The Red Hand

Chapter 163 – The Deal.

"Well, that's interesting." Akagi commented. Shinlua had just finished explaining what happened before they arrived, and she'd informed the Demon of the Council's plans.

"Interesting?!?" Hishya exclaimed. "They have both Serval and Rivenshaft on their side! The two most powerful World Bosses! This is a disaster!"

{Oh that's right. SHE doesn't give a fuck about the rest of the world, so no wonder this is INTERESTING to her!} (Hishya)

"I guess we've got our answer as to how Silfana showed up in this world." Akagi shrugged. "Though I'd like to know more about how they summoned them, I thought FWO was completely purged."

"They kept me at a distance, so I cannot answer anything specific on that matter." Shinlua sighed. "This is truly the worst-case scenario, and it's only a matter of time before they bring those two monsters into this world. I suspect it won't be long until preparations are complete."

"I'm going to contact Superbia." Hishya started typing a message on her AR. "We're going to need everyone to handle this, and honestly, I don't even know if we'll be enough to handle this."

{Fucking Serval did massive damage to us during each fight, and even at the end we STILL lost people even once we had his attacks and abilities down.} (Hishya)

"Eh. You can probably handle them individually, maybe." Akagi said. "I'm not really worried."

"Please don't tell me you're just going to park your ass here and watch them burn the planet!" Hishya exclaimed. "I know you don't give a fuck about the rest of the world, but come on!"

"No, I'm going to help." Akagi answered. "They wish to conquer this world and enslave humanity." Akagi laughed. "And I'm sorry to tell them but..." Her eyes turned sharp." This world isn't theirs's to conquer. It already has its owner, and I don't appreciate someone trying to take that which belongs to me."

Hishya gulped. "W-Well good. That makes things easier."

{I guess you do kind of own us all in a way, huh?} (Hishya)

"Don't go getting all happy yet, my little dragon." Akagi glanced over at her. "I'm not doing all the heavy lifting, that's boring. I'll handle Rivenshaft, but you're going to defeat Serval."

"What?!? Why won't you help with both?!?" Akagi didn't answer.  "At least let us fight Rivenshaft! You know damn well that Serval is insanely strong! He took so many attempts by the Assault Team before we managed to beat him, and we still lost people! I only managed to kill him the first time because I had a team of our best people backing me!" Hishya protested.

"Do not rely on me to do everything." Akagi scolded her. "I'm helping this time because of the specific circumstances. But in the future, you might not be able to rely on me. It's best that you get strong enough to protect this world. Unless you'd rather I take over this planet formally as its ruler?" Hishya chose not to retort since she didn't want to give Akagi the satisfaction.

"You're just awful, you know that?" Hishya sighed. "Just admit it, you want to watch me fight Serval cause you'll find it fun!"

{She wants some live action kaiju action! I know you well enough Akagi to understand how you get your sick kicks!} (Hishya)

"You're not wrong." Akagi smiled. "I didn't get to see you fight him the first time, and I'd like to see dragon v dragon. I wonder who's stronger now? You've gotten much more powerful than in-game, so I think victory is possible."

"I think you're vastly overestimating my power, Akagi. Suped up or not, I'm still one person, and Serval is a World Boss. Something intended to fight an entire raid party. You're probably the only person that can fight something like him 1v1." Hishya said.

Akagi thought for a second before getting a nasty look on her face. "Well then, how about a reward for a job well done?"

"A reward?" Hishya tilted her head. "What kind of reward?"

{I don't like the sound of this.} (Hishya)

"Well, how about that one pillow you've been drooling over every time you come over?" Akagi grinned.

"Really! You have no idea how much I've been wanting that for-" Hishya got excited for a moment but covered her mouth when she realized what she just said. "How do you know about that?!?"

{MY SECRET!} (Hishya)

"Hishya, your girlfriend is awful at keeping secrets. She told me all about the pillow hoard in your room." Akagi chuckled. "I've been informed that it's quite extensive."

{She apparently has enough that the both of them could comfortably sleep on the mass of pillows. Kana seemed to enjoy it too.} (Akagi)

"She promised she wouldn't tell!" Hishya pouted. "It's embarrassing!"

{Stupid Kana! I'll pay you back for spilling the beans!} (Hishya)

"It's part of being a dragon. You get obsessed with something and want a lot of it." Akagi smiled. "Normally, it's money, but for you, it's pillows!"

Hishya's face turned bright red. "At least they're nice to sleep on..." She had many pillows and it was becoming hard to hide them from her parents.

"Now, what do you say? I'll even go the extra mile and fluff it up and give it a good cleaning. I can even include a nice case for it." Akagi was egging her on.

"You Demon!" Hishya exclaimed.

"That is what I am, and we're all about providing for our clients." Akagi laughed. “Call it a bit of service.”

Hishya agonized over the decision. Logically she knew that the pillow in question wasn't anything special, but her dragon instincts told her she needed it above all else. "FINE!" Hishya finally came to a conclusion. "And I'm holding you to the promise of a case! That pillow it better be fresh and clean when you give it over!"

{I hate you! But dammit I want that pillow!} (Hishya)

"A pleasure doing business with you. I'll get it all nice and packaged up for you so it's ready to go." Akagi nodded.

"Kana, you're going to regret revealing my deepest darkest secret! I hope you're ready for the tickling of a lifetime!" Hishya started cackling manically as Akagi watched on.

{Have fun, Kana.} (Akagi)

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<Kana POV>

"Ugh!" Kana shivered. She and the girls were currently sitting in a park after going shopping.

"What's wrong?" Mika asked while eating her ice cream.

"I just got a chill down my spine. Like something bad is going to happen." Kana looked around the park they were sitting in but saw nothing wrong.

"What do you mean? Is there an enemy around here?" Naomi said.

"I don't detect anything." Momo spoke up.

"Same." Himari agreed.

"I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen, and that it involves me." Kana sighed. "And for whatever reason, it also feels like Onee-chan is at fault for it."

Mika and Naomi looked at each other in confusion.

"Whatever you say." (Mika x Naomi)

_____________________________________________________________________________

<Akagi POV>

Once the intense negotiations concluded, Akagi, Shinlua, and Hishya moved to the infirmary where Mizumi was being treated by Mimi.

"You've brought me more injured people in these past few months than you ever have before." Mimi sighed. "Are you trying to overwork me?" She had to work frantically to heal Mizumi's injuries before it was too late.

"I just figured you had nothing better to do." Akagi laughed. "Did I interrupt granny's afternoon nap?"

{You and I both know you don't actually have much to do right now...} (Akagi)

Mimi rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to ignore that comment since it's not worth it." She looked over at the sleeping Mizumi. "That injury was quite severe. Had you not got her to me when you did, she might have died."

"Lady Mizumi is quite tough, but Onmiyame is no slouch at magical combat. It's a miracle she was even conscious after taking that hit, let alone long enough to cast a spell and speak." Shinlua looked guilty. "It's my fault she was injured so badly. I should have listened to her when she first spoke to me all those weeks ago."

"At least you wised up eventually." Akagi said. "And honestly, it probably didn't matter anyway since those three would have just schemed with or without you."

{And you'd probably be dead, since they would have most likely bumped you off if you kept getting in their way.} (Akagi)

"I hate to admit it, but you're probably right." Shinlua sighed. "I knew the Council could be irritating, but I thought they were better than this."

{I guess I was just blind to how bad their politicking got. I knew they wanted to consolidate power, but I never thought they'd go this far.} (Shinlua)

"Politics is a pain and no matter where you're from or what your race is, it's going to exist and cause problems." Akagi said. She'd dealt with enough political issues both on Earth and from the Empire to know just how annoying it was.

{We do have some internal factions inside the clan, but they're all loyal to me first and foremost.} (Akagi)

"Will she be alright?" Hishya asked Mimi. "She looks mostly fine, but that's a lot of bandages on her arm."

"Yes, she took quite a bit of damage, but my magic and some potions handled things. Though, she'll be weakened for a few days until her body recovers properly." Mimi answered. "As I said, it's a miracle that she survived."

"She really pushed herself just to warn us about the impending attack." Hishya mused. She never really liked the Spirit due to her bearing the responsibility of killing so many players. But seeing her wounded and unconscious after fighting to warn them about Serval and Rivenshaft gave her pause.

"Hey, wait a second." Hishya turned to Akagi. "I thought Mizumi dying would collapse that world of theirs's, just like with that Anchor being destroyed. So why would they attack her?"

{That's actually a good question.} (Akagi)

"Lady Mizumi's continued existence is no longer necessary to maintain the world," Shinlua explained. "At first, it was, but she later performed a ritual to complete the dimensional binding. She was acting as a spiritual anchor of sorts via her own soul which was necessary until everything was finished. Thus, when you first met her that was true, but now it's not."

"Ok, but what about the Anchor? They must know Akagi can just destroy it and wipe out Omara." Hishya thought the Council's decision was insane given that Akagi could easily kill them all.

"But Akagi no longer has the Anchor?" Shinlua tilted her head. "She gave it to Lady Mizumi after her meeting with the Council. Though, I have no idea where it is now."

"Wait, you gave it back to them?!?" Hishya turned to Akagi and exclaimed. "Why would you do that?!?"

{Are you crazy?!? Wait... she is... but still WHY?!?} (Hishya)

"N-no, she didn't." Mizumi said weakly as she sat up.