The Red Hand

"I have no intention of ever standing against Akagi." Hishya's words rang out across the airwaves. She knew that after the incident at Camp Katsura many would look to her for protection from Akagi. She was already under government surveillance and expected to be approached for recruitment in the near future. In the past, she would have jumped at the opportunity to gather more praise and attention, especially on such a massive scale. But that was before she had something to lose.

"Um. I'm sorry for asking something like that out of the blue." Kirika apologized. "It's just that with what happened today and yesterday, a lot of people were wondering..." her voice fell off. "Can you at least tell us why you won't fight her, just for clarification?"

Hishya smiled. "It's simple. I have no interest in wasting this second chance at life." Hishya's answer was quite blunt. "Don't get me wrong; I don't agree with her methods. Nor do I support her career choice."

"Then, does that mean you can't beat her? Even with all your power?" Kirika asked. "You won't fight her because you'll lose?"

"No, I cannot defeat her myself," Hishya answered with a sharp tone. "I've fought her 1v1 before. In a scenario where I had all the advantages, the best terrain, the best strategy... everything... and... I lost, and it wasn't even close." Hishya thought back to that night in Hassan. "She toyed with me, humiliated me, it was if she didn't even see me as a threat."

"But, even if you couldn't beat her 1v1, surely there are other players you could get to help? Right?" there were 98 other players who received power. Surely if they fought her together, they could win. At least that was her train of thought. "Teaming up with some of them would overcome the power issue wouldn't it?"

 

Hishya thought for a moment, before letting out a big sigh. "You would think that, wouldn't you? That if only we banded together and invested in the power of friendship we could win." Hishya looked at the ceiling. "But that's only because you and everyone else don't know the truth." Suddenly, the air in the studio got heavy. Hishya closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them once again. Kirika was shocked by what she saw; Hishya's eyes had transformed from their usual red color to something that resembled a burnt orange/yellow. But even more striking was Hishya's irises which changed into slits like a reptile's.

{Wha-what's going on with her eyes!} Kirika panicked internally.

Seeing the woman's face become pale and the audience starting to act unruly, Hishya opted to rein in her overwhelming pressure.

"My apologies," Hishya's voice changed from sweet to imposing. "I'm still not used to using this power in the real world. The game really undersold just how overwhelming a dragon's aura can be." The term dragon caught everyone's attention.

"A-a dragon? What do you mean? What was that pressure, and why do your eyes look like that!" Kirika was currently running on adrenaline, so her speech was slightly sped up.

"Because I am a dragon," Hishya answered without hesitation. "That pressure you felt was a natural ability of sorts. My mere presence can frighten weaker creatures or make them unable to move just by feeling my power." She seemed to find Kirika's reaction quite amusing and cracked a smile.

"H-how is something like even possible? How could you be a dragon, you don't look like one! That doesn't make any sense!" Kirika tried to refute Hishya's claim.

"If I transformed completely, my frame would destroy the building as I am quite large." Hishya chuckled. "I figured just changing my eyes would be enough of a demonstration." Releasing her draconic powers seemed to cause Hishya's personality to change as well as her eyes. Not only was she no longer nervous, but she also seemed to enjoy watching people tremble at her power.

Seeing that Kirika and the audience still didn't understand, Hishya stood up and walked to the front of the stage. "Here, perhaps this will make things easier." Hishya took a deep breath and began to pool her energy. A few moments later, she sprouted two draconic wings, her ears became pointy and horns appeared from the side of her head. The audience was left completely speechless, which made Hishya laugh. After a moment, she turned back toward Kirika and said.

"Is this a little more dragon to you? She grinned. "I could also sprout a tail, but I think I've destroyed enough clothing today." her wings had ripped straight through her hoodie.

*Gulp* Seeing such an imposing form caused Kirika to panic on the inside. Hishya's eyes made her feel like an ant caught in a tornado and her glare gave the reporter chills.

{It's not just her appearance that changed, she's almost like a totally different person!} Kirika was trying to put on a calm face so that people watching wouldn't panic.

"Yes... um. I apologize for not believing you, and I'm sorry about the hoodie." She offered to replace it later.

"Can we continue the interview? I'll put away the horns and wings so it's less strange for you." Hishya walked back to the sofa and retracted her draconic add-ons, minus her eyes and ears.

"O-of course, there are even more questions I have for you now." Kirika gave a wry smile. "But first, could you explain this whole dragon thing? I'm still confused about how that's even possible." She knew that some of the returnees were no longer human. There were a few elves, dwarves, and beast-kin among them, but a dragon was a totally unexpected revelation!

"Well that's easy," Hishya shrugged. "After completing a ridiculously hard quest chain I was rewarded with a racial change which made me a dragon. Though in-game, I was limited in my ability to transform." She smiled. "When I was given all my powers and such from FWO, it seems that I was made a fully-fledged dragon with no restrictions on my power." Hishya continued. "In the game, the flavor text explained some of the limitations as a seal on my power. Which was really just the devs explaining away why I couldn't run around in dragon mode 24/7." (Hishya)

"I see, does that mean other players have such incredible power too?" Hishya could tell that her revelation had made Kirika nervous. "Can other returnees turn into dragons or other crazy things?"

"No," Hishya shook her head. "The dragon quest line was only ever completed by me and we only ever found one other instance of such a dramatic racial change." Of course, she was referring to Akagi and her change into a Shadow Monster.

"So, does that mean even with all the power of a dragon, you couldn't beat this Akagi woman?" Kirika couldn't understand why she was reluctant to fight.

Hishya sighed. "Didn't I already tell you? I fought her with my full power, and she still beat me. I didn't transform into a full dragon because that was pointless, but I used every other aspect of my draconic blood in that battle." Hishya's race gave her a variety of skills and abilities which were excellent for her as a sword mage. "She isn't an opponent I can beat."

"It's baffling that one woman could defeat a dragon!" Kirika had forgotten that she said that, the whole dragon thing kind of took up all her attention.

"HA!" Hishya let out a loud laugh. "Akagi isn't a woman, so don't call her that." Hishya broke out into a fit of laughter.

"I don't understand what you mean; she's not a woman?" Kirika was confused by Hishya's reaction and her choice of words.

"Remember, we found one other instance where a player's race was changed as dramatically as mine was." Hishya stared at the woman. "You saw it didn't you? On the news this morning when she stood behind that podium." Hishya rested her hand on her chin. "That inky black shadow, that terrifying voice, that feeling of pure dread. Those weren't just some kind of skills, Kirika."

Most people watching the interview, including Kirika herself, had seen the footage. Akagi's dark form standing behind that podium terrified Japan, and her voice was something straight out of a horror movie. There was no way that anyone would ever forget what they saw.

"So.....So then she's like you? She's no longer human? What is she?" Kirika's heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest as she asked this question.

"No, she's not like me Kirika. I was once human, but Akagi..... I don't believe that she ever was, as much as that makes sense." She gave a small laugh. "Rather than say she was transformed or changed, I think it would be more accurate to say that she was released."

{R-released?} Kirika's mind raced. {What does that even mean?}

"As for what she is, the game referred to her as a Shadow. In-game, she found a Shadow Lord that was sealed, defeated it, and merged with it. This did many things, but most importantly it meant that she was freed from some of the games limitations.” Hishya explained. “Her real form is not that of the young woman you saw today. Rather, that black shadow you saw during the press conference is what she truly is, everything else is just a facade." Hishya sighed. "I suppose we're similar in that we're both monsters pretending to be human.

Hishya's words stunned Kirika. While she didn't fully understand everything, she knew enough to tell that Akagi was dangerous, especially if someone like Hishya was unwilling to fight her.

"But she's not invincible. You might not be able to beat her alone, but if you all came together there's no way she should win, right?" Kirika was still trying to understand why Hishya wouldn't work with others to beat her.

"She's not invincible, but beating her is not guaranteed even with all of us." Hishya continued. "She is terrifyingly powerful, and I guarantee over the last two years she's gotten even stronger, on top of that her abilities have likely gotten more potent now that we've returned to the real world. And she isn't alone, that team of hers might not be as strong as the returnees, but you would be foolish to discount them." the strength of Akagi's subordinates was put on full display at Camp Katsura. "If we were to fight her, it wouldn't end until one side is eliminated, and it would be foolish to expect mercy from her. So, even if we do have a chance of defeating her, I'm not willing to risk my life unnecessarily. Perhaps in the past I might have, but not anymore." Hishya's answer was not what most expected. “The darkness that lurks within her is far more than any light could ever drive away.”

{That night, at Hassan, I saw Akagi's soul, her very being. I don't know what she is, and I would rather we never find out. For whatever reason, my blood is telling me that the more Akagi fights, the more she dives into her power, the closer the world will come to calamity.} Hishya's shuddered. {The last thing we need to do is back her into a corner and force her to go all out, if that happens.......}

"So then, you have no intention of fighting her?" Kirika asked. "Even if she starts attacking other people?"

 

"As long as Akagi leaves me and my family alone, I have no intention of doing anything to her. In fact, I will be meeting with her tomorrow to make sure things are completely settled between us." She looked at the audience. "It might seem heartless, and you might feel that I'm abandoning some duty I have as the hero, but I don't care." Hishya's words were sharp. "For the first time in my life, I have a future and something I want to protect. So excuse me for prioritizing that over other people." At this point, Hishya had completely dropped her Hero persona. “Right now, Akagi doesn't want to destroy the world or anything crazy, and I suspect she just wants to be left alone. So I doubt she will actually become some giant threat to the world like some are predicting. That is of course, unless she's provoked in some manner, like we saw at Camp Katsura, a battle which was fought on favorable ground with two players on the militaries side, one of which was killed quite easily. ” While Hishya didn't agree with what Akagi did, she also knew that if left alone, the amount of damage she would do would actually be quite small.

"That is why I won't fight her, Kirika, because I know better than anyone else how senseless such a conflict is. Others have tried and failed to take her down and I see no reason why another attempt would end in anything other than failure. Even with all of us together, I suspect the odds of winning are not lopsidedly in our favor, and do you want risk the fate of the world on a game of chance?" Kirika's face showed her shock. "Akagi is an absolutely terrifying existence; she showed me that in Hassan. And I would advise everyone else, player or otherwise, to leave her alone. If you don't bother her, she won't bother you; it's as simple as that." Hishya looked into the camera and made a declaration to the entire world.