The Red Hand

As the Holy City's residents panicked at the unfolding battle in the sky, and subsequently the lower orbit above, and Halifax and the others talked amongst themselves about the fight. They all thought that Akagi was being stupid and over the top, though there was a level of appreciation for just how crazy powerful the Demon was. Though, while the others' opinion ranged from bemusement to exasperation, Elariel stood frozen in place, her eyes locked to the sky as her body shook in terror at what she'd just witness.

She was fully aware that Akagi was a powerful being. That much was clear by her ability to kill Gods through their connection to their Avatars. But watching the Demon effortlessly dispatch the two Primordials, beings that Elariel was now certain had grown strong enough to defeat many of the Gods in open combat, had left her shaken to the core.

{What kind of Hell is this? No, what kind of JOKE is this?!? How... How could one being possess so much power? And more importantly, why is it someone like HER?!?} Elariel thought back to one of the small discussions that she'd had with Akagi during a moment alone, where she asked a bit more about Demon Lords and what they were. At the time she hadn't thought much of it, and claims of being a universal delete button was something that she'd originally brushed off as classic Akagi bluster, but now, it wasn't looking so hyperbolic anymore.

"That right..." Elariel gave a defeated laugh as the other three bickered with each other.

{Demon Lord really are effectively a greater version of Divine Punishment, aren't they. Mortals fear our wrath and ability to simply destroy them if they run afoul of our wishes, and in this case, I suppose one could say that reality ITSELF has tired of us and sent in the ultimate extermination device. We truly are of no consequence, are we? Even Gods... Even beings such as us... Beings of a supposedly 'higher authority'... Beings that are supposed to be the very peak of creation... We're nothing more than cogs in the machine, parts that can and WILL be destroyed if the greater system demands it...} (Elariel)

"Hey... Hey... Idiot... Elariel!" Halifax shook her shoulder, snapping the Goddess out of her stupor. "You alright? I've never seen you get glassy-eyed like that before." She looked genuinely worried. Elariel wasn't one to lose her composure, and Halifax was a bit concerned to see her so worried.

"Oh... No, I'm fine..." Elariel shook her head, pushing away her darker thoughts for the moment. "I was just lost in thought is all."

"I'm going to wager it about that crazy display up there?" Halifax snickered as she pointed over her shoulder. "Akagi really did go and overdid it, huh?"

{Though it was interesting to see her power put into perspective.} (Halifax)

"I'd say that over did it is an understatement..." Amakusa rolled her eyes. "Not only did she zip around like that and trash parts of the City, she also exploded a nearby mountain..." She pointed to the massive crater in the distance, where one of the colossal mountains that surrounded the Holy City used to be. “I'd say that this stupid display was completely unnecessary, but that would just be me beating a dead horse.”

{And knowing Akagi she'd fucking resurrect the damn thing just to kill it again...} (Amakusa)

"We're lucky that nobody lives there..." Kanato gave a wry smile. "But dear God... We really went and pissed off the wrong woman, didn't we?"

"That's another massive understatement..." Amakusa sighed. "To be fair, up until this exact moment, I think even I underestimated her. I knew she was crazy fucking powerful, but this..." She shook her head. "This is just a farce. I mean, come on. What kind of person needs that kind of power? Its completely unreasonable!"

"It makes complete sense to me." Halifax shrugged. "Have you not been told by Akagi exactly what she is? She's made it clear multiple times that her kind is the universal delete button." She turned to look at the crater and flames burning around it in the distance. "It just shows how lucky we really were with Vikes..."

"Yeah... I'd imagine that had we not gotten him when we did... Then none of us would be here right now." Elariel words gave everyone pause. "Enoris would've been burned to ash, and nothing would've stopped him."

{Though one may ask, it is not better to be vanquished than to live under the boot of such a creature? Her attitude may one day change on a whim, and there's no telling what she'll do in the future. Long-lived beings rarely remain the same, and it is entirely likely that...} (Elariel)

"Wait!" Amakusa started looking around frantically, cutting off Elariel's train of thought with her outburst. "Where's that bitch?!?" She growled as she spun around. "Alm might be safe, but I'm going to gut that fucking traitorous whore and make her regret even thinking of laying her hands on her! RAFFERTY! GET OUT HERE AND FACE THE FUCKING MUSIC YOU BITCH!" She called out to the fox girl, who was nowhere to be seen. “DON'T TRY TO HIDE! I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THE GODS DAMMED EARTH!”

{AND WHEN I FIND YOU I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU REGRET EVER BEING CREATED!} (Amakusa)

"Maybe don't make such a scene in the middle of the street." Kanato sighed as he pointed to the people staring at them. “You're attracting a lot of attention.”

{Good thing her and Elariel are still disguised.} (Kanato)

"I don't care about that!" Amakusa said as she walked over and picked up the unconscious Alm off the ground. "Let them gawk at me all they want! And Kanato, don't you want that bitch to pay?!? She betrayed all of us and even killed Hitomi! So how can you just stand there and be calm?!?"

"I... Of course, I want her brought to justice..." Kanato looked away. "But I'm... I'm just tired of fighting... and killing..."

{I don't... I don't want do this anymore...} (Kanato)

"I wonder if we can revive her?" Halifax rested her hand on her chin as she thought aloud. "Gods can easily resurrect the dead, so I'm sure we can bring her back." She glanced at Elariel for answers.

"You'd need the Goddess of Death, Esquire, to handle that." Elariel replied. "But I'm going to tell you upfront that it's useless to even ask her for help."

"And why's that?" Kanato asked.

"Because those two idiots ate her soul." Akagi's voice startled the four of them as she floated down from the sky and appeared behind them. “Hello there.”

{You just couldn't resist, could you?} (Yumi)

{This is me we're talking about, so no.} (Akagi)

"That's right, you did say something like that before the brawl kicked off." Halifax nodded, ignorant of Akagi's reference.

"So what, she's just permanently dead?!?" Amakusa figured that meant Hitomi was just trapped in a state of death as some kind of roaming Spirit or even within Hell.

"Dead? Nah its even worse than that, pet. The Heroine isn't just pushing up daises, oh no, she just flat out doesn't exist anymore." Akagi's voice caused both Hero's bodies to go numb.

"Doesn't... Exist..." Kanato repeated the words back, not wanting them to be true.

“Now you see kids when I consume a soul, it's broken down into its fundamental parts and absorbed into my being. It's the same as when you eat an apple. It's broken down by your stomach acid and absorbed into your body, and just like humpty dumpty, there's no putting it back together once it comes apart." Akagi crossed her arms into an X. "Consumption by me or in another similar manner removes your soul from creation, and once that happens, even I or another Demon Lord cannot undo it. You're gone, permanently. Poof, you no longer exist. There is no resurrection, no reincarnation, you do not pass Go, and you most certainly do not collect two hundred dollars."

"Fuck..." Kanato cursed. "It's all my fault... I should've... I should've been stronger... I should've..."

{I should've tried to save her sooner...} (Kanato)

"No, don't go blaming yourself, Hero." Akagi said. "If you want to blame anyone, I'd start with this one." She pointed to Elariel, who looked away. "Her kind are the ones who started all this nonsense. They picked a fight with the Primordials, they sealed those two, and they brought you here. So at the end of the day, the buck stops with them on this issue."

"She... She's right..." Elariel reluctantly nodded. "No responsibility lies with anyone else for Hitomi's... death... I was the one who summoned the four of you to this world... So the blame here, just like with the death of the Spirits, lies with me and the other Gods..."

{We're suppose to be the highest power here and all of this happened because of our own ignorance and hubris.} (Elariel)

"So what the hell am I supposed to do now?!?" Kanato snapped. "Hitomi's dead, Muichiro is fuck knows where Shiroe is basically Akagi's slave and I..." He paused, trying to hold back tears. "I'm just a fuck up who wanted to play Hero... and as a result of..." He started to cry a bit, the floodgates breaking wide open. "As a result of my stupid ego... My pride... My... My selfishness

... I've done nothing but bring misery to the people of this world!" Kanato continued his rant. "You told me on the day that we came to Enoris that we would be saving people from evil! That we would be Heroes!" His outburst was liable to attract too much attention, so Akagi snapped her fingers and created an illusion around them that not only wiped spectators' memory of them being there but made it so passersbys couldn't see or hear what was happening. "But in reality... You've done nothing but turn us into murderers, monsters!" Kanato threw his sword to the ground in defeat and frustration. "We trusted you, I trusted you... And you all took advantage of us... You used us to do something so horrific, and for WHAT?!? So that you could live? You sacrificed so many innocent people just to... Just to save your own damn lives?!?" He put his head in his hands. "You're supposed to be the Gods of this world! You're suppose to protect it, but you've done NOTHING of the sort. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say that you're not Gods, you're Demons. Demons who've done nothing but deceive the people of this world of your true nature!" He looked at Elariel, his eyes burning with disgust and hatred.

{Are you not going to retort about there being a Demon standing right here?} (Yumi)

{Nah, even I know when to let things alone.} (Akagi)

{REALLY?!? SINCE WHEN?!? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH AKAGI?!?} (Yumi)

His rant was the culmination of years of frustration, and with his prior doubts now vindicated he was no longer capable of holding things in. For her part, Elariel stood and took his words without flinching, and she allowed him to finish. Even Amakusa was surprised by what just happened, as Kanato only rarely got angry, and he was never the kind of man to show such utter contempt on his face.

{I guess even people like him have their limits. Though in fairness, everything he said was dead on the money.} (Halifax)

"You're right." Elariel answered calmly. "What we've done... Not just in this one instance, but throughout our entire history cannot be forgiven." She briefly glanced at Halifax. "At some point along the way, we stopped thinking of ourselves as part of this world... And just like the Primordials warned us... We began to see ourselves as above it... Gale, the others... and even me... We're all guilty of treating the people of this world as tools, as things to be used in our plans, and we were more than happy to dispose of them if we deemed it necessary..." She shook her head. "It's no wonder that not one but two Demon Lords have come to our world. I suppose it's fitting for beings like us to be destroyed in such a way." She looked over at Akagi. "Tell me, were we at fault for Vikes' arrival? Was it our actions that prompted his creation?"

"I'm afraid that even I can't answer that." Akagi shrugged before turning and floating into the air. "And at the end of the day, the reason isn't really relevant now, is it?" She said as she floated the others along with her.

"No... No, you're right..." Elariel replied as the six of them flew toward the massive crater where the Primordial twins had crashed.

{How it started is of no consequence. For now, all that matters is how it ends.} (Elariel)