The Red Hand
Chapter 410 – Master and Student.

*CRACKLE* *BANG* *BOOM* *RUMBLE*

"Gack!" Chloe cried out in pain as she was kicked to the ground, landing in a pool of mud created by the heavy downpour. Her body was covered in small wounds and bruises, indicative of the fight she'd been involved with.

"Come on, kitty, is that all you got?" Akagi smirked, mocking the Ninja as rain began to drip down around them. The Assassin's feet seemed to dance as she hopped in place, her wooden geta almost floating above the muddied ground. "I'd hoped that a member of the vaunted Ondai clan would put up a decent fight, but it looks like you were all bark and no bite."

"You... I won't let you get away with mocking our Clan!" Chloe hissed as she leaped to her feet, charging at the Assassin, a dagger in each hand.

"If you want me to stop..." Akagi said as she ducked out of the way of a strike before kneeing the Cat Ninja in the gut. "Then you'll have to do a lot better than this."

"Ack!" Chloe spat up blood as the wind was knocked out of her from Akagi's knee planting it square in her solar plexus.

"You're letting your irritation blind you." Akagi said as she pushed the Ninja away, which almost caused her to trip over a rock. "If you don't keep focus during a fight, then you'll inevitably be defeated. I expected better of the Ondai's Clan's supposed best."

{She's got talent, a lot of talent actually. I'd heard the Ondai Clan were excellent Assassins and infiltrators but this one is especially good. If she'd been sent after Hishya instead of me, I think even the Hero would've had a bit of a problem with her sneak attacks.} (Akagi)

"I don't need advice from you!" Chloe hissed as her form melted into a nearby shadow, leaving Akagi alone as lightning crackled overhead. She'd battled the Ondai Ninja for a bit, eventually pushing her to the outskirts of the Imperial Capital and into a more secluded wilderness area, largely because she couldn't be bothered to deal with the City Guards coming to investigate.

{Cute.} (Akagi)

"Now we're using that old trick?" Akagi said as she stood completely still, seemingly undeterred by the cat's disappearance. "It's not a bad one I'll admit, but you've really picked the wrong opponent to use it against." She smirked as she leaned to the right, dodging the Cat's blade by inches as she reappeared from the darkness behind the Assassin.

"What?!?!" Chloe squeaked in surprise as her attack missed before acrobatically breaking her fall with a somersault and landing a distance away, her boots splashing in the mud.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You're far from the only one at home in the shadows." Akagi wagged her finger as she laughed at the Cat flew past her. “You might've been raised in it, but I adapted to it.” Said with a smirk. “And my adaption puts me far above you when it comes to working in the darkness.” She said as Chloe rushed in for another flurry of strikes.

*SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK* *SMACK*

"Rushing in again?" Akagi sighed in disappointment as she deftly deflected each blow by smacking the Cat's wrists and causing her to miss. "You're a Ninja, why are you trying to fight an obviously physically more powerful foe head-on? Your actions give Rogues a bad name, you know?"

{As good as she might be its not going to be easy for a resident of this world to overpower a Player. Even one who's not exactly physically built like I am is far more than most can hope to handle in a hand to hand fight.} (Akagi)

"Shut up! I don't need your advice!" Chloe said as she leaped backward, throwing several daggers at Akagi which were easily snatched out of the air and thrown back at the Cat, who quickly deflected them with her blades.

"Oh really?" Akagi asked, her voice coming from behind Chloe as she landed. "Because I'd say that you do."

"When did you?!?" Chloe's surprise was cut short as Akagi swept the Cat's feet out from under her, knocking her to the ground in a single swift move.

"Oh kitty, itslike I said..." Akagi replied as she pinned the Cat down, pushing her arms down by her wrists and meeting her face to face, the Assassin's eyes seeming to glow in the stormy darkness. "You're not the only one at home in the shadows." She said, smiling while also giving off a menacing aura that made the cat's skin crawl. "So what do you say we end this little charade? I think it's patently obvious that you can't win. How about we call it quits? I've got other things to do tonight besides entertain you."

{The deadline on a couple jobs is coming up and I'd really like to get ahead on some work so I can take a little break. Yumi's been pestering me about overwork lately...} (Akagi)

"Go a head and kill me! It won't matter if you do! The Clan won't stop hunting you and will chase you to the Hells themselves!" Chloe said as she tried to wiggle free, only for Akagi to clamp down harder on her wrists and force her to let go of her daggers, causing the cat to yelp in pain from the pressure. "Our people never go back on our word! You may kill me, but eventually one of us will kill you, Red Hand!"

{That's gotta be the first time someone's called me that to my face. Oh well, its a neat little nickname I suppose. Though, embarrassing...} (Akagi)

"I suppose that's to be expected." Akagi laughed, letting off fake concern at the cat's words. "Oh dear. Whatever shall I do? An entire Ninja Clan has it out for me. I'm so ascared!" She said in a monotone voice while scanning over Chloe's bruised and bloodied face. "Well then, if you're going to come after me and be a both then I suppose I'll just have to kill you all then, won't I?" She smirked. “I'm no exactly opposed to such an... escalation.” She said before leaning in a bit closer and whispering into the cat's ear. “Go a head, give me an excuse to slaughter you all.”

"You..." Chloe's eyes widened as a shiver went down her spine. Akagi's face told the Cat that the Assasssin had no doubt in her mind that she could do exactly that, and her words made the Ninja's mind go blank for a moment.

"Despite my reputation I wasn't intending on going to war with FWO's most notorious Ninja clan, but I suppose you've left me no choice if you're going to act like this." Akagi said before shrugging and stating that it couldn't be helped. "After all, I can't very well allow people who want to kill me to run around unchecked. Stacking bodies tends to be a very effective way of getting people to leave me alone, so oh well. It is what it is."

"You... Do you really think you can win?" Chloe asked in complete bewilderment. “We're the most powerful Ninja Clan in the world! You could never defeat us all!”

{This is madness! No one person could do such a thing! Such a statement is no different declaring that you'll take on the Gods all by yourself! Its lunacy!} (Chloe)

"Hmmm... I suppose we won't know until I try!" Akagi thought for a moment before laughing. “Guess we'll have to see what happens, huh? Should be neat!”

{She's...} (Chloe)

"T-The Clan Elders are even stronger than I am! You can't hope to defeat them! Not to mention that the other Clansmen-" Chloe paused as Akagi shifted one of her fingers over the Cat's lips to silence her.

"Hush, you needn't worry about me, kitty." Akagi said as she used her free hand to caress the Cat's cheek in a threatening and creepy manner. "And besides, I'd be more worried about you since I've taken a bit of an interest in you." Her use of the word interest caused the Cat's heart to beat rapidly as her body shivered, sensing danger.

"W-What are you going to do to me?" Chloe asked meekly as she tried to shrink away.

"Oh, kitty." Akagi said as her face got uncomfortably close to Chloe's. "The better question is. What aren't I going to do to you?"

_____________________________________________________________________________

<Chloe POV>

As Chloe slowly walked back to her and Remmy's hideout, she reminisced about her first meeting with Akagi; all while carefully concealing the last proof of murder in a special pouch under her cloak. The Cat had been busy since the Cult of Murder had given her a mission to eliminate a group of targets, and though she abhorred such senseless killings, Chloe carried out the act without an ounce of hesitation. Akagi had given her a mission, one that had admittedly changed with the revelation that it was a Murder Cult rather than an Assassin/Thieves Guild, but the Cat would carry out her master's will no matter what it was.

{Thinking back to that day, Myaster found my attempt on her life comical. I was nothing to her, merely a vagabond with better-than-average combat skills... But still... She took me in, trained me... And allowed our people to thrive... I will never forget that kindness... That love... Myaster...} (Chloe)

Chloe chuckled quietly as her thoughts paused, shaking her head slowly to prevent herself from becoming lost in thought. "Look at me, getting sentimental like that. Myaster would probably scold me for having such useless thoughts while on a mission." She said quietly as the overcast sky began to let out a light rain, thinking back again to the day she first met the Assassin.

{I've taken care of every person on theiir list, and knowing how these kinds of groups work it will only be a matter of time until they show up to collect us. Remmy... That girl... I wonder what Myaster will do with her? She's deranged, almost as if she was possessed by some malevolent spirit. In all my years I've never seen someone that obsessed with spilling blood. Perhaps that's what happens to those who worship the literal God of such things? And the message Nima sent me from Myaster told me to eliminate the entire Cult, but... Do does need to die too?} (Chloe)

The Cat couldn't understand what the exact purpose of her mission was. Originally it was intended to recruit additional forces for their intelligence network, something that was necessary as they simply lacked the forces to adequately surveil everything at once. Chloe had been frustrated by Nima's reports that Ninja was unable to keep track of events happening across the continent fast enough, and it was painfully obvious that their organization lacked the manpower to do what Akagi wanted of them. Not to mention that the Ondai clan was hamstrung from conducting certain deeper and more dangerous espionage operations against the Gods and their operatives due to Akagi's concern about their well-being. Naturally, the Ondai appreciated this concern, but they also resented it. Regardless of how they individually viewed the Demon they were uniform in their belief that if they could fulfill their duty it didn't matter what happened to them, but Akagi would not relent, her overcautious nature irritating the Clansmen. They did understand at least why Akagi wasn't allowing them to do as much as they might actually be able to, but it still caused many in their ranks a great deal of frustration.

{Why have me kill this Murder Cult? It's not like they're some kind of threat and my power could've been more useful fighting that Demon Army or searching for the Axe. Is Myaster trying to keep me safe? If so... I'm going to be so angry with her, nya! Don't try and coddle me like some kind of child! I'm the leader of the Ondai Clan and one of her right hands! I'll give myaster such a scolding if she's trying to protect me while everyone else is out there fighting!} (Chloe)

Chloe continued to rack her brain to understand what Akagi's plan here was as she slowly returned to the base she'd created with Remmy. However, not long before reaching the abandoned warehouse, she was confronted by two hooded and masked figures.

{Right on que.} (Chloe)

"Ms. Chloe. You've done well to serve Lord Korex." One of the Cultists spoke.

"We've been watching you over these past couple of days, and we must say your quick completion of your trial was... most impressive." The other Cultist agreed with a bit of whimsical laughter.

"I merely did what I was told." Chloe responded, ready for any surprise attacks. "All the targets have been handled. So, what's next?"

"Well, first a congratulations are in order." One of the Cultists clapped slowly. "You've proven yourself to be a truly fine disciple of Lord Korex, and now it's time for your formal initiation. We've already taken the liberty of having Ms. Remmy brought to our headquarters, so you needn't worry about her."

{She didn't participate much in the killings. I had her help with a few, but I wonder if they're not counting this as complete for her? Did they take her already to use as some kind of hostage against me? No matter, I'll handle them all as soon as I find out where they operate from.} (Chloe)

"Then, please lead the way." Chloe said to the two cultists who exchanged nods under their cloaked hoods before escorting her to the beating heart of Evil that lurked within the otherwise pristine Capital of Northwind. The Cat had no idea why the Demon had sent her here, but would soon discover that what lay a head would be her ultimate test of skill and faith.