"For my master, I shall defeat you here," Susanoo spoke as his heavy sword extended. He swung with all his might toward Garou.
Garou tried to block the heavy blow directly with brute force, but he failed to stop the sword and was pushed back a few meters. He was slightly amazed—he had initially thought the increase would be around the same as Koro's. Garou didn't know that Susanoo's trump card required the sacrifice of the owner's life force, which meant it provided a much greater boost.
Although the power and speed boost was greater than Garou had anticipated, it was nowhere near enough to defeat him. He estimated Susanoo's raw strength after the increase to be slightly above Esdeath's, making him the strongest opponent he had faced so far—at least in terms of raw power. As for his skill, Garou hoped Susanoo was more than just muscles. If so, then he might put up as much of a challenge as Esdeath or maybe even more.
When Susanoo pushed Garou back, Sai used the small opportunity to get Leone to Najenda and the rest. He used his water to carry the armless Leone away. Garou saw this happening and ignored it. He had already defeated Leone, so keeping her had no meaning for him. His current target was Susanoo.
Garou dashed toward Susanoo and punched him, but Susanoo used his sword to block the blow. However, it was now his turn to be pushed back—Garou's punch carried more strength than Susanoo's sword strike.
Garou didn't attack again. He looked at Susanoo with his cocky smirk and said, "I hope you still have more to show me. Otherwise, I will finish this now."
Susanoo gritted his teeth and attacked Garou, swinging his sword with all his might, but to his dismay, Garou stood with his arms behind his back, dodging effortlessly. Susanoo used everything he had, but Garou scarcely moved from his spot. Garou, in return, kept casually evading. What was once a cocky smirk was now replaced by a look of utter boredom. It turned out his opponent barely had anything to show him. Susanoo was fast and strong but lacked any real skill or special abilities.
Garou sighed lightly as he dodged again. He had been excited for nothing.
"Guess I'll end this now," Garou said, his gaze becoming sharp as he decided to start his onslaught.
He dashed forward, slamming his fist into Susanoo's chest, blasting him into the rocks while making a massive dent in his torso. Susanoo stood back up with a shocked expression before gritting his teeth and charging at Garou again—only to receive a roundhouse kick to the jaw that sent him flying into the rocks yet again.
"You are just a doll, so no need to show you mercy," Garou said as he walked closer to the damaged Susanoo.
Susanoo stood with difficulty and attacked again, but this time, Garou delivered a series of lightning-fast strikes at full power, shattering Susanoo's body into small fragments, destroying it permanently.
The assassins who had gathered on top of the beast looked horrified. Susanoo might have been a Teigu, but they had treated him and felt for him as if he were one of their own—a comrade and a friend.
As for Garou, he turned to look at them and smirked. "Sorry, I broke your toy. I'll make it up to you by breaking you as well," he said.
His words enraged the assassins, but there was nothing they could do against him. They had to retreat immediately, or else their fate would be the same.
Sai, who was making his way toward them, stopped in his tracks. His leg was broken, and he was moving slowly. He knew he had no way to outrun Garou.
He looked at his comrades and said, "Leave now! I will buy you some time!" Then, he turned around to face Garou.
Tatsumi and Akame were about to jump in and join him, but Najenda stopped them. She made the beast start flying as she said, "His leg is injured and he has no way to escape, so he chose to stay and buy us time. We can't let his sacrifice go in vain."
The assassins reluctantly stopped and watched sorrowfully as Sai faced Garou alone. On the other hand, Garou whistled and said, "Color me impressed. I didn't see this one coming, considering how useless you are."
Sai looked coldly at Garou and replied, "Regardless of what you think of us, the moment we walked this path, we prepared to suffer hardships and even die for our cause. We are ready to sacrifice. What about you? Do you think yourself great? Maybe some mighty hero? You have all this strength, yet you don't do anything to change the unfairness in this world. People like you are the worst. You are just a monster. In the end, the likes of you will be crushed."
Garou's smirk remained unfazed as he looked disdainfully at Sai. He didn't want to waste more time on this, so he decided to finish Sai and then catch the silver-haired bitch.
Garou's body dashed toward Sai at such great speeds that he appeared as if he had teleported. In an instant, he stood right before him. Sai's face held the same determined expression, not faltering in front of Garou. Garou was slightly impressed, so he said, "Any last words?"
"Yeah, just this." Sai gave a weak, helpless smile, then it twisted into a mad grin. "GOT YOU!"
To Garou's surprise, Sai's veins exploded, and needles made of blood shot out of his body, aiming for Garou. Garou effortlessly blocked the needles—except for one that managed to graze his cheek. He then looked at Sai's body, which now lay lifeless.
Sai was the first one to damage him after Esdeath. He had to admit, the man's resolve was admirable. Garou even felt a little pity for the poor fool—he had essentially committed suicide.
"It doesn't matter what world I'm in. The system is the same. The dependency and blindness are just the same," Garou mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the sound of a bullet being fired resounded in his ear. Garou looked toward the assassins and saw that Mine had just fired her rifle, but it was not aimed at him. He was confused for a moment.
He had been so focused on Sai and his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed Najenda giving the order for Mine to shoot. Najenda knew Sai had no hope of survival today, but they still had one last shot at taking down Garou. It was Bols' Teigu. She had forced Mine to fire at it, regardless of what was going to happen to Sai—or to Gato, who lay unconscious among the rocks.
Garou watched as the energy beam traveled to a spot relatively far from him. He traced its trajectory and narrowed his eyes. He saw Bols' Teigu there and instantly understood what the assassins were trying to do. Snorting, he looked back at them.
The next instant, the energy bullet hit the Teigu, unleashing a blinding light followed by a terrifying explosion. The blast was so powerful that the flying beast, which was over a hundred meters away, lost its balance momentarily before stabilizing. In fact, the booming sound and the explosion itself could be seen and heard from miles away.
"Did he die?" Tatsumi asked.
The rest didn't answer him. They stared at the destruction, covered by endless flames and smoke. Moments later, Leone spoke.
"I refuse to believe that any person could survive an explosion like that, right in the face. We should celebrate this."
The rest turned to look at her, but Akame spoke with a grieving tone.
"Sai, Gato, Kenshi, and Susanoo all died for this. Can we really celebrate?"
Leone lowered her head, while the assassins remained silent. Many of their friends had died today. They might have been prepared for death, but watching their comrades die in front of them still hurt all the same.
As the assassins were grieving, the sound of something slicing through the air suddenly resounded in their ears. All of them immediately turned—only to see Gato's axe flying toward Mine.
Before anyone could react, the axe struck Mine's gun, slicing it in half, then continued toward her shoulder—severing her arm in the process.
Mine screamed in pain, tears filling her eyes as she collapsed to her knees.
"MINE!!!" Akame, Leone, and Tatsumi all shouted at the same time.
Before they could move closer to her or even process what had just happened, the sound of a dull thud came from nearby.
The three turned toward their boss—and their shock only deepened.
Najenda was lying on her back, the axe embedded in the middle of her chest.
As Akame and Tatsumi stared dumbly at their injured comrades, Leone turned back toward the explosion site. Her shock quickly morphed into sheer horror.
"NO! NO!! HE'S A MONSTER!" Leone shrieked in terror.
Tatsumi, Akame, and Mine—who was still writhing in pain—looked in the same direction. Their faces paled.
A black shadow emerged from within the flames.
As the figure stepped forward, the shadow cleared, revealing Garou. Most of his clothes were burned, soot covered his body, but there were no visible injuries.
The beast carrying the injured assassins flew away, taking them to safety. Garou simply stood there, staring. He didn't try to pursue them or stop them—despite being more than capable of doing so. He had already crushed them completely. Chasing them further was meaningless.
On top of the beast, Leone stared at Garou for some time before looking back toward Mine, who was being treated by Tatsumi, and Najenda, who was being tended to by Akame.
With a voice filled with despair, coughing up blood as she spoke, Najenda murmured, "He said... he would make… m-my body a sheath... for that axe, and he... did it... He truly is a mon...ster. How are we sup...posed to b...eat him? Can we... even... do that?"
With that, Najenda slipped into unconsciousness.
The remaining assassins had no answer. She had voiced the same questions that burdened their own hearts and minds.
In this mission, Night Raid had utterly failed.
They had lost four comrades, including Susanoo. They had also lost four Teigus—excluding Susanoo—and three of their members were heavily injured, if not crippled. Today, they had lost more than half of their total combat force. There was no guarantee Najenda would even survive her injuries.
On the other hand, the Jaegers had lost only one Teigu.