Chapter 39 : Dance in the Snake's Nest

My words hung in the cold air of the warehouse, heavy with foreboding. "She's… she's on the roof. She's above us."

Ryukyu's reaction was instantaneous. She showed no panic; she was the embodiment of a professional's calm under pressure. "Nejire, protect Tatsumi! Position yourself between him and the ceiling!" she commanded in a sharp, low voice into her communicator. "Outside teams, Alpha and Bravo, surround the Main Warehouse! Target is on the roof. Do not engage, just contain her there!"

Nejire moved in a flash, floating into the air above me, her hands already beginning to glow with her signature spiral energy. She became my human shield. I myself instinctively looked up, trying to pierce the darkness above us with my eyes, searching for any sign of movement among the rusty steel beams. The air felt heavy, filled with a threatening silence. We knew she was there. And she knew that we knew. This was no longer reconnaissance; it was a tense standoff.

The silence was broken, not by an explosion or a shout, but by the clean sound of tearing metal.

Directly above the center of the room, the corrugated metal roof of the warehouse split apart, cut with impossible precision as if someone had just opened a giant can of sardines. Without a sound, a shadow dropped from the newly made hole, landing lightly on the dusty concrete floor in the middle of us. Dust billowed around her feet, and as it settled, she stood there.

Akame.

She looked smaller in person than I had imagined, but her presence filled the entire room. She wore the same practical black combat gear, and the long sword on her back seemed to radiate a faint, cold aura. She stood calmly, her posture relaxed yet ready, like a predatory cat observing its prey. But the most frightening thing was her eyes. Her red eyes weren't looking at Ryukyu, the No. 10 Pro Hero. They didn't glance at Nejire, one of U.A.'s Big Three, floating in the air. Her eyes were locked directly on me.

In her gaze, I saw none of the hatred or murderous intent I was used to seeing in villains. I saw something else, something far more complicated: confusion, wariness, and beneath it all, a flicker of recognition that made my blood freeze. She wasn't here for the fake target we had set up. She was here for me. The resonance we had felt last night had led her directly to its source.

"You've made a big mistake coming here, killer," Ryukyu said, her calm voice breaking the tension. She stepped forward, placing herself between Akame and me. "Surrender. You're surrounded."

Akame didn't respond. She didn't even glance at Ryukyu. Her gaze remained fixed on me. Then, she moved.

She moved with an absurd speed. It wasn't a speed Quirk like Iida's. It was perfect efficiency of movement, a pure burst of velocity born from unimaginable training. She shot forward, not at Ryukyu, but directly at me.

"You're not touching him!" Nejire roared from above.

A massive wave of blue spiral energy shot from Nejire's hands, slamming into the floor where Akame had been milliseconds ago. Akame had already dodged it, veering in mid-air with a gravity-defying acrobatic flip, using one of the warehouse's support pillars as a foothold to launch herself at me again from a different angle.

The battle began, a deadly dance between light and shadow. Nejire constantly fired waves of energy, trying to trap or hit Akame. Each attack was powerful enough to shatter concrete, but Akame was always one step ahead. She was never in one place for more than a split second. She used every corner and shadow in the warehouse to her advantage, running along walls, leaping between the rafters in the ceiling, her movements so fluid and silent that she was more like a ghost than a human.

I stood behind Ryukyu, forced to be a spectator. I could see clearly that Akame wasn't really trying to fight Nejire. She was just dodging, looking for an opening, her red eyes never leaving me. Every one of her movements was designed to bring her closer to me. In my chest, Incursio churned, its heartbeat accelerating, sensing the presence of the cursed sword. I had to fight to hold back the wave of heat that threatened to erupt from my body.

"She's too fast!" Nejire exclaimed, a little frustrated as another of her attacks hit empty air.

"She's not trying to fight you, Nejire!" Ryukyu yelled. "She's just stalling for time and looking for an opening! Stay on her!"

That's when Akame saw it. An opening. Just after Nejire unleashed a large blast that forced her to recharge for a moment, Akame feinted to the left, then with lightning speed, she darted to the right. She threw a handful of small metal objects at Ryukyu—not deadly weapons, but senbon or thin needles, just enough to be a momentary distraction. As Ryukyu raised her arm to parry the needles, Akame used that opportunity to break through the defensive line and shoot straight for me.

Time seemed to slow down. I saw her coming, her sword still on her back, but her intent was clear. She wanted to capture me, to find out my secret.

"GET AWAY FROM THE KID!"

A roar that was no longer human echoed through the warehouse. Ryukyu, seeing me in direct danger, was no longer holding back. Her body exploded in a tremendous transformation. I felt a wave of air pressure as her body grew at an unnatural speed. Her skin hardened into thick, dark blue scales, massive wings tore through the back of her clothes, and her head elongated into the majestic snout of a dragon. In seconds, the Pro Hero Ryukyu was gone, replaced by a giant western dragon whose size nearly filled the entire warehouse, its roar shaking the building's foundations.

Even Akame, with her inhuman composure, was forced to leap back, landing on a stack of shipping containers to avoid the sheer size and power of the transformation. For the first time, I saw a flicker of awe in her eyes as she looked at the giant dragon before her.

The chaos of Ryukyu's transformation provided the opening Akame needed. While Ryukyu was still adjusting to her massive form in the cramped room, Akame saw that I was now isolated. With one last powerful leap from the containers, she shot toward me again, this time with even greater speed. This time, her hand was already moving to the hilt of her sword.

There was no time. No room to dodge. Ryukyu was too big to maneuver quickly, and Nejire was too far to intercept. It was all up to me.

I no longer thought. I no longer asked or negotiated. I just reacted. All my fear, my determination, and my survival instinct merged into a single command that echoed in my soul.

'FULL DEFENSE!'

With a suppressed roar of pain, I felt Incursio explode from within me. No longer partial. This was a tidal wave. Gauntlets, leg guards, chest plate, shoulder pauldrons, and finally, the cold draconic helmet formed, encasing my entire body in one agonizing split second. The red gem on my chest glowed with a threatening light.

I raised my arms just in time.

Akame had drawn her sword. Murasame. Its cursed black blade slashed toward me, leaving a faint purple trail in the air. The attack that should have ended the life of anything it touched.

CLANG!

A deafening sound of metal filled the warehouse. A sound that should have been impossible. Akame's sword didn't cut through my armor. It stopped, held by Incursio's chest plate. At the point of impact, sparks of purple and black erupted violently. I was driven back by the force of her strike, but I was still standing. The armor had withstood the one-cut-kill curse.

I looked down, and Akame looked up. My helmet was just inches from her face. Through my draconic visor, I could see her ruby eyes widen in pure shock. Total confusion was painted across her usually expressionless face. She didn't understand. She had just attacked with the deadliest Teigu ever created, and her opponent was still alive. Her silent question seemed to hang in the air between us: 'Who are you?'