Royal Princess of Blood

The demon imp in human form, simple yet adorable, was standing on top of a branch of a tree. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the sky, or, to be precise, at the black fog moving in the air. She had been trying to track their movements for a while now. To her great relief, she finally saw one, and they began following it. With that success, she couldn’t help but smile proudly.

“Venzus, he seems to be slowing down!” she excitedly said, but in a hushed tone.

The other imp leaning his back on the tree below her shrugged. “Great…” He sounded less enthusiastic, and he wore a frown on his face.

“Hang on, he’s descending.”

The demon girl, Arashia, leaned upwards a bit more to have a clearer view of where the fog was coming down on. It was a bit hard to see as they blended into the darkness of the night, with only the faint moonlight to light the sky. It would have been better during the day, but their luck only struck during the night. From the way Arashia took it, these Cursed Children lie low during the day.

A moment later, the fog was now lost in the trees. But she had made a mental mark on the spot.

“Got it. I know where they are now.” With a happy nod, she casually jumped down to the ground. “Alright, let’s go check it out!” She was about to rush there when suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder.

“Hold it right there!”

“W-What?”

“I still haven’t agreed to this shit of yours.”

Hearing that, Arashia’s eyes widened. She assumed he was okay with this already.

“Why are you even hesitating?”

“Are we even sure that it is indeed where they’re keeping them?”

“... That’s why we’re taking a look.”

“And if they’re not there, we're putting ourselves at risk for nothing.”

Arashia pouted with a moan. “We can’t win a gamble without throwing the — um, the thing…”

“Dice…?”

“Yes! Dice! You have to bet on it.”

Venzus vigorously shook his head. “Are you listening to yourself? No way I’m risking my life for this.”

“Come on, Venzus. Not like we can die from them.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh. What if we get captured, you fucking idiot?”

“Simple. Just don’t get captured.”

Suddenly, Venzus smacked her on the back of the head.

“Ow! What gives?!” Arashia cradled her head and moved away from him.

“Hoping a smack would fix your head.”

“Why are you so reluctant to save them?” Arashia truly wanted to save her allies that were captured by the Cursed Children. She could not understand why Venzus was not as motivated as her.

“Why are you so eager to save them?! It’s just the two of us here. The rest already ran away. We should have already left this damn country.”

During their escape after teleporting both Rytus and the princess, as the both of them were running away, they saw one of the demons get captured by the Cursed Children. Ever since then, Arashia had been wanting to retrieve them.

“Papa said we should value our allies…” she said with a pout.

His face turned into an exaggerated wince. “Yeah? Well, your old man is fucking senile. Fuck them, okay?”

Hearing that, Arashia finally formed a deep frown. She gave Venzus a stern look.

“Why don’t you care about them?”

“Why should I care about them?”

“... We should come back home together.”

“Huh? You wanted to sacrifice me during the escape, and now you want everyone to return home?”

“... I wasn’t being serious that time.” She looked away.

Venzus paused for a moment and sighed. “Still, I ain’t doing it.”

“But…”

“Can’t you imagine how many Cursed Children could be in there? If our colleagues are there, they’ll have them guarded. Especially considering they’re definitely being served as blood bags by now.”

“Blood bags…?”

“Our body restores when we get hurt. The Cursed Children feast on blood. Can you imagine what they’ll do with the captured imps?”

Arashia looked down for a moment as she pondered. And her eyes widened.

“They’re being used as blood bags…” The Cursed Children would be constantly sucking the blood out of the imps just to fill themselves. And it would be essentially an unlimited supply. “That’s terrible.”

She was horrified at the thought of it. To suffer like that, mutilated, to be used as livestocks. Although demons also committed similar things, it was different for Arashia. She never engaged in such terrible actions. For she mainly lived with her father, hunting beasts and such.

That said, she would not care much if it was any other race. She only cared because it was happening to her own fellow demons, and colleagues at that. And the thought of such a cruel thing happening to them greatly worried her. She only grew more motivated to help them.

“Yeah, that’s why you should stop caring and be more concerned about yourself,” Venzus said.

“No, we must help them.”

Venzus scratched his head. “You’re so stubborn. Sorry, Arashia, but I’m not risking my life for those bastards.”

“... Venzus, please, I can’t do this alone.”

“No! If you wanna save them, do it alone. I’m leaving.”

With a brief wave, he turned his back to her and began walking away. Arashia lowered her gaze for a moment before making a serious face, clenching her fists. In truth, she was disappointed.

“Fine! I’ll do it alone then. I’ll break them out!”

Arashia turned around and began walking away in the opposite direction. If he didn’t want to help, then she had to do it all by herself. No matter how hard it would be, she’d do everything she can.

Venzus looked back and stopped, watching her walking away. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“Wait,” he said.

Arashia paused and turned to look at him. “What?”

“Do you even have a plan?”

Arashia stayed silent, for she had no clear plan in mind. Seeing this, Venzus couldn’t help but sigh.

“Fine. I’ll help you.”

“Really?!” Arashia beamed up.

“You’re really stubborn. Let’s think up a plan before going.”

Arashia rushed to his side with a giggle. “Sure, sure!” A great feeling of relief washed all over her. That was because she wouldn’t be alone in this. Having a comrade by one’s side was the best feeling.

“However, I think it’s best to scout the area first before making up a plan. Agree?”

“Agreed.”

“Alright, then let’s make our way there.”

“Okay!”

Together, they began walking towards where Arashia saw the fog descend.

“How far?” Venzus.

“A bit far, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Mm. By the way, you’re doing the scouting.”

“Sure.”

“If you get captured, I’m leaving you behind.”

“Then I just don’t have to get captured.”

“... Sometimes I envy that simple head of yours.”

“Don’t call me simple…”

***

Arashia cast a silence spell on herself, in addition to a magic that lessened the chance of being smelled, her usual anti-detection spells. Both spells were crucial when hunting the beasts that roamed the demon lands, some were pretty sensitive to their surroundings. Lacking the ability to cast such spells would be a failure of her as a hunter and ranger.

Normally, she wouldn’t need to use magic for things other than beasts. She was already skilled as she was. However, she decided to be safe rather than sorry. It was currently night, and those Cursed Children were not to be underestimated. She didn’t have much knowledge about them, but she only assumed them to be like beasts, sensitive to their surroundings. Even more so in their monstrous forms.

They thirst for blood. Their sense of smell might become more sensitive.

Once she was ready, she moved out alone. Venzus remained far behind in a safe area. He lacked the skill necessary to accomplish the scouting task.

Arashia moved and navigated through the trees in complete silence. Jumping over small branches on the ground, avoiding hitting any bushes, her movements disturbed nothing. The way she moved displayed utter excellence in her craft. Even the small critters in the forest failed to sense her presence.

Before she got close to the area, she stopped and hid behind a tree. She looked around her surroundings, making sure there was no stray cursed child of any kind. It was possible for someone to walk or hang around outside one’s camp. She had to be careful. One minor mistake would be her undoing.

She didn’t want to fail this one. Venzus was pretty serious about leaving everyone if this mission failed.

As someone who had honed her body to work in the shadow, her eyes adapted pretty well to the darkness. Thus, she could behold her surroundings better than anyone in her group. Her training with her father was not easy, though.

After looking around, she nodded. There was no one around. She continued onward until she arrived close to the Cursed Children’s camp. She hid behind one of the thick bushes. In the dark camp, with not even a torch to light the place, there were indeed several Cursed Children roaming around.

There was also a cave entrance.

Could that be where they’re keeping them?

There was no way to be certain just yet. She had to be sure that her allies were there, since there was also a chance that these monsters were only using this place as shelter. For now, she had to observe.

She squinted her eyes, counting the enemy. Outside, there were seven of them.

I can’t see anything inside the cave from here.

She quietly moved from her position. She was more careful than before. Fortunately, none of the Cursed Children seemed to notice her movements. She found a new position and angle to observe from, but still, she couldn’t see what was inside the cave. Furthermore, it would seem she counted the number of enemies right, no enemies hiding somewhere else. However, she guessed there were more enemies inside. Way more, considering that they could be feasting inside the cave.

Feasting on her allies…

She opted on waiting, she might discover more.

The Cursed Children were walking around slowly, their body slouching. While others were sitting down on the ground. Arashia was a bit weirded out by them. They looked miserable. They were groaning and moaning as if in pain. They were covered entirely by their clothes, so she couldn’t completely tell what was happening with them. But she could tell they were in torment.

The faint crying, the twitching, the scratching, the trembling, every part of their action displayed suffering.

Why are they like this?

She was a bit curious about how they became like this. What did they do to deserve such punishment? The demons, even though they were imperfect, were never subjected to such intense and constant pain.

A short time later, one cursed child emerged from the cave. He approached one of them.

“I’m satisfied. Anyone else can go inside.”

“Me.”

“Alright.”

One cursed child impatiently rushed inside the cave.

“Finally, we have a decent source of blood,” the one who emerged said. “And unlimited at that.”

Source of blood? Could it be…?

“Indeed. We should have gotten a demon a long time ago.”

“Well, imps, to be exact. They’re the ones I know can regenerate this fast. Not sure about the other kinds of demons though…”

Arashia furrowed her brows.

They’re really here.

She had finally confirmed it. With that crucial information now at hand, she quietly left the scene. With a sense of urgency, once she was a bit far away from the enemy camp, she quickly made her way back to Venzus.

“You’re back,” Venzus said.

“They’re there.”

Venzus nodded with a sigh. “Alright. What else?”

“I counted eight enemies total. But I’m not sure how many more are inside.”

“... That’s too many. There’s just the two of us.”

Arashia lowered her gaze. It would be too difficult to face that many.

“Alright, let’s think about how to do this,” Venzus said. “... Should we attack at night or during the day?”

“... Will there be a difference?”

“Well, for us, at night, it could be easier to hide. For the enemies, they’ll be monsters.” He sat down on the tree root. “They’ll be in constant pain. That could mean they’ll be less focused on their surroundings.”

“... But they will also be more fierce.”

“Yeah, that’s also an issue. They’ll be more relentless, being mad and all.”

“They might be more dangerous at night…”

“For daytime… Escape for us will be a bit more difficult. No darkness to hide in.”

“We could just run as fast as we could.”

“Yeah right… Easier said than done… But let’s set aside that part for now. What advantage do we get when we engage them during the day?”

Arashia looked up, putting a finger under her chin as she pondered hard.

“... They’ll be less fierce?”

“Probably. They’ll at least be more sane.”

“Are the crazy ones really harder to fight?”

“Of course. Fuck, you have any idea how hard it is to hold down a crazed bastard? You would even doubt they even feel any pain. And the strength they’ll exude. Believe me, they’ll exert more force than what their body should. The mind is a tricky thing.”

“Wow, are you actually very smart, Venzus?”

Venzus grinned. “I’m actually a genius.”

“Wow! Amazing.”

“I’m fucking kidding, you idiot. What I said is common sense.”

“... Really?” She tilted her head.

“Ugh, whatever… Let’s just focus on the main topic… Which reminds me, you tracked down one coming back to their camp during the night. And we had a hard time searching for them during the day.”

“Yeah.”

“They lie low during the day?”

“... I guess?”

“Does that mean they leave their camp? I mean, when you get free from suffering during the day, what would you do when that happens?”

“Uummm… Enjoy good food? I would like to enjoy great food after a tiring day’s work.”

“That could be it. They lower their guard during the day. Enjoy their time of relief.”

“... Is that so? Are we sure about this?”

“Not really. But that’s a good thought.”

“Alright then! We’ll attack tomorrow morning.”

Venzus smacked her on the top of her head.

“Ow!”

“Patience, you idiot. Let’s observe it for now. Figure out if our guess is true.”

Arashia pouted. “... But our friends are suffering there.”

“They’ll live. Better we be more careful.”

“... Mm, fine…”

“Once we confirm the state of things, we’ll think of a plan on how to rescue them.”

“Okay.”