"It would appear... That Enūma was even more powerful than I understood..." Labyrs said as he landed in a small clearing, stumbling due to his wounds. He'd run away from the battlefield at full speed to put himself as far away from Akagi as possible, and figured that several hundred miles was more than enough to throw the Demon Lord off his tracks, at least for now. "I will need ti to reconstitute myself."
{Lord Labrys! I'll get a team ready to teleport you out imdiately!} (Tanya)
"That... That is probably for the best." Labrys said as he coughed up blood. His battle with Halifax had weakened him considerably due to the significant damage the Divine Blade inflicted upon him, and he was well aware that had his Sister pressed ho with her attacks, he wouldn't have survived. "Have our n et at-"
*CLANG*
{Lord Labrys!} (Tanya)
"Oh? You've got enough energy to deflect my attack?" Evindal comnted as his spear was blocked by the Demon Axe. "You really are one tough bastard, you know that?" He laughed as he leaped back to disengage. "If I hadn't seen that battle with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it."
{I knew Halifax was powerful, but that was ridiculous! No wonder she never took any of our joint missions that seriously! We're lucky that she only gave half effort! Had she actually tried we would've been blown away!} (Evindal)
"Dawnmaster of the Dawn Order, Evindal Ilimoira. I wondered when we'd finally et." Labrys said as he stared the Elf down. "But while I'd love to stay and chat, I'm afraid I have other places to be. Can we agree on a rain check? I promise that I'll kill you later. My IOU's never go unpaid."
"Sorry, no can do." Evindal said as he shifted and twirled his spear, ready to do battle. "I've got orders to bring you in, and that's what I'm going to do."
"If you think that a re mortal can defeat even in this weakened state, you're wrong." Labrys said as his power flared up into an aura around him. "I'm still far more powerful than you."
"Oh, I know." Evindal smirked. "But I think she's a bit higher on the pecking order than you."
*ZAP*
"The dramatic reveal was wholly unnecessary." Reflia said as she blasted Labrys in the back with an attack from her palm, knocking him to the ground and immobilizing him.
"Perhaps, but I thought it was comical." Evindal laughed, which only annoyed the Goddess more.
"W-What?" Labrys stamred as he tried, and failed, to move. The Goddess' attack had done far more damage then he'd exected, and it was taking everything he had to keep his body from shutting down. "But how can you wield such power through your Avatar? It shouldn't be possible!"
Gods were heavily restricted while on Enoris due to the inbuilt limitations of Avatars. This was done for a variety of reasons but it all amounted to a being that, while still strong, was nowhere near as dangerous as when in its true body. While Reflia's blast seed quite weak and mundane, it was anything but and contained a significant amount of Divine power that she used to incapacitate him; sothing that shouldn't have been possible.
"And who said that I was using my Avatar?" Reflia said as she kicked his Axe body away. "Do you really think I'd be so foolish as to hold anything back? There's a Demon Lord mucking about in this world that can kill our kind in an instant. Moving around down here in such a weakened form is just asking to die." She said as she charged another blast.
"But there was no increase in distortion! I would've sensed an incarnation!" Labrys said as he struggled to breathe, his vision slowly fading.
"I am the Goddess of Space." Reflia said as she blasted Labrys again, knocking him out and sealing his power with her Divinity. "Do you really think I'm under the sa limitations as the rest of my kin?"
_____________________________________________________________________________
"You know, at this point I think I should start charging people every ti I have to comfort them during a breakdown." Akagi sighed as she and Halifax sat back to back, the Divine Blade's face still flushed red and puffy from her tears. "I could probably make a killing on the snuggle market. Demon Lord therapy! I've done much worse so don't be shy! Maybe I'll look into it once this whole ss is over with.” She laughed.
"I'm sorry you had to see all that..." Halifax said quietly as she sniffed. "I haven't broken down that bad in a long ti. Once it started, it just didn't want to stop."
{How embarrassing...} (Halifax)
"That's why holding that crap in is bad." Akagi replied as she tossed another pack of tissues over her shoulder. "And people wonder why I go Cat. It works wonders and is far less awkward than therapy!" She laughed.
"Thank you..." Halifax said quietly.
"I'd do it for most of my friends. Mika gets a varying degree of help depending on how annoyed I am with her antics that day." Akagi snickered. "And besides, I didn't tell you anything that wasn't the truth."
"That's... I'm grateful for everything you said, and for opening my eyes... But..." Halifax paused before taking a deep breath to orient herself. "What I an is... Thank you for coming. You... You chose to co help rather than go after Labrys, right?" The fact that Akagi ca to help her ant that she'd likely forfeited the chance to capture Labyrs, a realization that the Divine Blade only just now ca to terms with.
"That is correct." Akagi replied as she pulled out her Kiseru and lit it. "I debated splitting myself and going after both, but since there was a high risk of Divine involvent I determined that splitting my strength in such a situation was too risky.” She shook her head. “If Gods actually showed up during that whole kerfuffle, it would be too dangerous to have my power split between two bodies." She'd quickly understood that if she was to repair whatever damage had been done to Halifax she'd need all of her power. In the end Akagi intervention was enough to briefly stabilize the Divine Blade and she was grateful that Halifax's soul seed to be recovering on its own, though it'd gotten dangerously close to the point of no return. Though the fact that she couldn't do everything at once and get her way entirely annoyed the Demon greatly and she vowed to make sure that never happened again.
"And now he fled... I'm sorry, because of ..." Halifax paused, understanding that she'd likely just dood the entire plan to failure, which ant that Enoris was likely going to be destroyed by the Demon.
"It's not the end of the world... Yet." Akagi said as she took a hit. "He'll turn back up, and I know know the location of their base. So that should expedite things a bit." She said, patting the Divine Blade on the head.
"You found the Cult's main base?!?" Halifax yelped. "How?!? When?!? Where?!?"
"One of their morons attacked Imp, so as payback, I extracted information from him." Akagi said with a smile that did not seem to reach her eyes. “After a bit of heart-to-heart the information flowed out like a river soiling forth once the dam blocking it finally fails.”
"I take it the experience wasn't fun for the Cult mber?" Halifax chuckled, understanding the dark implications of what Akagi'd done.
"He nearly killed my friend." Akagi shrugged. "I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks. Though I wouldn't think it about it too much since well..." She grinned, briefly showing off her razor sharp teeth.
"I'm sure you did it all while in kitty mode, too." Halifax continued to laugh as she looked at the blue sky above. "This... This was the first ti..."
"Hm?" Akagi humd as she took another hit.
"All my life... Nobody ever chose... Chose ... Put first..." Halifax said slowly as Akagi listened. "After the battle against Vikes, the Gods didn't really seem to know what to do with . I just went along with whatever they had planned since I thought that was just the natural order of things... But looking back, nobody really ever treated like a priority." She continued. "Even before the Dark Elves, Elariel and the others... They just shuffled around from one 'Hero' to another, and my wants or needs were never given a mont's consideration."
{I was just another tool in their arsenal, one that I they hated to rely upon but knew just how valuable it was.} (Halifax)
"As to be expected with Gods who, as of now, have shown no redeeming qualities." Akagi replied as she let out a puff. "You were also a potential threat and liability, so it's only natural they wanted you on a short leash."
"And I was too valuable to destroy so they couldn't just be rid of either." Halifax laughed quietly. "I was a weapon that could strike down a Demon Lord. They couldn't destroy of since that would rob them of an important asset if Vikes returned."
{Or if another God got uppity.} (Akagi)
"An asset that they were more than happy to kick around as it suited their needs." Akagi replied as many thoughts ran through her mind. "For so-called Gods, they're quite adept at making mortal-scale stupid decisions, huh?"
"The Dark Elves weren't the first ti I was used in a way I didn't like either." Halifax explained. "There were a couple of prior Heroes that I didn't really like, and there were tis I questioned the veracity of the claims made against those I was ordered to kill."
"But in the end, they forced you to do as they wanted." Akagi said as she let out another puff. “Which makes sense. You were raised to be their good little lapdog who does what it was told. If you got any independent thoughts or ideas that conflicted with them, there was no way they'd change things up just because you complained.”
“Yep. Any ti there was a situation where my needs and theirs conflicted, mine were sacrificed one hundred percent of the ti." Halifax said as she wrapped her arms around her curled-up legs. "No matter the impact on , the Gods always chose to sacrifice or abandon if it ant they got what they wanted."
{The Northern Campaign, the Dark Elves, the Eridals, and so... so many other tis... There was never any room for ... I was just a tool to the Gods. They wanted to just stay quiet and do as I was told, no matter how much it might hurt .} (Halifax)
"And considering how I've seen them handle their other creations, it's safe to say they don't give much of a fuck about anyone but themselves." Akagi replied as she let out a puff. "Hence why I don't like Gods. Even on Earth, I hated religion. Every single one preaches loyalty to a God(s) that supposedly existed and created everything, yet said God can't be bothered to actually do anything when it counts. Not to ntion they've got an esoteric set of rules that, if you break them, damns you to an eternity of tornt. And people wondered why I always chose to fight the Gods in JRPGs where the ga gives you the choice. Better to be rid of them and let the world sort its own shit out."
{A bunch of bullshit is what it all is. At least I'm pretty straight forward. Leave the fuck alone, don't do stupid shit that causes problems and we're chill. As long as everyone just uses common fucking sense then I won't need to stack bodies. Worship, belief, all that nonsense... I can't be bothered. Just leave the hell alone.} (Akagi)
"Thank you, Akagi." Halifax spoke quietly as she smiled. "Thank you for choosing ..." She said as she started to cry again. "You could've tossed aside just like the Gods did. Labrys was right there, and you could've gotten him and finished your whole war... But instead you chose to help at your own expense... So thank you for not abandoning like so many others did. Truly, thank you..."
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