Departing from the Demon Capital, Akagi took to the sky alongside Yumi and Imp, flying toward the Dwarven Capital of Thin Ledhar. The Demon's plans for the Dwarves had been slightly altered with the appearance of members of the Dawn Order, but Akagi was not really concerned. The ultimate goal of Alice's monster invasion remained unchanged despite their heroic arrival, and it was expected that the Dwarves would quickly fold to Akagi's demands the moment the Order's inability to save them was made evident.

"It shouldn't be much longer." Yumi said as she hovered next to Akagi, scanning the mountains below and enjoying the scenery. "The Ninja have already made contact with multiple government officials and arranged for our pickup and transportation." She'd authorized the transfer of a copious amount of gold and silver as bribes to facilitate this meeting. Ordinarily, the Main Gate wouldn't open for anyone without official State approval, but enough greasing of the wheels ensured that the Demon Lord's entrance into the Capital wouldn't be rejected.

"Do I even want to know how much money you had to spend to get this whole thing set up?" Akagi sighed, not really caring but finding it wasteful nonetheless.

{Not like it really matters anyway. I can easily create money at this point with Imp's tech so I basically have infinite funds, at least when we're talking about using non-fiat currency.} (Akagi)

"More than you wanted but less than you probably think!" Yumi laughed.

"Whatever, they'll end up paying it back through their hard work and tech exchange." Akagi said as she looked over her shoulder at Imp who was practically vibrating with excitement. "Right, Impy-Imp?"

"Rune crafting goes burr!" Imp cackled as she imagined what kind of crazy things she could make with Dwarven knowledge.

"Indeed it does Impy-Imp. Indeed it does" Akagi laughed. "It was my favorite method of imbuing weapons in FWO, it's just too bad the game's system was barely put together. What we actually got, despite being an early alpha of it, was actually really solid and probably would've become something amazing." She said as the three of them slowly descended toward a large paved road below, dropping altitude in a spiral before landing not that far away from a massive set of stone doors. The large structure formed the outermost barrier against invasion and was flanked by a pair of statues on either side, each representing an ancient Dwarven King.

{Another check for my bingo card. Large Dwarven stone doors with massive monuments to pasty glory.} (Akagi)

"I still say just sneaking in would've been better, but you always were one for doing things in unnecessarily flashy ways." Yumi sighed as a small subsection of the door opened and a group of heavily armored Dwarves slowly approached them.

"I'm approaching them in 'friendship.' If I bust in and show up completely unannounced it's going to piss them off and cause a massive frackus." Akagi replied with a shrug. "That's why I had the Ninja get a few of their politicians to cooperate and get me an audience with their government. Best to do things the 'legit' way to smooth things over."

"Though they think it's an envoy of the Demon Lord. Not the kitty herself coming to greet them." Yumi rolled her eyes.

"It will be a special surprise." Akagi winked as the Dwarves slowly approached her.

"I take it that yer the Envoy of this Demon Lord we've been told to wait fer?" The Dwarven Captain said, his voice muffled slightly by his metal helmet. His tone was a bit rough though Akagi found it strangely endearing since it reminder her of how the Dwarves in FWO spoke. Though despite their causal tone, Akagi could tell that she wasn't trusted, as the half-a-dozen men had their weapons either drawn or within quick reach. It was an understandable reaction, especially as it became clear to the Dwarves that they weren't dealing with some mortal emissary.

"Yes, my name is Akagi Dumetor, the Demon Lord." Akagi smiled, her words causing the men to start muttering among themselves. "I apologize for the change of plans. Originally I was going to send one of my people in my sted, but I decided that speaking to your leadership in person was simply too important so I came myself."

"I see...." The Dwarven Captain replied as he seemed to process this information. "Well, it's not my place to get involved in politics, so I don't really care if you're an Envoy or this Demon Lord in the flesh. I've been tasked with escorting you into the Capital, and that's what I'm going to do."

{Huh. I figured they'd freak out. This reaction is kind of underwhelming...} (Yumi)

{Dwarves generally aren't the kind to panic. Recall that Antenobrech pretty much had a poker face on twenty-four-seven. Not to mention this guy probably doesn't believe I'm actually the Demon Lord, and even if he does I'd bet his attitude is 'I'm not paid enough to give a shit'.} (Akagi)

{Fair. And honestly if I didn't know any better I'd assume Demon Lords would look much more... Well, like you'd think something with that name would look.} (Yumi)

{Like Kitty?} (Akagi)

{... Yes... Sure... Like kitty... I definitely wasn't thinking of something else...} (Yumi)

"Dwarves..." Imp said silently, barely holding in the urge to ask the men a series of questions they would have no way of answering.

"Down, girl. You'll get your chance to be a bother to some poor engineers later." Akagi said, scolding the Imp to keep her in line.

"Is it just the three of ya?" The Capitan said, looking around. From his past experience with these kinds of welcomes, he'd been expecting some kind of fancy entourage and was wondering why so few people had arrived for a meeting of this importance.

"I have no need of escorts, Captain." Akagi waived off his concern. "These two are merely along for the ride, so when you're ready let's get a move on. I can't imagine your government wants to delay our meeting." She said with a smile that told the man that he shouldn't ask too many questions.

"Yeah... Please follow me..." The Captain said, ushering the three women to follow him while he instructed his men to return their post.

Sticking close to the Dwarven Captain Akagi and the others entered the massive stone gates through a small entrance at the base. On the other side was an immaculately decorated and carved hallway large enough to fit an aircraft carrier with room to spare. Surface entrances to most Dwarven Holds were large but none were bigger than the entrance to their Capital. Jewels, Silver, and Gold adorned the pillars that supported the weight of the mountain above, and the walls were filled with carvings that served a dual purpose of decoration and magical reinforcement. Akagi suspected that most of what she was seeing was millennia old and as they followed the Captain down the hallway it was apparent that they were being watched from the shadows by other soldiers.

Meanwhile, Imp was spazzing out as usual, her head seemingly on a swivel as she took in all the sights and pointed intently at the myriad of carvings and rune etchings that lined the walls and ceiling. Dwarves were always well known as the greatest craftsmen and the mad scientist always fancied herself as an excellent inventor and builder, but even she had to admire the construction before her as something truly magnificent.

"It's truly a beautiful sight, Captain. I've seen other examples of Dwarven construction but this one might just be the most awe-inspiring." Akagi said to the Captain as they stopped in front of what looked like a small open topped train car. It looked very steampunk and Akagi internally compared it to something like a caboose crossed with the handcarts miners would use to move up and down rails for maintenance. However in this case it had little in the way of walls beyond small railings and was more or less a flat cart with an engine at the back and driver area at the front.

"I've never seen other Hold's main gates before, but yer not the first to say something like that." The Captain said as he motioned for the three women to step onto the 'train'. "The cart will take you straight to the Capital. There's a party from the Foreign Ministry waiting for you at the station. I would advise you not to stick any body parts off the cart while in motion, lest you find it no longer attached when you reach your destination." The Capitan chortled, seemingly having seen exactly that at least once before.

"Thank you for the warning." Akagi said with a smile before boarding alongside the other two. There was a single 'conductor' Dwarf waiting at the helm and it was instantly apparent to the Demon that he was no normal driver as she gleaned from the body language that he was likely an agent of the government sent to spy on them during the initial trip. Her visit was intended to be off the books at first, largely because the Dwarves knew that openly hosting a Dumetorian Envoy would bring trouble, hence why there was no rolling of the red carpet upon her arrival. Though, Akagi figured that, depending on how negotiations went, their stance may change.

"Thank you, Captain..." Akagi paused, waiting for him to name himself.

"Name's Gilbrend." Captain Gilbrend said, removing his helmet and extending his hand.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Gilbrand." Akagi said, shaking his hand. "I hope it's a sign of things to come. I look forward to working with your people going forward." She smiled, the Dwarf not entirely believing her kind words.

"I don't much get involved with politics, but I can say that having fewer enemies is always good." Captain Gilbrand agreed as they parted.

"My sentiments exactly." Akagi smiled as a small steam whistle sounded from the cart. "I presume that means it's time to leave. Imp, Yumi are you ready to go?"

"Yup." Yumi nodded, while Imp's visibly vibrating Akagi told her all she needed to know about the trouble making scientist's thoughts on the matter.

"Well, then shall we?" Akagi said as the cart started moving as steam roared through its engines. "It's been a very long time since I've seen a proper Dwarven City in person, so I'm really looking forward to it." She said, smiling as the cart descended into the mountain.

{Especially if this place is as interesting as I've been told.} (Akagi)