Chapter 40

Kill the Ambition (野望を斬る, Yabō o Kiru) is chapter 40 of the Akame ga Kill! manga.

Summary
Esdeath, Run, and Bolic are seen in the church playing a game of Shogi. Bolic asks Esdeath to continue guarding him for two more weeks. She realizes the anniversary of the founding of the religious organization will come soon and there will be a big festival that day. Bolic confirms this and says that preparations are finally complete, and come that day, the Lord will die and become an actual God in Heaven. He will then announce himself as the new Lord in front of the believers that will have gathered, something he says with sinister glee as he defeats Run in the game. Run admits defeat and Bolic says there was a huge gap between them in terms of experience. After Esdeath and Run leave him, Esdeath praises Run for entertaining Bolic by playing Shogi with him, as she enjoyed watching him struggle and then feeling drunk on the triumphant feeling of a comeback, and Run responds that the task was easy. Esdeath tells Run that she believes Najenda knows that her time limit is approaching, and that Night Raid will be at the cathedral soon. Run responds that they will have security strengthened.

Back at Night Raid's hideout, Susanoo presents what he considers his best work in terms of dinner to the other members: salt-flavored ramen with slightly harder noodles for Najenda, a strawberry parfait with a secret ingredient for Mine, Bokkai shrimp fresh from the water for Lubbock, oden and chilled alcohol for Leone, a large plate and assortment of meat in a special sauce for Akame, and a special Susanoo lunch set for Tatsumi, as he said 'anything is fine', though Tatsumi sees it as just a kid's meal. Najenda speaks up and tells her subordinates to eat up only to realize they were doing so before she even spoke, though is glad to see them in high spirits. Mine offers a bite of her parfait to Tatsumi, but Leone grabs him and pushes him close to herself, asking him to refill her cup of alcohol, which he does. Mine, who watches this, turns her head the other way in jealousy. Akame and Tatsumi praise Susanoo for his cooking, which makes him happy. The moment is then ruined when Susanoo notices a piece of rice on Tatsumi's plate he left and tells him to finish it, and Tatsumi says Susanoo would be perfect if he wasn't so nitpicky.

After dinner, Najenda tells her subordinates that now that the tunnel to the cathedral is complete, they will now commence the Bolic assassination.Tatsumi is surprised they will attack him at the cathedral and not the mansion, and Mine answers that it is because his manor is riddled with traps, so this way is easier. Lubbock adds that the cathedral has a wide variety of decorations and objects they can use to hide. Akame adds that Bolic offers a prayer in the cathedral once a month according to information provided by an insider, and that will be the night of the day after tomorrow, which is when they will strike. Tatsumi wonders if he is actually praying and Lubbock says he is just screwing around with woman in actuality. Mine asks Najenda if the enemy expect an attack from underground and Susanoo adds they must be, and Najenda confirms. She then reveals she will have two teams to handle this. The first team will cause a diversion from underground which will create a large commotion that will attract the enemy's attention, and that team will consist of herself, Susanoo, Tatsumi, and Leone. Leone says it is a good plan because the team requires high defense/recovery, which the four of them possess. Najenda tells her subordinates to not take the Jaegers head on should they confront them, and only focus on surviving. She then continues by saying that after the initial attack, the second team, which is Akame, Lubbock, and Mine, will infiltrate the cathedral via the sky while riding on their Air Manta and assassinate Bolic during the chaos. This revelation bums Tatsumi as it means he won't be able to ride on the Air Manta like before. Najenda confirms that the only target is Bolic and not Esdeath, which means they can complete the objective even with their limited forces. Susanoo says that the amount of enemy forces they whittled down prior will play a huge part in the chances of success and Najenda adds that Esdeath isn't good defending someone, so she may leave an opening for them to exploit. The entire group, with the resolve to undergo this extremely dangerous mission to prevent the Lord from being killed and ensure the Revolution's success, declare that Bolic will die.

Later, Najenda and Mine take a bath to rest their bodies before the upcoming battle. Najenda asks Mine if she has made sure she has no regrets in her heart before this upcoming battle, and Mine responds by getting flustered. Najenda continues by saying that she can see what is in the hearts of her subordinates and noted how she sat next to Tatsumi during dinner. She tells her it is up to her what she will do while also warning her about Leone, though this earns her a splash of water to her face as Mine gets out of the bath, though Najenda says it is nice to be young. Now alone, Najenda declares to herself that she won't let anyone die, and that she may have to use Susanoo's Trump Card again.

In the meeting room, Tatsumi and Leone watch Akame build a boat replica with Tatsumi expressing surprise that Akame has the skills to do something like this. She admits a friend taught her and Leone explains she would do this in her room. Tatsumi says it would be nice if all of them could go on a boat trip and Leone agrees that it would be nice to see the outside of the Empire. Akame blushes happily and says that once the country is peaceful, they can all go on a trip. Mine comes in dressed in her pajamas and says that Najenda is the only one in the bath now yet there is still some room. Leone decides to take a bath and asks Akame to wash her back, which she agrees to. Leone teasingly asks Tatsumi if he would like to join them, which flusters him. Leone then says she was kidding and that it is a lot of fun teasing him as she and Akame leave. Tatsumi expresses annoyance at Leone's teasing but Mine says it seems like he enjoys it, which Tatsumi denies. Mine thinks back to what Najenda said about her and Leone and tells Tatsumi that she has something important to talk to him after the mission and if he will listen. Tatsumi tells her that now she has made him curious and if she can just tell him now. She says no and leaves, leaving him confused while stating that she thinks oppositely from Najenda because she wants to make her will to live stronger, even if it is just by a little bit. She then calls herself simple because she started to develop feelings for Tatsumi after he saved her that night. Susanoo and Lubbock are then revealed to have been eavesdropping on what happened. Susanoo is holding Lubbock back from destroying the lovey-dovey atmosphere in the room and says that everyone is now calm and focused; perfect behavior before the big fight.

At 1 AM on the night of the mission, Tatsumi dispatches the guards outside the cathedral using Incursio. He, Najenda, Leone, and Susanoo climb up to the courtyard where they are confronted by a large number of guards which they start fighting in order to draw Esdeath out. A guard reports that bandits have appeared and Esdeath realizes it is Night Raid, as she expected. She orders Kurome to not leave Bolic's side. Bolic begs Esdeath to protect him herself and she insultingly tells him to hold his head up. She says she won't leave the cathedral no matter how much he worries while also kicking him in the face. She says that no matter how much commotion Night Raid causes, their mission will fail if they can't assassinate Bolic, yet she eagerly awaits for them.

Up in the sky, Akame, Lubbock, and Mine ride on the Air Manta. Lubbock tells Mine to fire a huge whole in the cathedral and she agrees. He also comments on how tough a Teigu Pumpkin is after the explosion it went through. She confirms this but says it was nothing compared to when it was used by Najenda before her. He asks if there is recoil and she tells him not worry, because she is a 'genius sniper'. Suddenly, they are surprised by the appearance of Run using his Teigu Mastema. He says they knew a team would come in from the skies, and yet even though they know he would be there and they still went with the plan, he deduces their strategy was poor. Run then fires a beam of feathers at the Air Manta's chest, causing it to fall out of the sky. Wave watches them fall out the sky while holding his Teigu Grand Chariot, and that he intends to avenge Bols, Seryu, and Koro's deaths along with Kurome's injury here and now.