The Red Hand

After dropping Amakusa out of the window, a lot, Akagi called off the torment as the other ranking members of the clan assembled in the audience room. Naturally, as soon as Yumi arrived, the Catkagi was snatched away from Halifax and placed firmly and safely in her lap during the meeting. With Chloe still on her mission to find the Cult of Blood, Nima would be standing in for her, while Marshal and Kira would provide updates on other important developments regarding the clan and the multi front war effort.

"Alright, let's get started." Akagi said as she hopped out of Yumi's lap and reverted to her usual form, saddening the Priestess. "Nima, give me an update on the Ninja. How did we fair during the battle?" She wanted to know about their performance from a statistical perspective, specifically who were the standout combatants.

"Yes, my Lord." Nima nodded as she pulled out her data pad and began scrolling through information. "During the engagement, our forces performed as expected. There were instances of minor to mild injuries, mostly due to the sheer number of forces we faced, but nothing that wasn't resolved with some potions and magic. Overall things went well."

"That's to be expected. The Ondai Clan was never meant to engage such a force. It's a testament to both your constant training and Imp's equipment that things turned out so well." Akagi said waived her off, smiling happily. “What about the Demons? How did they stack up against them?”

"The enemy forces that we faced were not exactly of the highest quality." Marshal commented with a bit of snark. "Some of their more elite units did prove to be a nuisance, but my men and I were still able to take them down with little difficulty." He and the Knights had mostly been tasked with guarding the base itself, as well as handling any adventurer units. However, partway through the battle though he'd gotten bored and took his unit right into the fray and ended up smashing through the heavily armored enemy formations that were using tamed monsters.

"I honestly expected the hired adventurers to be a bit more trouble than they ended up being." Kira noted that the only one who lasted more than a few moments against any of them was Burning Light, and even then they weren't much of a problem. “I'd prepared our forces to be wary of specialized magic attacks or techniques but we ended up completely outclassing them.”

"I'll admit that I was suspicious of just how well things were going. When you reported that the five parties contracted by the Demons had been dealt with only a few short minutes after engaging them, I was beginning to think we'd overlooked something." Nima said as she scrolled through her pad. "Burning Light, Eagle Company, Swords of the East, Holy Light, and Swift Wind were contracted and each had extensive battle records, most against Demons and other monsters. I had Black Company gather whatever records they could from Riftwood's Guild Hall when they attacked, and I won't lie... What I read actually had me a bit on edge if I'm being honest."

{If memory serves me they'd all fought True Demons in the Wilds. Each were Adamantite or Mithril Rank parties and most were on a level that went far beyond what a mere mortal could do... I was worried that our Clan would be overwhelmed and picked apart.} (Akagi)

"So they ended up being little more than footnotes during the battle then?" Akagi asked with a bored expression on her face. "I heard no reports of them causing any real issues. I guess it was a waste of time to be so concerned about them. I suppose the normal folk of this world really aren't much of a challenge."

"Indeed, the one's we faced truly proved to be no match." Kira shook her head. "Marshal and I handled them with astonishing ease. The only one that put up a somewhat decent fight was Burning Light, and even then it was more a reflection of their combat experience than overall battle power." She noted that they had good teamwork as well as some unusual abilities, particularly the Dark Priestess.

"That's the group who tried sneaking into the base right?" Marshal asked as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "I heard you captured them. I thought our orders were to take no prisoners?" He side-eyed her as he let out a puff.

"They... The Priestess who was part of their party ended up turning on her two teammates and knocked them out before offering a surrender." Kira said with a slight bit of nervousness in her voice. It was true that she'd gone against Akagi's orders and she was afraid of punishment for her technical disobedience. "I decided to take them in to extract whatever useful information from them that we could. Please forgive me for deviating from your orders, Lady Akagi." She bowed, asking for forgiveness. “If you would like I will dispose of them immediately.”

"There is no need to act like that." Akagi shook her head as she rested her hand under her chin. "Your decision was based on the belief that taking them in alive would benefit us more than simply killing them, so it was more than reasonable for you to make that call." She smiled. "Recall that I have no qualms with you deviating from my directives if it ends up benefiting us and our plans." Her smile was warm and genuine, though her words also came with the understanding that if a deviation didn't pan out or caused a problem that it would be expected that one would take responsibility.

"What do you know about Burning Light?" Akagi turned to Halifax, who'd been quiet up until now, mostly because she was too focused on avoiding Yumi's death glare. "You've traveled this world as an adventurer for centuries so you must know about them." The Demon hadn't bothered to ask Halifax directly about them or the other parties since she figured the Divine Blade wouldn't want to sell out fellow adventurers. From what intel Nima gathered Akagi wasn't particularly worried about them and decided that it wasn't worth potentially alienating her friend.

"I know what I told Nima when she asked me this same question before the battle." Halifax stated that the Cat had come to her for intel on the hired parties and that she'd only provided vague and general information since she really didn't know much about their makeup. "Burning Light was one that I met once before, though t was a long time ago on a joint mission. They were pretty good, and I thought they were more than adequate allies. Back then I think it was just Katlyn and Nier. I have no recollection of that Miz'ri girl. Dark Elves are extremely rare on the surface, and most that aren't enslaved in the Under find themselves reduced to such on the surface if they're not outright killed by fanatical idiots." She said, before growing quiet.

"Indeed, we've come across only one or two during our extraction missions." Nima stated that they'd tried to find a few to uncover more about their people's condition but were struggling to find any. "From what we've gathered the Dark Elves were taken below ground and are being used as laborers to mine toxic ores. There seem to be very few remaining and only a portion are above ground with most that are being mixed blood."

"That always struck me as a waste." Akagi rolled her eyes. "Why nearly wipe them out only to turn them into slaves for mining? It would've been far more useful to tap into their magic affinity and use them as magical batteries." Her offhand comment made Amakusa sick to the stomach. The Heroine had been told to sit and watch from the corner and was not permitted to speak up despite wanting to.

{I'm not even shocked by her anymore...} (Amakusa)

"It's because they're resistant to the sickness caused by mining Heavenly Ore." Halifax answered, her words causing the others present to glare at her. "What? What'd I say?"

"Heavenly Ore? Why am I only hearing about this now?" Akagi sighed as she whacked the Sword on the back of the head.

"I thought you already knew about it!" Halifax hissed as she rubbed the back of her head. "You've got these guys running intel on the entire continent! So I thought you'd pick up on that little fact already!"

{I figured that you knew if a pin dropped in the Emperor's bed chamber!} (Halifax)

"You're right." Akagi smiled as she looked at Nima, who began to sweat. "Nima, we'll be having a follow-up meeting so we can figure out just where our methods went wrong. So stick around afterward."

{Seems the kitty has much to learn.} (Akagi)

"Y-Yes, my Lord..." Nima bowed, accepting the coming tongue-lashing.

{I'm glad that's not me...} (Kira x Marshal x Amakusa x Yumi)

"So give me the TLDR." Akagi asked Halifax, who tilted her head in confusion at the expression. "Tell me what it is and why it's important..." She sighed.

"Heavenly Ore is a very rare mineral that's found only in the Under." Halifax explained the ore and where it came from. "It is a crystallization of mana that's even stronger than Mithril and highly magically conductive. I'm actually made from it funny enough." She said, tapping on her sword body that sat next to her. “Its quite good at making weapons.”

"Would you mind if I examine you?" Akagi asked, badly wanting to just grab her but restraining herself since that would be crossing an internal line she'd set for herself. "I'm curious if I can glean a bit more information by seeing something made from it directly. Do you mind? I promise I'll be gentle." She said with a cheeky smile.

"If you were anyone else I would, but fine." Halifax sighed as she handed her body to the Demon. “Just don't try anything funny. One wrong step and no kitty pets for a week!” She said, causing Akagi to over dramatically recoil before continuing.

"On first glance I noticed that your blade was forged from an incredible substance, but I never thought it was some kind of unique mineral." Akagi said as she looked over Halifax's blade, her eyes glowing as she activated used her power to 'appraise' the Divine Blade. Akagi did have an appraisal skill, but in the real world it wasn't very effective and thus she'd come up with a process by which she placed some of her power on an object to get more information about it, something that was remarkably useful.

{Interesting... My power... It seems to be...} (Akagi)

"Heavenly Ore is extremely hard to work with. Its melting point is around three times that of Mithril so there's not many forges that can actually work with the stuff." Halifax explained as Akagi continued to examine her body, which admittedly made the Divine Blade slightly bashful. "From what Elariel told me it took Hilare himself incarnating and working directly with the best Dwarven craftsmen of the Era to forge me. It was apparently a multi-year-long process and failed no less than three times."

"I see..." Akagi nodded as she handed Halifax back her sword body. "I was already intending to go to the Dwarves next, but this intrigues me to an even higher degree." She smirked. "And I think I'll get Imp to come along with us. She'll probably want to know more about that process."

"Just keep her hands off me, thanks." Halifax said with a wry smile. “I've got no interest in being a test subject. Take Arcus if you want something like that.”

{I'm sure he'll be okay!} (Halifax)

"Nah, I'm sure she'll be a good Imp who would never do something horrible like tear you apart and put you back together." Akagi laughed, though as she did so her mind was still focused on the information she'd gleaned from examining Halifax's Blade.

{This so-called Heavenly Ore was the majority of what made her up, but there was something else in there too. It wasn't much and I can't tell what it is for sure, but...} (Akagi)

"I think I know what Elariel is hiding." Akagi muttered to herself as she gazed at Halifax's sword body out of the corner of her eye.