Crimson Rebellion

Away from the ongoing crisis, the familiar female figure of Kimiko Hanate headed up an old set of stairs unaware of the danger that slowly approached her. As she reached the abandoned living room of the mansion she currently found herself in, her crimson eyes caught glimpse of the countless battle trophies and weapons that were kept in a variety of different displays and attached to the walls. All of these legendary items formed a large collection that had been earned throughout the Red-Eyed Killer's long record of battles.

Starting at the entrance hall, Kimiko made her way into the dojo-like area that was generally used by Akame for training purposes. Kimi slowly walked all the way to the section of the structure that contained a dusty shrine where the old urn filled with the blood of a god resided, this was of course the infamous Extract-type Teigu: Indra's Judgment. By itself this Imperial Arm bestowed the user with almost limitless control over electricity and all abilities related to it. In Kimiko's world the weapon originally belonged to the ancient order of the Blood Wolves much like it did in Raizo's world; however as fate would have it, at the climax of the First Revolutionary War the ice queen Esdeath brought the order down to its knees.

Luck was on their side as Akame saved them from complete extinction at the hands of the empire's strongest fighter. Later on when the fires of war had been extinguished Akame revisited the order and gave them a rather blunt ultimatum: "disassemble or be eliminated". Left without much of a choice, this world's counterpart of Raiden put forth an order for the entire clan to abandon the assassination business. Unfortunately the Hestia Arashi of this world wasn't all too enthusiastic about the decision and mere weeks later she organized an assault against Akame with the aid of the Conclave.

Kimiko could still recall that fateful day…

The battle took place under the crimson moonlight of one terrible night at a time when the Red-Eyed Killer wandered the Alexandria Desert. Hestia had amassed a group of four or five elite Teigu users alongside an army of around ten million soldiers recruited from all corners of the world plus all others from within the Conclave who would still follow her commands. The harsh winds of the desert blew over the battlefield; they attacked Akame with hopes of attaining the empire for themselves. Needless to say their odds of winning were low to say the least, a fact that became all the more apparent when Akame unleashed the force of her blade.

A single swing of her blade was enough to generate raging tornados and poisonous, blackened flames that wreaked havoc upon the army of killers evaporating their corpses into nothing. A few managed to get close when Akame was busy cutting down entire hordes of enemies at once, namely the Teigu users that were supposedly of elite caliber; however they were all reduced to what one could describe as subatomic mincemeat when Akame noticed them. Like an embodiment of death, she cut their very atoms with what was at the time unmatched precision and speed.

When it was all over, ten minutes had passed and ten million souls had been sent to either burn in Inferno or to ascend into Elysium. Kimiko didn't partake in this fight; she preferred to let work like this to her mentor figure. Back then she actively tried to remain incognito since she had decided to wander the world after her victory over the empire in the Revolutionary War. She avoided the fame given to her in order to fully focus on her self-imposed job of saving other nations ruled by corrupt tyrants or those who still had to put up with remnants of the empire.

Regardless even now in present day after literal centuries, Kimiko still recalled Hestia's last words as she lied there on the sand utterly defeated. With the Murasame's poison about to reach her heart after she had been cut just below her stomach causing her guts to spill out, the sand painted in crimson.

"You finally did it, hahaha, you really did it! Oh how cruel you are for stripping me of my destiny!!!" she rambled incoherently before finally dying with an ominous smile on her face. For a moment Kimiko could've sworn that she saw a strange book by Hestia's side that was opened and ever so slightly shined with an insidious black and gold light before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

As she reflected upon those long forgotten events while staring at the urn, Kimiko recalled how mere days after that slaughter of ten million souls some remnants of the Conclave who didn't side with Hestia's crimson rebellion joined the military in search for a new goal. Nonetheless Akame completed her mission and took Indra's Judgment alongside many other Teigu as battle trophies for the endless collection she kept here in her mansion. Even back then many legends and myths stated that the extract from this Teigu was taken from Indra, one of the Lesser Gods of Thunder; something Kimiko now knew to be truthful thanks to her fateful meetings with the Stormbringer.

"Even after all this time no one in this world has been able to effectively use this Teigu...makes me wonder if anyone ever will," she mumbled to herself not expecting any kind of answers, but nevertheless she got one.

"Wonder no more, Kimiko Hanate," a strangely familiar voice echoed throughout the entire dojo. Immediately turning around, Kimi was greeted by an individual radiating with electrical energy. His black hair gleaned with a twist of silver and white, under his eyes dark trails went down his cheeks while his red hues illuminated a bright shade of red. A corroded black aura of electricity flowed around him like a flame giving him a very ominous and intimidating appearance, almost like that of a Devil.

"I was sent here by The Architect to give you a warning," he spoke with his voice that emanated with power, causing it to sound as if he was going through a tunnel.

"What warning? And on that note who or what are you supposed to be?" Kimi questioned out of curiosity.

"Me? I'm Oziar...a creature made using the raw power of Indra's Judgment. My creator gave me life so I could give you this warning Miss Kimiko Hanate; surrender yourself to us or else we will bring your world down," his eyes now shining even brighter. Oziar smiled maniacally before creating a set of dual dark electrical blades to wield.

"I have the power of the storm on my side, my speed is infinite...yours is not."

This dark clone of Raizo was rather confident, a characteristic of the original no doubt optimized and overplayed in this counterfeit creation. Kimiko couldn't help but smile meekly in response at him, such a badly made copy made her want to show him just how inferior he was in every way.

"Infinite speed huh? Well then how about you try capturing me? If you're so fast, that should be an easy thing to do correct?" she spoke in quite a challenging tone while maintaining her typical deadpan expression.

As she summoned her katana into existence by merely reaching out with her right hand, Kimiko assumed a completely opened battle stance displaying no sign of emotion. Oziar chuckled maliciously while the sound of a thunderstorm accompanied his maddening laughter shortly before he vanished from sight like a blinding flash of light. The dark warrior's fist almost immediately made contact with the girl's gut, his speed was truly extraordinary. He rejoiced and smiled, surely his strongest punch would be more than enough to end this battle…or at least it was that way in his mind. Nonetheless the force of his punch was virtually nullified and instantly returned back at Oziar tenfold.

Like a missile with no control over its own trajectory, the False Stormbringer was blasted backwards through several concrete walls before finally ending up in the mansion's back garden. His legs were twisted while his arms were now broken. Like a doll in the hands of an angry child Oziar had been ravaged. He could be seen breathing heavily as blood escaped his mouth, his ribcage popped out of his chest. It was a gruesome sight.

"H-How!?...you shouldn't have been able to even see me coming!" he questioned as more blood escaped his mouth and anger filled his expression. Being defeated by his own attack must've really wounded his ego, regardless his words were meaningless to Kimiko as all she did was walk up to her challenger's defeated and broken body. She felt a very small semblance of pity due to Oziar's resemblance to Raizo.

"Fine...I'll humor you with an explanation," she calmly spoke, "It's quite simple really. I defeated you using a passive ability I created a while back after training and experimenting with my old skills for about an hour. It's called vector manipulation. Allow me to explain. It basically allows me to control the concept of vectors, but what's a vector? What is it good for?

Well in simple terms, the length of a vector describes the energy of a certain movement. Almost everything that exists in this world can be expressed through vectors since almost every action creates movement in one way or another. My ability allows me to control both the length and direction of a vector, or in other words everything that interacts with vectors can be controlled indirectly and that includes any physical or energy attacks in your arsenal.

Really, you never stood a chance against me since your greatest and only weapon is your high velocity and overall combat speed. With that alone you'd never be able to even touch me in a fight," Kimiko spoke as clearly as she could before letting out a cheeky smirk. Oziar's eyes widened with hatred when he saw that, murderous intent oozed from within his very soul as he furiously bite his lips. In the end even an artificial creation such as him could understand the concept of hatred, but Kimi didn't care much for that.

"Don't feel bad...the only reason I created this technique in the first place was because I happened to work alongside an assassin with abilities similar to your own, but I'm sure you already knew that," she remarked while looking down at the defeated enemy.

"I can see why The Architect told me to be careful around you...but worry not, my brothers will take you to our creator," he spouted out before closing his eyes and disappearing into thin air leaving Kimiko with an unsatisfied expression since that fight was but a simple exercise.

"Wait. Did he say brothers?"

"Indeed Miss Kimiko," the voice of one too many Oziars reached Kimiko's ears as she reluctantly turned around. Letting out a tired sigh, the female was greeted by a squadron of around fifty replicas of the assassin she had just killed. They surrounded her from seemingly all sides, and to make matters worse their numbers continued to grow every passing second. This would now surely turn out to be a bloody mess.

"You may have been able to slay one of us, but against an army there's little you can do. This trap of ours is inescapable even for the legendary One Cut-Killer," they all spoke in unison as the heavens above become covered by the wrath of multiple storms. Thunder and lightning roared in a manner that could easily scare off even the bravest of warriors.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you lot? There's one thing you never put in a trap if you're smart. If you value your continued existence, if you have any intention of seeing tomorrow there's one thing you never ever put in a trap..."

"Oh yeah? What would that be ma'am?" they again asked in unison while laughing at their cornered victim.

"Me..." Kimi responded ominously as a loud popping sound echoed in the air following the motion of her snapping her fingers.

Reversing the blood flow of each and every one of the enemies standing before her with the vector manipulation technique, Kimiko made the once green and luscious mansion garden became the bearer of a massacre. All Oziar clones had their bodies violently popped from the inside out; blood and guts rained down onto the backyard of the mansion painting its beautiful foliage and nearby tombstones with dismembered limbs, organs, and even shattered bones.

"Can't say I didn't warn you...all of you." Kimi remarked before closing her eyes in an attempt to relax for a moment and also to exhale the smell of the carnage she had just committed. Doing something like this to a living creature was by no means enjoyable; really, Kimi found it to be quite a sickening experience.

"One could easily understand the pain you feel. After all you're a creator, not a destroyer...Akasha," a raspy, old, and monotone voice invaded Kimiko's ears causing her to open her eyes once more. It was the voice of a complete stranger yet somehow it felt intrinsically familiar to her. As she turned to face its owner Kimi felt an immense, crushing pressure overtake the atmosphere.

A mature looking old man now stood before her. His expression was dead serious. Combine that with his grey hair and his long, elderly beard and he pretty much looked exactly like a stereotypical portrayal of god. This man...this so called Architect, was terrifyingly frightening despite his appearance. Partially because of the aura of indifference that surrounded him making it seem as if he didn't care for humans any more than he cared for ants.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just end you right now, old man," Kimiko coldly declared as her left eye began to radiate a brighter shade of red symbolizing the activation of her trademarked Kami No Me ability. However, unbeknownst to her it wouldn't serve much use here. In a short moment's glace her eye failed to locate any flaws or lines of death in The Architect's body. It made sense because Kimiko's special technique hadn't yet been optimized to kill Primordials.

"As I suspected...you're one of those old Primordial Gods..." she thought to herself.

"Please don't feel threatened Mother...as your son all I want is for you to join me in my mission to reform creation," the old man openly declared causing Kimiko to raise an eyebrow out of suspicion.

"Mother? You look old enough to be my grandpa," she remarked before pointing her blade directly at him.

"So you really don't know? Then I suppose I should tell you..." he spoke while letting out a brief sigh. Almost as if following his whims the world around himself and Kimiko suddenly began to twist and change. With a mere snap of his decaying fingers a large book was brought into reality. Instead of holding it with his hands however, the old man kept it hovering in front of himself thus violating the laws of gravity before opening it with a simple swipe motion. Shortly afterwards images started being projected onto the ever-changing reality around him and Kimi.

"Please Miss Hanate allow me to explain..." he begged like a child grasping for their parent's attention. Kimi on the other hand simply decided to play along.

"Very well...speak," she said. He merely smiled gladly before continuing his expository speech.

"In the beginning all that existed was Akasha. She possessed boundless power that surpassed the notion of true infinity, omnipotence, almighty power, and so on. To say her power was incomprehensible and beyond what any of us could ever possibly describe would be an understatement. From two insurmountably small fragments of Akasha, two beings were created: Zero and The Architect. As you're aware, I am The Architect and as the name may imply, I was responsible for the creation and design of reality itself. As for my sister Zero...well she was tasked with the arguably far more important task of bringing to life the original Primordial Gods that for a while maintained the balance of all realms we created."

"Nothing new there...still why would you call me Mother?" Kimiko bluntly responded causing the old man to smirk as if the question was obvious.

"Isn't it obvious? Upon giving birth to me and my sister Zero, our creator Akasha watched over her children without ever having to directly intervene. Nonetheless it all changed once Akasha decided to take on a new form and live amongst mortals. You see where I'm going with this, Mother? The embodiment of Akasha and all of its forms...is you, Kimiko Hanate. You're the originator of everything that was, is, and will ever be."

Silence fell as The Architect's speech came to a conclusion. Despite her neutral expression, Kimi's heart was now all but leaping through her chest. She couldn't believe those words...but it somehow felt right. The feeling deep within her soul, the feeling of always wanting to thoroughly explore any and all corners of life to find adventure, her everlasting will to always protect those she loves even though it'd be putting her own life in danger.

"Were all of those feelings there because I'm just some goddess?" Kimiko questioned as she looked down at her own hands.

"Oh make no mistake Kimiko...you're one hundred percent human, but at the same time you're also Akasha as well. Have you never noticed? This is why you're so insurmountably powerful and why your potential strength is seemingly without limit...and lastly...that's why I call you Mother," the old god immediately corrected her. Regardless, Kimiko's heart had finally calmed down. Somehow she could simply accept the situation at hand and turn all of her attention towards the old man standing in front of her even though it was crazy how it all sounded.

"Alright...let's say I believe you...why are you after me now?" She questioned out of curiosity.

"It's simple Mother. You have lived amongst mortals for a long time. By now you have witnessed countless displays of corruption, unnecessary violence, and death. There's no way around it. People like Onest, the Ice Queen, Syura, Rias Makiri, Rin Hanate, Deus, Hestia and the Sapphire Phoenix among countless others have shown you just how far gone the mortal realm truly is. It's disheartening but after thinking and contemplating this situation for a very, very long time...I've decided that the best course of action would be to completely rewrite this reality and I of course want my mother by my side when I do so," The Architect thoroughly explained just as he used his right hand to rub his long beard.

Clenching the grip of her katana, Kimiko remained unflinching in her stance. It didn't matter if she really was the so called Goddess-Above-All, she would always stand by those who she calls family. There was still a meaning to this world in her eyes.

"Let me guess...if I try anything you'll bring harm those I love much like you did in the Pandora Crisis?" She spoke, her words again bringing a smile to the old man's face.

"So what's it gonna be Akasha? I'm sure it would be fun to see that little redheaded bitch and her man-slave being utterly destroyed, but of course that's only if you refuse my crusade," The Architect proclaimed. Kimiko's heart froze at the thought of that happening. Hatred was the only emotion she could feel towards the old god now. Killing was usually not something she'd appreciate doing, but the truth is she'd be willing to make an exception for this 'Architect'. Setting her gaze straight at him, she switched to a more battle ready expression.

"I brought down the corrupted empire. I walked away alive from the last great Primordial War. I saw the end of creation, and watched as it was reborn. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were created by the mind of a madman. My name is Kimiko Hanate, and my job is saving people. If you have any hope that I'll actually join you...then you better stop indulging in impossible dreams," she proclaimed in a cold, emotionless voice causing the old man's expression to give into frustration.

Clenching his fist and biting his lower lip, The Architect smiled before putting his old, black and golden hardcover book away. In a moment's notice both Kimi and the old man were teleported away from the mansion and into the heart of the capital. This time however, abandoned skyscrapers, stores, and even empty vehicles littered the streets. The entire city was completely devoid of any life. Much like in Raizo's world, life now found itself in a process of erasure and soon even the sun of this world alongside all stars in creation would be extinguished. This scourge however was merely the beginning as with a simple snap of his fingers The Architect called forth an army into battle.

They were copied soldiers corroded by his evil intent, and their numbers were almost impossible to count. Amongst them were Tatsumi, Leone, Bulat, Chelsea, Sheele, Esdese, Budou, Kurome, Seryu, Syura, Rin, Raizo, Adena, Hestia, Orion, Zephyria, and countless others. The old man was relentless, even a man obsessed as he is would think twice before conjuring an armada of Dark Replicas of his enemy's best friends and worst enemies. It was a dishonorable tactic used to instill fear into Kimi, a necessary evil in order to attain his victory; but she kept up that indifferent deadpan expression whereas The Architect decided to float above the battlefield for his own safety.

"I offered you a peaceful solution, but that didn't go my way...now there's only one path left. As you may be aware by now, the insignificant people you once fought against and alongside of have been imprisoned within my book of infinite pages. In their place my creations will remain and there is nothing you can do to retaliate. It's over Mother; in that frail mortal body you made for yourself no victory shall ever grace you. My army's numbers will slaughter every fiber of your being, and once that's done I shall extract you from within that mortal shell with my bare hands Akasha. I'll consume your slumbering essence, and henceforth I shall be the one true God-Above-All," his madness echoed in his words as more and more enemies began spawning onto the streets, rooftops, and even on the sidewalks around Kimiko.

"Are you done with your villain monologue? Because I don't intend to go down here, and let's be honest your counterfeit creations are all but child's play to me," Kimi calmly declared as both of her eyes began emanating a brighter shade of red, "Lest you intend to get me some pancakes to keep me awake through your whole speech, I suggest that you come at me already and stop wasting time."

Her confident words gave way to laughter. The darkened and copied replicas of those she both loved and hated laughed at her face with the same arrogance displayed by The Architect himself. Embodiments of corruption, that's all they are, but even Kimiko's heart couldn't help but give way to some sort of twisted sadness. She knew they were not real or truly alive, yet somehow she could feel something for these evil creations

"So these are the feelings of Akasha huh? ...Guess I really have changed," she remarked. Being around people like Akaro and Akame, meeting Raizo and Adena, being an immortal Counter Guardian for centuries. It all served the purpose of making Kimiko into a selfless individual who seeks the good for all.

"But in the end is that really a bad thing? Even if an outcome where everyone is safe and happy is impossible...I'll still keep chasing after it."

"Don't be ridiculous Akasha, your odds at being victorious against so many of my flawless creations while in that mortal shell of yours is basically zero."

"I'm a goddess raised by mortals...my strength and potential may be immeasurable but my power is irrelevant when compared to the family I have now. The woman who gave me a chance; the man who gave me purpose; the boy who believes in me more than anything, along with the girl who admires me just as much as he does… Everyone in this world...you'll never hurt them ever again," she proclaimed one last time before charging into battle.

Appearing in front of her enemies, the swordswoman quickly made the first move by cutting through an onslaught of replicas with a powerful horizontal slash from left to right. Entire skyscrapers came crashing down and countless enemies had their corpses bifurcated as the effects of the deadly Kami No Me pierced through the targets immediately eviscerating them, thus creating rivers of blood to fill the streets. Needless to say, the enemies who were once laughing now found themselves silent and in awe at just that one attack.

Afterwards another squadron of Dark Stormbringers appeared out of thin air just a few feet away from Kimiko. They immediately sent out a wave of electricity, or more accurately put, a tsunami of electrical power that could erase an entire city with its sheer size and potency alone. Kimiko could only sigh at this attack. Were they serious with this? These fighters barely compared to Raizo when he first unlocked Fury of the Storm. Of course she promptly spat that attack into nonexistence by passing her blade through its flaws, or lines of death as some call them. The wave of energy instantaneously dissipated upon contact with the katana.

To finish her opponents completely, the Red-Eyed Goddess simply took a look at them with her second ocular ability: the Eye of Fiction—an ability that allowed her to freely command the status of something or someone as being either "real" or "fictional". A mere glance of her right eye was all it took to erase the squad of lightning wielding assassins from this world in the blink of an eye.

Following the overwhelming defeat of the False Stormbringers, a large platoon of individuals utilizing what appeared to be blackened, altered, and corroded versions of armor that carried over many similarities to both Incursio and the deceased Aquilo's Odin armor came into full view. Not only that but the strange dark blade they carried oozed a flaming, poisonous miasma that in a way was somewhat comparable to that of Akame's Murasame.

"Universal Transvergence 10!" the innumerable armored warriors shouted in unison as their entire bodies and armors exploded from the inside out in a glorious aurora of black electricity. The energy they released soon spread freely creating a myriad of colossal black holes that combined themselves into one massive World Line Eater.

"Are you guys even trying?" Kimi cheekily remarked the moment she swung her blade upwards in a vertical angle effortlessly slicing the massive black hole into nothingness by simply tearing its very existence asunder. For a moment the battle came to an untimely halt as the minions of The Architect were left flabbergasted in the wake of this war's development. In their minds eviscerating Akasha's mortal self would've been all but child's play; they didn't consider what her capabilities truly were.

Cold, emotionless, an assassin hardened by countless brutal wars yet one that never abandoned her origins as a simple, noble girl destined for great things. A figure, whose mere gaze could make armies cower and run away. To face Kimiko Hanate in battle was to challenge an unstoppable force unlike any other; a fact that now became all the more apparent as The Architect's underlings found themselves retreating. Fear of the legendary assassin now enthralled their senses shattering any semblance of confidence.

"Is that all? I'm still not even trying here," the One-Cut Killer spoke with a mocking tone that oozed pure confidence. Until now all she had done was bring premature ends to any and all of her challengers in all but a single move.

The Architect had no doubt severely underestimated his target, but in order to make up for his failures he came to the conclusion that he'd have to take the lead in this battle. Bringing his primordial gaze down on Kimi, he smirked before snapping his fingers. Seconds after, a young female that appeared to be in her teens materialized within the old man's grasp. She had pale skin complexion and long blackish brown hair that complimented her emerald eyes rather well. By use of his telekinesis the old Architect effortlessly kept her floating above the ground and next to himself.

"Lower your weapons and bow down Kimiko! I'm sure you wouldn't want to see this girl die due to your eagerness to kill me," he threatened the embodiment of Akasha with yet another cheap tactic.

"Your code of honor simply won't allow you to end me. If you did so at the cost of one's life you'd be making the battlefield you walk upon into Hell itself," he concluded his taunting while relishing in his 'ingenious' plan; however, Kimi merely took in a deep breath and exhaled before ever so swiftly stabbing her katana into the pavement.

"There you go...you heard yourself didn't you? Our so called Architect believes a battlefield to be something better than Hell. What a joke. It's Hell itself. There is no hope on a battlefield. There is nothing but unspeakable despair. Just a crime we call victory, paid for by the pain of the defeated."

"What are you-…"

"You call yourself righteous for wanting to make this world into a utopia where conflict never arises and you're the benevolent God in charge. However, to achieve this you're willing to murder, to slaughter, to end whole civilizations for what you believe in. When you heard about your Mother's reemergence you tried to use Raizo to get to me, you manipulated his entire life just to find me. You're a child who sought for their maker all the while fooling thyself into thinking the world around you didn't matter; that if you ever did save someone it would be because it was convenient for you."

"Sh-Shut up you insolent whor-…"

"Sounds familiar doesn't it? That's because you're no different from the boy you once called a puppet. He who once said 'It's just funny to watch ants like you piss themselves' after slaying an army of ten thousand, and you who views all who are against him as nothing more than insects. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out the dramatic irony here. You two...you two were entitled idiots whose selfishness hurt a lot of people. In the end Architect...the puppeteer was the same as his puppet."

"Don't you DARE compare me to that insignificant fool!" The old man shouted.

"The truth hurts doesn't it? However, this isn't a comparison. The Raizo who lives now learned to better himself, to become a selfless light amid a sea of corruption. Thanks to his family and those who stood by his side to the very end he instilled within himself that his old ways shall be no more. Furthermore in his own hero's journey he learned that righteousness alone cannot change a single thing. You have to be willing to carry all the evils of this world, you have to live through it all and come out a stronger person in the end.

Raizo was reckless when he was young, thus he educated himself to curse the heartlessness of the world. The world was cruel so he made himself more heartless and used that as a weapon, trying to follow through on his vengeful ideals. But the truth is the world will never change to compensate for your regrets, feelings, or even for how unfair life may seem. No matter how much you curse it, the world of Akasha will never change for you. In the end what needs to change for the better is yourself. In overcoming his selfishness and vengeful ideals the boy you considered less than an insect became better than you ever will be."

"Mo-Mother...you're saying that..."

"You're no better than a mortal...you're just the Stormbringer that never pulled himself out of the abyss," Kimiko concluded before bringing both her Eye of God and her Eye of Fiction down on The Architect; united the two radiated a deep shade of crimson. The old man meanwhile felt his resolve being shattered; after all, his mother had just destroyed his sense of righteousness. But no, it couldn't be.

"You...those are the words of Kimiko Hanate. I refuse to believe the true Akasha would ever say this to me!" he screamed at her, his composure now long lost, "Heh...Bahahahaha! You're quite the interesting human, Kimiko. Regardless, I'm only interested in the slumbering goddess that shares your existence."

"Everything in existence has a flaw. Not only humans, but also air, will, and even time. It's natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of all things. I can cut the lines as long as I understand the death behind it. This means I can kill anything, even if that thing is God," Kimi confidently declared, "I'm done playing around with your toy soldiers...let go of your hostage or else!"

"Or else what exactly? None of your ocular techniques have any effect on a Primordial being with no flaws such as myself...you are alone and there's nothing you can do to win. Do us both a favor and just give up."

"Oh? Who said I'm alone?" she cheekily remarked.

"What-…?"

"Hey Gandalf heads up!" a voice rang into The Architect's ears causing him to look up at the sky only to see a man descending from the heavens at massively faster than light speeds. This man was Akaro, who then went on to plant his new boots into The Architect's face. Needless to say the designer of reality ended up with a broken nose after that one.

"Your turn Raizo!"

Following his plan, the Red Knight signals for his brother to quickly swoop in and grab hold of The Architect's hostage. A mere half of an attosecond was all it took for the Stormbringer to descend his way to ground level using the walls of a tall building to build up speed. Regardless of his power being insignificant when compared to that of the old god, he still managed to grab hold of the hostage before finally coming to a full stop next to Kimiko herself. However, that was not all he did.

Placing the emerald-eyed female down on her own two feet, the youth immediately exploded into his Heart of the Storm state and charged headfirst into The Architect's general direction while Akaro jumped off of The Architect's face and swiftly landed next to the katana Kimiko had stabbed into the ground just a few minutes ago. The Red-Eyed Hero swirled with a platinum glow that soon transferred over to Raizo as he passed by his brother. That radiance soon enveloped the boy's entire aura instilling a fair amount of his older brother's primordial energy into his Heart state.

As they rushed towards The Architect alongside each other, the Crimson Brothers felt both of their appearances changed due to the Primordial energy surrounding them; their red eyes now burned gold and their platinum aura made them appear like lightning bolts streaking across the battlefield. Left stunned by Akaro's entrance, The Architect could now do little more than remain powerless as a devastating combined strike made its way to him. Mere inches away from their target Raizo pulled Vajra out of the Gemini sheathe whilst Akaro summoned his Murasame. Both brothers empowered their armaments with Primordial energy in anticipation for what was to come.

""Absolute Zen Trance: Boundless Heart formation!"" their words echoed across the battlefield as both assassins jumped up only to slash down on The Architect's chest leaving an X shape on his robes. The old man howled in pain, however, it didn't end there.

As Akaro and Raizo unleashed the remainder of the power contained within the primordial energy that now enveloped and swirled their bodies, a plethora of blades similar to the myriad of Edicts used by Raizo's Shatterpoint incarnation began to materialize and cover The Architect from all angles almost as if the old god had suddenly been transported inside a dome of mythical blades. These weapons shined and glistening with the same twist platinum fire and golden electricity present in the aura around the two brothers.

Both of them brought out their second blades as well, those being Morana and Yatsufusa respectively. The combined might of all blades began to rain down upon The Architect like a thunderstorm. In that moment the projected Edicts and the Crimson Brothers themselves seemingly became beams of light that severed repeatedly through the old god's body. Together they cut him up an innumerable number of times; however all this move accomplished in the end were flesh wounds and scratches. Nonetheless to a deity of Primordial status having their golden blood spilled in battle was simply unacceptable.

When the onslaught finally came to an end both brothers looked up at an Architect whose anger was abundantly clear. His divine robes wore torn, his beard inappropriately shaved, his body sliced up an unspeakable number of times, and gold blood escaped his wounds. Raizo had returned to his regular Heart state seeing as the temporary power up he was granted had now been all but completely used up. However, the older brother still remained in his Boundless Zen form. If Akaro wasn't present, ending the Stormbringer now would be a trivial matter for the old man; but with him here to give Raizo temporary increases in power, The Architect was at quite a massive disadvantage.

"You'll pay for this...all of YOU WILL-…"

"Heads up old fart!" an all too familiar voice echoed from somewhere far up above. Once more The Architect gazed up just to catch a glimpse of Adena as she descended from the heavens splitting the clouds while at it.

"Raizo now!" Akaro commanded before grabbing Raizo by the collar of his shirt.

"You gotta be kidding me dude- …WHOA!"

"Leeeeeroy Jenkins!!!" the older brother shouted as he launched his sibling upwards like a missile, thus leaving the old god they had just attacked all but completely dumbfounded and speechless. Of course this confusing moment was all part of the plan at hand.

Raizo flew beautifully before crashing face first against Adena's breasts. The Stormbringer came to an immediate halt, but he wasn't hurt since Addy basically absorbed the impact he caused by virtue of her durability. Afterwards the youth joined his girlfriend in freefall while back at ground level the Red-Eyed Hero de-materialized his dual blades in order to raise one of his arms towards the sky.

"Pyroclasm!" Adena confidently declared as she launched her trademarked attack not towards The Architect, but towards Akaro.

"Rain Unyielding," Raizo followed up on Adena's initial attack with a technique all too similar to that of the Godspeed. Her influence became quite apparent the moment a plethora of electrically charged beams rained down alongside Adena's Pyroclasm; both attacks bathed in the glorious crimson variant of Raizo's electricity.

"Yata No Kagami!" Akaro added his own part to this team attack by activating the trump card formerly used by Susanoo. As always it formed a floating disk that contained a mirror capable of reflecting any kind of projectiles. However, the version used by Akaro embodied the user's will to amplify the potency of all reflected attacks.

"""Triple Teigu Activation,""" the wielders of all active abilities proclaimed as both Pyroclasm and Rain Unyielding penetrated the large mirror at full speed after a long descent, thus merging into something neither one of the original techniques could hope to be individually. Adena and Raizo landed from freefall and found themselves by Akaro's side; the trio was more than ready to finish their move.

"""Take flight: Crimson Dragon!""" their voices rang in unison as a being composed of Raizo's crimson electricity and Adena's fire alongside Akaro's primordial energy burst forth from the mirror taking flight towards The Architect. Its size alone smashed through nearby skyscrapers, its flame and lightning embedded body and wings melted the remnants of the old god's army to cinder. The tantalizing sight of such a majestic beast would've been the last thing The Architect saw had he done nothing to defend himself.

"Kuh Li Anse!" he uttered out in the last possible instant barely in time to summon his book. This particular time it acted as an invisible barrier that saved the wounded deity from the colossal explosion of platinum, gold, orange, and crimson energy generated by the dragon-like creature. Fortunately enough the blast expanded vertically in the form of a beam of light alas preventing major damage. Nevertheless a worldwide earthquake still took place for around a minute or two due to the forces at play here.

When the dust had settled, the three members within Team AKARA couldn't help but notice that their little display of force had caused a great deal of damage to the city. In their minds the fact The Architect had imprisoned its inhabitants within his book of infinite pages was actually quite the ironic godsend. The Architect on the other hand was left out of breath, the force he had just endured was...problematic. Individually only Akaro could measure up to him, but the way the trio's abilities complimented his arsenal and the way their moves naturally flowed into one another like it was second nature made them all the more dangerous.

"To force me into using the Fourth Divine Protection of Eternity, so this is the power of the legendary Red Kings huh? Heh I can now say without doubt that your fame is truly well deserved," he muttered under his breath. However, his opponents were far too busy to notice.

"Have a nice trip little lady," the Crimson Knight spoke as he lowered his gaze to the young girl The Architect had previously used as a hostage. To keep her safe from the ongoing war Akaro quickly snapped his fingers in order to teleport her somewhere far away enough to be considered safe. He then turned to face his siblings.

"Was throwing me really necessary?" Raizo started with the complaints. Landing head first into Adena's bosom had proven to be quite a bit of distraction.

"Oh come on now Raichu...it's a family tradition by this point."

"Besides I enjoyed it heheh," the alpha female jokingly remark before winking at her boyfriend. The boy immediately found himself getting flustered.

"N-Not here Adena."

"You guys are dating...quit blushing already," Akaro voiced his thoughts.

"Akaro!" Kimiko's voice was heard as she finally rejoined the group, her katana now back in her possession. Seeing the group come together was quite the sight to behold, so much so that even Kimi's usual deadpan broke in amazement. Akaro led the charge remaining in the middle of the group, Kimi stood to his left, and as for Raizo he remained by his brother's right side alongside Adena.

"So aren't we missing someone, Big Bro?" the former jade princess cheekily questioned already knowing what was about to happen next.

"You guys better get ready...cuz this is about to get good," the leader figure of the group declared enthusiastically. Almost on cue with his words an unexpected event took place. Suddenly the opening of a rather large, aqua blue portal took form. It's imposing, void-like appearance overlooked Team AKARA's backside, and within this void a platoon of individuals could be seen slowly emerging out of the portal. Leading this group were both the young Akame from Raizo's world and the one known as Aka-sensei. This small army was composed of countless other assassins, warriors and fighters from other realities, universes, and World Lines joined together under Aka-sensei's commands to do battle against the common threat that was The Architect.

"I see you guys brought the backup I asked for," the Red-Eyed Hero let out his amusing remark as both of his beloved Akames joined the group. In a moment's notice both Red-Eyed Killers could be found standing by Kimi's side. This turn of events was quite delightful for the Stormbringer who now relished in watching The Architect's shocked expression. Many of the 'soldiers' present here had unique and intrinsically interesting looks that were no doubt worth their own tales. One of the men wore a hooded trench coat alongside a menacing gas mask whilst one of the females present sported a simple bikini that highlighted her smooth skin and curvaceous form; she even appeared to command ice much like Esdese. Furthermore there was this ominous looking girl that wielded a scythe like Raizo would, however the weapon she used had nowhere near the same level of care put into its craft when compared to Morana. Lastly there was this younger kid utilizing an armor that carried over many similarities to Tatsumi's Incursio and Aquilo's Odin cloth.

Having an army following him into battle was a somewhat unusual experience for Raizo. He had previously fought in the frontlines of at least two wars but this was truly the first time he could wholeheartedly believe in what he was doing. He who once fought for his own vengeful agenda now found himself standing in a battlefield not only for his own goals or for his family's safety but also to help this world overcome the danger it faces.

"How is this even possible?! Taking so many fighters out of such an absurd amount of realities should be shattering existence apart!" The Architect declared as his anger slowly but surely began to eat him from the inside out. Akaro on the other hand merely smiled in response to his reaction before giving an explanation.

"Of course it's impossible! That's the whole point. I have the power to control reality and fiction. All I had to do was use that ability to remove my friends here from their respective places in the multiverse without breaking any Counter Force laws," he spoke. For a moment his words sent the old deity into a desperate frenzy. Team AKARA was already trouble enough but with this many opponents present victory would simply be unattainable.

"You leave me no choice here. This world, this war, this endlessly repeating cycle of birth and death...This Cannot Continue!" the old man proclaimed while also calling upon the might of his book one last time.

"Heed my words.

My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.

Spirits who heed thy call to war and obey my will and reason...Answer me in this time of need!

Do so and I shall entrust my desired destiny to your blade!"

A large, blackened hole appeared in the sky as The Architect's words echoed across eternity. From within this hole a downpour of blackened, ominous mud fell onto the ground below. A terrifying miasma could be seen around the liquid as it spread, but despite its appearance it couldn't really hurt anyone present as their durability far surpassed the substance's damaging properties. Nevertheless it sure did a number on the city itself. In a matter of minutes most of the once blossoming metropolis was set ablaze.

The Architect's mightiest slaves soon began sprouting out of the acid-like pool of corrosive mud forming an armada of altered Heroic Spirits who once had their names carved into the Throne of Heroes. Forced into submission, they now stood against the legends of the modern era on a war that wasn't their own.

"What now valiant heroes of Team AKARA? Will you fight to the end until you're granted a swift death by the swords of my army? Very well...Top Heroic Spirits take the lead and slaughter them!" The Architect proclaimed in a shout matching the tone of a war general.

In response to the opposing army's advent, the Red-Eyed Hero took the lead of the initial frontal assault whilst Raizo followed closely behind him. The other four members of Team AKARA assigned themselves to different opponents. The legion that accompanied them dispersed into smaller groups of around forty to fifty fighters in order to better accompany each of their commanders. Soon the echoing sounds of steel clashing against steel became audible as the war began to escalate.

Since Akaro was the one leading the frontal assault he was almost immediately attacked by one of the Top Heroic Spirits. His assailant possessed the appearance of a young woman in her late teens with a slender physique and soft, pale white skin. She had "finely textured" platinum blonde hair. Her face showed no signs of naivety or elegance, instead it only sported ever present emptiness. She also appeared more muscular than someone like the young Akame and at the same time she was nowhere as developed when it came to her womanly parts leaving her body to be rather unappealing.

Clad in shining armor with an old styled dress made from old-fashioned black cloth underneath, the blade she wielded was a holy sword forged by the planet as the crystallization of the wishes of mankind. It was a golden sword corrupted by the mud that gave her form thus making it dark. Regardless of its stunning appearance, the moment she brought her blade in a downwards slashing motion Akaro instinctively materialized Murasame on his right hand and Yatsufusa on his left in order to block her strike by simply placing his blades in the form of a simple X-guard.

The corroded holy sword came to an immediate halt; its wielder had her devilish yellow irises dead set on Akaro. Nonetheless she wasn't ready for the tragic fate that was about to befall her, a death so shift it would no doubt forever hurt her pride in the afterlife bestowed upon her.

"Arashi-Hajime style..." the Red-Eyed Hero silently muttered under his breath while purposefully allowing his opponent to bring him down to one knee. He was blocking her sword's advance, just not with any real effort. After all...it was all part of the plan.

In an instant of time, Raizo promptly joined the battle and used his brother's shoulders as stepping stones all in a basic effort to catch their opponent off guard. All of her body's physical strength was currently caught up in the act of pressing down against Akaro's weapons making it impossible for her to react to the Stormbringer's attack. A singular horizontal cut aimed right at her neck, that simple move was all it took to get the job done.

"Certain Decapitation," Raizo spoke the remainder of the technique's name seconds before the target's head fell over her shoulders. Her body soon followed. Nevertheless it didn't stay there for too long for mere seconds afterwards, the woman's broken corpse vanished into a trail of dark sparks leaving only a pool of blood behind.

"Another dead end again eh? Sorry about that King of Knights," the older brother said in a reminiscent tone.

"Did you know her, Aniki?" Raizo inquired while the two of them continued to slash through any enemies that dared to interrupt. Akaro sighed before answering.

"Well...let's just say I knew her a very long time ago...but none of that matters right now. Let's get going," the Red Knight reluctantly responded before turning his full attention back to the battle at hand.

This initial conflict with the servant only known as the King of Knights inadvertently caused more attention to be drawn towards the Crimson Brothers thus prompting waves upon waves of enemies to flock in their general direction. However given the mind boggling speed and overwhelming strength both Akaro and Raizo possessed, the two effortlessly sliced through their enemies regardless of who or what they were. A few proved more resilient than others, but without exception their numbers slowly dwindled little by little as the scarlet siblings made short work of any resistance.

Remnants that somehow escaped an end at the hands of those two fell when faced with the small army that followed closely behind. Although this was but one of the many battles that took place right now. Away from this chaos Adena found herself striking foe after foe with nothing but her bare fists. The female's universe shattering physical strength proved to be more than a true match for all corrupted heroes that now engaged her in combat. At first a colossal 8-foot, statue-like man who could only be described as a "black giant" with long dark hair and glowing red eyes that gave him the impression of a monster, appeared before the redhead and swung his monstrous axe-sword down in a quick attempt to cleave her in half. Needless to say it didn't work; his tool of murder simply broke when it came against Adena's durable skin.

"Pyroclasm!" she shouted the moment her technique went off at point blank range resulting in a bright explosion of fire that all but completely disintegrated the giant man leaving nothing behind. Furthermore the multicolored flames dispersed by her attack burned through entire waves of surrounding enemies, their bodies lit up in a tantalizing burst of colors that immediately melted their skin and bone. In response to this, a plethora of the foes that once stood back in awe began to march forward; however, Adena merely smiled confidently unfazed by the situation.

"Halt!" a voice echoed from amongst the lines of heroic spirits. Before Adena could remotely fathom what kind of enemy was put in charge of this platoon, a gorgeous woman stepped forward. She had long purple hair and scarlet eyes; her entire figure was covered by a full-body outfit that highlighted her curvaceous form. Stepping forward with her twin red spears in hand, the female looked quite imposing.

"Come...Crimson Princess," she spoke once again. Surprisingly enough she was neither corrupt nor altered and also she retained the ability to speak unlike the others. Adena was quite perceptive as she could tell this odd lancer was a proud woman who served no one; her powerful voice was that of a member of the ruling class who from birth possessed the traits of a monarch. In Adena's eyes this female reminded her all too well of Lady Hestia, she was someone who thought it was self-evident that she—who is overflowing with talent—is different from the mediocre.

"The traits present in your technique...they're truly superb," she made a comment before quickly stepping up to Adena and performing a flurry of precise thrusting motions with her spear. In response the redhead used her superior agility to promptly back away.

"A pointless effort..." the Lancer remarked in a muttering tone. It was only then that Adena noticed several scratches on the sides of her vest. It was not enough to make her bleed but it was still nonetheless surprising to be hit by attacks she thought to be little more than simple strikes.

"How did you do that?" the redhead inquired.

"My right spear—Gáe Bolg Alternative—can tie down space to prevent her foe from dodging," she explained while twirling her two weapons in a skillful display, "You should be thankful. By throwing my left spear I could've run you through with an always fatal strike whilst you were caught in my trap."

"Heh don't get ahead of yourself, all you did was scratch my clothes. Just who the hell are you supposed to be anyway?" Adena continued on with the barrage of questions.

"My identity is irrelevant to the situation at hand, Adena. What indeed matters is you bestowing me freedom from the control of The Architect. Come to me and show me your light...Benihime!" the Lancer proclaimed before charging against Adena once more. The former jade princess on the other hand had fallen dead silent; a meek smile appeared across her lips. Even here and now, people like this just happened upon her. Once more a pretentious figure that believed herself to be above others tried to order her around.

As she clenched her fists tightly, Adena looked at the spearwoman one more time, a silent fury burned within her eyes.

"You wanna see my light then? Fine, I'll humor you...awaken Dragonheart!" Adena's voice echoed across the battlefield as her formerly blue irises shifted to a deep scarlet color that radiated ever so brightly. Her hair also changed to a mesmerizing royal purple coloring and so did the girl's flaming aura.

By the end of her transformation sequence Adena ironically looked a lot like the woman she was fighting against. This time however, she didn't even bother blocking or evading the Lancer's spears. Instead Adena merely let herself be hit in the chest if only to prove she'd be left completely unfazed and unharmed by those attacks.

"You're..." the spearwoman didn't know what to say as she was forced to behold Adena's new form.

"I'm sick of people like you trying to rule over others...wake the hell up! You're no better than anyone else!" she spoke in a moment of rage before slapping the woman's weapons away shattering them into a billion pieces.

The bodysuit wearing female couldn't even move after that, a purple glow now outlined her curvaceous figure emitting a low-level radiance. By simply raising one of her hands Adena had somehow put the woman in a sort of stasis field; however, that was not all she planned to do. Placing one of her hands on the spearwoman's chest, the Crimson Princess infused the insurmountable energy of her dark purple flaming aura into the Lancer's body causing it to rapidly expand like a balloon.

"Combination: Meltdown Combustion!" Adena proclaimed. The flowing purple aura around her was very much like the one Raizo possessed while in his 'Heart' state. Much like that form, Dragonheart came packed with quite a few new tricks now experienced by Adena's foe first hand.

"Perhaps I wanted to be killed by your hands from the very beginning. I give up, Adena. Better to die here than to see a world where The Architect has his way with Akasha's power. You may in a way hate me Adena. That's completely fine...I can see that this hatred is not truly directed at me, but rather at the woman whose facade controlled you for as long as you can remember...isn't that right?

Nevertheless that hate doesn't take away from the fact that you're still above most when it comes to talent and fighting prowess. Perishing by your hands is an honor."

Those were the last words muttered out by the spearwoman before her body flung towards a row of enemies who observed the ongoing events. She didn't quite realize that this combination of abilities Adena had come up with on the fly represented just how deadly the Crimson Princess could be as a fighter. First, the stasis field froze the target; second, she pumped her opponent with the energy of her Meltdown technique instead of using her own body as the vessel for the power. So far so good, but the last part of that combo was what made it all the more effective.

That is where Combustion came in. Propelling the spearwoman into a surrounding platoon of enemies shortly before the Lancer popped from the inside out; all that composed the female disappeared in a mesmerizing blast of purple fire. The scorching flames incinerated all of The Architect's underlings in the nearby area which covered around an entire city block. This was because Adena had of course taken the reasonable route of condensing her power into a smaller area of effect.

Had she not done so, the resulting destruction would've been devastating. But her advanced control over her own flames had now reached such a high level that she was able to fully condense and also nullify the effects of her own powers when it came in contact with her allies. Though she was now alone standing on a field of violet flames, the ashes of the dead remained beneath her feet and the smell of death filled her lungs. Adena felt sick beyond belief, she could tell these Heroic Spirits didn't meant any harm to anyone in this world...but here they were...forced to fight as puppets for a disillusioned god.

"We need to end this...no matter the cost," Adena muttered under her breath before turning her attention to the heart of the battlefield where both Akames and Kimi herself held their own against The Architect and his seemingly never-ending army. She quickly ran towards that direction while at the same time Akaro and Raizo slowly made their way there as well. Soon Team AKARA would be reunited, and in order to survive, the old god would have to use his ace in the hole.

About five to six city blocks worth of distance away from Adena's position, both Akames swung their blades against waves of enemies. They singlehandedly bifurcated anyone in their way with precise slashes the likes of which very few could escape from. However The Architect kept his guard down as he watched their efforts; he barely acknowledged them as a threat without Akaro being present to enhance their abilities. Kimiko meanwhile stood back eliminating the few foes that made it past the Red-Eyed Killers; she erased and eviscerated them with a deadpan expression and a katana in hand.

"What a chaotic scenario this war has become, regardless it's high time to divide and conquer," the old man mumbled under his breath as he caught glimpse of the approaching Red Knight and his younger brother, the Crimson Stormbringer. Akaro's gold, fiery irises emitted a dense radiance as the platinum aura of his Boundless Zen form slowly but surely infused itself with Raizo's Heart of the Storm. There was no doubt about it; they were planning to unleash their combined techniques once more.

Taking the first action, The Architect snapped his fingers calling forth what appeared to be a corroded version of Adena in her Dragonheart form. Rather ominously she stepped out of a portal, her left eye was decaying, and the right one didn't exist at all leaving only an empty socket. Blood ran down her cheeks creating crimson trails, and her neck...it was cruelly stitched together as if she was once decapitated. A demonic purple miasma oozed around her, murderous intent echoed from within her very soul, insects crawled in and out of her dead white skin. She was by all means a monster given life. Both the real Adena and Raizo stopped dead in their tracks as they got closer; a nightmarish sight like this was no joke even for them.

"Y-You-You...l-left me," the dead being spoke her broken teeth now showing. Without wasting a moment, she launched herself directly at Raizo while the youth's eyes widened. The Architect's voiced echoed in his frightened mind.

"Do you remember, Raizo? The original World Line where Rin Hanate won, a world of the dead, a world erased by the Counter Force? You were given a second chance...but the monster you see here wasn't offered that same gift; in fact, all in that world perished. Worry not though, here's the Adena you abandoned in that old world...or rather what Rias and Rin left of her after they had their fun," the old god's burning voice invaded the young man's mind. For a moment Raizo was left petrified, the memories of that world of ruin...how could he ever forget that tragedy? Seeing that monster attack approach to attack him rendered the boy unable to move an inch.

"I..." he managed to mutter something out. A mere second remained before the undead monster could get to Raizo; realistically it was all over for him. By allowing himself to indulge in doubt, the child of thunder had once more drowned in failure. He would've died there had he never learned to embrace redemption before coming to this war. He was quite clearly scared out of his mind, but this wasn't the end.

"Eliminate!" the voice of the younger Akame reached the youth's ears. In one shift motion she got in between Raizo and this undead Adena whose fist now approached the frightened young man. Akaro was nearby so he could've interfered in this, but he knew that doing so would merely be an unneeded interference; which became all the more apparent as the girl's crimson irises began to emanate a brighter shade of red highlighting her black pupils. The Red-Eyed Hero could already tell what that meant. It took her longer than her older self...but the Bleeding Effect had finally awakened a great deal of her potential.

A simple vertical slash in a downwards to upwards motion was all it took to perfectly slice the corroded Adena in half splattering blood in all directions. Following this, the real Adena and even Kimiko herself joined Raizo's side; both females struck the remainder of the false Adena with a flurry of physical strikes and slashes. When their sequence of moves concluded, quite literally nothing remained of the undead female they had mercilessly slaughtered.

"What are you doing letting your guard down like that?" the young Akame scolded the boy with a harsh tone and a powerful glare.

"I'm sorry, Aka-sensei- err I mean Akame. It won't happen again," he said. For a moment there he could've sworn he saw the image of the Red-Eyed Killer's adult self. Seeing this turn of events the actual Aka-sensei approached him with Akaro by her side.

"Getting confused are we," she joked.

"You guys ready to take the old man down?" Akaro stepped full of confidence as always.

"Once and for all," Raizo spoke in a tone that echoed his brother's symbiotic confidence, "That's right, no matter how dark things get I'll always have you guys won't I? It doesn't matter what tricks that old bastard uses, it doesn't matter what trump cards he pulls out of his ass. I'm never going down, not while I have them by my side."

Team AKARA had reunited in the heart of this battlefield. The enemy army still surrounded them from all sides whilst their platoon of heroes did their best to hold them at bay. An entire city had disappeared in the wake of all of this destruction; the lights that once illuminated all of creation were now about to dwindle out of existence, it was all or nothing. The final battle was at hand, but the old god was having none of it.

"Survive my army's onslaught first, Team AKARA," he proclaimed before immediately taking flight towards the one construction that survived thus far in the war; this being the imposing structure that once served as the Imperial Palace in Kimiko's world more than a thousand years ago. If The Architect were to escape then left unchecked he would've furthered his plan, lest someone were to interfere. Knowing this, Kimiko promptly decided to chase after the old man but first she gently grabbed hold of Aka-sensei's shoulder. She gazed into the Red-Eyed Killer's hues and smiled before speaking out to her best friend and the rest of Team AKARA.

"I'm going after The Architect...I'm the reason he came after us so ending him is something I just have to do. I obviously can't do that and stop the enemy army here at the same time so needless to say I need you all to buy time here," she said. Her determined glare compelled all of her comrades into listening to her every word.

"As long as you promise to come back," Raizo was the first to speak, "No one's dying today, got it?"

"He's right y'know? After we're done here, let's all just hang together for a while and enjoy a world without that disillusioned god," Adena followed up on her boyfriend's words with that typical fiery tone she always sported.

""Alright Kimi...go do what needs to be done,"" both Akames calmly remarked, their synchronized speech was now quite obviously present for all to behold.

"Do your best, Kimi," Akaro finally made his voice known, "Like our great Benihime here said, after we win this war let's just have a day off where nothing existence threatening happens."

"It's a promise then," Kimiko spoke reassuringly before turning to rush after The Architect. She caught up to him fairly quickly even though the old man moved as fast as he possibly could while transcending the typical notion of omnipresence.

This was quite achievement for him at that moment given that summoning so many powerful replicas and heroic spirits to fight in his army hindered the man's maximum power by quite a bit. By now Kimiko and the others had come to the conclusion that the source of the old man's myriad of troublesome powers was very obviously his book of seemingly endless pages; therefore incapacitating him should be a simple matter. "Destroy the God's Grimoire and it'll all be over", that was the only thought that ran across Kimi's mind as she raced after her target.

"Hey! Why are you running?! Weren't you the one mumbling about being unstoppable?" she questioned the ancient deity in a mocking tone as both of them crossed the remains of the capital at speeds unknown even to would-be gods.

"You don't scare me in the slightest, Kimiko Hanate. The one I'm running from is your mentor, Akaro. He's far too troublesome to deal with," he let out a backhanded response before speeding up his pace and breaking through what once were the doors of the Imperial Palace. Both The Architect and Kimiko came to a halt when inside the old throne room, the old deity slowly turned to face his pursuer. At this specific moment the sun ever so brightly shined through the mosaic windows located around the palace giving this location quite a unique lighting.

"This should be good enough...now I can kill you off without ringing warning bells for either the Counter Force or Akaro himself," The Architect muttered. He then lowered his gaze to Kimi. A devilish smirk made its way across his lips as now that no one could interrupt him, he felt ever so confident in his victory.

"Appear once more..." he calmly spoke out in an effort to bring forth his book of infinite pages.

"So let me guess...before this war even started you went ahead and sealed off this old palace away from the rest of existence," Kimi made yet another insightful comment.

"Indeed...in here I can quickly end your mortal shell and become one with your true essence as the Goddess-Above-All. Rejoice Mother! A perfect world shall be given origin once you've fallen," he boldly declared before spreading his arms wildly.

"Return to me! O powerful legends of old and corroded creations of my own; infuse thy mighty souls with my being and become part of a perfect deity!" the old man's voice echoed across eternity calling back all of his soldiers' souls into himself. In mere moments, the plethora of Heroic Spirits tasked with fighting Team AKARA morphed into aurora colored flaming essences that willingly flew all the way to the palace soaring through the heavens and breaking through the ceiling above before finally entering The Architect's grimoire.

Empowered more and more by essence his book devoured, the light radiating from the ancient deity began to shift and scatter before swirling around the old man. Cracks began to appear on his pale skin, a bright shining miasma escaped through each crack.

"Let's see how well you do against true boundless power!"

Light exploded from within the old man as his frail body completely cracked apart giving way to an entity made out of pure primordial power. His new form was a lot younger, he couldn't be older than a young man in his early twenties appearance wise. His once grey hair was now black and it extended all the way to his knees, the robe he once wore was now tattered revealing the defined, slender and muscular frame of someone who achieved the utmost level of beauty.

"Behold the truest form of the Great Primordial God: Izunia Arkhitekton!" he proclaimed, his eyes now emanating a golden fire. Nonetheless Kimiko remained completely unfazed; her resolve far outweighed any fear of death.

"Izunia huh? So you finally revealed your true name...alrighty then," Kimi calmly remarked, "I, Kimiko Hanate, accept your challenge!"

An echo resonated across the palace following Kimiko's words. A crimson miasma surrounded the female as her blackish brown became brighter and grew in length reaching all the way down her back. Not only that, but her red irises became silver in coloring thus giving her a tantalizing beauty unlike any other. Soon her crimson cloak also grew in length as a new weapon materialized in place of her sword. This weapon was a scythe created by the manifestation of Kimiko's nature as an assassin; its frame was colored rose red with black trims as its large scythe blade forged into a crescent shape.

"God's Reaper—Crescent Crimson," she spoke the weapon's name as she quickly and swiftly assumed a battle-ready stance. She still couldn't see any flaws or lines of death in Izunia's body, but nevertheless she stood there without a hint of fear.

"I'm honored to have the privilege of seeing your 'God of Killers' state. That scythe whose form represents your soul...brilliant, but Kimiko, have you not realized it yet?"

"Huh?"

"If I'm using all who serve my will to remain in this improved form...then who is fighting your comrades now?" Izunia inquired using a mocking tone. For a moment Kimiko remained silent, but almost immediately her mind arrived at a conclusion.

"You can't possibly mean-…"

"That's right, divide and conquer," the corrupt god said with a smirk stamped across his face.

"Just watch," he remarked before snapping his fingers. Images began to flash over the man before a full window to the events happening in the battlefield appeared before Kimiko. She could now see the rest of Team AKARA reunited with an old foe: the Scarlet-Eyed Reaper, Rias Makiri.

Alone she stood against the group of legends without as much as feeling threatened; without Kimiko there to cut her down she would never be stopped. All soldiers and heroes who were fighting both with and against the Crimson family had found themselves absorbed by The Architect. Only those of Team AKARA were left to fight Rias. The Red-Eyed Hero was quick to call forth his best weapon: the True Murasame—and soon all others followed his cue.

"..."

Raizo looked over to his older brother in complete silence, almost as if he and Akaro had an idea of how to best deal with this situation. The older brother merely nodded in response.

"Sundering Strike!" the Stormbringer launched at the fearsome female with his black scythe in hand. He was ready to unleash the full might of his Kamui technique. However, this didn't go so well.

"Do you really believe that your toy can hurt me?" Rias mockingly spoke before grabbing Morana by the length of its blade only to then pull its user closer to herself in a hug of shorts.

"Do you remember me, little puppet?" she whispered into his right ear.

"Rias..." Raizo muttered under his breath. Memories of what this woman had done to Adena in the original World Line flooded his mind.

"You're her aren't you? The Rias from that reality erased by the Counter Force." he inquired.

"That's right, Raizo...how lucky can you be? Now I get to play with both you and your new friends here...aren't you happy?!" she muttered those words out in a tone of voice that overflowed with a deep sense of madness. The Scarlet-Eyed Reaper then took Morana from Raizo's grasp with one hand and flicked him in the forehead with the other, thus propelling the youth into a backwards spiral that only came to a halt when he crashed against Adena; both were immediately knocked out cold.

"Raizo Arashi-Mercer and Adena Zao-Long...O how I yearn to feed on your corpses once more, you'll both make for excellent desserts," Rias taunted the unconscious pair. She could've killed them both with a glance yet still she took it easy for the sake of her own fun. Akaro meanwhile looked over to both Akames. First he turned to the younger of the two killers.

"Take those two and run," he spoke with a dead serious tone causing the young Red-Eyed Killer's heart to jump up in surprise and prompting her to immediately follow through on his request. With Raizo placed over her back and Adena on her arms she prepared to run as fast as her feet could take her—but even that didn't go as planned.

"There's no such thing as skipping dinner," Rias spoke out of the blue. A mere snap of her fingers was all it took for the demonic female to strike the three who tried to escape with a gravitational force strong enough to smash down the young Akame, breaking most of her bones while at it.

"You heartless bitch!" the older Akame exclaimed before rushing towards the Reaper who now threatened to consume her family. That would've been her end had Akaro not quickly stepped in her way.

"It's alright," the Red Knight spoke as he gently embraced his wife before giving her a sudden, passionate kiss.

"A-Akaro," she muttered while looking up at his eyes.

"Akame...go to Kimiko, keep her safe. I'll handle Rias."

"Akaro...a-are you sure? You couldn't stop her by yourself last time..."

"Trust me, I have a plan," he spoke while letting out his picture perfect white smile as a way of reassuring his wife. She merely nodded before reluctantly turning away from the battle at hand and darting her way to the old palace. Surprisingly enough Rias didn't interfere this time.

"You surely must be joking. Regardless of your fame as the Legendary Red Knight and Red-Eyed Hero, do you honestly think you can challenge me when in the past you couldn't even deal with a vastly inferior counterpart of me who had barely begun to fathom the powers of Pandora's Box?" Rias mocked her opposition while simultaneously licking her lips in anticipation for the fight against the leader of Team AKARA.

"Overthinking it would only waste time. I haven't exactly been sitting on my ass since my battle with your counterpart. This won't be as one-sided as you think," Akaro responded to his adversary's taunting with nothing but confidence and that same perfect smile from before.

"Show me your best...Scarlet Reaper," he concluded while assuming a fighting stance akin to that of a samurai.

"Very well, Red-Eyed Hero," she calmly spoke. The devilish female still held onto the scythe she had stolen from the Stormbringer as it was her own. Rias launched at Akaro like a missile that could traverse any distance at speeds unknown even to other Primordials. Both fighters were quick to unleash the might of their weaponry.

The Reaper first struck her foe with a horizontal slash that fully intended to decapitate Akaro, but luckily for him his skill allowed him to narrowly duck his way under her attack before the blade could pass through his neck. To follow up he immediately brought his nodachi blade in an upward motion that cut open Rias' chest; at least that would've been the case had the female not used her endless array of abilities to teleport away just as the True Murasame slashed over the top strings that kept her skimpy clothing together. As a result, it came apart fully revealing the female's breasts and curvaceous upper body.

"Gotcha," she muttered under her breath; within fractions of seconds later Akaro's shadow took solid form only to put its owner in a headlock.

"Too slow," the Red Knight spoke. A powerful gust of wind then rapidly slashed apart the solid shadow; however, that was not all Akaro had planned. By propelling his fist forward, Akaro used both Agni's Radiance and Kali's Retribution to rapidly unleash what appeared to be a wave of unique shadow-imbued flames that instantaneously crossed over the battlefield and hit Rias temporarily blocking her vision while also putting scratches all over her semi-naked form.

"Fulminating Finale!" Akaro's words echoed throughout the battlefield as he unexpectedly appeared behind Rias with a dark energy beam ready in one hand and his large blade in the other. Thrusting his open palm forward the tall male liberated the full might of his darkness infused technique.

"Gravideus!" Rias proclaimed in the last possible instant as she summoned a gravitational force the likes of which even someone such as Hestia could only dream of achieving. She effortlessly reduced the hero's powerful dark energy beam into nothingness, however, that was not all Akaro had planned.

"I'm not done yet!" he remarked the moment he brought his blade down onto Rias' head leaving her with little option but to block the downward slash using Morana's long body. Those exposed feminine assets of hers jiggled according to her movements as she quickly put herself on a defensive position.

"A halfway decent effort, though it's still nowhere near enough to make me flinch I'm afraid," she bragged, this confident act was yet another trap. At the same time a myriad of spears appeared up in the heavens, all of them possessed the same shape, size, and even the same color as Aquilo's Gungnir. Not only that but they were being utilized as arrows for a strange, glowing blue bow whose light shined ever so brightly.

"Disappear from this world, Akaro! Look up and behold...Seeker of the Resplendent Will!"

Rias' words echoed across infinity itself as the replicated legion of Gungnirs descended onto the Earth like arrows empowered by a Primordial Goddess' omnipotent will.

Each spear possessed a sort of radiance that mixed colors such as green, dark yellow, and aqua blue lights. Akaro didn't have a whole lot of options to counter this; if he were to teleport or move away the damage done to creation itself would be unfathomable. Furthermore his younger brother and best friend were still just a few steps away and leaving them to die was simply not an option.

"Awaken...Root of Origin..." he muttered under his breath, his eyes radiated golden as he did so. Reality and Fiction began to once more shift and waver in an ever-present dance of order and chaos. In Rias' eyes it was as if time had come to a sudden halt but in truth Akaro had merely activated the Primordial empowered version of his Omnifiction; a power that commanded what is perceived and acknowledged as real or fictional. Through the use of this power Rias' arrow-spears came to stop midair due Akaro's command before they finally removed from existence and rendered as "Fictional".

"Say Rias...what do you think would happen if I used this?" the hero with flaming gold in his eyes spoke before teleporting a few feet back. In his hands he now carried a bow Teigu that in the past had been wielded by the girl named Yuki. Her feeble mind barely realized its true potential, which became all the more apparent as Akaro load up his True Murasame as an oversized arrow. The Red-Eyed Hero's body began to swirl with a blue-tinted, platinum radiance; crimson sparks appeared around his makeshift blade-arrow.

"A Teigu that projects the user's will now in use by one whose will is virtually limitless," the Scarlet Reaper said to herself, "Give me your all, Akaro...show this world why your corpse shall be my main dish."

"Pierce the heavens...Miracle Seeker!" the hero shouted just as bright light emitted from his weapon shined throughout the entire world. His blade flew like an arrow powerful enough to shatter through reality and fiction as if they were glass. Rias could only display amazement at such a display of insurmountable will empowered by the fullest extent of Akaro's primordial energy.

"Well it doesn't matter..." she spoke to herself as the shining blade-arrow grew closer and closer. Turning her eye to Morana, she smiled.

"Obey me O scythe of death! Render that mighty strike useless...go forth Siphoning Fate!" she proclaimed whilst the scythe's dark, frightening miasma began to envelop her whole body. However, to the Reaper's surprise Morana denied Rias any and all obedience. Instead of allowing her to absorb the incoming attack, the miasma of Siphoning Fate began to weigh Rias down and make the weapon itself harder to wield by encasing its body with a poisonous, burning layer of energy.

"What the hell are you doing you wretched scyth-…"

It was too late for Rias to finish that sentence; her chest had been deeply pierced by Akaro's blade-arrow. The full force of the attack was condensed to the point where it was capable of immediately penetrating the Scarlet Reaper's exposed chest reaching all the way into her heart. The female couldn't help but gasp as golden blood escaped from within her mouth. She even took a few steps back due to the pain.

"A...k...Akaro, the pain...f-feels...so good..." Rias mumbled in agony. The Red-Eyed Hero meanwhile could only breathe heavily after making use of such a devastating attack. His body was exhausted to the point where it automatically abandoned its Boundless Zen form thus returning to his base state. He even found himself unable to stand and going down to one knee.

"It's over Rias...the miracle I called for was one that forced the potency of that last attack to enhance the effectiveness of my blade's god-killing poison. Even if you're truly a Primordial who can't ever die because of your immortal essence, the poison should still have weakened you enough for me to seal all that power of yours where it belongs," Akaro thoroughly explained in between heavy breaths. It was rare to see him in such a predicament; a battle where his victory wasn't a certainty.

"Truth be told...the outcome we see now would not have been attainable without Raizo's help. He predicted you'd steal his weapon and attempt to use Morana's Siphoning Fate against me. If the scythe truly scales to the user's strength then if you were the one using its power it'd surely work against me. Fortunately, its Soul Oath with the original user saved my ass," he further elaborated.

"In your endless lust for power you forgot that which is most important thing—that's family," the Red Knight concluded. Rias on the other hand couldn't help but laugh out loud when confronted by the man's words. Akaro's True Murasame had all but completely dematerialized from within her chest, thus allowing it to heal instantaneously.

"It's been an honor, Akaro...the strength of your glorious miracle managed to completely eclipse even that of the mighty God Hunter for a moment," she spoke as a malicious smirk appeared across her lips, "However...looks like our playtime is over my friend."

In accordance to Rias' words, a dense, dark pink aura burst around herself like enraged flames. Her eyes and hair soon after assumed that very same coloring. A moment was all it took for body to fully heal from any and all damage dealt in the past battle, even the Miracle's poison generated by Akaro's blade-arrow was cleansed in less than a minute.

"Sorry to disappoint you...but as you know I'm also an Ultimate Teigu given Primordial power much like yourself, thus it's only logical that I'd still have this up my sleeve. Boundless Zen Rose is the name. You lost, Akaro," she maliciously spoke before tossing Raizo's rebellious scythe to the side, "I'm going to enjoy feasting on your flesh!"

"Heh..." Akaro chuckled under his breath as he stood up once more in a last display of defiance.

"Not gonna surrender huh? Very well," Rias spoke in a mocking tone.

"I will never let you win...Tei-re On: Murasame," Akaro muttered under his breath as he charged towards Rias with a newly summoned Murasame in hand all the while knowing that nothing but certain destruction awaited him. Without a hint of fear, he thrust his blade into the direction of Rias' heart.

"You shouldn't have done that..." the Scarlet Reaper's voice ominously echoed just as blood splattered everywhere hitting Akaro's cheeks. In a moment's notice his hands were dyed in crimson liquid. The Red-Eyed Hero could barely believe his eyes. Instead of piercing Rias' body, his blade now found itself buried inside the heart of a beautiful female all too familiar to him.

"Jeanne..." he uttered barely able to say her name.

"I-It's...it's not your fault," her taciturn and cool voice slowly reached into his ears but he could hardly listen. Her completely pure amethyst-colored eyes were now barely hanging on to life; that wondrous beauty that scarcely felt real began to escape this reality.

"As long as you're still able to fight...I know you'll find a way to win," the Holy Maiden muttered in her dying breath. Her spirit then slowly vanished into a trail of blue sparks that were subsequently sucked away towards the old palace where it would be absorbed by The Architect's book. Rias could only smile in satisfaction as Akaro's expression darkened with a silent fury.

"Looks like you've failed that maiden once again," Rias made her voice known before slapping Akaro's Murasame out of his hands. She then pushed him face up onto the ground only to then mount him like a horse. Akaro had nothing left to do; his mind was too caught up on the fact that his blade had unintentionally taken the life of someone he once loved.

"Now...it's time to eat you up," she uttered as the words of that cannibal side of her reached Akaro's ears. She slowly pressed her fang-like teeth against the left side of his neck allowing her to taste some of his flesh to permeate her senses.

"You have quite the sublime flavor my dear Red-Eyed Hero."

As she watched these devastating events from within the old palace, Kimi felt her heart steadily sinking into despair. Team AKARA was down and seemingly out from the battle entirely, there was no way around it at this point. Kimiko Hanate was the last one standing. Even with Aka-sensei out there, stopping The Architect and Rias now felt like an all but certain impossibility at best.

"Make her sto-…"

Kimiko couldn't even properly finish that sentence. The moment she let her emotions take hold, Izunia took the lead and quite effortlessly punched through her chest. At that instant her armored clothing shattered apart. With Kimiko's heart in hand The Architect smirked before squashing it. Blood poured out of Kimi's mouth as if she was vomiting, the laughter of the rejuvenated Architect ringed into the female's ears as her vision began to blur. Izunia wasted no time pulling out his hand from the female's chest immediately giving room for to collapse back first onto the ground.

"You shouldn't have let your guard down Kimiko Hanate...but then again a simple mortal such as yourself wouldn't have defeated me anyway without Primordial power," his mocking words flowed out of his mouth with that same pretentious tone he always used. Kimiko could barely breathe at this point, a pool of blood formed beneath her.

"He is too powerful for me...my Eye of God and Eye of Fiction can't harm him...especially now in his transformed state," she thought to herself using up whatever remained of her will to fight.

"Still alive huh? Well let's see if that remains the case once I take your head!" said The Architect as he summoned a flaming one handed sword with a snap of his fingers. Izunia relished in his victory before swinging his blade down at the girl in a thrusting motion. The only thing she could do was close her eyes one last time in anticipation for an untimely end to come...but the death she expected...never came to pass.

Reluctantly Kimi allowed herself to slowly open her eyelids knowing all too well that she was about to bear witness to a visage that would prove itself to be the end of any self-control she might've had. Now on top of Kimiko with a blade struck across her spine and out through her stomach, Aka-sensei, or the Red-Eyed Killer as she was better known, smiled at her best friend as life began fading from her eyes.

"Akame...no...No! No! No! Why did you have to save me?!"

"Don't...Don't cry Kimi...you can still win this...you always do," Akame remarked in her dying breaths before reaching out with her shaking hand to touch her friend's right cheek as a tear streamed down.

"Akame...I..."

"It's up to you now...my first and very best student...It's time for you to wake up from your slumber so all of us can behold the rebirth of true hope…"

Those were Akame's last words, the brave assassin then dropped face first onto the ground beside Kimiko. Her body began to slowly fade away into a trail of bright red sparks. A malicious smile that symbolized his intentions filled The Architect's face. Promptly, the greedy individual took advantage of the situation by absorbing the trail representing Akame's very existence into his book of infinite pages further adding to his power.

"Aka...Akame..." Kimiko could barely speak. No expression other than complete emptiness crossed her in that moment. She once more looked to the visage of her friends provided by The Architect in a desperate attempt to find some semblance of hope, but all she saw was Rias slowly feasting on Akaro's muscles and golden blood while the Red-Eyed Hero himself seemed to be paralyzed on the ground. Adena had woken up, but all she could do was watch.

"It's time...Rias become what you're meant to be! Transform into the incarnation of scourge and destruction! Become the true meaning of Pandora's Box in full!" Izunia Arkhitekton shouted as he rejoiced in his victory. It was quite unbelievable for at a moment's notice Rias got up as if compelled by a higher force and moved away from Akaro. Her body then began to tremble as her powerful aura expanded.

"Heh...so this was your plan all along old man?!" she inquired. Her physical features began to break apart and change, her body expanded rapidly as well. Seeing this, Adena put all she had left in a last ditch effort to get up and move Akaro, Raizo, and the young Akame to a safe distance. She shot all the way to her Dragonheart form before moving as fast as her body could while carrying Akaro and Akame under her arms while Raizo rested on her back. Regardless, she only made it about halfway to the outskirts of what once was the imperial capital before collapsing onto the rubble.

Adena then turned to face what Rias had become—a gigantic humanoid beast that stood on all four limbs. Her face was degraded and now had demonic features like horns; her hands were also inhuman and possessed many monstrous aspects such as claws; lastly, the female's back now displayed black, demonic wings. Even though this giant monster walked on all fours, her size and height already made the likes of Leviathan and any other mythological monsters appear tiny. The very presence distorted the concept of dimensions, size, and distance, anything that was observable by a common sense of measurement.

To one's eyes Rias was now bigger than a moon, but in truth her essence and physical presence went beyond all of existence. Heaven and Earth trembled beneath her feet; the skies were now a vortex of red colors and storm clouds. Unbeknownst to Team AKARA, every universe, World Line, realm and reality now suffered this same apocalyptic view. True dystopia and chaos embraced the world of Akasha as all that was, has been, and will ever be suffered and cried in pain.

"Big Bro..." Adena muttered under her breath before turning to face Akaro, "What do we do?!"

"Huh?"

Adena's desperate cry for help did a good job at snapping the hero out of his defeated state. Standing back up, he popped his shoulder in place while also self-healing his opened neck back into a less gruesome state. He looked fine enough. The initial shock of having killed Jeanne accidentally was alleviated by the fact that she could still be saved if the book used by The Architect was destroyed; thus freeing the souls of all he had trapped within it. Of course he didn't know about Akame's "death" as such would've made him have a far different attitude.

"We're in quite the predicament here eh?" he joked before smiling at the face of danger.

"Please tell me you have a plan," Adena voiced her thoughts letting a chuckle out at the end. In spite of the overwhelming odds, Akaro and his redheaded companion still managed to find a small sense of relief by being near each other. At more or less the same time both Raizo and the young Akame became conscious, the latter got up first and helped her friend recover by offering a helping hand which he gladly took.

"Rise and shine you two, there's no time for your beauty sleep," Akaro casually remarked as both the young Red-Eyed Killer and Stormbringer joined him and Adena. In the distance the monstrosity whose sole purpose was to destroy all that existed roared like a mindless beast. Rias was no longer there; this creature was a raw embodiment of the power once held inside Pandora's Box. Team AKARA could feel creation's despair as the presence of this devil rapidly spread and multiplied like cancer cells. A catastrophe that would destroy all civilizations, without clemency or judgement, was the only description fitting of this almighty being.

"So what now, Aniki...is there anything in your arsenal that can stop that thing?" Raizo inquired still breathing quite heavily. Akaro took a moment to process that question.

"Funny you should ask, I actually do have something...well two things actually, but I don't think we're gonna be needing to resort to those," he responded, "it's all up to them now."

"I don't follow," the young Akame made her voice known.

"You guys will have to wait and see," he concluded with a reassuring smile.