The Red Hand

Chapter 221 – A Tense Moment.

"Y-YOU'RE A DEMON LORD!" Halifax's eyes showed a deep disgust, and as she tightly gripped her blade, it seemed conflict was inevitable.

Akagi shifted her jaw for a moment, and thought about her response, before allowing her lips to curve into a wicked grin.

"Indeed, I am." Akagi laughed. "Is that a problem?"

{If she knows what a Demon Lord is, then this should be interesting.} (Akagi)

"A problem?!? Of course, it is!" Halifax exclaimed. "Your kind are nothing but genocidal monsters!"

{Are you mocking me, monster?!?} (Halifax)

"So you've heard of our kind before?" Akagi asked.

"Not only have I heard of your kind, I've killed one of you, monster!" Halifax glared at her. "And it seems like I've to kill another one right now!" She was ready to do battle with Akagi, though was unsure if she could win.

{It took all our power combined to bring Vikes down... Can... can I do this alone?} (Halifax)

"I have no quarrel with you." Akagi allowed her voice to return to normal. "Unlike the Demon Lord you met, I'm not particularly interested in wanton destruction." She let out a puff from her pipe. “There's no need for us to come to blows.”

{Though I'd like to see this girl fight. From what I can see, she would be very interesting.} (Akagi)

"As if I'd believe that!" Halifax tightened her hold on her blade. "Vikes made it perfectly clear what his kind were all about!"

{Vikes? I suppose that means she's from Mizumi's world.} Akagi connected to Yumi. {Please drag Mizumi here immediately, it seems that things have escalated.}

{I do not want to leave you alone with her! Please allow us to subdue her before anything else! If she really killed a Demon Lord before, that puts you at risk!} Yumi was waiting on the other side of the door and could hear everything going on.

{Don't worry about any of that. This woman is of no threat to me.} Akagi reassured her. {Now run along, please.}

{Fine...} Yumi reluctantly went off to get Mizumi.

"I don't know what you're scheming, monster, but I have no interest in finding out!" Halifax yelled. "I was tasked with saving this world, and that's what I'm going to do!" Just as Halifax moved forward intending to strike down Akagi, a figure burst through the door behind her.

"What's going on?!?" Mizumi was out of breath, and nearly stumbled onto the floor. "I was told someone from Enoris... was... here..." The water Spirit's eyes met that of Halifax and both women were shocked to see one another.

"Halifax!" Mizumi called out in shock.

"Mizumi!" Halifax was similarly surprised to see the Water Spirit.

"What are you doing here?!?" Mizumi's eyes went to the blade in Halifax's hand. "And what the hell are you doing drawing your weapon on Akagi?!? Are you fucking crazy?!?" She stormed over to Halifax, and slapped her across the face.

"I... umm... what..." Halifax had no idea what was going on. "Are... are you really Mizumi?" She'd seen her small form before, but she hadn't expected to see her here.

{She survived? What the fuck is going on?!?} (Halifax)

"Of course it's me! What other Spirit have you met is this cute?!?" Mizumi sighed before looking past her and locking eyes with Akagi. "Please forgive this idiot." She bowed. "She means no harm, so I ask for your leniency."

Halifax was shocked to see Mizumi of all people bow to a Demon Lord, and this display only confused her further.

{AGAIN, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?} Halifax screamed in her head.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Akagi laughed as she could practically hear Halifax's confusion. "From what I can gather, she's met Vikes. So it's understandable that she'd have a poor impression of me."

{Demon Lords tend not to be the nicest of people, so I imagine her interaction with Vikes wasn't a very fun one.} (Akagi)

"Ok, Mizumi." Halifax's voice showed both confusion and irritation. "Do you mind telling me what the HELL is going on?!? Because I'm lost. Why are you siding with a Demon Lord? And where are the rest of the Spirits?!?" Her glare sent chills up the Water Spirit's spine.

"Well... that's a long story." Mizumi gave a nervous laugh. "And it goes something like this..." So Mizumi explained the entire series of events that lead to today, from the creation of a pocket dimension to Akagi's awakening as a Demon Lord. As the story went on, Halifax's face turned from irritated to exasperated, as while she believed the Water Spirit's story, that didn't make it easier to swallow.

{What the absolute fuck?} (Halifax)

"So you're telling me that this Demon Lord is both just as evil as Vikes, and also simultaneously not as evil as Vikes?" Halifax squinted in doubt.

"Basically, yeah..." Mizumi sighed. "She's very... strange..."

{And I'm also no better, since I also pet the Demon Cat...} (Mizumi)

Halifax looked over at Akagi, who was sitting on Yumi's lap in Catkagi mode being pet. "Mew!"

{Mew indeed, little kitty.... Mew indeed...} (Halifax)

"I can see that..." Halifax shook her head. "So you fled to this world, and now work for a Demon Lord? What a turn of events." She figured it was probably one of the craziest turn of events that she'd ever seen.

"Trust me. This was not how I imagined things going when we cast that ritual." Mizumi gave a dry laugh. They weren't really sure what would happen, but being the Demon Lord's subjects wasn't very high on the list of possibilities. "These past few months have been nothing but trouble, in no small part thanks to our resident Dark Lord over there."

Akagi was ignoring the two's discussion because Yumi was busy petting and floofing her.

{…} (Halifax)

"But why has she not been destroyed?" Halifax asked. "I know you were weakened by the war on Enoris, but surely with your magic and the people of this world joining forces, she could've easily been defeated." She was surprised that Mizumi even let things get to this point.

"Because we cannot." Mizumi shook her head. "Even if we wished to destroy her, that is no longer possible at this stage."

"But Vikes was defeated, and with me here..." Halifax froze as Mizumi's eyes pierced into her.

"She is nothing like Vikes." Mizumi warned her not to do anything stupid. "Akagi is vastly more powerful than the Demon Lord you fought, and even with your help there is still no chance of winning."

{I've seen for myself that its hopeless, so don't go getting ideas!} (Mizumi)

"Y-You can't be serious." Halifax gulped. "Sure, Vikes took all our effort and the intervention of the gods to defeat. But surely this Demon Lord can't be-" She froze again, this time because Akagi allowed her power to crash down onto her.

{I-I can't move! What kind of power is this?!? I's suffocating and it feels... it feels like I'm going to be swallowed into an ocean!} (Halifax)

"Vikes was merely an infant, an undeveloped Demon Lord." Akagi said as she was floofed, and Mizumi face palmed, wondering why she used that voice and combined it with Catkagi. "But I am a fully-fledged and mature member of my kind, and you have no chance of defeating me. So I'd recommend dropping the subject, lest you find yourself as another body on the pile." She relaxed her power, causing Halifax to fall onto the floor, coughing and gagging.

{Demon kitty!} Yumi giggled as she hugged onto Akagi.

"I told you that it wasn't possible." Mizumi sighed. "Akagi is the rules around here, and I'd advise against trying to change them."

{Anyone that's tried has generally not found themselves in a good position.} (Mizumi)

"So then she's not much different than those damn gods!" Halifax coughed. "But I get it. No use playing hero against something like that." She slowly stood up.

{It felt like my entire being would be swallowed up in that darkness. It was... not fun to feel THAT.} (Halifax)

"Good to hear it!" Akagi smiled. "Now that the pecking order has been established, shall we continue from where we left off?"

"Yeah, that would be for the best. Why are you here, Halifax? And more importantly, HOW? Mizumi was really confused about how and why the orange-haired girl was here. "It shouldn't be possible for you to have crossed over, and I know you don't have the power to do something like the ritual."

"As for the why, I was sent here to find help." Halifax said as she shook off the lingering feeling of Akagi's power.

"Help?" Mizumi tilted her head. "For what?"

"Princess Rebeckah and Elariel came to me for aide." Akagi could tell by Halifax's tone, that she did not like whoever this Elariel woman was. "It seems that not only did the other gods know full well that the magical disasters wouldn't be solved via the Spirit's destruction, but now they intend to jump ship and flee to this world to save their assess, dooming Enoris."

{Fucking disgusting cowards.} (Halifax)

"Wait, what?!?" Mizumi exclaimed. "I always figured the gods knew better, but what do you mean they intend to come here?!?"

{Is that even possible?!?} (Mizumi)

"According to Elariel, they intend to send those four idiot Heroes to this world, where they will finish their genocide of the Spirits under the guise of stopping your evil magic that is causing the disasters." Halifax explained the 'plan'. "I was sent here to deliver a warning, and to find a way to stop them."

"Oh?" Akagi got interested in the story and stopped Yumi's petting, much to the Priestess's displeasure "So these Gods not only wish to intrude upon my world, but they seek to kill my people?" She didn't like either of those things.

"From what I was told, they're going to sacrifice the Spirits and use their energy to create a connection between the worlds. This would allow them to properly cross over and become the gods of this world. Meanwhile, they'd sacrifice a large portion of Enoris's population to aid in said ritual." Halifax shook her head. "It's an utterly insane plan, though not out of character for those bastards. So yeah, that's why I'm here. I'd hoped to find powerful adventurers or the like to aid me in the defeat of the Heroes and the Gods, but I never imagined I'd find another fucking Demon Lord." She clicked her tongue.

"That's is insane!" Mizumi cried out, her face flush with anger. "They weren't content to kill most of us in their genocidal rampage, and now they want all of us?!?" She started fuming. "We've never done anything to them or the people of that world, and now you tell me that even after we fled, those bastards STILL want to kill us!" She got so angry that her power briefly leaked out.

{You've got to be fucking kidding me!} (Mizumi)

"Basically." Halifax nodded. "The Heroes will be sent to this world and will try and hunt your people down, so we need to prepare for that." She looked at Akagi. "If those Gods are allowed to take root here, I don't even imagine what kind of chaos they'd cause. Trust me, they are not nice people, and I find them only marginally better than your kind."

"Oof." Akagi commented. "I know Gods can be assholes, but these ones must be particularly bad to warrant such a comparison."

"Considering they orchestrated the genocide of an entire people and intend to kill most of our world's inhabitants, yeah... it's an apt comparison." Halifax sighed. "So what will you do? I hate to ask a Demon Lord for aid, but it seems I've little choice." She didn't know what Akagi would do, or if she'd help.

"Well naturally I'll help." Akagi replied. "They wish to invade my world and kill my people, so it involves me directly. There's no way in hell I'd just ignore this mess." She stood up and put away kitty mode. "Let's go over everything you know. I want to be as informed as possible regarding those Heroes and their powers."