Royal Princess of Blood

Oh, how much I just wanted to lie down and sleep, rest, do nothing at all. And not fighting this fucking thing. My head was aching, my body felt heavy and weak. My legs just wanted to give out. But this was a fight for survival. And everyone knows how fierce a cornered rat can be. Desperation can do wonders. Not saying I'm literally a rat though.

However, the enemy before me was the greatest threat I had ever faced. And I was not even in a proper condition. In short, this was going to be hell for me. But this was something I could not escape from. Therefore, I had to face this threat head-on. No holding back, even how much damage I had to sustain. I’d die if I did nothing, anyway.

I instantly conjured barriers around my body like armor, making them the hardest as I could make them to be, pouring a tremendous amount of mana into them. Before I could do anything else, the angel abruptly dashed towards me. I dashed backward and waved my hand, my mana scattered all over the area, and then followed by a freezing cold.

A thick blizzard covered the area, obstructing all views. I didn’t put some hail or anything, as that would only be useless and would only get in my way. I didn’t expect the blizzard would hold on for long either. I just needed a little free time.

I lost sight of the angel, and I supposed it lost sight of me as well. I quickly pricked my finger and rubbed blood on my blade, then touched the blade with the other, sharing the blood. The angel had a hard skin, so I was hoping this enchantment would help in that regard.

It was then a powerful wave of wind scattered my blizzard and revealed the angel, its wings expanded — so it used its wings. Those wings were becoming a bother. I quickly thrust my hand, sending a barrage of magic at it, plain magic, lightning, fire, and ice. As the magic spells exploded around it, the angel charged towards me. It moved so fast, and it swung its spear at me, hitting against my shield. I gritted my teeth as I stood my ground. The shield vibrated intensely, and I used wind on my feet to push me away from the enemy.

I pointed a finger and fired a dense lightning strike at it — causing a large blast upon impact. However, it emerged from the smoke immediately and moved in to attack me. I raised my arm and used the barrier to block it — I grimaced at the sheer weight of the attack. Attaching magical strings to my daggers, I dashed to the side with the wind, threw my dagger with a swing, and slashed the angel on the side of its waist.

I was both surprised and relieved, to think I easily cut through its flesh. I instantly withdrew the blade as the angel unleashed a wave of dark energy from its wings directed at me. I conjured more shields ahead of me to take the hit, and they cracked and shattered. The angel charged at me and started swinging, its spear hit my body shields a couple of times despite my trying my best to evade them. My shields started to crack.

I conjured and spammed lightning bolts at it at close range and frantically backed away. I quickly restored my shields, and I noticed the angel’s spear glow golden. That was familiar. I had to stop that shit. I pointed a finger and concentrated mana into a small ball, then I shot it towards the moving angel. A large white explosion erupted. The cracks on my arms instantly spread wider a little.

“Shit.”

The angel emerged from the dust cloud and came at me.

Dammit, can’t even properly go on the offensive!

I just couldn’t get a clear window. This thing was keeping me on the defensive, a bit overwhelming. I kept a close watch at its spear, waiting for that moment. In my evading, I took a step back, and it was then that the angel drew back its spear.

There!

The angel thrust the spear forward, shooting an intense beam of golden light. But I was prepared for it, and used a burst of wind to push me out of the way — it was the same shit it pulled against Taneva, and I was not going to test my shields against that. After it used that attack, it gave me a window, and I threw my dagger at it. The blade stabbed into its thigh.

However, before I could do anything else, it waved its wings towards me, releasing a wave of dark energy. I was blown away several meters, ricocheting on the ground.

“Hah-hah-hah…”

It’s too strong.

I turned around and realized it was coming down on me.

Shit!

I used the wind to get out immediately, and it stabbed the ground, causing a giant crater. Standing with faltering legs, I took a deep breath. I pulled back my dagger by the strings.

Come on, I can do better than this.

I looked down. I was starting to feel something weird around my waist, a faint light leaking through the fabric of my clothes.

Damn…

Focus… focus… ignore anything else. Just focus… focus on the target.

I glared at the moving angel…

Ignore the body, ignore everything else around. Just focus on the angel. It’s just me and it…

Perhaps I just needed to recalibrate myself. I was getting sloppy. I took a deep breath.

“You speak, right? What’s your name?”

The angel paused and ‌cast its gaze away, as if it were trying to recall something. “Aeviel…”

“Aeviel… Don’t think someone like you can kill me.”

This time, I was not going through this solely to survive. This time, I was hunting. A different way to look at this.

“I’m coming after you.”

Assassination target: Aeviel.

***

Mana started emanating from around Estelia, her hair started floating a little, the ground, the tiny pebbles started vibrating. An intense field of mana surrounded her, with enough pressure that could choke a normal human if they stepped close. She poured a tremendous amount of mana into her body, reaching it to its limit. She dispelled the blood on her blades, and they dropped to the ground. Instead, she coated it with Armament Magic.

This was not a battle of skills alone, but of power. Sheer power. Whoever has the most power shall win. Determined to win, she’d use as much mana as she needed to defeat this angel.

The angel took a step forward — Estelia crouched and with both Physical Enhancement and wind magic, she propelled herself forward like a bullet. The angel instantly held out its spear, just in time there was a burst of wind that Estelia used as brakes, and thrust her blade at the angel’s face. But her blade was blocked by the spear’s pole.

The angel flicked off her blade and instantly turned the spear to swing at her. Estelia bent her body backward, evading the spear’s blade and snapped her fingers. A flash of bright light blinded the angel for a moment. It almost instantly recovered, although Estelia was gone. It sensed something coming to its side and it quickly swung its spear. Blades made contact, causing a large shockwave. Estelia glared at the angel with an expressionless face, but her eyes were focused.

She withdrew, and as she did, she swung her blades, sending a pair of wide magical slashes. They cut through the soil until they reached the angel. The latter destroyed them with its spear before it dashed at Estelia.

Estelia instantly shifted to the side and dodged the angel before casting a giant bolt of lightning at it, and the lighting struck. Rumbles echoed as the angel swung its spear horizontally, sending a wide arc of golden light. Estelia leaped upward, dodging the attack, before quickly using her wind to fly around the angel with rapid speed. She cast a white ball of light and fired it at the angel. The angel, however, dodged it.

But it gave the chance for Estelia to move in to strike from the enemy’s rear. The angel realized her approach, and its wings expanded, radiating a wave of dark energy. Estelia leaped into the air, dodging the wave. She spun as she descended and swung down at the enemy beneath her along with the momentum. The angel raised its spear, and both blades collided violently, causing an audible shockwave.

She propelled herself sideways and landed back on the ground. The angel thrust its spear and Estelia used her shielded arm to block it. With a stomp of her leg, ice rose and instantly engulfed the angel. It would only hold it for less than a second, but that was enough for its purpose. Estelia moved to the side and pointed her finger right next to the angel, and a massive blast of magic blew the angel away.

The angel plunged its spear into the ground to slow itself down and regained its footing. It charged up its spear and swung it down in the air, sending a gigantic wave of light. Estelia propelled herself to evade it, then caused another wind burst to turn herself, and flew towards the angel. She spun in the air and did a horizontal swing.

The angel blocked that attack and immediately shifted its spear to swing back. With a brief burst of wind, Estelia tilted and lifted her body to dodge. In that same momentum, she swung at the angel again. But the angel blocked it. It attempted to strike back, but Estelia instantly withdrew and put a gap between them. Lightning crackled around her arms and fired a torrent of lightning at the angel. The latter used its wings to shield itself, followed by a wide and powerful burst of dark energy. It dug and scattered the ground over a wide area, cracking and dismantling the landscape.

Estelia moved away. The angel poured mana into its spear and aimed it toward her. A torrent of golden light shot out. Estelia ran as the ground behind her was devastated. She dashed towards the angel while moving upwards, going over the torrent of ruining light. She fired ice magic at its arm, holding it in place. When she got close, while still in the air, she flipped towards its back and kicked it between the roots of the wings. The impact caused an audible boom, creating a shockwave and blasting away the angel.

The angel flapped its wings and regained itself. It flew towards Estelia, engaging in close combat. Sparks and shockwaves erupted as both their weapons collided. Estelia parried and deflected — this angel truly was overwhelming in close combat like this. It had that raw strength. The angel swung its blade, and Estelia ducked forward and cast a powerful slash of light. It staggered the angel for a brief moment.

Estelia let her current daggers hang from their strings, then instantly grabbed small daggers between her fingers and threw them at the angel. They stabbed into the angel, then followed by an explosion of slashes that heavily damaged the angel. But it was far from enough.

The angel flicked its wings, sending a blast of dark energy at her. It engulfed her for a moment, and the angel stepped forward and punched her in the stomach. The barrier took the brunt, but Estelia was flung backward. Before Estelia could recover, the angel got in close and swung its spear at her, throwing her further away.

Estelia’s shield severely cracked. In desperation, Estelia cast a burst of wind to put a little distance between them and gathered a vast amount of mana into a ball of light. With a wave of her finger, it shot towards the angel. However, she predicted that the angel would dodge it. Therefore, it was a manually triggered spell.

Before it could impact anything, she triggered the spell. A massive and towering pillar of light exploded, it was around fifty meters wide and a couple hundred meters tall. It hit the angel at the edge, so it was able to get out immediately.

Estelia landed on the ground and fired a barrage of ice magic at the angel. Each ball of ice magic froze an area. It eventually got a hold of the angel, and Estelia propelled herself towards the angel. Her body straightened, and the bottom of her feet pointed at the angel, her kick landed. As it impacted, lightning crackled and lit up around it — then a thunderous boom followed as it blew away the angel.

The angel opened up its wings to slow itself down and swung its spear in the air, sending several wide slashes of light that easily cut through the landscape. Estelia jumped in between slashes to dodge them, but the angel suddenly showed up before her and grabbed her by the head. It threw her to the ground, leaving a giant crater.

Estelia groaned, feeling a bit dizzy, when she noticed the angel’s spear glow as it plunged down towards her. Before it could hit her, she instantly got out of the way. There was a shockwave when the angel’s spear struck the ground, and it immediately pulled it out to swing towards Estelia.

Estelia met its attacks with her own daggers, each strike making small magical explosions, counteracting each other. Then, the angel suddenly thrust its spear, and Estelia instantly shifted to the side to evade the beam of light she was expecting. However, it didn’t come.

The angel suddenly spun its spear and hit Estelia with the bottom tip, sending her upward in the air. Then, it pointed its spear up at her, unleashing a powerful beam. Estelia conjured a layer of shield, but the beam immediately broke the first layer.

The beam pushed her upward as her shield gradually cracked. The moment the laser dissipated, the angel jumped and grabbed Estelia, pushing her along with it as they ascended further and further high up in the sky. Estelia pointed a hand towards the angel and shot out a powerful bolt of lightning that shone brightly in the sky, freeing herself from its grip.

Using her wind to maintain herself in the air, she looked down at the angel. The golden cracks had already spread ‌all over her body, they had even reached her face. She knew she was running out of time.

She raised her hand. “Even if I have to destroy this region to kill you, I will.” A colossal ball of fire appeared above her. “Whoever remains beneath, better run.” Her eyes then changed, where countless stars shone within, and the pupils were each replaced with a spiraling galaxy. A reflection of the heavens, a hint of her divinity.

The angel spread its wings. “Fall, Deity of Blood.” A burst of dark energy radiated intensely from its wings.

Estelia waved down her hand.