Chapter 276 – The Black Sunrise.

Chapter 276 – The Black Sunrise. Announcement

Full disclosure, this blade is actually a recurring character in many of my non-published works and is something very special to me. It and its sister have deep history and its something that I hope people find interesting.

As the group continued their discussion, Imperial eyed up Halifax's sword body with interest. "I see. You must be the lass that I was told about."

{She's definitely made of ta highest quality materials, and there's something about her that's familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it.} (Imperial)

"Um?" Halifax didn't really know what to say, and was worried that the Gnome would want to inspect her.

{BAD TOUCH!} (Halifax)

"Word travels fast, and Imperial is connected to everyone else via the chat room." Akagi noted that she hadn't spilled the beans on what Halifax was.

"Yeah, he and Imp were posting like crazy when they found out what you were." Hishya snickered as she recalled the flood of messages.

“Well can ya blame us?” Imperial huffed. “The lass is something so interesting, and it taint ere' day you get ta see something made by a bona-fide God!”

{No, but you get to work with something made by a being that is SUPERIOR to a God everyday...} (Akagi)

"For your own safety I would advise against trying to experiment on her. Lest you find yourself in the great retirement home in the sky." Akagi laughed, having gave that same warning to Imp who claimed to have no such desire while barely concealing the fact that she wanted to conduct unspeakable experiments on the living sword.

"Bah!" Imperial scoffed a the claim, though knew internally that Akagi wasn't wrong to warn him. "I would never do something as crass as ya be thinking. Though Imp, the crazy woman that she is, might." He sighed.

{She's... An pain in the arse...} (Imperial)

"Good thing I can slice that little Devil in half if she tries anything." Halifax gave a wry smile.

"Imp might be a bit eccentric, but I highly doubt she'd do anything bad." Hishya figured that even Imp wasn't that bad.

{Probably...} (Hishya)

"Where is she anyway?" Akagi figured that she'd be helping him with the portal, but was surprised that she didn't see her.

"I here!" Imp's head popped out of the duct work above, her goggles dangling in the air, held on only by a chin strap. “Hemlo.”

"I see, and what were you doing up there, Impy?" Akagi asked.

"Power supply-energy work!" Imp smiled before hopping down to the ground. “Many such important things-items to do-complete!”

"You could've at least face-planted for comedic effect." Akagi commented and got a raspberry in return from Imp.

"So how's progress? I know you hit a bit of a snag with energy capacity and coordination. Did that crystal help at all?" Akagi had tasked the two with figuring out a way to Enoris for some time, though progress was slow due to lack of subject matter knowledge.

"Crystal good-amazing! Solved problems instantly-fast!" Imp nodded quickly.

"From ya report and our appraisal magic, we was able to figure out how it worked." Imperial pulled a small blueprint from his inventory and showed it to Akagi. "That crystal twere basically a tether, and once crushed, it'd pull back a designated user to the anchor point.” He said as he tapped on the paper next to a small drawing that Imp had made of a stick figure getting teleported.

"So it wouldn't work on anyone who used it?" Akagi asked if it was only compatible with a specific target.

"No." Imperial shook his head. "If crushed by anyone, only the person paired with it would be transported back ta Enoris. However, they would need ta be within a certain distance for it ta work. Otherwise, nothin would happen."

{Luckily she managed ta get one of those, otherwise we might've had ta take drastic measures.} (Imperial)

"Found Divine power-energy within-inside." Imp interjected. "Crystal filled with God power-energy, very strong-powerful!" She started rambling about how interesting Divine power felt to the touch.

"That's not surprising. The Gods were the ones behind this whole calamity, not to mention that they would be the only beings on Enoris that would have the power to send people between worlds." Halifax commented as Imp mentioned that Divine power made her body tingle when she touched it once.

"I assume that travel between worlds isn't easy?" Hishya asked. "Otherwise, it would happen a lot more.”

{I swear it heard ta most unholy noises from that thing one night. Good thing it's in a separate room to the main work area. I really don't want to be near that evil thing.} (Imperial)

"Yeah, I haven't gotten around to picking it up. I was hoping to do some big dramatic reveal against the Heroes, but they were just too lame to justify it." Akagi sighed with disappointment.

{At least doing the cat reveal thing was fun...} (Akagi)

"What the hell did you get them to do now?" Hishya figured this meant trouble.

"Just something that's been on my mind ever since I sent Ol' Rivenshaft packing." Akagi smiled. "Would you two like to see it?"

Halifax and Hishya looked at each other before shrugging.

"I mean, I'm far too curious to say no." Halifax figured that this would be interesting, if nothing else.

"Yeah. Whatever you had these two psychopaths make won't be boring, that's for sure." Hishya agreed.

"It's in Imp's sector, and I'd like to hear your opinions of our work." Imperial put his welding mask on a small desk. "That thing might be the most evil item I've ever created, but darn if it isn't also ma finest work." He gave a small smile, proud of his creation but also afraid that he'd just given the Devil something with which to cause more horror.

{I suppose its to be expected... I create weapons...} (Imperial)

"Sword Great-Amazing! Make Kaboom!" Imp cackled as the group walked across the base into Imp's area, which was markedly more chaotic.

{I guess the job requirement for Mad Scientist mandates that you keep a messy work area...} (Hishya)

"So where is my boy?" Akagi asked.

"In there!" Imp bounced her way over to a locked vault door. "We kept safe-secure! Also, sword very dangerous-scary. Makes funny noises-sounds!" She noted that sometimes it sounded like a portal to hell had opened because of the sword.

"That thing gives me da fucking willies just looking at it Akagi. Are you sure it was a good idea to bring something like that ta life?" Imperial knew only a tiny portion of the backstory behind what he'd made, and even that small amount gave him chills.

"Oh, it's not a good idea at all." Akagi allowed her voice to distort. "But well, it's not really a problem." She slowly walked toward the vault door, which Imp happily unlocked. "This one... I've been waiting to see it for a long time." Her lips curved into an evil smile as the blade's energy washed over her body.

"Why is Akagi getting all Demony?" Halifax looked to Hishya, who shrugged.

"No idea. But now I'm very worried." Hishya felt a pit in her stomach, and as the vault door opened, a chill flooded the entire room causing everyone, save Akagi, to become covered in goosebumps.

"Oh hohohoh!" Akagi started cackling as she felt its power. "Imp, Imperial. You've made me a very happy girl today." She slowly entered the pitch-black room before disappearing into the darkness.

[My friend, it's good to see you again. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting.] Akagi spoke in the Demon tongue, which caused Halifax's entire body to twitch and convulse.

"Are you ok? That language is something else, so its no surprise that you're having that kind of reaction." Hishya looked at the slightly hyperventilating Halifax.

"I... I'm fine..." Halifax put on a brave smile, but deep within something stirred. Memories of a time long past, of battle against Vikes, and of something else.

{Those words... That language...} (Halifax)

[The foolish dreams of my childhood self have come true.] Akagi's demonic laugh echoed throughout the building. [It's time. Let's introduce you to the others.] The Demon's footsteps reverberated throughout the air, and as she returned from the inky blackness of the vault, Hishya and Halifax caught sight of the sword in question.

"Ahhh..." Hishya found herself unable to speak, and it was as if the very air had been removed from the room.

The blade that Akagi held in her right hand was black. So black, in fact, that Hishya's eyes started to freak out as she looked at it. No light seemed to escape the blade, and it emitted a visible black aura that followed it around. As Hishya and Halifax stared at the sword before them, both could tell that it was not only dangerous but of a level of power that exceeded anything they could've imagined coming from a weapon.

"A-Akagi..." Hishya finally regained the ability to speak. "What the hell is that thing?!?"

"Allow me to formally introduce you. "Akagi smiled as she rose the blade up and turned it so that its full glory was on display. "This blade's name is the Black Sunrise, and it's a very old friend of mine. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you to get along together."

Spoiler

The Black Sunrise!

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