The ethereal voice rang out beside her, and Najenda found herself subconsciously relaxing. Only then did she snap back to reality and realize who had arrived.
Under Empress Cerydra: the Royal Guard Captain, the Dux Gladiorum, Hysilens!
Ever since their first meeting, this woman had left a deeply profound impression on Najenda. To think that even Esdeath—who had defeated Najenda—held this lady in such high esteem... her strength was clearly no simple matter!
Unfortunately, Najenda had never had the chance to witness Hysilens' true power, as they had never even shared the same battlefield.
But now, despite the dire situation, Najenda finally had the opportunity to see that strength firsthand!
As Roman Artillery: Pumpkin was deactivated, the Red Thunder lunged toward Najenda with relentless speed, nearly making physical contact with her.
However, in that exact moment, an anomaly appeared in the air. Like a stone cast into a lake, it triggered a layer of circular ripples that expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Boom!
The lightning slammed directly into the blue ripples, but to everyone's surprise, the electricity was utterly unable to breach the ripple's defense.
"This is...?"
Having retreated to a safe distance, the soldiers finally found the chance to look back. They were stunned to find a black-haired girl standing beside Najenda...
With only her right hand extended, she had summoned countless blue raindrops that hovered in mid-air. It was these very droplets that had blocked the devastating Red Thunder.
"Is that Lady Dux Gladiorum?"
"Lady Dux Gladiorum has come to save us!"
Hearing the cheers from behind, Hysilens merely gave a thin smile before refocusing her attention on the Red Thunder before her.
"The scent of blood... truly a loyal and fierce fish, Grand General Budo."
Budo had poured both his body and spirit into his Teigu, unleashing its maximum potential at the cost of being ground to dust. In doing so, he could exert power far beyond his usual limits to wipe out scores of enemies!
Simultaneously, a Teigu used in such an "overload" state would shatter completely under the excessive pressure, making it impossible to pass down to a next user.
Budo knew he was defeated, so he had intended to maximize the value of his death by dragging every surrounding enemy into hell with him!
However, Budo likely never imagined that someone in this world could actually block his deathbed counterattack.
The blue water droplets had already blanketed the entire battlefield, compressing the Red Thunder within a specific range to prevent the remaining soldiers from taking further hits.
Najenda, however, frowned as she watched the contact point between the red lightning and the water. As if realizing something, her eyes suddenly widened.
"Is this pure water?"
Pure water doesn't conduct electricity, so ordinary lightning wouldn't be able to break through Hysilens' defense. But that didn't seem right—the Red Thunder carried Budo's blood-qi, which should have ignored the properties of pure water. Yet, it still failed to break through. This meant Hysilens' "pure water" was anything but ordinary!
As the crimson lightning grew smaller and smaller, the cheers of the soldiers grew louder, reaching a crescendo as Cerydra's victorious army appeared in the distance. The battle was officially over.
"While it's a pity we couldn't retrieve Adramelech, we've already received the best possible reward."
As Hysilens spoke, the cheering soldiers turned their gaze toward the horizon, their pupils shrinking in shock.
"Hey, look at that... what is that?"
"Stupid! Since Lady Dux Gladiorum is here, the Imperator's army must have successfully subjugated the Super Class Danger Beast, right?"
"The ones appearing now are definitely the Empress's troops..."
However, as the soldiers looked toward the distance, a massive object immediately commanded their attention.
At the front of the army was, naturally, the Little Empress Cerydra. But amidst the Chrysos Heirs, there was a glaringly obvious object.
A giant egg!
Meanwhile, in the Empire thousands of miles away, Minister Honest had specifically bolstered the Empire's intelligence agencies following Cerydra's previous information blockade. He wanted to know exactly what was happening in the North at the fastest possible speed.
"Boo hoo... Grand General, what a tragic end you met!"
The news of Budo's death soon reached the Empire, sending shockwaves through the entire nation. Both the military and the civilian populace erupted over the news.
The military was relatively stable; as trained men, though they were shocked, they could restrain their fear. No matter how strong the Northern Country was, it was far away—it couldn't kill them instantly. Conversely, Minister Honest was right there; if he wished it, their heads would roll the next second.
But the civilian situation was entirely different. With the fall of the Grand General, one faction began to cheer while the other fell into a state of terror. Under this massive disparity, the Imperial Capital saw its first riot in years.
Walking down the streets of the Capital, one could hear whispers of dissent everywhere, causing the situation to deteriorate further. To prevent these rumors from undermining Imperial rule, Honest ordered an immediate crackdown.
Though the Empire had lost its strongest Grand General in Budo, its remaining power was still not to be trifled with. Furthermore, the man leading the suppression in the Capital was none other than Honest's son, Syura!
What kind of deeds the son of such a piece of human trash would commit was well-documented in the original Akame ga Kill! source material.
Syura used his position to "investigate" beautiful women in the Capital with his subordinates, even resorting to kidnapping women in broad daylight. Had it not been for Wave, even Akame's sister, Kurome, might have suffered!
Back then, the Jaegers were there to occasionally block Syura, but now... with no resistance from Budo's Loyalty and Conscience Factions, there was no one to stop Syura's atrocities.
The once-prosperous Imperial Capital was being transformed into a literal hell on earth.
Minister Honest, however, cared nothing for this. He continued his performative sobbing... until a few seconds later, the crying stopped abruptly.
"Crying here won't solve anything."
"I've already mourned for you in my heart, Budo. I'm sure you'll understand, right?"
Taking another bite of the meat at his side, the Minister's mind began to race, calculating ways to deal with the North.
"Not only did they take out Budo, they even killed a Super Class Danger Beast? That growth rate is far too fast."
Conventional means seemed useless against them unless he deployed Shikoutazer.
"No, I still have to try."
"Send Gozuki. The Empire's elite Assassination Unit should be able to kill Cerydra, shouldn't they?"
"But I need a backup plan just in case..."
"If the assassination fails, I'll have to seek cooperation from a third party."
Honest's eyes grew deep as he stared out into the night, wondering if that so-called "third party" would take the hint.