Chapter 200 The Courage Of A Princess [Hell - Part VI]

For the first time in my short life, I was on the battlefield alongside my sister and the Empire she had created with incredible courage and strength. For the first time I could fight with a body and do my best to protect our dream and our family. Nothing could stop me from accomplishing what I had promised myself and certainly not those two humans I was fighting with Commander Caipy.

The Paladin I was fighting was a lightning mage like me, but with my level 15, I couldn't possibly defeat him in the normal way. Onee-san had just put on a show worthy of the Empress that she was, which even gave me the shivers so it was out of the question that I did not give my best. Even if I had to hurt myself, I knew deep down that I would succeed...I had to.

My fight had only started a few minutes ago but it had already forced me to think very fast to always find a solution and a way out. It is then with an almost faultless determination that I had used my lightning element to slip into the back of my opponent. The bearded man had just countered my attack and I had taken advantage of it to surprise him from behind.

"Hello there~"

As I said these words, I threw my scythe in his direction without hesitation, dropping it completely to let it fly straight to his heart. As Caipy had warned me, the Paladin was more powerful than I was, but his body was not trained for a wild and long hand-to-hand fight. So I had to use my experience alongside my big sister and my cunning to defeat him without getting hit and killed.

"H-How ??"

The man was surprised for a moment but still reacted very quickly as he pulled out a sword from behind his toga to stop my scythe. Using my skill "The 1,000 Silent Steps" again, I started to run in his direction without even asking questions. I had to be fast, hit hard and above all in the right place to be sure to do maximum damage.

My skill, linked to my element "Illusionary Demonic Lightning", allowed me to disappear for a short time thanks to the lightning contained in my feet and my body. I could also give the illusion that I was splitting or blurring my image to confuse the enemy. I still had a lot to learn about this strange element but I already knew enough to be able to defeat this human.

"Vile demon !"

With a strangely precise gesture and more powerful than I thought, his sword struck the black and red blade of my scythe sending it crashing several feet away. However, it was already too late because I was on his left side with my fist ready to crash against his ribs. Everything happened very fast and as my scythe was planted in the ground, my fist hit his body with all the power I had.

"Aaaarrrgg !!!"

"Uuurg !"

The man with the blonde beard let out a cry of pain as I heard some of his bones crack under the power of the blow I had just dealt him. However, he wasn't the only one screaming because I too screamed, realizing something that hadn't occurred to me before. Indeed, I had not missed my target, but at the moment of impact, two of my fingers broke because his body was so hard.

It was my first real body pain and the sensation was far from pleasant, giving me the effect of an electric shock. When I was in Freya's body, I had endured a lot of pain without ever telling her, but this was different. My hand was shaking, I could feel my heart beating in my fingers which were already starting to swell. Everything was hard to bear, even closing my hand when it was only two small broken fingers.

[Uuurg ! He...He may be the weaker of the two physically due to lack of training, but he is still...a level 35. If...if it had been the Knight, with the strength I put in my blow, my hand...my hand would have exploded]

I knew I was stronger than any level 15 human but at that moment, I couldn't help but tremble. Freya trusted me and I didn't want to be a burden to all those brave soldiers who were fighting for their families...for the Empire. However, without even meaning to, I realized my own weakness through the intense pain that seemed to violently shoot through my entire right arm.

Deep down I was terrified, I was smiling, joking and focused but fighting for the first time was not easy. During the few days before the war, I had trained like crazy and found my weapon of choice but nothing could compare to the field. Onee-san had warned me about this unconscious and natural fear that would overtake me after the first few minutes but it was harder than I thought.

This fear had been accentuated when I realized that to beat this man even physically, I had to bear a pain almost equal to his. Of course, I could always strike with my weapon, but limiting myself to its sole use was anything but intelligent. To win I had to push myself and suffer...I had come to this battlefield knowingly but at that very moment, I was terrified.

"You...*cough*...*cough*...you're going to pay for this !"

[Shit !]

I didn't have time to think about anything more than that as the Paladin was already lunging at me, his fists crackling with his orange lightning ready to strike. Trying to ignore the fear I felt, I prepared myself to receive him by crackling my own lightning all over my body. Within seconds the man was standing at my level and began to send small balls of lightning at the same time as his punches.

"Die creatures of Hell !!! You are nothing but a subrace !!!"

The human was screaming at the top of his lungs despite his broken ribs and didn't even give me time to retaliate, swinging his fists ever faster. I couldn't fight back, he was very fast and too close for me to escape without getting hit. I could only dodge as much as I could, trying to anticipate his movements but the difference in level was starting to show.

I moved my body from side to side, ducking and rising, but my feet only went backward second by second. The Paladin's fists hissed and split the air and the more time passed, the more I felt his lightning tingling my skin. I was running out of steam, the rain of blows was making me more and more lost when suddenly, one of them that I could barely dodge, hit my leg.

"Aaarrgg !!!!"

The man had been about to hit my face and to dodge him, I had jumped back not without his fist hitting my left leg. He had only touched a small part of it but it still caused me a new intense pain. As if all my muscles had contracted in one place, this pain was internal but also external since the power of his lightning had burned my skin.

"Uuuurg !!!"

As I landed five meters away, when my left foot touched the ground, my leg buckled under my weight unable to support me. It shook, throbbed horribly, and at that moment all the confidence I had had up to that point crumbled. Was it broken ? This human had hardly touched me and yet I was already on the ground, why ? Because I was far too weak and naive to realize that I was going to lose.

How do you defeat an enemy that can kill you just by hitting you in the right place at the right time ? How did my older sister cope with such pain ? My mind was again filled with doubts as I tried to get up. Luckily, I had landed near my scythe, so I used it as a support to stand on my two legs without succeeding.

"Hahahaha~ see how inferior and weak you are, subrace !!!

"No I...

"Shut up !!! How can you deny it when you can't even stand up after a single blow to your leg ? Where is your determination from earlier huh ? Hahahaha~!!!"

[I...I don't know...]

The human with the blonde beard laughed as he saw me on the ground, continuing to crush my pride a little more as he shouted this terrible truth in my face. I wanted to fight, I wanted to help, but I realized that I just didn't have the strength, or at least not alone. I had only one mission : to neutralize this man who was a masterpiece of the human army, but I was unable to do so.

[I...onee-san...it hurts...]

Without even realizing it, I had unconsciously talked to my big sister who, at that moment, was the only one who could give me courage. My leg still hurt like hell, and every time I tried to get up, I would collapse on myself because of the pain. My fingers also hurt, my arm was numb and coupled with the pain in my leg, I felt trapped in my own weakness.

"I have to admit, you had me fooled at first, but in the end...you will die like the pathetic being you are !"

As he finished his sentence, a new ball of lightning as big as the previous one formed in front of him as he incanted. Time was running out, I had to get up and dodge if I didn't want to die stupidly without having accomplished anything. Shaking my head, I tried once again to stand on my legs in spite of this physical and mental exhaustion more and more unbearable.

[Shiro must still...uurg...must still bless me with her cuteness]

I was doing everything to give myself courage, I was thinking about my family, about my little niece who was probably worried about us with Angel and yet it was not enough. The sounds of fighting next to me were deafening, the smell of burning disturbed me and the taste of blood in my mouth disgusted me. How could I not go crazy in such a crazy first war ?

[Onee-san...how to hold on and resist ?]

"Die !"

While I was asking myself these questions while fighting against my own body and mind, the orange ball of lightning was thrown at me. It was going at a great speed and at that moment, I knew that I would not be able to avoid it without seriously injuring myself. As I gathered all my strength to try to stand up one last time, I felt hot tears running down my face...I was scared to death.

[I...I'm not going to make it...]

I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be brave so that my big sister would be proud of me, I wanted to protect my family and be worthy of my title of Princess of Elysium. But, the harsh reality caught up with me and as I saw my end coming, just when there were only a few meters left, a huge wall of ice stood in front of me. Out of nowhere, the ball of lightning crashed against it without even shaking it while a familiar voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

*Kira, little sister...breathe, don't cry...I'm here ! I know you can do this and whatever happens, I will always be proud of you and always be there for you. Can you hear me Kira ? I'm watching over you, so get up ! Get your claws out, get your fangs out and show this pathetic human how fierce you can be ! Show him the power of the Nightshades !

[O-Onee-san...]

Looking around, I could see Freya, my older sister, the Empress of the Empire, looking at me intently with a sweet smile. No one was looking at her, no one was looking at me, but we were looking at each other and in an instant, the fear was gone. I knew that she had not flown to my rescue so that I would not have regrets later, but I also knew that she was protecting me from where she was without ever taking her eyes off me.

This thought reassured me, warmed my heart and the tears of sadness and pain that I was crying turned into tears of joy. My big sister had faith in me, even when I was losing faith in my own abilities she never stopped supporting me as I supported her. Wiping away my tears with a smile, I knew what I had to do and now despite the pain I was no longer afraid.

[Sigh...I'm sorry onee-san. Haha~ how could I forget ? Show him the power of Nightshades ? Show him how fierce I am ? With you by my side, I know I can achieve anything !!!]

Without even taking the time to get up, I focused all my mind on my body, kneading all my mana inside me. I could feel all my limbs heating up and buckling as I began to transform into a beast. How could I forget ? Before I was a young woman, I was first and foremost The Greedy Fox, 6th Demon Sin and second most powerful, Kira Nightshade, little sister to the ancient Goddess Lucifer Nightshade.

My body was growing, my fangs were getting longer, my hands were becoming paws and my light skin was being replaced by a beautiful silver fur. In front of me, the human's face had completely changed and this time it was his turn to shake like a leaf. My left hind leg was hurting but in this form and with the courage that animated me again, it was definitely bearable.

For the first time, I was going to fight in my fox form and even though I had never done it before, a fierce rage and blind courage came over me. I was still terrified but no longer paralyzed, I was still in pain but nothing was going to stop me because today, under the hot afternoon sun...the second Demon named Nightshade was going to unleash herself.

___

FULL STATUS

Names : Freya / Lucifer Nightshade

Age : 0 years old / Mentally : 25 years old

Sex : Female

Course: Ice Demon Wolf of Chaos - Adult

Race : Imperial Demon

Titles :

- Demon Goddess of Primordial Blood and Death (former - until all powers are recovered) - 20%.

- Wrathful Lucifer (7th Sin) - Master of the uniques Sins Demons (to unlock it, please gather the other 6 - 3/6 - (locked)

- Dragon tamer

- Ruthless slayer

Level : 45/70

Exp needed for next level: 0 / 46 000

HP : 170 000 / 170 000 MP : 50 000 / 85 000. BLOOD : 100 / 100

Strength: 560

Defense : 560

Agility : 566

Endurance: 563

Speed : 562

Intelligence: 560

Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 600

Married to : Gaya Nightshade

Daughter : Shiro Nightshade

Twins (son & daughter) : Tyle & Altaïs Nightshade

Little sister : Kira Nightshade (Greedy Fox)

Big sister : Kalaa Nightshade

Empire (menu)

Subordinates: 2239

Humans killed: 153

Souls: 2/3

Elements: Ice / Chaos (Freya) - Blood / Death (Lucifer)

Skills (all):

Attacks :

- Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of hell (Lvl 6)

- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)

- Fighting techniques (Lvl max)

- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)

- Demonic Empress aura (lvl 6)

Défense :

- Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

- Pain Resistance (lvl 5)

Attack/Defense :

- Domain of the Ice Empress "Frozen Wrath" (lvl 3)

- Death Gaze (lvl 1)

Others :

- Humanoid form

- Demonic form (linked to the title so incomplete) - 20%.

- Ice creation (Lvl 6)

- Detection and control of mana (lvl 5)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)

- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 5)

- Master of Souls (lvl 2)

- Lucifer's Threads of Blood (lvl 2)

- Healing Blood (lvl 2)

- Analysis

- Telepathy

Passives :

- Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]