Second Chance in the Demon Kingdom

Caro walked down the dark path. With each step she took, the cave had gotten eerier, darker, and creepier. Despite what the cave looked, she didn’t waver. Her goal was set, and she was not planning on staying in this illusion for another second, especially if it meant her unconsciously killing off lives in the real world.

The human reached a set of large doors. And just from the doors themselves, she felt it; a strong, deadly aura on the other side of them, no doubt coming from the illusions of her parents. She felt herself tremble slightly, and clenched her hand, steeling herself for the moment of truth, as she walked into the room.

Once she entered, torches were set, revealing a large, open area that seemed a lot like a battle arena. On the other side of it... were illusions of her parents in human form.

“Well look who has returned,” Illusion Mother spoke.

“Indeed. I assume this means a certain someone is ready to take their punishment,” Illusion Father said.

“You’d be fools if you think I’m here to let you boss me around any longer,” Caro retorted. “I’m not the same girl you monsters have been bossing around! Not like you two are them anyway.”

Hearing those words made the pair of illusions laugh.

“You think you’ve changed since then? Who was the one crying and begging to be spared like she always had?” Illusion Mother asked.

“The old me. The me who never had anything but pain and loneliness for most of her life. The me whose life was practically the definition of hell because of people who were suppose to be her parents! And by the way, the two of you, illusions or not, have been lousy parents!”

Neither of the disguised monsters were amused with the tone the girl used to speak to them.

“Young lady! You have no right to speak to your parents that way!” Illusion Mother yelled.

“You’re right! No one should speak to their parents that way! But you’re no one’s parents; you’re just a bunch of monsters!” Caro retorted.

Seeing her unwavering, determined eyes, her conviction, her lack of fear, made the pair snap. The adults let out a fearsome screech and started to change into their true, monstrous forms.

For the Illusion Mother, she grew blue scales on her body and her nails grew longer into claws. Her black hair was pointing upwards and getting spiky, changing to a red color. Her back was getting hunched, with spikes growing out of it, followed by demonic wings. Her face, which she hid by looking down to the floor, also morphed; her eyes now completely black with red pupils and her mouth into a gaping, circular maw with a long tongue sticking out.

As for the Illusion Father, bones teared out of his body, creating a creepy armor around him. Not only that, but even his own skull teared off his face, reforming itself into a demonic mask, as a large, bony tail and bony claws also appeared from his person. A pair of bones detached themselves from his body, forming into a scythe for him to use.

“You, young lady, are dead!” Illusion Mother screeched.

“It’s judgement time!” the illusion of a father shouted.

“The ones dying here... are the two of you!” Caro shouted, unsheathing her blade.

******

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Demon Prince and Caro’s possessed body also fought each other. Both struck hard and fast, so fast that many demons around them weren’t able to follow their movements much, and so hard that those watching could feel some light shockwaves here and there as the two clashed their blades.

’Damn it! She’s really different from during her execution!’ the prince thought. ’But how is that possible?! How did she get so strong?! Rather… why don’t I feel her getting weaker?’

Cruor Lamina was a special sword that drains an opponent of their energy each time they clashed blade with it. He knew its effect kicked in when he faced against Caro back during her execution. Why wasn’t it working now?

The two fighters distanced from each other. Caro’s weapon changed into her large axe, which glowed as she leapt into the air and slammed her weapon down to the ground, blade first. Once her blade made contact, a powerful shockwave was unleashed, and a crater was formed on the floor.

The prince managed to anticipate the attack and leapt over the girl the second before she struck the ground. He landed right behind her and, with his sword glowing for a Demon Break, swung in a reverse swing, only for Caro to block with a two-handed sword of her own. The pair put all their strength in their weapons, both trying to overpower the other. While their blades were locked, the Demon Prince used his Demo-Appraisal skill to check both his and Caro’s stats. Through it, he saw how his Attack and Defense stats were steadily growing, but Caro’s were still question marks.

This made the prince click his tongue, as he wondered exactly what was going on with his opponent before him. What was it about her that was different from back then? Where did she get such a powerful weapon that can change its own shape?

The possessed human didn’t give him any more time to ponder on, as she changed her grip on the hilt. The weapon glowed and changed its form once more. As it did so, this time, Caro rushed past the prince, causing the blade to slide down Cruor Lamina’s, and left a long cut on his arm. It wasn’t deep, but the fact that she landed a good hit on him was enough to catch him and the other demons off guard. And it didn’t help that the change in weapon caused the Demon Prince to lose his balance, as he had to take a heavy step forward to not fall on his face.

He quickly regained his composure and turned to his opponent, just in time for Caro to rush at him with her newly-formed dagger once more. His highness jumped out of her attack range and had his blade ready for a Demon Break once more, with a familiar ball of dark energy being gathered at the tip. If he couldn’t get her in close combat, he would have to try from long distance.

“Star-Shattering Destructor!” He launched his powerful attack at the human.

Caro simply held up her glowing dagger, as if to block the beam. It hit, and created an explosion, one powerful enough to even cause the castle to shake, bringing concerns and worries to the people up above.

The Demon Prince panted in exhaustion, as Star-Shattering Destructor was quite taxing in more ways than one. The many demon soldiers around him all cheered for his undoubted victory against the human girl. All except one that is.

The Demon King saw Caro’s body attempt to block the beam, and he knew how skilled she was in battle, possessed or not. And from that fight against his son, he knew this battle… was far from over.

“It’s not over yet!” he warned.

His warning caught the other demons’ attention, including his son’s, as the young prince looked past the fading smoke and saw something incredibly shocking. There in the smoke, where there should’ve been a dead corpse, was a standing Caro with a yellow barrier around her. In her hand was a shield, glowing in the same aura as the barrier. The aura faded away, along with the forcefield, and many demons saw that the floor the girl was standing on was left untouched, unlike the floor around her, indicating that the Star-Shattering Destructor… was successfully blocked.

Everyone was shocked to see this development. They did not at all expect for the girl to summon out a shield of all weapons and be able to block the attack like she did. They were even more so speechless that a human, the very same human that had trouble against their prince earlier, was most likely, most probably, going to defeat him.

None were as shocked as the prince himself, who was unable to move much due to the lack of stamina he now had thanks to his most powerful Demon Break.

Caro saw this and changed her shield back into a sword. She held it in two hands, the blade glowing for a Blade Burst and extending to twice— three times its original length. She dashed on forward, causing many to cover their eyes in fear of their prince’s fate. Suddenly, she stopped.

It wasn’t that she just stopped in her tracks and cancelled her burst, but more that she froze in place.

The Demon King, one of the very few who didn’t turn their eyes away from what would’ve been the finishing strike, looked and saw Caro’s shadow had extended outwards to something. Rather, it was something else’s shadow that reached out and stopped Caro’s body through her own shadow.

Standing behind the girl was none other than Kagero, the once Shadow Wolf now a Shadow Cerberus loyal to Caro, as well as the one using her shadow prowess to stop the human from killing off the prince.

“Hurry up and get him out of there! I can’t hold her for long!” she shouted, trying so hard to keep her hold on Caro’s shadow. Being a monster she was, however, all the demons heard were growls and barks.

Unfortunately, it was because of that, several soldiers misunderstood her intention.

“Now’s our chance while the Shadow Cerberus is holding her down!” one demon shouted.

“Kill that human!” another shouted.

The Demon King and Kagero widened their eyes at the conclusion they came to.

“Idiots! Don’t!” the former shouted.

It was already too late, for those very soldiers that wanted to kill the human all took a jump on the girl. Before they actually did something they would definitely regret, Kagero extended her shadow to their’s, stopping them in their track like she did with Caro.

“What the-?! What is the Shadow Cerberus doing?!” one of the bound soldiers questioned.

“Get those guys out of there this instant! My son as well!” the king ordered. At his command, the remaining soldiers quickly grabbed their comrades and the prince away from the human.

“Your majesty! What is the meaning of this?!” one bound demon asked.

“We had the human right where we want her!” another bound demon shouted.

“Idiots! You kill her, you kill off our only chance of surviving!” the Demon King scolded. The words he used caught the rest of the demons in the room by surprise and left them speechless and confused.

“Father… What do you mean?” the Demon Prince asked.

“I told you before. I will explain later. Right now is not the time.”

“The Shadow Cerberus has the human trapped! I say that is plenty of time to explain just what the hell is going on!”

Just as he said that, ‘Caro’ broke through from Kagero’s hold, cutting the spot where the prince once stood.

“This is why I said ‘later’,” the king lectured his son, as the two royals and Kagero prepared themselves for another round against the human.

******

Back in her mind, Caro was facing off against her demons, and she was having a bit of trouble against them. The Illusion Father was facing against her in close combat, clashing his scythe against her sword, and overpowering her immensely. While she was distracted with him, the Illusion Mother would attempt to sneak in some hits on Caro, in which the girl would constantly notice and avoid. And every time she tried to attack her Illusion Mother, the Illusion Father would intervene and force her to fight him.

“Where, oh where, did you get that mouth of yours, young lady?” he sarcastically asked, as the two locked blades with each other. “You claimed you would kill us, and yet your having so much trouble even landing a hit. I don’t remember raising you to lie, insolent brat!” He pushed Caro away, sending her flying across the arena.

“You never raised me, period!” she retorted, managing to skid to a stop.

The moment she stayed in place, the Illusion Mother appeared from behind, claws prepared to pierce through the girl. Caro anticipated the strike and managed to block them with her sword, pushing them away from her face.

“I cannot believe you dare raise a blade against me! Your own mother! I am very disappointed in you!” she screeched.

“You were never my mother! And there was never a time where you were at the very least happy to see me!” Caro argued, knocking the claws to the side and swinging her sword forward to land a cut on the female monster.

Unfortunately, like the previous times she tried to attack her, Caro’s attack was blocked by the Illusion Father’s scythe. The male demon then kicked Caro and sent her flying away.

The girl quickly recovered from the kick and prepared her sword for a Blade Burst. “Sonic Strike!” She charged at the pair of monsters, hoping her fastest Blade Burst would land its hit on one of them.

Good news: it did hit. Bad news: it was the father she struck… which unfortunately didn’t do much against his strong, bony armor.

The male monster smacked her weapon right out of her hand and swung his scythe down. He would’ve landed a horrible cut on the girl, if not kill her, had Caro not duck in time. The Illusion Mother appeared behind her and swiped her claws at the girl’s back. Caro held back a scream, knowing that her so-called parents take pleasure in hearing her cries of agony and refusing to give them what they want. The girl turned and grabbed the female monster before she could distance herself away and kneed her in the gut. Or at least, she attempted to, when the illusion hunched her body, causing Caro to miss and lose her balance, as the Illusion Mother also pushed her down to the ground. The female monster clutched the human’s throat and began to choke the life out of the human girl.

“You need to be greatly disciplined for your action, young lady! It is time for you to know your true place!” she claimed, her tongue wriggling around as she spoke while Caro clawed her hand to make her release her grip.

The girl then responded by punching the monster of a woman right in the mouth, breaking a tooth or two as well as scratching up her fist in the process. This caused the Illusion Mother to release her hold, giving Caro the chance to breathe and distance herself from the demons.

The girl gripped her shoulder in pain and fell on her knees. She looked up and glared at the pair.

“Ow! My face! That damn brat ruined my face!” the illusion mother whined, holding her mouth in pain.

The Illusion Father turned with glowing red eyes. “Young lady! I see your punishment must be severe to get through to that idiot head of yours!” As he said that, he slammed his scythe down and let out a roar.

Caro gritted her teeth at this. ’Damn it… What should I do? I can’t handle them both on my own,’ she thought. ’If only… If only I had help somehow.’

******

In the real world, the Demon King, his son, and Kagero struggled to at least hold Caro down. However, even with a three-on-one, it was difficult to fight off this one human girl, not when she had a weapon that could change into many others, and certainly not when she seemed very proficient in using them all.

The Shadow Cerberus tried once more to keep her in place using her shadows, but the human managed to either avoid it or toss someone or something else in the way, thus saving herself from being bound. While she was distracted with that, the Demon Prince rushed at her and swung his Cruor Lamina down in a Quaking Avalanche.

Caro changed her current weapon into a shield and raised the glowing defense mechanism up to block the strike. Not only that, once the blade made contact, the shield set off an explosion and blew the prince back.

The Demon King came in after him, teaming up with Kagero to try to strike the human down. Their efforts were futile, however, as Caro, with her weapon now a spear, unleashed a Blade Burst that created multiple drilling wind of energy at the pair. The duo did their best to deflect them all, but they turned out to be distractions, as Caro got behind them and struck them both with a good Wind Wave Slash Blade Burst, knocking them both down.

The Demon King got up to his knees and stared at the possessed human. ’She’s too strong. I don’t know if it’s all her skills, or if that is all done by that hilt, but at this rate we won’t be able to stop her without…’ He shook the remaining thoughts out of his head, not wanting to even think about what they should do if Caro fails the trial, if she hadn’t already.

When he looked down, his eyes widened as he saw Ruby’s ear ring on the floor, right between him and the approaching human. He reached out to grab it before Caro could do anything to it in any way, when he saw it glowing, and Caro coming to a slow stop.

The possessed human simply looked down at the accessory. She bent down to pick it up, when her wielding arm suddenly went and smacked it away with the sword.

This action shocked and confused the Demon King, until he remembered one other important thing about the ring. ’That’s right! That ring is the Orison Ring, a ring that lessens the effect of a curse. Caro’s mind may be going through that test, but her body… That hilt may also have a curse effect on the body. If that is true…’

A clang was heard, and the king looked up to see his son blocking Caro’s Blade Burner Blade Burst.

“Father! Now is not the time to space out!” the Demon Prince said.

“I have an idea!” the king told him. “Keep her company!” He then took off to where the human knocked the ring to.

Though he didn’t know what his father was planning, he knew the man was not one to just leave a fight unfinished. Plus, he did say he had an idea. As such, the prince did what he could to keep Caro busy, as requested. When he noticed the girl even planning to go after his father, to stop him from his plan, he held her back however he could.

“Now Shadow Cerberus!” came the king’s words.

Kagero used her shadow to bound Caro and the Demon Prince, both who locked blades with each other. The Demon King came from behind the human and locked the ring right onto her wrist.

Seeing this action made the prince look at his father in disbelief. “You went to get that bracelet?! What good-?!”

“Release her slowly,” the king told Kagero, to everyone’s shock.

None dared question his judgement, as the Shadow Cerberus slowly released her hold on the girl and the prince. Once all her shadows parted from their’s, to the other demons’ shock, Caro’s position was still, as though Kagero was still holding her down.

A smile formed on the king’s face when he saw this. “My brother…” he breathed out.

******

In Caro’s mind, things were not looking too good for her. With a horrible wound on her, it hindered how she fought, thus gave her enemies plenty of advantages to land some more cuts and hits on her. And each time, she refused to cry out, which annoyed them even more than her courage.

“Why don’t you scream?!” the Illusion Father demanded, picking the weakened girl up by the throat.

“Stop acting tough, you weakling!” the Illusion Mother screeched.

Caro simply looked at them in the eyes… and spat at them.

Seeing that the human wouldn’t submit still, the pair of parents sighed.

“And here we were hoping to enjoy this a little longer,” the father said. “Well, it’s been fun while it lasted. Now… die!” He raised his scythe and brought it down for the kill.

Before the blade could touch her, a green magic circle appeared underneath them, catching the monsters’ attention.

“What?!” the mother gasped out.

Illusion Father quickly dropped the girl and both hastily moved away from the circle. Rather than causing anything that inflicts pain, though, the circle was healing Caro of her injuries. The weakened human felt all her pain slowly fade, and saw the cuts on her body closing up.

“What the…? Who…?” she breathed out.

“The reason why you should never throw away gifts,” came a familiar voice.

Caro turned to the voice and couldn’t believe who was standing there before her. There, in her red and orange cloak, her hood down revealing her white hair and wolf ears was…

“Ruby?”