"Attention, everyone, assemble!!"
Bude stood on a high platform and shouted loudly.
As his words fell, the ground began to tremble. After a while, the Soldiers stood in neat formation, then respectfully faced Bude.
They awaited Bude's command.
Bude scanned the Soldiers before him, his gaze firm and solemn.
"Gentlemen, are you ready to sacrifice for the Empire?!"
"Always ready!!"
The Soldiers shouted in unison, their voices like thunder, shaking the very air.
Bude nodded with satisfaction.
Good, very spirited.
He looked at the group of Soldiers and slowly began to speak.
"Unfortunately, war is about to begin!"
"The barbarians from the North have killed the Soldiers on the border, and they also want to plunder our land and grain by heading south."
"Therefore, we cannot sit idly by!"
Bude said earnestly.
He did not mention Esdeath at all.
If he were to say that Esdeath had betrayed the country by siding with the King of the North, what would these Soldiers think?
If even someone as strong as Esdeath had failed and surrendered, what would they, these people, think?
Bude raised his voice, "As warriors of the Empire, we must let those Northern barbarians know that the Empire's majesty is inviolable!"
"For the Empire!!"
"Offer our lives for the Empire!!"
The Soldiers shouted again, their morale high.
After a while, Bude looked at the Soldiers and slowly spoke.
"Soldiers, go home and see your families. Three days from now, we march north!!"
"Yes!!"
...
The sky slowly darkened.
The moon hung high in the sky.
A pink-haired girl sat on a rooftop, with a purple-haired girl standing beside her.
"Well~ Leone, Akame, and Boss have gone north, so Sheele, today's mission will be completed by just the two of us."
"No problem, Mine, we can definitely complete the mission."
"Of course, we are Night Raid after all."
These two were Night Raid members Mine and Sheele.
As Mine spoke, she set up her large sniper rifle—the Imperial Arm, Pumpkin.
She aimed at the street below.
Beside her, Sheele entered a focused state, holding a giant pair of scissors in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.
The person drawn on the paper was their target for today.
Their target today was the Imperial Guard Captain—Ogre.
Meanwhile, in a certain mansion.
A man with a pointed head was seeing off a man in armor.
"Captain Ogre, it's been a pleasure working with you."
Saying this, Jamal placed a bag of gold coins into Ogre's arms.
Ogre weighed the money bag in his hand, a satisfied expression on his face, "Hahaha, Jamal, it's been a pleasure working with you."
With that, he left the room and walked outside.
Jamal also returned home, feeling content.
After all, collusion between officials and merchants was common.
So the relationship between the two was one of mutual villainy, profiting illicitly.
Jamal walked towards his room with satisfaction.
He was preparing to have his way with the girl inside the room.
Pushing open the door, Jamal revealed a lewd smile as he looked at the disheartened girl on the bed.
"My little darling, your master is here~"
With that, he rubbed his hands together, approaching step by step.
At this moment, a person in armor pierced him with a spear.
Jamal lowered his head in disbelief.
Then, he lost his life.
He held a longsword, cutting the ropes that bound the girl, and said, "Miss is safe, it's time to go home."
On the other side.
Ogre was tossing the money bag, humming a tune as he strolled down the street.
Soon, he arrived on the street where Mine and her team were ambushing.
As soon as he stepped onto this street,
Ogre, being a warrior, suddenly had a bad premonition.
This was a warrior's intuition.
He kept scanning his surroundings, searching for the source of his unease.
"Here? No! Over there? Not there either!"
Ogre searched rapidly.
As time passed little by little, Ogre's sense of danger grew stronger and stronger.
Suddenly, he looked towards the tall building at the end of the street.
He saw a bright light on the tall building.
Bang~
With a sound,
a bullet instantly struck. Ogre instinctively drew his sword and swung it.
The bullet was precisely blocked by his sword, sending sparks flying.
He should have had an expression of relief after a narrow escape, but suddenly his expression froze.
He saw many glowing small dots shooting towards him.
As the sound of bullets piercing flesh rang out, Ogre spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Ogre's eyes widened, looking in disbelief at the bullets that had pierced his body.
His legs gave out, and he almost fell to his knees, but his dignity as the Imperial Guard Captain forced him to stand firm.
"Cough cough! Damn it, it's those Night Raid guys!!"
He wiped the corner of his mouth, gritting his teeth as he spoke.
These maggots hiding in the shadows are truly disgusting!
Da da da~
At this moment, footsteps sounded.
At the same time, it was accompanied by the sound of a sharp blade dragging on the ground.
Sheele, dragging her Imperial Arm, walked out of the shadows with an extremely cold demeanor.
Ogre's expression turned ferocious.
Sheele slowly raised the scissors in her hand and swung them towards Ogre.
A fierce gust of wind rushed towards him.
The injured Ogre drew his sword to block, but the moment of contact, the sword inexplicably broke.
A cold light flashed.
Sheele had appeared behind Ogre.
An arm was seen flying in the air.
Blood gushed from his shoulder.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Ogre looked at Sheele, cursing incessantly.
Looking at his severed arm, his eyes were filled with fear and rage.
He knew that he was likely doomed today, but as the Imperial Guard Captain, how could he give up so easily?
He still had so many things undone, so many things he hadn't squandered.
Ogre instantly pulled out a flare from his embrace.
Just as he was about to fire it, the hand holding the flare was directly pierced through.
He didn't even have time to wail.
Sheele directly severed his other arm, and at the same time, opened her scissors and cut him in half at the waist.
Ogre's body was severed into two, blood gushing out, his eyes filled with unwillingness and despair, then his eyes became lifeless.
Sheele watched all of this indifferently, and after confirming he had no breath, she ran towards Mine.
The two met up, holding their Imperial Arms, and swiftly ran across the tall buildings.
"Nice work, Sheele."
"Um... thank you for the compliment."
Sheele, out of combat, said shyly in response to Mine's praise.
At this moment, the guy in white armor also ran to their side.
"Yo~ Mine, Sheele, are you two done over there?"
"Yes, done. Big Brother Brand, did you take care of that rich merchant?"
"Hahaha, just look at who was in charge." Brand said with a laugh.
Mine and Sheele exchanged a smile, naturally having full confidence in Brand's ability.
The three quickened their pace.
Under the cover of night, the three moved swiftly between the tall buildings.
Soon, the group left the capital, then quickly ran towards their Night Raid base.
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