The Red Hand

"What do you mean the prisoners escaped?" General Iseyama slammed his fist on his desk. "What the hell is going on out there? How could we be losing to so few people?" He was utterly baffled at the situation.

"Sir!" an officer entered the room.

"Report." (General Iseyama)

"After breaching the main gate, it would appear that the target prepared a secondary strike team to rescue the hostages. We don't have many details, but from reports on the ground apparently, 15-20 animal-eared ninjas are running roughshod throughout the base." The phrase animal-eared ninjas was not something the General or the other officers expected to hear.

"I don't care if they're ninjas, samurai, or magical girls, I want them disposed of immediately; this is embarrassing. How can a base of over five hundred soldiers not handle less than twenty people." He said throwing his coffee mug across the room.

"Sir, according to reports, we've lost over three hundred soldiers and many more support personnel are either missing or dead. At this rate, we're going to be completely combat-ineffective in less than thirty minutes." the officer continued.

"Dammit all to hell. Where are Ishigami and Minazawa!" He yelled. "I hate to rely on them but it looks like we have no choice." The General really didn't want to use the players he had conscripted; he felt that they were little more than walking WMDs. On top of that, he couldn't even be sure of their loyalty. The two seemed more interested in killing Akagi than working under him and they had proved to be quite troublesome to manage. But, if he didn't he faced the destruction of Camp Katsura and the humiliation of a lifetime.

"Damn you girl, we underestimated you, but this ends now." he said with a sure smile.

A moment later, two individuals dressed in full plate armor entered the command room. They looked like knights straight out of a fantasy game.

The dark-haired man with a great sword was Ishigami Naoto, AKA "Supreme Blade." In FWO, his specialty was heavy damage from his great sword as well as tanking big hits. Naturally, he was a member of the assault team alongside Hishya.

The purple-haired woman's name was Hiyori Minazawa, AKA "Purple Rose." She focused on heavy armor and slow but methodical attacks to wear down her enemy with her trusty "sword and board" load out. She and Ishigami were teammates and partners on the assault team and made a deadly combination being considered equal to the absolute best when paired together.

"Well general," Ishigama said cracking a smile. "It looks like you'll need us after all." (Ishigami)

"We tried to warn you that your soldiers and defenses just wouldn't cut it against Akagi, but you just wouldn't listen." Minazawa said shaking her head while laughing. “That bitch is quite cunning after all; though, I didn't expect the ninjas.”

"Enough!" He yelled cutting them off. "I don't need, "I told you so" right now, you can berate me after you deal with Akagi and her team." He was not in the greatest of moods as one could imagine. “Deal with her and end this debacle once and for all; that's an order!”

"I thought you'd never ask." He cracked his knuckles. "I've been wanting to put that bitch down for two years. She took out quite a good number of my friends, but I never thought I would get the chance to kill her with Hishya running interference. I guess this must be fate." he lips formed into a twisted smile.

"Hey don't forget me," Minazawa interjected. "That bitch killed my boyfriend, if anyone's gonna kill her it better be me." She was equally as enthusiastic at the prospect of ending Akagi's life.”That murderous monster will pay!” her eyes were filled with righteous fury.

"I don't care which of you kills Akagi, nor what your past history is with the woman, just do it and do it quickly." the General sat down exhausted.

"What about the helpers?” Ishigami asked in reference to the ninjas. “What should we do about them?"

"What do you think." Was the response the general gave.

"Just making sure." He smirked. "Now then, how about we go say hello to our old friend."

"Let's," Minazawa said with a smile.

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<Akagi POV>

"Gack" a soldier screamed as Akagi drove her blade through his chest.

"Well, I think they're running out of men to throw at us." She laughed as she swung her blade to clean it of blood.

"Yes it would seem so, I must admit this is going too well, and I don't like that," Yumi said with some concern. “And the fact that we haven't seen other players is strange.”

Looking around, the base was on fire and the main yard was littered with bodies and destroyed vehicles. Throughout the base, gunfire and explosions could be heard as Chloe and her team initiated cleanup operations. At this point, the only thing unaccounted for were the two players that General Iseyama had brought under his command. The fact that they hadn't appeared yet meant that the general was either holding them in reserve, or they were reluctant to fight; which was unlikely all things considered.

Akagi knew both of them very well from in-game and had even exchanged blows with them a few times. Akagi had killed Minazawa's boyfriend at the behest of an NPC and Ishigami hated her guts for her role in the death of some of his closest friends. They each swore to get vengence on her one day, but Hishya had put a lid on things while they were in the game. Without Hishya standing in between them and her, Akagi figured they would act on their desire for revenge. They were powerful enemies to be sure, but she was confident she could defeat them if they actually showed. Although if they came at her together, she might have to get just a little bit serious.

"It looks like we've dealt with most of the fodder, we should start heading toward-" Akagi stopped mid-sentence as her danger sense went off. "Yumi move back!" she screamed as both girls jumped away from the spot they were standing on.

Mere moments later a massive explosion went off where they had just been and a large amount of dust was kicked up. When it cleared, Akagi saw Ishigami standing in the large crater created by the impact of his sword.

"Damn you're slippery as ever." He commented as he lifted his blade over his shoulder. "I thought I had you there; I even worked so hard to mask my presence." he smirked.

"Nice to see you too Ishigami, or should I call you Supreme Blade?" She asked with a fake smile.

"The only thing you can call me is your executioner you bitch." He pointed his great sword at her. "I'm going to avenge all the innocent people you murdered in your twisted game Akagi." his voice was filled with rage.

"My Lord!" Yumi began to move towards Akagi but was stopped as Minazawa dove at her clashing her blade with her staff. "Oh no, you don't you little priest." Minazawa cried as she attempted to pin Yumi down

"Rule number one of combat, kill the enemy healer." She said as she began smashing her sword against Yumi's staff. "Now, how about we take this somewhere far away from here; little priest." She said as she put all her power into one attack that sent Yumi flying backward toward the other side of the base.

"I'll deal with the priest; you handle that bitch. And don't you dare kill her; I want to make her suffer for Kyojaro." She said running in the direction she flung Yumi.

With her departure, Akagi and Ishigami stood alone together in the center of the main courtyard. There were no soldiers and Akagi's subordinates were busy on the opposite side of the base. If she was going to fight Ishigami, it would be alone.

"Feeling scared yet Akagi?" He laughed. "Without that healer of yours do you think you can win against me?" he lifted his sword in one hand and pointed it at her.

Akagi just sighed. "What makes you think I need Yumi to beat you Ishigami? If anyone should be concerned it's you." Akagi couldn't understand where this confidence was coming from.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying I can't beat you?" Ishigami was flabbergasted by Akagi's claim.

"Of course, you can't.” Akagi's looked at him like he was an idiot. “Do you think you can beat me in a one-on-one duel when even Hishya was hesitant to do so?" Hishya was the best player in the game, besides Akagi, and was incredibly adept at single combat. Her build was almost unbeatable when it came to monsters and it was even competent against other players. Despite this, she only ever fought Akagi alone once; and she was unwilling to do so ever again.

"You think by separating me from Yumi you've somehow weakened me right?" Akagi could only shake her head. "Well, you're wrong. In fact, you actually gave up your greatest advantage by splitting from Minazawa. If the two of you had come at me together things may have been at least a little difficult."

Those two had worked together for years and are a shining example of teamwork. Fighting them together would be tough for even the most seasoned players. Not to say that they were unbeatable, but they were definitely stronger together than apart. Could they beat Akagi? Maybe, maybe not, at the very least the chances of success were much higher together.

"Ha." he scoffed at her statement. "You say that, but I'm going to prove you wrong. The only reason I never killed you is because Hishya always got in my way." He said as he dove towards Akagi. “I don't need Minazawa to beat you!”

{What an absolute idiot. How did someone like this become one of the top members of the assault team?} Akagi asked herself.

He was fast, but Akagi was faster. He swung his sword wildly as he attempted to hit her, but found himself always just off his mark. Akagi was likely the fastest player in FWO, and it showed. Each time he swung, it seemed as if he moved in slow motion. She sidestepped many of his attacks or contorted her body just out of his intended path.

But, Ishigami was undeterred by his inability to hit her saying. "Ha ha ha. All you can do is dodge can't you bitch! I wonder how long until that speed fails you; all it's gonna take is one mistake!" He slammed his blade down into the asphalt missing Akagi by a wide margin.

"I think my stamina is going to last much longer than yours at the very least." Akagi could only laugh at his attempts. “And maybe actually aim when swinging that big stick around, you were miles off!”

{He really doesn't understand anything about PvP does he? All that heavy armor makes him slow and cumbersome, and big damage doesn't mean a damn thing if it means he can't hit his opponent.} (Akagi)

In FWO, most monsters simply charged at the player and fought them head-on and since beating the game was more important than fighting other players, members of the assault team kitted themselves out to fight monsters, not players. This meant that they prioritized survivability and slow high-damage attacks, as most monsters weren't intelligent enough to avoid them or they could rely on teammates to cover them. Couple this with his lack of PvP experience, and you had a textbook example of what happens when you take a PvE build into PvP. Sure, in theory, if he hit Akagi she would be in some serious trouble, but the chances of that were slim.

This farce continued for several minutes as Akagi danced around his blade. Each time Akagi would allow him to get just close enough with his blade to make him think he had a chance, but she would never allow him to hit.

After a while, Akagi decided to strike back. She swung her blade and put a deep gash on Ishigami's face. He tried to dodge but his heavy armor and weapon meant he had limited maneuverability.

“You bitch!” he screamed as they broke apart. “I hope such a weak attack isn't all you've got. Its going to take much more than that to beat me.”

{Is he really that dense? Does he not understand that I intentionally limited my strike? That I can do far worse if he doesn't stop?} Akagi was shocked by just how stupid he was. {And you were a top member of the assault team? Its a miracle they actually won if idiots like this were the best they had.}

Ishigami let out a roar. “Alright, I'm all warmed up. Lets finish this!” he jumped forward, his blade coating itself in fire.

{Really? That ability will make your hits more dangerous, but your still just as slow. Do you really have nothing to boost your speed?} (Akagi)

The two maneuvered back and forth across the main yard of the base. Their forms blurred as they moved at blistering speeds. Even with all that heavy armor and equipment Ishigami's speed was far above what a normal person could achieve. However, it still wasn't enough as Akagi continued to dodge his strikes, which only served to grow Ishigami's frustration.

{Why? Why can't I hit her? I've never had this much trouble before. Is this some kind of assassin trick? It must be, there's no other explanation! Akagi, I'll just have to figure out your trick and blow right through it!} Ishigami came to the wrong conclusion about his inability to hit Akagi.

Eventually, the fatigue began to take hold, and Ishigami's movement slowed even further. His plan to take down Akagi quickly with his overwhelming strength had failed.

{Looks like that's it. All that talk and he ran out of steam, just as predicted. Hishya I thought you trained these idiots? Did you not warn them about taking a PvE mentality into PvP?} At this point, Akagi was thoroughly disappointed with Ishigami. {No, I bet you did; and I bet they promptly discarded that advice believing themselves to be strong enough without it.}

Players who were a part of the assault team focused on taking down monsters. Thus, their builds revolved around group combat, survivability, and methods of damage that would only work where enemies didn't effectively dodge. This was a pattern that most players in general followed. Even solo players or other Pkers dumped points into skills to help them fight monsters out of necessity.

However, Akagi was different. While her arsenal could be used on monsters; it was wholly inefficient at doing so. Instead, Akagi focused on skills to help her kill other players. Her build was entirely focused on PvP, while the other players were either a mix of the two or completely PvE. It might not seem like it, but this difference was massive. As the only fully PvP player in FWO, it would be difficult, nai on impossible, to take her down 1v1 as her skills invalidated most PvE builds. This was the reason that Hishya never challenged her alone a second time. No matter how good Hishya was at the game, she couldn't use skill to overcome fundamental game design.

Finally, Ishigami stopped. He was completely exhausted and was struggling to breathe.

"Are we done here? Because to be honest you're wasting my time." Akagi said with irritation in her voice. "I've got places to be and things to do, so how about you go home Ishigami."

*Pant, Pant, wheeze.* he could barely breathe. "I will- I will never give up. I will bring you to justice, even if it kills me." he stood straight up, brought his sword into stance, and screamed. "LIMITER RELEASE!"

His body glowed in bright white light as a surge of energy washed over him. Then, in an instant, he was gone, like a lightning flash in the night sky. Akagi barely had a moment to think before he was on top of her.

{Well, I guess he had one trump card to play.} (Akagi)

At terrifying speeds, he brought his blade down onto Akagi's form making contact.

{Yes!} he cheered in his mind. {Even she can't react this fast, it's over, you've got nowhere to run Akagi!}

His blade split Akagi down the middle from head to toe, bisecting her in two.

"Yes!" he yelled "Didn't see that coming did..... you....bitch....." his words slowed to a crawl as he caught sight of the now split form of Akagi in front of him.

Along the path of his blade was a clean cut surrounded by black smoke. Akagi's face was contorted into a smug smile as her image dissolved into black shadow. It was as if he swung at something that wasn't there.

"There-there's no way that-" His words were cut off as a blade dove straight through his heart.

"Oh, but there is." Akagi was standing directly behind him completely unharmed.

"Ack!" he coughed up blood. "That's impossible, there's no way you should have been able to react to my limit breaker."

Akagi pulled her blade out of his chest. "Limit breaker is quite a neat skill. In exchange for being defenseless for the next thirty seconds, you can overcharge your next attack to a disgusting degree," she said praising the ability.

“Its great when fighting bosses, or where you have a team to back you up.” She kicked him over. "However, that's not the kind of ability you want to use when fighting another player." She said walking alongside him.

"You bitch, if it wasn't for your cheap tricks. I know I would have beat you!" he yelled weakly.

He was losing a lot of blood; it was likely he wouldn't last much longer.

Akagi shook her head as she looked him in the eye. "Ishigami, you will never beat me, not now, not ever; and do you know why?" She cut off his head. "Because it was never a game to me."