The additional condition of snacks was, of course, just a catalyst. While Kurome had some flaws in her personality, her integrity and loyalty were still intact.
The primary reason she chose to leave the Empire and follow Wood was mostly due to Wood's earlier words.
That's right. The Kurome who belonged to the Empire's assassination unit had died in the previous battle. The life she had now was saved at the immense cost of Wood's own energy.
Now, she had been reborn and should be freed from the Empire's control.
As for the past grievances, Kurome no longer wanted to dwell on them. Now, all she wanted was to repay Wood for his previous kindness and return the favor for the price he paid to save her.
The reason Kurome had hesitated and remained silent earlier was because Wood and her sister, Akame, were comrades. Kurome didn't know how to face Akame if they met again.
However, her contemplation, to Wood and the others, had seemed like hesitation and indecisiveness. When Kurome finally made up her mind, she suddenly heard the additional conditions that Wood had set.
As a seasoned food lover, how could she turn down the offer of food that came to her door? So, Kurome readily agreed to Wood's proposal, even stressing that Wood should not regret it!
"Well then, young man, what is your decision? Will you betray us here, or will you be taken down here?"
Run had joined the Jaegers to collect intelligence and avenge his students.
Chelsea, meanwhile, had found information about the Wild Hounds in a noble's household during her intelligence gathering on the Jaegers. That was why she had made a deal with Run, agreeing to stop helping the Empire fight the Revolutionary Army, while Chelsea would provide Run with the information she knew.
The original trio was now split. Run had decided not to continue assisting the Empire's oppressive actions, while Kurome had more decisively become Wood's follower. Now only Wave remained, looking awkward.
Hearing Wood, who was younger than him, but still calling him "young man," Wave felt embarrassed.
Although his confidence was strong, he had firmly declared that he wouldn't betray the Empire, and now suddenly choosing to defect seemed to go against his integrity...
He wasn't like Kurome, who had been saved by Wood, and unlike Kurome, Wave still had a certain sense of belonging to the Empire, having once been part of the Imperial Navy.
"Um... about this matter, could I return and discuss it with General Esdeath before making a decision?"
Seeing Wood, Mine, and... Kurome, closing in on him, Wave awkwardly asked.
"Kurome-chan, your first mission is here. Capture this guy alive. As for what to do with him, we'll decide later."
Upon hearing Wood's command, Kurome sighed with relief. If Wood had ordered her to kill Wave, like the Empire would have, Kurome wouldn't have known how to choose.
Just like Wave had protected her earlier, Kurome also considered Wave an important comrade. If possible, she didn't want to harm him.
But as a soldier, she believed orders came above all else. If Wood had forced her to kill Wave, she probably would have followed through, but she would likely have turned Wave into a Dead Soldier's Army puppet, keeping him by her side forever.
Fortunately, Wood was fundamentally different from the Empire. He had gone through great lengths to save Kurome, and he wouldn't turn her into a killing machine again. Otherwise, what was the difference between him and the Empire?
"Wave, don't struggle. After all, you're so weak. If you resist and I accidentally kill you, you'll just become another puppet in Dead Soldier's Army."
Looking at Kurome, holding Dead Soldier's Army while steadily approaching, Wave's face grew darker.
He wanted to turn and escape, but Wood and Mine had already appeared behind him without him noticing.
"Kurome-chan, calm down. We're teammates. Even if you betrayed us, you shouldn't be this decisive about it."
"Don't you think you should show some mercy and let me go? After all, we've known each other for a long time, right?"
Wave, noticing how much more emotional Kurome seemed than before, was both happy for the girl but also felt how dire his situation was.
"Tch, just former teammates. Now, I'm nothing more than Wood-sama's sword."
"And this is Wood-sama's first order. If I don't do it well, he might think I'm useless."
There was no doubt that Wave was captured in the end. Wood and the others didn't even have to act. With the help of Kurome and the two Dead Soldier's Army puppets, Natara and Hunter, they easily subdued the already exhausted Wave.
Having been pulled back from the brink of death, Kurome, now freed from the Empire's drug-induced side effects, was more agile and quick. However, her previously absurd vitality was now gone.
But the girl didn't mind at all and remarked that she now felt quite light.
The battle between Wave and Kurome didn't have the intention of killing either side, and with Wave realizing escape was hopeless, he quickly became Kurome's defeated opponent.
Meanwhile, while Wood's team emerged victorious, cutting through the Empire's encirclement and successfully breaking out, Akame and her team encountered serious problems.
They had originally planned to take action against Kurome and the others tonight, but things had changed unexpectedly.
Esdeath, enraged, had used the list of Revolutionary Army leaders provided by the minister to begin a large-scale assassination operation.
Compared to the usual assassination methods of Night Raid, which used the cover of night, Esdeath's "assassination" method was far more direct.
She didn't bother hiding or following any plans. Instead, she marched straight into the enemy's house during the day and easily massacred an entire Revolutionary Army leader's family before leaving without a care.
Unlike Night Raid, which would take cautious steps and rest between strikes, Esdeath would immediately move on to the next target after killing one.
Her reckless, swaggering "assassinations" enraged the entire Revolutionary Army, which dispatched forces to ambush her.
However, the result was that the Revolutionary Army leaders she was supposed to protect were still killed, and the soldiers who came to ambush her were all turned into ice statues!
Esdeath, although alone, was so powerful that her secret technique, Ice Storm General, could summon an army of ice cavalry in an instant, making her combat prowess far exceed that of the Empire's elite forces.
Previously, the Revolutionary Army's high-ranking officials had only heard rumors of Esdeath's terror from Najenda, and their understanding of her was based on incomplete intelligence. Many of them had dismissed her as an exaggeration.
This greatly exaggerated her power to highlight Najenda and Night Raid's achievements.
When Esdeath finally arrived at the Revolutionary Army's doorstep, the high-ranking members of the army finally realized that Najenda hadn't been exaggerating when she warned them about Esdeath's strength. In fact, she had even underestimated it.
This was not the kind of opponent that could be dealt with by 50,000 elite soldiers and 10 Imperial Arms wielders. To set up an ambush against Esdeath, the Revolutionary Army had sent three Imperial Arms wielders and 100,000 soldiers.
However, within just a few dozen minutes, those three Imperial Arms wielders were turned into ice sculptures, and the 100,000 soldiers were either killed by ice cavalry or scattered into ice shards.
(In the original story, during the final battle in the Imperial Capital, Esdeath single-handedly fought against over ten Imperial Arms wielders and a million-strong army, and even had enough energy left to fight against Akame, who was using cursed poison. She repeatedly suppressed Akame, demonstrating just how formidable her strength truly was.)
"Najenda, didn't you say that if we had 50,000 elite soldiers, along with 10 real Imperial Arms wielders, we could defeat that monster?"
"Now, we've lost nearly 10 Imperial Arms wielders and over 100,000 soldiers, yet that demon hasn't even been harmed!"
Esdeath's unrivaled strength truly terrified the Revolutionary Army's high-ups. At the pace Esdeath was going, if they gave her a little more time, she would easily be able to crush the entire Revolutionary Army single-handedly.
Even though they were currently in the heart of the Revolutionary Army's headquarters, they couldn't be sure they were completely safe.
"What I said before was 50,000 elite soldiers, not just regular soldiers. And out of the 10 true Imperial Arms wielders, there had to be Akame, who wields the One-Cut Kill Imperial Arm, Muramasa."
"Esdeath easily wiped out 400,000 of the foreign army in the North. The physical strength and combat ability of the foreign races are generally stronger than ours. Do you think a mere 100,000 soldiers can stop her?"
At this point, Najenda's face looked grim. She hadn't expected that Esdeath, who had always been so proud, would take the initiative to attack the Revolutionary Army.
The location of the Revolutionary Army's headquarters had always been a secret. But as more and more Revolutionary Army high-ranking members fell to Esdeath's hands, the location of the headquarters was bound to be exposed sooner or later.
After all, no one could guarantee that, in the face of death, a person would be able to keep their mouth shut.
Even the foreign prince in the North, who was once praised to the heavens, ended up on his knees before Esdeath, begging for mercy like a beaten dog.
But the threat Esdeath posed to the Revolutionary Army was undeniable. If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Esdeath attacked the Revolutionary Army's headquarters.
And it wasn't just Najenda's pessimism. If Esdeath reached the headquarters, there was a very real possibility that the Revolutionary Army would be crushed completely.
Esdeath came alone, and she could leave whenever she wanted. No one could stop her. But the Revolutionary Army, having spent years establishing the headquarters, couldn't afford to let Esdeath go unchecked.
If Esdeath resorted to guerilla tactics, attacking the headquarters in waves, she could destroy everything in three days. All of the Revolutionary Army's years of effort would be for nothing.
"If we let her keep doing this, all our efforts will be wasted. We had the ability to face the Empire head-on, and the timing was right."
"But if we let that madwoman keep wasting our resources, not only will we not overthrow the Empire, we'll be lucky if we can even survive in the face of the Empire!"
"Didn't Najenda say before? If we have 50,000 elite soldiers, along with 10 true Imperial Arms wielders, including Akame, we could defeat Esdeath."
"We still have 50,000 elite soldiers, and as for Imperial Arms wielders, we have a few left at the headquarters. With Akame and the rest of Night Raid, we should be fine, right?"
Due to Esdeath's overwhelming attack, the Revolutionary Army convened an emergency meeting. The high-ranking members, feeling helpless, could only place their hopes on Najenda's earlier words.
As a former colleague and friend, they felt that Najenda was one of the few people who understood Esdeath the most. No one was doubting Esdeath's strength anymore; they just hoped that Najenda could quickly contact Akame and Night Raid, so they could come and stop this monster!
Whether the combined force of 50,000 elite soldiers and the 10 Imperial Arms wielders would be enough to counter Esdeath, Najenda herself wasn't certain.
While she was familiar with Esdeath, she had never seen Esdeath fight seriously. Wood had fought Esdeath twice with devastating results, but unfortunately, Najenda had not been present for either of those battles.
Facing Esdeath was extremely dangerous, but right now, Najenda had no other choice.
If the Revolutionary Army fell, they would lose their final opportunity to overthrow the Empire. So, in the end, Najenda, under the anxious gazes of her comrades, contacted Akame and the rest of Night Raid, providing them with the location and hoping they would hurry to support them.
Akame and the others, who had originally planned to take action against the remaining Jaegers members, were also taken aback when they received Najenda's request for help.
They hadn't expected that, before they could even act, Esdeath had already infiltrated their base.
With the situation becoming urgent, the priority shifted. The danger to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters was far greater than dealing with Kurome and Wave. If the headquarters, which served as the Revolutionary Army's stronghold, was lost, their plan to overthrow the Empire would be in ruins.
So, after receiving Najenda's request, Tatsumi and the others quickly changed their plans and rushed to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters.