__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But Esdeath still wouldn't give up.
[Ice Witch: "What if I flat-out refuse the throne? They wouldn't dare move against me!"]
[Shepherd: "That makes it easier. So many soldiers under you want you to be emperor. Word would leak. Maybe Ernest and the others wouldn't dare touch you, but they could execute your subordinates for treason. How would you get out of that?"]
[Blizzard of Hell: "If you don't protect your men you lose their loyalty. If you do protect them you're tolerating rebellion. No win."]
[Ice Witch: "Are you some kind of demon?!"]
[Shut-in-Angel: "I didn't think so before, but hearing him talk like this… Rosen really does sound like a demon!"]
[Old Mage: "In some ways, he's worse than the demon clan."]
[Bad Woman: "A general only has to think about fighting. Politicians have to think about everything."]
[Shepherd: "@Shut-in-Angel, @Old Mage, which side are you two on?"]
[Shut-in-Angel: "We're on your side, but that doesn't mean we don't think you're demonic."]
[Old Mage: "Exactly. That's why I avoid dealing with politicians."]
[Shepherd: "Time to send a mission through the chat group."]
[Group Message: Detected that member "Ice Witch" will face a crisis in the future. Group commission issued.]
[Mission Brief: Due to a mistake by group member Shut-in-Angel, the world of group member Ice Witch will undergo drastic change. The current fate line will be erased. In the future, the young imperial heir will be misled by Minister Ernest, become suspicious, and trigger a new war...]
[Mission Objective: Support group member "Ice Witch" in overthrowing the current imperial government and becoming the new Empress.]
[Mission Reward: 10,000 points on success.]
[Optional Task: Ensure survival of members from the assassin organization Night Raid. +1,000 points per survivor; no penalty on failure.]
[Hint: Current alive Night Raid members = seven. If all members die, the optional task becomes invalid.]
[Shut-in-Angel: "666, no point acting anymore."]
[Shut-in-Angel: "This chat group really must be run by your family. You finish speaking and the mission pops up?"]
[Blizzard of Hell: "Whether Rosen runs it or not, this task is one a newcomer can't refuse."]
[Old Mage: "Group missions don't lie."]
[Goddess of the Moon: "True. Miss Frieren wouldn't lie."]
[I don't want to eat monsters: "If we ignore it, the future will surely go the way Rosen described."]
Esdeath fell silent reading the long mission notice.
She had seen the chat group's weirdness before, so she had no doubts.
That meant the future really could include her subordinates crowning her, and Minister Ernest whispering poison into the young emperor's ear.
If that happened…
She would be in an impossible spot.
With her personality, she couldn't bow to Ernest and the emperor. Her soldiers would rally around her and clash with other imperial forces.
Whoever won would become the new emperor.
If that was the case…
Her only option would be to strike first.
Esdeath hated that thought.
She felt like her fate had been arranged by that man, by the chat group.
Every time she let that sink in, she grew angrier and more restless.
Her way of dealing with frustration was fighting.
[Ice Witch: "If you want to come over, don't you need my permission first?"]
[Shut-in-Angel: "Exactly. Do you think that's why we were preaching to you so hard?"]
[Shut-in-Angel: "If we could just jump over there, we wouldn't be saying so many words."]
If they could freely travel between worlds, they would all go together and erase Ernest and his people.
Although Ernest hid in the palace with heavy guard, the power level of the Akame world wasn't actually that high.
Truly exceptional fighters were only Esdeath and the Guardian God of the nation.
The other Imperial Arms wielders were just a handful of big and small cats.
Akame was strong, but she was in Night Raid; if they went in and explained the situation there'd be no need to fight her.
[Ice Witch: "I admit you have tricks, but that alone won't convince me."]
[Ice Witch: "Revolutions require blood. If you don't have the strength, you can't do anything. If one of you can beat me in a straight fight, I'll agree."]
[I don't want to eat monsters: "After everything that's been said, we still have to fight?"]
[Ice Witch: "I can't accept your word alone. Then we'll settle it my way. If you lose, there's nothing to discuss."]
[Old Mage: "So it comes down to a fight. Who's going?"]
[Blizzard of Hell: "The newbie's strength is pretty impressive."]
From watching the anime they knew Esdeath was the empire's top general.
She could freeze an army of a hundred thousand in a heartbeat.
She could also stop time.
In the show Esdeath learned time-stop to prevent the hero from escaping; here she claimed the current Esdeath had nothing to do with that original hero, but she still knew how to stop time.
And in the anime she learned that skill pretty quickly, from nothing to mastery.
With the anime as a guide, she'd probably already learned it.
Even proud Blizzard couldn't promise she could beat Esdeath.
Figuring out how to counter time-stop was its own problem.
[I don't want to eat monsters: "I'm even worse off."]
Based solely on Esdeath's on-screen power, she could probably one-shot them.
[Shut-in-Angel: "Then it's me to the rescue... my best friend Rosen makes his entrance!"]
[Shut-in-Angel: "So it's decided: you go. Go, Rosen Beast!"]
[Shepherd: "?"]
[Shepherd: "Don't sleep too hard tonight."]
"..."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________