The Red Hand

Chapter 150 – Another Assassin.

"Poisoned?!?" Nariyuki exclaimed. "What are you talking about?!?"

{How did that happen?!?} (Nariyuki)

"My senses are far better than yours, so detecting it is easy." Akagi looked down at the curry. "Someone slipped a magical poison into the food, and the effect would have made whoever eat it slowly weaken until they died."

{I've seen poison like this before during some of my jobs in the Empire. Whoever did this wanted plausible deniability, since it would appear that the target simply got sick and died in their sleep.} Akagi thought to herself.

"How the hell did something like this slip through?!?" Nariyuki immediately dialed the Secret Service and began yelling at someone. She was quite angry.

"Have you seen something like this before, my Lord?" Yumi asked. She didn't really know the ins and outs of poison making.

"Yes, it's a poison using an herbal remedy that I've seen before. Ordinarily, the plants would be used to create a sedative, but with the proper mixture and some magic, it goes from a calming tea to a permanent nap." Akagi explained.

"We use things like that." Hikari said. "And we've even been taught how to make something similar during our training."

{Though I can't believe I didn't notice it! Chloe is gonna kill me when she finds out!} (Hikari)

"Indeed, poison is an essential tool in an assass-" Akagi stopped mid-word and vanished in flash.

*BANG*

Akagi moved across the room, slamming something into the wall of the dining area.

"Not bad, but you've got to do better than that to get past my senses." She spoke to seemingly nothing. "Now then, let's see who we're dealing with." She snapped her fingers, causing a three-eyed man wearing a black cloak to appear where her right hand was extended. Akagi held him by the throat, and he could barely breathe.

"I-Impossible! No one can see through my magic!" The three-eyed man exclaimed.

"If it were anyone but me, you'd be right. I suspect Chloe, Mimi and Kira would be the only other members of the clan who'd detect you." Akagi smirked. "Too bad for you that I'm someone who knows a thing or two about masking one's presence and steathfull infiltration." She laughed.

A few moments later, a few members of the Secret Service ran in, and Nariyuki started yelling at them in English.

"Now then, are you going to talk?" Akagi stared the man in the eyes. "Or do I have to pull information out of you by force?"

{A quick jaunt through his mind isn't giving me anything. Looks like this guy is a real pro and made sure not to leave any traces of his real employer within his memories. If I wasn't so annoyed, I'd actually be impressed.} (Akagi)

"Y-you monster." He bit into something in his mouth, causing him to start heavily spasming, before dying.

"Well, I have to give him props for not selling out his employer." Akagi sighed as she let his body hit the floor. "Though sadly for you, death does not save you from me."”

"[Consumption.]” She consumed the man's still lingering soul.

"Akagi!" Nariyuki yelled. "What the hell is going on?!?"

"No clue, but where there's one assassin, there's often more." She shrugged. "I'd advise putting things on high alert. If he has backup around with similar capabilities, they could easily kill Rosewood."

Nariyuki spoke to one of the Secret Service Agents, who confirmed nothing suspicious was happening at the White House.

"Then let's just wait here until Mizumi gets back." Akagi shrugged. "And get something not poisoned to eat for us while you're at it. I think we'd all enjoy a nice meal after that." Akagi went and sat on one of the sofas in the dining room before pulling out her phone and sending a few messages to her team.

{Never a dull moment, huh?} Akagi laughed internally.

After around thirty minutes passed and Mizumi entered the dining room where Yumi and Hikari were eating non-poisoned food. Akagi quickly brought her up to speed on what happen, which caused her to panic for a moment until the Demon calmed her down

"So I'm gone for like an hour, and you had an attempt on your life, great..." Mizumi sighed. "Where's the body?"

Akagi waved her hand and took it out of her shadow.

*Tsk* Mizumi clicked her tongue when she looked at the man. "I know him, fuck." She put her hand on her head. "He's an assassin, easily the best of our kind. The Council and many members of our upper class had a habit of contracting him to eliminate inconvenient individuals."

{What are those fools thinking?!? Do they want to die?} (Mizumi)

"I figured as much. Since he himself wasn't a player that meant he must have been sent by someone else, and there aren't many people who could hire an assassin who could use magic." Akagi shrugged as she sipped her drink. "Problem is, he was a good boy and didn't sell out his client and he also made sure to counteract mind reading by keeping all contact to intermediaries and proxies. So I don't know who sent him.” Akagi wasn't actually too upset since she appreciated the man's commitment to his job.

“There isn't exactly many it could be besides the Council.” Mizumi groaned.

“True, but if I go charging into the Council's chambers and start tearing off heads, it's not justifiable under my rules. I might think I know who did this, but I lack proof, and there's always the chance it could have been someone else." Theories were not sufficient to warrant a retaliation, and Akagi wouldn't lash out with good enough evidence. It didn't have to be bulletproof, but him being a Spirit assassin frequented by the Council isn't enough. If that's all it took, Akagi's body count would be much higher.

{Lord knows I've seen assumptions cause huge issues for people in this industry. You know the old saying about assumptions...} (Akagi)

"And I wouldn't want you doing that anyway." Mizumi rubbed her temples. "If possible, I would prefer concrete evidence of their actions so I can turn public opinion against them or at least hold it over their heads. Just killing the Council will only cause chaos, especially if the people aren't shown any proof of their misdeeds."

{But how did he get all the way to the United States?} (Mizumi)

"We've been monitoring Omara, but I had no reports of an assassin like this man leaving or entering which is both strange and irritating. When that Councilwoman with green hair left, we were able to track her." Yumi said. As the head of intelligence, she was given reports on all pertinent activity, and Akagi had made sure to track comings and goings into Omara tightly.

"He might have had some backdoor route or even some magic that got past the ninja." Akagi theorized. "He was good enough that most of them wouldn't detect his movements, so it wouldn't be a shock if he slipped past them and their surveillance."

{Which means they need better training.} (Akagi)

"Entering and leaving the pocket dimension is not something anyone can do. Sizix aside there shouldn't be many, and I don't think he could do it himself." Mizumi thought for a moment. "The Council does have a deeper level of their building that's reserved for only them, so it's possible they did something down there." She wasn't allowed in for obvious reasons, and Shinlua had never mentioned what was within.

"I got a report that our agents were unable to enter beyond their secret door, something about a barrier and other wards." Yumi recalled some information provided to her. "I'd been wanting to attempt infiltration, but my Lord told me to hold off."

"It's too dangerous to send them in when we have no idea what's in there. Besides, a barrier like you described would require some serious firepower to take down, and just weakening it to enter has its own problems." Akagi didn't want to risk her people where it was otherwise not necessary. She figured that whatever plan the Council had cooked up could be handled without placing the ninja at greater risk.

"Perhaps it contains a special teleportation circle? They were common in certain towns in the Empire." Yumi said.

"Maybe, but that would mean they have some place on Earth to connect to, and that would leave a magical signature. So I don't know.  Granted I'm no expert on magic." Akagi shrugged.

{Also that would s still require them to leave Omara, something we should have caught.} (Akagi)

"I'll speak with them when we return." Mizumi said. "Shinlua already wanted to speak with me about something urgent, but I've lacked the time to spare for her." Mizumi could have made time for her, but was frustrated with the Elf for her unwillingness to accept Akagi as the Demon Lord. "I suppose it might have been a warning about this attempted assassination." She shrugged. "But that will have to wait until things wrap up here."

Agent Nariyuki entered back into the dining room and walked over to Akagi. "I'm truly sorry for what happened." She bowed her head. "It's inexcusable that an assassin made an attempt on our guests' lives."

{I can't believe this just happened. But at least no one got hurt.} (Nariyuki)

Akagi shrugged. "You weren't going to be able to detect him, so there was nothing you could do."

"Still, the President wanted me to give her apologies. Something like this cannot be tolerated and we'll make changes to ensure it doesn't happen again." Nariyuki bit her lip.

{I appreciate the sentiment, but we both know you cannot do that.} Akagi held her tongue.

"I've already sent out a warning to our people back home to be on the lookout for additional assassins or attempts." Akagi said. "I just hope no one is foolish enough to go after Kana or the girls." She looked at Mizumi.

"I hate to say it, but they might." Mizumi hung her head. "If they're foolish enough to try and poison the Demon Lord, they might go after your sister. They do know who she is after all."

"Yeah, they go trying that, and I might just eat half your people as I proposed before." Akagi glared.

{They lay a single finger on any of the girls, and Demon Lord Akagi is going to have to come out and play.} (Akagi)

"I will handle things! Please don't go doing something so drastic because of them!" Mizumi panicked slightly. "But for now, maybe Kana and the girls should refrain from going out alone."

"That might be for the best." Akagi sighed. "I swear to god, why can't people just leave me alone..."

{Is it really that hard to just NOT fuck with me?} (Akagi)

"My Lord has always had a habit of attracting trouble, even back in FWO." Yumi laughed. "Just accept your fate as a trouble magnet."

"Yeah, sure." Akagi rolled her eyes. "Instead of accepting my fate, how about I just glass the planet instead? If no one's alive to bug me, then no trouble, right?"

{Would be a much easier thing, and a simple matter.} (Akagi)

"Please don't do that..." Yumi sighed. "While that would indeed be effective, it would have many other consequences."

{And I don't want you to do something like that.} (Yumi)

"Yeah, like no more humans to make games for me to play or animators to make more anime for me to watch!" Akagi laughed. "Gotta keep 'em around to make things for me to play with!"

"I like how your reason for keeping us around is so we can entertain you..." Nariyuki shook her head. "You really are awful."

"Ahh, it's not so bad!" Akagi said with a smile. "I could enslave you all and force you to make statutes in my honor instead. Now that would be fun!"

"Why do I get the feeling you'd actually do that?" Nariyuki asked.

"No idea." Akagi shrugged. "It's totally something outside my character. The Demon Lord would never do something so heinous." Her sarcasm was quite obvious to all.

"At this point, I have no idea what your 'character' is." Mizumi put up the air quotes. "I just treat you like you're crazy and call it a day. Saves a lot of headaches."

"My Lord can be two-minded about things, and sometimes she acts strange for no reason at all." Yumi laughed. "That's just who she is. At this point, it's best to just accept she's like this and move on."

{Plus, its so cute when she acts like that!} (Yumi)

"So, what? You just smile and nod when I do something weird?" Akagi glared at her.

Yumi smiled and nodded.

"Ohhh." Akagi shifted her jaw. "I'll remember this, Yumi. Remember, I know where you sleep!" Akagi held out her hands and moved her fingers to mimic tickling. "And I know your weakness!"

Yumi backed up. "Please, no..." She said meekly. "The last time you did that..." Akagi's tickle powers were nothing to sneeze at, and both Yumi and Kana rightly feared them.

"Ah-hem." Mizumi coughed. "Sorry to interrupt your flirting, but can we get back on topic?"

{I swear these two...} (Mizumi)

"Fine." Akagi shrugged. "I'll pick on Yumi later." Her words sent a chill down the priestess's spine.

The girls got back to discussing the situation and what the plan would be going forward. For now, Akagi placed her people on alert and told Kana and the girls to be cautious. She'd be back home in a few days and could handle things better upon her return to Japan. Something that would be almost instant via teleportation.

Once they were finished discussing things, Mizumi sat and ate dinner, before the girls broke to relax for the night. Akagi and Yumi went to their room and laid in bed watching T.V. until it was time to sleep. It wasn't long until Yumi passed out, as all the walking around today seemed to have drained her energy, which Akagi thought was cute. Snuggling in next to her, Akagi drifted to sleep.

*RING* *RING* *RING* *RING* *RING*

Just after midnight American time, Akagi's phone went off. It was a call from Naomi, and Akagi had a bad feeling as she picked up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Akagi said.

"We're being attacked! Please come back immediately!" Naomi said frantically.