The Red Hand

Chapter 340 – A Childhood Fantasy.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Zo and Ro were exhausted after they battle with Akagi and their bodies bore the results of their clash, being covered in bruises, scratches, and other signs of battle damage. They'd been clashing with Akagi at their full power for some time, and while there were a few visible injuries on Akagi's face, it was beginning to look like they were facing an insurmountable foe. The Demon had thoroughly enjoyed herself during their clash and was happy to see just how far they managed to push her.

"Not bad, kids. Not bad." Akagi laughed as the few visible injuries that she had burned away in black fire, leaving her looking completely fresh and unharmed. "I'll admit that you got me a bit excited, and I may have gotten a bit too into things." She gave a dry laugh.

{I was waiting for you to make your hair all long, spiky, and blonde. And also, a bit excited? You were positively frothing at the mouth from excitement, and your smile was so big that I thought you were going to tear your face in half with how much fun you were having...} Yumi'd been watching everything from within Akagi's shadow, and wasn't surprised to see the battle junkie side of Akagi come out in full force. She found it dorky and adorable, and was something that always made her laugh.

"Quiet you." Akagi chided her. "Let me have my fun! It's been so long since I got a good scrap like that!" She huffed.

{I'll give you extra ear scratches when we get home as a reward.} (Yumi)

"Just what in the hell are you?" Ro asked as he struggled to catch his breath. He was almost completely exhausted and was on the verge of collapse. "It doesn't even look like we've done any real damage despite the amount of times my fist has cracked into your face. What the hell..."

"You said you're a Demon Lord, right?" Zo asked, out of breath. "But there's no way that's true! Vikes was powerful but even he struggled to fight the Gods on his own, and bro and I are even more powerful than many of them!"

{This is absurd! It's like we're fighting a never-ending waterfall of power! Every time I think we've gotten to the end it just keeps going!} (Zo)

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble but I am a Demon Lord, just like Vikes." Akagi answered them. "However, it would do you well to understand that the one you've heard of, Vikes... Well, he was a mere infant." She smirked.

{Not to mention, that he and I aren't really comparable. Mizumi's little merging of souls really created a monster among monsters.} (Akagi)

{We got kitty out of that so I'd say it was for the best.} (Yumi)

"Infant..." Zo looked to her brother. She recalled their father mentioning that the Demon Lord he watched terrorize the world was young and that many assumed that he would've gotten more powerful with age. Though, she never imagined that this was what Vikes could've turned into.

"But this doesn't make any sense!" Ro swung at the air, angry. "Even if Vikes was much weaker due to his young age, there's no way such a power gap should exist between us! Sure plenty of beings gain considerable power as they hit maturity, but what you have... It's absurd!"

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{This goes against all logic and reason! How could a being with that much power exist! It just doesn't make sense!} (Ro)

"Of course it's absurd." Akagi sighed as she shook her head. "Demon Lords are meant to destroy the world we are created within." She raised her hand and pointed toward him. "It would be even more absurd if we were created without such overwhelming power." She fired a beam of black energy that tore straight through Ro's shoulder.

"Ah!" He screamed in pain. Akagi's attack was so fast that neither of them had any time to react, and it did considerable damage in an instant.

"Bro!" Zo growled as she turned back to Akagi. “You bastard!”

"I'm... I'm fine..." Ro put on a brave smile as he clutched his shoulder. He wasn't bleeding, and instead black and red power ejected from his injury like a burning gas line. Primordials, like Gods, didn't have physical bodies and could change their form at will. Thus, when their physical form took damage it would 'leak' rather than 'bleed.'

"Do you understand the difference between us now?" Akagi asked as she floated in front of them. "Do you understand that you have absolutely no chance of defeating me?"

"Then what the hell was all this anyway?!?" Zo screamed. "Are you trying to tell me that you just toyed with us?!? That our fight here was nothing but a joke to you?!?" Her pride was wounded by the thought that she was seen as no threat, and her blood boiled in anger. "Did you even take us seriously for a moment?!?"

"I most certainly took you seriously, well, at least as seriously as I needed to." Akagi smiled. "I'll admit that I was a bit excited during our battle. Nobody has ever made me use even close to that amount of power, and I'll thank you for entertaining me." She clapped slowly. "You both deserve a gold star for allowing me to live out one of my childhood fantasies, so thanks!"

{Not gonna go through different forms for fun? I know how much you probably wanted to do a bit more goofing around. Maybe you could MEW them to death?} Yumi knew of one scene in particular that Akagi probably wanted to reenact.

"Hah! I did want to do a whole 'Super Akagi' thing, but then I decided not to be that cringe." Akagi chuckled as Yumi rolled her eyes within the Demon's shadow. "Though I will fully admit that I may be a bit of a special case among my kind. Most don't retain any rational thought, and if you combine a few special extras that I picked up along the way, I'm probably a bit more overpowered than your average Demon Lord." She winked.

"As powerful as you are, there's still gotta be a way to take you down!" Zo grumbled. "No one is invincible! We'll just need to figure out what your weakness is and exploit it!"

{Maybe if they play to your sense of vanity, they could beat you? Perhaps they lure you in with pets and snacks?} Yumi laughed and was promptly bonked on the head by a shadow fist.

"My weakness is actually pretty simple." Akagi replied. "All you need to do is hit me really really hard." She nodded confidently, and both siblings raised eyebrows. "No, no, seriously! Get somebody with more raw power than me and have them toss me about, and I'd probably go down like a sack of potatoes! I'm not immortal, and killing me is 100% theoretically possible! Albeit, very improbable!" She laughed.

"I see..." Ro took a deep breath as he glanced at his sister. "Then we'll just have to hit you with everything that we've got!" The two got shoulder to shoulder, sticking out one hand each and channeling energy into them.

"If we need to hit you really hard." Zo said.

"Then let's see how you handle this!" Ro finished as the two of them unleashed two massive twin blasts of blue power that streaked at Akagi in a massive line before wrapping around one other, fusing together into a single, bigger, and more powerful, beam attack.

"Oh, Oh, Oh! THAT MEANS THAT I GET TO DO THIS!" Akagi squeed as she cupped her hands at her side and began channeling a ball of black power in between her palms. "I have always wanted to do this." She began cackling as the ball of power increased in intensity.

{Ah, there it... I knew that you couldn't help yourself... But it's cute how true you are to your own silliness... It's what I love about you.} (Yumi)

"Listen, there's nobody who didn't want to use this when they were a kid!" Akagi thrust her arms forward in an iconic pose, unleashing a massive black beam from the palms of her hands. "HAAAAAAAAA!"

The beams rushed toward one another at incredible speed before colliding in a beam struggle above the planet. Akagi laughed manically as she continued to pour more power into the attack, while the twins struggled to hold her back.

"What the hell is this?!?" Zo complained that Akagi was too strong. "How the hell can she still have that much power?!?" She groaned in frustration as her body struggled to keep going.

{THIS IS STUPID!} (Zo)

"We need to give this everything, Sis!" Ro tried to pep her up. "Stopping her here is the most important thing right now! WE HAVE TO DO THIS! NOT JUST FOR US BUT FOR EVERYONE!" He poured even more power into his part of the attack, increasing its size and intensity.

"Yeah, your right!" Zo's body welled with energy. "This isn't about us anymore, its about keeping Enoris safe! And besides, I can't let you take all the credit for saving the world." She laughed as she dove deep into her reserves, channeling power that even she didn't know she had.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Zo and Ro let out a mighty roar as they poured an incredible amount of power into their attacks, and slowly but surely Akagi's beam was pushed back. It was looking like a sudden burst of strength from within would save the day, and that the Demon would be vanquished by the two unlikely Heroes.

"Oh? Not bad! Not bad at all!" Akagi cackled like a madwoman as the beam struggle seemed to turn against her. There was not a hint of worry on her face, rather she looked excited at this sudden power up. "But sadly for you, this isn't some kind of story where the Heroes get a last-minute boost to defeat the villain in a spectacular turn around!" She channeled even more power until her hair turned inky black and flowed like fire. "Now then, while I'd love to let this go on a bit longer, I've got things to do. So... LET'S END THIS! HAAAAAA!" She poured a huge amount of power into her beam, easily pushing back the twins until it reached and swallowed the two of them whole.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" The twin Primordials were enveloped by the dark beam as it streaked towards Enoris, flying at high speed toward the ground where it collided with a mountain, creating an explosion so large that it completely vaporized it and the surrounding hills and terrain.

*KABOOM!*

The blast was so large that Akagi could see it from where she was floating high above the planet and once she was sure things were over she powered down and reverted to normal.

"Hmpf." Akagi smirked as she watched the explosion.

END OF BOOK 5