novelraw Chapter 448 – Write Up.
Chapter 448 – Write Up.
*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*
As she was given a full debriefing, Akagi slowly tapped on her desk, annoyed. She'd teleported back to the Dumetor base camp moments after Zephiria had called her, and needless to say, the Demon was not happy with certain events. After gathering a few key individuals in her office, Akagi had Zephiria finish explaining what had happened while she was away. As the details were laid out to her, the Demon grew increasingly annoyed and the look on her face told her subordinates that her mood was quickly souring with each passing moment.
"So yeah... I blew up those Angel things, and Kana took out some crazy worm that showed up in Kansai..." Zephiria said with a wry smile, conscious of the fact that Akagi was now in a bad mood and trying her best to limit how much she said as to not draw her ire. "Nobody was hurt, and everything turned out fine in the end... So yeah... We won!"
*TAP*
{Oh fucking hell... We may all fucking die right now! I'm too young to die to the kitty's wrath!} (Zephiria)
"Nima." Akagi said, her gaze sliding over to a very nervous Cat who flinched as her name was called. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Please accept my most humble apologies, My Lord." Nima panicked before getting on her hands and knees, prostrating herself before the Demon Lord. "The worm appeared during a moment where we were swapping personnel, and I didn't anticipate needing anyone at the estate-"
"Enough." Akagi said, her voice distorting as it shook the room. "You've made far too many mistakes as of late, Nima. First, your intel gathering proves to be insufficient in several ways which caused some unneeded problems, and now I find out that you left the estate unguarded and allowed my Sister to be put in harm's way." She said, her voice flat, but everyone could tell that Akagi was absolutely pissed. "I'm starting to have doubts about your competence, Nima. Perhaps I should replace you with someone else?"
"Eee!" Nima squeaked, knowing that 'replacement' meant more than just losing her job. "Please forgive me!"
{I'd speak up in her defense, but I value my soul far too much to do that.} (Zephiria)
"I want immediate changes to staff rotation so that this doesn't happen again." Akagi growled. "From now on, there will always be someone at the estate who is able to act in an emergency, and so help me if I find out that you left it unguarded for even a second, I'll have your head, Nima."
{I may want to push Kana forward but it must be on MY TERMS. I will not allow unexpected variables in my calculations, and Hishya... That dammed idiot. I'll be tearing her a new one soon enough. The most important thing she can do is keep things safe and under control back home, and here I fucking find out she's gallivanting around without a care in the world! That stupid Dragon! Does she not realize that her role when I'm away is to protect the estate? Any why did nobody report to me that she'd left?!?} (Akagi)
"Of course!" Nima yelped, imagining Akagi mounting her over the fireplace and sipping coffee.
"My patience is vast, but even I have my limits. Understand that there will be no next time, Nima." Akagi said, dismissing her from the room before turning to Zephiria.
"Please don't say you're mad at me..." Zephiria said, trying to appear small.
"I may chastise you for your choice of attack, but otherwise, you did exactly as you were told. The foe was vaniquished in short order and the base was kept safe, so I have no major complaints." Akagi said to the Warlock, who instantly felt relief. "Though, the End of Everything was far too overkill, and perhaps it would've been best to hold that card in reserve just a bit longer." She sighed, figuring that it was pointless to chastise the Warlock further on the matter. "But there is no sense crying over spilled milk, and it's not like I never told you not to use it... So let's just say it was within your discretion and move on." She shook her head before looking to Elariel, who'd just entered the room. "Leave us. I want to speak to the Goddess alone." She said to Zephiria, who quickly zipped away just like Nima.
"Sit." Akagi commanded the Goddess, who was uncharacteristically nervous as she sat across from the Demon. "Tell me, what exactly were those things that attacked the base? And don't even try to lie to me. I'm currently in no mood for your bullshit." She said as Yumi excused herself as she had other matters to attend to.
"They..." Elariel paused momentarily as she thought best how to explain. "I cannot be certain, but they looked to me like Eridal constructs. If I was hazarding a guess, I'd assume that Gale had some under his control and sent them as a test."
{But where did he even get them?!? The ancient forges and their schematics ought to have been destroyed millennia ago!} (Eridal)
"Use your ability to communicate with your servants and get me a definitive answer." Akagi said curtly. "And you're also going to tell me everything about this extinct civilization you all wiped out. I just got a chance to examine one of their Power Reactors, and let's just say it left me with a whole lot of questions."
"You... I see..." Elariel paused, realizing that she couldn't dance around this topic. "So you know what fuels them?" She bit her lip in frustration. She'd hoped to avoid Akagi coming into too much contact with Eridal technology, but it was now too late for that.
"Vikes." Akagi said, her use of the Demon Lord's name chilled the air. "They took shards of him that remained after Halifax shattered his soul and used them as effectively unlimited power sources for their tech. Does that sound about right?"
"That... That's exactly right." Elariel sighed as she explained more about the Eridal's. "We thought him entirely destroyed, but the Eridal eventually created power sources using those fragments exactly as you described. It was part of why we eventually decided to destroy them, as it was simply too risky to allow their research into Demon Lord power to continue." She continued. “Eridal technology was highly advanced, and they had an understanding of this world that was far beyond what normal mortals should ever hope to achieve. Obtaining the power to actually use that knowledge was far too dangerous.”
{Their most powerful weapons threatened to tear the planet asunder, and even low grade munitions could level cities. They were a threat, one that we had no choice but to eliminate.} (Elariel)
"And yet you've allowed the Dwarves to use one to power their capital?" Akagi asked, folding her hands and resting her chin on them. “Apparently its not that dangerous.”
"The Dwarves' Reactor is a special situation. They're are only allowed to use it as a magical Power Generator, and only after we heavily restricted its power output." Elariel shook her head. "That was part of the deal for their help in destroying the Eridal Empire, and also because we owed them a bit of debt for..." She paused.
“Helping you forge Halifax." Akagi finished for her. "I heard as much from the system that protects the on in the Dungeon below the Capital. It was non too thrilled with intruders."
{I'd like to press her more on what I saw and to confirm my running theory on exactly what Halifax is, but let's hold that card close to my chest for now. If Elariel was willing to incur my wrath to protect this information there's no telling what the Goddess would do if she found out I knew the truth. I'll learn the full story in due time, though breaking it to Halifax... That will not be pleasant.} (Akagi)
"Naturally. We created that Dungeon to guard the Reactor so that nobody could reach it without our permission. It's impossible to get to it without our assistance, and it's authorized to kill anyone to prevent them from reaching the final room." Elariel explained. "There are other Power Reactors scattered throughout the world, but they are all either heavily guarded or in a state of disrepair and thus unusable. We've kept tabs on them all to ensure they aren't misused."
"Why not destroy them?" Akagi asked as she leaned back in her chair. "If they were so dangerous, logic dictates their destruction. It seems foolish to risk their theft."
"I would agree, as would most of the Gods. However, its not that simple. We tried just that, and the problem is that destroying one requires, effectively, that it be detonated, and unfortunately detonating one severely destabilizes the world." Elariel shook her head as she continued. "Perhaps if Enoris was fully stable, we could've disposed of them without issue, but with the world falling apart at the seams, the best we can do is hide them away and put them under guard. The one time we did destroy one it well... It wiped out the surrounding area and killed hundreds of thousands of people."
{Understandable, but that still begs the question of why they're in the material plain and not the Heavens. Leaving them down here is far too dangerous, so why would they-} (Akagi)
"Because we were afraid of them." Elariel answered Akagi's thoughts since she could tell what the Demon was thinking. "You're not the first person to ask that question, and the reason we left them down here was because there was fear that if they erupted in the Heavens, they could kill us."
{Good to know.}
(Akagi)"And these constructs were forged from Eridal technology?" Akagi wanted to get back to the original topic. "What are their capabilities? How many are there? And exactly how do they work? I need info if I'm going to make decisions."
"You're asking the wrong person, sadly." Elariel shook her head. "I was not even aware any still existed after the war. The forges and schematics for those automatons should've been eliminated in their entirety. As for their capabilities, all I can say is they can do many things.” She continued. “ The Eridal's used a basic template to make them and could swap out parts to create different variations. Some are kitted for hand-to-hand combat; others can cast spells, while others can combine and form powerful weapons. I have no idea about their inner workings, as that was never my forte. Hilare and Cheofla would be the ones to ask on that matter since they actually analyzed those machines during the war and they generally have a better understanding of those kinds of complex inventions."
"I might need to capture one if that's the case." Akagi clicked her tongue. "Too bad Zephiria vaporized them all."
"On that!" Elariel said, standing up and slamming her palms on the table. "What the hell did she do?!? I've never seen magic like that before!"
{It made the entire planet shake! I've seen powerful spells but never one so easily cast by one person! And so quickly at that!} (Elariel)
"I don't think I can explain it in a way you'd understand." Akagi sighed, figuring that the Goddess would struggle to grasp a video game and the intricacy of how exactly the other Players' power came to be. "Suffice it to say, Zephiria is an extremely powerful and unique Mage. She lives and breathes magic and is the only living person that I'm aware of that can cast the End of Everything."
{I believe Spellhauser had it unlocked, but I don't recall her ever actually using it. 11th Tier Magic was extremely specific in the trees it would appear in, and most Players didn't bother picking up those spells since they couldn't be used in Boss fights and were just as likely to nuke your teammates as they were to kill monsters. Not to mention, they left you wide open and also ate into your maximum spells known, despite not technically being a spell. They were honestly little more than an novelty if you ask me.} (Akagi)
"That magic reminded me of things we'd cast during some of the most ancient battles between God and Primordials. Granted, it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as what we could let off at full power, but that woman's just a mortal, isn't she?" Elariel asked, exasperated. "How could a Human Mage conjure up a spell that powerful that quickly on her own? It defies reason! Mortals should not be capable of such a thing! Even Demi-Gods cannot do something like that!"
{I'd thought that Vampire to be the most troublesome of her minions, but here I find out that she has a Mage powerful enough to shake the planet with a single spell! This is exactly why we destroyed the Eridals! Once mortals get that powerful, they threaten the entire world!} (Elariel)
"Zephiria is a special case, even amongst those of us who survived FWO." Akagi laughed as she noted just how obsessive Zephiria could be with magic and how seriously she took its study. "The girl has a love of magic far beyond anyone else I've met. To her, it's the most important thing in the world, and her love of magic goes so deeply that I doubt there's room for anything else in her heart."
{Where Daikael is apparently self-sexual, I'd say Zephiria has a similar feeling toward magic. But I shouldn't be making fun of her. I'm no different when it comes to a good battle.} (Akagi)
"I'm surprised you didn't have her deal with the Demon Army then." Elariel sighed as she slowly sat back down, exhausted. "That woman could have annihilated the entire army in a flash with the amount of power I felt within her."
"That would've defeated the purpose and robbed Silfana of the honor." Akagi replied. "And besides, Zephiria's role is to guard the base, that's it. I need her focused on that and that alone. Anything else is not her concern."
"She seems to be overkill at such a mundane role." Elariel rolled her eyes.
"Considering her end goal is to become the Goddess ofMagic, I'd say you might be right." Akagi chuckled.
"A goal that just about every Mage aspires to, I suppose." Elariel waived off such words as in her experience they were little more than examples of mortal hubris. "But it's not possible. Gods are Gods, and mortals are mortals. There's a fundamental wall she can never cross. Surely she understands that?"
"I don't know." Akagi said, resting her cheek on one hand. "But I'm quite interested to see exactly where she goes."
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"Arrogant Demon!" Camilla growled in frustration as she sliced a dozen different monsters to shreds with her scissors. "Just you wait! I'll destroy these stupid monsters and then I'll take your head!" She roared, swinging her weapon and sending a blast of air forward which eviscerated another group. "And with Az out of the way, there will be no one to stop me from having my fun.”