The Red Hand

Chapter 465 – The Goddess’ Angels.

"I see, so things are a bit more complex than we first thought." Shiva spoke to Camilla via a 'video call' spell that was similar to how Gale'd been communicating with Rehael and Reflia. She'd left the lich to handle things in Thin Ledhar on her own while she attended to other matters, but hearing of the appearance of 'Valukar' caused her to rethink that decision. "Are you alright? I've heard that fighting a Valukar is quite the ordeal, so you did well to defeat it on your own."

{But to think they still exist. I'd thought that Halifax vanished the last of them all those years ago.} (Shiva)

"Ha! You should know that it will take more than a stupid monster like that to kill me." Camilla clicked her tongue in irritation at being underestimated. She'd wandered away from the Dwarven Army to take this 'call' but could still hear fighting in the distance as more monsters flooded into the Dwarven lines. "Need I remind you that even if this body is destroyed, it wouldn't even matter. Killing me is no easy feat."

"The nature of your existence aside, you know as well as I do that no being is unkillable, and a strenuous battle takes its toll on even the most powerful beings." Shiva cautioned her. "Even Gods."

{Gods which even now are tearing themselves apart in a power struggle while a dangerous force threatens the world. Damn fools.} (Shiva)

"Whatever, I handled that thing, so it's all good." Camilla rolled her eyes.

{Uppity Elf.} (Camilla)

"And what of the one that attacked the Capital?" Shiva decided to get back on track and avoid an argument with the lich. "You mentioned that it was defeated by someone else?"

Camilla had been told that Akagi was responsible for crushing the 'Valukar' that attacked the Dwarven Capital, but was leaving the fact that she was the Demon Lord from her reports for selfish reasons.

"The Dwarves said a strong adventurer handled it." Camilla brushed her off. “Something, something high level. Something, something I don't care.”

"An adventurer that could handle a Valukar on their own is unusual." Shiva glared at her, detecting that there was more to this story than she was being told. "The only one I know that can handle one would be Halifax, and she vanished months back."

"I didn't get a name, but if it was the orange-haired wonder I think I'd know if she was in the Capital." Camilla said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small candy, popping it in her mouth. “That bitch reeks of goodie-two-shoes power.”

"Yes, she does not tend to appreciate undead, especially your kind, so if she is in the Capital I'd advise you not to antagonize her. After all, she is

capable of killing you." Shiva warned the lich that Halifax was an existence not to be trifled with.As was already established, knowledge of Halifax's true nature was fairly limited on Enoris, with only the most powerful or influential individuals within a nation having that restricted knowledge. However, some members of the Dawn Order, specifically its leadership, were aware of her status as the Divine Blade due to their past relationship with her. Shiva knew who Halifax was, as did the Dawnmaster, but Camilla was not privy to that bit of information. This was largely because she was a new recruit and not fully trusted yet, a feeling that the lich would say was mutual.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll avoid picking fights with strong people with Divine power." Camilla rolled her eyes again, which irritated Shiva. "But if they start things first, I can't be held responsible for their funeral." She grinned.

{I'm sure she's not all that's she's cracked up to be anyway.} (Camilla)

"Camilla, I need you focused on your mission." Shiva said in a forceful tone. "Our Order is already overstretched as it is and I need you to move things along with the Dwarves quicker. Lady Reflia is breathing down the Dawnmaster's neck and wants that Power Reactor ASAP. If you can't handle things on your own then I'll be forced to-"

"I'll handle things myself." Camilla hissed as she chomped on another piece of candy. "I don't need you meddling in my work, Shiva. So fuck off." The Elf's status as her minder was a massive irritant for the lich especially since Camilla's personality didn't exactly mesh well with her status as a 'subordinate'. "These creatures will be driven back soon enough and the Goddess will get her magic toy just like she wants. So just cool your pretty little head and let me work my magic."

"For your sake, I hope so. Lady Reflia has become even more agitated with the reported death of her daughter Penelope and I wouldn't put it past her to erase you if you don't meet her timetables." Shiva said, noting that she'd seen the Space Goddess do just that before.

"Aren't Gods banned from doing that kind of thing all willy-nilly?" Camilla laughed. "Oh wait, she's already going behind the other's backs so she probably doesn't care about breaking other taboos, huh?" Gods were not supposed to kill mortals without good reason or approval from the other Gods. Though while this rule existed on paper, in practice what counted as a 'good reason' was up to the interpretation of said Gods, and thus was of little use when it came to protecting the masses. "And you said her favorite little pet got wiped out? I'm actually more shocked that the Goddess cared enough to get angry about her death. Don't they just make kids and abandon them? I wasn't aware they actually had parental instincts."

"And I wouldn't say that in earshot of said Goddess if you enjoy existing." Shiva groaned. The sentiment wasn't exactly wrong but there were Gods who did favor their children and they wouldn't take kindly to the lich's comments. "It was the right choice to send you far

away from Lady Reflia lest you piss her off and get us all killed.""Hey, if she kills me in anger I still win." Camilla snickered.

"I don't think anyone 'wins' in that scenario but I'm not going to debate you any further." Shiva shook her head, deciding that the back and forth was not worth it. "Getting back on topic. You need to have this whole thing wrapped up quickly, ideally within a week or two. That's as much time as we can buy. Any longer and there's a good chance that Lady Reflia's entire plan to stop the others won't work."

{And we know what that means.} (Shiva)

"If this is soooooo important why are you running around on the other side of the continent?" Camilla asked with a raised brow. “Shouldn't you be here helping me? Not that I want you here, but it would make sense if this was the big make or break thing you're claiming it to be.”

"Because the rest of us are scrambling to (a) find Labrys and (b) find more reactors." Shiva replied with a bit of venom in her words. "Lord Gale has a head start on us and we've lost more than few people to the Reaper since she started sticking her nose into those things. We're trying our best to find more but we've either been too slow in most cases or they're too well hidden to find. I'm on the trail of one here in the Whistlewoods but the need for secrecy means that my progress is slow and I don't think I need to explain why you weren't given any of the 'delicate' missions..."

"Subtly and I aren't on speaking terms I'm afraid." Camilla shrugged. "Those things called irreconcilable differences are a bitch."

"I just hope your irreconcilable differences don't interfere with your ability to complete this mission." Shiva said, trying her best to hold back more comments. "Just get that Reactor within the next two weeks and have it back at base. Hopefully, by the time you've arrived, I'll have the one in the Whistlewoods as well, and the Dawnmaster will have found the Demon Axe. Last I knew he'd concocted some kind of crazy plan to draw it out."

"That man and his crazy plans. Though I suppose that fifty percent of the time they work one hundred percent of the time!" Camilla laughed as she ended the call abruptly. "But don't worry Shiva, you and your little Goddess will get your magic Reactor..." She paused before curling her lips into a nasty smirk. "Just after we get done giving it the once over. Gotta do my real job afterall." She said as she laughed before heading back through the cave and toward the distant battle.

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"Man, this guy is illusive." Sakura grumbled as she ruffled her hair in irritation. She, Hikari and Nemino had been leaping around the Capital frantically trying to find Valuru since Akagi's emergency summons. Naturally, such a high-priority task from their Lord got all the Ninja fired up, but the lack of progress in the days that followed had resulted in endless frustration since they couldn't find him. This was doubly so since none of them wanted to report back that they'd failed to find what was essentially Akagi's best hope for finding her ultimate target. "We've got just about everyone

here and we still haven't found him?!? Argh! Lady Akagi is going to be so angry if we let him slip through our fingers."{I'd love to start busting doors down but she said that'll cause more problems, so we're limited to doing things nice and quiet. Ugh!} (Sakura)

"She might even kill Nima if that Cat's unlucky enough." Nemino said casually as he and Hikari landed next to her, startling the people on the street.

"Don't even joke about that!" Hikari said as she punched his funny bone. "Nima's already stressed enough as it is without that kicking around in the back of her mind. This operation probably has her sweating bullets already!"

"Yeah, I know how it felt to screw up once, so I've got sympathy for her..." Sakura said with a wry smile as she recalled what had happened in Kyoto.

{Hell, technically BOTH Nima and I's fuck ups could've gotten Kana killed... If that happened... I don't even want to imagine what Lady Akagi would do to us...} (Sakura)

"But enough chit-chat, we need to find this guy-" Sakura paused as she was interrupted by a Dwarven solider.

"E-Excuse me..." Galin nervously approached the three Ninja. "Are... Are you three Angels of the Goddess?"

"Angels?" Sakura and Hikari flinched in confusion, not liking the assumption that they were connected to the Gods.

"And what Goddess?" Nemino asked.

"The beautiful Goddess of Darkness that saved us, of course!" Galin replied with great enthusiasm, which caught the Ninja off guard. "She saved my life! It was a sight these old eyes will never forget! Her wonderful form was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and she cast that horrible creature away with such ease and grace that-" He proceeded to ramble about how great this 'Goddess' was, and the Ninja quickly put two and two together as to whom he was talking about.

{She has that effect on people...} (Sakura x Hikari x Nemino)

"Y-You mean Lady Akagi..." Sakura said with a wry smile, overwhelmed by the fire in the Dwarves' eyes and the passion in his words.

"Yes! Oh, Lady Akagi! I've never known such a wonderful name." Galin said, almost brought to tears at finding out her name. "To think the Goddess has a name so beautiful. But then again it couldn't be anything but!"

{Oh man, he's just like that crazy Priestess we picked up...} (Sakura x Hikari x Nemino)

"And if we do work for Lady Akagi? What's it to you?" Nemino decided to roll with the situation and see if he had anything useful for them.

"Ah, yes! Please forgive me for not explaining sooner." Galin politely bowed. "I heard that you're looking for the individual that attacked one of the Goddess' companions! A cardinal sin yes!" He said with a nod.

"And if we are?" Nemino gestured for him to continue.

"Well, the night of the attack I was on patrol and I believe I saw the attacker and where he-" Galin's words stopped as the three Ninja grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt/armor.

"WHERE?!?" (Hikari x Sakura x Nemino)