The Red Hand

"HAAAAAAAAA!" Zo and Ro let out a war cry as they charged at Akagi, bats at the ready. The two were powerful, far moreso than Elariel had expected and they were certain that together, they could handle anything, even a Demon Lord.

"Time to eat shit, Demon!" Ro and Zo charged a huge amount of power into their bats, bringing them down at Akagi, whose form vanished just as they made contact with her.

"What?!?" Zo paused as she looked around. She hadn't expected her target to vanish before her eyes, especially when she considered herself to be the fastest thing alive.

"Where did she go?!?" Ro looked around but couldn't see Akagi anywhere, which was concerning.

"Hey! I'm over here!" Akagi chuckled from behind them as she waved, lazily. “Come on, you can do better than that! So try a bit harder before you strike out!”

"Trying to be cute? Huh?!?" Ro growled as he smacked several blasts of condensed energy toward Akagi with his bat, which crackled like thunder as they flew toward her.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

"Cute? Nah! I'm adorable!" Akagi cackled as her form vanished again, Ro's attacks flying into the cavern wall and creating a large blast that collapsed part of the cavern.

"She's fast." Zo commented as she slowly scanned the area. "Well then, I suppose that this might be a bit more interesting than I imagined." She cackled slightly as electrical energy crackled around her body.

"Don't tell me that she's faster than you? What would that leave you with then?" Ro smirked.

"Hah! Hell no! I'm the fastest thing alive and there's no way that this stupid Demon is faster!" Zo scoffed. As the Primordial of lighting, she was incredibly fast, and her claim to be the fastest thing alive was not without merit. Elariel had some difficulty keeping up with her when she last fought her two hundred years prior and now it was entirely likely that the Goddess couldn't beat her straight up anymore.

"Hmmm, I'ma hard disagree with that one." Akagi's voice came from right next to Zo's ear, but when she turned to face her, Akagi was already standing a great distance away with a massive smirk on her face. "But do try and prove me wrong. The least you two idiots could do is entertain me for a bit. Though..." She gave an evil cackle. "I hope you've got more power than Tahena."

"That weak God?" Zo furrowed her brows. "We're way more powerful than that glorified healer! So don't go thinking your hot shit just because you ended her miserable life!"

"Yeah, and don't go getting cocky just because you can move around quickly!" Ro smacked a few more blasts at Akagi, which missed again as the Demon vanished once more.

{Dammit! Why does she have to be so annoying?!? Does she not have any honor?!? Fight us directly and stop with this tactical shit!} (Ro)

"Alright, I've had enough. Bro, let's give this our all." Zo's words brought her brother out of his internal diatribe. "I've got the strangest feeling that holding back at all here is going to be a bad idea." She had an extremely serious look on her face, which told Ro that something was wrong since she never acted like that.

"If you say so." Ro nodded, his face showing a bit of nervousness. “Just try and keep up with me.”

“Don't worry, I'll have her done and dusted with before you even put on your running shoes!” Zo laughed as lightning cracked around her body.

"Oh? You're going to start taking this seriously are you?" Akagi appeared between the two of them, causing both to leap away. "I'm afraid that I can't return the favor since that would just be a waste of energy." She laughed. “Not to mention that it would result in things ending far to fast for my liking.”

{You really are incorrigible, you know that?} (Yumi)

{I simply know when to have fun and when to take things seriously, and I'm going to take this time to have bit of fun while also testing my own abilities.} (Akagi)

"Seriously, what the hell is this thing?" Zo asked her brother as the two of them put their bats away. "She's definitely not a normal Demon, that's for sure."

"Maybe she really is some kind of Demon Lord." Ro took a deep breath and steadied himself. "But if that's the case..." He clapped his hands together, causing a massive clap of thunder to erupt from his body. "Then we can't afford to hold back."

"Yeah, and I suppose kicking a Demon Lord's ass will be a good warmup before the real fight." Zo chuckled as a huge amount of pink and blue neon lighting kicked up around her. “We'll deal with her and then start ripping that little Pantheon down from their high horses.”

"Come on, Primordials. Let me see what you can do! Give me some worth entertainment and give me a taste of this worlds power!" Akagi's lips curved into a nasty smile as her eyes glinted. She wanted to see how powerful these two were, yes, but more importantly she wanted to see truly see how she stacked up against beings of such power. The Demon was not worried about losing and her calculations put such an outcome as almost impossible, but this would serve as a test of sorts, her first combat against beings of such power, and it would be correct to say that she was excited.

"With pleasure!" In an instant, the siblings vanished as they rocketed toward Akagi. From an outside perspective, all one could see was a sonic boom and a streak of lightning flash toward the Demon.

*KABOOM!*

Not one to just stand around, Akagi matched their incredible speed as the three of them flew around the cavern at a velocity so fast that not even Halifax or Elariel could keep up. The fights between Halifax and some of the other competitors had already pushed the limits of what a mortal could keep up with, but in this clash between Demon Lord and Primordial, there was no telling just how crazy things would get.

*BOOM* *FLASH* *ZAP* *WOOSH*

Lightning flashed and crackled around the cavern as Zo unleashed her full power. Sometimes she would try to engage Akagi directly in hand-to-hand combat, while she also tried to mix in powerful blasts of energy which usually missed and scorched the floor and walls. Both her and her brother preferred hand-to-hand combat, and Akagi, although one to prefer swordplay, was all to happy to accommodate them.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Each time one of them tried to punch her, she'd meet them directly, countering their blow with one of her own and canceling out their attack with an equal display of power. Each clash was strong enough to send shock waves throughout the entire cavern, and after a few strikes Halifax became concerned that the sheer force of their attacks would cause it to cave in around then.

{This idiot is going to bring down the entire CITY just to satisfy her lust for battle! I can see the look in her eyes! We'd better make sure that there are no other prisoners down here and then scram before we get crushed!} (Halifax)

"Come on, come on, come on! I'm disappointed! I thought you were going to take this seriously!" Akagi laughed as she continued to deflect and stop their attacks as they flew around at incredible speed. "At least make me have to try a little bit! If we keep going at this pace I might just end things out of boredom!"

"Shut the hell up! I haven't begun to show you my speed yet and it won't be long until I wipe that smirk off your face!" Zo roared as her body crackled with more electrical energy as she sped up even more. "TAKE THIS!" She unleashed an incredible flurry of blows, throwing hundreds of punches as her speed only climbed to more insane heights.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

"That's better! Keep it up! I want a real fight today!" Akagi continued to laugh as she blocked each and every punch with one of her own, all the while the cave walls began to crack and crumble.

"Weeee really should probably get out of here..." Halifax grabbed Alm and the stupefied Elariel, carrying one on each shoulder as she hightailed it to the exit. "Come on you stupid Heroes! Akagi's in one of those moods, and she's liable to bring down the whole place on our heads!" She'd already used her detection abilities to determine that no prisoners remained, likely because they'd all been sacrificed before they arrived.

"Yeah, we should get the fuck out of here." Amakusa grabbed the still-injured Kanato and put him in a Princess carry, which embarrassed him greatly.

{Couldn't you put me over your shoulder or something?} (Kanato)

"Oi! Don't give me that look! Just be grateful that I'm even touching your manwhore ass!" Amakusa hissed as she carried him.

"I'm not a manwhore!" Kanato protested as he was carried away while Rafferty discreetly followed the group from a distance, not wanting to be crushed during the ensuing chaos.

"Too bad, it looks like our audience took off." Zo smirked as her body crackled and glowed after she and her brother disengaged from the fight, floating a small distance away from the Demon. "That's unfortunate since I wanted them to see us tear you apart!" She roared as her aura exploded and electricity arched around the cavern, tearing into the walls.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Ro roared as the three of them renewed their clash at an even higher speed, all the while the cavern ceiling collapsed around them as their fists clashed. Their high-speed exchange of blows saw them dodge numerous large chunks of earth that fell from the ceiling, as well as fight on top of the falling debris before the two Primordials got side by side and unleashed a flurry of blows that pushed Akagi up and into the collapsing ceiling.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG**BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

With her back against the literal wall, Akagi laughed as she was pushed up and into the ceiling at high speed. The three of them literally tunneled through the ground, rock slicing out of the way as if they were a hot knife cutting through butter.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!" Zo screamed as she continued to unleash an extraordinary flurry of blows. "WE WON'T LET YOU WIN, DEMON!"

"YEAH! FIRST WE TAKE YOU DOWN, AND THEN WE'LL BRING EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE BASTARD GODS TO THEIR KNEES. AHHHHH!" Ro put in as much power as he could to match his sister's speed, and after a few seconds, they'd pushed Akagi so far up that the three of them burst out of the ground and into the city before flying up and into the sky.

"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Halifax said as she looked at the still incredibly nervous Elariel who sat on the ground as she watched the ongoing clash, terrified.

"W-What... How could they... This..." Elariel couldn't understand how the twins had gotten so much more powerful, though what disturbed her even more was Akagi's power.

{This is impossible! They're mere children! How could they have such power already?!? At this point... I... I don't even think that I could beat them on my own! But even more than that... She's... She's toying with them... She's... Just what the hell IS Akagi?!?} (Elariel)

"Oh my fucking god...Why does this feel like I'm watching some kind of stupid anime?" Amakusa rolled her eyes as she threw Kanato to the ground. "It's like one of those damn over-the-top fight scenes from..." She sighed.

{Oh, I see. Well, just go have fun, you idiot. Just don't go making your hair blonde...} (Amakusa)

"YES! YES!" Akagi laughed like a madwoman as she and the twins exchanged blows. "THIS IS WHAT I WANTED! FINALLY SOMETHING TO GET ME EXCITED! SOMETHING TO MAKE ME ACTUALLY HAVE TO GIVE A FUCK!" She continued to cackle and laugh as they continued their slugging match, each side managing to land blows on the other as they soared higher and higher into the sky, bursting in and out of clouds as energy arched from their bodies and into the distance.

"I'd say I'm having a bit of fun too!" Zo laughed as she was punched in the face.

"Yeah! For a Demon, you're pretty good!" Ro laughed as he managed to land a good hit on Akagi. “I might actually be enjoying myself!”

"THEN LETS KEEP GOING! I WANT TO SEE EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! I WANT MORE! I NEED MORE!" Akagi had completely lost herself in the fight as her battle lust took over, and her eyes burned hot with passion. This was the first time since she'd become a Demon Lord that she'd found a battle that she could properly enjoy, even if she was holding back considerably so as to keep things fun.

*ZOOM* *BANG* *BANG* ZOOM *BANG* *BANG* ZOOM *BANG* *BANG* ZOOM *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Increasing the speed and intensity of their dual even further, Akagi and the twins eventually flew so high into the sky that observers on the ground could no longer see them. Enoris didn't have 'outer space' like Earth, but it was still a planet, and after increasing their altitude to a certain point, they eventually got to the point where they could see the curvature of the planet below.

"Hey, if we keep going like this, we might just wind up in the Heavens!" Zo quipped as she took a kick to the side of the head and was punted away.

"If that was possible, then it would make things a whole lot easier!" Akagi roared as she pummeled Ro over and over again with her fists. As they ascended the sky behind them did not turn black like it would above Earth and was instead a pale red color. Akagi figured that the way this world worked was that it essentially had one local cluster with Enoris itself at the center. The moons that orbited the planet were real, but the 'Sun' in the distance was a construct made of pure energy and was likely not reachable under ordinary circumstances. "But let's forget about all that for the moment! Keep going! I'm starting to enjoy myself! Give me everything you've got!" The Demon cackled as their battle above Enoris continued, all the while Gale observed from the safety of the Heavenly Realm.

"This Demon Lord... It truly seems like it will be troublesome..." Gale clicked his tongue as he watched the fight via a small scrying screen. "Though..." His lips curved into a nasty smirk. "She may be exactly what I need." He started laughing to himself as a group of Angels in the background continued work on a massive magic circle, at the center of which was a dark ball of energy wrapped in Divine chains.

{Demon Lords. Such fascinating creatures they are, and this one seems more than capable of holding a civilized conversation.} Gale thought as he continued to watch the unfolding clash. "I'd love to speak to her. Perhaps we could find common ground, though I'll need to be ready for battle with her, since I foresee that as being necessary one way or another." He waved his hand and dismissed the scrying screen before turning around and looking at the chained ball of energy. "Though I'd best find a way to use you before engaging her in open battle. I'm not foolish to start a direct fight with such a being without my trump card."