One hour later.
The war conference room in the capital's administrative center was packed.
Shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, Spirits, Universal Angels, Tohru, and others had gathered.
Scenes like this only occurred when a world-scale invasion was about to be launched.
"This time, our target world is Akame ga Kill," Setsuna began from the stage.
"Unlike previous conquests, this time we will declare full-scale war and completely subjugate the Akame ga Kill world."
"Ohhh?!"
The shipgirls and Heroic Spirits burst into excited chatter.
In past conquests, Setsuna always set specific goals for each mission.
Sometimes it was to retrieve shipgirls, sometimes to bring back universal angels and advanced tech, or to rescue lolis, and so on.
Occasionally they'd conquer a world on the side—but usually those worlds had no supernatural powers, like the Nekopara World, Demon Slayer World, or Azure Lane after the Sea Fog fleet was gone.
Just arriving with the fleet was enough to scare the natives into surrender.
But an official declaration of war between worlds? That was a first.
"Will it be dangerous...?"
Yoshino timidly raised her hand.
"Not at all. They don't have any god-level threats, and their tech and magic are far behind ours."
Setsuna smiled and signaled to Richelieu.
"Richelieu."
She projected some video clips from the Akame ga Kill world onto the screen, and shipgirls distributed several pages of briefing documents.
"Here's some intel on the Akame ga Kill world. Please read through it."
The secretary ship had prepared very detailed information.
It included the major powers, basic tech level, supernatural elements, and key figures of interest.
They also supplemented with anime episodes imported from other worlds—a rewatch session, essentially.
Previously, when watching Heaven's Lost Property, many shipgirls blushed furiously and called the world indecent.
But while watching Akame, their brows only furrowed deeper.
"There are way too many girls dying in this show!"
Since the world revolved around love and death, it wasn't called "ga Kill!" for nothing.
Whether good or evil, a girl died every few episodes—it was pure edge.
The plot itself wasn't complicated.
A grand empire had fallen into corruption due to a young emperor and a manipulative minister.
The people, crushed under tyranny, formed a rebel force to overthrow the regime and establish the Revolutionary Army.
The protagonist group belonged to an elite assassination unit under the revolution—Night Raid.
Their goal was to eliminate the corrupt elite and gather scattered Teigu.
The two factions clashed, and after massive sacrifices, they finally managed to topple the emperor and his minister.
"The Akame ga Kill world's tech level is around WWI. They have no space combat capability, and their magic is far inferior to Spirits, dragons, or most Chaldea Heroic Spirits."
"Their power lies in Teigu and Shingu—special weapons forged through ancient techniques."
"Some of the strongest might rival Anti-Nation or Anti-City Noble Phantasms, but overall their performance isn't that high."
Richelieu's quick summary had already classified the Akame ga Kill world's combat level.
WWI-level natives had no way of matching up to starship-level shipgirls. Without anti-ship capabilities, even the strongest warrior was a lamb to the slaughter.
The Heroic Spirits, on the other hand, were eager to test their Noble Phantasms against Teigu.
"Commander! Let us lead the charge this time, please!"
Jeanne Alter immediately raised her hand.
"If you go over there in the Eternal Snowfall and fire one shot to level the continent, what's the point of us coming?!"
"Sure."
Setsuna nodded with a smile.
"This whole thing is mainly to give you all some action and test out the Interdimensional Warfare authority."
The Heroic Spirits had been cooped up at the base living day-to-day lives. The only way to spar was with each other.
Even the King of Knights had grown restless. Everyone needed new opponents.
"According to the Commander, there are two ways to win an Interdimensional Warfare—either annihilate the enemy or force them to surrender..."
Richelieu looked toward Setsuna.
"Commander, do you think that world has any value worth preserving?"
"A little, but not much. It's good for making them pay tribute."
Setsuna thought it over.
The common folk of Akame's world weren't particularly evil—not like the scumbags in the Black Bullet world.
Making them pay tribute seemed just right.
And honestly, more than the bizarre Teigu, he was more interested in the Danger Beasts and orichalcum used to forge them.
Those were native to the Akame ga Kill world.
If they could reverse-engineer the forging process, it might be possible to mass-produce Noble Phantasms without side effects.
The current research and manufacturing power in the capital was leagues ahead of anything in Akame's world.
If the first emperor could get top artisans to create the Teigu, then Setsuna could have the Bulins replicate them flawlessly.
Better yet—have the loli scientists improve on them.
As for orichalcum and Danger Beasts not existing on Earth?
Please—if they could analyze the molecular structure, the Bulins could synthesize it artificially. Danger Beasts could be recreated with biotech.
"Alright then, we just need to crush all resistance."
Richelieu projected a map of the Akame ga Kill world onto the screen.
"As for national divisions, the main forces include the Empire, southern island states, northern tribes, and western kingdoms."
"Primary target is the Empire. Other nations will be subdued by small task forces of Spirits or shipgirls."
"Also, when encountering the following individuals, be sure to hold back—we want them alive. The Commander wants to bring them back."
She brought up a list with pictures: Akame, Sheele, Mine, Chelsea, Leone, and others.
"You really get me."
Setsuna gave her an approving glance, the two clearly in sync.
Richelieu knew he intended to recruit those girls—but as his oath-bound ship, she wasn't bothered.
What were a few extra girls? They'd just be side characters.
She was the first, the secretary, and the undisputed winner of life—helping her Commander bag a few more was no big deal.
"Eh? Master, you're collecting girls again?!"
Gudako dragged out the question.
"Duh. What, you think I'm going to a world called Akame ga Kill to kill girls?"
Setsuna gave her a look.
"Wait, Commander—what about Esdeath? She's supposed to be the strongest in that world, right?"
Jeanne Alter raised her hand.
She was fascinated by this woman who supposedly required 50,000 soldiers and 10 Teigu users to defeat.
"I want to be the vanguard! Let me fight her!"
"..."
"You'll lose."
Setsuna didn't even look up.
He'd noticed this Chaos-aligned Heroic Spirit had a strong fighting streak. Last time they went to the Dragon Maid world, she wanted to duel the dragon girls.
Thankfully, Lucoa was chill—otherwise, Jeanne would've gotten flattened.
"Let me at least spar her, Master! What if I swear an oath? If I lose... then..."
Jeanne Alter was searching for words.
Suddenly, Gudako piped up:
"If you lose, you become Master's plushie?"
As she said this, she somehow pulled out a signed oath form:
[ I, Jeanne d'Arc, hereby challenge Esdeath. If defeated, I willingly become Master's starfury and plushie, subject to his every whim. ]
[Signature] [Fingerprint]
"??!"
"What the heck is this?!"
Jeanne Alter stared at Gudako, who had already filled in her name—only the fingerprint was missing.
"If you lose, it would damage the reputation of Chaldea and the Starsea Alliance... Isn't punishment only fair?"
Gudako patted Jeanne on the shoulder.
"I figure Master wouldn't have the heart to make you commit seppuku, so we're going with a more gentle form of atonement."
"How is this gentle?!"
A bit farther away, Kisara Tendo, the Butterfly Sisters, and a few of the base's remaining regular humans were trembling in fear.
They'd originally considered volunteering to get some real combat training...
But now they realized—if you lose, you get locked up by the Commander and subjected to hehehe-type punishments?!
What kind of terrifying rules were these?
"..."
Jeanne Alter hesitated.
She looked at Setsuna, then glanced at the watching Chaldean Heroic Spirits.
If she backed down now, she'd look like a big talker with no bite.
She despised weakness—even more so in herself.
After a moment's thought, she gritted her teeth and agreed.
She pressed her fingerprint on the contract.
"Master, if I lose, do whatever you want. But if I win...?"
"Name your terms."
Setsuna chuckled.
"Hmm..."
Jeanne Alter thought for a moment.
"I want to be the leader of the Heroic Spirit squad. And you have to admit you were wrong."
"Deal."
Setsuna agreed with a smile.
A very on-brand request for Jeanne Alter.
If she won, he'd get another plushie. If she lost, he'd still get one.
A win-win either way.
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