"I'd say that was an adventureful day." Halifax stretched as she looked up at the twin moons in the sky above. It was a completely cool night, an the contrasting colors of the celestial bodies covered the sky in an eerie yet beautiful glow. "Akagi definitely doesn't do boring that's for sure." She chuckled as the Demon Lord in question walked up behind her, glasses of alcohol in hand.

"While I do appreciate a good bit of chaos, I'll remind you that my preferred state of being is one consisting of peace and tranquility." Akagi said as she handed Halifax a glass before taking a sip of her own. “Relaxation and peace is much better of you ask me.” She chuckled.

"We both know you'd get bored of just being kitty all day. Gotta have some fun in there to mix it up every now and again." Halifax snickered as she took a sip. “And I know good and well you like fighting too much to ever stop.”

"Walk with me." Akagi motioned at her as the two headed out of the base and into the field.

"You look like you've got something to say." Halifax commented as the two continued walking together. "Is this where you declare your undying love for me? I'm sorry, but my heart isn't ready for such a thing!" She said dramatically as she held in a laugh.

"Damn, turned down before I even got the chance." Akagi rolled her eyes at such a Mika like statement. "I'm sure Yumi will be happy to know her competition just got smaller."

"Hmmm, maybe I'll at least hear you out. Can't risk losing access to my designated kitty time!" Halifax laughed as she took another sip.

"Joking aside, there is actuallysomething you and I need to discuss." Akagi said as she took a small sip from her glass. "I had a discussion with Elariel earlier today, one that has me a bit aggravated."

"I don't think any conversation with her could be anything but aggravating." Halifax nodded as she stepped around a large rock. “Was this one special?

"Yes. This one pissed me off in particular because she decided to play hardball with me about an important matter." Akagi grumbled as she recalled being put in an unusual position of being forced to back off. "And sadly I've got more questions than answers from her as the Goddess wasn't exactly cooperative."

{I shall repay her for that.} (Akagi)

"I'm shocked you didn't beat information out of her." Halifax said, noting that Akagi was not one to take no for an answer when it came to extracting intel. “Did you figure it wasn't worth making your arm get tired?”

"Elariel threatened to take her own life rather than divulge the information I sought." Akagi said as she took another sip, her words making Halifax stop in place. “So, you know, yeah.”

"What?" Halifax shook her head in disbelief. "Why would she threaten suicide over some questioning? What the hell did you ask her about?"

{And why the hell would she risk being erased?!?} (Halifax)

"You." Akagi said without turning to face the Divine Blade, the weight of the Demon Lord's single word smacking Halifax like a baseball to the face.

"That not only didn't answer my question, I only served to confuse me more." Halifax retorted.

"During the battle, I took notice of that strange power you used." Akagi continued. “A power that was interesting. So I decided to ask our resident divine being about it.”

"You're talking about Enūma." Halifax said as she started walking again, which prompted Akagi to continue onward as well.

"That power is odd. It doesn't feel like anything I've sensed from you before." Akagi said without getting into too much detail. "What do you know about it?"

"Not much." Halifax said as she took another sip. "Elariel told me never to use it and over the four thousand years I've been alive I can count the number of times I've let it run loose on one hand." She continued. "I was told it was dangerous and that it's best never to use it. Based on how I acted today though, she's probably right."

{It make me want to break something... or better yet kill someone...} (Halifax)

"Did something seem off when you used that form?" Akagi asked as she reached into her inventory pulled out a bottle of sake and poured herself a fresh cup before tossing it back to Halifax who did the same.

"I get aggressive when I use Enūma." Halifax said as she threw the bottle back to Akagi who put it away. "My judgment gets clouded and I, for the lack of a better phrase, see red. I nearly killed Penelope in a fit of rage." She sighed. "No matter how angry I was with her, that's not how I operate. I have no qualms about killing people who threaten me or others, but I don't do it out of hatred like that and I don't like to kill people who are no longer a threat."

{As much as she gets on my nerves, I shouldn't kill her... That's now what I do, that's not how I am...} (Halifax)

"Unlike me who hates loose ends and gets rid of them without a second thought." Akagi chuckled as she took another sip. “How long have you had that power?”

"Enūma is something that's been with me since I was created. I've been able to use that form since the very beginning, unlike some of the others that I had to learn." Halifax explained that she'd been forged with a great deal of power and knowledge, but it took time to really understand most of it with Enūma being the primary exception. "The few times I got Elariel to discuss it, she told me that it was a 'tainted power' that could result in my destruction if I kept messing with it."

"Did she ever tell you where it came from? You're a blade forged by the Gods, so why would a dark power like that exist within you?" Akagi asked, not directly coming out and telling her it was similar to her own Demon Lord power just yet.

"When pressed Elariel told me it was an unfortunate artifact of the forging procedure." Halifax shrugged, not really understanding it herself and lacking the knowledge to really question it. "Something about flaws in the process or simply a lack of time to remove the impurity since they needed me ready to kill Vikes quickly and thus couldn't take as much time as they needed? I don't know really though, that's all I was ever told."

{I don't really even understand how they made me... Now that I think about it, how did Gods create a blade powerful enough to kill a Demon Lord?} (Halifax)

"Interesting, I wonder why she refused to tell me about your creation then?" Akagi asked aloud. "And also, would killing her kill you? Because she indicated that it would."

"Uhh... I don't know for certain but it stands to reason that that it would?" Halifax thought about it for a second, scrunching her face up as she tried to come to an answer but couldn't give a definitive one. "Angels die when a God does and everything they've created with their own power goes too. So... Yeah, I suppose killing Elariel would take me out. Wait! She use that threat to get you to back off?!?"

"She did, and it was quite effective." Akagi said as she gave a soft chuckle as Halifax's face went red with anger. "I was not inclined to go rolling that dice and risk my friend's life over something I didn't deem worth it."

"That absolute bitch of a Goddess!" Halifax seethed, nearly crushing her glass in her hand. "How dare she go doing something like that?!?"

{HOW FUCKING DARE SHE!} (Halifax)

"Calm yourself, no need to get all angry over her." Akagi tried to calm her town. “She's not worth it.”

"She tried to manipulate you by threatening to kill me! Why the fuck wouldn't I be pissed off by her pulling that shit on my friend?!?" Halifax growled. "What if she gets the bright idea to do that again?!? I don't want her using that to control you!"

{I'll fucking kill myself before I let that bitch use me against anyone ever again!} (Halifax)

"I already warned her that if she tried it again, I'd kill her and vaporize this world." Akagi said, her words making everything go quiet for a moment. "I hope you'll understand my rationale."

"Oh, I'm not mad at you." Halifax scoffed. "You've got my full permission to wipe that bitch's existence off the face of reality if she pulls that crap again! Don't you dare go letting her hold my life over you! I'll be pissed if you didn't draw that line in the sand!"

{Those fucking Gods tried the same shit with Sherry once before and I'm not about to let them go doing it again!} (Halifax)

"The question is, what is she desperate to keep from me?" Akagi asked with a small smile on her lips. “Why would she risk pissing off a Demon Lord that she knows has little patience for divine bullshit?”

"If she's willing to go that far it's gotta be something about my creation that she feels would be bad for you to know." Halifax sighed as she calmed herself down. "Something about my origin that she doesn't want you to-" She stopped in her tracks, a metaphorical light bulb forming over her head. "That's it! That's why she's going so far!"

"Enlighten me." Akagi said as she turned on her heel to face the Divine Blade.

"She's worried that if you learn how I was made then you'll be able to break the connection between us!" Halifax snapped her fingers in realization. "Right now you're suppressing her control over me, but if you're made privy to the minutia of my creation there's a good chance you could either destroy the binding placed on me or swap it over to you." She continued. "If that happens she'll lose a powerful card and her insurance

."

"So she wants to use you as a bargaining chip to stop me from killing her?" Akagi hummed in thought. “That's a reasonable conclusion.”

{Though I'm not sold on it being the real reason.} (Akagi)

"Its one possibility." Halifax clicked her tongue in irritation. "The other is that she fears me being corrupted by you. Knowledge of my creation would essentially mean you have access to my blueprint. That would, probably, allow you to corrupt my being quite easily if you were so inclined."

"You mentioned that Vikes' Cult did something similar to other Divine Weapons before." Akagi said recalling a prior discussion and the reason why other Divine Weapons and Demi-Gods weren't roaming around the mortal plain very often.

"They did." Halifax nodded. "I've got no idea how they pulled it off since I kinda killed the Cultists before wringing that information out of them, but she may also be worried about you doing something similar. You might be a powerful entity but without more intricate details about how I work it's going to be hard for you to do something similar." She continued. "As much as I don't like tooting my own horn I'm a special existence when we're talking about Divine Weapons. My power is far above that of my siblings and I suspect that I was forged with extra protections to prevent someone from doing similar things to me."

{That's probably why they ended up allowing me to wander around down here without supervision. If I were like Arcus it would be risky since corrupting a 'lesser' Divine Weapon had already been done, multiple times at that.} (Halifax)

"Well, I don't really have any interest in doing something like that anyway." Akagi shrugged. "And besides if I want to corrupt you I'd just have to give you more kitty time!"

"You're not wrong." Halifax returned a laugh of her own. "Kitty is highly effective."

"Perhaps I could weaponize it to bring world peace?" Akagi wondered aloud. “If everyone united in worship of the kitty would the world be a better place?”

"Maybe." Halifax laughed. "But joking aside, those are the primary reasons I could see her being so obstinate." She paused to think for a moment. "Unless..."

"Got another idea?" Akagi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I've already been used to kill one Demon Lord." Halifax said. "So wouldn't it stand to reason that I could kill another one? Even if you are a whole lot stronger than Vikes, it's been proven that I can end a Demon Lord's existence."

{Vike's soul was shattered by my blade, something that I can imagine would be impossible for most other weapons.} (Halifax)

"Anything's possible." Akagi nodded. "I don't know the exact circumstances around how that battle went down, but yeah I'd say it's theoretically possible if nothing else."

{Destroying a Demon Lord is no easy feat and would require a power rivaling it to be possible.} (Akagi)

"Elariel might be hedging her bets on using me to take you down then." Halifax growled. "Maybe she wants to take advantage of the fight between you and the others to destroy you once the others are dead? She probably assumes that you'll be weakened by a fight like that."

"And then she'll strike when I'm vulnerable." Akagi laughed loudly. "I'd like to see her try!"

{Though, while all your guesses are good ones, I think there's something we're missing. I suppose my trip to the Dwarven Capital will be all that more important if what I think is going on here is right.} (Akagi)