The Red Hand

Chapter 164 – The Demon Lord’s Subjects.

Mizumi was given an herbal drink made by Kaori to help speed up her recovery. It was the same one the girls had drunk when they were burned at the mall, and Mizumi had a similar reaction to drinking it.

"Bleck! It tastes like grass!" Mizumi shivered as she pushed the empty cup aside. "Can't you make it taste better?" She asked Kaori.

"Sorry, but adding extra things like flavoring would reduce its potency." Kaori smiled as she took the cup away. "Just be grateful it's not as bitter as it used to be."

{Also, its kinda fun to see people react like that when they drink it. Mimi said we could make it taste a bit better, but also that we shouldn't tell them that little secret.} (Kaori)

"I swear you just enjoy watching people gag on that stuff." Mizumi sighed.

"No comment." Kaori laughed as she went into the back room to prep other medicine.

"Glad to see everything's going well with her. She's been getting good at making more complex potions, I think we'll move into giving her magic at some point in the not too distant future. I hope she's been helpful, Mimi." Akagi said.

"Kaori has been a wonderful assistant. Honestly, I might run out of things to teach her at this rate. She's quite skilled and knowledgeable about potion making, which has been helpful." Mimi giggled. "Unlike certain people who shall not be named." She glared at her two daughters, who looked away in shame. "I've been teaching them for so long, yet they still mess things up."

"Kids these days." Akagi shook her head. "They just don't listen." She looked over to Hishya.

"Why are you looking at me?!?" Hishya pouted. "Besides, you're not much older than me! So where do you get off acting like that?!?"

Akagi reached out and pat the dragon girl on the head.

"Why?!?" Hishya smacked her hand away.

"Because it's fun." Akagi laughed.

"Don't you start that crap too! Kana is already bad enough with babying me!" Hishya had already experienced Kana treating her like a child just to mess with her and didn't want Akagi pulling that.

"How about if I turned into Kana?" Akagi laughed. "Would it be fine then?"

"No!" Hishya pouted. "Please don't do that!"

{I swear to god, If I ever find out the Kana I'm fooling around with is YOU. I WILL find a way to kill you, Akagi.} (Hishya)

"Funny, Kana was ok with it." Akagi decided to continue her fun.

"What?!?" Hishya exclaimed.

"Yeah, she has me turn into you and snuggle with her sometimes." Akagi said while holding back laughter.

"No way...." Hishya's eyes started to glaze over.

{Damn, she really is gullible.} (Akagi)

"I'm just kidding, my little dragon. I've never done such a thing, nor will I, so don't get your panties in a bunch. Kana hates it if I even bring that up as a joke. So don't worry, you're not getting replaced anytime soon." Akagi burst out laughing. "I literally watched as your brain broke, Hishya. That was so worth it! You give the best reactions."

Hishya came back to her senses and grabbed Akagi by the collar, shaking her back and forth violently. "Why must you torment me so?!? What did I ever do to deserve this?!?"

{Besides trying to kill you that is!} (Hishya)

"Glad to see I'm not the only one she makes miserable with her shenanigans." Mizumi chuckled.

"Don't you laugh too! It's not funny! We need to band together and get her to stop messing with us!" Hishya exclaimed as she let Akagi go. "She's already corrupted Kana and the girls, so it's probably too late to save them, but we must fight to save as many as we can from her influence!"

{We cannot let this virus spread!} (Hishya)

"As if you aren't equally as bad, don't forget Kana tells me everything." Akagi grinned as she recalled some of the stories Kana told her about Hishya's more playful side.

"I'm going to shove a sock in that girl's mouth!" Hishya growled. "She's getting a serious talking to next time I see her! Does she not understand privacy?!?"

"Ah-hem." Mizumi coughed. "Not to interrupt your deep and thought-provoking discussion, but can we please move to a more pressing topic?" She figured the two of them would keep this up indefinitely if she didn't step in.

"I guess." Akagi shrugged.

"I guess, she says." Mizumi rolled her eyes. "Whatever, now that I am able to speak a bit more, we can continue from the point where I passed out.”

“Before that, what did you mean when you said Akagi didn't give you the Anchor” Hishya was curious to know what was going on.

“I can answer that.” Akagi interjected. “The Council were being pricks, so I gave Mizumi a fake Anchor just to see what they'd do.”

“Yes, I noticed it immediately after I touched it and played along.” Mizumi sighed. “I honestly thought they'd attack me over it, but they surprisingly didn't.”

{Probably because they feared everything being destroyed still.} (Mizumi)

“I mean, I did tell them if they took it, they'd all die.” Akagi shrugged. “I guess even their stupidity has it's limits.”

“So then, does that mean that you still have it?” Hishya asked.

“Yes, though I have no desire to do anything with it, since I'd rather keep that little world around.” Akagi had plans for Omara and preferred it to stay intact.

“Yes well, did Shinlua fill you in about what's going on while I was asleep?" Mizumi wanted to get back on track.

"Yeah, we're fighting Serval and Rivenshaft. Somehow your Council managed to bring them back from FWO, and now they're under their control." Akagi shrugged. "So nothing too crazy."

"Just how powerful are those two anyway?" Shinlua asked. "I've only been told they are dangerous, and likely more powerful than the players who were trapped."

"Very powerful, Shinlua." Mizumi said. "Enough that the two combined would be too much for this world. Heck, Serval alone would probably be enough to destroy this world."

"Yeah and don't forget, we've got Silfana running around. She's probably under the Council's control too." Hishya reminded them about the third World Boss they needed to deal with.

"I don't think so." Shinlua shook her head. "From what I overheard from the Council, their first attempt failed. So she's probably not under their influence."

"Well regardless, we need to destroy her before the other World Bosses show up. She's already killing people, and if we don't stop her, that number is only going to increase." Hishya still bore a grudge against the vampire.

"She's around here somewhere, and I've got my people on it. So it's just a matter of time till she slips up." Akagi had a large portion of the ninja handling Silfana, and she'd made her their top priority. The Demon had plans for the vampire and wanted to secure her before the RRT killed her.

"Regardless." Mizumi sighed. "Akagi, I hate to ask this, but I need your help." She looked up at her. "I need you to assassinate the Council, minus Shinlua of course."

{I never thought the day would come where I had to ask something like this...} (Mizumi)

Akagi burst out laughing. "I never thought you'd ask me for something like that!"

"Lady Mizumi!" Shinlua exclaimed. "I understand the anger at them, but killing the Council in such a fashion will only destabilize Omara. Would it not be better to bring to light their crimes and take them down that way?!?" She didn't want to see such bloodshed.

"They'll just bill it either as lies and falsehoods from a traitor, or as justified measures for vengeance against humanity. Surely you must know how much most of our kind hate humans." Mizumi glared at the Elf. "So many of our people were butchered by their hands, and that kind of thing breeds a deep resentment." Ferrix's statements towards Kana were not unique, and most Spirits had some form of negative opinion of humans.

"But..." Shinlua knew Mizumi was right. "If you kill them, things will be thrown into chaos. I imagine many will see this as some form of coup by the two of us."

"You're most likely right. My influence and status amongst our people might not be enough to keep things calm." Mizumi looked to Akagi. "But a Demon Lord's would. The fear of you alone would keep everyone in line, even if they hate me. They'd be more afraid of you than angry at me."

"So what? You want me to kill them and install you as the new leader?" Akagi asked. "That could work, but it's definitely going to cause issues."

"I think forming a new Council might be better." Shinlua still didn't like this plan. "That might be better than having you take sole control, Spirits are not exactly a fan of monarchy or similar institutions."

"I don't exactly care what form of government you guys have, but I need assurance that you won't renege on your end of the bargain." Akagi replied. "You understand that even if I've already got beef with those three, you're asking for quite a lot. I'm going to need to dedicate some people to controlling public order in Omara if we go through with this. I suppose I could just kill them and let the chips fall, but I'd rather not lose out on my investment in your home." Akagi had already dedicated too many resources to allow Omara to collapse, and her future plans relied on the world in which the Spirits lived. So, she couldn't afford to lose it now.

"Yes." Mizumi nodded. "At this point, the only thing left to give you is our allegiance. I've already become your servant, but the rest of my people have not. If you agree to help me overthrow the Council and keep order in Omara, I will offer you suzerainty over all of my people." Her eyes were filled with sadness and anger.

"Bowing to a Demon, especially a Demon Lord, is not going to go over well with anyone in Omara." Shinlua sighed. "The people will resent that decision, and may even rise up against whatever takes the Council's place."

"Perhaps, but we don't have any other choice." Mizumi shook her head. "You'd kill them with or without my asking. Wouldn't you?" She looked at Akagi, who nodded.

"At this point, they've bared their fangs at me, and I don't tolerate dogs who bite the hand that feeds them." Akagi was genuinely angry with the Council. She'd helped them far more than necessary, and this was how they repaid her. They were lucky she didn't burn their entire world to the ground and call it a day. "The only difference here is who will be running things and how the administration of Omara will continue forward. I will decline a contract in this case, as I am already going to be handling the Council." Akagi continued. "Instead, we'll do this." Akagi leaned against the wall. "I'll wipe out the Council and its power base, this will be an easy process, and in its place, I want either Shinlua or Mizumi to run Omara, and by extension the entire dimension, as my Governor." Akagi looked between the two women. "Figure out which of you will handle that task later. For now, I'll draw up plans for the attack and draft up post-coup policy. However, I'd like to commence the actual attack after we've dealt with Silfana and the other World Bosses. I only have so many people, and, right now, they're a bit busy." She could provide the necessary firepower herself, but Demon Lord or not, she was still just one person. She couldn't be everywhere at once, and splitting off more bodies wasn't a great idea.

Shinlua looked to Mizumi, who nodded. "As painful as this is... I accept your terms. We can discuss further details later." Mizumi had been left with no choice. The elders tasked her with protecting her people, no matter what, and this was likely the only path forward. If she refused, she feared her people might be relegated to status as slaves under Akagi or even purged. At least this way, they'd be subjects of the Demon Lord and enjoy some protection.

{Onmiyame, I'm going to make sure you pay for what you've done!} (Mizumi)