Re:Demon - Reborn as a Demon Book 1

20

Swords flashed in the light as the two armored combatants struck at each other, moving lightly despite the metal plates they wore. Each of them had a sash that matched the plume on the top of their helm, red and green, but other than that, they were identically armed.

It was clear to everyone that watched that one of them was far superior to the other and that the fight would soon end. But that did not mean that the combatant would yield, they couldn't, so they threw themselves into the fight with everything they had, even though they knew that it wouldn't be enough.

The green combatant blocked a swing with his shield, staggering slightly with the impact, but taking it well enough that he was able to thrust along the red blade, forcing them to back off for a moment. As soon as he was clear, he lunged forward, closing the gap with a burst of speed.

Instead of blocking the heavy blow, his opponent shifted to the side and smacked him in the back with their shield, knocking him off balance. By the time he recovered and spun around, he found himself facing the point of his opponent's sword.

"That's match," came the call from the officiator. The red combatant stepped back and saluted before sheathing their sword, but the green side yanked his helmet off, face red and not just from the heat.

"That's not fair," demanded the young man.

"You lost," came the voice from his opponent as they carefully took their own helm off. "You knew the rules when you challenged, now you have to abide by them."

Stripping the mail coif off, as well as the under padding, Princess Allbray U'Vellquor gave her scandalously short blond hair a shake and turned to look at her opponent, the third-born son of a mid-sized kingdom, who was glaring at her.

With a shrug, she turned her back on him and put him out of her mind as she walked off to get out of her armor. It was still spring, so it was cool at times, but when you were moving around in full armor in direct sunlight, it got hot pretty fast.

The rest of the spectators were all getting up, most of them shaking their heads at the display by the renowned tomboy princess of the Vellquor kingdom. Even though she was only twelve, she was thought to be the best swordsman her age, even besting those that had been using swords seriously since they could hold one, which made her refusal to take a serious look at any marriage prospect that couldn't beat her in single combat all the worse.

A few had tried to get champions to face her, but she'd just asked them if the champion was going to be proposing to her, otherwise why were they there, which hadn't gone over very well, to say the least. To make matters worse, not only was she an eligible princess set to inherit a fair-sized kingdom, but her beauty was growing each season.

It had gotten to the point where she was getting proposals almost every day, many of them from the same kingdom trying again and again to wear her down and get her to accept. But she flat out refused. Anyone significantly older than her was out straight away, as was anyone significantly younger. Of those that fell within the acceptable range, she had stated that they could challenge her to a duel, but they could only do so twice, so they needed to pick their times well.

Some had rushed to challenge her, thinking it would be an easy victory and wanting to get her before anyone else had, but she'd bested them easily. Others had waited, hoping their skill would improve to surpass hers. It didn't. In fact, she was getting a fair reputation for her skill with a blade, even being called the reincarnation of various heroes, which didn't win her any friends in the Order.

She'd tried to tell them that she hadn't come up with those rumors, that others had foisted them onto her, but that didn't seem to help. The Order couldn't do anything to her directly, especially since she was telling the truth, but that didn't stop them from reminding her about the ways the great goddess worked.