The Red Hand

Chapter 98 – Players v Non-Player Characters. (Part 2)

{If my piercing attacks can't deal with her. That leaves me without a whole lot of options, she must have some kind of weakness. I just have to look hard enough until I find it!} Roxlex could duel reasonably well, but the issue was that he lacked the oomph to deal major damage. His normal strategy was to use flare and footwork to enable him to use his magic dagger to finish opponents off, since that was his classes' entire schtick. If that didn't work, he couldn't reliably put out damage and he'd lose.

He looked towards Hitamaguchi who was engaged in a fierce duel with Marshal. The two seemed evenly matched, and he couldn't rely on her for help.

"Taking your eyes off your opponent?" Kira flashed forward and swung her blades at him. "The sign of an amateur!" Kira increased her speed and put more force behind her strikes. Roxlex's ability to deflect her strikes annoyed her, but he couldn't do that forever.

*CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK*

The two fighters clashed blades again, this time much faster than before. Roxlex was struggling to keep up with this increased level of speed, and he realized he was in danger of being overwhelmed by the half dragon.

{I wanted to save this for Akagi, but I have no choice} He deflected one of Kira's attacks and feigned another magic dagger strike which caused her to back off slightly. She had no idea if he could pierce her armor with that attack and wasn't about to take chances. Seizing on this opportunity, he activated the Greater Ability Boost stored in his gauntlets and struck back at Kira. Now it was the half-dragon who was on the back foot as he was suddenly faster and stronger than her.

{This won't last that long, and I can't use it again. But I need to deal with this bitch so I can help Hitamaguchi!} His flourishes increased in speed and he even managed to scratch Kira across the cheek a few times with the tip of his blade causing her to step back to gain some distance.

{Interesting. My Lord did inform me that they'd found a way to place class abilities in items. That must be what's going on. How pathetic, is what I'd want to say if it wasn't so effective.} Kira thought to herself. {I should end this before he unleashes any more surprises. Waiting out his timer isn't a great idea, especially if I don't know what else he has up his sleeve} She put away one of her swords, holding the remaining with two hands. She channeled magical energy into it, and it shone with a bright red aura.

"Come!" She exclaimed. "I'll finish this in one blow!"

"That's my line!" Roxlex dove forward. He assumed this would be a clash of blades, but just before their blades made contact, Kira dropped hers to the ground, swiftly moving her arms and catching his blade between her hands with her palms.

{Shirahadori! She actually did that kind of crazy move?!?} (Roxlex)

A famous, yet usually dangerous move, shirahadori was not something a normal martial artist would use. But Akagi wanted a show, and Kira aimed to please, as she figured Akagi would appreciate this turn of events. Kira smirked as she moved her arms and snapped his blade in half.

"A weak blade for a weak man." Kira punched the shocked Roxlex in the head, knocking him out. Due to being a magical rogue he was extremely weak and even one good hit would incapacitate him. "I would have killed you, but my Lord wanted you alive. Though, knowing what she intends to do with you all. Death would have been a mercy.” She tied him up and looked over at Akagi, who seemed to be enjoying herself. The battle between Hitamaguchi and Marshal raged on and was proving to be a bit flashier.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BANG* *SHIMMER*

The two swordsmen clashed their blades over and over again. Each time, Hitamaguchi put a small amount of her magical energy into the attacks. This was her specialty as a paladin as her class allowed her to easily mix magic and swordplay into a deadly combination. While she lacked major magical offense, she could augment her strikes to compensate. Marshal had dealt with these kinds of fighters before, so he knew to be careful around the radiant energy.

"What's wrong old man, can't handle the heat!" Her blade erupted with radiant energy as it collided with his sword. "I can do this all day. Can you?" She goaded him. She had quite the large pool of magic and using her augmented strikes didn't take up that much.

"I think I'll be fine, so don't you worry about me. In fact, I think you should be more concerned with yourself" He chuckled. "Compared to Silfana, you're nothing special and I think this will be over in due time". The two continued back and forth across the darkness. As neither was a caster, they could only duel in a contest of strength and technique. Marshal had spent his entire life learning the ways of the sword and was extraordinarily gifted and was a master of the blade. He'd risen to the highest tier of the Imperial Military and was widely regarded as the best living swordsmen in the Empire.

Hitamaguchi on the other hand, lacked proper training, but her skills and powers more than made up for this deficiency. While she did have a bit of practice and technique from the game's teaching system, it was nothing compared to Marshal. Though, while her strikes were inefficient they were dangerous. If Marshal wasn't careful, she could still harm him, and her Paladin abilities make her trickier than your average warrior. In terms of raw strength, they were evenly matched, and as the two slammed their blades against one another, it was clear that this couldn't be won with sheer force alone.

A bright flash erupted as Hitamaguchi exploded another burst from her blade, pushing the two warriors apart. "Come on now. I'm getting bored! I thought you were suppose to be strong?!?"

{I think I've got a grasp on this girl and her technique. She's quite slow and her attacks leave her open to interruptions, but that damn radiant energy is going to be a pain.} Marshal thought to himself. He'd gotten quite good at reading his opponents over the years and was trying to come up with a plan to beat her. {If I can pin her down just long enough, I might be able to cause her to fall off balance. That will be my moment to strike.}

Marshal shifted to a defensive stance. He was going to try and absorb her hits and force her to lock blades with him, once he did that all he'd need to do is make her lose her balance.

{Big mistake!} Hitamaguchi smirked. She'd been waiting for this moment. Every time someone couldn't beat her in a slugging match they'd always moved into a stance like that. She figured he wanted to lock her down and limit her movement, something plenty of other players had tried in the past. The two were quite even in strength. But with a quick application of Greater Ability Boost, she would overpower him and take him down.

{Come on now, take the bait.} (Marshal)

"You're mine!" Hitamaguchi charged in, her blade crackling with radiant energy. She would activate Greater Ability Boost the moment before she impacted him, that way he wouldn't be able to react. "Take this old man!" She swung her blade down smashing it straight into his, but to her surprise not only did his sword not break, but he was able to withstand the blow.

"What!" She exclaimed in surprise. "How did you eat that hit?!? That level of power should have cleaved you in half!"

"Don't think you're the only one who can boost their abilities temporarily!" His entire body shone with a red aura, while he couldn't use Greater Ability Boost. Marshal could use a technique that massively upped his defense, but made him slow. In fact, Marshal was primarily a tank, and his entire style focused on taking hits and drawing his enemy in, rather than dealing damage.

Not wanting to give up. Hitamaguchi poured more power into her blade, hoping to overwhelm him. "You can't do that forever old man. I can see your stance slipping." She noticed that Marshal's stance was seemingly crumbling under the weight of her attack. "I win!" Just as she said that, Marshal shifted his blade, causing Hitamaguchi's greatsword to slide downwards towards his hilt. This is what he'd be aiming for. By bringing her in like this, he could force her to compete with him in a contest of technique instead of strength, as it was the only way he could win.

Using his superior skills, he caused her blade to slide down the length of his, throwing her off balance for a brief moment as she lurched forward slightly. But that small miscalculation was all he needed to finish this fight. As she slid forward, he sidestepped and deflected her blade into the ground smashing his knee into her chest as she fell.

"Ack!" she cried out in pain as the air was kicked out of her lungs. She tried to stand up but was met with the flat of his blade straight to the face, knocking her out.

"That was a close one." He let out a sigh. "If she'd been a little bit smarter, that might have gone differently. If only she didn't have such a rotten personality, she'd make a fantastic knight." He tied her up and walked over to where Kira and Akagi were waiting.

"My Lady, it's done," Marshal said with a smile. "My apologizes for taking so long."

"Yes, it is. Though I must admit it was not as interesting as I had hoped." Akagi looked at the two tied-up players. "They were quite weak and stupid. Both of you took them down much quicker than I expected. Oh well, I suppose that is to be expected." She shrugged.

"I believe the power you've provided us helped in that matter," Kira said. "I never thought I'd be this strong, and from what you've said, there is even more to come."

"She's right." Marshal nodded. "If they'd come at us a few months ago, we would have lost."

After the events at the mall, Akagi discovered an interesting side effect to her powers. As her followers were bound to her, the more power she gained, the stronger they got. She couldn't exactly be sure why but something told her it was another feature of whatever kind of Demon she was. They'd been testing these new powers and Akagi was more than happy to have willing volunteers for her people to face in real combat.

"Well, it would seem Chloe has finished playing with her food. So think we're done here, bring them along." Akagi stood up and waved her hand making some of the darkness disappeared, revealing the tied-up forms of Sabia and Merkyul. Chloe had used her wires to bind them, and they were still awake... and yelling.

"See Myaster is here, just like I said." Chloe smiled as Akagi, Kira and Marshal walked over. Chloe had quite an easy time dealing with these two, and she only had a few scratches. Meanwhile, Sabia and Merkyul looked like hell, their face was covered in blood and cuts, and their bodies were bruised. Chloe seemed to have enjoyed tormenting them.

"Good job Chloe. I'm impressed." Akagi smiled.
"It's all thanks to you, myaster." Chloe gave a cheeky grin.

Their little conversation was stopped by Merkyul's shouting.

"None of this makes any sense!" Merkyul screamed. "How could an NPC beat us? That's not possible!" He glared at Akagi. "What kind of bullshit did you pull to make this happen?!?"

Marshal and Kira dropped the other two onto the floor next to Merkyul and Sabia.

"I see you were just as foolish as he was. Your defeat was guaranteed from the moment you pointed your blades at my Lord." Kira scoffed. "That you lost was only natural when you are faced by an opponent such as her."

"Yeah! Myaster saw you coming from a mile away and you two were so easy." Chloe glared at him. "I have no idea why such weak people thought they could defeat me. In fact, I'm insulted!" She huffed. Chloe took pride in her status as Akagi's pupil and was careful never to sully her master's reputation with failure or defeat.

"Akagi, what is the meaning of this? This isn't right!" Merkyul still wanted an answer. "Answer me!"

"It's your fault, you know." Akagi smiled. "They only got so strong because you're friends Hijax and Sumeralia brought me out. Effectively, the stronger I get, the stronger they get. And well, since they can beat players." Her mouth twisted into a terrible grin. "Just imagine how strong I am." Akagi let out a demonic laugh. Her followers only received a few percentage of her total power for themselves, so that alone should show how crazy strong Akagi was.

Merkyul's eyes went wide. "T-that's that's insane! What the hell are you?!? You can't be that strong!"

"Ahh, that question again. It's funny, Hijax asked me the same thing before I killed him." Akagi got right up in his face. "I'm a Demon. An honest to god creature of nightmare and despair. And you, my little wolfie, have stepped straight into said Demon's lair and pointed your blade at it in anger." Akagi began to cackle like a madman. "And well. If you come for the king, you best not miss." Akagi quoted a famous phrase and continued her laughter.

The other two stirred from their slumber and sat up next to Merkyul and Sabia, confused and afraid.

"Fine, go ahead and kill us," Sabia said. "We lost, and I'm prepared to die."

"Oh no, no, no." Akagi shook her head. "Death would be a mercy for you four, and right now, I'm not really feeling it. Besides, it would be quite a waste to dispose of four willing volunteers. I've always wanted live test subjects. Imp will be thrilled!"

Hearing this caused the four of them to panic. They had no idea what Akagi planned to do with them, and they didn't want to find out.

"Squeal all you want my little piggies." Akagi's smile turned terrifying. "But in my shadow, no one can hear you scream, and no one is coming to save you."

"Muhahahahahahhahahahha." Akagi's shadow erupted and engulfed the four of them as she laughed maniacally.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Akagi, Marshal, Kira, and Chloe appeared in the garden not much later. Both fights had occurred within Akagi's shadow body, as she brought them there not long after they entered her home. Her new test subjects were currently taking a nice nappy and would be sent to what she dubbed the Happy Farm, later for some fun experiments.

"Good work, you three. You made me proud today." Akagi smiled. "And Chloe, I'm truly impressed. You took down two players by yourself. That deserves special commendation and as your teacher, I couldn't be prouder of how much you've grown." She wasn't confident Chloe could do it, but the cat pleaded with her to allow her to try. Chloe still felt she needed to redeem her earlier failure with Sakura and figured this would be a good way to do so. "I shall prepare you a suitable reward later."

"Your praise honors us." The three dropped to one knee.

"Make preparations to use our new volunteers. We've got much work for them to do. But make sure you don't kill them, and I want their minds intact." Akagi's request wasn't out of mercy or empathy, rather because she wanted the four of them to suffer and because it was beneficial to keep them sane and alive. There would be much fun in store for those four.

"Of course." (Kira, Chloe, and Marshal)

"Quite good timing too. The Japanese government just accepted my terms a few hours ago. At least now I don't have to work for free." Akagi let out a laugh that would chill a man to his bones.