Kill the Skilled (手練れを斬る, Tedare o Kiru) is chapter 58 of the Akame ga Kill! manga.
Summary[]
In a meeting over at Shisuikan, Najenda goes over the plans to take down Esdeath with all the other Teigu users by having Akame's Teigu as the key, as she's positive it is the only thing that can take her down. Elsewhere, Cosmina attacks a Revolutionary Army camp in order to feast. The soliders all prepare to defend themselves by firing anti-Danger Beast bullets but Cosmina easily slices through them all. The soldiers all charge at the monster in front of them but Cosmina cuts them to pieces and devours them all. The remaining soldiers try to fall back but are stopped by Izou, who kills all the fleeing soldiers while commenting how foolish they were for fleeing. Dorothea tells Izou that shaving off the enemy is rather appetizing for her and allows Cosmina to finish feeding. Izou questions why she isn't attacking the two of them despite having transformed into a monster and suggests she still has her old memories. Dorothea confirms her feelings for her comrades is incredibly strong. Eventually, more Revolutionary Army members arrive at the camp and are left horrified by the massacre left. The leader, wielding Extase, orders all that the other encampments send word out to stay vigilant. She wonders if this was Wild Hunt's doing, and decides they'll return the favor in kind.
Back at the Palace, Dorothea says the picnic was lovely, and asks Suzuka, who is all bandaged up from Esdeath's attack, if he'll join her for tomorrow's attack. Suzuka declines Dorothea's offer as she must be on bodyguard duty. Suzuka expresses her enjoyment seeing Esdeath be so brutal to her with Tatsumi looking at her the way he did, though this leaves Dorothea speechless. Suzuka asks Dorothea if she attacked the Army to lure out Night Raid, and warns Dorothea to not underestimate only Akame, but Tatsumi as well. Dorothea says it would have been a waste for him to die from poison, but Suzuka says he isn't the type of man to do so, reminiscing how he buried her under rubble and how he fought both Esdeath and Budo, meaning his potential for growth is limitless, which is why she feels it is necessary to eliminate foes like them, and she should take that into consideration for her next attack. Dorothea says that Suzuka is praising Tatsumi rather highly, so she must think equally so of him. Suzuka asks if she could fill her in on a few pointers about alchemy, and Dorothea agrees.
The following night, Wild Hunt overlook another encampment. Dorothea asks if they should attack it, and Izou adds that they are rather lucky to feed so much. Suddenly, Akame attacks Cosmina and cuts her with Murasame on her arm. As the poison starts spreading across the monsterous Cosmina, Dorothea comments that Akame was able to figure out their patterns of attack only after three assaults. Akame tells Dorothea that the three of them fled after attacking an encampment and there were only a few encampments that were convenient to retreat towards to, so all she did was assess what encampments she would choose if she were planning on assassinating soldiers in droves. Dorothea says that explanation was rather long-winded, but suddenly Tatsumi and Leone appear next to her. Tatsumi says that after thinking over everything, the whole thing reeked of Wild Hunt, which meant several members were still alive. Dorothea is left surprised Tatsumi survived, but says to them that she has given Cosmina more than enough power to consume them. Cosmina gets up and Leone questions on whether Akame cut her or not, but the marks on Cosmina's body are absorbed by the crystal in her chest before it breaks. The three of them dodge an attack from Cosmina and Dorothea explains that the crystal is called the Philosopher's Stone, but she promptly says that it's too surperior for them to understand, only that it can manipulate Teigu, with a cut from Murasame all it needs.
Akame charges forward but is blocked by Izou, telling her that since he uses a katana himself, it makes sense he'd be her opponent. Tatsumi decides to confront Cosmina and remembers how he can transform only four more times. With Mine in his thoughts, he yells to himself to not falter and activates Incursio and charges at Cosmina. Tatsumi yells to Dorothea to see what it's like to fight someone who charges head first, referencing Leone who decides to challenge the alchemist.
As Izou and Akame stare at one another, Izou notices Murasame and comments how beautifully ominous it is before saying Kousetsu is several times greater. He says that he hears Kousetsu telling him to feed it and he says to Akame that the blood of Night Raid is a rare treat for it, and that he intends to give it more. Realizing he was talking about Lubbock, Akame tells Izou she will eliminate him. Akame immediately moves at him and Izou readies his strike. To his shock though, Akame swiftly gets behind him and slashes him from behind. Izou falls to the ground and praises Akame for turning the tables on his prediction of her strike. He offers Kousetsu to her and that she will be able to satisfy the sword's thirst for blood. Akame merely knocks it away, and Izou asks how she could refuse the request of a fellow katana user like himself. Akame answers that she was never a swordsman as Izou dies.
Akame then notices several humanoid creatures confronting her and she wonders if they were the ones rampaging through the Capital earlier before deciding they are something completely different. Back with Dorothea and Leone, Dorothea says that it was unfortunate she has to fight her, because she believes her blood will taste like animal. Leone retorts that she drew the short straw, because she's going to teach her manners.