Days of a Wrathful Demoness

 

Down the marble floors of {The World Palace} a single little girl nervously walked.

She wore a pretty pink baby doll with white lacing around her shoulders and waist with white frills around her shoulders as well as the end of the skirt. Atop her head were two white cat ears while from under the skirt came a white cat tail with black stripes that hung around her waist like a belt. She was cute yet her hands pressed against her sizable chest while her shoulder sagged almost as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible.

Her golden cat eyes gazed up to look at the important looking men walking around yet she would always turn away after a second; in return they would snort or snicker. Even the two maids following behind her clearly displayed disgust. After all, in a human empire where the nobles gave great importance to the purity of their bloodlines, nobody could see a beast-kin princess as nothing more than a mistake.

The girl’s mother was a [Black Jaguar] who had been captured and enslaved by poachers which ended up not being too difficult thanks to the Jaguar’s solitary nature. Sheer chance would have it that she was bought to be used to satisfy the desires of party goers at one of the many banquets that occurred in this mighty empire. Beasts were secretly favoured for this since theory was more sturdy this could last to the end of the party; their ears, tails and any other defining features would be ‘removed’ though hence why it’s an open secret.

Even more unlikely was that the {Immortal Emperor Dong} attended this party which resulted in him finding some favour with the slim black haired beauty. Though those were obvious traits of a [Black Jaguar Spirit Beast] they were also the favoured characteristics of beauty within the land abandoned by gods. Of course men loved ‘big’ yet such a woman could never appear to be as pure and graceful as a slender black haired fairy.

The coincidence didn’t end there as the beautiful Jaguar ended up surviving that night due to her natural agility. Being one of the apex species cat from the {Mortal Realm} allowed her to scale the walls of the compound when the party was coming to an end - managing to escape the ‘clean up’ that happened to the women after such a party. Nobles had to keep up their appearances after all.

Unfortunately for the jaguar a month after she managed to escape the states diviners delivered a congratulations to the {Immortal Emperor} on the birth of a new descendent. Didn’t take long to find out that none of the others he slept with was pregnant, as such there could only be one girl who held the royal child. With that they set out to find the mother as well as child.

How could a mere beast escape one of the four cardinal Immortal Realm cultivators when he uses his resources?

Still unaware the girl was a beast she was captured though this time with no chance of escape presented to her. The empire was joyus in hopes for a just prince to be born from the common populace while the nobles were displeased yet could do little. Even without her nose the beast could smell any attempts to poison while her talent with toxic attributes was quite strong, which resulted in a minor cleaning having been done as a result of her discovering the poisons.

Sentiments turned darker from the nobles when a beast girl was the result; so became the birth of the 666th Princess Kitty.

A mocking name for who should’ve been a proud beast. After her birth her imperial father showed no more interest in her nor her mother who the currently most favoured prince swooped up. Although he couldn’t do anything directly to his little sister he still ‘cut’ the ovaries of Kitty’s mother to prevent a similar circumstance. Keeping the [Black Jaguar] as a pet and method of relief since he couldn’t get rough with the noble daughters he married.

Kitty herself was of imperial blood so she was still raised with some luxury yet she received constant bullying from her siblings, nieces/nephews and so on. Before she was even three she found herself being sold/preordered a Grand Duke by her favoured brother as a method to keep them both prominent. At first she was convinced by the argument that only someone as kind as him would marry a beast like her. It didn’t last till her 7th birthday (the age when one is able to begin their cultivation) when she was practically forced to watch her older brother & fiance abuse who her blood informed her was her mother.

Remembering that mocking glare the older woman gave her would forever make her realise she was no different than her mother to these people.

There was something that created some upset though… Her unquestionable talent when it came to cultivation. With little to no resources, while her other siblings at her age were taking time sensing qi, she quickly improved her cultivation to a level some could only hope to ever reach without guidance let alone a cultivation technique alone. The servants who noticed accused her of stealing from them which resulted in her getting beaten by her fiance then later by her own servants.

When being abused she ended up scratching one of the maids resulting in their wound instantly ‘rotting away’. Yet the way it happened was strange since it appeared more like snow falling apart than flesh - only increased when she showed extreme complications. Unsurprisingly it resulted in the girl freezing to death yet when it seemed like things were about to get way worse for her after killing the girl…

Her imperial father congratulated her, resulting in all the abuse pulling back.

Now in a few days he even said he would hold a celebration for her hopefully soon attaining the Foundation Formation realm which would actually put her as considered ‘strong’. Knowing this she was somewhat proud of herself but more than anything she was confused on why her imperial father would stand up for her. More than anything she was scared that everything would go backwards in time.

She still obtained little resources yet according to her imperial father it was because relying on bits or bobs would only negatively impact her at this point. Compared to that it was best to begin her cultivation journey with nothing except her own talent while he sometimes would guide her in her cultivation which greatly shocked many. Still as she wasn’t worriless since she still found herself engaged.

Thinking about the meeting with her first meeting with the grand duke & favoured brother she couldn’t help but shiver. Yet that shiver somewhat calmed when she noticed the appearance of an sturdy old man with a walking cane shadowed by two young noble characters who were both giving a toothy grin to the little cat girl. When she first met these men she was terrified even as they were acting nice because they simply weren’t like ‘humans’ yet nobody else could see it.

To everyone else they simply looked like nobles who weren’t as biassed against commoners nor beasts yet that wasn’t what the little cat saw. Jaguar’s could naturally see through many forms of stealth and due to that (even if it wasn’t the same for her mother) she could see through their attempts. Blood red eyes with sharp fangs and elf-like knife ears revealed them to be just like the Blood Demons she had read about in the past… Vampires.

“Little princess, why are you hanging around a nasty place like, you should be at home preparing for the upcoming celebration! How about you go back to your home instead of playing around here like some rascal. Children don’t belong in a place like this despite what those other nobles say.“ <’Old’ Vampire>

Though the old man was frowning while looking down on the girl as he spoke with a harsh reprimanding tone towards her… He also reached into his jacket to pull out a fish shaped candy which he shoved into her mouth without allowing her to refuse. If anyone else saw the old man like this, considering how he treated other nobles (as well as their children), they would accuse him of being a fake.

He was one of the few dukes that had been around since the founding of the empire with nobody being quite sure about how old he was or his cultivation. Through his strength he united the nobles into the traditional faction which so far remained neutral to the matter of accession and instead often seeked the maximum benefits. What was known was that his patience was certainly not something that was tested since he had once beaten a child who arrogantly tried to order a servant who he had just sent to get him a drink. Clearly he didn’t give all children this treatment.

As for his surname… It was Duke leading to him being officially Duke Duke.

“Duke, the pri-” <Maid>

“I didn’t ask you wench! The princess certainly didn’t give you permission unless you're telling me I’m going deaf? You didn’t even bow to me when you speak, is this how you serve the princess as well - if that is the case I may need to educate you on the ways of the world mightent I?” <Duke Duke>

The maid who spoke confidently while giving Kitty side eye quickly turned white while shivering in fear at the man in front of her, quickly bowing to the man.

“I-I woul-” <Maid>

“Or perhaps you believe me and you are on the same level thus it’s fine calling me without proper respect?” <Duke Duke>

Before the secret vampire could continue lambasting the maid who had since fallen on her knees one of the men behind him placed his hand on the old man's shoulder. Clearly it wasn’t due to mercy since he sneered as if looking at nothing but a toy when gazing upon the maid yet he still stopped the Duke from going on. In appearance he seemed like your typical playboy noble.

“Truly I don’t think this poor girl meant to offend you Duke, afterall she’s simply used to only having to deal with a mere beast afterall. We can’t blame her since it’s true that beasts don’t care as much for etiquette so it makes sense her own would begin to falter.” <Playboy Vampire>

“Y-yes, I loyally serve her, yet she is merely a Jaguar so I’-” <Maid>

“A mere Jaguar?! Clearly the girl is a Tiguar - hybrid of a [Black Jaguar] as well as a resurgence of the [Snow Tiger] bloodline! How can you even claim to loyally serve her when you don’t even know what bloodlines she holds within her! Nothing is more shameful for a beast than being misrepresented!” <Duke Duke>

With that his eyes seemed to pop to the point one would likely see his eyes as blood red even if they couldn’t see past his illusionary appearance. Raising his cane over his head he began to hit the maid on the floor while the two other nobles following behind him just chuckled without a care in the world. Meanwhile Kitty was surprised to find out her race was different from her mothers yet at the same time it made sense since [Black Jaguars] often had other felidae family bloodlines whether passed down or direct. Their males were known to be… Aggressive to random women they saw with little recognition for the concept of love.

Seeing this was going nowhere since the other maid was shivering in fear while the princess herself obviously disliked conversation the bespeckled noble/vampire spoke up.

“I believe the princess is answering the summons of-” <Bespeckled Vampire>

“Who has the right to summon the princess!” <Duke>

Finally the battered and bruised maid got some relief as the Duke turned his attention away from her to look towards the man who spoke. Still he didn’t jump into beating the man straight away - which was likely due to them both being of the same race - but did angrily shake his blood covered cane towards the man. Wasn’t exactly the most graceful act for a supposed demon of noble birth who had their very own style of swordsmanship renowned for its grace.

“As I was saying it should be her alleged fiance and the currently favoured prince… For how much longer either of them will remain now that we have passed on the information to the empress is up for debate. Still at present it is for sure that they currently possess the power to summon the princess.” <Bespeckled Vampire>

The old man frowned for a second before turning around to begin to walk only to turn to his fellow vampires and Kitty.

“What are you youngin’s waiting for? Have we all bleedin’ day? You should never waste blood anyway so hurry up!” <Duke>

“B-b-but y-y-you're not allowed t-t-to come r-r-right nya?” <Kitty>

Even her voice was clearly submissive which almost seemed to make it appear like the old vampire was bullying her. Despite that, his actions of even possessing the obvious cat treats showed that he was probably the only person in this palace that actually cared for her - those treats especially good for dental. Even back when she was born this old man treated her more like a granddaughter than a princess.

“Me? Not allowed! If they dare say I’m not allowed I’ll just fucking beat their scrawny asses till they know what it means to respect your elders! Speaking of scrawny, why are you so Mother damned skinny for a tiger - are they even feeding you!” <Duke>

“T-t-they both h-h-have royal blood so it would be t-t-treason-” <Kitty>

“Only treason if I leave someone alive to report it!” <Duke>

“Nya?!” <Kitty>

With her eyes she could see the countless hidden guards in the palace and every single one of them were slowly massaging their temple. This old man really was unreasonable! Yet for some reason Kitty couldn’t help but be envious of that personality - if she had a personality like his would she have suffered as much as she had over the years? With such feelings she followed behind the three vampires as they walked towards the throne room where the noble court would take place to decide upon the important matters of the empire.

Since the group's pace relied on the old man and not the princess they took little time to arrive at two silver gilded marble doors with a pair of mighty guards adorned in sky rank armour. They immediately went to open the doors as they were expecting the princess as well as her maids but upon seeing there was a maid missing and the trio of nobles they froze up. Being himself Duke didn’t give a single care as the doors opened up for him whether the guards intended to let him in or not.

“You best prepare yourself for being la-” <Grand Duke>

“I’ll come at whatever fucking time I want so I don’t need to prepare for jack shit!” <Duke>

In the room were two black haired men - the grand duke who spoke arrogantly being stood in front with his arms crossed. He was a rather large man though he certainly didn’t appear muscular or tall with his large black robes thankfully covering his form - though the arrogant look on his face quickly shifted to one of cowardice in the presence of the old man. Seeing this made duke Duke snort distrainfully.

The second man was even further in the hall to be just in front of a large marble throne. He didn't sit on the throne, of course, since it was reserved for Emperor Dong. Instead he sat upon the back of a slender [Black Jaguar] who lacked a pair of ears as well as tail yet didn’t have any visible scars. Clearly it had been treated well as a pet even if it had a heavy metal collar with a collar and an ironic name tag of ‘bitch’.

Compared to the prior fatty he was quite the well built looker with a heroic disposition with a golden robe as well as a soft smile.

“Y-you aren’t supposed to be here Duke!” <Grand Duke>

“That’s duke Duke to you, disrespectful tubby!” <Duke>

“No I swear I didn’t me-!” <Grand Duke>

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you meant!” <Duke>

Every single time Duke stepped forward the grand duke Jabba stumbled backwards in response while waving his hands in front of himself. The old man was already swinging his cane towards the man who was twice his weight easily yet nobody thought it was strange. This even happened inside of court let alone when they were in a private environment.

Unfortunately before Duke could move onto violence the prince spoke up in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

“Now, now. I believe he was merely making a mistake duke Duke since you surprised him so how about we leave this behind us. It is also true that you have little reason to be here since we are merely here to confirm the date of the wedding between the two.” <Prince Alic>

“W-w-wedding nya?” <Kitty>

Listening to her brother's words made her already white skin become even more snow-like while shivering. Looking towards the grand duke he just gained a disgustingly hideous arrogant smirk while gazing at her - terrifying the timid cat to her core. Seeing the girl act like this only filled him with confidence once more.

“It’s only a year or so till you're 14 which means you’ll finally be able to become my wife; you should be honoured that someone like you can be of use.” <Grand Duke Jabba>

“Bullshit your wedding here - even this idiot is a better match than you!” <Duke>

While saying that the old man pinched the ear of the long blonde haired playboy vampire to drag him in front while he himself seemed quite unwilling. Still he didn’t resist the old man's pull as he was dragged in front while offering the shell shocked kitten a smile that made her blush. That got his head tugged harder till he stumbled in front of the old man.

“How can someone who can’t lift himself out of bed in the morning like you dare stand next to a Snow Tiguar like her!” <Duke>

“Please calm yourself Duke. It’s true that their engagement has stood the test of nine whole years which clearly shows they both have-” <Prince Alic>

“Nine years where she had no power to refuse or have her talent in cultivation exposed! How can a talentless fatass dare say she should be ‘honoured’ to kiss his tubby truck when the only race he’s won is who rolls down the hill fastest! Watch, when everyone else has presented their gifts on the first day of her party, emperor Dong will ask her what she wants from him and that fat ass will be dropped faster than the floor boards under him!” <Duke>

“Ah, sorry, truck, what’s that? No, I suppose I still understand your intent but does talent really matter that much if we’re looking at things from a logistical standpoint. At least when it comes to a female the only thing talent does is give greater prestige so we need to look at social position not talent alone - she should be happy to marry such a noble man.” <Prince Alic>

Kitty wanted to argue against them just like Duke - even if his comments were often in bad taste due to him having a true ‘back in my day’ feel. All she could manage was shivering in the background under the gradually angier gaze of her so-called fiance. Didn’t take long for the man to jump back in the fray after reassuring himself by pressuring the little girl.

“What does talent matter anyway? I already have permission from prince Alic to use the {Noble Husband Cultivation Technique} with the little beast so any accomplishments she makes with her cultivation will belong to me like it should be. Also how dare a mere duke like you talk to me like this!” <Grand Duke Jabba>

The prince just nodded along.

“You have been rather rude to a member of the imperial family duke Duke.” <Prince Alic>

Hearing them the girl was practically in tears but in order to understand one needed to understand what that cultivation technique was. In many ways it represented the peak of misogyny as it was a dual-cultivation technique which took everything the woman had done in her life and attributed it to the man. Although the woman could still technically advance their cultivation it would only grant them benefits in their appearance while all the strength related benefits all go towards her man while all he needs to do is sleep with her.

It even enhances the chances the woman gives birth to a male for the man while punishing her with physical pain when she sleeps with another or does have sex for awhile. For obvious reasons in some more ‘equal’ societies such a technique is completely banned as it ‘advances one's cultivation based upon the suffering of another’ which tends to be the standard definition for an evil cultivation technique. With the {Great Dong Empire} being as old and ‘noble’  they had no such ban.

There was still one large rule when one must follow when using the technique…

“You a mere prince dares give permission to steal from a direct descendent of the {Immortal Emperor of Dong} - do you dare claim you have the same standing as him! Have you fools actually lost your minds to think you are above the laws put in place! When using such a cultivation technique on a noble daughter one needs the permission of the woman's father before they can!” <Duke>

Upon being told off so viciously by the old duke who was waving his cane around while the bespeckled brown haired viscount frowned heavily with a heavy glare. Even the usually dumbly smiling playboy had a fierce look on his face. One man didn’t understand the weight of his words as he was too busy focusing on the pathetic figure of the terrified Kitty.

“With the prince being as favoured as he is, do you really believe the emperor would really make a big deal out of one little beast. I would be surprised if he even noticed if she died never mind becoming useful. Your age must be catching up to you huhuhu~!” <Grand Duke Jabba>

“So now the emperor is senile and wouldn’t even notice if the person he’s throwing a party for wasn’t able to attend! So much for being the most favoured descendent, when was the last time the emperor celebrated your accomplishments let alone possible achievement. Only thing I can see there being an event over is your execution for your treason!” <Duke>

“This is an unfortunate turn of events duke…” <Prince Alic>

The prince slowly stood up from the jaguar only to raise his hands which resulted in a dozen dozen men in black outfits (no doubt death warriors who were raised to kill and be killed without hesitation no matter the reason) appearing in front of him and the grand duke. His kind smile remained yet his eyes glimmered with his true murderous intentions. Behind him the jaguar seemed to almost be grinning maliciously waiting for some blood to spill though it was questionable if she cared who.

“But I also think it would be beneficial to make the most out of a bad situation - unfortunately while we were discussing the upcoming events assassins attacked. Although I managed to heroically take out the assassins, they managed to take down three members of the traditional faction while the grand duke was too busy protecting his fiance to help me or the other nobles in the room. Being scarred from the occasion the princess was in no way suitable to attend the party. She wished to stay far away from the battlefield while being more assured of her love for the grand duke-” <Prince Alic>

“Oi pansy Pan, just accept their request for death already and kill the trash.” <Duke>

“I prefer marquise Pan but I suppose I’ll accept that~!” <Playboy Pan>

At that, Pan who had already been dragged ahead by the duke, activated his special ring to summon a standard longsword into his hand. The blade was a beautiful work of art which suited him well with a jewelled hilt, guard and even the core of the blade had gems running down it on a golden base. The blade itself was silver with a soft green/blue tint in colour with a rectangle of gold coming from the golden cross guard to act as the previously mentioned core while the hilt of course was just as opulent. The only thing that didn’t shine was the grip which would obviously create some issues though it wasn’t just a pretty looking sword - from the blade came a powerful aura that seemed to influence the space around it.

“If you accepted my earlier invitations to join my faction instead marquise. Still I’m a forgiven man who wouldn’t mind accepting you even now. It would be a shame that the youngest Sword King is going to die a pitiful death like this against a bu-” <Prince Alic>

“[Luna Blade - Eight Phased Blade].” <Playboy Pan>

After that everything became slow motion while it was impossible to look away from the beautiful sword art.

It appeared as if all light had vanished completely from the room yet all of them were still visible as a turquoise light followed the path of his blade. The turquoise light beautifully formed all the possible faces of the moon based upon where the blade was positioned and when he finally finished causing the moon to vanish… The stars flashed for a second and the world returned.

“Wha-” <Prince Alic>

Before he could finish his first word the death soldiers who he raised for decades in order to assassinate any possible threats to his position became bloody mists. Any inorganic protection they wore fell to the floor untouched while his rare luna attribute sword aura displayed its terrifying might. It was known as the perfect offence since most forms of common defence simply didn’t work in the face of the moonlight family of attributes making it perfect for assassins & swordsmen since they could even pass through a solid metal door to kill anyone hiding on the other side.

With that having happened the actual hidden guards of the prince quickly leapt forth to protect him as well as the grand duke who wasn’t looking good to say the least.

However before anyone could make any actions a large rumble came from the direction of {The Immortal Palace} which made the trio turn away. Pan casually tapped his shoulder with his not even dirtied blade while the viscount adjusted his glasses with a soft smile. Duke Duke meanwhile chuckled softly before patting the head of the very nervous Kitty and completely ignored the maid who had long passed out from shock.

“We should go see what’s happening out there…” <Duke>

“Y-you can’t go to a palace just like that!” <Prince Alic>

“Then stop me if you can.” <Duke>

Surprisingly calm response for the aggressive old man who actually ended up being followed by everyone in the room as they hurried to the courtyard in front of the palace. What they saw was shocking as a swarm of impressive looking dragons had landed upon the roof of the palace while being ridden by a group of shadow guards and female knights. Looking over the side was a purple haired oni girl who vanished into a purple flame only to appear eye to eye with Kitty.

Looking into those violet eyes Kitty couldn’t help getting completely lost. Even though the eyes were unfocused they held a certain strength that seemed to almost demand everything in existence and outside of it bowed to her every whim. As if the reason they were unfocused was there was nothing worth focusing on in the first place and above all… She was terrified.

A single thought crossed her mind though…

<I want to be like this>