The Red Hand

Chapter 348.5 – Internal Dissent.

"I see so that power I sensed earlier was the Demon Lord. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to have felt it even from here." Reflia said to Gale. The two were conversing via magic, and a small screen floated in front of her with his image. "Though I'm concerned that those two idiotic children are now free."

{Elariel sealed them because of how recklessly they acted, and I'm worried that this Demon Lord and those two delinquents could team up. If that happens, then Gale's plan will be the least of this world's concerns.} (Reflia)

"It is definitely a concerning turn of events. I never expected those two to be freed, though lucky for us it appears that the Demon Lord and those two were at odds. If we're lucky their brash attitude just got them killed, and the Demon Lord eliminated a diplomatically sensitive problem for us." Gale said with a sigh. "Though I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens on that front. I'd appreciate the win-win of for us if nothing else"

"Getting back to the main point, how is progress on the plan?" Reflia asked about the main reason she was contacted. "We're on a timer here, Gale. One that may be incredibly long or terrifyingly short." She was referring to the fact that Akagi could break into the Heavens any second to start a fight with them.

{The last thing we need is her rampaging against us. I have no idea if we can defeat her in that kind of situation either. Vikes was already a problem even when we faced him together, and this Demon Lord was clearly more powerful than him. Sure we've gotten stronger since then too, but it's not a pleasant prospect to face another one of her kind on our home turf. But more than that, I'm confused as to why she isn't causing more destruction in the material world. Perhaps that's just part of her overall plan? I can't even begin the fathom the mind of such a creature, and its probably not worth even trying.} (Reflia)

"It's proceeding." Gale replied with a bit of irritation in his voice. "My agents were failing to find some of the items I requested, so I re-tasked Rahael to assist me."

"Well, that should certainly speed things up." Reflia snorted. "The word failure isn't in her lexicon."

"Indeed. I've got her hunting down power sources to aid in the transfer, and then after that, I'll move her to phase two." Gale said. "Though if we're lucky, this Demon Lord will listen to reason and we won't need to take more aggressive action to secure our positon."

"Do you really think we can come to some kind of agreement with a creature like that?" Reflia asked with a raised eyebrow. "She's already killed one of us and proclaimed her intent to destroy the rest of us, Gale. Not to mention that I don't even know if we want to make deals with it."

{And I sincerely doubt that a Demon Lord will hold to any bargain we strike with it anyway. Though I won't say that having her pointed at Gale's throat is a bad thing. It may even be the best way to deal with him.} (Reflia)

"As much as it may be a waste of time I intend to give diplomacy a shot, though I do understand your skepticism." Gale replied with a laugh. "If possible we can use any ceasefire as a means of buying time if nothing else."

{And we shouldn't need that much if my calculations are correct.} (Gale)

"Well, you do whatever you want." Reflia shrugged not wanting to get into a debate with him. "Just keep me up to date on things. I'll be busy making other arrangements down here, so let me know if you need anything else."

"Of course." Gale nodded. "Your work down there is vital in keeping the mortals in check. We can't have them panicking over this little hiccup."

{I think its far more than a little hiccup...} (Reflia)

"A task that I have no doubt will only get harder with that little display in the Holy City." Reflia sighed. "It was already hard enough to convince the Northwind leadership that things were under control, and I'm sure my next meeting is going to involve lots of shouting."

{And dealing with people terrified that the world is ending is just fucking awful...} (Reflia)

"Well, I'll leave that in your very capable hands." Gale laughed. "But I've got to head off, it looks like something else has come up that needs my attention. I'll read through your report on Tahena's death in a bit, and if it's half as bad as I expect it's going to make a miserable read."

"Hey, it wasn't pleasant to write it either." Reflia said. " But I'm sure you'll enjoy all the gory details."

"I'm sure I will. And I'm sure that Keldore will fill me in on even more when he gets back. That fool couldn't help but go down to the Holy City to collect data. I just hope whatever he gathers is worth the risk. We can't have more of us being killed." Gale said before the small screen vanished, leaving Reflia alone in the office she'd appropriated from the Northwind government.

"Haaaaaaa..." Reflia let out a deep sigh as she slid back in her chair. "Well, if nothing else this Demon Lord might be the only way I can put a stop to this madness." She said as she rubbed her temples.

{With everyone else in Gale's pocket it's up to me to prevent them from destroying this world. That bastard lied to all of us about the Spirits and made me a backstabbing traitor to them. I won't let that slide and if means making us all die with the ship then so be it.} (Reflia)

"Now it's just a question of how I can use this Demon Lord or if I even should..." Reflia groaned not sure if Akagi was the greater of lesser of the two evils. "On one hand she could help defeat Gale and stop his plans before it's too late... But on the other... She's a Demon Lord and wants to destroy this world... Bah!" She quickly sat up and ruffled her hair. "I want Gale stopped but I don't want to place this world at a Demon Lord's mercy!" She knew that Demon Lords could and would consume people's souls and that such a fate would be worse than simply dying when the world collapsed. "She'll probably enjoy tormenting the population before eating them like Vikes did, and I can't just sit back and allow that."

{But at the same time, that dammed Demon Lord might be the only force that can oppose the other Gods. I can't rely on them to help since they all just want to save themselves, so I may have no choice but to let the Demon Lord do as she wants. If I'm lucky Gale and that monster might kill each other, or at least the winner may be weakened enough to allow me to finish them off.} (Reflia)

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Lady Reflia, you're guest has arrived." A maid said after knocking on the office door. "May I enter?"

"Yes, please give me one moment." Reflia stood up and smacked her cheeks to recompose herself. "Alright, let them in." The door slowly opened revealing an Elven man wearing a brown cloak over bright golden armor. He had an aura of nobility, regalness, and wisdom that flowed from him like an unrelenting tide, and it was clear as day that he was a warrior of exceptional ability, skill, and experience and the air itself seemed to still in his presence.

"Please make sure no one disturbs us under any circumstances." Reflia said to the maid before dismissing her.

"Of course, my Lady." The maid bowed quickly before closing the door and leaving.

"So... It's been a long time since we met in person." Reflia said as she walked around her desk and stood in front of the man, her head barely coming to the middle of his chest. "I suppose I should say thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Dawnmaster of the Dawn Order, Evindal Ilimoira."

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<Ro & Zo POV>

"Welp, these guys were no help." Ro said as he tossed the lifeless body of a Vikes Cultist to the floor. "But I suppose if it was that easy to find the Axe, those Gods would've already had him dealt with millennia ago." The two had found a Cultist hideout in the mountains South of the Holy City shortly after Akagi had sent them on their way and had begun interrogating anyone they found for Labrys' whereabouts. However, due to the cellular nature of the Cult, they were able to learn very little to nothing about the Cult's inner workings.

"Meh, they were just small fry anyway." Zo said as she kicked one of the dead bodies away. "We need to find one of the big bosses. They'll be able to get us in the right direction."

{And we'd better move fast since we don't want Boss to get all scary on us like she probably will if we fail!} (Zo)

"Hmmmm. I'd say that our best bet will probably find areas with reported Cult activity." Ro said. "If we're lucky we can find one rat and use them to lead us to the nest."

{These guys said something about movement to the East before we wiped them out, so perhaps we should check that out next. If the Cult is increasing activity in an area that's where we need to look.} (Ro)

"So we should head South?" Zo asked. "I always heard that the Demon Cult lived somewhere in the Demon Kingdom. Should we head down there and start poking around?"

"We could..." Ro said as he put his hand to his chin. "But I have a feeling that the Boss would've smoked them out if they were so close to her home base."

"True... And I doubt they'd be able to sit under her nose without her finding them." Zo said with a slow nod. "Then where should we start looking? To the East? Those guys said something about raids."

"While we should definitely follow up on that, I'd say we actually go back to the Holy City and start talking to a few priests." Ro said with a nasty smirk.

"Oh? You think some of those stupid clergymen might be in cahoots with the Cult?" Zo asked.

"It's not like those stupid Gods' servants are incorruptible and I'd be willing to bet good money that the Demon Cult is using spies or other agents within the Church to keep one step ahead of the Gods by feeding them disinfo or suppressing rumors about their activities." Ro replied. "We saw something like this in that girl's memories."

"Oh yeah!" Zo snapped her fingers as she recalled an anime that Hitomi had seen in the past. "The was that anime where the Church was actually entirely run by the Demon King guy and was doing everything to undermine the Heroes and the Gods! And while we're there..." She grinned.

"We can have a little fun." (Ro x Zo)