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Kasumi

It was currently morning time, just around six days before the giant portal\'s influence was expected to fully cover Sapphire. Kasumi was sitting at the designated meeting room in the Palace, waiting for the other Savior to arrive, the one who would be working with her. Ahead, Lord Anders was pacing back and forth slowly, his hands held behind his back. 

Then, the door opened and a guard held it that way so the person behind him could step in. Kasumi\'s crimson eyes went to her, and she couldn\'t help the narrowing of her brows. Ash, the half-demon, walked in. She was wearing a black cloak and a leather outfit, looking like a sort of shrouded ranger. 

Anders smiled when his eyes went to her, and with a soft voice he said:

"Thank you for joining us. Has your day been agreeable?"

"What do you want?" Ash asked, sitting down opposite Kasumi. 

"Straight to business? I see," Anders walked forwards. 

On the table separating Ash and Kasumi was a map of the area. A violet pin was stabbed into its southern part, denoting the giant portal beyond the white bridge. However, just above the city, another piece was planted. He tapped his right index finger against it.

"As you have both been told, a second portal recently appeared just north of Sapphire. This one is far smaller, which we assume means that it will not be able to affect as large of an area as the other, however, it presents a strategic problem." 

He started pacing again. 

"See, the idea is to have the demons tire themselves and their numbers out getting through the obstacles we will set for them so that when they inevitably reach the back of the city, we will fight them on a more even field. As opposed to what our friends at Pearl did, our idea is to allow them to move through the city until they are well out of range of the portal\'s influence. Or, enough to allow us to fight them. However, with this other portal," he explained, "if its area of influence spreads towards the south, then..." 

"They\'ll be buffed no matter where they are in the city?" Ash asked, finishing his sentence." 

"Precisely, Savior," Anders smiled. "Effectively, this portal interferes with our strategy in a fairly catastrophic manner, haha."

He chuckled as if he wasn\'t talking about something that could potentially mean the death of all his citizens. It was in moments like these, Kasumi thought, that his youth really stood out. 

She had heard that Anders was the youngest out of all the rulers of the Empire, but how young exactly, she didn\'t know. 

"However, of course," he looked at Ash, "we were informed of your ability to close these portals by Satsuhiro, and, well, it would be quite helpful if you were to deal with this matter. However," he added, "we do not wish for you to fight your way to whichever objects you must destroy in order to accomplish this. That, of course, carries the chance of having you be seriously injured or maimed in such a way that would interfere with your future battle. So, we asked for Kasumi to help you," he gestured at the crimson-haired woman. 

Ah. I get it,  she thought. 

"The idea is simple," he continued, "the two of you are to make your way there, use Kasumi\'s Illusion magic to make your way to those strange objects, destroy them, and the situation will be effectively dealt with. What are your thoughts?" 

"What is the area\'s level?" She asked, wanting to know what she could expect out of the demons. 

"If you\'re wondering about the demon\'s levels, surely Ash will be able to let you know, right?" 

Oh, yeah.  Kasumi looked over at her briefly.  I forgot. She can see them. 

"Why do you bring this up?" Anders asked though. 

"The effectiveness of Illusion magic is based on the levels of the people whose senses are being altered," Kasumi explained with an already-tired voice. "If the demon\'s levels are too high, nothing I do will work, they\'ll see right through me... I\'ll just be setting myself up to get killed." 

"Well, the area is level 30 to 35, therefore the demons should be around the same level. Does that work for you?" 

"... It\'s pushing it, but sure," Kasumi replied. "My Illusions will probably work on anything that\'s around level 30, but anything higher than 35, and, well..." 

Then, Kasumi thought of something else. 

"Wait," she said, "if she can close these things, why don\'t we just go to the bigger one and close that one?" 

"That\'s where most of them are going to be," Ash said. "I don\'t really feel like fighting or sneaking by a thousand demons. So, we have to get in and get out?"

"Yes," Anders nodded. 

"Fine. When are we heading out?" Kasumi raised a brow. The half-demon seemed strangely eager to go. 

"As soon as you are both ready," Anders shrugged. "Some guards will be stationed north of the city. When you wish, report to them and they will take you to the portal." 

Ash nodded, then, wordlessly, she stood and walked out of the room. 

"... A bit hasty, that one," Anders chuckled again. 

Kasumi slowly got up, intending to do the same, but Anders stopped her:

"By the way," he said. "I heard about... what happened to you. I appreciate you coming to help. I wanted to let you know that." 

Kasumi looked back and nodded. Then, she left.  Let\'s just get this over with. 

---

A few hours later, she was standing by a black wooden gate, three young guards, two male, one female, stood by her, holding spears. They were chatting as Kasumi kept her head low and her hands held tightly wrapped around her bag, a small pouch containing some food and water. She didn\'t know how long this would take, after all. Come on, already...  She thought.

Before she could continue complaining though, she heard boots clanking to her right and looked. Ash was walking towards her, now dressed in Savior\'s Armor, carrying a similar bag, with Kaori and Satsuhiro at her sides. Once she reached the gate, she turned to them and Kaori hugged her. 

"Good luck!" The blonde said and Ash returned the embrace. 

"Pick smart fights," Satsuhiro said, with his arms crossed. "Anders is right, the ideal scenario is to just get in, and get out. Try not to be too aggressive." 

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "I know." 

"Alright then." 

Nodding, Satsuhiro turned away. Kaori soon went with him, leaving Ash with the guards and Kasumi. 

"So, let\'s get moving." Ash put her hands on her hips as she said this to everyone there. 

The three guards shared a look and soon, the woman nodded. 

"Yes, Savior." 

And so, the group departed. Kasumi had thought the land was hell before, but above Sapphire, things were even worse. Nothing but snow, for miles and miles as far as her eyes could see. 

The only thing that wasn\'t snow was the violet dot on top of a small hill up ahead.  The portal? 

"S-So, uh, you see it?" One guard said. 

"Yeah," Ash replied. 

"Uh, okay, awesome." 

Before Kasumi could blink twice the three of them practically vanished. Sighing, she started walking towards it. Ash did the same, and the two moved quietly. 

One, five, ten minutes passed, and they reached the portal, all without saying a word. Kasumi didn\'t mind, in fact, she was slightly appreciative. She had no intentions of engaging in small talk with this person. 

Even if she wasn\'t evil, Kasumi couldn\'t deny that just seeing those horns on her head made her recall things she wanted to keep buried in her mind. So, she walked through the portal first and heard Ash\'s footsteps following her in. 

When they emerged on the other side, the first thing Kasumi noticed was a massive body of red water in front of them. Trees, taller than any she\'d ever seen, hugged the lake, and far, far ahead were two violet beams shooting up into the sky of the same color. 

I\'m guessing that\'s where we\'re headed,  Kasumi thought. Hm. If I had to guess, based on this lake... This is probably far south of Onyx.

She remembered seeing a stretch of water similar to this on a map once. There was also one strange red lake she\'d heard about as a child. If this was in fact the lake she had in mind, there was one easy way to check. So, she walked over to the shore and knelt down, reaching in and cupping her hand. She pulled up some of the water and took a sip.

Yep. She nodded. Blood.

The Sanguine River. 

Long ago, before even the battles against demons began, Jade had been undergoing its conquests. The empire was beginning its campaigns towards what is now known as Amber, and of course, had many battles in the process. One, however, was particularly destructive, and it is said that tens of thousands died in a single fight. 

Legend had it that these warriors\' blood filled what was a dry canal on that day and that Lumina, the goddess of peace, empathy, and love, seeing this, cursed the area so that the blood would never dry. Serving as a reminder of what war could result in. 

Not that it stopped Jade\'s expansion, but it resulted in this eerie landmark. 

She looked to her side and saw Ash staring down at her own arms, taking a deep breath. 

Raising a brow, Kasumi said:

"Ready?" 

Ash looked over at her and nodded. 

"Then, come on."