73. Journey Again(6)

The battlefield was still. The Spider Tyrant's corpse loomed like a toppled fortress, its black blood seeping into the cracked earth. Smoke drifted in thin, lazy curls from the smoldering webs Lucas had destroyed.

Akame dropped to her knees beside Lucas, her body screaming in protest. Every muscle was torn, every bone felt bruised, and the gash on her side hadn't stopped bleeding. But none of that mattered.

Lucas sat slumped against a wall, his sleeve burned to cinders, the skin beneath blistered and raw. He stared at his arm like it wasn't even his, like he was just now realizing the pain.

"Lucas…" Akame's voice was soft, almost trembling. She reached out, her blood-stained fingers brushing his wrist.

He flinched but didn't pull away. "It's fine. Just a burn. I've had worse."

"Don't lie to me." Her tone was sharper now, but her eyes—dark and glistening—betrayed something fragile. She ripped a strip from what was left of her tattered dress and began wrapping his arm. Her hands were clumsy; she was shaking too much.

Lucas watched her silently. He saw the blood running from her side, soaking her clothes, and frowned. "You should be taking care of yourself first, Akame. You're worse off than me."

She didn't answer. She tightened the bandage around his arm until he winced.

"Akame."

Finally, she stopped. Her hands stayed on his arm, her gaze lowered. For a long moment, she didn't move. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible.

"I don't… I don't think I can keep doing this."

Lucas's brows furrowed. "What are you saying?"

Her lips trembled, but she forced the words out. "We keep fighting. We keep surviving. But it's been eight months, Lucas. Eight months since Murphy vanished. And every day, it feels like he's slipping further away. Like…" She swallowed hard. "Like he's already gone, and I'm just too stubborn to accept it."

Lucas looked at her, really looked at her—at the cracks forming beneath her fierce exterior, at the tears glistening on her bloodied face.

"You don't believe that," he said finally, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it.

"I do," she whispered. "Because… if I don't believe that, then I'll lose myself. I can't—" Her voice broke. She leaned forward, her forehead pressing against his shoulder. "I can't keep waking up every day thinking he's out there and that maybe I just wasn't strong enough to find him. I can't live like that."

Lucas didn't speak. He didn't know what to say. He just lifted his uninjured arm and placed it around her back, holding her as tightly as he could despite the pain.

For a long while, neither of them moved.

Elizabeth stirred.

A faint groan escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered open. She saw them—Akame trembling in Lucas's arms, her face streaked with tears. For once, Elizabeth's eyes softened. Her usual coldness gave way to something fragile, almost guilty.

"Akame…" she murmured, but the name died on her tongue.

Elizabeth pushed herself up, her body still aching from the fusion with her serpent. Her scales shimmered faintly before retreating under her skin, leaving behind pale scars that traced her arms like glowing veins. She looked at Akame and Lucas—two bloodied figures huddled together amidst the wreckage.

For a heartbeat, she just stood there, silent. Her usual sharp gaze softened as something heavy settled in her chest. They're both falling apart, she realized.

"Akame," she said, her voice quieter than usual, almost hesitant.

Akame slowly lifted her head from Lucas's shoulder, her face streaked with blood and tears. She tried to muster her usual fire, but her voice cracked. "What?"

Elizabeth's lips pressed into a thin line. "You're not the only one who's… tired of this."

Akame stared at her. The silence stretched.

"Do you know," Elizabeth continued, "how many times I've woken up thinking I was choking on that thing's blood? Or dreaming of Murphy's last words before he disappeared? Every time I kill something, I think I'm doing what he'd want me to do. But the truth is…" She hesitated, her voice trembling. "I don't even know anymore if I'm fighting for him—or just because I hate everything too much to stop."

Lucas glanced at her, his expression unreadable. "Elizabeth—"

"I'm scared, Lucas." The words tumbled out raw, unpolished, like she had never allowed herself to say them before. "I'm scared I'm turning into the monsters we're fighting. I can feel it. Every time I heal myself with this… cursed attribute, every time I taste their blood, I can feel something slipping. Something I won't get back."

Akame's breath caught. She had never heard Elizabeth speak like this. Elizabeth had always been the one who smiled the brightest, who smiled even when her world was falling apart. Seeing her like this felt like the ground itself had cracked.

"Elizabeth…" Akame whispered.

Elizabeth's gaze flicked to her, and for the first time, the coldness in her eyes shattered. There was pain there. And fear.

"I envy you," Elizabeth admitted, her voice shaking. "Both of you. You still have hope that Murphy's alive. I've been too much of a coward to hope. Because if I hope and I'm wrong…" She laughed bitterly. "I don't think I'll survive it."

The weight of her words crushed the silence between them.

Lucas, still leaning against the wall, exhaled slowly. His burned arm throbbed, but he didn't flinch. "Maybe I'm an idiot. Maybe I'm clinging to something that's already gone. But if I let go of that hope, then what the hell are we even doing here?"

Akame's lips trembled. "You think I want to keep believing? Every day, it hurts. Every time I kill, I wonder if Murphy would even recognize me anymore." She lowered her head, whispering, "I'm scared of what I'm becoming too."

Elizabeth stepped closer, her shadow falling over the both of them. For a moment, none of them spoke.

Then—Elizabeth crouched down, and without warning, pulled Akame into a rough embrace. Lucas blinked, startled, as Elizabeth's hand gripped Akame's blood-streaked hair.

"You're not alone," Elizabeth said, her voice cracking. "Neither of you are. If we're falling apart, we'll do it together. If we're monsters, we'll still find Murphy. And if the world doesn't like that, we'll cut it down too."

Akame froze, tears spilling freely now, before she buried her face in Elizabeth's shoulder. Lucas's eyes softened, and for the first time in months, he almost smiled.