The Red Hand

Chapter 252 – A Break in the Action.

"And now we see the reason that Mika shouldn't have superpowers..." Kana sighed as she looked at the devastated arena. Mika's blast had destroyed a large portion of it, and things were paused while Shiru and the repair crew got to work. "I worry that one day she may do something stupid like this in a more populated area."

{She could've wiped out a huge chunk of Kyoto if she unleashed that in downtown... Why did Onee-chan give her power like this...} (Kana)

"She definitely made a bang, that's for sure." Naomi chuckled. "And she did better than I expected, so maybe we should be a bit nicer to her. At least congratulate her before scolding her, Kana." She figured that a bit of praise was in order.

"Why are you assuming that I'm going to scold her?" Kana rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to tell her to be careful in the future, that's all."

{What am I, the nagging Mom of the group?!?} (Kana)

"So you're going to scold her." Naomi laughed and received an arm pinch in return. "OWCH!"

"That's what you get for sassing me." Kana smirked as Naomi missed a return pinch.

"Momo, get her!" Naomi called for backup while rubbing her arm.

"I'm not suicidal, so I'll have to decline." Momo sighed, not wanting to be involved in the stupidity.

"Aren't you supposed to protect me?!?" Naomi pouted.

"Against foes that I can defeat, sure. Against that, no..." Momo replied.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm being insulted in some way by that comment?" Kana asked.

"Don't worry about it too much." Himari giggled. "It's a form of endearment, I assure you!"

"And you saying that only makes me more sure that Momo's words are anything but." Kana sighed.

{Why must even Himari...} (Kana)

"I suppose being feared comes with the territory of being the Demon Princess." Hishya snickered as she entered the booth with a drink in hand.

"There you are." Kana said as Hishya rested her elbows on her head. "Are you sure it's a good idea for you to be walking around? You seemed to be in pretty bad shape." Hishya still had a few bandages on her face and arms, but seemed to be fine.

"Eh, I'll be fine." Hishya shrugged, not thinking her injuries were that bad. "I drank a couple of potions and had some healing magic cast on me. I'm not at 100%, but I should be good for the next fight." Akagi was more confident that returnees and those from Enoris could handle potions and magical healing without major issues, though she was still advising caution.

"I guess you'll be fighting Alice next, right?" Kana asked as she looked up at her. "I have a feeling that's going to be an interesting match."

{Is it bad that I kinda want to see Alice toss my girlfriend around a bit?} (Kana)

"Considering Alice already gave me a nice glare when she visited me in the infirmary, yeah." Hishya gave a wry smile. She could tell that Alice wasn't going to hold back and that the girl was coming for her. "She wants to pay me back for FWO and for some of the crap I pulled back then. So I can guarantee she'll be gunning for me, and this is the perfect opportunity for her to get back at me."

{And I bet she has some nasty surprises for me like Tiball did...} (Hishya)

"I still can't believe that she beat Eris." Naomi commented. "I knew Alice was powerful, but defeating an opponent who should've countered her so completely was surprising." She figured that Alice wouldn't last very long in such a fight.

"Alice is much more resilient and skilled than you think." Yumi commented, looking away from a data pad that had all kind of information on it. "Before she left the Assault Team, Alice was always involved with clearing dungeon floors and was generally well-regarded for her skills. Not to mention that having the ability to use so many summons simultaneously sets her apart from any of the other summoners."

"Yeah, Wexel was basically just used for scouting, and we know how well it went when she was forced into direct conflict with other players." Hishya sighed.

{The poor girl never had a chance. I'd at least like to know what Elna and the others did to her body so that she can be laid to rest.} (Hishya)

"Question." Naomi looked over at Hishya.

"Answer." Hishya responded with a giggle.

"How did the arena get so blown up by Mika when you and Tiball used way more power?" Naomi was genuinely curious about that since it seemed strange, and Hishya thought for a moment before answering. 

"Honestly, it's because Mika has poor control over her power." She said as she swung around to the opposite side of the chair and took a seat. "Mika just pumped everything she had into that blast and didn't really try and limit its effects on the surrounding environment."

{Which, as we just saw, is a bad idea.} (Hishya)

"But, is it really possible for you to have that kind of control in the middle of a fight?" Naomi thought such control and worry would only limit your power.

"Well, yeah. Of course we can." Hishya nodded. "It's just a side effect of having experience with our powers. We know damn well what kind of collateral damage we can cause with our abilities, so we're generally pretty careful. It's not like we can completely negate damage to the area around us, as you've seen, but we try our best not to just explode everything." She'd made sure not to destroy too much of Nagoya when she fought Gim and Grim for this exact reason.

"So even when Tiball did that big Nova you two were being careful enough not to detonate the entire arena?" Kana chimed in.

"Yes. The last thing either of us want is to harm anyone nearby or actually kill each other, Kana." Hishya replied. "Trust me, if a fight was truly to the death, then I imagine that the surrounding area would look like a war zone." She'd seen such things before and wasn't keen on seeing it again. "Akagi is the same. Though unlike us, she seems like she can control the level of destruction completely."

"Yeah, I don't think I've really seen Onee-chan destroy anything that she wasn't intending to." Kana thought back and didn't recall her sister's attacks doing much damage to her surroundings.

"Well, Akagi also doesn't really fight with big explosions." Yumi commented, looking up from her datapad again. "She tends to get up close and personal with her blade, and even then, it's usually done in such a way that the target has no time to react." Akagi's fighting style changed a bit after unlocking her power as the Demon Lord, but her main method of fighting remained roughly the same.

"Akagi in serious mode is fucking scary." Hishya gave a nervous laugh. "During one of our 'hunts' where we tried to track her down, she took down one of our scouts before any of us knew what happened."

{From our perspective, he just died for no reason. That was the scariest night of my life since we were all too afraid to sleep.} (Hishya)

"I'm now wondering what 'serious mode' means for her, considering she seemed pretty serious when she wiped out Libra." Naomi commented.

"That but far scarier." Hishya shrugged. "The only thing worse is when she gets truly angry." She'd seen it before and prayed that she never saw it again.

"Onee-chan can get pretty bad, but I don't think it's that bad." Kana didn't understand Hishya's true meaning.

"That's because you haven't seen it." Hishya shook her head vigorously. "Your sister hasn't gotten proper pissed since we got back, and trust me you don't want to see that side of her."

{God have mercy on us all if it comes to that now that she's a Demon Lord.} (Hishya)

"How bad could it possibly be?" Kana asked with a minor laugh.

"Far worse than you can even imagine." Yumi answered as she put the pad to her side. "I've only seen it once, and that was when some idiots decided to take Chloe hostage." She gave a nervous laugh. "Let's just say those fools never got a moment to regret their life choices."

{They threatened to do unspeakable things to the cat and Akagi... Well she came KNOCKING...} (Yumi)

"What, does she crack even stupider one-liners?" Kana laughed. “Or does she start monologuing and singing like some kind of villain?” She figured both were right up her sister's ally.

"Rather, she doesn't speak at all." Hishya's glare turned sharp. "I got to see that side of her in the same event that Yumi mentioned, and I'd rather go the rest of time without ever seeing it again." She'd explained this once before, but in less detail.

{Those fucking eyes man... It was as if they were entirely devoid of EVERYTHING...} (Hishya)

"Huh. I know that she can get really angry, but I just can't picture what you're talking about." Kana couldn't imagine her sister being anything but eccentric during a fight since that was how she was during her takedown of Libra."

"It's not exactly easy for me to describe. Just know that if your sister ever stops talking during a fight, that something is truly wrong." Hishya shivered as she recalled Akagi on that day. "My fear of her was born from both our encounter at Hassan and what I saw the day she wiped out Jeraldo and his team." She shook her head. "That was before she became a Demon Lord, and I can scarcely imagine what she'd be like now." Hishya took a deep breath. "But enough about that. I don't want to lose sleep tonight and have nightmares.” She pushed that memory out of her mind. “I caught part of Mika's fight with Chloe and I was pleasantly surprised that she managed to even put up somewhat of a fight against that cat."

"That crazy idiot didn't go down without a fight, that's for sure." Kana sighed. "I still think it was a stupid idea for her to enter this. I know that killing isn't allowed, but she could've been seriously hurt."

"Chloe isn't stupid enough to actually harm Mika in any serious way." Yumi pointed out that Chloe only struck her once with a Kunai. "If she took this fight seriously, then Mika would've been done for in the first few seconds. I suspect our resident ninja cat wanted to play with Mika for a bit and see what she could do."

{Not to mention that if she'd actually harmed Mika, Akagi would've made her regret it.} (Yumi)

"I'm really looking forward to seeing her fight Superbia. That's going to be a good fight." Hishya snickered.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Naomi asked.

"I want to say Superbia since I know how strong she is, but Chloe is a bit of a special case among the former NPCs." Hishya pursed her lips as she thought. "That cat has gotten plenty stronger since I fought her in-game. She beat Sabia and Merkyul in a 2v1, and I suspect she's gotten some good magical items courtesy of her Demon master."

"Maybe she'll end up beating you!" Kana laughed. "The Dragon shall be felled by the cat! I'd love to see it!"

"Nice. My girlfriend is rooting for my defeat." Hishya lightly bopped her on the head.

"Well, if you don't want me to enjoy some laughter at your expense, then all you need to do is win the whole thing!" Kana snickered.

"Oh, don't you worry, I will." Hishya said.

{I need to. That way, I can hopefully keep our resident Demon Lord in check if it ever comes down to it.} (Hishya)