The Red Hand

Chapter 449.5 – Target Sited.

"I have no idea why that supposed Demon Lord just left the City, but I couldn't be happier to see her leave." Valuru spoke to Tanya via telepathy, breathing a mental sigh of relief that Akagi had vanished. He'd nearly come into direct contact with the Demon in the vast crowd at the Bazaar, only noticing her at the last minute and turning down a side street to avoid making contact. "I thought you were keeping an eye on her with that power of yours? Your blunder could've ruined everything!" He growled as he took a seat on a nearby bench.

{How was I supposed to know she'd teleport into the middle of the city like that?!? And also she disappeared completely! One minute she was wandering around town, and the next, her power vanished before showing up a few hours later without warning! Recall that my power is only able to detect souls within a certain distance of my telepathy target! So don't go expecting the impossible of me! You're lucky I was able to give you a heads up at all!} (Tanya)

"Alright, alright. No need to shout." Valuru said as his head rang from how loud her voice was. "Remember that you're screaming directly into my head, and I hope I don't have to tell you how much that hurts."

{Sometime I have no idea what Lord Labrys sees in her. She's an aggravating woman.} (Valuru)

{Regardless of your whining, this presents an opportunity for us. With her gone that should make it easier for you to act.} (Tanya)

"I suppose that's true. Her presense makes any maneuvering difficult." Valuru asked as he stood up and continued down the street, weaving his way through the crowd as merchants yelled up and down the street to sell their wares. "This would be the perfect time to make a run on the Reactor."

{Hold on, one of our agents is reaching out...} (Tanya)

"Yes, yes... Place me on the back burner why don't you?" Valuru grumbled as he purchased a kebab from a nearby vendor and took a bit out of it. Tanya had, more or less, placed him on hold. Though unlike on Earth there was no pleasant elevator music to listen to in the mean time. "Not like I'm completely blind here without you or anything. Go ahead, deal with someone else. Take your time."

{And I still don't understand how I'm supposed to get into the King's Mausoleum and secure the Reactor anyway. That place is so dangerous that even the highest-ranked parties don't even bother applying for an entry permit. As much as I hate to admit it my power alone won't be able to fight the myriad of beasts lurking within, and it would take far too long to descend one-hundred floors even if I could. I'm starting to think this assignment is Tanya's way of-} (Valuru)

{It looks like the Demon Lord returned to her Simoea base, seems that something big went down and she got word of it.} (Tanya)

"Big?" Valuru asked as he took another bite. "That Demon Lord was apparently planning this trip for some time, so whatever happened must've been quite important if she left after only a few hours. Any idea what happened?"

{I can't say for certain. Our forward agents in Simoea were wiped out...} (Tanya)

"What?" Valuru paused mid-bite as he processed her words. "Were they detected? But the Kelori brothers are masters of subterfuge. Even the Gods never managed to find them." They were the Cult's best agents when it came to stealth, so hearing that they'd been found out and destroyed was a shock.

{Their signatures went dark not that long ago and a team sent to investigate what happened teleported to the underground sigal we buried as a contingency since the main one went offline. Said team was the one who called me with telepathy by the way. Upon arrival, they were shocked to find DAYLIGHT and a massive abyss just a few feet North of the sigal.} (Tanya)

"Are you saying the Demon Lord blew a hole in the earth so large that it reached even the backup sigal?" Valuru asked, still shocked. "But that sigal was buried deep underground and warded with enough detection-blocking runes and scripts that nothing should've been able to find damage it."

{I don't know the full details, but the team reported a deep crater in the ground that went down so far that they could see nothing but darkness. Once they recovered from the shock they quickly scaled the chasm just in time to see the Demon Lord appear with her helper and enter their base. At this moment we have no clue what happened or why, but it's clear that the Kelori brothers were vaporized in the attack. Hence why their energy signature vanished.} (Tanya)

"Damn that Demon Lord." Valuru hissed as he finished his skewer and tossed the stick into a nearby trashcan. "It's as if she's always one step ahead of us. She must've known of their location for some time and decided to let them collect intel."

{I... That's a distinct possibility. We should reevaluate all the intelligence collected by those two to ensure none of it was false. It's possible the Demon Lord used their presence to feed us false information to make us let our guard down or throw us off track. We know from our agents across Northwind that she's looking for Lord Labrys, so at this point, we should presume the worst.}

"Have you informed Lord Labrys of this development?" Valuru asked as he bounced between shops, inspecting their wares as he listened for whatever gossip he could find. “He's taken a great interest in the Demon Lord, and if she's on to him that could prove a problem.”

{I'll give him an update once I have more information. Lord Labrys has asked not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary.} (Tanya)

"I still wish he'd tell us more about what his plans are." Valuru grumbled to himself, not allowing his words to reach Tanya via telepathy. "Please update him as soon as possible. I will counsel him to return to base until we can discern what the Demon Lord is planning. She's been much too active lately, and if she truly had our best spies by the nose we must be careful not to fall into any traps she's laid for us."

{I've already discussed that risk with Lord Labrys, and he is not concerned. Right now he is focused on regaining his power, and last I was aware he was following rumors of a very powerful individual who appeared in Northwind's Capital.} (Tanya)

"Is that the one you detected some months back?" Valuru figured it was the same person as a prior report.

{Yes, though our agents on the ground have been unable to verify more than the mere existence of a powerful presence within the city. The last time I connected with one of them I actually detected several good candidates for devouring. For now, Lord Labrys seems keen to wait and watch for an opportunity to strike.} (Tanya)

"Do you think he's trying to find this Enūma woman?" Valuru asked, his words catching Tanya off guard.

{How did you hear of that?} (Tanya)

"Just as you have eyes and ears in our organization to ensure our people remain loyal, I do too." Valuru smirked. "And they told me that our Lord is looking for a woman, someone who is apparently very important to him. It seems you're aware of her too, so perhaps you could enlighten me a bit?"

{You'd be best served FORGETTING everything you know and everything you think you know about this, Valuru. I'm warning you.} (Tanya)

"Jealous?" Valuru said as he continued down the street before arriving at the central plaza and looking into the reflective fountain water. "It must hurt to hear our Lord is interested in a woman other than you."

{Valuru, I'm giving you one last warning. Shut. Your. Mouth.} (Tanya)

"Fine, fine." Valuru laughed as he spun around and took a seat on the edge of the stone fountain. "Far be it from me to get between a woman and her love. Better men than I have made that folly."

{All you need to know is that Lord Labrys is looking for this person, but it has nothing to do with you. Even I have no idea who she is or what his goal is. He's mentioned her only a handful of times and refuses to answer any questions about her. So do me a favor and drop it. We've got more important things to deal with, and you've got a mission to handle.} (Tanya)

"Indeed, like finding the other-" Valuru paused as a shrill voice filled the plaza.

"YES-YES!" Imp screeched at the top of her lungs as she examined a nearby shopkeeper's goods. "Powerful-extraordinary runes! Many symbols-shapes! Much power-energy! HAHAHAHA!"

"Um... Mam, I'm glad you seem to like my product but-" The Dwarven shop keep tried to get her to calm down, but was ignored as Imp began rambling about topics that he could barely understand.

"We could use-include this in transportation-teleportation device!" Imp cackled as she examined a small sphere metal covered in blue, glowing runes. "OH! This-This could be used-included in magical firearms for maximum effect-power!" She cackled.

"What an obnoxious woman." Valuru clicked his tongue in irritation as he watched Imp bombard the poor man with a million questions. "I have no idea what kind of Demon she is, but she's giving me second-hand embarrassment."

{She might be annoying, but it looks like one of our targets showed themselves. How convenient that she appeared right near you.} (Tanya)

"You mean to tell me that she is one of the people with powerful souls?!?" Valuru had to hold back from yelling out his confusion. "What about that screams powerful soul?!?"

{I don't make the rules, but at this distance, I can assure you that she's one of them. Her soul is incredible! I've never felt something quite like it! It's practically overflowing with power! If Lord Labrys consumes her it will go a long way to restoring his full power! You need to do whatever you can to capture her!} (Tanya)

"Great... Just my luck..." Valuru sighed, dreading the fact that he was now going to have to listen to Imp's cackling as he tailed her around the City.