Inside the tomb of the 1st Emperor in Putra.
The Elite Seven had been separated from each other and were currently dealing with trouble in different parts of the pyramid.
Akame was in pursuit of a Gravekeeper with afro—called Jamo—after having gotten the advantage in the fight. She would not let any threat to the Empire flee. More importantly, she would not compromise on anything that might ruin the chance of saving her sister that has been captured.
They came in a spacious room that could easily keep a thousand men, but what made Akame apprehensive was Jamo standing behind two chained people—a man and a woman. Each was wrapped in chains to make them unable to move a muscle.
That changed.
“Uncle Jamo made you think he’d run away, but really, he lured you here. Look! Meet my trusty teammates!"
“Why would you tie down your own like that..?” That is what Akame wanted to know. You wouldn’t do that to teammates.
“Oh, don’t get the wrong idea. Uncle’s not tying him up for the fun of it. These two can turn into wicked beasts… But their minds are so gone from using our Secret Art that they are threats if let loose."
Comprehending the info, Akame quickly backstepped to gain some distance, ‘This means they’re the Gravekeepers' ace in the hole.'
Just as Jamo removed the lock on the chains, he told, “This uncle isn’t trying to bully you, but this is as far as you go.”
When the lock clicked, as on cue, the prisoners quickly ripped the chains apart and transformed into raging beasts.
The man had a less subtle transformation than the wicked female girl. The dark skin on his forehead stretched into something looking similar to jackal ears without hair. His fingernails turned long and sharp while his muscles contracted with the howl of insanity.
The most grotesque transformation Akame had seen so far have to be the girl that gained scales over her steadily bulging muscles. The chest and stomach scales were colored red. The back and limbs were green with darker stripes. The most intimidating thing was the red line over the eyes. It could be confused with having been smeared with blood, but it was natural.
Behind, whipped a long slender tail. What made it grotesque was that her head began morphing until she possessed a long narrow skull resembling that of a crocodile. Her hands and feet also turned long and slender until they had long dark red claws with a shine to them.
While she did a howl of insanity too. It might have been Akame’s imagination, but it sounded like it was in grief.
But pity was not something Akame could effort right now when she spotted Jamo trying to sneak away.
Before she could act, Jamo had made a fatal mistake. Thinking the mindless wicked beasts would just attack the prey in front.
While fleeing, he gleefully thought how Akame’s face would be twisted in sheer terror before long.
Instead, his heart began shaking in terror when heard the brief sound of the rumbling footsteps behind. That wasn’t the sound of a collected assassin’s pursuit. The floor could be heard tearing from an insane amount of force.
Jamo gulped audibly when a shadow loomed over him and slowly turned his head to take a look.
With a snap, a long jaw snapped shut—with Jamo’s head in between the jagged teeth. With a single bite, Jamo’s head was ruptured. Crushed like a coconut between two forces.
Akame was glad things went this way. As it gave her time to slice the head of the other guy.
Before she could follow up with an attack and end this fight, a new enemy entered the room. He had just ripped out the heart of an intruder so his hand was bloody.
He was the current leader of the Gravekeepers, Weneg.
When he saw the decapitated state of his blood brother, his face followed by his tone of voice, clearly indicated his anger, “He was a crazed relative that couldn’t control his divine powers. Now that you have killed him, it seems I have to take over this fight."
Things seemed bad for Akame. It seems like she just had to fight 1 vs 2.
But the wicked girl seemed to turn enraged at the sight of Weneg. It seemed like the girl’s mind wasn’t all lost. There is still some sort of lingering feeling acting up.
That was a chance for a trained assassin like Akame to strike at the wicked girl from the unguarded back. Just as she expected another decapitation to happen, a clang resonated in the room when the katana bounced off the neck. The recoil was terrible in Akame's hands.
Before she could move to safety, a tail lashed into her abdomen with such force that she coughed up blood as she plummet to the side of the room.
She watched as the wicked girl neared to finish the kill.
Meanwhile, Weneg commented, “You’re a foolish little girl. That was the wrong thing to do. It’s not a secret around here that this lost girl went insane when I killed her friend in a duel."
---
Outside the tomb. At the base of operations where the leader of this raid, Uncle Bill, is staying. He is currently welcoming the reinforcements he had requested. But this was more than he expected.
“I can’t believe you came as backup. You have my thanks.”
Esdeath didn’t bother with pleasantries, “This operation has changed from extermination, to make them submit”, to explain the rest, she threw Uncle Bill a scroll from the Emperor.
“That seems highly impossible. We have already poked the hornet's nest, so these bastards are never going to submit. Even if they do, they will betray the Empire as soon as they get the chance.”
Haco interjected harshly, “You don’t have to worry about that. I will make the Gravekeepers listen to me.”
Uncle Bill had just finished reading and rolled the scroll up again, “And what makes you think they will listen to you?”
