Chapter 8

(Later That Evening)

As the full moon shone brightly in the night sky, everyone at the mansion were sound asleep.

Everyone but Aria's mother, that is.

The woman was humming to herself while walking through the manor's hallways, seemingly heading in the direction of Tatsumi's room. Unbeknownst to Aria's mother, a mysterious individual had been following behind her.

"Now then… I think I'll write another diary entry today," the woman smiled while holding up a small journal. "Fufu, I really can't stop this hobby of mine~"

Before she could even get a grasp of what was happening, her entire world turned upside down as unbearable pain coursed through her body. It would only be for a moment though, because she didn't feel anything anymore.

"Huh?"

Right before the life would leave her eyes, Aria's mother saw that she had been cut in half through her midsection. Her arms were also chopped off, and that would be the last thing she saw alive.

As the woman's top half hit the ground, her attacker stepped out into the moonlight. It was a purple-haired woman with purple eyes, glasses, and was wearing a sleeveless lilac cheongsam. She was wielding a giant pair of scissors, which had her victim's blood on it.

She swiped her weapon, spreading the blood across the floor before bowing her head.

"I'm sorry."

At this moment, Tatsumi shot up in his bed after feeling a massive amount of killing intent in the air.

"Is the mansion being attacked?" The young man thought as he quickly put on his gear, grabbed his sword and gunbai, before stepping out of his room.

The first things he would see were the chopped-up body parts of Aria's mother on the floor, which was already stained with her blood. Tatsumi's eyes widened as he knelt down and inspected the corpse, his mind coming to one conclusion after noticing how clean the cuts were on the woman's body.

"Night Raid. It has to be," the young man narrowed his eyes afterwards as he continued on his way. He recalled the words of the guard from earlier about Night Raid, that they were a group of assassins who have been rattling the capital with their attacks. "That was a quick and effortless kill. Only someone whose presence can't be detected that easily could do it, which means Night Raid is here."

As he passed by one of the windows, Tatsumi spotted several shadowy figures under the moonlight, all of whom were standing on what seemed to be like wires.

"All right, Night Raid…" Tatsumi narrowed his eyes at the group before activating his Sharingan. "...let's dance."

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"Three bodyguards. They're our targets too," a young man with green hair grinned. He was wearing a hoodie, a white shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of goggles on his head. "Take care of them, Akame-chan."

The young girl named Akame gave a cold stare at the guards down below. She bore raven hair and striking red eyes. She was wearing a black sleeveless top with a red tie and a white collar, a black pleated skirt, red gauntlets, and black gloves. On her hand, she was holding a black katana that spelled death for anyone unfortunate enough to get wounded by it.

"Eliminate," Akame leaped off the wires with a large armored assassin and landed on the ground in front of the guard. Their mere presence were enough to send chills down their enemies' spines.

"Listen, nobody touch that katana! Not even one bit!" the leader of the squadron yelled out to his comrades, as he charged towards Akame.

However, the girl was superior in speed. In a flash, Akame shot forward and slashed the leader's throat, causing him to quickly cover up the wound as blood sprayed out of it.

"Shit! She's fast!" the second guard screamed out but before he could do anything, a large spear pierced his chest. The armored assassin then walked up to him and withdrew the spear, causing the guard to fall to the ground, dead.

"I-I deserve this…" the lead guard struggled to say as black markings appeared across his body. At the same time, poison shot through his blood and he felt that he didn't have much long. "...this is my just desserts…"

The third guard watched as their leader slumped to the ground, poisoned to death by Akame's sword. He was immediately filled with fear, especially because he was now alone against several assassins.

"W-What are these people…?! They're like monsters!" he cried out. "Screw this! This ain't worth dying for!"

The man tried to run away, but he would never be able to as he was shot in the back of his head, killing him instantly.

"Running away in the face of an enemy? Pathetic. At least face your death with dignity," a petite pink-haired girl with pink eyes spoke as she lowered her smoking gun.

"Well, you can't really expect anything from chickenshit cowards like these guys."

In the distance, another guard watched the group from behind a wall. He was trying to figure out how to fight against these people who were obviously on another level, seeing as how they quickly disposed of his comrades.

"...damn it, how do I deal with those assassins? They're too strong…!"

"Simple. You die," a voice spoke from behind him.

A sharp needle was then plunged intk the man's vital spot on his neck, causing him to collapse to his knees almost immediately.

He turned his head slowly to see another guard towering over him with a smirk on his face. He couldn't believe that he had been betrayed by one of his own comrades…

His eyes widened even more when his fellow guard exploded in a cloud of smoke. As it dissipated, there stood a girl with auburn hair, red eyes, and butterfly headphones on her head. She wore a white, long-sleeve shirt under a black vest, a red, checkered miniskirt, and black leather below-the-knee boots.

"Not who you expected to see, eh?" the girl smiled as she pulled out a lollipop and popped it into her mouth, with the guard falling to the ground in a lifeless heap. "Oh well, I guess I've had my fun."

From inside the mansion, Tatsumi watched as Night Raid made short work of the guards around the mansion. Even though they were likely here to kill him as well, he couldn't help but be impressed with how well they worked with each other.

"All of them are pretty skilled… especially Akame and that guy in the armor," he muttered. "Hmm, and to think that the guard who was talking to me earlier was actually one of them. Did she use something similar to the henge to change herself?"

The Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu) was a basic shinobi technique that allowed its user to assume the form of whichever person or object they desired. Seeing that guard transform into a girl made Tatsumi think if she was only using a disguise the whole time, or if she was actually assuming the appearance of one of the guards here.

"Oh, well. Questions to ask later," Tatsumi shrugged as he walked away, looking strangely calm even with the amount of bloodshed outside. "I should at least find Miss Aria and get her somewhere safe."

In another part of the mansion, Aria's father was being held by the throat by another assassin. It was the blonde-haired woman whom Tatsumi encountered yesterday, though her appearance had changed drastically. She now had even longer hair similar to a lion's mane, catlike ears atop her head, a tail behind her that was swaying side to side, and her hands turned into animal paws with sharp claws.

"Guh… ugh…" the man tried to speak up, desperately trying to pry the woman's grip off his neck to no avail. "Spare me… please… I have… a daughter…!"

"Don't worry. You'll see her in hell soon enough," Leone raised her head and showed him a pair of slitted golden eyes, very similar to an animal's.

"Even my daughter… have you no mercy, assassin?!"

"Mercy? Is that something you can eat?" she grinned before snapping his neck with no effort, killing him instantly. "I'm afraid I have no idea what that means."