Royal Princess of Blood

Bakin was already feeling tired from continuously flying from one island to another. But he disregarded the fatigue and exhaustion, as it was an emergency. Usually, they would use a ship to go from one island to the next, as it would require passing through a vast body of water. But considering the urgency, he had to fly across from Hokunoa, then to Tobunoa.

How lucky he was that there was no storm. It would have made things extra hard for him.

When he arrived on Tobunoa, he still had to fly across the land, then across the water to Minainoa Island. It was a strenuous and agonizing experience. Even though imps regenerate, even they grow tired. Fatigue was not something regeneration could fix.

But upon arriving at Minainoa, before heading to the demon lands, he decided to make a stop at the capital city of the island. It was nighttime, so he was free to fly above the dark skies of a place filled with humans. At least, that was how it was supposed to be — human-filled. However…

As he flew above the land, below him he came across an empty town. The buildings were decrepit, but would still have been somewhat livable. However, there was no one there, not a sign of human life. No sound nor any activity; basically, a ghost town. Almost as if the humans had just left the place and abandoned it, but it was not exactly the case.

Bakin remembered this place a few years ago, when it still had humans struggling to survive. They were miserable, yet surviving. Humans were tenacious beings. And now, there was no one left.

Damn, those guys fucking overdid it. They should have at least let the humans breed.

It was stupid to just keep taking humans without trying to make sure there would still be stocks for the next decade. Even animal farms would prioritize animals to produce offspring so they’d never run out of livestock. But the demons here didn’t care much about that. They had become too indulgent.

Demons had more leeway here on Minainoa, as it was the closest island to the demon lands. That meant they could treat the humans here however they wished. But of course while hiding their presence from the majority of people. Basically, directly controlling the island while hiding in plain sight. It wouldn’t be nice for the people of the islands to realize they were under the demons’ control. They might join forces or something.

At any rate, that was why slavery was incredibly rampant here to an extreme degree. Humans were put to work to mine raw materials to be brought to the demon lands. As the treatment was so terrible, a lot of the human workers would not survive for long. But that was fine for the demons, as they could easily find another human to replace them. Not like they hold any kind of sympathy for humans in the first place.

Not only raw materials, though, humans themselves were brought to the demon lands. All to be used for entertainment. The demons would sometimes gather humans from an entire village and bring them to the demon homeland to be distributed — men, women, children, it didn’t matter much what they were. What would they be used for exactly?

Demons were creatures of chaos, and with them doing nothing for most of the time, they got bored. Therefore, some would use ‌humans as hunting subjects, punching bags, or for training. Others used them for casual fun, tying humans and throwing various objects at them, or just inflicting pain.

Some would use humans as slaves to do their bidding, whatever that may be. And there were even others that would use them to take their life force — a succubus, for example. A succubus seduces the human slave, and once they open up, the seductive demon would take their life force to maintain her youth and beauty. Of course the succubi would also use the opportunity to experience some pleasure. They were creatures of lust after all.

Some demons would have no desperate need for humans, but they would use them for sexual amusement. Demons do not conduct sexual pleasures like humans; they are sadistic and destructive. Humans would be unable to survive them completely. Some would end up with a broken mind, or just perish.

In short, demons kill a lot of humans for their normal uses. The demand was high. That was the cause of the declining population of Minainoa. The humans naturally breed, but as their livelihood got harder, the birth rate gradually plummeted.

That was why there were criminal organizations from Minainoa that started going to other islands to obtain slaves. They would be used as workers, while some would be sent to the demon lands. But Bakin knew that wouldn’t be sustainable. In time, Minainoa would run out of people, and they would have to reach out to the next island. And that was certainly going to be Tobunoa.

He kept on flying until he arrived at the capital city. Despite it being night, he could feel the depressing air just by looking at it. The buildings were pieces of crap. It was so quiet, no joy from the humans within. They could just be sleeping, but as the capital, it should be expected that there would be people going around drunk or whatever. But there was none to be found here.

The buildings were unrepaired, the paved streets were broken in so many places. The protective wall was terribly maintained, cracks all over. Bakin imagined that there wouldn’t be so many people left in this city as well.

But it shouldn’t matter soon, as long as they retrieved the young goddess. A lot of things on these islands wouldn’t matter once their god was free.

Bakin flew straight to the castle, it was a little better looking compared to the buildings around it. He landed on the balcony, suddenly collapsing on his legs as he landed, panting heavily.

This fucking sucks!

His wings drooped from ‌exhaustion. At that moment, he heard a thump on the floor. Looking up, he saw a human woman slowly stepping back, her eyes wide with horror. She covered her mouth in ‌shock upon seeing a creature she never should have seen.

“D-Demon?”

Bakin frowned in annoyance, a human just had to see him the moment he landed. But not like she was significant. As Bakin was about to stand up, a blade suddenly slit the woman’s throat, blood gushed out, smearing the floor. The human woman dropped dead.

“Bakin, not so subtle of you. Don’t spoil it.” It was a man with a creepy demeanor about him. He may have looked human, but he was an imp in disguise.

Bakin groaned. “I’ve come with urgency.”

“From what I surmise, the assembly should just be over. You must have flown all the way here.”

“Yeah no shit. So stop messing around with me and take this seriously.”

“... Not here. And get rid of your wings. I don’t want the humans panicking, knowing there’s a demon in the area.”

Bakin sighed and withdrew his wings before stepping inside. They walked through the corridor.

“You’re exhausted, Bakin. Rest a bit.”

“Fuck that. No time to take it easy.”

“... Then at least drink some water, hm?” He encountered a human servant who was standing in wait. “There’s a body back there, clean it up.” He pointed behind them.

“B-Body? W-Why?” The servant muttered in a shaky voice. No one would expect a dead body to ‌suddenly appear here. Therefore, one could only assume one of them had just been killed.

“Just clean it up.” He sounded cold and direct.

“U-Understood.” The servant rushed away.

“Hm, you don’t even try to pretend to be nice to them,” Bakin said.

“No reason to. We don’t have the same intentions on our islands.” He turned into a room. “Here.”

Once they were inside, the imp closed the door as Bakin sat down on a nearby chair. He let out a sigh of relief. He had to admit, it was amazing to finally sit down and rest his body. Leaning deep into the chair, he took ‌a deep breath.

“So, what brings you here all in a rush?” The imp sat on the other chair.

“I’m here to tell you to prepare every available imp that you have.”

“Prepare for what?”

“To move out at a moment’s notice.”

“Deployment, you mean?” he frowned, curious as to what would warrant that kind of action. “For fucking what?”

“You know our target on the continent?”

He blinked. “... I heard about that.”

“She’s here in Shinoroa.”

His eyes widened. “Here? Then what’s all this trouble for? No… Shouldn’t she have been brought by a team the homeland sent?”

“Yeah… They didn’t arrive.”

“‌Hm… If she’s here, then why haven’t you taken her yet?”

“Are you demented? If she escaped Rytus and his team, with him not reporting to me at that, do you think it’s wise to go after her unprepared? Obviously something went wrong! We’re currently tracking her, it would be stupid capturing her half-baked and end up losing her.”

“... Alright, I got the gist of the situation. And you’re going to the homeland for what? Reinforcements?”

“Of course, and to report the discovery. What I’m most curious about is why she’s heading to Nishinoa instead of going back to the continent. I want to see if the dread lords know something.”

“... So she’s heading further into the archipelago. It is strange… Very well, I’ll prepare what I can.”

“Good.”

“Then, are you not really going to rest?”

“No. I’ll continue my travels momentarily.”

“I can prepare a ship posthaste, if you want.”

“A boat is too slow. Don’t want the sea monsters to hinder me all of a sudden.”

There were sea monsters all over Shinoroa — but to be precise, they were also demons. But those sea creatures did not get along well with those from land. They usually attacked ships that came across them, and the chances increased the closer one was to the demon lands.

Bakin didn’t want to end up in a ship being strangled by a sea demon and slowing him down. It was going to be tiring to fly all the way there, but that was fine.

“How many imps precisely would you need?”

“As much as you can. We’ll make a final decision on how many we’ll take depending on the number the homeland sends. Maybe we won’t even need one from you. Just be prepared for anything.”

“You think they’ll go all out?”

“Of course they would. The whole demon kind is at stake here.” With that, he stood up. “Get it done as soon as possible.”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll get on it. And don’t let anyone see you this time.”

“Does it even matter?”

“... Well, considering the situation, I guess not. Drink water first, will you?”

“We don’t need water to survive.”

“It’s for refreshment.”

The imp poured water into a cup and handed it out to Bakin. The latter drank it full quickly. He had to admit, it felt quite cool and refreshing as water flowed from his mouth down his throat. When that was done, Bakin opened the nearby window and drew out his wings.

“Don’t get lost in the middle of the sea, Bakin. Exhaustion is a killer in its own way.”

It would be bad if he collapsed as someone who was carrying an important message. He wouldn’t die from drowning, but it might become hard to recover if he fell into the water.

“As long as the weather is good, I’ll be fine.” If it were not, then it would definitely be a struggle.

“Well, safe travels.”

Bakin nodded and flew into the air, heading to the next island — to the demon lands.