Royal Princess of Blood

There was a girl in her mid-teens walking down the forest, not far from her village. It was currently in the middle of the afternoon, and the work that she had to do for today was over. The collection of fruits, or other menial labor, all done. Therefore, as usual, she had some free time at her disposal.

There was not much to do casually at the village, so she usually just left the village and went into the forest. Not only was the atmosphere and environment there the best, she could also meet ‌some of her animal friends — well, every animal here was a friend if you tried — that she met before, hoping they’d still recognize her if she found them.

The pink-haired girl cast down her emerald gaze at the little creature marching beside her and lifted a wide smile. This little orange creature was an adorable and fluffy fox. It was her close companion for years now. And she valued him like family. On the way to the forest, she came across a tall wooden watchtower. The man on watch looked down at her.

“Hey, Fleta, where are you going?! Out again?”

Fleta gave him a casual wave. “So it’s your turn to watch. Found anything?”

“What is there to find?!”

Fleta chuckled. Of course there was nothing much to find out here, barely any danger. Even the scary-looking animals roaming this land were a peaceful bunch. They never attacked the humans, unless provoked. In fact, they could be incredibly friendly. So what was there to watch out for? Anything weird, the village just wanted to set security, or at the very least some eyes. You’d never know if danger suddenly arrived.

There had been histories of people accidentally ending up in this place — some ended up staying. Apparently, the lands beyond were not as bountiful as this one. Which was hard for Fleta to imagine. But of course, there were those that had bad intentions. For that, the villagers had to defend themselves. They wanted to take over this place, and the villagers couldn’t let that happen.

But the last time someone stumbled on this place was a long time ago. So people finding this place was exceptionally rare. Monsters also rarely get here — which was also one of the reasons that there had to be people watching as security. They wouldn’t want any monster to reach the village. But then again, it was rare, so the guards ended up bored all ‌the time.

But for Fleta, that was good, that everything was boring. It meant that it was safe.

“Of course…” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m going!”

“Sure! Just stay safe! Don’t get lost.”

Fleta directed a scowl at him. “Are you serious?”

The guy casually chuckled. “Kidding!”

It was impossible to get lost around here. All villagers were familiar with the land they lived in.

As she continued on, she patted her shoulder, gesturing to her adorable fox. “Come on, Pip.” The fox let out a sound acknowledging her before climbing up to her shoulder. Fleta rubbed his head. “There might be some animals that need our help, or any creature at that. So let’s go help!”

“Hih!” the fox excitedly exclaimed.

This was one of the activities she did in her free time. Sometimes playing with other animals, or just checking them out, or help those that need help. Sometimes animals just needed help from people. Accidents happen, even to animals. Not only animals, she might even encounter some special beings that would be nice to see. Like the Feeroos, the azure jellyfish-like creatures, which sometimes get separated from their group. And a feeroo could not live long being alone. Those creatures would need help.

“Can’t wait to see some of our friends! I sure hope we can find them.”

***

The crew sprinted with all their might through the barren landscape. The humans used their Physical Enhancement ability to boost their speed, ignoring the fatigue they were already suffering. But as if there was any other choice, when in the distance, there was an army of demons coming after them. It was not surprising at this point that the demons noticed them after all that chaotic fight between divine beings.

But the demons were not the only reason they were desperate to push forward and reach for their destination. It was mainly because Estelia was running out of time, and they had to restore her immediately. Estelia was being carried by Taneva, and her state was not good at all. Taneva’s skin was frequently being ripped and torn before being regenerated again.

A good amount of Estelia’s divinity was leaking out of the countless cracks on her body. And with it brought a force that damages anything close to it. That was why Taneva was the one to carry her, for only he or the Cursed Children could survive it. Hartwin and Velar could not even hope to get close to her without getting too hurt. No amount of healing magic could help her now.

Furthermore, the cracks were gradually getting wider. They didn’t know how long they had to save her.

“Dammit, why does it have to be so far away! What exactly are we looking for?!” Hartwin asked as he glanced back at the encroaching demon army. The three Cursed Children had already rushed over there to try to slow them down. But they didn’t expect it would help tremendously.

“That place is protected by some sort of magic that hides it from everyone outside,” Taneva answered. “It’s an island, we’ll know we’re close when we’re surrounded by fog! So stick close to me when that happens. Don’t want to get lost.”

There were no indications of an island on the map. So it was magically hidden all this time. But Hartwin had never heard of a spell on a scale that could hide an entire island. Perhaps it was only possible through the power of the divine.

“Can we lose the demons in the fog?” Velar asked.

“We can, that’s what I’m hoping will give us a little bit of time.”

They kept running and running. They had already made good progress before the angel found them, and they were almost there. So at the pace they were moving, they should get there very soon. Which was the lucky part. They, of course, ignored the monsters that they encountered; they seemed to still be attracted to Estelia.

It was then that Taneva noticed the crack around Estelia’s hand crumbled away. Now there was nothing more than a hand made completely of golden light, but it was distorted, oozing with golden energy. Estelia was barely conscious, and even she noticed it, taking a brief glance at her own hand.

“We’re running out of time,” Taneva muttered.

If more of her divinity gets released, getting worse, Taneva might not be able to really hold her. His body would get ravaged when he gets close. He could regenerate, but he feared that his body might get damaged faster than getting restored. At that point, as Estelia herself could not move, then she wouldn’t be able to get where she needed. Then it would all be over.

As they kept moving without rest, the demons were getting closer quickly. Taneva noticed Hartwin looking more exhausted.

“We’re almost there.”

A while later, some demons were closing in behind them, now less than a hundred meters away. The Cursed Children were trying to slow them down, but the rest of the demons disregarded them and merely went past them.

Hartwin started to become frantic. “They’re close!”

“Keep running!” Taneva shouted.

They kept on running until in the distance they noticed a fog. Before the demons could reach them, they got into the fog. The fog they stepped inside was thin at first, and as they went further, it got thicker, gradually making it harder to see far ahead.

Taneva looked back and stopped. “Hold on. I think we lost them, at least for now.”

Hartwin and Velar looked back.

“Can’t they smell us through this?” Hartwin asked.

“I don’t think they even can. Even if they could, it won’t be of any use. This fog is designed for protection, trailing our smell through this would be impossible.” He glanced down at Estelia, whose eyes shifted around, but said nothing, lacking the strength to do so. “Stay close, don’t want to get lost.”

They walked close to each other, following Taneva.

“Do you know where you’re going in this fog?” Hartwin asked.

“Of course. We’re not far from the path we need to reach.”

***

The three Cursed Children saw that the princess and the others had run through the fog. So now, they were out of sight. But Nira felt concerned and followed the two other Cursed Children that flew away.

“We lost them!” Nira exclaimed while she floated along with the other two, their bodies covered in black smoke. “We must find them.”

Heneis shook his head. “That’s fine. The fog means we’re here.”

“Huh?”

“And the fog will hide them from the demons for the time being. They should be going down the pathway now.”

“What should we do?” Galik asked.

“Regroup with the princess. I know where to go, follow me and stay close. Lest you get lost in the fog.” He flew ahead.

Nira frantically followed him, and the three Cursed Children dove into the fog.

Meanwhile, the demons stopped at the edge of the fog. Trigel landed in front of the army. He looked around with narrowed eyes.

“This fog is unnatural,” he said, noticing that it seemed quite out of place. “Likely of magical origin.”

The giant demon, Ongrus, stepped beside him, letting out a scoff. “What are we standing around for?”

“Whatever is hiding here, we must not let the young goddess reach it. Scatter and scour the fog. Go.”

And the demons all rushed into the fog.

Trigel turned his head towards Ongrus. “Can you do something about this fog?”

“You mean blow it away? I can try.”

And thus, the both of them marched into the fog. Gradually, the fog began to thicken, and they couldn’t see anything further away anymore.

“Do it,” Trigel said.

“Better step back a lot .”

Trigel moved away several steps. But this wouldn’t be enough to fully be safe. Still, it shouldn’t be an issue, he could just regenerate when he suffers damage. Ongrus raised his leg and flames began blazing around it. After gathering enough power, he slammed it into the ground. The fiery blast released a powerful shockwave that scattered the surrounding fog over a wide area.

The area cleared. However, a couple of seconds later, the fog began to fill the gap.

Ongrus grunted. “So it is indeed magic.”

“Hm, nothing we can do about it. Let’s run straight through. Let’s go.”

And the two of them sprinted through the fog in search of the young goddess.

***

After some time of sprinting through the fog, Estelia’s legs from the knee down had completely turned into light. And this energy ripped through her boots. Time was short.

Then they stopped, before them was a body of water.

“What now?” Hartwin frantically looked around for a way out.

“We’re here.”

“Huh?”

Taneva quickly looked around and walked over to the right. He was looking for a short stone monolith. Things around here didn’t seem to change much last he’d been here, so he still knew where to find it. “It should be around here.”

At that moment, he found it. There was a short monolith made of stone standing by the water. It looked quite plain, but it was an essential object required to get through the water then to the island.

“Hartwin, place your hand on that,” he gestured towards the monolith. “Pour mana into it and rotate your hand clockwise.”

“W-What is it?”

“Just do it, it’s safe. Quickly.”

Hartwin placed his palm on the monolith and gently poured mana into it, and he was surprised that it actually took more than he first intended, like it was just sucking in his mana by force. Suddenly, the stone lit up, and Hartwin felt some sort of knob forming on his palm. Magic wrapped around his hand. He promptly turned the knob clockwise. It was then that the ground began shaking.

The water before them started shifting as they parted, making way for wide stone slabs rising from beneath. More and more stone slabs rose, making a long platform, going all the way beyond the fog.

“A bridge?” Hartwin murmured.

Taneva quickly stepped onto the platform. “Let’s go.”

Hartwin and Velar quickly followed after him, sprinting on the stone bridge. Hartwin was worried at first that they might fall upon stepping in, but the platform was actually quite stable. He glanced down, curious how this was being sustained.

A short time later, the fog started to fade away. Then, their gaze was greeted by a beautiful landscape that was in total contrast to the lands of the archipelago. Hartwin and Velar, upon beholding this beauty, started missing the continent even more. Indeed, for this place, this island possessed the luster of the continent. And luster meant the normal view one would see in nature.

The island had small mountains filled with countless seas of green trees. The sand by the beach was a beautiful, shiny brown, and the water was a beautiful bright color of clear azure. They even noticed small fish jumping out of the water beside them. Birds were flying above the trees. Everything looked pretty normal, a healthy land where nature was present.

“How is this possible?” Hartwin couldn’t help but ask.

“No time to explain. They had probably noticed us by now.”

“Who?”

“The inhabitants of this place.”

Hartwin’s eyes widened. “Are they hostile?” If they were, that would be a problem.

“They’re not as long as you’re friendly. But at this point, we don’t have all the patience.”

Then, they reached the beach.

“No sounds of alarms, they’re not here?” Velar said as he looked around, prepared for the inhabitants to come.

“They might be preparing to greet us in the forest. Let’s keep going.”

They quickly rushed through the beach and into the forest.

***

Fleta was tending to some animals — or rather, playing with some animals. There was a tiger she was rubbing, while a gray wolf was bringing a stick she had thrown. Pip the fox was playing with the wolf. Although they were quite friendly now, they’d of course need to hunt other animals to feed. Such are the wilds. But for now, they were quite friendly being with Fleta.

Well, these animals never attempted to hurt the humans here anyway.

However, as she was petting the tiger, she heard the sound of bushes moving. She paused, curious. It was then that the tiger and the wolf froze in place. It was strange. Then people suddenly emerged from the cover of the forest.

“Hah?!” She abruptly straightened herself, cautious. They were people she had never seen before. “Who are you?!”