Akame Ga Kill - Garou

Garou went back to the orphanage after his display before the young emperor, he was not someone who takes joy in hurting or scaring children. Still, the boy was way too foolish and naive. Garou saw the concern in the boy's eyes toward Esdeath injuries and the boy overcoming his fear to stand for his fallen subordinate. Garou concluded the boy was not bad at heart, just naive and easy to manipulate and very weak physically.

Garou pitied the boy a little, being a tool used by others to achieve their ends while believing he is doing the right thing, all the blame was put on his shoulders without even knowing it.

Some might say if he really pitied him, then he should just get rid of those bad apples around him. But Garou was no hero, he wouldn't do such a thing, moreover, if he hypothetically did it, he would just be allowing others to come and control the boy. The boy should seek strength and stand on his own.

Garou wanted the boy to see that his words and standing are not as important as he was told. If he sought to learn and develop his own capabilities for the betterment of himself and his people, then he is going to be a good emperor in the future, if not then let his destiny decided by fate, he simply won't be worth the trouble of being helped.

Garou had simple thoughts regarding the whole matter, he didn't want to think about it nor had the capacity, for now as he had much greater trouble to deal with. After he came back to the orphanage, he was surprised by a united squad of children and an angry nun tackling him. Some of them were happy to see him, others angry and some crying.

"Are you okay? You are not injured, right?" Himiko asked with concern. While Ari was stuck herself to his leg and cried "I thought I won't see you again"

The rest had similar reactions. Garou couldn't help but smile a little and wonder if they saw him back in his world with holes and cuts spreading all over his body, the blood raining down like a fountain, how would they react?

Well, Garou being Garou replied in a casual manner breaking the whole emotional situation "I feel insulted, to think you thought I might be hurt by a weakling."

"But you fought against the empire's strongest!" Himiko said

"Previously strongest, I won. Now I'm the strongest. Anyway, I'm hungry, Make me some food!!!" Garou said casually.

________________________

At the same time in the Nightraid hideout, the assassins sat in the main hole with troubled faces. Tatsumi and the others already informed them of what happened in the capital. The three did not witness the entire battle in detail but saw the fast exchange of blows at the beginning and the aftermath and destruction they caused.

Two Monsters fought against each other, the speed they showed just in the initial exchange was already above Akame's, the fastest assassin amongst them by far. Followed by the destruction of the arena and stadium then the huge Ice mountain dropping from the sky before getting shattered mid-air. They didn't know how the two did it, but the side damage alone could flatten an entire army.

On the throne, the Nightraid leader, Najenda, was sitting with clenched fists. She knew Esdeath was a monster, she had experienced it first hand when Esdeath dug her eye out and cut her arm. If someone asked her to fight Esdeath 1 vs 1, then Najenda would unhesitatingly refuse.

Even after a few years, she still feared Esdeath, traumatized by her to this day. But now, when she heard the man, her subordinates got beaten by a few times and she has been investigating for the past few weeks, had met Esdeath and fought against her surprised her. She even thought at the beginning if he didn't die, he might join their cause with some persuasive and promises.

But the reality was a bitter pill of continuous disappointments, her subordinates informed her that the man not only fought against Esdeath in what could be described as a legendary battle. He defeated her without sustaining any notable injuries, he defeated the monster that she feared the most, the monster feared by the entire revolutionary, a monster that can take tens of thousands of lives alone, the monster that was the main reason why they still didn't dare to attack the imperial capital to this moment.

Moreover, he didn't just defeat her, he reduced her to a state where she struggled to stand up. Such a feat amazed her, but also terrified her to no end. What would they do when they meet him in the future? Could they even survive against him? After all, she didn't believe they had a chance to win in a direct clash.

Cold sweat covered her body as she tried to compose herself as much as she could, she asked the green-haired man before her "So Lubbock, what happened afterwards? Since he won, how come Esdeath remained alive?"

Lubbock knew Najenda long enough that he could hear the shock and fear hidden in her tone, he didn't want to scare her or trouble her, but this information must be delivered, the severity is way too high. He calmed his heart. He answered "When the Jaegers and we arrived at the scene of the battle was already over, Garou was standing there watching Esdeath mockingly and simply let her subordinates rush to her side. The six Jaegers prepared to fight him when Esdeath started speaking nonsense….."

Lubbock described what happened precisely in detail. Esdeath actions and words, which was something he could barely believe despite hearing it with his own ears.

"And so the fight didn't continue. The Jaegers gave Esdeath initial treatment while Garou didn't attempt to hurt or kill them. He just talked casually with them as if nothing had happened" Lubbock sighed at the end, back then he wished the fight would continue if they were lucky Esdeath and her elite team would have perished there.

"Damn it!" Najenda was really angry out of desperation and fear. To think Esdeath came so close to death yet she wasn't killed or even hurt permanently because of some nonsense talking. How the world worked was genuinely unfair, she nearly died when she left the empire and got humiliated, she ran like a dog for her life. But when the monstrous evil woman finally tasted defeat, she got out without losing a single hair.

Najenda's fear toward Esdeath could only be surpassed by her hatred for the woman, she was ruined by her, turned into a half cripple and lost all of her subordinates at that woman's hands. Yet luck was on her side, the only man who could take her down didn't even hurt her much.

"Since the fight was over, I assume Esdeath and her soldiers headed back to the palace. Why did you not ambush them, if you focused all your firepower against her, then you would have been able to kill her!" Najenda asked. She was angry that such a golden opportunity was lost. They might never get such an opportunity again.

"The six Jaegers were right next to her. I saw two of them using Teigus, and they weren't Bols and Seryu. 4 of them had Teigus, and I'm willing to bet the last 2 had Teigus as well" Leone stated the facts.

"You could still catch them off guard and kill her!! They wouldn't be able to react in time if the three of you attacked at the same time." Najenda refuted angrily.

"We didn't have enough confidence to pull it off. Even if we did, we would have died" Tatsumi added.

"But as long as Esdeath is dead, everything is worth it. You saw how much of a monster she is. If we want to take her down under normal circumstances, all of us here might die and we will probably still fail anyway" Najenda said, cruelly making everyone uncomfortable, this was a new side to their leader they didn't know. Only Lubbock understood her, she was traumatized and her anger and hate clouding her judgment he sighed slightly and decided to continue narrating what happened. The worst part was next.

"Even if all the Jaegers didn't react to us we wouldn't have been able to kill her" Lubbock added tiredly.

"And why is that?" Najenda asked.

"Because Garou was actively protecting her from us" Lubbock said with a depressed face.

Najenda stiffened, even the rest of the assassins didn't have it any better including Tatsumi and Leone, they were shocked by this. Tatsumi and Leone saw Garou walking next to her, but what about actively protecting her? They thought Lubbock was trying to lessen Najenda's anger by lying. But Lubbock's next words shocked them even more.

"When everyone was focused on Esdeath speaking, I saw Garou looking directly at us, he definitely knew we were there. It was only for an instant, he looked in our direction then back to Esdeath. At first, I dismissed it, but when they left back to the palace. Garou walked right next to her at the side where he will be between her and us. Even if the Jaegers didn't stop us or move, just by Garou alone there, we had no chance to get close to her"

Lubbock didn't lie in the slightest. Garou indeed noticed them hiding, but he wasn't too bored to attack them. He let them leave as he had nothing against them anyway, besides why should he bother hunting cockroaches? As for protecting Esdeath, he didn't mean it, Lubbock was just overthinking it. Still, the result of his thoughts troubled him and his friends even more.

"What are we going to do now? I mean, if Garou ends up joining the empire's forces, then the rebellion is pretty much doomed. Garou and Esdeath working together is a death sentence to our cause" Mine said weakly.

"There is also general Bodou who's supposedly as strong as Esdeath, we are up against 3 monsters" Tatsumi said.

"I'm going to the headquarters to ask for reinforcement, this is our only choice" Najenda said weakly before leaving. She even forgot to assign someone to be in charge.

The situation couldn't be any grimmer in Nightraid eyes.