The Red Hand

Chapter 236.5 – Akagi’s Training.

*CLANG* *CLANK* *SLASH* *BANG* *CLINK*

Deep within Akagi's shadow, the Demon and her most trusted military adviser engaged in a fierce showdown. Marshal, while much younger than some of the Demon's more long-lived clan members, had a level of combat experience that was second to none. Trained as a knight since the age of four, Adal Nelson had dreamed of one day leading the Imperial Army as a mighty General and being born from a knight family that was exactly what his parents wanted of him. His rise to fame was so meteoric that he attained the coveted title of Imperial Grand Marshal at the young age of twenty five, and it was the reason why even to this day most just referred to him as Marshal.

*BANG*

The two warriors clashed blades, locking together in their struggle. Akagi had far more raw power than Marshal could ever hope to match, but her actual skill with a sword was a different issue entirely.

"Excellent work, My Lady." Marshal and Akagi disengaged from each other, lowering their weapons to reposition. "I've known this since the day we first met, but you truly are a fighting genius." He laughed as he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette, lighting it with a metal liter.

"Swordplay is a kind of game, Marshal." Akagi smiled. "And there's no game that I can't master." She'd been training on and off with Marshal ever since she'd released her power as a Demon Lord and was determined to have a proper education in the way of the blade. Akagi was already an excellent duelist, but even she understood that lacking a solid foundation was a weakness that could be exploited. Even though she'd made her own sword school, the Demon was well aware that she was, at least partially, using her game skills as a crutch, and that wasn't going to fly any longer.

{I never had the proper training with a blade outside of a VR game, and I don't think such limited swings and forms would count for much if I didn't have far more power and reflexes than the average person. I've yet to fight anyone that can even beginning to close the gap with me, but it would be foolish to rest on my laurels. I have far to much to lose now, and I refuse to take anything lesser than complete and total victory!} (Akagi)

"While it's true that you had to rely on a tool to assist you, that does not mean that you should discount your skill with a blade. To have gone from an ostensibly normal girl who never even wielded a sword to what you are today is nothing short of remarkable." Marshal laughed with pride.

{Lady Akagi works harder than anyone I've ever met, and she does it all because she understands a fundamental truth about this world. One that I wish I'd learned long ago.} (Marshal)

"It's not all on me, Marshal." Akagi shook her head. "Your training has helped considerably, and I can tell that my stances and forms have improved now that I've got a grasp on the fundamentals." She'd requested him to train her as if she'd never used a sword in her life to get an understanding from the ground up. Not to mention that other members of the Clan were more than happy to teach her when she asked.

"All I did was give you the basic foundation that you requested." Marshal said as he took a puff. "You're already far beyond the basics, and if you don't mind my personal opinion, I don't think you truly needed to learn things the old-fashioned way." He continued. "You were already beyond anything I could teach you even before your nature as the Demon Lord was revealed, and frankly I don't feel like I've taught you anything that you didn't already know." He thought their training was unnecessary, though he understood that this was simply part of his Lord's desire to be prepared.

"You're wrong." Akagi flatly denied his words. "In fact, not training with you would've been a huge mistake." She'd already noted and corrected several flaws in her techniques as a result of Marshal's training and was keen on finding more. "Just like the other players, my knowledge of combat comes from a very flawed place." She continued. "For all Hishya's power, she lacks a true grasp of the sword, and we both know that a gap in technique can and will be exploited by a competent opponent." Akagi figured that it was best that she correct that flaw now rather than run into it in a real battle.

{If I ever come up against another Demon Lord or a sufficiently powerful being one day, there's a chance that they'll have far more combat experience than me. Even with all my power, there's no guarantee that I'll always win in such a situation, and I'd rather not have the issue of only having a hammer to solve all my problems.} (Akagi)

"I suppose I can understand that." Marshal nodded. "And I guess knowing is better than not. Lord knows how many recruits I trained that got a big head just because they had a bit of magical power to back up their sword arm." He laughed, recalling some of his troublesome recruits.

"Plus, it's not like this costs me anything." Akagi snapped her fingers and took out her Kiseru, which she lit. "We can spend as long in here as we want, and no time will pass on the outside, nor will either of us tire." She'd set things up so that essentially no time would pass for her and Marshal while they were within her shadow, figuring that if she could abuse time dilation to gain years of practice in days, that it was for the best.

{Frankly, the fact that I was given this shadow power due to FWO merging me with that Demon is insane. Normally one of those Lords wouldn't be able to do a fraction of what I can do in here, and they definitely weren't dilating time like this. Its funny, Mizumi accidentally made me far more dangerous by merging my dormant soul with that Demon, and it might be fair to assume that no other Demon Lord could do something similar.} (Akagi)

"In total, we've spent a few years going over your training from the start." Marshal dropped his cigarette on the shadowy floor before stomping it out. "If that last clash was anything to go by, then you'd be at the end of our Advanced Training Regimen, which concludes after five years with a test." He was surprised that such a long time within her shadow didn't bother him, though he figured that was probably because of how focused he was.

{To spend over five years alone with My Lady... It felt like moments... I suppose I can understand how Elves viewed the world a bit better...} (Marshal)

"A test?" Akagi asked with a laugh as she took a puff. "Then, did I pass?"

"With flying colors!" Marshal laughed. "In all my years of teaching, you are without a doubt the best student I've ever had!"

"And you're probably the best teacher I've had!" Akagi retorted. "I'm just glad that this test wasn't a written one. My grades in school were always mediocre, and I don't want to even imagine doing another grammar test..." She never liked much of it and was almost always bored or uninterested.

"That kind of formal schooling was never my cup of tea either." Marshal gave a wry smile as he recalled his own time in the Academy. "My peers at the time thought me as little more than a muscle-bound warrior, though I took that as a compliment!" He laughed.

"I've never seen a proper Noble School, but I can imagine what it's like based on some of the things I've read." Akagi was referring to Manga and Anime.

{Though in fairness the Imperial Academy in FWO was also based on those tropes so...} (Akagi)

"Your sources are a bit embellished, but I wouldn't say they were entirely inaccurate." Marshal said as he lit up another cigarette. "As Nobles of the Empire, our duty was to become educated and competent members of the Aristocracy. That way, we could contribute to the Empire's continued prosperity." He let out a puff. "My wife understood running territory better than I ever could, and I was glad that she could handle all the politics." He gave a quiet laugh as he recalled his time with her.

"I wish I could've saved her." Akagi said with a somber expression. "That's just another instance of me not being quick enough, I'm sorry." She'd always regretted her inability to save Marshal's wife and children. At the time she was so busy with other things going on, namely the massive chaos in the Empire due to Silfana's invasion, that she was unable to reach them before their execution.

"I've told you this before, and I'll tell you a million more times until you get it through your head. You have nothing to apologize for, Akagi." Marshal shook his head. "Things moved too fast for even you to keep up. Not to mention that neither of us expected my family to be executed when they thought I was dead." The story was that Marshal had perished in battle, but even still the Imperial Court condemned his failure to protect Hassan, and a faction within the Imperial Military that disliked him for his high standing among the troops moved to paint him as an incompetent and traitor. His family was swiftly arrested, tried, and executed, prompting him to accept Akagi's deal and join her ranks. "At the very least, you saw to it that the men behind my family's murder were dealt with, not to mention that you gave me a reason to live on." He took the cigarette out of his mouth, holding it between his fingers.

"Tell me, are you upset that I didn't even think about reviving Rosa?" Akagi looked him dead in the eyes. "It would've been possible." She could've chosen her rather than Miji, but for obvious reasons, never even considered it.

"I won't deny that I was briefly perturbed, but I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my mind." Marshal nodded slowly as he explained. "It was your choice to make, and I know damn well that if you could've brought back everyone... That you would've..." He paused. "But at the end of the day, you chose to revive the one single person that would bring the woman you love happiness..." He gave a warm smile. "So how could I ever be angry at you for doing something like that? And I know that if Rosa could speak to us right now that she'd agree."

{She would've been angry with me for even thinking of making that kind of selfish request.} (Marshal)

His words echoed through the darkness, and there was a long period of silence before Akagi finally spoke.

"And what about Silfana?" Akagi asked about the Vampire. "I can't imagine that you happy knowing that she escaped death, and you can't just be okay working with the woman who indirectly got your wife killed."

{After all, had Silfana not attacked, then Marshal wouldn't have been disgraced.} (Akagi)

"The Lord of Vampires..." Marshal mused as he took another puff from his cigarette. "I'd heard the stories about her for most of my life. About how she sought to destroy the Empire and how she wanted to enslave humanity." He shifted his jaw in thought. "When I fought her briefly, I could tell there was conviction behind each of her blows... But... at the time I could feel something else..." His words drifted off.

"Sadness." Akagi finished for him, understanding what he was getting at.

"Yes." Marshal nodded. "Silfana was angry at having her birthright stolen from her, and I honestly can't blame her for feeling betrayed. She only ever wanted to help her people, but she was driven out by those she trusted..." He was made aware of the true story behind who and what Silfana was after she was brought to the estate. He'd heard rumors about her origins as some kind of disaffected Royal, and due to the harsh censorship placed on any such information, he'd assumed there to be a kernel of truth within such rumors. However, upon hearing the full story, Marshal could only feel sympathy for the Vampire. "I won't make excuses for the lives she took, and I can't imagine that Silfana would either, but to be entirely honest with you, I don't harbor any negative feelings toward her." To him, she was just another victim of Imperial politics, and he couldn't bring himself to blame her for his family's death.

"She's a character, that's for sure." Akagi laughed. "Though the same could easily be said about me."

"That does beg one question though." Marshal said as he put out his cigarette. "What do you intend to do with her?" He asked about Akagi's future plans for the former Imperial Princess. "I can't imagine someone like you being content to keep her as a simple advisor, and we both know that for all her personality issues, Silfana's value far exceeds such a position."

{She's the rightful Empress and was groomed to lead the Empire to glory. It might have been a nation of monsters, but she led a single nation for centuries, and had it not been for Hishya and the other players, she would've reclaimed her birthright by force. I know My Lady well enough to understand that she always has a scheme going on in the background, and I'm wise enough to know that she intends to use Silfana as a valuable pawn.} (Marshal)

"What to do with the vampy? What to do indeed." Akagi chuckled. "Well, we have a former Royal who is more than capable of ruling an entire nation. So, you tell me what I want her to do?" Her lips curved into a wicked smile. "I'm sure a man like yourself is smart enough to figure it out."