“Princess, princess! Look here!”, a child waved to the beautiful woman clad in golden armor patrolling above the walls. She looked at the child and waved back with a smile.

Her golden armor and long shiny red hair highlighting her beauty, while the long golden sword that hanged horizontally from her hips shinned with a magical glow accentuating her power. These combined with her tall stature inspired the townspeople’s image of a true hero.

This was Maria Aeron, who was sent to the front lines to rise morale after the fortress north of Dorhem was taken by demons, an usual task for the members of the royal family, one she was quite good at. Royals didn’t leave the capital for long periods of time, they tried to lay low as to not garner the attention of the demons. Because of their position they were greatly coveted by demons, putting them at great risk.

Because of this, they never left the capital alone.

Maria looked behind her, there, was a woman with short blond hair in leather armor following her. Her long and pointy ears identified her as a demon, an elf. Elves unlike most of demonkind were one of the only demon races that allied together with humans. However, despite being allies, most humans still treated them with disdain.

“How are you holding, Theresa?”, Maria asked the elf following behind her.

“Getting really tired of the commoner’s glares”, Theresa answered wearing a rigid face. She disliked public appearances, however, she always accompanied Maria on her duties.

Maria sighed, “That’s why I told you, you don’t have to come with me if you hate it that much”.

“I can’t leave you alone, you are an idiot, you would get in trouble”, Theresa teased, her face unchanged.

“Excuses, you just don’t want to be away from me”, she teased, poking her tongue out. She didn’t mind the harsh words. She knew how attached Theresa was to her, after all, they shared a very intimate relationship.

“Princess”, Silver saluted. “We have prepared you a room in the Earl’s office, you and your companion can stay in the guest room for as long as you wish. Allow me to thank you for your presence in Dorhem once again.”

“You don’t have to be so formal, Silver”, Maria, who stood taller than even Silver, placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Then.. What do you think?”, Silver’s face turned serious.

Maria looked north, to the black fortress that stool stall filled with demons.

“It’s dangerous, Dorhem won’t be able to stand a chance with their current garrison. I can sense three particularly strong demons. You and Endo are strong, but one of those three, well, I’m quite sure they would be able to take all of Dorhem by themselves”.

“That strong?”, Silver asked. Maria only nodded, her eyes still set on the fortress.

“Once I’m back at the capital, I will ask father to do something about it, we can’t have the Swords stationed here, but we can afford an attack operation. We should get rid of these demons as soon as we can.”, Maria was thinking about Edeus and her big sister in particular, who were currently residing in the capital, a waste of their strength in her opinion.

“By the way…”, Maria asked, moving her eyes until they rested on a nearby tree.

“Are crows commonly seen at Dorhem?”, she asked, suspicious of the black bird looking at the pair.

“We do see them from time to time yes, although now that you mention it, I’ve spotted quite a few of them lately. Why do you ask?”, Silver asked, the topic shift having caught him off guard.

“It’s nothing”, Maria shook her head and followed after Silver.

….

Maria was sitting next to a fireplace, looking out the window at the brilliant Hourglass moons hanging high on the dark sky. She was waiting for Theresa to come back with wood to start a fire, however, she was gone for too long.

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Theresa who didn’t enjoy mingling with humans would try to do any transactions as quickly as possible, she should not be taking this long.

Worried, she decided to go out and look for her.

“Caaaw”, she was attracted by the cry of a crow as soon as she stepped outside.

The bird was instantly split in two. A cut so clean that both it’s parts slided down and hit the ground before it’s guts started to spill.

A terrible feeling started to grow in Maria’s stomach.

“That’s not very nice”, she heard the voice of a woman at her side her. As quickly as she slew the crow, she took her sword out and aimed it at her. Her blade rested on the neck of an old woman.

“Who are you?”, Maria looked into the woman’s eye. Her eyes looked empty, barely reflecting any light.

“My name is not important”, the woman reached out her hand with her fist closed. It slowly opened up presenting it to Maria.

“!!!”, Maria looked in shock as she saw a finger resting in the woman’s palm. It was hard to recognize without it’s nail, however, there was no meaning to presenting just any finger to her. Theresa’s lovely face came to her mind at once.

Horror crawled in her body as she looked at the finger. Was the nail removed before it was cut or after? Anger came next, it began to set in displacing the horror, pushing the blade forward cutting into the woman’s neck.

“There’s no point in threating me”, the woman said calmly with a smile.

“A charming spell?”, Maria asked, she was not gifted in magic like her big sister or little brother, she was first and foremost, a warrior. However, despite not practicing magic, she was well educated in it. The dead eyes and disregard for danger, they were easy to recognize characteristics of a person under a charm spell. That meant a demon was controlling this person like a puppet.

“Where is she?”, she lowered her blade. As she had said, there was no point in threatening her. Not because she was not afraid of being cut down, but because she was an innocent woman who got caught up in her problems. It was obvious that the demon was after her for her royal blood.

“Outside. Come out alone”, The woman nodded towards the eastern gate and extended her hands. “I will take care of your sword”.

“….”, Maria hesitated for a second, the gears in her brain turning at maximum speed. However, she ended up giving the woman her blade.

“Thank you”, the woman smiled, taking the sword and walking away in the opposite direction of the gate before Maria could change her mind.

She sighed. Trying to get rid of the anxiety in her body, however, it still pressed on her chest without decreasing.

Making up her mind, she walked towards the eastern gate, her eyes filled with determination.

She jumped over the wall, avoiding the sight of the soldiers stated at the gates, and gently landed on the other side.

She couldn’t see anyone outside, however, she could feel the presence of three powerful demons not far away. They were not trying to hide.

Guided by it, she started walking until she reached a small lake, encircled by tall trees.

She could see two yomas sitting on the branches of a tree. The third demon was standing tall in front of her, a tall abyssal who’s claws were dripping blood on the floor.

“Where is she?”, Maria asked, hatred spilling from her every word.

“The traitor?“, the abyssal answered. “Sorry, she was a handful, no matter how many times we warned her, she just wouldn’t stay down”.

The demon’s skinless face could hardly make any expression, however, Maria could see that he was smiling with unmistakable malice.

“If you want her, you will have to pray her open from inside me, gahahaha”, he continued as he cackled.

“You are dead!”, Maria jumped at the Abyssal punching his skull and cracking it under the weight of her fist. The demon was sent flying, crashing against a nearby tree.

She directed her sight to the two demons sitting on a pair of branches, but they had no intention of joining the fight.

“Blain, make sure not to kill her. Hexecate is only interested in living royals”. The abyssal then stood up, the fractures in his skull already repairing themselves.

“…”, despite the hopeless situation, Maria had not given up. She could not kill an abyssal, her fighting style was simply incompatible. If that was so, her only hope was to rip him in half and retrieve Theresa from inside him, then run away.

Her only wish was for Theresa to still be alive inside the demon, if she was dead and the demon had already consumed her soul….

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the anxiety.

Hanging on the small hope, Maria moved to action.

“I’ll rip you apart!”, She jumped towards the demon, ready to let out all her hatred and frustration on the enemy in front of her.