Seeing Remi lie unconsciously on the floor filled her with overwhelming rage, but Shina kept her composure. She knew better than to recklessly charge at the enemy when she knew almost nothing about them.
That's right, Shina had never seen a demon. Only in books and stories had she been able to know about them. All information about demons said that they were merciless, unreasonable and incredibly selfish beings.
Things like compassion or love, even basic gratitude, were so foreign to them that you could spend the next one hundred years teaching a demon about the human emotions and they wouldn't get it.
Their lives were dictated solely by their own desires, their society was built in fear. The weak must obey the strong, and the strong will rule over all. And that was exactly why they were all under the control of the Demon King, the strongest demon in the world.
The weaker demons were kept alive as long as they were useful, and they will continue to obey whoever was keeping them alive. But as soon as they saw an opportunity, they would turn their backs on their own if it benefitted them.
'What a disgusting way to live,' Shina thought. It seemed like demons were the culmination of the things humans ought to not become.
Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Dheinyrus. As expected, he was just calmly standing there, observing in silence.
It was obvious that he wasn't planning to fight.
'He's giving me a chance to prove that I can protect myself...'
She had to fight on her own.
This was going to be the hardest battle of her life. Demons were nothing like she had ever faced before. Even an entire platoon would struggle with a bottom-ranking demon, so what were her chances against an evolved one?
Alas, if she wanted freedom, she had to earn it.
"We've been waiting for this moment," the demoness muttered.
"Finally, our goal will be reached after a millennium!"
Shina began to walk forward, her eyes analyzing everything in front of her. Everything she could use, everything she needed to avoid, she engraved it all in her mind and slowly built a strategy on how she could win this seemingly impossible battle.
'Dheinyrus doesn't think it's impossible. I can do this!'
Gritting her teeth, Shina dashed forward, letting her arms glide behind to make her attack even more unpredictable.
So far, she'd only seen the demoness use one ability: the mysterious, unseen force that blocked Remi's fire-breath and knocked him away.
'There's gotta be an explanation to it somehow.'
Shina circled around the demon who just remained motionless, but there was something sinister about the way she followed the princess with her eyes.
In a perfect angle, Shina launched an attack. She bolted towards the demon with explosive speed, her blades ready to slash.
And then...
'There it is!!!'
Shina skidded to a stop as soon as she saw the demon move a finger. A split second later, the part of the concrete floor where she was supposed to be standing if she hadn't stopped, had been completely crushed by an invisible force.
The demoness looked at her with an amused grin.
"Not bad, human."
Although panting, a smirk also crossed Shina's face.
"That's cheating, you know?" she said.
"Are you just gonna rely on that invisible power of yours to fight a human like me, you coward?"
The grin on the demoness' face vanished. She glared at Shina with utter contempt.
"Fine, I'll humor you with a fair fight," she responded. The abominations behind her dutifully stood by, waiting for any of her command.
Deadly sharp claws protruded from the demoness' fingertips.
"Let's begin."
Though Dhein had already seen Shadowblade in action, seeing Shina showcase the master class techniques she'd learned from her training was nothing short of surreal. If he didn't know her, a princess would be the last thing he would assume her to be.
It angered him to no end how he could only watch her fight, unable to help in any way.
She clashed with the demoness, her blades against her claws. With the highest echelon of martial arts, Shina nimbly dodged the sharp claws while throwing attacks of her own.
The blades inside her suit protruded and retracted on command. If she needed room to twist and turn, or if she needed to hide her next strike, the blade slid inside the forearm of the suit. It only showed itself when Shina was about to attack or if she had to block.
Unfortunately, the enemy figured this out and adapted to her fighting style. Shina tried to counter this adjustment by making feints herself.
But maybe it was because of her lack of experience that she got overwhelmed in this battle of wits.
Dhein watched nervously as the next events unfolded.
Shina managed to block a set of deadly claws from tearing her apart. However, she wasn't able to block the devastating knee strike directed to her abdomen.
The impact sent the girl flying a couple of meters.
Shina clutched her stomach, the intense pain made the very act of breathing impossible.
Despite the ringing in her ears, coupled with the deafening beat of her own heart, she managed to hear footsteps coming her way. Shina lifted her head only to see a demoness with pale, violet skin, walking towards her.
"Where's your defiance now?" she asked mockingly.
The demoness stepped on Shina's head, adding more and more weight to forcefully lower her face to the floor.
"This is where it ends. Your soul will be o—"
An accelerating baby dragon hit the demoness from the side, throwing her away from Shina. This gave her enough time to get up and drink the liquid mana from her vial, granting her the ability to use magic temporarily.
Shina ignored the crippling pain and continued the fight.
Using wind magic, she propelled herself upward. From that angle, she pulled out her hand bow and shot several arrows midair, piercing through the demoness' nape and shoulders.
As Shina landed behind her enemy, she slashed the demon on the back, spilling her ominous blood on the floor.
The princess immediately backed away after this combination.
With hatred radiating from her, the demoness slowly turned to Shina, full of rage.
"You asked for a fair fight and you do this?"
A growing sense of dread creeped into Shina's heart as the unseen entity's presence had returned.
The demon extended her arms forward, and the wind blew the wrong way.
"Deal is off."