The Red Hand

Chapter 469 – A Single Word Changes Everything.

{This energy... It's dark, thick, and alien... Yet, strangely familiar... Why? Why does it feel like I know it... Its Labrys' sure, but something... Why does it feel...} (Halifax)

"This should be easy peasy!" Zo's outburst pulled Halifax out of her thoughts. The four of them had departed from the inn immediately once Halifax had sensed Labrys, and they were currently cutting through the forest toward where the Divine Blade could sense her counterpart. When asked how she could sense him Halifax stated again that she had no clue, but there was not a single doubt in the Divine Blade's mind as to whose energy she sensed. "The four of us together can jump him easily and bring him in!"

"Just remember that the Boss needs him alive. So don't go breaking him." Ro chided his sister. “I'd rather not get on her bad side.”

"I should contact Myaster." Chloe said as she went to reach for a radio in her pack. She had a more powerful radio that could easily reach anywhere on Enoris. "If he's nearby, she can easily bring him in."

"Wait until we confirm that its Labrys." Halifax said as she turned to look at the Cat as they moved through some underbrush. "No need to alert her if it's a false alarm. We'll get visual confirmation, and then you can call her. The last thing we need is her showing up, finding out I was wrong and then having her all pissed off that we wasted her time."

"Okay, nya." Chloe nodded.

"But still, something about this whole thing seems strange." Zo commented. "The Demon Axe we've been looking for just happens to show up all of a sudden and you can sense his presence?" She thought it was a bit too convenient. "Did the plan to use the Cat as bait work that well? "

"I agree, we should be cautious. There's no telling if this is some kind of trap laid by the Cult to draw us out." Ro agreed that something about this didn't add up. “I don't sense one else, but we should go into this assuming a trap.”

"Being cautious would be wise. Though I don't know why he's here now. It could be he sensed Chloe, or it could be that he can somehow detect me even when I'm hiding my energy." Halifax said, her calm demeanor belying the swirling emotions just below the surface. "As for why I'm sensing him, it's probably got something to do with our meeting in the past. He couldn't talk back then, but I'd recognize that energy anywhere. If this isn't Labrys then we've come across something else that reeks of Demon Lord Vikes energy so we probably win out either way."

{It's oddly nostalgic, this energy. Though I don't know why. The battle between Helia and Vikes was something that nearly destroyed the continent, and it caused countless deaths. I should be feeling a burning anger, but for some reason... For some reason I'm anxious to meet him... Maybe it's because we're similar? Weapons created to be wielded by our masters for a purpose? Regardless, I'm going to get answers. I need to know why Elariel was so determined to conceal information about Enūma from me and why she was opposed to my involvement in this search. I know I'm missing information, and I refuse to live in ignorance any longer.} (Halifax)

"Alright, so Is the plan to jump him as soon as we confirm it Labrys?" Zo asked what the plan was.

"I'd advise scouting the area around him to ensure there's nobody in waiting, nya," Chloe's ninja instincts meant that she was never one to jump into a situation without proper intel and she couldn't countenance engaging such a dangerous foe without a plan.

"Normally, I'd agree. But I think we should take him out the moment we know its Labrys." Halifax replied. "Any delay would give him time to flee, and this could be our only chance to capture him. If he's got a trap laid for us then we only need to blast straight through it. It's not the smartest plan, but I think we have no choice."

"Oh yeah! I'm always down to do things the direct way." Ro laughed, as did his Sister. They were muscle heads through and through and stealth and complex plans were beyond them. "Just point us at the Demon Axe, and we'll give him a good old-fashioned beat down!" He said as he summoned a baseball bat into his hand.

"We didn't get to use these much against the Boss, so we still need to break em in." Zo smirked as the four of them continued their march through the forest. The Twins had originally wanted to move faster, but both Halifax and Chloe shot that down by explaining that moving at high speed would require more energy and increase the chances that their target detected them, a fact that annoyed both of the Primordials greatly though they ultimately relented.

As they continued onward, Chloe could tell that Halifax was growing increasingly nervous. The Divine Blade hid it well, and while the Twins didn't notice anything wrong, especially since they were too busy bickering with each other to pay attention, Chloe saw through her outer facade with ease. She'd had plenty of experience in reading people and knew what to look out for when it came to someone's mental and emotional state and asked the Divine Blade if she was okay, to which Halifax simply replied that her nerves were acting up. This would be the first time in four thousand years that she would meet Labrys, an antithetical existence to the blade forged by the Gods to destroy a Demon Lord, so naturally she was a bit on edge and Chloe accepted as that reassureing her that everything would be fine and that together the four of them could handle the Demon Axe. The Cat even revealed that she'd been granted extra power by Akagi and was itching to put it to the test, something that seemed to cause Halifax to worry rather than relax.

As they moved further into the depths of the forest Labrys' power grew closer and more pronounced, with even the Primordial Twins and Chloe sensing its dark and twisted nature. It reminded the Cat of Akagi's energy in that it was incredibly thick and suffocating, but compared to the Demon Lord she'd sworn fealty to, the power ahead was far more turbulent. As the source of the energy came ever closer Halifax's face twisted further and further into a disgusted grin as she explained that Labrys had eaten countless souls, which he was using to strengthen himself. It was something she'd seen Vikes do in the past, and the Divine Blade didn't even want to imagine the number of people Labrys had devoured by this point. Unlike Akagi, Vikes and his progeny didn't simply consume and dissipate those they ate; rather the souls taken by them would linger in a state of limbo in order to maximize the amount of energy they would provide before finally vanishing into nothingness. Halifax was not a fan of Akagi's consumption of souls, but she found herself grateful that Akagi did not tend to make people suffer in such a horrific manner.

"He's just up ahead." Halifax paused, holding out a hand to get the other three to stop as they approached a clearing in the forest. "There's no doubt in my mind this is him." She said, her entire body tensing. "I'll never forget this power."

{It's been four thousand years since I've saw Vikes. Four thousand years since that day... And strangely it both does and doesn't feel that long.} (Halifax)

"Then I'll call Myaster." Chloe said as she took a radio out of her bag. "Myaster should get here quickly, so it shouldn't-"

*TWACK*

"Sorry, kitty." Halifax said with a visible sadness on her face as she knocked Chloe unconscious with a single blow to the back of the head before catching the knocked-out Cat. "Be angry at me later, but I gotta do this."

"Hey! What the hell are you-" Ro yelled but quickly shut up as Halifax put her blade to his throat.

"Stay back." Halifax said as she slowly set Chloe on the floor. “There's no reason for things to esclate, so just keep quiet.”

"Why did you do that?" Zo growled, ready to pounce on the Divine Blade, cursing the seal placed on her power. "Are you betraying the Boss?"

"No!" Halifax rebuffed her claim with a bit of a louder voice than she'd intended. "I... I just can't have Akagi showing up yet." She shook her head as she put some distance between them. "Labrys... I need some answers... And if Akagi comes blasting in here... I might not get them."

{Why was Elariel so hell-bent on stopping me? What is she hiding about my creation? And what the hell is Enūma? My mind has been so messed up lately that I can't think straight. I need to do this. I need answers, and I can't risk Akagi swooping in here and obfuscating the truth from me. Friend or not, she's a Demon Lord and one that I know likes to do things her way. I may not get the chance to find out what I want if I don't take this chance right now.} (Halifax)

"So you knocked the Cat out just to let you have a chat with that thing?" Ro asked, wary of starting a fight when not at full power. Akagi had released some of their seal since it was useful to have them powered up in case an emergency happened, but they were still restricted enough that a fight with Halifax would prove to be an issue.

"He'll talk to me. I know it." Halifax said with absolute certainty in her voice.

"You know this how?" Zo asked, finding it odd that she seemed so confident.

"I don't know, but I just know." Halifax shook her head, unsure herself why she felt so confident. "So just stand back and keep your distance. I need to handle this alone, so don't go interfering lest you get caught in the crossfire." She said, figuring that a battle with the Axe was likely no matter what happened next.

"You do realize that you're actions here could result in the Boss' best chance to take down the Gods getting away?" Ro scoffed at her selfishness. “That everything she's trying to do could be put at risk? And that if he gets away we may never find him and thus she may simply blow up Enoris?”

"I know, and I'm prepared for that." Halifax replied, her eyes burning with a fire that seemed to burst from deep within her very soul. "But I'll deal with whatever punishment Akagi has in mind later... Right now, I just need answers. I need this... So just... Just let me handle this. I'm confident that I can subdue Labrys on my own anyway."

"Fuck." Ro swore, aware that this was going to turn in to an absolute shitshow. "The Boss is gonna kill us."

"Yo, if this goes south, I expect you to take all the blame." Zo said as she bent over to check on Chloe, happy to see that she was fine barring the bruise on the back of her head. "Though I'm not sure what she's going to be more angry with. You potentially sabotaging the mission or attacking her student."

"She adores Chloe a lot, so I don't know which is more likely either." Halifax chuckled before turning on her heel. "She'll wake up in a little bit. There's no way a small love tap like that's going to keep our little suped-up kitty down for long." She said before continuing forward toward a large clearing in the distance. “I'll bring him back, don't worry.”

“Oh, we're worried alright.” (Ro x Zo)

Putting the Twins behind her, it didn't take long for Halifax to exit the forest and enter a pristine clearing in the trees that contained an uncountable number of pink flowers, pedals of which drifted alongside the light breeze. It was an absolutely stunning scene that looked like something straight from a painting as the petals bloomed with so much color that it was as if all the color in the world was concentrated in this one location. However, the beautiful scenery was not the only thing the Divine Blade could see, for at the opposite end edge of the forest was a masked figure with a massive black Axe on its back. It was a weapon that Halifax knew well, one she could never mistake for anything else, and upon confirming that this was indeed Labrys, she ventured forth.

The Divine Blade had no heart, but if she did, Halifax imagined it would be pounding in her chest. As the two weapons slowly approached each other, the world itself seemed to grow silent save for the rustle of leaves in the breeze, and time seemed to slow to a crawl as they met each other at the center of the grove, a light breeze kicking up a great number of petals that filled the air with pink. Neither weapon said anything at first, and what seemed like an eternity passed before Labrys broke the silence with a single world-shattering sentence.

"It's been a long time, Sister."

END OF BOOK 7