The Red Hand

Chapter 267 – Zephiria v Halifax.

"Yes, Yes, Yes, Alight, Alright. I'll schedule a meeting later today, so don't worry about it until then. Just have everything ready for the assigned time. We have a strict schedule and our clients are already getting anxious with the deadline approaching." Yumi said as she stood in the special VIP booth overlooking the newly rebuilt arena while speaking to somebody on the phone. "Once things are in motion, you know our Lord will tolerate no failure, nor will I. There's far too much at risk here, so make sure that all of the targets are dealt with before the allotted time. Chloe will be joining you shortly, so please follow her directions once she gets to Seoul. Good luck." She hung up and moved back to her seat, her face showed that an inordinate amount of information was flickering through her mind as she sat back down.

"Do I even want to know why the cat will be in South Korea?" Kana had a bad feeling about Yumi's call.

{I doubt she's going on vacation or to get some authentic Korean Barbecue.} (Kana)

"No, and I can't tell you." Yumi gave a wry smile. "This operation is highly classified, so I can't discuss it with you, even if you are a Princess of Dumetor." She snickered. Kana never liked being called by that title.

"..." Kana glared at Yumi, unable or unwilling to retort. She was actually considered as such due to Akagi creating laws on such things, though it was little more than an honorary title at this point in time.

{Princess...} (Kana)

"I swear, Kana's never going to get over that!" Mika laughed. "I think she's trying her hardest to purge that notion from her mind!" She enjoyed picking at her over her Princess status, much to Kana's displeasure.

"I don't know about that." Naomi mused. "She already has the Royal attitude via Scary Kana, so I think she's getting into her role."

"Keep it up, and Scary Kana will become my full-time." Kana grumbled.

"Yesss. Yesss! Embrace your dark side! Allow the hate to flow through you!" Alice snickered. "Join me as the Evil Princess you were always meant to be! Together we can rule the world as Aunt and Niece!"

{I have many things I could comment about you being an Evil Princess, but they would probably have Onee-chan breathing down my neck, so let's not... Also... DON'T CALL ME YOUR AUNT! IT MAKES ME FEEL OLD!} (Kana)

"Can't I at least be the nice Princess that everyone loves?" Kana gave a defeated sigh.

"Impossible." (Mika x Naomi x Alice)

"I think you'll have to settle for being the Princess who acts nice on the outside but secretly has a torture dungeon in her basement." Mika laughed.

"I don't torture people!" Kana protested her claims.

"Oh? But I seem to recall you telling us a story about stabbing a kid with lead pencils in kindergarten." Naomi smirked as she gave a retelling of the incident in question.

"That's because he kept stealing my bocks! And I was like five!" Kana pouted.

{And I only stabbed him a few times! He was a big crybaby! It was only a little blood!} (Kana)

"At this rate, Kana might turn Hishya into her little pet that she 'punishes' for her own enjoyment." Yumi giggled, her comment causing Mika and Naomi to explode in laughter.

"Oh my god! I could totally see it! Hishya would be trained to carry a leash in her mouth when she wants to go outside, and Kana would have all kinds of instruments to inflict pain on her!" Mika was nearly doubled over in laughter as she imagined what kind of crazy things Kana would force the Dragon to do for her.

"What kind of perverted mind do you people have to think of these things?!?" Kana exclaimed.

{Hishya bit me when I even joked about a leash! She'd never let me take her out with a collar, let alone do anything like that! Besides, that stupid lizard is definitely more of a Sadist than I am!} (Kana)

"Why do you even know about that stuff anyway, Mika?" Kana asked about why the high school girl was aware of that stuff. "Don't tell me your girlfriends are into that stuff?!?"

{Or god forbid, SHE is!} (Kana)

"The internet is a fun place." Mika smiled, allowing Kana's imagination to fill in the gaps.

"Yes, Yes it is." Yumi nodded, knowing that she and Mika were kindred spirits in that department.

"Why are all of my friends perverts?" Kana groaned.

"Wait, are you including me?!?" Naomi protested being included with the two idiots.

"Yes. You are a pervert by proxy." Kana answered, rolling her eyes.

"That's not fair! My head isn't in the gutter like these two!" Naomi thought it was unfair that she was being lumped in.

"And yet you understood everything we were talking about." Mika said smugly.

"I..." Naomi looked away, embarrassed. "Fuck you all..."

"I rest my case." Kana rolled her eyes again. "But anyway, it looks like the last match is starting, so let's end this topic." She had no interest in talking about things like that with her friends in public or private.

{It's funny how hard Kana here tries to remain pure. Did she forget that I was with her during the trip to Tokyo where she bought all kinds of fun books?} (Mika)

_____________________________________________________________________________

As Halifax and Zephiria took their positions at the center of the arena, they could feel the expectations and energy from the incredible amount of digital watchers. Hishya and Superbia's duel had captivated the world, and the number of views on the official Dumetor Channel had quickly climbed to one of the most viewed videos in human history.

With so much hype for the final battle before the Grand Finals tomorrow, both women were a bit nervous to have so much expectations placed upon them as they prepared for their bout. Though at the same time, knowing just how many people were watching them caused a swell of excitement within both.

"So, we have to compete with such a crazy headliner." Zephiria laughed quietly as she stood opposite her opponent. "I suppose we'll have to give the people a good show lest they start booing us in disappointment."

"Hishya and Superbia really did a crazy thing, didn't they?" Halifax sighed. "They should've restrained themselves a bit more. I've seen my fair share of battles that shook the very ground, but those tended to be of the world-ending kind, not in this kind of setting." Her own fights were typically of the latter variety.

{Those two really are idiots, aren't they? Though I must admit that it makes me even more excited to fight that Dragon. I wonder if she can handle it if I go all out? Perhaps I can even convince Akagi to let her transform for the big battle.} (Halifax)

"I'd recommend that you focus on me rather than let your mind slip to Hishya." Zephiria warned as she made a grimoire appear in her hand. "Focusing too much on the future when the present is uncertain is something that far too many Divination Mages fall prey to, and it would be unwise for you to make the same mistake." She chuckled.

"Was I that easy to read?" Halifax gave a dry laugh. "My apologies, such thoughts are disrespectful to you. Though I will be defeating you regardless."

"Well, I hope your assertions are based on more than just your ability to see the immediate future." Zephiria smirked. She'd independently figured out what Halifax was doing via her own analysis and was intrigued by the limits of true precognition. "As my Master once told me, seeing the future and being able to do anything about it are fundamentally two different things." Her plan was to make such information useless and box Halifax into lose-lose senarios.

"Oh, trust me, I don't need to see the future in order to defeat you." Halifax smiled.

{I suppose this will be an even more interesting battle than expected.} (Halifax)

"This will be the final match of the day and will conclude the Semi-Finals." Kira started speaking to the audience. "The winner of this match will face Hishya tomorrow morning in the Grand Finals for the right to request one wish from Lady Akagi." She looked between the two women, knowing that this match was to be as equally destructive as the last. "Are the contestants ready?"

"Let's do it!" (Halifax x Zephiria)

"Good, then let us bring the Semi-Finals to a close! Contestants, begin!" Kira started the match, and instantly, Zephira began with a bang.

"Quickened Spell, Maximized Magic, Twinned Spell... Annihilation!" Zephiria spread her arms apart, each crackling with green energy that ran up her forearms, ending at the tips of her fingers before she thrust both forward, unleashing a green blast of energy that went straight toward Halifax.

The attack was fast but not so much as to render Halifax's ability moot. The Divine Blade's eyes glowed for a moment, and from her perspective, she saw all of Zephiria's coming actions as a faint afterimage that moved a few seconds before she did anything. With this advanced knowledge and her own speed, Halifax easily dodged the incoming blast which proceeded to scream across the arena and vaporize a massive chuck of the spectator seating before disappearing.

{We just fixed that wall...} (Kira)

"Weren't you worried that might kill me?" Halifax gave a nervous chuckle as she glanced at the damage.

{I see we're starting off strong. Good.} (Halifax)

"Lets just call it a reflex check." Zephiria smiled before letting go of her grimoire and allowing it to float in front of her. "The real onslaught is yet to come." She clapped her hands which caused dozens of tomes to appear at her side, each floating in the air around her, several feet apart. "Now, let's see just how far we can push that annoying little ability of yours." She grinned as the books began opening to different pages, each crackling with copious amounts of magical energy. "Magical Vault, release your first seal!" At these words each of the books began flittering through their pages before landing on a desired spell. "Now, let's see how you handle a real mage." Zephiria snapped her fingers, unleashing countless different spells toward Halifax. Some of them ripped up the arena underneath her, causing plants and other difficult terrain to appear, while others launched a variety of attacks ranging from fiery explosions to massive gusts of wind that made typhoons look tame.

As the ground erupted underneath her, Halifax was forced to leap into the air and onto the massive of vines and other plant growth, with each step being fraught with danger as the very ground she walked on attacked her with thorns, vines, and other similar features while also dodging the numerous blasts of air and fire.

"Quite a nice repertoire of spells you have there!" Halifax laughed as she bounced between vines and thorns, avoiding the many explosions and shock waves that came at her. "But you'll need to do better if you want to have a chance of stopping me!" She wagged her finger.

After landing on a relatively flat piece of root, Halifax quickly disposed of the attacking vines and incoming needles with a quick slash of her blade before kicking off the ground and heading straight for the caster herself. "I hope you don't think a simple magical shield will stop me!" She rushed forward but unexpectedly slammed into an invisible wall, causing her to bounce backward in the air just in time for a barrage of plant growth the launch spikes at her.

{A barrier?!?} (Halifax)

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't take more precautions?" Zephiria laughed as Halifax swatted away the incoming attack and carved through more vines that attacked her. "I have several dozen spell books active, each with a collection of spells that would make even the highest Court Mages in your world green with envy." She snapped her fingers again, causing one of the books to flitter its pages. "Now then, let's make things a bit more interesting in there. Maximize Magic! Ice Prison!" An icey blast erupted from one of the books, streaking toward the mess of vines and the numerous explosions that assailed Halifax.

If it wasn't already hard to maneuver for the Divine Blade, then the added temperature drop and the subsequent appearance of both slippery surfaces and randomly appearing walls of ice didn't make things any easier. Each time she tried to maneuver towards the edge of the plant-covered area, she was quickly blocked by a wall of ice that was as hard as tungsten, and with the limited time Halifax had to move before the onslaught of plant attacks, she didn't have the chance to destroy the obstacles in her path.

"Good, she's slowed down, but with those techniques of hers, I imagine she'll pull something out of her hat sooner rather than later." Zephiria sighed as she had one of the spell books change its pages again. "So, let's try some Delayed Detonation!" She called out another spell, but nothing seemed to happen.

"MORE FUCKING SPELLS?!?" Halifax complained as she continued her attempt to break free of the prison of plants and ice that wouldn't relent. "What does this one-" However, before she could finish her question, Halifax set foot on one of the many large roots, and could feel a build-up of magic energy under her foot. "Shit!" She cursed, knowing what was about to happen, and moments later, a massive explosion went off underneath her, engulfing her in flame.

"There we go!" Zephiria smiled. "We finally got in some damage!"

The explosion kicked up a small dust cloud which was pierced by Halifax, who leaped away, continuing to dodge or destroy the vines that chased her. She wasn't visibly damaged, but it was clear that the attack had at least caused the Sword to become mildly shaken.

{How much magic does this girl have if she can keep all this up at the same time?!? Even some of the best casters I've known who had thousands of years of experience couldn't do something this intensive for this long!} (Halifax)

"Still want more?" Zephiria laughed as Halifax continued to run into her hidden explosions, and it was becoming evident that she couldn't keep up her dodging while also looking out for hidden land mines.

"Owch!" Halifax winced in pain as a vine scraped her shoulder. Her ability to see in the future was incredibly powerful, but it did nothing to tell her where the hidden bombs were and there were simply too many things going on for her to react to it all effectively. "Dammit. There's far too much going on at once." She clicked her tongue. "I suppose it's time I stopped messing about and got serious." Saying this, Halifax landed on one of the roots, and just as a large amount of vines were about to converge on her position she unleashed one of her techniques. "Fiftieth Form of the Divine Blade: Astéri!" In an instant, Halifax's entire body was covered in flame, and her hair and eyes turned into the same deep red color as Eris'. "Now, let's burn it all away..." She took a deep breath, placing her blade vertically in the air above her head. "Supernova." With one quiet word, a massive amount of air rushed toward her, causing the plants and ice to come loose from their moorings as they were sucked in.

{What?!?} (Zephiria)

Covered in all manners of plant life and pieces of the arena, it seemed as if Halifax was crushed by her own technique, but that was far from the truth as moments later her technique's namesake occurred as all the energy that collapsed inward rebounded in a massive explosion that not only knocked out all electronic communication in the nearby area but even caused an aurora borealis in the sky above.

Akagi's power managed to shield both the arena and its onlookers from harm, but the electromagnetic storm caused by such a violent explosion meant that the rest of this fight would not be broadcast to the wider world.

"Fhew! I haven't had to use that one since the Undead Hordes of the Under came pouring into the surface world." Halifax slowly floated down to the wrecked arena, her burning red hair reverting back to normal. "But it seems that its effectiveness hasn't lessened with disuse." She laughed, looking around at the absolute destruction that she'd unleashed.

Most of the arena, including the spectator seating had been either damaged or completely destroyed with pockets being unharmed due to Akagi protecting those within and/or their stuff. From her commentator seat, Akagi was laughing her ass off, not having expected such a powerful attack, while Silfana was completely stunned.

"Drop a nuke why don't you?" Zephiria was encased in a thick magical shield, though her countless spellbooks had vanished due to the massive blast. “Do you have any idea how long it's going to take for me to rewrite all those spell books? "She clicked her tongue in irritation.

{That's at least a weeks worth of effort!} (Halifx)

"Hey." Halifax laughed as she spun her blade around playfully. "You brought your toys to this fight, so don't get mad when I break them." She smirked before zipping forward at high speed, getting right on top of Zephiria. "Now, let's see how much it takes to pop that little bubble!" She slammed her blade down on Zephiria's thick shield, making a very scary noise.

*CRACK*

{It shouldn't do that after one blow...} Zephiria started to panic, as with each strike by Halifax, her protective shield slowly began to crack and crumble.

"Come on out, little mage!" Halifax laughed as she continued to pound on the shield. "I promise I'll make it quick and painless!" Her eyes told the mage that she'd only do one of those two things, and she figured that it wasn't the second.

"I'd rather not, thank you very much." Zephiria snapped her fingers, teleporting to a point that she thought was far enough away, only to have Halifax appear right next to her and continue her attacks.

"Remember, I can see into the future, and with my speed, you can't escape me with teleportation magic!" Halifax roared as she slammed down on the shield, causing it to shatter into a mist of magical energy.

{Oh fuck...} (Zephiria)

"Now, let's end things!" Halifax struck at Zephiria, intending to do just enough damage to knock her out, but to her absolute shock, when her blade collided with Zephiria's chest, it bounced straight off.

*CLANG*

{WHAT?!?} Halifax was surprised, and Zephiria's face showed both relief and joy.

{Thank god for Invulnerability! Too bad I can't cast that again for a while, but hey, protection from one move, no matter the damage is pretty good!} Zephiria had placed this on herself while Halifax was busy in her cage, and taking advantage of Halifax's surprise, she extended her hands out before forming them into a cone just below Halifax's breastbone. "Maximize Magic! Prismatic Vista!" Zephiria cast one of her most powerful spells, blasting a rainbow of color that engulfed Halifax. Prismatic Vista was of the highest level of spells that a Mage could cast and was essentially a wall of energy with each different band of light giving a different effect ranging from damage the target to restraining and blinding those who touch it.

As the rainbow of doom blasted into the air, Zephiria took the opportunity to disengage and put some distance between herself and where she suspected Halifax would pop out.

{That spell would be enough to vaporize anyone else, but I have a feeling that this girl will probably get out alive.} (Zephiria)

"How's that?" Zephiria said through deep breaths. "I'd imagine even you don't like to taste the fucking rainbow!" She laughed but was struggling to breathe or stay standing. Using this many high-powered spells over and over again had dramatically drained her reserves, and despite her high amount of magic power, this battle was requiring her to use a lot more of it than she'd expected.

{I better take this chance and recover, even just a bit.} Zephira focused on her internal magical energy and added some of Akagi's power to it. It acted like a small booster and helped her recover at least a portion of her maximum amount of magic.

"Ugh..." Zephiria became dizzy and nauseous as some of her magical power returned. "Yeah... That still makes me sick." She nearly puked but managed to hold it in. Akagi's power was incredibly potent, but using it to essentially generate mana was not very kind to her body. Not to mention that she'd used some of it to amp up Prismatic Vista, which was also taking its toll on her.

"I have only myself to blame there. Your little attack got me good. I saw it coming, but it really was too quick for me to get out of the way." Halifax stepped out of the dust cloud that had kicked out after the rainbow disappeared. "And I'd imagine it was mostly because Akagi's power was involved."

"Oh shit..." Zephiria's eyes went wide as she looked at Halifax. "Are... Are you ok?" Halifax was missing her right arm as well as part of her shoulder and upper torso. Her hair was singed on that same side, and a good part of her face was burnt as well. "We... We really should get Akagi or something." Zephiria started panicking thinking that she'd fucked up big time, and even Kira thought that she was about to watch the Divine Blade perish.

{I THOUGHT SHE COULD HANDLE IT, I SWEAR!} (Zephiria)

As she watched Zephiria panic, Halifax laughed. "Ah, this?" She pointed to her missing arm. "Don't worry, I've seen worse." She shrugged with her other shoulder, and after taking a moment to readjust the flow of magic in her body, Halifax quickly regenerated and repaired all the damage she'd taken. However, this was not at zero cost, as repair of her magical body required a great deal of energy after that attack.

"Much better, but I think I'll miss the old arm." Halifax rotated her shoulder and flexed her newly formed fingers. "I suppose it will take a moment to break it in, but I've got you to help with that." She giggled.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?" Zephiria screamed profanity at the top of her lungs, Kira doing the same. "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU REGENERATE FROM THAT?!? ARE YOU AKAGI?!?"

{THE FUCK?!? EVEN I COULDN'T GET REGEN THAT GOOD! WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN?!?} (Zephiria)

"As a funny picture that Akagi showed me once said." Halifax smiled. "I'm just built different."

{Akagi, you showed the otherworldly lady memes, and she used one on me... I feel like I just lost...} (Zephiria)

"Ok, well." Zephiria smacked her cheeks to refocus. "If you can regenerate from that, then I guess I don't need to worry about killing you anymore." She figured that she should stop holding back at this point.

“I mean, you're more than welcome to try." Halifax brushed her hair out of the way, and winked.

{Yeaaaaah. If Vista didn't KO her, and she just shrugged it off with regen, then there's really only one option left for me...} Zephiria took a deep breath and readied herself for Halifax's next move, but that would prove to be a fatal mistake.

"First Form of the Divine Blade: Fos. "Halifax began spinning her blade in a circle until it was moving so fast that Zephiria could hardly see it. Her eyes and hair turned stark white, and a moment later, she was gone, flashing forward at a speed so fast that only Akagi could see her move.

"H-Holy fuck..." Zephiria's entire body trembled. Halifax was frozen in mid-air, her blade just inches from plowing throw her chest. "I... I really didn't think it would work..." She gulped, but found her mouth dry from fear. "But it looks like it worked... Now to just get the fuck away from the scary faster-than-light lady and start work on my big attack." Zephiria scuttled away from the still-frozen Halifax, planning to take advantage of her opportunity and secure the win.

{This shit creeps me the fuck out no matter how many times I see it.} Zephiria looked around the arena, seeing the few spectators that were still visible similarly frozen. In fact, the only person who wasn't on pause was Akagi, who had a massive smirk on her face.

"Yeah, fucking Demon Lord and being immune to time-pausing magic." Zephiria grumbled about Akagi's ability to ignore such an effect. In FWO, there was a spell called Stop that was basically magic that paused time, at least according to its flavor text. Since that wasn't possible for obvious technical limitations, the in-game spell reduced the speed of nearby enemies to near zero and effectively made them sitting ducks. The only downside was that not only was Stop an extremely magic-intensive spell, but it would also drop if you attacked/harmed anyone while it was up. This was done to prevent you from exploiting it too hard, but Zephiria could use this opportunity to set up different spells and buffs.

"Alright." Zephiria moved far enough away to feel comfortable. "Now to just cast every fucking buff in the book and-" She paused, blood dripping from her mouth as Halifax's blade was rammed through her stomach.

"Good try, but that kind of stuff doesn't really work on me." Halifax smiled, her snow-white hair getting slightly stained with blood.

"H-How?!?" Zephiria collapsed forward, time returning to normal as she fell to the arena floor with a thud. "I...I stopped time!" She said, coughing up blood.

"And that would've worked too, if not for the fact that I'm a bit acquainted with that type of power." Halifax stuck out her tongue as her appearance reverted to normal.

"W-What are you?" Zephiria asked, barely conscious.

"Me? I'm just a simple adventurer, that's all." Halifax smiled, not wanting to give her the real answer.

"Y-Yeah right..." Zephiria passed out, and the match was called, with Akagi quickly moving Zephiria to get medical attention.

"Winner... Halifax!" A confused Kira called the match. From her perspective Halifax charged Zephiria only to take her down at a different part of the arena, so she had no idea what happened. "I suppose there's no need to do any more discussion. That blast of yours took away our audience.” The live feed was still down so it was pointless to do anything more in the meantime.

"Heh-Heh. Sorry about that." Halifax said as she nervously rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I may have gotten a bit carried away."

{A bit?!?} (Kira)

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<Elariel POV>

"That was a massive release of power." Elariel stood alone in an all-white space with a massive red magic circle floating in front of her. She was performing the finishing touches on the portal that would take Enoris' Heroes to Earth and it was nearly time for them to go about their new mission. The other Gods had left this portion up to her, and the moment Halifax's Supernova went off, she knew that her 'daughter' was in some kind of intense battle.

"No, I just need to focus. It's nearly time for the Heroes to cross..." Elariel shook her head. “She'll be fine...”

{Halifax, what is going on in that other world that would warrant the use of such power? Were you unable to find allies? Did the Spirits attack you?} Elariel feared that her plan was doomed and that Halifax had failed. {Please, be safe...}