“Jesus H Christ…” Augrun groaned as he was sent flying by another punch from the Ashen Vampire. 

The audience had gone silent and the Demon Queen was now looking at him with an expression mixed with anxiety and disappointment. Augrun could understand why she would give that sort of look towards her child. She had spent a great deal of her resources and time to conceive and give birth to him but all those efforts of hers were nowhere to be seen. Even he himself would be disappointed. One would need to be a saint in order to not feel any disappointment. Let alone a saint, the Demon Queen wasn’t even human. 

In spite of all that, Augrun wasn’t afraid nor was he feeling any trepidation. In the end, this was just a simple fight with a simple goal. There was no underlying meaning nor a hidden intention. He didn’t need to be worried about pissing some shadow sponsor off or inadvertently tipping the scales of some rigged betting or any of that sort of bullshit. He could just let loose and fight to his heart’s content. Also, he was young again. His bones were no longer creaking with every twist or turn of his body. He no longer ran out of breath as quick as before. The phantom pain from his past injuries was gone. And he was only getting more and more zestful as the fight went on. He was feeling better than he ever had in his prime. It was good to be young again.

The Ashen Vampire was as fast as an arrow and as agile as a fly. Augrun could follow its movements but being able to respond to it was another story. The vampire was fighting in a way that Augrun had never known. It could disappear and reappear nearly everywhere in a short distance. It hit as hard as a gun but that wasn’t enough to kill a Demon Prince like Augrun. It hurt, sure, but it was nowhere near being lethal. Still, it wasn’t pleasant to keep being hit without being able to retaliate but that wouldn’t be the case for long.

The Ashen Vampire charged at Augrun straight away after a haymaker that sent him stumbling. It threw its fist without restraint or any regard. Augrun capitalised on that. Having seen and dissected the Ashen Vampire’s movements and form, Augrun dodged that punch and grabbed its overextended arm. Using its own momentum, he swung the vampire overhead and slammed it right into the ground. The stage trembled as the vampire cratered into the spot it was slammed onto.

The audience let out another gasp, louder this time. The Demon Queen did not gasp but she was showing an expression of awe and expectancy.

The Ashen Vampire bounced right back up and spun with its claws swinging. Augrun backstepped from the swipe and trapped its arm. He drew the vampire in and smashed his head against the vampire’s own. The vampire grimaced and Augrun contorted its face further with a hook from the side. He immediately followed up with another to the vampire’s ribs and a straight into its solar plexus. The vampire retched but Augrun closed its mouth with an uppercut. Finally, he sent the vampire flying with a palm thrust. It went tumbling and sprawling across the stage like it had done to him all this while.

The audience burst into cheers once again. It wasn’t as loud as before since some of the Demons were left astounded by the sudden shift in the battle flow. The Demon Queen was smiling again and tears were being shed. She looked almost as if a great fear of hers was dispelled.

Augrun met the crowd’s cheers in relish with waves. He had never had the opportunity to do something like this, giving back his love and appreciation to the ones that were cheering for his success. He had only ever seen it on television and now, he was doing just that. And he had to admit, it felt good being the centre of attention, the good kind of attention, not the kind where the attention only garnered him knives and bullets. Though the Demons varied greatly and bizarrely, Augrun did see a couple of female Demons that had appearances that were to his liking. A hitman he might have been, he wasn’t celibate. He was a human with desires. Now that he was a prince, he couldn’t help but wonder if there were daughters from prestigious houses waiting in a long line to court him like how it was in his former world.

A growl snapped Augrun out of his daydream. The Ashen Vampire was still about. This rite wasn’t over yet. It screeched angrily at Augrun and bled itself by cutting into its own arms with its own claws. With the blood that came gushing out, it created a pair of short blades out of its own blood. Blood Armaments, that name came to Augrun’s mind. It was a magic that allowed the caster to create weapons using their own blood and it wasn’t an easy magic to learn. Furthermore, a Blood Armament had the capability of cutting spells but Augrun wouldn’t be using any spells. He was still unlearned on the matter of spells. He had yet to comb through that side of his memories. The vampire disappeared from his sight. Augrun didn’t need to know where it went. He just crouched down, dodging under a slash from behind, and rose back up with an uppercut to the Ashen Vampire. 

“Impressive,” the Demon Queen muttered and Augrun heard it. His hearing had become incredibly sensitive.

The Ashen Vampire quickly recovered from its daze and lunged again. Augrun dodged two high cuts from the vampire and blocked one low cut. The vampire moved to the side like it was swaying and struck from there. Having seen through its form, Augrun easily deflected its blows with only his bare hands and countered with a few jabs into its torso. As the vampire went stumbling, Augrun reeled it back in and slammed both of his fists into its chest. The Ashen Vampire plunged into the ground like it was being launched from a cannon. 

The Demons who had remained silent before were now also cheering and clapping. The Demon Queen was also lightly tapping her palms against one another.

The Ashen Vampire staggered to its feet and disappeared from Augrun’s sight again. He sighed and turned around, just as a blade came thrusting. He let the blade pierce all the way through his palm until its grip touched his palm and he grinned at the Ashen Vampire as he grabbed its hand firmly. The vampire’s black eyes widened. It tried stabbing Augrun with its other blade but his other slipped through its thrust and caught it by its wrist. With a strong twist, the vampire cried and let go of the blade. Augrun snatched the blade right off the air and plunged it right into the heart of the Ashen Vampire. There was no sound nor a gag as the vampire gaped open its mouth. Augrun pushed the blade deeper into its body until the vampire made a gagging sound, its dying throe. He then took the other blade from the vampire’s weakened grip and impaled the vampire’s neck with it. He grabbed the blade impaling its neck from the other end and gave it a good pull, severing the vampire’s head from its body.

The body of the Ashen Vampire instantly turned into dust and the faint breeze scattered it everywhere. 

Augrun allowed himself a moment of respite as he knew the rite was not over. The faces of the audiences only grew darker with anticipation and dread, and so did the queen’s face. He knew what those faces meant. They knew the rite was only going to get harder and they were doubting his abilities and strength considering how much difficulty he was already having in just the beginning. He could understand their trepidation and he was eager to prove to them that they should be feeling stupid for doubting him. No, he just wanted to prove himself. This was his new life, his second chance, and he wanted to prove that he was deserving of this second chance.

More blood puddles appeared around him and from these puddles. Ashen Vampires emerged from these puddles like they were crawling out of the holes in search of prey. These Ashen Vampires immediately showed their Blood Armaments. Three of them fancied themselves short stakes and the other three defaulted to twin blades. Augrun was just wondering what they would be doing with those short stakes, the three of the stake wielders tossed the blood-forged weapons in their hands. The stakes flew as fast as arrows released from bows. Augrun dodged two of the stakes but the third one stabbed into his shoulder. Meanwhile, the other three twin bladers rushed at him with their blinking speed. Instead of frowning, he grinned. It was folly to rush at a single person from opposite sides, especially with a sharp tool.

Augrun spun and deflected a thrust with the blood-forged stake and that thrust was veered into the heart of another Ashen Vampire. Taking advantage of the confusion, he blocked the third thrust by shoving the stabbed vampire into that thrust. He then sent a straight punch into the twice-stabbed vampire’s chest, sending all three of the vampires rolling and tumbling in shambles away. The remaining three Ashen Vampires switched their weapons into swords and lunged at Augrun from the same side without using their teleportation skill. Augrun met their adaptive fervour with a disparaging smirk. He threw the stake to the ground just before them. The stake ricocheted right off the ground and flew right into the face of the Ashen Vampire in the middle.

“Clever,” the Demon Queen muttered under her breath.

The two Ashen Vampires were taken off guard by such a devious trick and Augrun closed in on them before they recovered from their shock. Using his claws, something he forgot he had, he plunged his hand into the heart of the Ashen Vampire on the right. The vampire on the left regained its senses and attacked with a screech. Augrun pulled the vampire’s heart out and squeezed the blood, spurting it at the face of the charging vampire. As the two Vampires gradually turned to dust, Augrun plunged the sword of the blinded vampire into its own heart. Before it could fade off into dust, he pulled the sword out and threw it at the two remaining vampires that had accidentally killed one of their own through Augrun’s manipulation. The two vampires disappeared from his sight before the sword could reach them. Augrun thrust his arm out to one side and tossed the fading vampire to the other side. The two vampires reappeared on both of Augrun’s sides but the one on the right was greeted by the dispersing body of its kin. Augrun devoted his focus to the one on his left. The vampire took a step back with a small yelp as Augrun took a step forward. Though they weren’t real, they were still capable of primal emotions such as fear and the one in front of him was possessed by fear.

The audiences were gasping and uttering their disbeliefs. From their murmurs, Augrun found out that beings created from the rite do not succumb easily to primal emotions, but he was making them do so.

“Behold, my son, the Prince, the future king,” Nephilia whispered triumphantly with a smile on the verge of breaking out.

Furious over being led to experience fear, the Ashen Vampire screeched loudly and swung its sword wildly as it charged at Augrun. The Demon Prince responded to the erratic attacks with calm and composed movements. He swiftly evaded each of the slashes and strikes. Feral the attacks might be, the loss of the vampire’s composure had left itself as an open book for a seasoned death dealer like Augrun. Though he was focused on the vampire in front of him, he didn’t forget about the other vampire who he had kept busy with a fading corpse of its kin. It was about time the corpse had reduced into nothing but dust and the vampire was definitely rushing at him with humiliation painting its face.

Augrun stepped to the side and avoided a thrust from behind and a slash from the front. Before the vampires could reel in their fumbled strikes, Augrun trapped its sword under his feet and kneed the vampires in their faces. He bounced the swords into his grip with a stomp and impaled the two through their hearts with their own swords. These were the last two of the six but not the last ones the rite had to offer.

As the two vampires slowly faded into dust, a single blood puddle was formed and another Ashen Vampire emerged from it. This one fancied itself a short sword with its Blood Armament. It flashed Augrun a grin and disappeared from his sight. 

“This one’s different,” Augrun muttered to himself.

The Ashen Vampire reappeared right in front of him with its sword swinging and just as Augrun was about to stop its swing by trapping its arm, it disappeared again. In the next second, Augrun felt a sharp edge cutting across his back. He cried and spun around swinging his fist but there was no one to be found. Before Augrun could understand what was happening, his left shoulder received another cut. He looked to the left and found only the wind. Something struck him from the front, sending him off his feet, but there was no one in front of him.

Augrun managed to stay upright on his feet despite the abrupt assault but not for long. A fresh cut appeared on his right cheek. Another cut appeared on his left shoulder. A force akin to a kick struck his rib from the side. An uppercut he could only feel sent him rolling head over heels. 

Augrun heard a gleeful devious chuckle as he struggled to push himself to his feet. He had his gaze raised as he stood, watching the Ashen Vampire ambling confidently towards him with a wide grin on its face and the blood-soaked blood-forged sword in its hand. The Ashen Vampire could easily kill him but it didn’t, and Augrun somehow doubted it was because it wasn’t allowed to. It simply didn’t want to. He knew those eyes. It was the eyes of a vain sadist. Augrun wondered if this was the real reason the Demon Queen culled them all personally.

The Ashen Vampire dispelled its Blood Armament and gestured for Augrun to seize this chance to attack it. Augrun cackled and he cackled loudly, startling everyone, including the Ashen Vampire and the Demon Queen. 

“You sure about that, Mister Chalk Skin?” Augrun returned the taunt. Chalk Skin was the derogatory term for the Ashen Vampires due to the colour of their skin. “You want me to attack? You sure you don’t want to just kill me now and claim my position as the Prince?”

Those words were tantamount to treason and it was punishable by eternal suffering, a fate worse than death. The whole arena turned much quieter than before. Not even a single breath could be heard.

“You can kill me any time you want but instead, you chose to play with your prey. That’s very stupid of you Chalk Skin, or it’s your brain made of chalks too?”

The Ashen Vampire snorted and disappeared right as it lunged right after taking its first step.

This was the one thing Augrun liked about sadist opponents. They just kept giving him a second chance. When he was Damien, he had suffered and lost a lot at the hands of intelligent sadists but he always prevailed in the end due to these sadists missing their chances again and again until he could capitalise on it. And this was what Augrun was doing.

He thrust his right claw out to his front and coiled his fingers around the air in front of his heart. The Ashen Vampire reappeared with a grin and a face filled with confidence but all that was wiped from its face in the next second. Its grin was replaced by a gaping mouth and its confidence was replaced by disbelief. Its short sword aiming for Augrun’s heart was stopped by his hand wrapped around its sword and Augrun’s other hand was plunged deep into its heart.

“Easy,” Augrun said. “Too easy.” And he pulled out his claw, along with the Ashen Vampire’s heart.

The Ashen Vampire scoffed with a chuckle as it slowly turned into dust.

There was no cheering nor any applause from the Demons. They were all just silently staring at Augrun. All of the Demons bore faces of pride and reverence, including the maids and the servants.

Then, cracks were formed all over the stage, signifying the end of the rite.

“The rite is over!” bellowed the Demon Queen. “My son reigned victorious!”

At those words, all of the Demons, except for the Demon Queen, bent their knees and bowed towards Augrun. The Demons that didn’t have legs or any limbs were flattening themselves instead, their way of kneeling and bowing, Augrun gathered.

It felt good, Augrun uttered in his heart. It felt good to be respected, worshipped, and revered. He had always spurned and scorned those who relish in this kind of reception. He always thought those people to be vain and pitiful but now that he could understand how they felt, he knew he was just bitter and being envious all along. Though he was an excellent hitman, he was never treated with this much respect. He wasn’t even treated like a normal person. They were treated like dogs that could be put down at any given moment. He felt like crying but being the prince and in front of all of his subjects, he couldn’t.

As if noticing his plight, the Demon Queen appeared beside him without any prior sound or notice. She pulled Augrun into her open arms and embraced him gently like a mother would embrace her child despite his wounds. The queen didn’t mind that she was getting blood all over her garments. A warmth that Augrun had long forgotten returned to him and spread to his whole body, the warmth of a mother’s embrace. He had no idea how much he longed for this. Though he had just met this woman, she was undoubtedly his mother. His body and instincts did not reject her. He let himself go and responded to the embrace, wrapping his hands around her in return. His wounds gradually closed themselves up without any external assistance. This was one of the Demons’ innate abilities, rapid recovery, but it would only activate if the individual was calm and wasn’t moving too much. 

“You have done well, my son, my good precious boy. You have done really well, more than I could hope for.”

There was no falsehood in her words or voice, Augrun could tell. And the Demons around them did not utter a single word. They did not find this sight pathetic or disparaging. They all wore the same expression, the expression of reverence and relief. As hideous and bizarre the Demons looked, it didn’t matter to Augrun. Appearance wasn’t a defining trait of one’s character. Demons they might be, they were at least miles better than the people he had associated himself with in his past life. They were his people now, his subjects. This woman in his embrace was his mother, nothing more nothing less. And this was his world now.