Slay the Resplendent Hope (The Pandora Conflict Part 1)

The skies cried on that lonesome night as crimson lightning and droves of rainfall bombarded the burning encampment that once belonged to the mighty Sapphire Phoenix. The smell of blood, guts, and ashes permeated the air as a tall female stood amongst all the death and destruction with remains of human meat around her lips. Surrounding this female's path of chaos was a myriad of broken bodies that formerly belonged to the soldiers that guarded the proud fortress. Even Hestia—the fearsome leader of this group—was nothing more than a stain on the ground and her elite squadron was no better. Deprived of their abilities, they all fell like children in the face of this Primordial Darkness.

This female had extremely long, jet-black hair that dropped toward the floor. Near the bottom of the black trail, her hair parted into big braids that were tied off by a bandage-like band. At the top, the hair strands curved towards the left side of her face, and a few strands in the middle were parted and tied by a smaller bandage that rested on her left shoulder. Her outfit consisted of a ruby-red corset that revealed her midriff with an insignia visible below the belt. The same belt rested on her hip and above her torn, black denim trousers appearing like shorts. Those same trousers had a chain and multiple belts wrapped around her right leg, a few of which spiral towards the lower half of her left leg. Over her corset, she wore a black jacket in the form of a robe with red, velvet lacing; the jacket was ripped towards the bottom and was tightened towards her chest by the belt.

Alone she walked over to the last survivor of this unholy massacre—the nineteen year old known as Raizo Arashi. Tears streamed down his blood stained face as he dragged himself along the ground. The bottom half of his body was no more, his legs taken from him. Rain fell ever so lightly upon the pitiful sight; the mysterious woman couldn't help but smile at the pain the former blood wolf currently felt. He had failed his own comrades time and time again. He wasn't there when they needed him the most; now after breaking down with agony and despair, he was once more forced to watch as his mother was taken away from him again.

Looking over to his left, Raizo saw the lifeless beheaded corpse of the redheaded female he had only been re-acquainted with a few days ago. Finally forcing himself to turn over on his back against the ground by the use of his arms, Raizo looked at the Scarlet-Eyed Grim Reaper that now stood ahead of his broken body. Mounting what remained of the Stormbringer like a horse, this evil figure rejoiced as she was intoxicated by her own darkness. It was at this point that the bittersweet memories of Raizo's past played vividly before his very eyes.

"Liar…Liar…Liar…Liar…Liar!!! What do you mean this will be the last time we will see each other? Are you saying that you're gonna stay here with them? With the enemy?! Just a week or so ago we were fighting for our lives against them in Old West Town! Don't you remember that? I wound up hurt the most as a result and now you're saying that this is gonna be the last time we see each other while standing in front of the same people that injured your friends and your lover?!"

"Leone…it's not like that. It's just…"

"Just what Raizo? Just what?! Is it because your mother is standing behind you? What? Because you haven't seen mommy in heaven knows how long and she suddenly pops up before you, you just drop everything and pursue her? Remember the last time something about your mother was brought up? You wound up captured, your childhood friend stabbed you in the back—literally—and we had to come and rescue you from the Capital. We lost Lubbock and Mein during that operation or were those just a series of unfortunate events that you just don't give a shit about?"

Yes, that pain and tension of that moment was so heavy that it was nearly suffocating and would make one's heart want to explode. Of all things to flash by inside his mind, it just had to be this scene.

"You lied to everyone about what you did to that platoon of soldiers thinking that you were protecting us but what's worse about it is that you lied directly to me! Me of all people Raizo! And it always feels like you're abandoning us just to chase after your personal vendettas. You know what? Maybe Fujitora is right after all, you're just a selfish individual who only uses other people for his own gain. Everything that has happened to us since you joined is your fault.

I thought that maybe I was just gonna get in your way since you have your family from another universe that none of us will ever hope to reach but…heh. At the end of the day Raizo, you're just a ruthless murderer who won't stop at nothing to achieve his own goals even if you have to trample over the people who care about you most to get where you need to be. You really are nothing but a traitorous bastard who lives his life with no remorse and I am done with you. We're through Raizo. Go on and be with your mother or whoever you supposedly call family. You're dead to me, at least I can report that much."

Perhaps now was not the best time to indulge in these memories...but the Stormbringer couldn't help it. In his last moments, he just had to ultimately remember all of his failures, one last time.

"What am I if not a complete failure?" he mumbled out a question. Within his last breath he heard a cold answer...

"You're a puppet, Raizo Arashi, a blank canvas that can easily be painted by any colors," said the woman above him. Leaning in closer to his face, Raizo's killer was now a few inches away.

"Now...embrace eternal rest and become part of the countless mortals and gods I have devoured," she said before burying her teeth into the Stormbringer's flesh. The sound of bones being crushed alongside muscle and internal organs that were being devoured graciously synchronized with the sound of falling lightning. As his consciousness faded away into nothingness, Raizo suddenly found himself watching a scene from the third person perspective.

A scene he had just seen before his death...

But this time it was different...

"What are you guys doing here?" Raizo's past self asked in disbelief at the sight of his comrades. It was just as he remembered when Leone was the one before him was speaking for the entire group.

"We came looking for you hoping to bring you home," the blonde replied with a smile reaching out and hugging the man that she considered her lover. Slowly, the fool with a heart of gold hugged her back but he was unsure what to think of that response. The present day Raizo couldn't feel anything but disgust at his past self. Pulling back, Leone tilted her head in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"I…I'm not sure what to say. Where's Najenda? Did she order you guys to do this? I could have sworn that Fujitora would have you guys confined for a long time because of how the trial went."

An overjoyed expression suddenly faded and turned into grim despair as the following words came from the parted lips of the woman.

"Najenda is gone Raizo…Chelsea is the leader of Night Raid now," Leone spoke meekly.

"What…what do you mean by gone?" he asked in denial.

"She's dead…the base was ambushed by two members of the Jaegers when we split up to look for you and they got her. If it wasn't for Tatsumi and Akame showing up, they would have killed Chelsea too,"

Seeing his past self hear that story caused Raizo to feel an intense urge to just punch him in the face—something he currently couldn't do.

"That's not…that's not fair. Why would she have you all look for me? I was a disavowed member of Night Raid and branded a fugitive. That's just…why would…tch damn it all."

"We had to get you back home. Even though Fujitora basically forced us into a corner—either we find you and execute you on sight or we are all branded as traitors to the Revolutionary Army."

"That bastard would go that far just to see me dead? He truly is the lowest of all..."

Strangely stopping at the middle of his own sentence, an air of nothingness suddenly befell upon the past Stormbringer's face. His eyes became...empty, like those of a puppet. A faint yellowish glow could be seen in them as the past Raizo turned his back towards Leone for a moment. Suddenly he took off towards the encampment in a flash without even entering his 'Calm' state and grabbed the bag holding his old tattered clothes before coming back.

"Take these to him. These are all of the clothes and stuff that I had on from the time I escaped until today. With all of the tears and blood on them, he should have no problem believing the fact that I'm dead—rather, I'm presumed dead or something. Tell him I got lost in the Nightmare Forest and this is what you found. With the legend of that place, he should immediately have no problems in believing that lie."

Being handed that satchel, Leone reluctantly stretched her hands out and grabbed hold of the items.

"You're…not coming back with us?" She asked.

"Of course I am..." Raizo's past self responded with an empty look.

Those were the last words present day Raizo heard before having this vision of an altered past shatter like glass. Waking up in the middle of the night as sweat ran down his body, the Stormbringer jumped out of his bed while screaming out at the top of his lungs.

Seconds later someone immediately came to his aid, someone he knew all too well.

"Raizo! What happened?!" The busty female, Leone, questioned as she brought the door to Raizo's room down without as much as a second thought.

"Leone...where am I?"

"Where else? You're home, good ol' Night Raid HQ!" replied the girl with a wry smile confused by Raizo's question.

"Wh-What?" Raizo questioned. He couldn't believe his own mind. After everything that happened how could he be here? Was everything he experienced just a dream? Or was it somehow real? Were his days with the Sapphire Phoenix a lie all along? Tilting her head in bewilderment, Leone had to check to see if the youth was truly okay.

"Are you alright? Looks like you had a nightmare...I could comfort you," The wild female said enthusiastically before jumping onto Raizo and knocking him down onto bed.

"No, Leone...wait! This is a serious situation."

"Shhhh...You're gonna wake up the others."

Unable to do much other than accept the abuse, Raizo allowed himself to play the role Leone desired him for. After all the pain and sorrow he had experienced in the days past, he just didn't want to abandon this sudden opportunity to make things right. Little did he know however, the Armageddon he had experienced in those dreams was indeed all too real.

---

"Families are like branches on a tree. We grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one."

Year 1025, 24th of October

Time: 5:30 AM

As the darkness of the night had slowly been cut open by the waning of the crimson moonlight, a lone wanderer was making his way across a dirty road near the northwest outskirts of the kingdom. Step after step the young man faced forward with his dark red irises while also paying attention to his surroundings with every passing second. The tail end of his tattered hooded overcoat danced in the wind in accordance to his movement. To the eyes that watched him from afar, this man looked like a simple messenger or a traveler lost on the road, but he was definitely far from it...

Sneaking her way across bushes and treetops, a female with well-defined, curvaceous features watched from within the cover of darkness. She had been following this mysterious red-eyed individual for what felt like hundreds of miles ever since he first entered Sapphire Phoenix territory.

Zephyria—commonly referred to as Zephy—with her grayish-brown hair and vibrant amber eyes, was barely visible as she stealthily made her way from branch to branch. Unfortunately for her, the mysterious man she followed was a rogue imperial officer by the name of Rin Hanate, and he had already noticed her hidden presence. As the enormous fortress that belonged to the Sapphire Phoenix finally came into view, Zephy finally realized just who she was up against.

Turning to face the hidden silhouette of Zephyria, Rin couldn't help but smirk in a sadistic manner.

"You're well trained, and you're also impressive in skill. But all that sand is clearly weighing you down," He spoke before dramatically lowering his hood in order to reveal his smooth dark hair and thick beard.

Zephy was caught by surprise. Never before had someone been able to detect her so easily. Dropping down from the trees above and landing on her knees, Zephyria stood up under the crimson moonlight revealing her exposed mid-section and deep V-neck shirt. As always, her hands were covered by dark gloves and her forearms were protected by golden gauntlets.

"Rin Hanate. I was sent here to capture you and bring you to the presence of Lady Hestia Arashi. You're trespassing into our territory," the busty female spoke as a drop of sweat ran down her forehead.

Cracking out a string of malicious laughter, Rin smiled at his stalker's attempts at a 'diplomatic' solution.

"You really think I don't know about your little gravity defying whore of a master? Why else would I be heading in this direction if not to meet her?" He said in a mocking tone. At that point Zephy had an urge to just beat this man to a pulp after having to hear such insults, but doing so would go against Hestia's orders and possibly get her into trouble. Rin took a dramatic smirk upon his face.

"Oh I see...afraid of what might happen if you accidentally kill me eh? A cute thought from a stupid bitch," he continued with the insults.

"Fuck it," the amber-eyed female mumbled under her breath before taking the charge against Rin.

Stepping up to the bearded male in a single, fluid, dashing motion, Zephy brought her arm back before launching a punch at full strength. A small sonic boom formed around her arm as it stretched towards Rin's face, but suddenly just as the attack was about to connect to its intended target's forehead—with enough force to shatter it—a powerful flaming aura ignited around Rin sending Zephy back as her fists and gauntlet narrowly escaped the burning fire.

"Shit," Zephyria remarked as she landed a few feet away.

What followed next was an explosion of magma that erupted from the ground beneath Zephyria. The heat contained in said explosion was comparable to an exploding planet's core, but somehow Zephy was once more able to jump back fast enough to not have any major injuries. Not even her sand armor would've been able to resist the wrath of the force contained in those flames.

"Your teigu...what the hell is it?" She asked as frustrating thoughts began to sneak their way into the sand user's mind.

Rin's flames were different in composition when compared to Adena's. He wasn't as versatile or as creative, and even a lot less skilled in their control. However, what he lacked in those departments he compensated in raw power, going as far as being able to make a Sapphire Phoenix member retreat. An impressive feat even if the Sapphire Phoenix member in question was the weakest of Hestia's elite 4.

"Is that really it? I expected a whole lot more from one of Hestia's bitches," his merciless words echoed across the night as Zephyria looked for a way to counter without immediately being shut down in seconds by another overly powerful attack. Removing the oxygen from his lungs was something she considered doing, but unfortunately she wouldn't get the chance to make any other further moves against Rin. The bright radiance of a Dark Phoenix unexpectedly burst out of Rin's body giving him some sort of speed boost as he was now able to cross the space between himself and the dark skinned assassin in a mere instant of time.

"Bushido art: Phoenix Illusion - Demonic Fist!" He spoke as his right hand landed a strike against Zephy who quickly guarded against the attack with her left gauntlet.

"Ha! You call that a Bushido ar…"

Zephy's sarcastic comeback would have to be completed some other time as she soon found herself falling onto her side like a broken puppet that had just lost its strings. Fear began crawling up the female's spine; the vivid sensation of cockroaches making their way around her body began to haunt her mind while on the inside she felt as if her organs were now replaced by boiling magma.

"Wh-What! What did you d-…?"

She couldn't even finish before her nervous system completely shut down. Her eyes immediately became blank and soon her heartbeat began slowing down as well. Her opponent gradually made his way towards her collapsed form. Rin smirked as he lowered himself to his knees just so his pale white hand could creep its way around Zephyria's thighs.

"You have a nice body there 'Zephy'. Gotta say I would love to ravage the ever loving shit out of you then deliver your cum stained corpse to that lover of yours, but I suppose that would get me into trouble with Hestia now wouldn't it?" The malicious man spoke with scorn contained in his tone of voice.

Grabbing Zephyria's neck and lifting her up into the air, Rin prepared to ignite his flames directly into her insides in order to implode the female. It would have truly been a terrible fate for Zephyria; however, just as Rin was about to deliver his fatality, an angered voice echoed across the night.

"Pyroclasm!" A female's voice exclaimed as three orbs of fire that glowed red, green, and black, travelled towards Rin at blindingly fast speed.

"Musou moves huh? Well then...Musou it is! Soaring Phoenix Wings!" The red-eyed male proclaimed as a powerful flying bird made out of flames burst from his body and clashed head on with the incoming orbs.

The resulting explosion engulfed the nearby woods into a blaze of multi-colored flames. Somehow though, both Rin and his vermilion haired attacker remained unaffected by the deadly heat and fire around them almost as if that hellish environment was nothing more than a playground to these two. The same could not be said for Zephyria though; she was very much unconscious and virtually defenseless against the infernal scenario that unfolded around her.

"Adena..." Rin said as the redhead stepped into view. The new attacker approached with an air of indescribable fury. Her cold, smoky blue eyes seemed to radiate her killing intent as she directed that harsh stare like daggers at the man.

"You have some balls on you coming here after what you said last time," Adena spoke back at the male with silent rage engraved in her voice.

"What? Still mad at me for refusing Hestia's supposed kindness? Please, you lot haven't seen the things I have seen. I know the world she offers is not of relevance to them!" Rin remarked loudly.

"Them? What the fuck are you talking about?" Adena questioned her patience now just about to run out.

"You really don't know do you? Well it doesn't matter...a few days from now it will all be over anyway," he spoke meekly before letting out a quick smirk.

"I'm going to kill y-…"

"Are you sure about that? The effects of my illusion fist will slowly eat away at Zephyria's soul unless someone absorbs the destructive flames I placed within her body. I'd say she has at best five minutes before she becomes an empty shell...do you really think you can kill me before that happens?" Rin quickly interrupts the redhead in the middle of her death threat. Despite that, she didn't seem to be phased by his ultimatum at all.

"Kill you in five minutes? Heh I only need five seconds," she boasted as she pulled out a small cylinder from her back pocket which quickly extended into an elongated pole with various designs along its length.

Jumping high into the air with a trail of fire following her, Adena comes crashing down towards Rin like a flaming meteor. As expected from the rogue imperial, he launches himself upwards clashing his fist against Adena's polearm. Gusts of wind and heat spread out in all directions as the two masterful fire users kept swinging at each other. Adena used her weapon with incredible speed, but for every skillful swing she made, Rin delivered a punch to match her strength—ultimately creating a deadlock situation in their aerial battle.

Finally landing back on the ground now a few feet away from one another, the pair stared each other down as both warriors were now smiling confidently. It has been a long time since Adena faced someone who was able to match her in physical combat; the last person who did so was Raizo in his trump card state. Unlike him though, Rin wasn't really trying to kill Adena. Like the sadistic freak he is, Rin wanted the redhead to do something stupid—such as activating one of her more powerful abilities which would undoubtedly end up killing the comatose Zephyria in the process. And even if she didn't, Zephy would still perish in less than five minutes.

A strategist and a tactician of the highest degree, Rin Hanate planned this scenario ever since he decided to pay Hestia a visit. He knew the members of the Sapphire Phoenix wouldn't simply allow his entry and that Hestia would send Adena after him should Zephy fail to capture him. Now the only piece missing in his masterplan was the redheaded opponent finally coming to the conclusion that the one and only way for this little encounter to end was for her surrender.

"So what was that you said about five seconds? I'm still standing you little cur, and if you want your precious 'Zephy' to live then get the fuck out of my way while you still can," the former imperial spoke confidently as a sapphire blue glow suddenly emanated from his eyes for a split second.

Adena clenched her weapon, expressing anger and biting her lower lip.

"Go...but do not, even for a single second, expect you'll get away with this. The moment I see you again I'll-…"

"Kill me? Adena, Adena, Adena, you may be stronger than me and a superior fire user, but by comparison you're as dumb as a bag of rocks. You're welcome to face me again whenever you'd like, but I can assure you the result won't change," Rin explained as he casually walked pass the redhead.

"Oh by the way, don't make your way back to the Sapphire Phoenix encampment tonight if you want to live. Just take your so called lover and run—consider this mercy."

Rin's voice echoed into the night as the heavens above darkened. Ferocious crimson lightning began falling down upon the land. As the fire left behind by the battles between the rogue traveler and the defeated members of Hestia's band of killers began to spread, an ominous atmosphere fell over Adena's shoulders. Sitting down next to the still half-dead Zephyria, all she could do was focus on undoing the effects of Rin's Bushido art. On the other end, Rin Hanate now made his way through the front entrance of the fortress that stood ahead of him. No one dared to attack him. After all, normal humans and non-teigu users knew very well that they wouldn't stand a chance against this invader. However, that didn't mean Rin would get to enjoy a casual walk into Hestia's domain. Standing a few feet ahead of him were two very distinct males of very different appearances.

"Orion. Genesis. You two look well," Rin commented at them both.

"..." the nearly 7 feet tall giant known as Genesis remained silent, but Orion...not so much.

"Yo Rin, been a while eh? Just what in the hell are you here for? I mean sure we were gonna capture you eventually but coming to those hunting ya? Wow you're either the most arrogant man alive or the most idiotic," Orion spoke bluntly as if trying to make a point.

In response though, Rin just smiled as his dark red eyes shined under the crimson moonlight. Arrogance was not something the Red-Eyed Phoenix indulged in, he simply believed in the old saying that a hunter should always be in love with his prey. As such he always smiled before taking the life of whoever stood in his way.

"Orion...you have the power to quite literally rip me apart atom by atom. Genesis, you're no pushover yourself. Do you two honestly believe that I would just show up here without a way to get pass you two?" Rin said as he took a step forward.

"Your tactics and plans are not of relevance to our mission of capturing and executing you," Genesis remarked as he casually put out his open palm towards Rin. Normally this would be the part where the immortal fire user would be consumed by the Sapphire Phoenix member's shadow only to then be immediately shattered apart by Orion's abilities, but oddly enough no such thing happened. The pair of merciless killers suddenly had an air of surprise upon them. Never before had their teigu fail to activate, but for some reason they just couldn't utilize their powers.

"Scary. How Scary. Oh so Scary..." A voice echoed throughout the night followed by a soft girly giggle.

"The Sapphire Phoenix truly has no mercy or empathy. Your kind...they're truly nothing more than hellhounds faithfully serving a false goddess. You're all truly disappointing...Complete Failures," the disembodied voice spoke once more causing both Orion and Genesis to freeze in place. Their bodies were now completely unable to move as much as an inch or and their eyes could not even blink.

It was then as if darkness itself had suddenly created life. A girl with long dark hair wrapped into twin tails emerged out of Rin's shadow. Her pale skin and dark scarlet red hues contrasted strongly against the dimly lit encampment. Her dark leather clothing covered her upper body and the same colored battle skirt and leggings left very little of her skin visible. She was nowhere near as tall as Rin, only being about 5' 5" in height; however, unlike the rogue imperial, she didn't smile or transmit any form of emotion whatsoever—though her mere presence alone was enough to cause lights to flicker and dark thoughts to emerge out of one's subconscious.

Orion looked as if he wanted to say something but his mouth simply couldn't move. The pressure exerted by this little devil of a girl was similar to that of a fearsome deity. It was the presence of someone who's superior in every possible way, someone who's fury and lust for blood knew no bounds yet was never expressed. What hurt more though was her silence, that emotionless deadpan expression felt like a knife cutting through one's heart. Under different circumstances, Orion would be declaring his love for this intoxicating darkness.

"Should I kill them, daddy? I'm starting to get hungry..." the scarlet-eyed girl finally broke her silence revealing her equally as disinterested and emotionless voice.

"Not yet Rias, we need them as incentive for the Stormbringer," Rin stated as he walked up to the tent which housed the leader of the Sapphire Phoenix, the tail end of his dark overcoat danced in the wind as he did so.

"Daddy...are you going to kill Miss Arashi?" the girl named Rias questions with a disinterested tone.

"No. Hestia's life will be ended once she and Raizo are taken to the box. Arashi blood will make for an excellent appetizer and will likely help unlock that damn thing," the sadistic individual uttered back at the girl before entering Hestia's domain.

Standing up straight in front of her throne-looking chair while waiting for her visitor, Hestia watched as the rogue imperial walked up to her with a malicious smirk stamped across his lips. Running his hand across her long white hair, Rin chuckled proudly at the woman's inability to speak or move.

"Rias! You can let her speak!" he shouted barely able to contain his laughter now. In the following second, Hestia was finally allowed to part her lips; however her teigu and body movement were still massively suppressed.

"I always knew you would come back to me, Rin," the white-haired beauty remarked calmly.

"Oh stop it! We both know this meeting was something beyond your control," the male retorted back before backhanding Hestia's face with his left hand that had enough strength to make blood drip from her lips. Without her abilities, there was nothing between Hestia and a normal woman's mortality.

"Do you really think you'll get away with this, Rin? First you said no to our cause...and now this? Why stand in my way if you're just a coward who ran away huh?!" the formerly royal figure screamed at the young man in a burst of anger before catching her breath again.

"What do you want anyway? What do you gain by trying to kill us? Your parents are dead and you inherited their fortune alongside a role of respect in the imperial military. Had you stayed there, you would be the youngest general in history by now. Instead you chose to abandon your duty. I then offered you knowledge and power asking only for loyalty in return, but you failed to give me even that! Now here you are, but why? A coward like yourself should be hidden under a rock."

Hestia's words ringed into the Red-Eyed Phoenix's head causing him to feel the urge to hurt her once more. Before responding, he took a moment to take in some air.

"Kill you? Oh no Hestia, I would never do such a thing—at least not yet anyway. The blood of the Sapphire Phoenix and the blood of your son shall become my way of unlocking Pandora's box," he explained calmly.

"Unlocking Pandora? That alone would attract the attention of the Counter Force...but threatening to kill my son? Do you have any idea what he'll do to you?"

"I don't fear the Counter Force like you do Hestia. As for Raizo, do you really think he can do anything against me when you couldn't?"

"Heh I'm not talking about my son you idiot...well...at least not the one you're thinking of," the leading figure of the Sapphire Phoenix spoke with a brief yet ominous smile stamped across her lips, "Whatever you got planned forget it, because HE will stop you."

"Who the hell are you talking about?!"

"He is known by many names: The Oncoming Storm, The Bringer of Darkness, The Crimson Knight...Red-Eyed Hero," she spouts out with a sadistic giggle.

"Even if you bring this whole world down in your search for the fairy tale that is Pandora, the Knight will stop you just like he did to the other one," she continues her primrose eyes now dead-set on Rin. Unsure of what the seemingly crazed female was talking about, the Dark Phoenix simply let's out a disinterested sigh.

"I've had enough of you Hestia; this is where we part ways. Deus, go ahead and imprison them."

With those words spoken, Rin removes himself from Hestia's domain alongside the girl named Rias thus leaving the encampment behind. Meanwhile inside the tent, a strange man covered by a hooded robe appeared out of thin air. His grey hair and old sunken eyes carried a vibrant dark purple radiance as he casually floated in the air.

"Kamui: Limbo's eternal grasp," the man known by his comrades as Deus spoke as he lifted his open palm into the air, a purple orb of energy now forming on it. In the following instant, that orb grew and expanded to the point where it encompassed the entire Sapphire Phoenix encampment. Those trapped inside were now frozen in an instant of time like statues. However, that was not all Deus could do. With a simple snap of his fingers, reality itself bent to his will. As a flash of dark purple suddenly cut through the heavens, the entirety of the once impenetrable Sapphire Phoenix fortress vanished in the blink of an eye.

In the end, all that remained was a lifeless crater. The last thought to run through Hestia's mind before she was devoured by the light was the image of her son...wasn't Raizo supposed to be with the Sapphire Phoenix? She questioned before coming to her own conclusion: the Counter Force had already altered the timeline to protect her son.

Deus then casually floated his way back to Rin and Rias—both of whom currently waited for him near the outskirts of the crater.

"The Sapphire Phoenix will no longer pose a threat to our cause, Master Rin. Shall we proceed to the next phase of our plan and eliminate all Night Raid members with the exception of Raizo?" the hooded old man asked.

"Not yet...I want to end Akame with my own hands," Rias responded in Rin's place. Hearing this, Rin smiled at her.

"Ah that's right, Akame was the one who took your parents away from you if I recall correctly. Heh it's ironic that you'll be the one to take her life in the end." He remarked.

"Hey you three, what have you done?!" A voice familiar to Rin reached the trio. Turning around, the source of the voice was the female with vermilion hair who currently princess carried the unconscious body of Zephyria. The three individuals that seemingly just slayed the unbeatable army of the Sapphire Phoenix couldn't help but feel pity at Adena's last stand. Taking a few steps forward towards the two females, Rin stopped a mere ten inches away from the redhead.

"Do me a favor Red, go to Night Raid and tell them what happened here. Then inform those so-called assassins that the Scarlet Cerberus is going to feast on their blood. Think you can do that for me?" the sadistic male spoke with a victorious smile before vanishing in a purple flash of light alongside his group.

"Rin...you..."

Now alone with her unconscious lover and no home to return to, tears began to stream down Adena's cheeks as she dropped to her knees. Never before had she felt so...powerless. Rin took away her mistress and all of Adena's comrades in an instant; now to top it all off, he wanted to use her as his messenger. All of this combined just made Adena want to set this whole entire world on fire.

"I swear to god...I'm gonna be the one who ends you, Rin Hanate," her promise echoed into the night like a powerful vow as the storm above began to clear giving way to a rising morning sun. Standing up with Zephy on her arms, Adena looked around unsure of what to do. Should she try warning Night Raid? But then again, how was she supposed to find them? Their address is not exactly public.

Even so, she just had to save Raizo from certain death. But in the midst of those crossing thoughts, a sudden blur of white energy unexpectedly raced into Adena catching her in a moment of weakness. The redhead could barely process what happened next. One instant she was next to the crater that was once the place she called home, the next she was in the middle of a forest unfamiliar to her.

Standing before her was a girl equal in height to Lady Hestia. Her long, snow white hair was wrapped into a ponytail and her mouth was covered by a simple whitish scarf; both of which contrasted against her sapphire blue jacket and primrose irises. At face value, one could easily mistake this girl for Hestia; however, upon further inspection, Adena noticed the clear difference in their personal auras. Lady Hestia could be both a kind mother and a powerful leader or a fearsome killer, but this girl...her presence awakened something different in Adena—feelings she would get around Raizo.

"Who...Who are you?" Adena asked in a weak tone of voice. The combination of being tricked by a psychopath and seemingly losing her family had begun to take its toll on her.

"Who me? I'm your wife, I mean duh right?" the girl responded bluntly before giving out a reassuring smile all too similar to Raizo's. With her heartbeat now suddenly increasing, Adena carefully put Zephy down next to a tree before turning to face this mysterious girl once more.

"Woah, Woah, Woah! What now?! I'm so confused!" the redhead slowly began freaking out. In response the white haired girl chuckled softly, immediately causing Adena to blush uncontrollably for reasons still unexplained to the redhead.

"Wha-What's so funny?" the formerly intimidating Sapphire Phoenix member mumbled like an embarrassed child.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that I happen to forget about universe differences and such. Anyways if you just walk about five hundred kilometers north, you'll reach Night Raid's headquarters," the primrose-eyed girl explained rather calmly.

"Bu-But...what's your name?"

"My name? Heh, I suppose you can call me...Godspeed," she responded before seemingly reappearing in front of Adena in the blink of an eye and locking her lips onto the redhead's. Caught by surprise, Adena takes a few steps back before tripping clumsily and falling on her butt.

"Wha-What was that?" she asked in astonishment while blushing slightly.

"That was a kiss, but you don't have time to fret over that. After all, you have somewhere to be Miss Adena," the Godspeed said softly before vanishing in a quick flash of light.

Adena was left more or less completely speechless at the happenings she just witnessed. With every passing minute, something unexpected or otherworldly happened and it was starting to make her frustrated. As a member of the Sapphire Phoenix she couldn't help but feel kind of invincible—that has changed after today.

"Sigh...you better not be dead already, Raizo," she said before picking Zephy up in her arms only to then start running north.

---

Meanwhile around five hundred or so kilometers away from where Adena was, an odd family of assassins started to work on their daily routine. As always Leone slept till later while Chelsea ventured around the household keeping herself busy with simple tasks. On the outside, Tatsumi looked for his friend and brother in arms—the former blood wolf, Raizo Arashi.

"Hey Raizo, I need your help with the dishes man!" the emerald-eyed boy, shouted at his comrade who was resting on top of the Night Raid household roof.

"You can go on ahead Tatsumi, I'll be down in a few minutes," the Red-Eyed Stormbringer remarked as he casually felt the morning wind come into contact with his face. This was a very peaceful moment for Raizo, something he didn't get to experience often nowadays.

"Geez alright, just don't keep me waiting for too long," Tatsumi replied before heading inside the kitchen. As Raizo rested, memories of everything that had happened up to this point began resonating within his subconscious. Everything from his roots as a vengeful warrior to more recent encounters with his mother; the trial he underwent and ultimately escaped from; his misadventures in the Nightmare forest; and what happened to the boss while he was gone. So much has happened in such little time, it was almost overwhelming for the Stormbringer to think about it all. In the end, his memories couldn't help but wonder back to that battle which took place more than six months ago. Who would've thought that things such as other universes exist? Much less that a being with the power to destroy all of creation would take interest in killing Raizo only to then plunder his power.

Vesta Arashi...

Raizo's counterpart from a universe alternate to his own. Her power was colossal in comparison to the one Raizo possessed; if she wanted to end this reality of revolutionary wars and super-powered killers, then she could've done so in an instant. During that time of despair and weakness, other legendary warriors with even greater power crossed over from their universe and came to the Stormbringer's aid.

Akaro Hajime...the Red-Eyed Hero, a man with the power of all 48 Imperial Arms stored within himself; Kimiko Hanate, the girl who could end an entire pantheon of gods with all but a single stare; and Akame Hajime, an alternate universe counterpart of Akame who became the goddess of death itself. Alongside Raizo, this group surpassed true infinity and managed to defeat Vesta in the end with a combined strike.

"Was it fate that brought our family together?" Raizo wondered as memories of the time he spent together with his other family of brothers and sisters from another universe began sinking in. If it wasn't for them, the so called Red-Eyed Stormbringer wouldn't be here enjoying this cold gust of morning wind. In fact, everyone would've been erased; Vesta would've taken away everything Raizo worked for, everyone he ever knew, and all of existence in the process. It would've been another massacre—the genocide of multiverses.

"I can never thank you guys enough," Raizo mumbled under his breath as he suddenly found himself to be sporting a genuinely honest smile. His mind wanted to wander into those nightmares he had experienced, but nonetheless he just shook those memories out of his mind. 'They're just dreams', he said to himself.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself up there," a female voice all too familiar to Raizo reached his ears as he slowly got up on his feet.

"Akame," he said as he watched the black haired female walk up to him.

"Thinking about the past are we?" she questioned with her typical bluntness at full display.

"Uh yea, don't judge me. It's not like you don't think about my brother every night," Raizo spoke, trying to get a reaction. Luckily for him, he did.

"S-Shut up! What Akaro and I do in our spare time is none of your damn business Raichu!" Akame retorted back crossing her arms and blushing.

"Oh so you two have been seeing each other? Heh that bastard," the Red-Eyed Stormbringer commented as he placed his hand on his chin.

"Q-Quiet you! It was only one time."

By now Akame's face had changed from the typical pale white to a shade of red comparable to a tomato. When talking about Akaro, Akame just couldn't help but feel flustered; something all too easy to make fun of. Plus, after the entire teasing Leone put him through, Raizo loved to finally be the one teasing someone.

"Liar…Liar…Liar…Liar…Liar!!!" Her words still echoed within Raizo's subconscious. He still couldn't tell if those vivid experiences were real or just another nightmare created by his mind. Hell, maybe this whole world was nothing more than an illusion.

"So, when exactly did you two...y'know," he questioned with an air of curiosity before coughing. Deep down, however, Raizo was only trying to forget. Taking in a deep breath, Akame finally managed to calm down her raging fury of emotions.

"The night before your execution," she put it bluntly.

"Wait really? That's weird."

"Weird? What do you mean?" The red-eyed assassin asked confused.

"That night was the last time I saw him as well," he remarked.

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well, to be honest, at first I thought it was just a really weird dream. Turns out it wasn't, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I suppose I should start at the beginning..."

---

SOME TIME AGO - THE NIGHT BEFORE RAIZO'S EXECUTION

Moaning and noises of a bed going up and down, the night of October 15th, 1025 wasn't one Raizo would ever forget. This was thanks to the female who decided to spend the night in his cell, but that didn't apply to just him. Wandering around the large settlement of tents where personnel from all over the Revolutionary Army slept, a powerful figure disguised as just another armored soldier checked every inch of the place. Alone he wandered to a set of tents located the farthest away from the regular accommodations for military personnel. Inside one of these tents was a young lady with eyes as red as the crimson moonlight finding trouble falling asleep.

Not even bothering to ask for permission, the mysterious armored soldier invades the tent. Caught by surprise, Akame quickly stood up still in her pajamas. The two shared an awkward stare before the Red-Eyed Killer finally spoke up.

"Who are you?" she asked as her heartbeat began to increase though deep down she already knew who this man was.

"You already know the answer to that question don't you Akame?" the armored individual said softly before snapping his fingers. Unexpectedly a cloud of white smoke emerged out of seemingly nowhere covering the inside of the tent.

Eventually, the smoke cleared out into nothingness, revealing an all too familiar Red-Eyed Hero. The once full-body metal and steel armor was now replaced by a simple white shirt, casual black jeans, and a dark jacket accompanied by the trademark red scarf around his neck. Akame would be able to recognize this man's crimson hues and iconic, rebellious, messy black hair anywhere. After all, this man was the only one who could truly break through her cold emotionless persona.

"Akaro..." the female gasped in surprise.

"Missed me did ya?" the tall male responded to the girl's reaction with a heartwarming smile before embracing her in a hug.

Akame felt strange. As usual, Akaro's mere presence was enough to throw her into a storm of desires and emotions that she didn't even know she could feel. That and the last time Akaro showed up unannounced the entire universe ended up on the brink of destruction. All those made her feel as if his arrival was an omen of another crisis for all of humanity.

"You're here...after all that's happened," Akame mumbled as she held on tightly to her visitor.

"I'm sorry I didn't show up to help you guys with Raizo's trial...it's just that, I've been busy completing missions for the Counter Force," he spoke back reassuringly.

"Counter...Force?" she questioned as she still tried to contain her...bodily and emotional needs.

"Yeah, we should sit down and I'll explain," Akaro remarked before clicking his fingers together. Suddenly—as if in synchrony with his action—reality inside that tent shifted and weaved together with other aspects of the dimensional boundaries and the space-time continuum. Of course, Akame couldn't process any of this; to her everything was a blur containing multiple random forms and colors. In the end, however, everything changed. The once small accommodations were now transformed into a fully decorated bedroom with a royal-looking bed and golden ornaments along its sides. All of which was definitely way too rich for the whole Revolutionary Army's blood.

Sitting down on the bed with Akaro, Akame couldn't help but smile happily at his presence. In an instant, Akaro had created a pocket reality within the space continuum of Akame's small tent and he did it so casually without effort. Such power was so infinitely beyond the Red-Eyed Killer that even analyzing made her feel like a mortal trying to comprehend something beyond applicable human logic.

"You asked about the Counter Force..." Akaro began explaining, "Well this is gonna be a big shocker but, the afterlife does exist. Souls considered pure or worthy are sent to a realm known as Elysium. Those who aren't, fall into the realm called Inferno. Souls of warriors, killers, heroes, and others with combat capabilities are generally given the choice of eternal rest or the chance to become either angels or demons. Amongst these, some are given the chance to work for the Counter Force as part of the so-called Counter Guardians."

"That is a lot to take in but what is this Counter Force?" Akame asked.

"It's rather simple; the Counter Force is a metaphysical system created by the gods to maintain balance. Its existence serves the one purpose of detecting crises or wars too great for any one civilization, world, or universe to handle. Once it finds a situation like that, it deploys one or more of its Counter Guardians to restore balance. These powerful warriors are the best of the best, legends among legends. Both I and the ladies who accompanied me in the battle against Vesta were guardians," he finished.

Akame fell into a deep silence. Between the confused tornado of emotions and heavy exposition about concepts she could barely understand, this all felt like an insane dream.

"So that's why you saved us back then," she commented, her expression now darkened by clouded emotions.

"Something wrong, Akame?"

"I...Where were you, Akaro? With your power on our side, bringing down the empire and defeating the Sapphire Phoenix would be as simple as breathing. So why? We're your family, aren't we? Do you really care so little about…?"

Not giving Akame the luxury of finishing that sentence, Akaro gently grabs hold of her chin and then brings himself down to her lips. The two red-eyed killers kiss passionately for a good minute before Akame finally pulled herself away from such pleasure.

"I care about you guys more than you can possibly imagine, especially you Akame. It doesn't matter what universe I'm in, you'll always be the one person I can always trust no matter the situation. However, that doesn't mean I can always be here. If I were to fix all of your problems all the time, you and the others would become dependent on me. And if that happened, Night Raid would never grow and you would never become the nigh-invincible legendary assassin I know you can become."

Akaro's words reached far into Akame's subconscious. Deep down, she knew the Red-Eyed Hero was correct but in actuality, she was just scared of what the future would bring. Enemies such as Vesta and the Sapphire Phoenix members are so far beyond what was once considered the limit of strength that even Akame felt helpless.

"Then at least...would you stay the night here with me?" she asked, right before grabbing hold of her visitor's hand. Akaro looked at Akame's blushing expression and felt her shaky hand. It was clear her emotions and feelings were getting to the girl's head.

"I...Hey wai- wait!"

Not able to wait for his decision, Akame kisses her beloved once more before pushing him down onto the bed and continuing her onslaught against his lips. Akaro would occasionally attempt to refuse the girl's advances but the minute Akame removed her red tie, she used it to handcuff his wrists against the back end of the bed. Synonymous with establishing dominance, the Red-Eyed Hero knew his consent was no longer required. In a matter of minutes, the pair's clothing could be found scattered around the tent as the two explored each other's bodies in all kinds of ways. What followed throughout the night was the loud sound of moaning.

Time went by. After hours upon hours of lovemaking with the Red-Eyed Killer, Akame finally had enough fun and fell into a satisfied slumber with a pleased expression stamped across her face. For Akaro, he was already up and about; in fact he wasn't even tired. While putting his clothes back on, the tall male couldn't help but smirk at this situation. Somehow he had turned a casual visit during times of war into a night of sexual intercourse with his beloved—something he definitely wasn't expecting.

Popping his shoulders and neck back in place, the adventurer removed himself from Akame's tent. Morning would soon come and Akaro still had one important birthday gift for his little brother, Raizo.

"Hum, I don't want to interrupt those three so...Tei-re on: Kamui Spectator," the Red-Eyed Hero spoke before snapping his fingers. Again reality changed. Now standing above a void of nothingness, Akaro looked ahead of himself. A few meters away were another red-eyed individual that stared at the Red-Eyed Hero in disbelief.

"How the…Akaro?" Raizo mumbled still trying to understand what was happening.

"Yo Raichu. Sorry about bringing you into this infinite-dimensional Hilbert space without asking for permission, but Akame kinda needed my attention... yeah, let's go with that," Akaro remarked casually.

"Wha-What? Wait! Infinite-di what? How am I here? I" the heterochromia-haired boy cuts his own questions midway; his confused expression was priceless in Akaro's eyes.

"Don't worry Raichu, you're still back in your jail cell getting utterly and completely dominated by Leone. Yet you're also here having a conversation with me…at the same time," the older brother explained while also chuckling a little.

"Ugh my head hurts just trying to understand that. Wait a minute...how do you know about me, Leone?!" the former blood wolf asked.

"I had to check what you were up to in order to bring you here, but anyway let's get to the point shall we?" With those words spoken, the Red-Eyed Hero suddenly reappeared in front of Raizo.

"Whoa, wait there! What are you doing?"

"Giving you one of two birthday gifts," he said only to then put his right hand on Raizo's chest.

"This is gonna hurt," he added as his arm ignited with strange golden flames that quickly entered the Stormbringer's body.

"Wha- GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Raizo screamed as the sensation of his internal organs being melted invaded his mind. Dropping to his knees, the young man trembled in agony as his life rapidly flashed before his eyes—the pain of every atom in his body exploding; the pain of being reduced to raw meat; the pain of being destroyed in every level of his existence, and so on. All of these sensations and others began to creep their way into the boy's very soul. It truly felt as if he was about to break but such fate never came to pass. Instead, what came to Raizo next was the feeling of transcendence; the feeling of transcending time, space, dimensional boundaries, and even the concept of true infinity itself. However, even that didn't last. From a pain worse than death to surpassing unimaginable power, Raizo now found himself back to his regular state of being. He took long breaths and held his chest as if he was about to experience heart failure, but the Red-Eyed Stormbringer still lived somehow.

"Happy Birthday Raizo Arashi," Akaro spoke as he watched Raizo struggle to get up on his feet.

"Just what the hell was that? Explain please."

"Well, Relepagus is gone for good so…figured you would make better use of this Primordial Essence than he ever did."

"Relepagus? Who's that supposed to be?" Raizo asked, now even more confused.

[Relepagus is gone? Just how did that happen?]

The disembodied voice of Indra echoed within Raizo's mind.

"You know who that is?"

[Yes boy...Relepagus is a myth amongst the gods of old; he is one of the ten Primordial deities who predate the concept of a divine hierarchy. Above all, he is...well was the Primordial God of Thunder.]

"Primordial Gods? What's the difference between those and you regular gods?"

[There's a world of difference, boy. The hierarchy of gods is divided into three main categories: Lesser Gods - Those tasked with mortal affairs, or in other words gods of war, agriculture, storms, and even time and space. They are great and powerful but rely on the belief of mortals in order to prosper. To that end, they are assigned roles in the realm of Gaia, otherwise known as our multiverse. Then there are the Celestial Gods - The supreme gods who reside in Elysium-that which many see as heaven, a domain beyond the endless multiverses and the realms of ideas. Their power is simply unimaginable in scale and because of that they rarely involve themselves with any beings below them.]

"And let me guess, the Primordial Gods are at the absolute top of this so-called hierarchical system."

[You are correct...well at least as far as I know. It's obviously been ages since I last met any of the gods. Furthermore, the existence of Primordial Gods is a controversial topic, to say the least.]

"Hum..." Finally bringing his attention back to Akaro, who simply watched the whole discussion with Indra, Raizo couldn't help but ask something else.

"So was that Primordial Essence supposed to do something for me?"

"Ha! Now, what would be the fun in spoiling the surprise? Well, admittedly it will take you a really long time to get said surprise but whatever. You'll thank me eventually brother. For now though...catch ya later, kid."

As those words resonated within his very core, Raizo's consciousness cut to black. The following instant the Crimson Harbinger found himself back in his cell. Now alone with only an hour left before his execution, he got up and put his clothes back on.

"What a night," he thought to himself as he prepared for the fate that awaited him in the following hour.

---

PRESENT DAY - NIGHT RAID HEADQUARTERS

"So he went to see you after we spent some time together huh? I didn't know that," Akame acknowledged as she and Raizo finally concluded their trip down memory lane.

"Yeah...that night was the definition of weird," the Stormbringer added as he looked towards the horizon with a soft smile stamped across his face, "Anyways; we should go down to help the others."

In the back of his head, Raizo thought about this 'Counter Force' and just how all-seeing its power truly was. Perhaps it had something to do with the strange nightmarish future outcome he saw in his dreams.

"Indeed," the red-eyed female remarked before walking up to the edge of the roof. She then swiftly jumped down to ground level landing on her feet as if the fall didn't bother her at all.

The Stormbringer still remembered the peculiar words she spoke to him in that other world he was shown: "I won't blame you or say anything spiteful to you over your decision. Ultimately as human beings, we all have to choose our paths. I don't hate you or hold any resentment towards you Raizo as I do still hold respect for you both as a fellow swordsman and an assassin. I pray that we will never have to cross paths as enemies for it would be rather unfortunate. So as your friend I can only say that I hope you know what you're doing. May the heavens forever shine on your sword and guide you to the everlasting triumph Crimson Harbinger."

Raizo prepared himself to follow after Akame, but he wouldn't get the chance to do so.

--A burning sensation—

Unexpectedly, the young Harbinger was greeted by a heated blade which cut through his back and emerged out of his gut. The pain Raizo felt from this wound was amplified somehow; the boy could feel his own mortality as his regenerative abilities failed to activate. Blood began to escape from within the Stormbringer's mouth. As Raizo's vision began to blur out, a sadistic voice whispered into his ear:

"Don't go dying just yet, okay?"

Looking over his shoulder, Raizo saw the face of his attacker—a bearded male with scarlet red hues and the expression of a psychopath. Behind him, two individuals watched as the former blood wolf was stabbed in the back; however, Raizo couldn't make out any of their facial features as he was pushed down to ground level with a sword still stuck across his body.

"Raizo!" Akame shouted as she watched her strongest comrade helplessly falling to the ground. Before she could think to react, one of the three individuals who attacked Raizo suddenly popped up in front of her. Akame quickly readied herself to face the gothic Lolita who looked at her meekly.

"You look so healthy Miss Akame, I'll enjoy eating you up," the mysterious girl known to her comrades as Rias Makiri calmly said. Raizo crashed face first against the ground making a high enough sound to alert the other members of Night Raid. In a matter of moments, Leone and Tatsumi exited the household rushing to stand beside Akame.

"What's going on here?" Tatsumi questioned.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Akame bluntly responded before removing her blade from its sheath.

Appearing behind Rias in a flash of purple, the scarlet-eyed man—Rin Hanate—and the hooded old man, Deus, joined the small childlike female in her little showdown with Night Raid. Soon after, Chelsea joined this deadly encounter. Taking the lead, the new Big Boss of Night Raid confidently stood between both groups. Seeing this, Rin decided to walk up to the orange haired female.

"So, before we do this how about some introductions?" Chelsea said. Rin smiled at the woman's false confidence, but regardless, he decided to play along.

"Name's Rin Hanate, former officer of the Empire's Elite Division and youngest recruit to be offered the role of general, first and last to fully break away from the empire. But most important of all, I'm the man who's gonna change the world; however, first killing all who could possibly stand in my way seems like a good idea doesn't it?"

Rin's introduction felt more like an ultimatum; he was there for only one reason and he made that pretty clear.

"Alright Rin, you seem pretty sure of yourself there. You do realize we have the bigger numbers here don't ya?" The pink-eyed female replied still trying to maintain that facade of fearlessness and confidence up when in actuality she was merely buying time for Raizo's wound to hopefully heal.

"You think I can't tell what you're trying to do here? Please just stop trying Chelsea; your head should be on a stick. In fact, let's fix that shall we? Rias go ahead and have your fun," Rin casually added before walking back to his group, "Just don't play around with your food too much little Miss Makiri."

"As you wish daddy," Rias responded with a disinterested tone before stepping forward to face Night Raid.

Rias...Rias Makiri…

Upon hearing that name, a chilling sensation ran across Akame's body. Sweat now ran down her forehead. Could this really be her? The girl whose parents Akame killed years ago?

"I see you remember my family's name, I'm glad," the emotionless girl spoke as she walked forward, her twin tails dancing in the wind behind her, "Don't worry though I'm not kill you right away, I'll just hurt you...really, really bad."

"You sure talk a lot!" the voice of a certain Raizo Arashi exclaimed as the former blood wolf himself suddenly launched himself towards Rias in an attempt to get the girl off guard. His wound was now covered up and the bleeding had stopped. Turns out Raizo's rapid regeneration had kicked in after Rias stopped paying attention to the Red-Eyed Stormbringer. That said the abilities of the multiple functions of his teigu were still very much restrained and unable to function properly. Regardless, Raizo continued his surprise attack. In one powerful motion he unleashed his fists, delivering an onslaught of physical strikes to his target's torso. Strike after strike, punch after punch, Raizo didn't hold anything back. But...despite his efforts Rias did not even flinch or moved back an inch. As a matter of fact, Raizo's fists were the only ones getting damaged as it felt like he was punching a wall made of impenetrable steel.

"Wha-What the hell are you?!" he yelled, his hands now bleeding.

Rias smiled at her supposed opponent. She only displayed any emotion towards Raizo because he was the only member of Night Raid that she could genuinely respect. After all, he suffered the same level of loss as she did and then grew stronger from the experience.

"What am I? It's simple...I'm the result of men's lust for power..." she responded before looking towards Akame, "And I'm only here because of you, Red-Eyed Killer."

A maniacal laughter began to leave the gothic girl's mouth almost as if her sanity decreased every passing second. In the following instant, a nightmarish scenario took place. Reappearing next to Leone and Chelsea, both of whom stood guard behind Akame and Tatsumi, Rias ran her fingers down Chelsea's spine sending a chilling sensation that caused the girl to straighten herself up in fear. Rias then pushed the lollipop lover slightly with less than 1% of her physical strength, which was more than enough to snap the girl's body open in two.

A rain of blood fell from the skies as Chelsea's upper and lower halves flew up into the air. Before anyone could react though, Rias appeared in front of Leone. Grabbing hold of the blonde assassin's breasts with her strong hands, Rias proceeded to rip them out of Leone's chest.

"GAHHHHHHHH!" Leone screamed in agony before falling to the ground. The fatty tissue was removed with ease like taking pillows off a nice warm bed. A massive gash of matted flesh and blood remained giving sight to the last layers of tissue that covered Leone's vitals. The remainder of Night Raid looked in shock at such happenings occurred. Reactions ranged from eyes widening to jaws dropping as tears began to flow.

Meanwhile Rias simply smiled as the rain of Chelsea's blood stained her black hair. To make it all the more horrific, Rias still held Leone's dismembered breasts in her hands. Both of which she put inside her tiny mouth and devoured whole as if it was a common pastry.

"YOU MONSTER!" Tatsumi shouted at Rias as the two ends of body parts that once formed Chelsea's body fell in front of him and Akame.

"Monster? No Tatsumi...I'm the devil," Rias retorted as those were the last words the boy heard before his heart was suddenly impaled by his own blade which flew out of his hands and attacked him as if propelled by gravity itself. Drowning on his blood, Tatsumi fell to his knees and soon became motionless.

Akame couldn't react; fear had taken over her entire body. Her teigu would be useless against Rias. Whatever she was, she definitely wasn't human and the power she possessed surpassed anything in this world. Three members of the

Revolutionary Army's strongest assassins were slaughtered in an instant. Was this really going to be it? Was this the end of the road for Night Raid? Such questions flowed around Akame's subconscious.

"RAHHHHHHHH!" A powerful shout echoed with pure hatred. Bolts of scarlet electricity now circled and swirled around the Red-Eyed Stormbringer. Somehow he had forced himself to enter into a passive 'Dark Fury' state which appeared like a modified 'Calm' state. Fueled by nothing but the rage filling every inch of his body, the sight of his deceased comrades only pushed him forward. Speeding his way up to Rias, Raizo once more unleashed his fist. This time though he focused all of the power and momentum in one singular punch in which his fist connected to the gothic Lolita's forehead. However, even then nothing happened. Rias simply stood still and received the full force of Raizo's fist.

"You sure like beating up little girls, Mister Raizo," Rias remarked with a sadistic smile stamped across her lips, "Now...bend over for me sweetheart."

"Wha…" Raizo didn't even have the time to finish his sentence. In accordance to the psychopathic girl's will, the gravity inside Raizo's stomach exploded causing his guts to burst out of his body as the red-eyed assassin fell to the ground holding his opened belly while bending over in pain. A stream of blood and disemboweled tissues once more decorated the ground. At the sight of this situation, Akame went down to her knees as despair finally settled in. Leaving Raizo bloody and beaten, Rias walked over to Akame.

"Pl-...Please don't! Just let me go," the Red-Eyed Killer began to beg frozen by fear. Raizo could only watch as tears began to escape his eyes; he no longer had the strength to fight.

"Aw...you're cute when you beg for a devil's mercy, but don't worry Akame. Once we open Pandora's Box, I'll create a world where everyone's wish shall become their own reality—even those who died...I promise," Rias spoke softly as her right hand began to glow with a cosmic purple glow to it. She then prepared to touch Akame's forehead; the energy contained in her hand was similar to that of the Sapphire Phoenix member, Orion. If touched by this energy Akame would undoubtedly get reduce to subatomic dust. By now, everyone—even Raizo and Akame—were covered by the darkness of evil and fear. However, the deeper the darkness...the more dazzling the light shines.

The heavens above suddenly became clouded by an ominous storm as crimson lightning bolts started to fall down. Animals and danger beasts alike soon started to evacuate surrounding areas.

"What the hell? Deus what's happening?" Rin asked nervously as he and Deus still watched from the sidelines.

"I feel a massively powerful presence. It's far superior to my own and it's stronger than Rias as well," Deus responded.

The ground began to crack, or so it seemed. As the storm intensified, what was actually cracking was the skin of reality itself. Stopping herself from ending Akame's life, Rias took a step back. Just like Deus, Rias could feel the furious presence behind this oncoming storm. It was a presence that transcended infinity itself. Even now as Raizo found himself torn asunder yet hanging on by mere threads, he could still recognize this presence. Even as sparks of pure light began to emanate from within the cracks on the ground, the Stormbringer could still tell that now everything would be fine...after all, his big brother was here.

"Fashionably late as usual eh Akaro?" Raizo spoke as he caught a glimpse of a godlike figure emerging from within the heavens above. This divine figure with the appearance of a man was surrounded by a powerful, flaming, platinum aura that radiated with a glowing light many would identify as the essence of hope itself. His normally crimson eyes now shined with furious golden fire and perhaps the most important and intimidating aspect of all, the godlike warrior known as Akaro wasn't smiling. Instead, he remained completely serious as he landed on the ground. His typically messy and rebellious black hair was also slowly changing; it gradually became platinum in coloring much like his aura and adopted a more spiked style.

Carrying both the Murasame and Yatsufusa in his hands respectively, Akaro simply stood there for a few seconds as he watched Rin Hanate's expression change from utterly confident to absolutely scared out of his mind. Meanwhile, both Akame and Raizo had the opposite reaction going from absolutely terrified to widening their eyes with hopeful expressions.

"Akaro!" the girl shouted as tears of happiness began streaming down her cheeks. Raizo on the other hand, could only smile as he continued to bleed out.

"Kept you waiting huh? Don't worry it's alright now...because I'm here," the powerful Counter Guardian uttered confidently as he took one step towards Rias who had regrouped with Rin and Deus.

"Heh so you're the one Hestia mentioned. Maybe I should've taken her words seriously..." Rin mumbled under his breath.

"Hello, I'm the Red-Eyed Hero. So basically... run," Akaro calmly said, his calm masking a fury of boundless potential.

Not thinking twice about it, Rin spread his arms and screamed "Explosion!" A very literal name for his move which quickly unleashed a powerful omnidirectional blast of fire which reduced a great deal of Night Raid's headquarters to dust while blocking everyone's view; this ultimately bought Deus enough time to activate another one of his many tricks.

"Mirage of life..." those were the last words Deus uttered before vanishing into thin air alongside Rias and Rin.

"Interesting ability there," Akaro remarked as the smoke and fires began to clear. Now standing where Rin and the others once were, a group of five individuals all too familiar to Night Raid now stared down the Red-Eyed Hero: Hestia, Adena, Orion, Genesis, and Zephyria. Or more accurately put doppelganger versions of them with the exact same appearance and powers. There was a chance that these entities even had the same exact soul, but were deprived of their individual personalities though it was unclear.

"A Kamui that can create an exact copy of someone you've met before...now that's a neat trick," Akaro observed.

"No kidding, but you can defeat them right?" Akame questions as she walks up to Akaro's side.

"Well duh, but fortunately enough for this universe I don't think I need to," he remarked as he and the doppelganger Hestia stared each other down.

"Akaro, if you truly are an ally of the Arashi family then you'll stop Rin from opening that Box," the doppelganger Hestia spoke with a very serious tone.

"Even the doppelganger can't bring herself to serve the will of others huh? Must be a family thing, or did the real Hestia somehow project herself into this body? Man, this is getting complicated," the Red-Eyed Hero jests. The duplicate of the Sapphire Phoenix leader then spoke once more.

"Akaro...this is not the time for joking around. You saw what Rin did to Night Raid. God knows what he'll do to the world if his plan succeeds."

"Don't worry," he began with a smile, "I'll keep this world and Raizo safe, but I'm not doing this because of you. To me, family is who you chose to sacrifice yourself for and those you genuinely love. I'm sorry but in my eyes, you're nothing more than a corrupted woman with dreams and desires that ultimately don't matter to me in the slightest."

"So what are you saying exactly?"

"Simple. I'll save you, this world, your little group of weirdos, and Raizo; however, that doesn't mean we're friends. Raizo's mother or not, if you ever give me a reason to come after you well then I won't hesitate to end you in an instant. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good, now sit tight in that pocket dimension Deus put you guys in while I get the Night Raid members patched up," Akaro said before snapping his fingers causing the doppelgangers to vanish into nothingness.

Following these events, the flaming platinum aura around Akaro's body disappeared as he returned to his normal state of being. Eyes back to red, hair back in black and now messier than ever, Akaro stretched his arms and popped his shoulders back in place before turning to face what remained of his friends. Leone and Tatsumi were dead, Chelsea was ripped apart, and Raizo was on the brink of death. Honestly the only person left semi-intact was Akame and that was because Rias was going to leave her for last. Night Raid HQ was also completely destroyed and there's no saying what might happen to Hestia and the Sapphire Phoenix group if Akaro doesn't act now.

But first…

"I, Akame Hajime, undo the damage hereby caused by Rias Makiri in the name of the Counter Force's rulings of timeline maintenance."

With another snap of his fingers, reality and fiction changed. The factual became fictional, and the fictional became factual. A flash of white generated by such powerful sorcery blinded all for an instant; in the next moment, the dead were no longer dead and their deaths became a distant dream. Now standing around with confused faces, Tatsumi and Chelsea looked around while Leone held her own breasts with relief. Raizo, on the other hand, was still down on the ground unable to move; not because he was hurt as by now his teigu had finally started working again, but because he felt more defeated than ever before. Seeing this, Akaro walked up to him.

"Hey Raichu, how's the weather down there?" he asked jokingly before extending a hand out to help Raizo get up.

"Moody with a chance of depression, bro," Raizo commented as he grabbed hold of Akaro's hand and got up.

"Depression? C'mon now…"

"What? Can you really blame me? That girl...whatever she was, her powers neutralized our teigu completely. Then I was just forced to watch my family being taken away from me one by one again. If it wasn't for you we would be-…"

"Dead? I know. And I didn't ask for praise," Akaro interrupts Raizo ever so gently and with a smile.

"There's no way I would just let you guys die for nothing. You're family, all of you are," he continued, this time addressing everyone around in a heartwarming manner. Raizo however wasn't as easy to get through.

"It's just that...I kinda want to be like you brother. I want to be able to solve any and all problems that could possibly befall upon my comrades with the snap of my fingers but even now I'm just never powerful enough when it matters most," the former blood wolf vented out his feelings like never before—something truly out of character for him.

"Yeah you see that's where your way of thinking is wrong little brother. In terms of raw power, skill and especially speed you're stronger than a lot of people. But you're also green."

"Green?"

"Green as in a novice or an amateur. You're trying to compare yourself as you are now to fighters who've seen more action in a week than you have in an entire lifetime. Take me for example, by your age I had defeated people strong enough to be considered gods, won a revolutionary war, and sent a rabbit to the moon!"

"D-Did...Did you make that last one up?" Raizo asked raising his eyebrow with a slight twitch. He forgot that his older brother could be as serious as an ailing disease or as random as a train derailing. Akaro continued nevertheless.

"Point is you still have a long way to go and plenty to learn. You may have had you're life as an assassin with the Blood Wolves and all, but you're still just a nineteen-year-old kid who—mind you—is way too submissive around flirtatious women," Akaro said before patting Raizo's shoulder in a brotherly manner.

"Shu-Shut up! It's not like I try to be that way! What the hell does that have to do with anything anyways? Tch…never mind...but uh...where or how do I start learning?"

"Oh I can teach you a thing or two about women," the Red-Eyed Hero joked casually raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Dammit! N-Not that you idiot! I-I mean combat! Teach me how to be better," Raizo quickly responded with a flustered expression on his face.

"Sure thing, but first, we got a headquarters to rebuild," Akaro remarked before walking back to the other members of Night Raid who had merely watched how different the relationship between Raizo and Akaro was. Normally Raizo is unquestionably the strongest, most skillful, and the most assassin-like member of Night Raid; however, when in proximity to his so-called 'brother', Raizo was visually able to express much more emotion. Unlike Leone, Akaro didn't have to force the Stormbringer to do so; it was almost as if the two truly were related by blood.

"Hey!" a familiar voice suddenly emerged from the nearby forest that surrounded Night Raid's destroyed headquarters. All turned their attention towards the voice only to find out it belonged to the Sapphire Phoenix's one and only redhead, Adena. On her back she carried another member of the same group—Zephyria. All Night Raid members readied themselves for battle but before another major conflict could take place, Raizo quickly used his super-speed to get to the girls before anyone else could.

Signaling for his comrades to stand down with a simple wave of his hand, Raizo stands his ground. Meanwhile, Akaro simply watched the situation unfold with his trademark shining, white, lady-killer smile stamped across his lips while leaning back against a tree.

"Adena...what happened?" the Stormbringer asked, but deep down he already knew the answer.

"Same thing that happened to you guys I'm guessing. That guy, Rin Hanate and his group attacked us. Everyone is...gone, your mom she's..."

"No, she's not dead," Raizo swiftly interrupted.

"What? How would you know?"

"The hooded old man, Deus, he's keeping her and the other Sapphire Phoenix members in a locked dimension," Akaro said as he seemingly just warped to Raizo's side, which caused Adena to jump in surprise. Raising an eyebrow out of curiosity given the fact that she never saw the guy before with the band of assassins, she was briefly deterred from the current situation.

"Sooo...new recruit?" she asked in a puzzled voice.

"Uh no. He's my older brother...from another universe, and no we're not actually related. That sounded a lot less confusing in my head," Raizo stumbled on his own words.

"What my little bro here is trying to say is that we're brothers in arms and that he's unofficially been adopted into my actual family. Oh! Name's Akaro by the way, pleasure to meet you Miss..."

"I'm Adena, nice to meet you too Mister Akaro By The Way."

"Ha! She's sassy, isn't she sassy? I like her," Akaro finished his sentence, now more energetic than ever. Meanwhile Raizo just tried to wrap his head around the idea of technically being part of three families, one more problematic than the other.

"So, Adena who?" Akaro asked getting back to the topic at hand.

"I could ask you the same question, Akaro who?" Adena countered with precision. Play a word game with her was likely going to cause one to rage quit and spill whatever she wanted to know.

"Heh dangerous question that one," The Red-Eyed Hero spoke before letting out his bright smile.

"Oh I do like dangerous." Adena and Akaro continued to play off each other. In just a few minutes the two were already like the best of buddies. However, their little moment of fun would quickly end as the conversation got back on track.

"Akaro, you're the most qualified leader for this situation so what should we do?" Raizo asked finally bringing the mood back to a more serious atmosphere. Of course such a statement made Chelsea feel a bit offended, after all she had been trying her best since Najenda's passing to be the best possible leader. Either way she and the other members of Night Raid bore witness to the conversation from afar unable to comment much. As for Akaro, he quickly adjusted to his new role as temporary leader of this little band of misfits.

"First things first. We're gonna need to make sure Night Raid and its members are fully secured. Also, that unconscious girl Adena brought with her also looks like she's gonna need some medical assistance," he explained, now back to a more leader-like attitude.

"What about Rin though?" Adena questioned.

"What about him?" Raizo inquired bluntly.

"He did this to Zephyria, he also probably brainwashed those other two helping him into doing his bidding, and let's not forget what the fucker did to both your friends and my comrades. I want his head, no matter the cost," the fiery female spoke her mind, fury clearly hidden beneath her suppressed emotions. It was then that Akaro stepped towards her, taking the lead so to speak.

"Are you sure about that? Those people aren't just regular imperials or even the typical teigu users you would generally underestimate. Rin, Rias, and Deus, they just want to watch the whole of creation burn only so they can then rebuild it in whichever way they see fit. If you let your guard down for even a split second while facing them, you'll die a pointless death in someone else's crusade. In this world of a crimson rebellion, you may be powerful and almost invincible in battle; however, in a world where people like those three exist? You might as well be a child struggling to make you way in the world with no one there to guide you burdened with loads of impossible responsibilities. Knowing that, do you still want to go after those three?"

Adena paused before answering taking in what the man just said.

"Of course I do...right now there's nothing more for me to do. It's fine if I die as long as I take Rin with me," Adena spoke, her eyes now full of a flaming need for vengeance.

"Then no," Akaro bluntly answered.

"Wh-What?"

"I understand how you feel, but the last thing I need is someone willing to die for nothing more than a need for revenge," Akaro stated before turning his back to the redhead.

"Raizo let's get a move on. We got plenty of work to do," he added as he walked away.

"Hey Raizo...hold her for a moment," Adena mumbled as she gave Zephy's unconscious body for the Red-Eyed Stormbringer to hold which he had little choice but to do. Adena then stepped towards Akaro who was about to have a chat with Akame and the others. Raizo knew all too well what was about to happen next, but even so, interfering in Adena's outburst of emotions was something he could not dare to do.

"A child burdened with impossible responsibilities? So what?! Who the hell are you to judge me huh?!" the redhead exclaimed as a furious flaming aura ignited around herself.

"I'll show you what I can do!" she boasted. Turning to face her, Akaro smirked at his challenger. Ge didn't bother to up his guard or bring forth any weapons. Instead he simply looked over his shoulder and nodded towards Chelsea as a way to tell her and the others to stand back.

Jumping high into the air as the flames around her took the shape of a phoenix, Adena came crashing down towards the Red-Eyed Hero. As she did so, more layers were added to the flames surrounding her body. Other colored flames began to spin around her. The impact of the punch she was about to deliver could now probably end the existence of more than a single planet or perhaps even entire stars but that was not all. Now mere inches away from Akaro's face, the power contained within Adena's fist had continued to grow exponentially eventually becoming comparable to a compressed Big Bang.

In that instant of time, an attosecond before he was hit by this universe-shattering fist, Akaro smiled at his redhead attacker. Even when confronted by such a powerful force his confident attitude didn't change. Connecting her fully charged punch with the Red-Eyed Hero's face, Adena was caught by surprise as she watched the impact of her strike seemingly dissolve into what felt like nothingness. Akaro himself simply remained still, completely unharmed.

"So miss, would you mind taking your fist out of my face?" he asked with a slight mocking sound to his voice.

"W-What? How did you...survive that?" Adena questioned, astonished at Akaro's unbreakable 'cool guy' attitude and the fact that he just shrugged off her full-powered attack like it was nothing.

"Doesn't really matter, the point of me taking that punch was to help you calm down Miss Raging Hormones," Akaro told the redhead before gently grabbing hold of her fist and moving it away from his forehead.

Adena herself was left speechless; all she could really do was watch as the Red Knight who stood before she turned around and casually made his way to the burning remains of Night Raid's former headquarters. From a jokester personality to a powerful leading figure, Raizo's alleged brother was so different from anyone she had met before. He wasn't one to show any type of anger or murderous intent against those who questioned him. Instead, Akaro simply made you see things his way with the light in his eyes and the heartwarming brightness of his genuine smile. It was almost impossible to believe someone so pure of heart could actually exist in a forsaken world like this.

"Alrighty mister perfect smile...show us the way," Adena mumbled under her breath. Calming down within mere seconds, she joined the incomplete circle of assassins that now formed around Akaro. Soon joining her side, Raizo continued to carry the still-unconscious Zephyria. Despite the situation, he too remained fairly confident that success was all but confirmed. Was it due to the Red-Eyed Hero's presence? Adena wondered as a smile that expressed happiness suddenly appeared across Raizo's lips.

"Annnnd now!" Akaro spoke before snapping his fingers together causing reality itself to shift and change around the remains of Night Raid's former headquarters. The once burned-down and broken household emerged from its own ashes as it seemingly rebuilt itself. As a minute passed, Night Raid's home had been restored to its former glory featuring an additional four new bedrooms on its second floor and various new sets of furniture. Following this moment, the group of assassins entered their new and improved headquarters in order to regain their lost resolve and organize a new plan for this situation.