#133 Escaping 2

"And I was already about to deny you being my daughter but only my daughter would be able to succeed in attacking me despite me knowing about that bait. I have made a very dangerous assassin out of you, Akame" Gozuki said with a proud smile while looking at Akame who was ready to attack at any time.

"However...you can't win against me! Not as long as I have this blade with me!" Gozuki said and his entire arm extended itself and started acting as a whip while holding Murasame in hand.

Gozuki performed overhead slash at Akame from great distance.

'...I better dodge it instead of blocking it, the momentum is too great when his entire arm is acting as a whip.' Akame looked up and thought before she jumped to the side narrowly dodging his attack. His unsuccessful attack caused a cloud of smoke to rise up.

And before Akame was able to regain her footing, she was hit by his foot that came from the cloud of dust.

"Gah!" *Thud* Akame groaned and was blown to one of many trees.

'Confronting him at the open field is too dangerous, not to mention his weapon can kill me in just one scratch. I have to be extra careful around that weapon which means that I don't have enough energy to focus on his troublesome body manipulation.' Akame thought with a pained expression while getting up and holding the area under her ribs.

"You blocked it wonderfully, I meant to break your ribs but you were able to shift your body to evade it despite having so little time to respond..." Gozuki praised Akame with a smile, he was now really regretting the fact that he has to kill her because she could grow up to be the best assassin in the entire Empire.

Akame didn't say anything while looking straight at Gozuki for a few moments before she suddenly jumped at the branch of the tree she just hit and turned around to run inside the forest.

'Trying to run away? She is good, if I lose her now, I won't have any other chance to find her!' Gozuki thought with narrowed dull eyes before he hurriedly jumped after her, his speed was even greater than Akame's speed but she still started first.

'I know this area very well thanks to performing exterminating missions here. She won't run away from me!' Gozuki thought while following slightly swaying branches as if someone just jumped from them.

However, when he was chasing after Akame, the next turn he made he suddenly saw Akame with her knees and upper body bent down lower to the ground.

"?!" Gozuki eyes widened the moment Akame burst forward with all her might while slashing her katana at him.

"HAAA!" Akame shouted while putting all her strength into this attack.

'Shit! I can't stop and she is in an advantageous position!' Gozuki thought and could only put his weapon in front of him to slow down Akame's attack and reduce its strength.

*Clang!* *Splash* The moment two katanas met each other, Akame's katana repelled the other one to the side while sustaining a little crack on it but she was successful in injuring Gozuki once again and this time it was much deeper than the previous wound.

After the attack, both passed each other in the air but Gozuki used this chance to snap his head behind. He opened his mouth and his tongue extended, aiming to skewer Akame in the air.

"Tch!" She noticed his attack and couldn't do anything else other than completely twisting her body to dodge his attack. She was successful but she still completely lost balance and her body hit the tree with full force before she started falling down and hitting branches in the process. When she has finally dropped on the ground, she quickly rolled away from Gozuki and stood up with a pained expression and blood coming out of her nose and corners of her mouth.

Gozuki's state wasn't any better, in truth, he was much worse than Akame. He already sustained 2 relatively deep cuts on his body that will never ever heal and he can only stop bleeding with the support of bandages. Despite Akame's Kiriichimonji being only Shingu and it has no right to be called Teigu, it is still very dangerous weapon and practically a dream of any swordsman. Having a weapon that can inflict unhealable wounds is still wonderful ability in itself.

Therefore, even if Gozuki lives through this battle and he will stop bleeding with the help of bandages, if he performs any highly strenuous movements, his bleeding won't be stopped even by those bandages. Maybe there is a way to stop bleeding by completely sealing the wound with something, however, that would make his entire body-manipulating skills useless, at least in the areas where his wounds are. And burning the wound itself doesn't help much since it is a solution only for a short while.

Akame slowly approached Gozuki who was sitting and leaning against the tree while holding the area under her ribs with one hand.

"You actually decided to attack instead of running...That was risky out of you. I always taught you that you should run away in fights you can't win." Gozuki said with a crazy smile but there was something else in that smile, maybe he was slightly disappointed that Akame didn't act according to his teachings yet he felt proud of her for defeating him.

"I know but I am also aware that you know these woods like your own shoes. There was almost no chance of hiding away from you or running away. The most important thing I had to be wary of was your sword...I made a simple bet and did whatever you wouldn't expect from me." Akame replied while glancing to the side at the ground where Murasame was lying. She felt an attraction towards that blade but she stopped herself from walking towards it before finishing her fight.

"I see...well, you won your bet. However, humans who train many years at the Temple of the Imperial Fist are tougher than other humans. I won't die from these wounds so easily...*cough*" Gozuki said while trying to get up on his feet just to fall back on his ass while coughing out blood.

Akame looked down at her weapon in her hand and saw a little crack on the Kiriichimonji's blade. She put down Kiriichimonji on the ground while making her way towards the other katana lying on the ground.

"True, you are very tough but not enough to survive this blade!" Akame said while picking up Murasame from the ground and pointing it at Gozuki.

"Pff, True...even I will die instantly." Gozuki chuckled a little and blood came out of his mouth before he replied with a small smile, already accepting his fate.

Akame didn't wait anymore and drove Murasame's blade into Gozuki's chest.

*Cough* Gozuki coughed out more blood and black markings appeared on his skin.

"This Teigu has its own trump card which involves discarding one's humanity. I was never able to activate it but if it's you, Akame...you-...might" Gozuki said his last words with a smile across his face.

'I guess I wasn't able to activate it because I had no humanity to begin with, heh. I am sorry for being such a pathetic assassin, Gai, Cornelia...' Gozuki thought while ridiculing himself. He has yet to die but he had no strength to speak anymore and his eyes were already closed just waiting for Murasame's finishing touches.

"Goodbye, father."

Gozuki's eyes opened thanks to just his sheer willpower just to see Akame looking at him with her regular shiny eyes which indicated that she was no longer in her "killer mode". But that wasn't the only thing he saw, he also saw all members of his previous team standing around him together with Akame, his adopted kids.

'Why?! What have I done to be allowed to see this?' These were Gozuki's last thoughts as he died with a pleasantly shocked expression on his face.

When he died, Akame quickly made her way back to where she left Kurome. If she had spare time, she would definitely at least bury Gozuki. He was her enemy but she was still raised by him and taught everything by him.

*sigh* 'She is still here and unharmed...' Akame thought and sighed in relief when she arrived at the place and saw Kurome lying on the ground.

'I should hurry up before reinforcements from the Capital arrive here.' Akame thought and put Kurome's arms on her shoulder, intending to put her on her shoulder once again.

However, when she was about to put her there, Kurome suddenly opened her eyes and kicked her into the abdomen while also twisting her feet to inflict more damage.

Akame was immediately blown a few meters away before she stood up with a pained expression while looking at standing Kurome with a shocked expression. Thankfully, Kurome's kick didn't hit the area where Gozuki kicked her, or she would have definitely suffered the internal bleeding right now.

"How does it feel to be attacked by someone you love?!" Kurome shouted at Akame while massaging back of her neck and looking at Akame with one eye closed since her vision was still slightly blurry.

"Kurome...I-!" Akame wanted to say something but Kurome interrupted her by swinging her arm in front of her.

"Stop! Don't even apologize or anything. You perfectly knew how much I didn't want to leave the Capital! And you still knocked me out to take me with you! Your own little sister!" Kurome said in an angry tone while doing her best not to lose balance while standing.