Wood's Imperial Arms was crafted from the materials of dragon-type Danger Beasts that lived in the extreme cold regions, along with thousand-year-old refined cold iron. Its defensive power against physical attacks was noteworthy, but Wood took particular pride in its ability to withstand extreme cold.
"Crafted from a dragon-shaped Danger Beast that lived in the freezing lands—so what? I grew up in the northern borders, where it was always snow and ice. The Danger Beasts there might be accustomed to the cold, but being resistant to it doesn't mean they can't be frozen to death. If the temperature drops enough, any living being will meet its end!"
As Esdeath spoke, she swung her arm again, and massive pillars of ice began to burst from the ground. Snowflakes started to drift slowly down from the sky...
"This was all my fault. Ultimately, it was my own oversight. I didn't consider that the army still had manned flying Danger Beasts, nor did I expect Esdeath would pursue us personally. I also didn't realize her strength was this overwhelming. I shouldn't have agreed to bring you along earlier, and Wood wouldn't have had to..."
That night, after fleeing for an entire day, Najenda and Lubbock finally made it out of the southwestern border, though it cost them the exhaustion of their horses. As soon as they stopped to rest, Najenda couldn't hide her guilt and expressed her regret.
To her, if it weren't for Wood staying behind to cover their retreat, they never would have escaped from Esdeath. During this escape, Wood had saved her life not once but twice.
"If anyone is responsible for what happened to him, it should be me. I'm the one who convinced him to join the Empire as a soldier, and I'm the one who led him to defect with me. But I trust Wood. He's not someone who would die easily. He promised me, and Wood's never broken a promise, not once in all the time I've known him. If he's truly dead this time, then I..."
Before Lubbock could finish his words, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind him and continued, "Shut up, already. Stop raising those weird death flags. I can't take all these dramatic gestures from you guys."
Hearing the familiar voice and turning around to see the familiar figure, Lubbock's face immediately lit up with joy. He opened his mouth to say something, only to see his close friend, exhausted, collapse to the ground.
"Wood! Wood!" Lubbock's initial excitement froze into concern as he saw Wood collapse. Panic set in almost immediately.
"Relax. He's not badly hurt, just suffering from mild frostbite and extreme fatigue. Let's get him some hot water and let him rest for a day, and he should be fine."
Seeing Wood collapse, Najenda was also very worried, but her experience and age allowed her to stay calm longer than Lubbock. She quickly assessed Wood's condition and determined that he would be alright with some rest.
When Wood awoke again, it was the morning of the third day. He had been in a state of deep sleep the whole time, and Lubbock had been carrying him throughout. Although Najenda offered to take turns carrying Wood with Lubbock, the green-haired youth stubbornly refused.
Lubbock insisted that Wood's injuries were his fault, so carrying him was a burden he needed to bear. However, Wood knew Lubbock well enough to know that his supposed guilt, while present, was far from overwhelming. The real reason Lubbock refused Najenda's offer was that he didn't want Wood to get "too comfortable" being carried by his goddess.
"Is there anything to eat? I'm starving!"
The first thing Wood did when he woke up was ask for food. It made sense—after using his Imperial Arms to battle Esdeath, chasing Najenda and Lubbock through the night, and then sleeping for two days straight, his body was completely empty. Wanting something to eat was more than reasonable.
"Wood, you're finally awake. We owe you our lives. If it weren't for you, we would have all been killed by Esdeath," Najenda said with obvious relief upon seeing Wood awake and unharmed.
"Akame, share some of your meat with Wood. He's one of us now—one of our most trusted comrades," Najenda said as she turned to a black-haired girl walking at the front of their group.
It was then that Wood noticed, at some point during his unconsciousness, their group had gained a new member. The newcomer was a beautiful young girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a black sailor uniform and carrying a long sword at her waist.
Wood immediately sensed that she was also an Imperial Arms user, and her weapon was the long sword at her side. What puzzled Wood, however, was that despite her slender build and perfect proportions, this girl named Akame was holding what appeared to be a mass of meat almost as heavy as herself. She was devouring it enthusiastically while walking.
Hearing Najenda's request, the black-haired girl glanced at Wood with an appraising look before, reluctantly, breaking off a large piece of meat and handing it to him.
"If you're a comrade, then I'll share some with you. Eating meat will help you recover quickly," she said.
Meat as a cure-all for recovery? If it weren't for Akame's clearly feminine appearance, Wood might've suspected she was somehow related to that rubber kid who could stretch and change size. Her astonishing appetite and her beliefs about eating meat reminded him of an "alternate world version" of that boy.
"Wood, if you're awake, could you walk on your own? I've been carrying you for two days now, and it's killing me!" Lubbock complained. Though an Imperial Arms user himself, Lubbock wasn't a strength-type fighter. Carrying Wood for two days had drained him significantly.
However, Wood wasn't going to let Najenda carry him, and as for Akame... she was new, and Lubbock wasn't quite ready to trust her fully. Besides, she had her hands full with all that meat.
"Weren't you the one who said this was a burden you had to bear? Come on, this is nothing. My body's still weak, and I'm not up for walking long distances yet. So you'll have to keep at it, my green-haired angel," Wood teased, using his oily hands to wipe grease on Lubbock's clothes as he chewed on a large hunk of meat.
Wood's smug grin made Lubbock's earlier feelings of guilt completely disappear. Still, with Najenda nearby, Lubbock had no choice but to endure and continue serving as Wood's pack mule.
"Wood, how did you escape from Esdeath? Did you... manage to defeat her?" Najenda asked. She found the latter part of her question hard to believe, but she couldn't imagine a scenario where Esdeath would willingly spare someone. Maybe Wood really had beaten her.
"In the end, I lost the fight. I managed to withdraw while conserving some of my strength, though. Esdeath also sustained some injuries, but she definitely had the ability to keep pursuing me. However, she chose to let me go," Wood explained.
Indeed, Wood had ultimately lost to Esdeath in their confrontation. Without access to magic due to the world's lack of magical energy, Wood's abilities were significantly weakened. When it came to pure physical ability, Esdeath outmatched him. Wood's only edge was his superior swordsmanship, but in terms of battle experience and technique, Esdeath was just as skilled as he was.
Esdeath's Imperial Arms was also extremely powerful—enhanced by drinking all of the Demon's Extract—which made her Imperial Arms far stronger than others. Even though Wood's Winter Knight armor countered her powers, it wasn't enough to give him a real advantage.
Had it not been for the onset of nightfall, triggering his "Blessing of the Radiant Moon", and the fact that he was fighting to protect Lubbock and Najenda—which met the activation conditions of "Knight's Honor"—he wouldn't have escaped with just exhaustion. Without those blessings, Wood would likely have been far worse off, possibly missing some body parts.
While Esdeath was incredibly powerful, Wood felt she wasn't unbeatable. With the use of his Imperial Arms and his "Divine Heart", he thought he might stand a good chance of defeating her. Of course, that assumed Esdeath hadn't held anything back, such as a "secret technique" within her Imperial Arms...
"Don't be discouraged. You managed to retreat from Esdeath and even injure her—that's impressive. With your current strength, you're easily among the top three in the entire Empire. And you're still young. There's no reason to think you can't surpass her one day," Najenda encouraged.
Najenda wasn't just offering empty words of comfort—she genuinely believed what she said. She had thought someone as monstrous as Esdeath was an anomaly, but now there was Wood, someone just as extraordinary.
Najenda then told Wood what had happened while he was unconscious. When Najenda defected, the Empire naturally sent assassins after her. Najenda was a former general, well-versed in the Empire's military strategies and defenses, and her joining the Revolutionary Army would make her a formidable threat. To prevent this, the Empire sent their best to eliminate her.
One of these assassins was none other than Akame, a member of the Empire's Elite Seven assassination unit and one of the most feared assassins in the Empire. Her Imperial Arms, "One-Cut Killer: Murasame", could instantly kill anyone it cut by poisoning them with a lethal curse.
Despite her fearsome reputation, Akame ended up switching sides and joining Najenda, thanks to her realization of the Empire's corruption. With her former comrade's tragic fate in mind, she listened to Najenda's words and decided to join the Revolutionary Army.
With Esdeath failing to stop them and Akame, one of the Empire's top assassins, defecting, the Empire had no choice but to abandon their pursuit of Najenda's group. Upon arriving at the Revolutionary Army, Najenda was given the task of infiltrating the capital.
Najenda, being intimately familiar with the Empire, along with the group of elite Imperial Arms users like Wood, was tasked with setting up operations within the capital. The Revolutionary Army needed informants in the capital to keep them updated on the Empire's movements, but they also needed to assassinate corrupt officials to sow chaos.
Thus, Night Raid, an assassination unit, was formed. It began with just Najenda, Wood, Lubbock, and Akame, but soon grew to include more members.
-Mine, a petite, pink-haired tsundere, joined the group. She had a natural talent for marksmanship, making her the ideal candidate to inherit Najenda's Romantic Turret: Pumpkin.
-Leone, a bold and carefree woman, also joined. She grew up in the slums and used her Imperial Arms, acquired on the black market, to bring justice to corrupt nobles.
-Sheele, a soft-spoken girl with glasses, discovered her talent for killing after defending her best friend, leading her to join Night Raid.
-Bulat, a muscular warrior with a strong sense of justice, defected from the Empire's army after witnessing corruption firsthand and became one of Night Raid's most reliable members.
Night Raid, composed of former Empire soldiers, assassins, and those who sought justice, was now ready to face the challenges that awaited them in the capital.