The Red Hand

Chapter 361 – Something Stirring.

"Halifax..." Elariel couldn't rebut the Divine Blade's words, knowing that any attempt to do so would only result in a fight. Instead she decided to offer words of apologies, understanding that they'd be seen as hollow nonetheless. "I... What I did to you... I'm sorry... I never should've made you bear such a burden..."

"A 'burden?' Is that what we're calling it now?" Halifax scoffed at her word choice. "Don't beat around the bush, Elariel. Come out and be honest with me. Say that you gave me to that psycho and made me party to the enslavement and slaughter of the Dark Elves! Say that you chose the easy way out of the mess you all created!"

{Don't try and act like this was a difficult choice but one that had to be made! You and I both know someone else, someone who wasn't ME, could've handled your fuck up!} (Halifax)

"We... I should've never let her take you." Elariel said, not wanting to use the crazed murderer's name for fear of triggering Halifax further. "Of all the mistakes I made in my life, allowing her to use you like that is the one I regret the most."

"Not the slaughter itself? Just who you chose to force me to do it?" Halifax rolled her eyes. “So you were fine with having me kill all those innocent people but you only regret who you gave me too? I suppose that's to be expected.”

"We should've found another way... I should've found a better way to do it..." Elariel said, trying her best to simmer tensions. "Dibora... He was our mistake and I forced you to shoulder it."

{If anyone should've been forced to put him down, it was Esquire, but to make her put down her own brother... Regardless, all we ended up doing was making someone else perform the act in her place. A person who we never should've... I still don't understand why Gale wanted Halifax to do it? Did he not see the risk? We're lucky that Halifax didn't revert.} (Elariel)

"Whatever." Halifax turned her nose up at the Goddess. "What's done is done, and despite all your power even you can't turn back time and undo what you did..." She paused thinking that her own words sounded like something that Akagi had said to her in the past.

{I'm beginning to understand more and more why she hates her parents. Akagi said that they may have been controlled and forced to act they way they did, but what good does knowing that do? Even if they had no choice and regret it now... We still have to live with the consequences... The pain... It doesn't just magically go away once you know...} (Halifax)

"I... You're right, I can't." Elariel gave a small laugh in defeat. "Even the Time Goddess can't do something like that, though I wish I could..."

{I wish I could take it all back... I wish we could go back to those happy times... I just...} (Elariel)

"I suppose the 'good part' of all this, if you can really call it that, was that I woke up from my naivety." Halifax's gaze grew sharp. "I used to think that you and the other Gods were the good guys, out there to help the world and make everything better. But after that, I started to question everything, and I came to what should've been an obvious conclusion had I not been blinded by my own stupidity." Her eyes turned downward for a moment, filled with sadness and self loathing. "The Primordials were right. You never should've been given free reign over this world, not you and not any of the other Gods. Your meddling has done nothing but cause pain and suffering. Not just to me, not just to the Dark Elves but everyone, Elariel.” Halifax bit her lip in frustration. 

“That's...” Elariel wanted to rebut her words but found herself unable to do so.

“And the worst part is that those two incidents are just recent examples of your maleficence, and I'd say it's high time that you were all forced to face the consequences of your actions." Halifax's words came out as a hiss as she glared at the Goddess.

The Gods had taken direct action in the mortal plane's affairs numerous times over the years, and in the past, they'd even ruled it directly. Over time most had come to view mortals as 'lesser beings' and a great many had been killed or worse just for trying to speak out against the Gods' plans or designs. Some Gods even treated their followers as disposable objects and those who even posed even the slightest threat to their hegemony were ruthlessly and mercilessly crushed. Such was the fate of the once globe-spanning Eridal Empire, as their magical technology had grown so powerful that the Gods deemed it an 'existential threat' and annihilated so as to prevent them from developing any further.

"We... We've always tried to help, and our goal has always been to aid this world's development. We just..." Elariel grew silent as her words fell off.

{We just struggled to do it in the best way...} (Elariel)

"We'll, whatever your original 'good intentions' were, they're are long gone, Elariel." Halifax huffed. "If you really wanted Enoris to prosper, then you would've backed off and let its people do things for themselves. But no, you just couldn't swallow your damn pride and as a result so many people suffered!" She pounded on the table. "You wanted to be Gods worshiped by the people of this world, and you couldn't stand the thought of being relegated to background characters!"

{How is it that the Demon Lord is content with being left alone and forgotten if it means she can have peace while the so-called 'good Gods' believe that such a fate is beneath them?!?} (Halifax)

"We're still needed though!" Elariel fired back, noting that the Gods weren't only doing things to suit their own egos. "Need I remind you that there are some threats that are far beyond the people of this world to handle! Think about what would've happened without our aid against Vikes! You fought him alongside Helia. Do you really think that a world without us would've survived?!? And if that isn't enough think about all the other times when either we or our servants have battled evil to save this world! Do you think this world could've survived without our aid?!?"

{We protect this world from more threats than I care to count! We saved it from Vikes and countless others who sought its destruction of enslavement! Even if we lost our way to a point that doesn't mean we're unneeded! The people of Enoris could not survive without us!} (Elariel)

"Protecting the world is one thing, but what you all want is to be needed." Halifax scoffed. "I know you lot well enough to understand the difference."

"That's... That's not true. We'd like if Enoris was at peace just as much as the people who live here do." Elariel fired back. "Don't go accusing us of desiring conflict just to... promote... our... own..." Her words slowed before she fell silent, a realization washing over her like cold water.

"You finally see it? Well let me help it sink in a bit more. Go and think back to allllllllllll those battles, Elariel. Think long and hard about them." Halifax smirked, realizing that Elariel had finally put two and two together. "Now, tell me. How many of those ended up having a God's fingerprints on them in one way shape or form? How many could trace their origins back to you all?"

"No... We..." Elariel's eyes widened as she looked back to the numerous incidents, realizing that Halifax's words rang true.

"Let me answer that for you. I'd say, based off some quick calculations, that a solid ninety percent of them involve a God in some way." Halifax laughed derisively. "How many times did I find some kind of Divine Weapon, Divine Child, Divine Blood, or Divine whatever the fuck was involved in each of those disasters. Either because the villain of the week got hold of some crazy ancient forgotten artifact or they had a grudge against the Gods. Quite the kawinky-god-dammned-dink, if I'd say so myself."

{Mr. Quakers being one of the few exceptions. He was just an evil Duck born from the horrors of the Under himself, but damn was he a truly horrifying being nonetheless. The rest though...} (Halifax)

"No that's... There's no way that..." Elariel couldn't and didn't want to believe it. The idea of the Gods creating problems to then 'solve' to gain and maintain their position was to much for her to deal with.

{We... The others would never set things up just to...} (Elariel)

"Elariel, take it from me since I was on the ground fighting these bastards." Halifax leaned over the table. "The Gods schemed so that the people of Enoris would love them, need them. They created the plague to sell the cure, so to speak." She gave a scary smile that made Elariel's blood run cold. "And do you know how many people suffered because of their vanity? How many lives were destroyed because you you?"

"I... I don't even want to know..." Elariel paled as the horror of what the Gods had done hit her like a truck.

"And now do you understand why I'm all too happy to let Akagi destroy you all?" Halifax said as she continued to smile. “Why I'm enjoying this whole mess? Why I'm so happy to have met her?”

{Besides kitty of course.} (Halifax)

"Y-You're getting catharsis out of this, aren't you?" Elariel asked, a bit nervous and fearful of the Divine Blade's word and expression.

"An amount that even a God could never understand." Halifax laughed. "And of all the Gods that I want to get what's coming to them..." She said as she got in Elariel's face. "You're the one I'm most excited for." Her eyes locked with the Goddess' and for the first time in her life, Elariel was genuinely afraid of the Divine Blade. No Elariel wasn't afraid of Halifax she was afraid of something else, something she never wanted to see.

{H-Halifax... Is... Are you... Has she... No...} (Elariel)

"Akagi's going to chew you up and spit you out." Halifax smiled. "She promised me to make you suffer for what you did to me, and I'm quite excited to see what she has in store." The Divine Blade's eyes started to shine as Elariel became more afraid. "So just know, that once this is all over with I'm going to enjoy myself with you. So you'd best be prepared! Because I have a feeling that we'll be seeing each other a lot more and I'll be taking my time with you." Once she was done with her rant Halifax's face and eyes went back to normal as she pulled away, the horrifying aura she was giving off vanishing as if it never existed. "But for now, I'll stomach my displeasure and work alongside you. We need to stop Gale's plan before I get to enjoy myself, and like it or not you may be of use."

{This isn't good. Being around Akagi has begun to awaken things within her that should NEVER be awoken. This is bad, at this rate Halifax... She might stop being Halifax and go back to being...} (Elariel)

"Hey, you two!" Silfana called out, breaking Elariel's train of thought as she peaked into the room. "It looks like our little Demon problem is starting to heat up, so be on alert." She said as she walked over, confused as to why Elariel was visibly shaking.

"Are they on the march already?" Halifax asked, not expecting to hear reports of their movement just yet.

"Yeah, I've got Black Company shadowing the Army, and a report came through just now that it was about to pass those fortresses between the mountains." Silfana had been told that powerful magical barriers were protecting each one and that the Demon Army was likely to get reinforcements from them on the way down. "Current estimates are that they'll be here in three days, and we can expect their vanguard to be on top of us in two." She figured that they'd wait for the, mostly infantry, main force to arrive before making an assault.

{Its not a bad army from what I've been told, and I suppose it will make a fantastic way to test my new strength.} (Silfana)

"The Demons really aren't pulling any punches here." Elariel sighed, trying to put her prior fears out of her mind for the moment. "I believe this is one of the greatest concentrations of military force since they settled down."

{Though its not going to matter in the slightest. I'm predicting an absolute blood bath, the kind not seen since we purged the Dark Elves.} (Elariel)

"Do you know who's leading the force?" Halifax asked who was in command. "I'd imagine it's Ariel since she's the Regent."

{Which begs the question as to why she's doing this? Surely that woman isn't stupid enough to think this is a good idea? No... She must be backed into a corner. There's no way the Ariel I know would act this foolish for no reason.} (Halifax)

"Black Company did report back that the Princess-Regent was among a group of officers, but it seems like someone else is actually in charge." Silfana's comment caught the Goddess and Divine Blade off guard.

"What?!?" Halifax went to sip her coffee, but stopped, nearly spilling it as her hand jolted forward. "Who could possibly be leading a Demon army with Ariel in it besides the Princess herself?!?"

{That would be like Akagi not leading her own army!} (Halifax)

"I do not know who the woman is, but she is apparently a small, childlike girl with red and white hair." Silfana described the woman's appearance, causing Halifax and Elariel to freeze. "The only other notable thing about her was a large metallic bow on her back. Black Company is getting me more info on her as we speak and I asked Chloe and Nima to do a deeper intel dive.”

"No way..." Halifax looked to Elariel, who nodded in agreement. There was no doubt in either of their minds as to who it was leading the Demon Army.

"There's only one person who fits that description." Elariel said, her chest tightening.

"Penelope." (Elariel x Halifax)

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<Debora POV>

“Our forces have begun to march... I just hope this plan is going to work. If she refuses our offer...” Debora said as she and Balour looked down at the Demon Army's encampment in the valley below. They'd snuck out under the cover of night and were heading to a predetermined meeting spot with one of Akagi's Clansmen. They'd secretly reached out to the Dumetorians via Count Boze, who gleefully set up the rendezvous under the guise of peace and salvation, something both Elector-King held little hope for.

“We just have to hope she's truly as reasonable as Boze said.” Balour said, sweat dripping from his face due to physical exertion. “My bigger concern is being caught. If we're found out...”

“Trust me, I know.” Debora said as the two continued up the hill, disappearing into the woods. They hadn't been told exactly where to go, only that someone would come to meet them and after around twenty minutes of walking, the two paused as a group of five black clad and hooded individuals, descended from the trees and surrounded them. There was a tense standoff, and after a moment one of the five removed his hood, revealing himself to be a blue haired fox wolfkin as he approached.

“I take it that you two are Elector Kings Balour and Debora?” Merkyul asked with a polite greeting and bow.

“Y-Yes...” Debora answered, her mouth running dry from nerves. “We were told that someone would come to speak with us. We wish to speak to Demon Lord Akagi, to try and avert-” Her words were cut off by his own.

“Unfortunately Lady Akagi is not available at this time, but we've been granted leave to discus things in her stead.” Merkyul said as he pulled a set a set of chairs and a table from his inventory. “So please, take a seat and we can discuss my Lord's terms.” He said as the two Elector-King's paused and looked at one another before nodding. They would become traitors to their people so that they may be saved, that was what they'd resolved to do, and they'd do whatever it took to prevent the worst from occurring, even if that meant throwing away everything they ever knew.