The Red Hand

"Grrrr. That stupid rabbit! She's getting in the way!" Alice hissed as she watched Camilla carve her way through countless summons. Alice'd been getting frustrated with how quickly the Dwarven Army had been pushing her back with the Lich's help and was hoping that a confrontation in the Cave of Stars would slow them down if not outright destroy them. Unfortunately, that was not what'd happened. Indeed her army of tens of thousands of summons had stalled their forward momentum, but Camilla was still able to scythe through her forces with relative ease. The Dwarves were dug in around the entrance of the Highway and provided fire support and Alice knew from Black Company's recon that it was only a matter of time until the bulk of the Dwaven Army arrived with heavier firepower. "We need to do something about her! I can't disappoint Mama!"

{I should summon everything and crush her! Hiss!!!!!!} (Alice)

"Woah there!" Elna said as she grabbed the scruff of Alice's cloak to stop her from leaping into the fray herself. "Down, kid. Bad."

"Don't stop me! I must crush her for Mama!" Alice hissed as she was wiggled to try and get free. "It'll only take a few minutes! Ku. Ku. Ku. I'll make sure it only hurts a lot."

{Yup... She's Akagi's child alright...} (Elna)

"Alice, please remember that Lady Akagi instructed us to keep a low profile." Merkyul said as he had Elna let her go. "I'm certain we could defeat her if we fought together, but that runs the risk of the Dwarves discovering that something other than simple monsters is attacking them. It could very well undermine her plans if they see us, so we have to play this carefully."

{Though from what the Ninja have said, they're already considering the idea that an intelligent force is commanding the creatures. Let's hope they settle on the idea of this Monster Queen being an intelligent monster rather than something tied to Lady Akagi) (Merkyul)

"We just need to kill her quickly and it won't be a problem!" Alice pouted. "And besides, if I don't use more powerful monsters or step in myself she'll just keep destroying the weaker ones with ease! The summons I've deployed aren't enough to stop the bunny lady or that elf!" She'd watched both vaporize her monsters with little effort and knew that numbers would never overwhelm such strength.

"She's not wrong about that." Sabia chimed in, sharing a bit of her frustration. "Though, Lady Akagi did authorize more powerful summons if I'm not mistaken. Don't you have something with a bit more firepower in your arsenal?" The Demon had only limited the most out of place creatures that she knew Alice had in her arsenal.

"I have Puppers, but Mama banned me from using him." Alice said, clicking her tongue in irritation. The Wyvern would make short work of her enemies but using him was forbidden. “If I want to kill the Lich, I'd need something of at least his firepower to destroy her, and even then she'd just retreat back to her phylactery.”

{I'd need to properly purify her, but the only way to do that would be to jump in myself.} (Alice)

"I don't think a Wyvern in a cave is a really good idea for a lot of reasons." Roxlex sighed. “Best not try and use him down here, even in such a large expanse like this.”

"Yeah, it being sus as hell is only the first of many reasons why Puppy Boy isn't allowed." Hitmaguchi nodded. "What about the clown? He seemed pretty scary."

"Mr. Smiles won't be strong enough, sadly. He's strong but nowhere near enough to take down that Lich." Alice shook her head as she turned to watch Camilla cleave through another group ofsummoned monsters, which only served to irritate the girl further. "No, it's gonna take something much more powerful to defeat her." She said before pulling a dozen talismans from her cloak and tossing them into the air, forming a double-layered circle as they hovered in front of her. “I just hope Mama isn't too mad that I've kept this one a secret.”

{Oh well, I'll just give her more pets as the kitty and she'll probably forgive me anyway.} (Alice)

"Uh... Does anyone know what she's about to do?" Elna asked the other members of Black Company; a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

{Well, about to summon, I suppose, is the correct question.} (Elna)

"Not a clue." Merkyul shook his head. "Even back in FWO, Alice had all kinds of unique creatures at her disposal, so I'm not gonna be shocked if she pulls another out of storage that we've never seen." He said as a pair of foldable fans appeared in Alice's hands, and her clothing changed to that of a stereotypical Shrine Maiden, while her short, white hair quickly grew to be almost as long as Akagi's.

"The fuck?!?" Elna yelped in surprise, which was echoed by the other members of Black Company. "What the fuck is this?!?"

All seemed to grow quiet around them as Alice removed her mask, her face having changed to look entirely different to either her original appearance or that of her puppet. To those of Black Company Alice looked more mature and stern in this form, her eyes grew sharp, and there was a light shade of black and red highlight that traced their edges as if someone had done elaborate makeup.

"A-Alice?" Sabia stammered as she moved to Alice's side, unsure what was happening to the girl. “What's going on?”

"Stand back." Alice's voice seemed to double up and echo as she spoke, startling the others who flinched backward. "I have no experience using this summon in the real world, so I don't know what will happen. There is a chance you may be attacked, and this one is more than strong enough to put even your lives in peril. So keep behind me if you want the best chance at survival." She took a deep breath as she stepped forward, putting herself on the edge of the rocky outcropping that overlooked the battlefield. Her countless summons threw themselves at Camilla and her forces, the Lich being more than a match for the creatures, only rarely taking any actual damage. She was far and beyond the most powerful single opponent Alice had seen in this world, and was someone even the Ninja had trouble digging up information on. However, none of that mattered right now, for in this moment Alice was entirely focused on her ritual, one that she'd never so much as attempted since the end of FWO. It was a high-risk high-reward gamble, though as the child of Akagi, she'd inherited her Mother's love of such things.

{I never told Mama about this summon. Capturing it nearly killed me, and she would've been mad if she found out, especially since it wasn't entirely loyal even within FWO... It's probably about as strong as Puppers, but even more dangerous. If it decides to go on a rampage... No. I'm the Daughter of the Demon Lord, and the greatest Summoner in the world! I will not let a mere beast get the better of me! It WILL bow its heads before me and accept me as its master!} (Alice)

"Now then... Let's begin the ritual." Alice said as she threw out her arms, allowing her outfit to flutter before opening her fans and beginning an elaborate and carefully choreographed dance while reciting a sutra. Each word and movement seemed to cause the talismans to flicker and glow as a pentagram was formed between them as magical lines connected them.

Summoners didn't typically require anything so elaborate to bring forth one of their familiars or summons since that would be massive weakness in battle. However, Merkyul knew of a few examples of very rare and special summoning rituals in FWO that brought forth incredibly powerful creatures. In-game, the Summoner would be completely helpless during an activation period where they would perform a similar action to what Alice was doing now. It was incredibly risky but the reward would often outweigh it when done right; though that being said he was not aware of any player having successfully completed the ludicrous requirements to obtain one.

"Hold up! I thought nobody actually completed one of those suicidal missions!" Hitamaguchi yelled, her mouth hanging agape in shock as she put together what was happening. “Are you fucking telling me she did?!?”

{That impossible!} (Hitamaguchi)

"Alright! It looks like the little Demon Princess here pulled it off! As expected of Akagi's Daughter." Sabia laughed, sweat forming on her brow as she imagined just how hellish an experience Alice must've gone through to obtain such a summon.

"What are you guys talking about?!?" Elna turned to her teammates, confused. "Do you know what she's going to bring out?!?" She'd never seen the Summons they were referring to and had no context as to what was about to happen or the hellish requirements to obtain such a summon.

"I can't say what it is, but I know for a fact that it's going to be something special." Merkyul answered without looking at her, watching Alice's fluid movements in awe.

"Elna, do you remember the second to last World Boss of FWO?" Sabia asked the Elf.

"Of course I do!" Elna yelled. "I nearly died to that massive snake!" She said referencing the massive Uwabami that killed a number of the Assault Team with its initial attack.

"Then you'll remember the lady showed up before it appeared." Sabia explained as Alice continued her dance. "That woman was, at least in the context of the game settings, its Summoner. Recall that intricate rite she did in preparation for the Boss to appear, and take a good look at Alice here." She said as Alice spun, dozens of Cherry Blossoms swirling around her.

"What?!?" Elna exclaimed. "Are you fucking telling me that she's gonna summon that?!?"

{That thing won't fucking fit down here! And how is something like that okay but that dammed Wyvern isn't?!?} (Elna)

"I highly doubt she's going to summon the Uwabami since taming a World Boss wasn't possible." Sabia shook her head. "But, there were extremely rare summons that existed as the final reward for extensively long quest lines for Summoners. Each could only be completed once and would reward you with said beast as a contracted summon."

{One that would make any regular summon look like a joke too. I got to see the stat block for that giant eagle monster that Wexel took me to look at and Jesus fucking Christ were its stats insane. It didn't have anywhere close to as much power as a World Boss but it was easily as strong as a final boss from any substantial quest line. As a single monster, it wasn't that far removed from what we'd fight during dungeon clears, so its not really that special. But for a Summoner... The power leap between it and just about everything else was like night and day. And if you take into account that such things would give low-high rank martials a good fight... Well, the people of this world... I don't even want to think of how great the power difference between such a creature and them would be.} (Sabia)

"The only kicker, and what made those quests absolutely stupid, was that the Summoner had to do it alone." Merkyul explained that such conditions made it effectively impossible for a Summoner to actually complete. "Any outside help would invalidate the quest and result in you eating a nasty penalty if you didn't leave immediately."

"Wait! But isn't that fucking suicide?!?" Elna yelled as Alice continued her dance. "A Summoner can't fight something that strong alone! Even Alice's buffed-up summons aren't capable of fighting a monster even a fraction as powerful as a World Boss!"

{And if they were... WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T SHE USE THEM TO HELP US ON THE EARLIER BOSSES?!?} (Elna)

"That's why none of the other summoners in the Assault Team actually bothered with those quest lines." Sabia said. "Wexel, Kiyama, Horachi, Uboan, and Sitoma all took one look at that requirement and quickly turned around and ran for their lives." She laughed. “We kinda figured the Devs were messing with the balance since the game was still in testing, and clearly they really fucked up the difficulty on those missions.”

"They all may have chickened out, but not our little lady!" Hitmaguchi laughed as Alice continued her dance. "I'd bet she came up with some crazy plan to beat that thing all by herself!"

"Well, whatever she did..." Sabia smirked as she continued to watch Alice. "It's going to be one hell of a show. So let's just sit back and watch the fireworks." She said as Alice brought her ritual to a conclusion with one final prayer, crossing her arms and snapping the fans shut before throwing her arms into the air above her head and causing the pentagram to crackle with a extraordinary amount of power.

"By the eight twisting coils and the venom of endless wrath, I call upon the slumbering serpent of ancient dread. From the depths of storm and shadow, heed my plea, O fractured spirit of Orochi!

Fangs that bite, eyes that burn, scales that glisten with the malice of the void — rise now and bear witness to my will!

In reverence and resolve, I bind thee, great wyrm of legend! Let your wrath be mine, and your strength strike down those who stand before me!

Emerge from the veil, O Orochi's shade! Kōrin! Yamata no Orochi!"

Spoiler

Miko Alice!

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