Royal Princess of Blood

For a moment, Miyako refused to believe it. It was just something hard to believe, something difficult to accept. Her hand trembled as she held her sword, facing a long-time friend — who now wore a cold expression. Such a rapid change from her was staggering, completely in contrast to what she was just before. And it pained her heart to see this. She wanted to deny it, but no longer would she fall into denial. For the truth was laid bare before her.

“Isaki… Since the beginning, you’ve been deceiving me?”

Isaki let out a strong, frustrated sigh, scratching the back of her head. “And most of it was going well. To think you’d be hunting us demons now. The guys at Hokunoa really fucked things up, didn’t they?”

Miyako let out a long, trembling breath, trying not to lose her composure. She couldn’t help but recall the Isaki that she knew, that warm friendliness she had. The fun times they went through together, despite their differing status. “Was any of it ever true? All the time we spent together, did you even care? All your friends…”

Isaki scoffed before directing a glance at Shijo and Aeko, who appeared both shocked and confused. “Nah, why would I even shed a tiny bit of care for humans? You’ve had your uses.”

To think Miyako believed it all to be real. Her acting to be friendly, to be human, was so perfect. Miyako never ‌suspected a thing. She truly believed they were friends.

“Wait… I don’t understand…” Shijo muttered. “Isaki is an enemy?”

“Oh, Shijo,” Isaki grinned. “It was fun listening to your troubles… To see you all so sad and teary about your family troubles and whatever…” She dramatically became gentle and sincere, but it was certain she was mocking them. “It’s flattering whenever you’re all being honest with me…” she giggled. “But fucking hilarious.”

“What the hell…?”

“You played us for fools,” Aeko said with pain in her voice. “For many years. We trusted you as a dear friend.”

“Well, that was the point, wasn’t it? To play as your friend. Didn’t expect the fun to end so soon. Damn it, Miyako, we could have had more fun ‌together. You could have told me stories about your adventures on Hokunoa.”

Miyako gritted her teeth, feeling furious. The thought of her being tricked for so long, of the one she thought she could trust with her life, made her angry. “Shut up! What is your purpose for being here?”

“Nothing serious, really.”

“Nothing serious?! You diabolical pest. I trusted you with everything!” She pointed her blade towards her.

Isaki nodded vigorously. “Indeed! It’s thanks to you that my job was so easy. But it’s quite disappointing they failed to kill you. Such incompetent idiots.”

Miyako furrowed her brow. “You were involved?”

“How do you think they planned it? How do you think they knew where to find you or what time you arrived?” She chuckled. “You just gave me all the plans on a silver platter.”

“Because of you… my men died because of you…!”

Everything that happened to her, all the suffering she experienced, the losses, was because of her. To think her enemy had always been so close all along.

“Hey now, don’t blame me for all of it. I’m just part of the many.” She casually shrugged.

“What else are you a part of?!”

“Hah, if I say that, we’ll be here all day.”

Miyako held her katana with both hands. “Isaki, I would have asked you to surrender. However, I will spare no mercy to demons. Here and now, I will destroy you.”

“I would prefer if you just let me go.”

“Never.”

Meanwhile, the military officials have caught on to what was going on.

“Demons? She was looking for demons?”

They began muttering to each other.

“Then that one must be an enemy… a close aide of Lady Miyako.”

“We must put a stop to this.”

“Dammit, we don’t have our weapons.”

“Grab those swords from the guards!”

“I don’t need no fucking sword!”

“If we have no swords, we use our fists!”

These officials were veteran warriors in the end. Without a weapon to wield, they’d still bravely charge towards the enemy. And thus, they acted fast. Due to her high emotion, Miyako failed to give the command not to attack. The warriors jumped Isaki, at least they attempted to.

“ — Wait!” Miyako shouted.

Isaki waved her hand, and a tide of melting fire emerged, approaching to engulf the military officials. Those who managed to grab a weapon from the nearby guards stepped forward and used Armament Magic to cut through the flames, protecting those behind them. However, there were a few that couldn’t react in time, and they were burned to an intense degree, their flesh sizzling — but they were still slightly moving.

“Recover the wounded!” ordered a general.

Before Isaki could continue to attack, Miyako charged forward. She swung her sword down at her, and at the same time, Isaki’s hands turned into claws and blocked her sword. However, Isaki winced and quickly withdrew herself, making a gap between them.

“Fucking holy magic — ah!” Satomi suddenly came up behind her, and Isaki barely dodged a blade coming at her face. She glanced at the pair of swords, both of them had blood on them. She clicked her tongue.

“Don’t intervene!” Miyako shouted to her men. “Your attacks are useless against her!”

Isaki raised an eyebrow. “Where did you even learn those, Lady Miyako?”

“No point in addressing me formally at this point. But given that you’re wary of it, it works.”

Isaki groaned in frustration. “Now that I’ve been exposed, there’s no point staying here.”

“You won’t escape! Satomi!” Both of them charged.

“Don’t underestimate me.” Isaki waved her hand, and dots of flames suddenly spread out in the air.

Miyako was puzzled, she had not encountered this kind of thing before. It was then that she realized some kind of danger, and she dashed away from the dots just as they all exploded in a violent blast of flames. The blast staggered her for a moment, but she wasn’t wounded.

Satomi swiftly rushed towards the demon, and the latter withdrew her claws, and fiery whips appeared in both her hands.

“Better fight you at a distance.” She swung the whips towards Satomi, slamming into the floor as the latter dodged. Isaki did a wide horizontal swing, and Satomi jumped up in the air, then swung her swords in the air, sending multiple slashes of light towards Isaki.

Isaki didn’t bother to dodge the slashes, and they tore through her flesh. As she regenerated, she casually turned towards Miyako, who had arrived right next to her. Isaki tilted her body to dodge Miyako’s blade before flicking her whip towards Miyako’s side. Miyako quickly held out her blade to block the whip as she was pushed away.

Isaki’s stronger than the demon I last fought!

The bandit demon was nothing compared to this one.

Isaki turned towards the rushing Satomi and stepped forward to engage. Satomi dodged her attacks and eventually nicked Isaki’s hand. Steam started coming out. “Agh!” She grimaced in pain. “Satomi! Always been the quick one!” She waved her hand, sending a burst of flames right at Satomi’s face.

Satomi withdrew, but Isaki suddenly charged forward through the bursting flames and grabbed her by the chest, aggressively slamming Satomi into the floor. The sheer strength she had was inhuman. Before Isaki could land a hit on the downed Satomi, Miyako rushed at her and swung her blade. Isaki swiftly dodged the attack while at the same time swinging her whip, wrapping around Miyako’s waist. Miyako winced as the flames gradually burned her armor. Isaki pulled the whip and swung her into the wall.

“Agh!” Miyako grunted in pain, kneeling after she landed back on the ground. She glanced at Satomi, she had already regained her footing. Which was good.

“Your holy magic is pointless if you can’t even hit me. I’m outta here.”

Isaki ran towards the exit with incredible speed. However, pieces of barriers suddenly blocked her way, forcing her to stop. “What the hell?” She looked around to see a hooded figure. “You! You look kinda familiar, have I seen you before?”

“Oh? You don’t know? How fortunate for me then.”

Isaki directed her hand at the barrier and cast a burst of flame. However, it didn’t do anything. “It’s tough.”

“I’ll only let you get out of this building if you defeat Miyako and Satomi.”

“This ain’t no game!”

“So it’s no longer a game for you, huh?”

“What about I just kill you right now?!”

“Really? I thought your people needed me.”

At that, Isaki’s eyes widened. She remembered it now. “Wait— you’re…!” Slashes of light suddenly crashed into her. She turned towards Satomi, she was too close. Isaki let out her claws and parried the blades.

Satomi’s consecutive attacks were swift, but Isaki was a powerful demon. Satomi’s speed was something she could handle. The most annoying was the holy magic on the blades. Just facing them made her feel so anxious.

Satomi then suddenly cast several slashes at close range simultaneously, her usual technique. Isaki was slashed all over, unable to protect herself from the storm of attacks. She gritted her teeth and was about to step back. However, as she did, Miyako appeared behind her.

“Fuck!”

Miyako slashed the side of Isaki’s waist. Panicked, Isaki cast dots of flames all over the area, and they exploded as she retreated to a safe distance. She looked down at the smoking wound, it was healing, but a bit slower than how it was supposed to be.

“Damn you, Miyako. That hurts! Aren’t we supposed to be friends?!”

“We’re not friends, not anymore.”

“... What about we all just slow down and calm down, eh? Emotions are a bit high right now.” She looked around, searching for a way to escape. “I just had a significant discovery, and you bastards are getting in the way of my thinking!” She looked up.

“You’re stronger than the demon I last faced.”

“Hm? Of course I am.”

“At any rate, there’s no escaping. The holy magic did good damage to you.”

“You think that little attack is gonna do me in? Think again, Lady Miyako… Don’t think I’m like any damn demon. And I’m getting the hell out of here. I have to report something, something important. More important than you’ll ever be!”

It was then that her skin began to shift and change. She started groaning as if in pain, and her slender body became more pronounced. Her face and eyes changed, her teeth morphed into something fierce and inhuman, turning sharp like the fangs of a beast. Her flesh crawled and wrapped around her claws. Her eyes bled and changed, her pupils turning into the orange hue of flames.

Then, her feet ripped through her boots, showing sharp, monstrous nails. The fabric of her clothes on her back ripped apart, and horrid wings made of flesh emerged.

Standing before everyone was a red-skinned demon in her true form.

Miyako’s eyes widened. “A winged demon…?” She had heard from Estelia before. Winged demons were powerful… So powerful. She never imagined that Isaki would be one of those.

“Shouldn’t have fucked around, Lady Miyako,” spoke a growly, yet feminine voice. “You puny humans… are nothing before me.” Her claws burst into flames. “But I’ll give you a chance… Let me go without trouble, and I’ll let you live.”

Miyako clenched her sword tightly. “I have made a conviction. That I’ll defeat the demon that I’ll face today. I will never let you go.”

“Your funeral.” She waved her hand, and a wave of flames scattered in all directions.