Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 42

The light became bearable after a few seconds. Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard. It came from the orc. They were hit with the stench of corpses that had decayed over time. The smell was appalling, almost causing some of them to gag. He crinkled his nose in disgust. A bolt of raw adrenaline shot through his veins as he watched Saxhish cover the orc in her spiderwebs that were dripping in acid.

Yashiro and the guards jerked their weapons above their shoulders, ready for battle. He heard a cry of pleasure and saw that Saxhish was sitting on her regal throne of stones, the soul of the orc floating in her hand. The soul was a round ball of darkness filled entirely with dark energy.

“What is this? What is this?” she asked, repeatedly, staring at her uninvited guests, “It must be my lucky day seeing as I am being rewarded with so many delicious souls.”

He watched her lick her lips, her eyes full of hunger, lust, and desire. She opened her mouth and sucked in the orc’s soul. Everyone watched in silence as she smacked her lips when she was done. She stood up from her throne, causing the guards to step back slightly. She smiled enigmatically, placing her hands on her hips.

“Now,” she began, eyeing them like delicious prey, “whose soul is next?”

With that, she bounced in the air and landed on one guard. The guard screamed in horror as he tried to swing his blade at her. She dodged it and hissed, baring her fangs. Some guards carefully aimed their rifles at her. Loud bangs were heard.

She leaped in the air, dodging the bullets that were heading her way. One guard used his bow and arrow, aiming the arrow at her. The arrow made a hissing sound as it flew through the air. A twang was heard from the bowstring.

The arrow struck her left foot, and she cried out in pain. All the weapons except for his had been previously dipped in carbon tetrachloride. This volatile chemical quickly evaporates and melts the surface on which it has landed. She hissed, eyeing the guard who hurt her. At that moment, some bullets from the rifles struck her other legs.

“Argh,” she hissed again, feeling the pain surge through her body.

She began forming a shield using her spiderwebs. The shield was soft at first and then hardened into what seemed like titanium.

“I’ll make you all pay!” she shrieked, laughing like a complete maniac.

With that, she began shooting her webs at the guards. They blocked her webs with their shields, while some were unable to. Those hit cried out in pain as the acidic webs began to eat through their armour and, later, their skin. She smirked devilishly and ran towards them.

“Five of you,” Yashiro yelled to the guards, “go and help the guards trapped in her acidic webs, but be careful. You six will fight alongside me. The remaining five should protect the guards who are helping the trapped ones.”

They all nodded and proceeded as commanded. Saxhish’s boundary was covered in red, khaki, and pink because of the fight. The faces of the trapped guards were grim with pain, and the thought of them dying broke their spirit. The air in the boundary was filled with the sound of riffles, staves, swords, hisses, and groans.

“Seven against one innocent woman,” the fox prince heard her say, “hardly seems fair, don’t you think?”

He tsked angrily and collided his sword with her shield. He let his oriental element manifest, causing the blade to erupt in red flames. The flames engulfed her shield and, to her surprise, found that it burned it to ashes.

“What? How is that possible?” she asked in disbelief, wide-eyed.

This sight left her feeling shocked. Her shield was one of the most rigid shields that could never be broken by anyone. Well, at least that is what she thought. So why was this man able to succeed? Did he know how much dark energy creating this shield takes? Now she was utterly frustrated.

“How dare you!” she shouted, pointing her finger at him.

“Stupid man, I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!”

With that threat, she rushed to stop the guards from freeing the ones she trapped. To her dissatisfaction, the fox prince stopped her, stepping in front of her and almost striking with his blade. She was taken aback at his speed and agility. She dodged his strike, but if she was a second late, she would have been stabbed in the stomach.

The other guards came to attack her as well, doing their best to defend and protect their fellow colleagues. She had no time to let out acid-type webs due to her constant dodging of attacks, so she just struck shot them with normal webs. The collisions of the attacks went on for an hour or so, with both parties not giving up.

The sounds of shallow rapid breathing, groans of pain, and webs being torn apart using magic were all that could be heard in the silence. After a while, both sides ceased fire. Saxhish felt sharp pain wash over her body. Wherever she got struck, there was blood seeping from that wound. Sweat dripped down their foreheads, some feeling dull pains, which were numbed by the adrenaline pumping through their veins.

Others struggled to hide their pain as they occasionally lamented softly. The prince himself was also in pain as, at some point, his hand was slightly cut by one of Saxhish’s tiny, sharp webs. He tried his best to block out the pain and find some form of meditating trance to cope with the agonizing sensation that would pop out once in a while.

“Not bad,” she said sarcastically, “I’ve made most of y’all immobile. Let’s see, only three of you guys to deal with? You’re making this too easy.”

Yes, there were only three of them left, the prince included. So, it was just the prince and two guards, one carrying a rifle and the other holding a bow and arrow. The other guards were glued to the floor, covered in spiderwebs.

He was just glad that they managed to free the other guards trapped in acidic webs. She had trapped them again, but this time with normal webs. The two guards activated their weapons, and a bullet and arrow cut through the air with a swoosh and a swish, respectively. She managed to make another shield which manifested in a split second, blocking their attacks.

“Oh dear,” she said triumphantly, “looks like your arrows and bullets are useless.”

With that, a strong gravitational force pushed them to the ground causing the guards to fall face flat and the prince to kneel. She laughed cynically, twisted her lips, and walked towards them. They struggled to stand up as the force was too strong.

She stood in front of the prince and ran her hairy finger along the side of his face, trailing it all the way to his lips. She held his chin roughly, forcing him to look up at her. She hummed a tune while inspecting his face. Satisfied, she let go of his chin and crouched in front of him.

“I should eat your soul first, you darn fox, prince,” she said, “since you caused all this. Do you know how long it takes for these wounds to heal? A week! A whole 7 days! 168 hours of feeling pain!”

The prince scoffed at her statement and managed to move his lips.

“Sorry,” he said with an enigmatic smile, “but you caused more pain than what you will suffer for a week.”

She watched in astonishment as he began to slowly stand up and push against her gravitational force. She jumped back and froze in place. She stared at the prince with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. He was standing up firmly with his blade in his hand.

“H-how d-did you-”

“I’ll make you wish you never came here, ” he said, interrupting her, “to cause chaos in my family’s kingdom and kill my people.”

Meanwhile, back in the palace, Astoria woke up minutes later and found him gone. She stretched herself and checked the time. It was only three-fifty in the morning, and she groaned. She stared at where the prince had been sleeping. There was a soft knock on the door.

“Surely that can’t be him?” she mumbled, biting her lip as she stared at the door.

“Nexi,” she heard Ai call out softly.

She ran to the door and opened it, and the young fox princess walked in. Ai knew that the princess Nexi would be sitting in the room worried about whether her brother would make it out alive.

“I don’t know why but,” Ai said, pacing around the room, unable to sit still, “something in my heart told me that you needed some words of comfort.”

Astoria nodded, also feeling agitated. She bit her lip and played with her hair.

“I’m worried about him, Ai,” she uttered, rubbing her hands together, “I cannot help but feel worried.”

Ai stood up from the bed and walked towards her. She held Astoria’s hands in hers and stared straight into her cobalt eyes, unblinking.

“Nexi,” she began, eyes full of determination and hope, “if there is one thing I know about my older brother, it’s that he is the strongest fox ever.. He will make it out alive, together with the guards.”