Akame Ga Kill - Garou

"I was slightly looking forward to fighting Nightraid and seeing what their weapons can do. But it didn't cross my mind that I already met you. Honestly, I thought you morons were a group of common bandits with flashy weapons. After all, you didn't strike me as elite assassins" Garou sneered with contempt.

Garou was brutally honest with them to the point they, especially the ones he met previously, were surprised. The surprised faces quickly changed into twitching ones, then to anger. They thought Garou was insulting them, he might be stronger than them but to say he thought they were just a random group of bandits, that was too much of an insult. They were still a group of proud elite assassins.

"It's great you are here, now we can fight them together" Wave said with excitement. He still hasn't forgotten Garou casually beating the shit out of them on a daily basis. Now, having the chance to fight on his side and watch their enemies be at the receiving end instead of him gave Wave a sense of twisted satisfaction. The rest of his friends didn't speak, but they all had similar thoughts, fighting Garou so many times alongside their general had changed their way of thinking to a certain degree.

Nightraid's assassins tensed while Garou turned around as his eyes narrowed dangerously and said "Care to repeat? It seems I didn't hear you correctly." Garou stated angrily, his monstrous aura flaring and sending chills down Wave's spine.

Had Wave not been wearing his armour, then everyone could see his excited face distorting into a scared one. He was familiar with Garou enough to know when the guy was annoyed and how close the beating was. The face Garou was making is the exact same one as when Esdeath's flirting went too far. Wave began to restate himself "I-I said ..."

"If you are going to say, 'we will fight together' then I'll break your legs and feed you to Seryu's dog" Garou interrupted Wave. His words made Wave go silent, and his face, under his helmet, went pale. Wave took a step back and replied in a fearful voice "I'm sorry sir, I won't do it again, I swear"

"Wave, Dr Stylish needs help, he lost a lot of blood already. We need to retreat now. Mr Garou doesn't need our help" Bols spoke with a low voice from the back. Wave turned around and looked at his teammate and nodded. He and the rest retreated alongside Bols and Kurome, leaving Garou to face Nightraid alone.

Kurome was the last to move, she stared at Garou's back then at her sister. She wanted to be the one to take down her sister, she wanted to object and ask Garou to let her fight Akame one-on-one. But deep down, she knew she was going to lose. Summoning and controlling all of these dolls took a considerable amount of her stamina. She didn't have much of her strength left to fight against Akame, let alone kill her. Kurome could only retreat with a reluctant face, but she did give her sister a last sad look as if saying goodbye.

Truthfully, no one among the Jaegers thought Nightraid stood a chance. Garou was undisputedly the strongest. Also, they knew his strength to a certain extent, he was someone capable of fighting two great generals alongside six elite Teigues users and still win, with a considerable strength to spare. They were only a little disappointed because they lost the chance of seeing Nightraid's painful demise.

Nightraid's assassins watched the four Jaegers retreat without making any move. They weren't fools if they attacked the Jaegers, they would have to fight Garou alongside Wave and Kurome which would not bode well for them. Garou alone was enough to keep their hands full, not to mention they would have a higher chance of beating him. They had the number advantage and the fact he didn't know what they could do boosted their confidence. Unfortunately for them, they didn't see Garou sparring. If they did, then they wouldn't have even challenged him in the first place.

"So you are Garou, I wanted to meet you since I heard about your encounter with my subordinates" Najenda spoke.

"Hoh… I take it that you are the leader. Your name was Najenda, right? Esdeath spoke about you" Garou replied casually.

"oh? Mind telling me what she said?" Najenda asked.

"Sure... The short version is: cunning and slyness are your strong suits, while your actual strength is only slightly above average," Garou said with a disdainful smirk.

Najenda narrowed her eyes, she didn't like the way he put it, but it was valid to an extent, at least for a monster like Esdeath. She took a deep breath and said "Can I ask you why you are working for the empire?"

"When did I ever say I was working for those fools?" Garou replied.

Najenda was surprised, she couldn't help but ask "Then, why are you here? Is it not to kill us?"

Garou blinked and replied "Nope, I was just curious about your weapons. Esdeath told me your group had weird weapons like her team. So I decided to come and see for myself what your little group can do."

Najenda and the rest didn't expect such a ridiculous reason. Najenda couldn't believe his words, so she asked again "Then why were you training with Esdeath and her team?"

"Since when do I need permission to hang out with people?" Garou replied with a question of his own.

Najenda stared blankly at him, she had a feeling he was speaking the truth. If his words were true, then her team lost a member while failing to kill any of their enemies because Garou thought it was interesting to see them fight. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated she became. Her subordinates had similar thoughts if their livid faces meant anything.

Garou simply didn't care about their faces and said "I believe you bought enough time, Your subordinates surrounded me. Now, we can start our battle, can't we?"

Najenda narrowed her eyes "You knew I initially was trying to buy time? Then why did you allow it?"

"It was obvious, you started talking with me while your subordinates started changing their position subtly." Garou replied casually then he looked around and shrugged. "As for why I let it pass, since you are a team, it would only be right to let you take the optimal position for your teamwork before I fight you. It wouldn't be much fun otherwise."

In his world, Garou wouldn't have allowed heroes to surround him and keep him at a disadvantage, especially the S-class. The reason was because they had supernatural abilities forcing him to a disadvantage, so he needed to find smart and skillful ways to win. But here, he was a lot stronger and faster than his opponents, so he allowed them to move as they wished to give them a better chance and in return, push him more. The better they fight, the stronger he will become.

Naturally, Nightraid didn't know what Garou was thinking nor how strong he truly was. They believed he was simply too arrogant, and they saw it as his weakness, a weakness they could exploit. They stopped trying to move subtly and directly completed their encirclement. Of course, Garou didn't interrupt their preparations.

"If you are not working for the Empire, then why don't you join us?" Najenda asked. If he agreed to join them, then Esdeath and Budo and the rest of high-level warriors won't be a threat to them anymore.

"Join you? Why should I?" Garou asked back, he didn't expect her to try recruiting him here.

"You are not from the capital, so it is only natural you don't know about the darkness in the Empire, the evil lurking in the shadows and the people suffering." Najenda spoke with a deep and aggrieved voice.

Najenda stared at Garou, seeing him keeping his silence, she knew he was thinking about her words. She decided to push further and spoke "We are killers, assassins and criminals. We know that, but we only kill evil people. People who committed all kinds of unspeakable deeds. We know that no matter the reason, killing will always be killing, something unforgivable. But we are willing to carry the burden and the sins of our actions for a better future!"

Garou looked at Najenda silently without any change in his facial expression, while the assassins looked at their leader with awe and determination.

Garou stared for a few more seconds before he finally couldn't hold himself back and started laughing.

"Oh, god! And here I thought these politicians are hypocrites. You are the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen, one that stands above all."

The assassins glared at Garou, who was still laughing. Najenda narrowed her eyes and said "This is our conviction, we won't allow you to laugh at it. It represents why everyone fell so far for a better future."

Garou stopped laughing and looked at Najenda with a cold face, he spoke coldly "Is that how you convinced them to join you? You are nothing but a hypocrite, and those who fell are all brainless sheep. You said you kill the evil. Yet, the first time you met me, I was visibly injured and tired and yet you attempted to kill me without knowing who I am or even asking. You said you are fighting for a better future. Still, all that you have been doing is tearing this country and its future apart. You spoke about killing and sins as if you are selfless heroes, sacrificing everything to protect the weak. You are the same as them, acting as if you were saints and your actions are justified, but you are all nothing but hypocrites in hero costumes."

The assassins were shocked hearing Garou's words. They actually forgot about how they attacked him when he came too close to their base. He was injured and bloodied, yet they tried to kill him. Also, it seems he was comparing them to others, they were not sure who exactly, but from the tone and the words, one thing was clear, they were now on his bad side.

"I despise your kind the most. Lying whenever you could to benefit, tricking people into believing in you. Originally, I came here only to see what you are capable of. But now, I will destroy you to pieces." Garou's face was twisted with anger.

Najenda stiffened seeing Garou's reaction. Her heart pulse rate was increasing as fear was invading her mind. If she knew her words would cause Garou to react like that, she would have remained silent.