As snowstorms raged over the battlefield, the soldiers of the revolutionary army stationed at the southern gate of the capital quickly fell into despair. The terrifying cold froze those closest to the gate, while the soldiers further back, though not yet frozen, were shivering uncontrollably as the temperature plummeted and fierce winds howled around them. They had no will left to resist.
It was sheer bad luck for the revolutionary soldiers at the southern gate, who had to face Esdeath head-on. Soldiers at the other gates fared better, feeling only a sharp drop in temperature.
While the capital was covered in snow and ice, the Northern Army flung open the gates and charged out from the other two gates. The sudden cold crippled the fighting ability of the revolutionary army, but the Northern Army was unaffected, having long adapted to harsh conditions.
In the original story, the empire fell so quickly, and Esdeath ultimately perished, partly because the Northern Army had not been called back to the capital. If the tens of thousands of cold-hardened Northern troops had been present, the revolutionaries may not have triumphed so easily.
Snap! Snap!
Though the cold had already left the revolutionary army struggling to move, Esdeath didn't stop there. With two snaps of her fingers, two massive ice spheres, each about ten meters in diameter, materialized in the air and were hurled toward the revolutionary army's command center in the rear.
The sudden attack threw the revolutionary officers into a panic, and they scattered in every direction. Unfortunately, none managed to escape the ice spheres' destructive range.
After obliterating the command center, Esdeath stomped the ground, summoning a colossal ice spike that erupted from the ground and surged toward the front lines of the revolutionary army. Esdeath stood atop the spike, laughing wildly as she unleashed her next attack. She slammed her palm into the ground, causing a wave of ice spikes to spread outward in all directions, expanding hundreds of meters and leaving countless revolutionaries dead or wounded.
Esdeath then drew her sword and single-handedly plunged into the revolutionary ranks. With every swing of her blade, she left devastation in her wake, cutting down soldiers by the dozens.
Daniel Davis was unfazed by Esdeath's massacre. This was war—mercy had no place here. The saying "kindness does not rule an army" held true. Sparing enemies during a war, especially considering their casualties, would have been a foolish move.
Bai Qi, the feared general of ancient China, was not executed because he slaughtered 400,000 Zhao soldiers—it was for other political reasons.
"It's time to act." Seeing that Esdeath had things well in hand, Daniel waved his hand, activating the imperial weapon Shangri-La, teleporting instantly to the top of another city gate. Upon landing, he used Shangri-La to target one of the revolutionary divisions outside the city.
Having acquired Shangri-La from Shira, Daniel had spent some time experimenting with its powers. The weapon allowed him to teleport anyone or anything within his line of sight. However, the farther the distance, the more energy it consumed.
What remained uncertain for Daniel was whether Shangri-La would still work once he left this world. Unlike other space-related imperial weapons like Incursio, Grand Chariot, and Yatsufusa, Shangri-La was highly dependent on this world's specific spatial coordinates.
While weapons like Incursio and Grand Chariot could open personal dimensional spaces that could work in any world, Shangri-La relied on fixed spatial markers, which might not function outside this world.
To confirm this theory, Daniel would have to test it after leaving.
Back on the battlefield, a massive yin-yang symbol appeared on the ground, and with it, thousands of revolutionary soldiers vanished. After repeating this several times, tens of thousands of revolutionary troops had disappeared from the battlefield entirely, further demoralizing the already freezing and struggling army.
These vanished soldiers had been teleported deep into the mountain ranges surrounding the capital, where deadly species of Danger Beasts lurked, ensuring their certain death.
The revolutionary army, leaderless and battered by cold, quickly collapsed. The Northern Army refrained from pursuing them, leaving that task to Najenda. Given her influence within the revolutionary ranks and the decimation of their leadership, it was highly likely she would be able to win over many soldiers.
After years of turmoil, the empire's population had dwindled. Wiping out the entire revolutionary army would do more harm than good for the new empire. Without people, there would be no future development.
Like the saying "Though there be only three families in Chu, it will destroy Qin," the Qin dynasty fell largely because its army was weakened by constant war, while Chu had the advantage of a larger population.
"It's your turn now," Daniel said as he returned to the city walls and addressed Najenda, who was ready to lead.
"No problem," Najenda nodded confidently. She left with Brand, Lubbock, and Susanoo. Brand was her bodyguard, Lubbock was in love with her, and Susanoo was her imperial weapon. Naturally, they stayed by her side.
As for Akame, Chelsea, and Leone, they did not make an appearance—they were the shadow side of the revolution, meant to stay out of the public eye.
"I didn't expect you to actually take over the empire," Chelsea remarked as she stood on the city walls, bundled in a thick coat, watching the defeated revolutionary army retreat. She let out a deep sigh.
Both Night Raid and the Jaegers were present on the walls, their numbers now almost equal after Daniel had absorbed the remaining members of the Four Rakshasa Demons into the Jaegers.
Daniel hadn't required the Jaegers to fight. Though they were strong, they would have been insignificant in the scale of a battle involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
In fact, despite the large numbers involved in this war, Daniel found the combat effectiveness of the armies in the Akame ga Kill world to be questionable. From beginning to end, the battle lacked tactics and strategy—it was all about brute force, with no siege weapons or advanced techniques. If such an army were to face the forces from Qin's Moon, it would be no contest.
Even with individuals like Esdeath and General Bude, who could take on entire armies singlehandedly, the Akame ga Kill world lacked the refinement and strategic complexity of a more advanced civilization.
Although the Akame ga Kill world had firearms and missiles, they were not widely used. Meanwhile, the Qin's Moon world boasted weapons like the Hundred-Battle Divine Crossbow, a simplified version of the Jericho missile.
Of course, these were just idle thoughts on Daniel's part. These two worlds would never actually collide.
"I believe I'll do better than they did," Daniel said confidently. Even without much experience in governing, the knowledge he held made it easy for him to improve the empire. Najenda had quickly agreed to join his cause after a discussion about the empire's future, focusing on increasing education and lowering taxes.
There were also numerous technological advancements to be made. In the world of Qin's Moon, Daniel had refrained from pushing things too far, but in this world, it didn't matter as much, as there was already a foundation to build on.
Could you believe it? A world with such powerful imperial weapons and modern firearms, yet the primary mode of transportation was still horse-drawn carriages.
After the battle, the task of rounding up prisoners and stabilizing the empire was left to Najenda, Lan, and a handful of relatively trustworthy imperial officials. Daniel and Esdeath paid no mind to such matters—Esdeath returned to the palace to train, while Daniel, accompanied by Leone, headed to the slums.
Though the capital appeared prosperous, it concealed a filthy, garbage-strewn slum. Most of the people Night Raid had saved were now living there, and Daniel had come to help them.
This time, Daniel used a significant amount of philosopher's stones to heal nearly everyone in the slums. With Leone's assistance, the slum residents finally believed that the new empire would improve their living conditions.
Leone was beloved in the slums. Without her help, forcibly demolishing the slums would have led to violent conflict.
The demolition went smoothly and quickly, largely because Daniel got involved directly. Using alchemy, he demolished the old buildings and then rebuilt new homes according to the city's new plan. The entire process took less than an hour.
If Daniel went into the demolition and construction business, he could easily become a billionaire, but the downside would be putting countless construction workers out of a job. In this case, time was of the essence, so Daniel made an exception.
Only Daniel could pull this off. Even the earth-based alchemists of the Fullmetal Alchemist world would rarely perform such tasks, as it wasn't a practical use of their skills.
"Thank you so much!" Leone was overjoyed to see the slums finally getting the attention they deserved. She hugged Daniel's arm tightly, her ample chest pressing against his arm.
Although they hadn't known each other long, Daniel's approachable nature made Leone feel comfortable around him. She even teased him occasionally.
"This is just the beginning. I've already told you—you'll have to work hard if you want to truly change their lives," Daniel said.
With the revolutionary army defeated and the empire's future secured, Night Raid was to be disbanded. Akame, because of her sister Kurome, had joined the Jaegers. Meanwhile, Mine, Sheele, Leone, and others were planning to return to civilian life.
Daniel wouldn't allow that. After all the work Night Raid had
put in, it would be a waste to walk away now. While Leone and the others were adamant about their decision, Daniel found it easy to convince them otherwise.
Leone was concerned about the slums, so Daniel put her in charge of that problem. The slums' main issue wasn't their filth but the lack of jobs and income. Previously, the empire's oppression had made it impossible for people there to work. But now, with the empire rebuilding, there would be plenty of jobs available.
Leone's role would be to facilitate this transition. In fact, she had done similar work before, though back then, she had used it as a way to scam people—like how she had deceived Tatsumi. Now, she could use her skills for a legitimate purpose.
As for Mine and Sheele, they were assigned to oversee the new orphanages. The transition between old and new regimes had created many orphans who needed care.
"Don't worry, I'll give it my best shot," Leone said. Though she longed for a carefree life, she accepted the responsibility for the sake of the slum dwellers.
Meanwhile, Chelsea had taken up her old profession as a maid—this time as Daniel's personal maid. Though she had initially resisted, she eventually relented, having long harbored a dream of living in luxury.
Daniel shared that mindset—if you earned your position through merit, there was nothing wrong with enjoying the rewards of your labor. Now that peace had been established, Chelsea no longer needed to work as an assassin and could finally live the life she wanted. After all, as Daniel's personal maid, her status would be extremely high.
"Is this it? The Protora Ruins." While the capital and the rest of the empire busied themselves with reconstruction, Daniel traveled to the empire's northwestern region. Comparing his map with the landscape, he finally found a collapsed ruin.
Both Daniel and Esdeath loathed dealing with governmental affairs, so they had passed all such responsibilities to Najenda. Esdeath focused on her training, while Daniel, having learned about the ruins from Akame, Kurome, and Esdeath, decided to investigate.
The ruins were those of the Tomb Keepers, remnants of the ancient Western Kingdom. Before the empire rose to power, the Western Kingdom had been a formidable force.
This particular ruin was the tomb of the Western Kingdom's royal family. It had collapsed due to an invasion by Akame's elite unit years ago. At the time, the empire's finances were dire, so they had looted the tomb for its treasures.
During that mission, both the Enhanced and Elite Units had suffered heavy losses. If Esdeath hadn't provided reinforcements, the empire might not have survived. The collapse of the ruins was largely due to Esdeath's intervention.
Daniel had come here seeking the secrets of the Tomb Keepers, who had the ability to transform their bodies into Danger Beasts—a technique connected to the creation of imperial weapons. Though he had learned much about alchemy from Dotya, Daniel wanted to explore this ancient site for more knowledge.
Snap!
The ruins had crumbled long ago, but that was no obstacle for Daniel. Using his alchemy and the spell Reparo, he restored the ruins.
"Obergrund, the God of Death? I didn't expect to find something like this." As Daniel ventured deeper into the tomb, he found murals detailing the history of the Western Kingdom. The kingdom had worshiped a death god, and Daniel learned that the name "Obergrund" meant "God of Death."
"Finally." In a hidden chamber of the tomb, Daniel found what he had been seeking.
"So, this will be my first time modifying my own body." After extensive research, Daniel decided to inject himself with the blood extracted from Esdeath's imperial weapon, Demon's Extract.
With the power of the Ope Ope no Mi to assist in the procedure, the blood fused with Daniel's body smoothly. Soon, he could feel the power of the imperial weapon flowing through him. However, achieving mastery over its ultimate techniques, like Esdeath's Mahapadma, would take time and development. The similarities between the imperial weapon's abilities and Devil Fruits were undeniable.
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