The Red Hand

Chapter 362 – Paparazzi Should Remain at a Safe Distance.

"Why do I have to play scout? It'd be so much easier, not to mention fun, to just charge in and blow those idiots to high hell..." Elna sighed as she took out night vision goggles and scanned over the Demon Army's camp. They'd stopped near one of the massive fortresses' within the Fumbal Gap and, from what Elna could gather, were preparing some kind of magical item for transport. "I could probably blow most of this place to high hell with a few Ki blasts..." She'd been explicitly tasked with scouting the approaching Demon Army alongside the rest of Black Company but was irritated with the lack of action.

{This is so boring... They're just a bunch of cannon fodder, so why can't just go crack heads?} (Elna)

"Jumping into a fight where we know little about our foes is stupid." Merkyul's voice cracked over the radio. "Recall that we were told to sit back and provide intel about the Army. We'll fight them only once we're confident we can deal with them. There's no reason to rush things, and besides Lady Akagi's orders are absolute." He cautioned her not to start trouble. They'd obtained vital yet not entirely reliable information about the Army from the two Elector-Kings turned collaborators, but that didn't mean they were revealed from duty nor where they to deviate from Nima's and thus Akagi's directives.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. As if we couldn't take these weaklings on right now." Elna scoffed as she continued to look around the camp, seeing no one that appeared dangerous. "It's nothing but grunts and grunts riding monsters down there. We should just destroy this stupid army like we did at Hassan and wrap this thing up right now."

"Recall that the battle itself was still a massive disaster despite our win." Sabia interjected her opinion over the radio. "We lost a lot of players during that fiasco to those 'grunts' as you call them. Never forget that there's a lot to be said about sheer numbers, Elna."

"Doesn't it bother you that we're currently being led by the Vampire bitch herself?" Elna rolled her eyes, ignoring Sabia's words. "We all lost friends during that battle, so why are you just going along with this? Even in your brainwashed state, you've got to have some resentment to her."

{Ya'll nearly died against her too, so where's the resentment? Don't tell me Akagi managed to make that go away too?} (ElnA)

"I won't say that we like Silfana, its more that we both now share the same master in Lady Akagi. Thus we will do as we're told, even if we may not like a specific member of the team." Merkyul answered.

"Ah, so you're just wagging your little tail for your master." Elna laughed as her gaze moved to a younger-looking woman who was looking in her direction. It was an archer that they'd been informed was actually a Demi-God, one that used a Bow Divine weapon, and they'd been cautioned that she was dangerous.

{Is she looking at me? No way, I'm like a mile out and it's pitch black this far out.} (Elna)

“Need I remind you that she is your master too?” Sabia retorted. “You're her subordinate just as much as we are. One that I believe should be given a proper reeducation to clean up those more problematic parts.”

"Can it, you obedient little pup." Elna clicked her tongue as she watched the woman draw the large bow off her back and knock back a blue, crackling arrow. "Uh... Hey, are you all seeing this?" Elna asked but before anyone could respond the woman let loose her arrow which streaked across the sky, crashing into Elna's position and creating a large explosion that vaporized the hill she was on.

*BOOM*

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<Penelope POV>

"Nice shot, nice shot. Do you think we got the spy?" Arcus asked as Penelope lowered him.

"No, unfortunately it they got away." Penelope clicked her tongue in irritation. "Fast little rats, I'll give them that. But rats all the same. If they pop their little heads out again, I won't miss."

"I'm going to presume that they're some kind of scout for the Demon Lord?" Arcus figured they were an advance force sent to keep an eye on their approaching army.

"Unless there's some other group of fools who'd dare to so brazenly keep watch on us, then yes." Penelope replied, not appreciating the stupid question.

"Well, you may not have killed them, but if nothing else that should've scared them off for a bit." Arcus figured that their spy problem was solved for the moment since they would likely be wary of getting too close. "I doubt anyone wants to deal with you shooting doom at them again. Explosions tend to be bad for the heart after all!"

"I agree, though it should be noted that there are five in total, and each is of relatively high power." Penelope's eyes scanned into the darkness as she tried to find them.

"Ok? What's this? Are you worried you can't beat them?" Arcus laughed.

"Quiet. You know that I'd crush them like the insects they are if they deigned to come out and fight me, but sadly they seem to be cowards." Penelope sighed as Ariel came running out of her tent in a panic

"What was that massive explosion?!?" Ariel looked both irritated and concerned as she glared at the Demi-God. "Are we under attack?!?"

{And was such an explosion necessary?!?} (Ariel)

"Don't go panicking. I was just chasing off some rats that were trying to keep an eye on us." Penelope replied as she placed Arcus on her back. “Nothing you need to be worried about.”

"Scouts?" Ariel instantly picked up on her meaning, deciding to put aside her rudeness for the moment. "I was worried about us being watched, and it seems my concern was warranted."

{I'll have to increase patrols.} (Ariel)

"Though it would also seem that your own scouts were not up to the job of detecting them before they got too close." Arcus commented. "A patrol not returning on time was what initially caused some concern, and then Pen here decided to do a bit more observation and boom! Literally!"

{Why must you make those terrible jokes?} (Penelope)

{Because they're funny and you like them!} (Arcus)

{…} (Penelope)

"Either way, daylight will not be for several more hours, so I'd advise keeping your scouts on edge. There's no telling what that group might try even after being spotted." Penelope said as she turned to leave.

"Oh? I figured you'd charge out there to crush them yourself." Ariel knew that the Demi-God could be slightly hot-headed and rash, and was surprised that she hadn't charged out to meet the enemy scouts directly. “Are you not confident in victory?” She decided to fire a small jab at her to pay the Demi-God back for her attitude.

"For all we know those five could be bait to lure me out, and while I'm confident that I could handle them, if they have more waiting out there that could be a problem, and I'm not interested in dying, especially with such an important mission at hand." Penelope said as she walked away, not allowing the Regent's words to get under her skin.

"Yeah, we can't go worrying Lady Reflia now can we!" Arcus laughed from her back. "Especially since she doesn't know you're down here leading an army! She's gonna be so mad when she finds out!"

"Can you keep your mouth shut for five minutes?" Penelope shushed the Bow.

"I don't have a mouth to keep shut, though even if I did probably not!” Arcus laughed before remembering something important. “Oh! And a piece of advice, Princess. Those mobile generators are good and all, they'll mean little once they enemy closes the gap, so you'd better impress the need for speed on the infiltration team." Arcus said as he and Penelope departed into camp, surrounded by awestruck soldiers who'd watched her vaporize part of a mountain.

"I... I'll take that in mind..." Ariel sighed as they vanished into the camp.

{While having such a powerful ally is reassuring, I can't seem to shake these nerves. The army we've got here is large, well trained, and well equipped and with so many powerful fighters gathered together this should be a cakewalk.. But...} (Ariel)

"But why am I still getting this feeling that everything we're doing is..." Ariel stopped, shaking away her thoughts. "No, there's no way that anyone could've thought that far ahead." She turned and walked back toward her tent. “That's just not possible... Nobody could do that...”

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<Elna POV>

"H-Holy hell, I thought I was gonna die..." Elna was singed quite badly and her entire body was covered in burns as she lay flat on the ground. She'd been pulled out of the way by Roxlex only moments before the arrow struck her position, and had it not been for the Demon's timely intervention, she'd be the next worshiper of the Demon kitty's glory.

"Well, I suppose that confirms some of our intel. Silfana did mention that the Demi-God archer Penelope was dangerous and those two Demons let us know she was a force to be reckeoned with, but I think the three of them may have undersold how dangerous she was." Sabia said as she and her brother landed next to the knocked-down Elna. “That blast was likely comparable to something a Player could pull of...” She hummed as she examined the crater from a distance.

{Demi-Gods definitely aren't something we should treat lightly. They're not like the normal people of this world, and I wouldn't be shocked if they were more powerful than some of us.} (Sabia)

"Yeah, I sure as hell wouldn't have liked to take that head-on." Hitamaguchi let off a nervous laugh as she landed behind them. “We'd need Excel for his healing if we wanted to survive that one.”

"Wait a minute, how is there someone that strong in this world?!?" Elna yelled from the ground. "Like, Halifax was some bullshit God weapon, but that girl's just a Demi-God! We should be leagues better than her!" She'd been expecting this to be a cake walk.

{This is bullshit! Now there are more idiots stronger than me!} (Elna)

"I don't think most former players not named Hishya or Eris are going to like taking that arrow to the face, Elna." Merkyul sighed at her whining. "In a group fight, I think we've got her beat though, especially if she lacks good close-range techniques."

{Though this does beg the question as to how powerful the people of this world can get.} (Merkyul)

"Which I doubt." Roxlex shook his head. "She's lived far longer than us. There's no way she doesn't understand a ranged fighter's weaknesses, so she probably has ways of handling opponents that get close. If I recall correctly, Silfana passed along info from Halifax and Elariel stating that her Bow can actually morph into different forms, so its possible she has a way of using him in close combat."

"Well, aren't you glad that you didn't go charging into the base like an idiot?" Sabia looked down at Elna with a smug look on her face. "Otherwise we'd be calling Lady Akagi to revive you, and you know what that means." She laughed.

{I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE THAT MISHA GIRL! NO THANKS! NO WORSHIPING THE KITTY FOR ME!} (Elna)

"Too bad, I think some kitty worship would do her good." Hitamaguchi snickered. "Perhaps we should kill her now just to get things started? Its not like Lady Akagi would know, and we could just report her death as a tragic accident caused by her own stupidity."

“Hmmm, I could get behind that.” Sabia grinned.

"Oi! No murdering me just to turn me fucking crazy like you four are!" Elna leaped to her feet and complained. "I'm here because I have no choice, but I don't want to embrace the fucking Demon Lord in my heart!"

"Give it time and you will." (Merkyul x Sabia x Roxlex x Hitamaguchi)

"Fucking cultists." Elna clicked her tongue.

"Hey, at least we don't go door-to-door scamming people!" Sabia laughed.

"Yeah, and our leader-being is actually real." Merkyul snickered.

"For one, I don't think that second part is a good thing, and also you're all just as crazy as those other ones that do go around knocking on doors! It's only because Akagi banned you from doing other bad things that you aren't doing them!" Elna knew that the Demon Lord Cult that had formed around Akagi would undoubtedly do things that the Demon wouldn't want if not for the short leash she'd put them on. “Don't think I forget what you were like before the kitty forced its way into your heart!”

{We killed fucking NPCs together for sport! So don't go acting all pure and nice!} (Elna)

"Regardless of your complaining, and lack of faith in Lady Akagi, we should probably pull back for now." Merkyul decided to get back to the matter at hand, ignoring Elna's complaining. "They're on to us now and I'd rather not see one of us get vaporized, so let's move back further and continue to shadow the army's movements from an increased distance. Rox, keep an eye on that Demi-God. I don't want her getting the jump on us, and if we're lucky she stays with the army while it moves rather than come out here to fight us."

"Right!" (Black Company)