The Red Hand

Chapter 466 – The Bearer of Fate.

"Come on, come on! Keep those feet up!" Shinlua yelled as she chased Kana around the arena, swiping at her feet with her blade and shooting small blasts of magical energy to stop Kana from remaining stationary for more than a few moments at a time. "Stamina is key to any fight! A particularly tough battle can last hours, and you need to be able to fight at your full potential for as long as possible! So keep those legs moving!"

*WOOSH* *BLAM* *SWOOSH*

"Need I remind you that I'm a normal Human! I can't run around forever like SOME PEOPLE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED!" Kana shrieked as she swatted away a blast with Himari, only to have another one strike her from the side and send her flying across the arena.

"Yeah... I don't think 'normal' 'Humans' take fireballs the face and walk away with little more than a sourpuss on their face." Hishya said as she sat in the stands, munching on popcorn alongside Miji and Alice who were happily watching along. "But maybe I'm wrong, who knows? I was in a coma for a few years. Med-tech progresses pretty rapidly, so maybe it's possible?" She said as Miji snuck a handful of popcorn. "Want some?"

"Yes!" Miji smiled as she chomped down, a few bits sticking to her cheek. “Its really good!”

“Here take these to wipe your hands.” Hishyas said as she handed Miji some napkins to deal with the excess butter.

"Don't go spoiling her dinner!" Alice scolded Hishya for feeding Miji snacks. "Mama and Yumi will get mad at you if she starts getting picky again."

{There was that whole week where she wouldn't eat anything but toast when you fed her some!} (Alice)

"Meh, let the kid have her snacks." Hishya snickered as Miji ate some more. “Carpe Diem and all that.”

"You've also been letting Miji get out of eating her vegetables during dinner too." Alice said with a glare. “Mama isn't going to like it if Miji grows up all weak because you tossed her greens into the house plants.”

"She'll be fine." Hishya shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with her actions. "All kids hate vegetables, and anyway they'll force-feed them to her again when they come back, so let the kid have a little fun while the kill joys are away." She continued. "And also, why are you saying that? I don't recall seeing very much in the way of greens on your plate either, missy."

"I don't need to do any more growing, so they're not needed." Alice huffed. "Also, I'm sixteen and can eat what I want."

"Yup, you're just as much of a kid as ever." Hishya sighed as Miji continued to eat more popcorn from the bag. "Come on, Kana! Hit back! Kick that Elf right back to Middle-"

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING, HISHYA!" Kana yelled, interrupting her just as Shinlua swept her feet out from under as she landed from dodging a magical attack.

{SON OF A-} (Kana)

"Don't pay attention to our audience, Kana. Focus on me and me alone." Shinlua shook her head as she turned to Hishya. "And the peanut gallery needs to keep quiet. This is important training, and we don't need distract-"

*CLANG*

"Hah! I almost got you!" Kana smirked as Shinlua only barely managed to block her attack. "Didn't you just say not to pay attention to the audience?"

{Hah! You tell her!} (Himari)

"Fair play, but relying on cheap tricks like that is a bad habit to develop, so you'd best not even start." Shinlua said as she batted Kana's blade away with her own and stepped back. "Your form and reaction times are improving rapidly. I'm honestly shocked at how much talent you've displayed." She noted that while Kana still had much to learn, the Demon Princess was swiftly approaching her own level of skill with a blade. “I dare say that had you been born on Enoris you would've become a master of the blade before your tenth birthday.”

{Though I suppose this is to be expected when you combine a natural-born genius with a Demon Lord's imprint. Kana seems to be capable of mimicking whatever technique I show her almost immediately, which I guess shouldn't be shocking given that she has a photographic memory. It won't be long until all that's left is to refine her physical ability and magic manipulation, both of which seem to already be coming along nicely.} (Shinlua)

"You've been a pretty good teacher." Kana smiled, appreciating the praise. "Leagues better than a certain idiotic lizard and Onee-chan that will remain nameless."

"I never claimed to be good at teaching!" Hishya yelled a rebuttal from the bleachers. "I'm good at bonking monsters and not much else! Don't blame me for sucking at showing you how to fight!"

"Aint that the truth." Kana laughed.

"Hmmm..." Shinlua hummed in thought as she sheathed her blade. "I suppose we could try that..." She said, turning to Hishya. "If you'd humor me, please join us down here, Hishya. I believe there is some value in having you join our training."

"I mean, sure, why not?" Hishya stretched as she stood up before handing the popcorn to Mij, who happily began devouring it like a starved wolf that'd just been given a juicy steak. "Gotta work off my snack!" She said as she leaped into the air and landed next to Shinlua. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'd like you to fight Kana." Shinlua explained.

"And I'd like to not turn my girlfriend into paste." Hishya retorted that fighting Kana was not a good idea. "There's too much of a strength difference between us, Shinlua. It's not a good idea for the two of us to spar in any serious capacity."

"Oh? Are you looking down on me?" Kana said with a smirk that sent chills down Hishya's spine. “How rude of you, Hishya.”

"I-I'm just stating facts, no need to drag Scary Kana

out." Hishya said with a wry smile as she tried to placate her girlfriend. "Listen, we've gone back and forth before but that was mostly just letting you smack me around a bit or me just playing with you. Neither of which are good ways to train despite how much fun you might find it.""While I'd agree that Kana's raw power is currently inferior to yours I believe her technique has surpassed yours." Shinlua continued noting that Hishya was still quite reliant on her skills and raw power and hadn't done enough practical training like Kana or her Sister. "I'd like to see the two of you clash where you reduce your power to match hers. That will give us the best idea of where she currently stands."

"Ugh... That's always such a pain..." Hishya groaned. She hated restricting her power during a fight as it was both uncomfortable and clunky. "Can't you just keep training her like you've been doing? It seems to be going pretty well as is."

"I intend to, but I believe this will be important in furthering her development. Seeing how Kana fares against an opponent other than me will provide good data." Shinlua explained that Kana needed to face people other than her so that she didn't develop odd habits and had the opportunity to try her move set against someone who didn't know it as well.

"Fine..." Hishya sighed before summoning Sun Strike. "Alright Kana, go all out. Give it your all. I can take everything you've got."

"Okay!" Kana smirked, but just as she was about to allow her magical power to explode outward Shinlua stopped her.

"No, don't use everything you've got." Shinlua shook her head and sighed. "You're still not used to that power and going all out tends to make you reckless and overconfident. As much of a prodigy as you are you're mind is still that of an immature fighter and you're far too susceptible to its influences. Limit yourself to just below where you feel your emotions start to cloud your judgment and go no further."

{That sounds like a certain character and how they work.} (Hishya)

"Alright." Kana paused for a moment as she allowed her power to swirl through her body before allowing it to flow outward and create a thin purple/black aura around her body. It was highly reminiscent of Akagi's, though its flow and thickness were something distinctly Kana. "I think that's about my limit and I can already feel my whole body getting jittery."

"Excellent." Shinlua smiled, happy to see just how much Kana could use without snapping. "And it's under good control too! I think we should have no issues if you limit yourself to that much."

"I... I didn't realize you actually had that much power." Hishya said as she took in Kana's energy. She knew that Kana had gotten stronger, but the energy surging from within her girlfriend was both unlike anything else she'd felt before and far more potent than she'd expected. "Well, I knew you had a lot but I kinda figured most of it was burst power that you couldn't use reliably." Hishya figured Kana's power was something akin to anime characters getting stronger when angry and that sustained use wasn't possible.

{If we're comparing it to the others, it's still below any of the combat-focused players. But to think that Kana could actually unleash this much energy... And also that's not even full power... Jesus Akagi what did you do to your sister?!? And why do I find it hot?!?} (Hishya)

"Give me a second to change mine to match." Hishya took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second before snapping them back open, successfully lowering her power to match Kana's present output. "Okay, I'm ready." She said as she pointed Sun Strike at Kana.

"No flashy powering up or aura?" Kana laughed, knowing that her girlfriend was just as chunni as Akagi and tended to do that kind of stuff. “I was kinda expecting a bit of a show.”

"Hah! I save that for far more substantial opponents." Hishya winked, which made Kana just shake her head in response.

"Alright, you're both ready?" Shinlua asked as she stepped back to give the two of them some space.

"Yep!" (Kana x Hishya)

"Alright then, the rules will be simple. The first one to land a blow or put the other in a position where they would do so wins." Shinlua said as she raised her hand, Hishya and Kana both entered ready position with Kana raising Himari up to block while Hishya held Sun Strike loosely with its point toward the floor. “Get ready... Get set... Begin!"

_____________________________________________________________________________

While Kana and Hishya clashed in the arena, a cloaked figure rode the elevator down into the secret Dumetor lab.

"We... I... Need to do this..." Alm said as she shook her head, a headache still raging. "The plan... I can't allow it to fail..." She said as the elevator came to a stop at the bottom and opened revealing two American scientists who were chatting about something the girl didn't understand.

{Good, my magic is working.} (Alm)

Slipping past the scientists Alm continued through the lab unnoticed, her magic blocking anyone from detecting her and essentially making her invisible to normal detection. She'd been confident that it would work on normal Humans but had no idea whether Superbia and Munechika would detect her.

"I just need to get to the portal..." Alm muttered to herself as she continued through the lab before finding the entrance to the portal room, the other side of which was filled with music blaring along with the voices of its two guardians.

"What do you want for dinner?" Superbia asked her sister as she sat in a chair. "I'm thinking Tai, but I could be persuaded to get something else."

"I've told you before that I don't need to eat and you should get what you want..." Munechika sighed, not noticing the automatic door opening and Alm peeking through.

"Required or not we're eating together as a family. I won't let you get out of it." Superbia huffed as Alm slipped into the room, her invisibility seemingly holding up against the Returnee who wasn't really paying attention.

"Why must you be so stubborn..." Munechika sighed, which made Superbia chuckle. "But if you made me choose, I'm feeling Vietnamese. Pho is always a favorite of mine."

{Good, they don't seem to have noticed me.} (Alm)

Slowly creeping up to the swirling portal, Alm paused as she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She'd been bombarded with memories and headaches for some time, but the one earlier seemed to have shattered whatever spell was holding it all back, and a tidal wave of information poured into her mind like an ocean draining into a bucket.

"I wish these memories, this burden had never come to me... I wish none of this had happened... But I must go forward... Damn myself for making me do this..." Alm muttered to herself as she entered the portal.

"Huh?" Superbia paused her conversation as the automatic door closed. "Did someone come in?"

"I didn't sense anyone?" Munechika said as she looked around the room, sensing no one else around save for the scientists in the adjacent lab.

"Probably just someone triggered the door by getting too close then." Superbia shrugged. "But anyway, how about we split the difference and do Korean Barbecue?"