Second Chance in the Demon Kingdom
Chapter 4

How long had she been fighting him? How long had their swords clashed? How long had she been hearing the crowd cheer for him to beat her?

It felt like hours for her since the fight began, and Caro and her opponent clashed blades once more, trying to overpower the other. Well, Caro was trying to overpower him; the Demon Prince didn’t look like he was even breaking a sweat, swinging his big sword singlehandedly with a satisfied smirk on his face. And it didn’t help that Caro hadn’t eaten a thing. Not only that, but she felt something off as time went on.

“I admit, you’re better than all the other humans I’ve fought,” he said to her. “But that doesn’t mean you have any chance!” He pushed Caro back and swung his sword once more.

Caro reacted just in time to jump back and avoid death, but still received a cut across her chest. The girl held her chest in pain but kept her ground, as the prince charged in at her again. She raised her sword to protect herself, but was forced back some. As she skidded to a stop and took a knee, she summoned her status box in front of her. Her suspicions about the funny feeling she had been having was confirmed as she laid her eyes on it. Somehow, some way, during her fight with the Demon Prince, her Attack and Defense stats had decreased to less than a quart of what they should be. If it was her Health Points, Stamina Points, or even Mana Points, she would understand. But how in the world were her Attack and Defense stats being reduced?

“I see you’re checking on your own status,” the Demon Prince said, catching her attention. “You know, when my guys handed me your confiscated belongings, your identification card was amongst them. And when I checked it, color me surprise at your level and stats. Never was there a human with a level as high as yours. The highest there was before you was a Level 72. For a level 529 human to be here, fate must be calling for someone.”

Hearing how high her level was shocked the demons, as they had never heard of anyone, much less a human, reach a level that high before. Not unless if they are legends that is.

“Oh? But if you’re looking at your stats, that means you’re seeing how low your Attack and Defense are. Let me tell you something about my blade, as thanks for making this battle entertaining. This sword is known as Cruor Lamina, otherwise called the Blood Blade. This demon blade drains the strength of my enemies each time it collides with their weapon.” Caro’s eyes widened at the explanation, knowing full well what that meant. “Understand? Now to further my gratitude in giving me so much additional power, allow me to end your life permanently... with my Demon Break!” Both hands on the hilt of his demon sword, an extremely strong pressure was released from him. The pressure was so strong, Caro had a hard time picking up her sword, much less breathing properly. No… More than that.

′What...? What the hell...?′ she thought. ’Am I... just going to be used again?′ Her mind went back to her betrayals once more, recalling how she was played for a fool once too many times. Each memory, each scene... were all angering her.

“Die! Quaking Avalanche!” the Demon Prince shouted, charging in at Caro with his sword raised.

The human glared ahead, and shouted, “Like hell I’m going to die a fool again!” Her blade glowing in for a Blade Burst, she shot forward at her opponent. ”Crimson Tempester!” She swung her glowing, blazing blade at the prince’s sword once, then with a back slash, then a spin slash, then with another slash, completely stopping the powerful swing! The result? A crater was formed beneath them, followed by a powerful shockwave that created a strong wind that blew everyone’s hair and fur away! Many demons in the audience were shocked at what they saw. Never, had they ever, seen anyone stop their prince’s Demon Break! And this is coming from a human of all races! And not only that... she used one of the ultimate-level Blade Burst and is still standing!

Both Caro and the Demon Prince pushed with all their might, this time both are trying hard to overpower the other. The mere fact that he was even trying to beat the human shocked the prince himself. ’This human... She shouldn’t have the energy to even use this Blade Burst. How is she even still standing?! Demo-Appraisal!′ His eyes glowed when he thought those two words. They then dilated at what he was seeing.

In the eyes of a demon, specifically one of the royal family, they are able to see the status of others through a special appraisal skill. And what the prince was seeing? He saw Caro’s Attack and Defense stats rising rapidly. He knew the effects of all Blade Bursts just as he does with Demon Breaks, and the Blade Burst Caro was using, in fact any Blade Burst a human can use, does not help a human up their power and defense in any way, shape and form. So how is it possible that Caro’s stats were increasing?

With a loud war cry, the girl managed to cancel out Quaking Avalanche completely, causing both fighters to be pushed back with a ring. While the prince was recovering from the forced cancel, Caro rushed back in and landed three remaining strikes from her skill, leaving a trio of cuts on her foe, who let out some grunts in pain. Though they were faint and light scratches, just witnessing a human actually injuring the prince surprised the crowd.

Unlike with Sonic Strike, Caro felt extreme fatigue and exhaustion from using Crimson Tempester, as she looked at her status bar and saw that she was completely out of stamina. Straining to move, the human turned and looked in time to see the prince swing his blade upward and used every ounce of strength left in her to move out of the way. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough and got sent flying. Not only that…

“Aahhhh!” Caro let out a cry, as she lied there and clutched her left eye in pain, feeling blood leak out from the newly formed cut.

“You really are interesting, for a human,” the prince said, walking towards hissing girl. “If you were anything but a human, I’d probably just end the duel here. But sadly for you, your sentence is already set!” Once he was by her side, he raised his sword. “Now die, human!” He swung down his blade.

Caro managed to push and rolled herself away from the strike and swung her blade with the Wind Wave Slash Blade Burst. Whether it was because of her complete lack of stamina or the pain she was in, she didn’t know, but her Blade Burst was much weaker than it should’ve been, only cutting a part of the prince’s clothes. Not only that, but she felt more exhausted, as Caro lied there, panting, still holding her eye, as she was slowly losing conscious.

“Just stay down… and die!” the prince shouted, his blade glowing in another Demon Break. Unlike the Quaking Avalanche, this one had a ball of dark energy appearing on the tip of his blade.

As she lied there, the human tried to get her body to move away from whatever attack he had in store. ’Damn it… Damn it! Move body! Move!’ she mentally shouted. Unfortunately, the combination of her exhaustion and pain was catching up to her quite fast, as Caro was slowly losing her conscious.

“Star-Shattering Destructor!” At the prince’s shout, a powerful dark blast was shot out of the beam.

In the end, Caro couldn’t do anything but watch the attack come closer to her, to end her once and for all. She closed her eyes and let slumber take its control over her, waiting for her fate to come.