting his detached coldness as an eagerness to swiftly claim his hard-earned trade compensation, hoisted Kurome securely onto her back and nodded firmly.
"Hai. Let's withdraw immediately."
Regaining her composure with practiced discipline, Najenda cast one last deeply respectful glance toward Haruto before rallying her squad.
"Night Raid... fall back to base."
*****
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