The Red Hand

Chapter 102 –  The Beginning of the Feast.

Hishya and Akagi took off from the estate not long after her speech. With her new powers, Akagi could now fly by using her energy, so the journey was much quicker than it otherwise would have been. In fact, Akagi had to slow down since Hishya had a hard time keeping up at first. As the two flew side by side towards Nagoya, Hishya asked a question.

"So what exactly are you going to do?" Hishya had only been told to come along and stream what was about to happen.

"I told you, I'm going to show the entire world just what happens if they mess with me. I'm done pulling punches and playing nice." Akagi said with a serious expression. "I am quite tolerant, Hishya. But harming Yumi is something I have no patience for, and I want the entire world to understand that involving her is a good way for humanity to be exterminated."

"And so you want me to stream you killing Libra? To scare the entire planet?" Hishya asked.

{That's crazy overboard. I mean I get being pissed, but is it really necessary to go this far?} (Hishya)

"Basically," Akagi nodded. "I'm about to show them just what kind of being I am and what it means to fight me. I will warn you. Things are going to be graphic and well... I might be just a slight bit angry, so yeah."

"Only a bit? Funny, the aura coming off you seems to imply you're fucking pissed." Hishya rolled her eyes. "I would ask you not to go too far, but I can tell that you wouldn't listen to me anyway. So I'll just ask you to keep me and the rest of the innocent people out of your little rampage."

"I'll keep my emotions in check, right now my only target is those fools in Libra. As for the rest of humanity? Let's just say that if all goes well, people will come to understand me just how you have." Akagi looked back at her. "You were the first person to glimpse me at Hassan, and I want everyone to see what you did that night."

{Its time to drop the act. If I'm going to crack open humanities thick skull, I'm going to have to use a big hammer. No more Ms. nice Demon.} (Akagi)

"I just hope people finally understand what I've been saying all these months and leave you alone. I'd prefer the planet I live on not be turned into an empty wasteland." Hishya groaned.

"I hope so too. Contrary to my power and status, what I want is peace and quiet. I don't want conflict with humanity and, if possible, I want to live peacefully with Yumi and my people." Akagi chuckled. "At this point, that includes you too, my future sister-in-law."

"I have a feeling if I tried backing out on Kana, I'd find myself facing a little bit more than an angry older sister." Hishya gave a nervous laugh.

Akagi didn't answer and instead let out an eerie laugh.

"What about Alice?" Hishya recalled that she was still part of Libra. "What are you going to do with her?"

"I already worked out a deal for two members of Libra," Akagi replied. "They'll be releasing them into my custody."

"That's good." Hishya smiled. "But wait, two members of Libra? Who's the other?"She quickly got confused.

Akagi thought for a moment before answering, deciding whether or not to be completely honest. Birdy's identity as her spy had already been given to the Japanese and American governments during negotiation, thus, her ability to act as a deep cover agent was already finished. But that was fine, so Akagi figured there was no harm in telling Hishya about her since she'd just find out later.

"The second is Birdy. She's my undercover agent." Akagi continued. "I had her join Libra to keep tabs on them, just like how I had her infiltrate the Assault Team." Akagi looked back at the stunned face of Hishya. The dragon girl knew Birdy quite well, so this came as a shock.

"Birdy was the mole?!?" Hishya exclaimed. "How! Why! And..... ughhhhh."

"She did a pretty good job, huh?" Akagi laughed. "You guys never suspected a thing."

"No, we didn't. That would explain how you knew everything we were doing, dammit." Hishya hung her head in defeat. "I trusted her so much...."

"In fairness, she was just gathering intel. Her actions to help the team were genuine, and she was free to make friends with you as she pleased." Akagi really only wanted information and had no interest in sabotaging the Assault Team's progress.

"Do I even want to ask why another player became your subordinate?" Hishya sighed. She figured it must have been her payment for a contract with Akagi. That was the only way someone would willingly serve her.

"You should be able to put the pieces together yourself." Akagi smiled at her. Birdy's status as a subordinate was indeed unique. She was a player, not an NPC, so her agreeing to serve Akagi was strange. "If you want, you can ask her later. She'll be coming off assignment once this is done. Though she might not answer you." Birdy's usefulness as a deep-cover agent had expired, so Akagi planned on folding the girl into other operations.

"Yeah, and I have a feeling that certain people will have some choice words for her." Hishya knew quite a few people wouldn't take kindly to Birdy's position as Akagi's agent. However, right now, that wasn't important, and as they approached Libra's base, Hishya's stress level spiked.

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Hovering over the base, Akagi felt a great sense of anger well up in her chest. She was tempted to level it with one blast, an easy task for her at this point, but to do so would rob her of the chance to demonstrate her power to the world. And more importantly, doing so would allow Libra to get off easy for their transgressions. Her nature as a Demon Lord meant that she preferred slowly humiliating her opponents and watching them realize the futility of their fight. Though, she was not so enraptured by this part of her that she would allow herself to become arrogant and egotistical. If Libra actually posed a threat to her, she wouldn't hesitate to eliminate them before they had a chance. She figured that this was a happy medium that took into account her desire for torment and her pragmatic outlook on things.

As she slowly descended towards the base, she was greeted by the protective barrier that Imperial and his team created to protect it. The Americans had launched drone strike and heavy artillery in an attempt to penetrate it, but to no avail.

“What a cute barrier.” Akagi laughed as she landed on top of it. “What do you say Hishya? Shall we let ourselves in?” She stomped down on the barrier causing it to crack and disintegrate into pieces.

“Well that's one way to let them know we're here.” Hishya sighed as the two of them descended into the main courtyard.

Akagi clapped her hands together, causing a minor earthquake. “Get your ass our here Armalthy! Come and take your punishment like that bitch you are! You too, Herlex!”

Less than a minute later, Herlex Armalthy, Elna, Spellhauser, Zappy, Max and Skipper came outside, it seemed they were the only combat players on base at the moment. They were a bit surprised to see Akagi, and Herlex grumbled a bit about Imperial fucking up before turning to Akagi.

"It's been a while, Akagi. You look a bit different? Did you dye your hair?" Herlex greeted her sarcastically. "I must say I'm surprised. You were never one to just waltz up to an opponent's headquarters like this. Have you gone mad? Or are you just confident because Hishya is with you?” In all the time he knew the assassin, she'd never do something this brazen, at least, not without a plan.

"Oh? Don't go getting the wrong idea, Herlex. Hishya isn't here to fight. "Akagi stepped forward, placing herself between the two. "She's just here to watch and broadcast, so please treat her as if she's not even here. This is between me and you lot."

"Really?!?" Armalthy let out a laugh. "You actually think you can beat all seven of us? Seriously?" He motioned to the other Libra members currently present. "You have to know you can't win against this many of us. Or are you just so angry that I broke your little priestess that you came here to fight us even knowing you'd lose?" The second he said that, black energy erupted from around Akagi. The air got heavier, and the wind picked up. In the distance, black clouds began to swirl as they approached the base, and flashes of red lightning cracked through the sky. Akagi's face went dark as black lightning briefly erupted around her before everything went quiet. There were no birds chirping, no wind blowing, nothing, until Akagi spoke.

“Shut your mouth.” Akagi's words were quiet but caused everyone to freeze, even Hishya, as she felt her blood run cold. Akagi's eyes turned fierce and the hellish fury behind them was briefly visible for a moment before disappearing. Armathy's words had caused her usually jovial exterior to momentarily break before she calmed herself.

"Let me make one thing clear to all of you." She glared at Armalthy, her eyes showing a level of hatred unfathomable to a mortal. "I'm not here to fight you. No, a “fight” implies that the other side has a chance of winning, that victory is possible for both parties to the conflict.” Red lightning crashed into the ground next to her. “You can't “fight” me. Rather, against me, you all can do little more than flail like helpless children." Akagi let out a demonic laugh. "So rather than “fight” you, I'm here to break you, to make you quake in fear, and when I've finished having my way with you. You'll see death as a relief, for you see, you foolish mortals. Death is a mercy that I have no intention of granting any of you. Muahahahhahhahhaha." As she let out insane laughter, she spun in place, her robes twirled in the wind, and her face contorted into a terrible and twisted smile.

Hishya backed off. She didn't want to be anywhere near Akagi when she was like this. The dragon girl understood that Akagi was in control of herself, but that didn't make her any less afraid of the Demon. She'd started her live stream, and already it had tens of thousands of viewers. Hishya asked Kana not to watch, and advised her to pass the message along to Mika and Naomi, but Kana insisted on seeing what was about to happen.

Based on Hishya's experience, Akagi's anger came in two forms. The first and rarest took the form of total silence. She wouldn't speak, nor laugh, nor offer any of her usual quips. This was the worst of the two, and Hishya'd only seen it once and it was a story she vowed never to speak about. The second and more “common” was on display here. In this case, Akagi would act normally speaking, joking and even laughing, but during FWO, Hishya picked up on one major difference. Something that told her that Akagi's anger had reached a boiling point and spilled over, what she would refer to as a “tell”. That “tell” was a particular way Akagi would laugh. It would go from a rather normal, if not creepy laugh, to one that was downright psychotic, as if she was little more than a raving lunatic. It was subtle, and most would easily mistake it for one of her usual mad ravings, but Hishya could detect the minute differences between what she was hearing now and Akagi's normal laughter. As soon as she heard it, her hair stood on end as her heartbeat sped up. Akagi was angry and at a level she'd only seen a few times before.

"I think the lass has gone nuts." Skipper commented as Akagi cackled like a madman. ”Perhaps we should put this sick sea dog down?”

"Wouldn't surprise me, Akagi's always been a bit unhinged. Maybe seeing her little pet NPCs get broken sent her over the edge?" Elna agreed. "We should put her out of her misery, no sense letting a mad dog keep barking."

"Don't be hasty!" Herlex stopped her from walking towards Akagi. Her power from a moment ago gave him the sense that she was dangerous even if she'd gone crazy. "She's still dangerous, you should recall what Akagi did to Tomoshi's group all those years go. We shouldn't take any chances, we need a pl-"

"Na," Skipper pushed past him. "Just sit back and let Ol' Skippy handle this." He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "I'll just be a moment, then we can get back to more pressing matters." Skipper started walking toward Akagi who was still spinning in place and laughing hysterically. She seemed not to be paying attention to him or anyone else, but Hishya knew that was anything but the truth.

{Run Skipper! Don't go near the crazy Demon! She's going to fucking kill you!} (Hishya)

As he approached the twirling Akagi, he drew his cutlass. "Let's put this crazy dog down." He raised his blade and brought it down, intending to slash Akagi. But mere moments before he made contact, he was stopped.

"Wh-what in the hell!" He yelled in shock. Akagi had turned and grabbed his arm in an instant, it was so fast that no one except Hishya saw her move. "Let go of me, ya wench!" He grabbed onto Akagi's arm in an attempt to break free, to no avail. Her grip was locked tight and she had no intention of letting him go. “I said let go!” He punched her in the face, but she didn't even flinch.

Akagi didn't say anything, but her silence was probably even more horrifying than anything she could say. Her eyes showed glee at the pain she was inflicting, and her lips curved into a terrible smile as she increased the power in her grip. Skipper's arm began to creek and groan as his bones were subject to increased pressure.

"Ahhhhhhh!" he screamed in pain, dropping his sword and desperately trying to pull Akagi's arm off him. "Let me go!" He tugged at his arm, trying to wiggle free, but couldn't make any progress.

"So weak." Akagi sighed as she gripped harder snapping his forearm bones beneath her hand.

*CRACK*

His bones snapping made an audible sound that caused Hishya's stomach to churn. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Skipper screamed even louder as he dropped to his knees. He was in excruciating pain, and it felt like his bones were being ground to dust beneath Akagi's hand. "Somebody help!" He screamed for help, but none came. The members of Libra just stood shocked and were unable to move. They'd never seen Akagi do something like this, and had no idea what was going on with her power increase. "Please..." He begged. "Let me go...”

"Ok, I'll let you go." Akagi smirked as she released her grip, causing him to fall to his knees and start crying profusely. She'd done a number on his arm, which was black and blue from the internal bleeding. Skipper looked up at Akagi, his eyes filled with tears, and saw the palm of her hand right in front of his face. "Wa-what are you-" His words were cut off as Akagi said one single word.

“[Consumption.]” Akagi spoke in her Demon tongue.

Immediately after she said this one single word, black fire enveloped Skipper's body, and he started burning. At first, he had no idea what was going on, but after a moment, he was overwhelmed with a pain so intense words could not describe it. After about fifteen seconds, the flames dissolved his entire body, and he was gone. Skipper had been completely erased, his soul little more than a snack for the Demon. Akagi looked quite satisfied as she watched him scream in pain, and the look of sheer terror on the Libra member's faces' was delightful. His soul was quite tasty, though she would say that it was a bit too salty for her liking.

"Not quite how I imagined it would taste, but it wasn't half bad. I can see why my kind get addicted to such a delicacy." Akagi let out a demonic laugh as everyone stood dumbfounded. This would be the beginning of her feast, and she was going to make sure that the entire world bore witness to her gluttony.