Chapter 17

In the fighting room, Inja was trying to keep up as best she could. The various blows she had to take to avoid getting the upper hand too quickly had tired her more than she thought. She minimized the damage by cushioning the impact as much as possible, but the vampire was powerful. She could feel her muscles firing in pain in response to all the blows she'd been dealt.

As she thought of a way to further limit the damage, the vampire lunged at her, both daggers in front. Quickly, Inja leaped to the side and lunged again as soon as she landed, whirling in the air to avoid a frontal attack. The vampire landed on the ground exactly where the angel had been a few seconds earlier. The dry earthen floor cracked under the impact. Inja frowned. Sao seemed to be using up all of her energy in her fury attacks, and she seemed to have quite a bit of energy in store as she launched attack after attack.

Enraged, the vampire curled her lips over her teeth and growled. The way the angel was so deftly avoiding her without ever really attacking her was making her mad. Bending her knees, she positioned herself again to lunge at her opponent who was watching her intently.

"Stop dodging! Attack me!" she cried as she lunged forward.

The angel didn't answer and parried the attack again while turning to the side to avoid a more powerful riposte. In the same motion, she delivered a powerful kick to the vampire's side, sending her tumbling to the ground like a dead leaf.

The vampire rolled to the ground and bounced to her feet, even more, furious than before. She knew the angel was more powerful than she was. She knew she could beat her easily. For some reason, the angel seemed able to predict her every move and anticipate her every action. So for the last fifteen minutes, she had seen her dodge all her attacks without difficulty and take a number of others while minimising the impact as much as possible. Mad with rage at the idea of seeing her assailant not taking her seriously, the vampire had invested all her energy in this fight and was making deadly attacks.

But each time, the angel either dodged or took it in anticipation. From time to time, she retaliated with a kick here or a katana slash there, but never anything serious. If the vampire exhausted herself, she was able to deal with these scattered attacks without problems. And yet, she felt an immense strength hidden behind the precision of the angel's dodges and perfectly controlled attacks. She knew she was no match for her. And yet, the angel willingly let herself be dominated. Her pride as a fighter was stung to the core.

Back on her feet in a matter of seconds, the vampire increased her fury. Her eyes darkened, and her fangs lengthened. Her fingernails also grew a few millimeters. Her transformation was almost complete. She was almost at the top of her game. Her goal? To push the angel to use the full extent of her abilities.

Vampires were extremely proud beings and favored combat as an effective method of social recognition. The most important vampires were the most powerful vampires. So the question of recognising the power of an enemy was a very sensitive issue for them. And they took it very badly when an opponent did not honor them by holding back in the fight. This is exactly what Inja was doing.

This deeply disrespectful behaviour had irritated the vampire to no end and she had activated her fury mode very quickly in the fight. Fury mode was a kind of state that vampires fell into when they were overcome by their emotions and that allowed them to access their full range of abilities. It had the effect of risking the fading of their consciousness in order to be completely dominated by their hunting instincts. By activating the fury mode, their bodies were transformed to resemble what the vampires called the "primitive hunter", i.e. a vampire in search of prey to satisfy its bloodlust. This could be very dangerous because the process could be irreversible if they went too far and did not control it sufficiently.

But at that moment, Sao wasn't thinking about all that. All that mattered to her was that the angel threw herself wholeheartedly into the fight against her. She could see in Inja's eyes that thirst for battle, that primal need for violence and blood. The angel was a born fighter, just like her. They lived to fight in a world where war and armed conflict had been made illegal. She wanted the angel to let out the frustration they both shared.

"If you don't attack me, I will kill you! Do you hear me?" she threatened as she lunged at her with tenfold speed to deliver a fatal blow.

The angel adjusted her speed immediately and parried the blow with her blade. They exchanged a succession of attacks in this manner before Sao put all her strength into her two blades and threw herself forward onto her enemy.

-YAAAAH!" she shouted as she launched herself at the angel who had barely had time to rest a foot on the ground.

In a fraction of a second, she shifted her weight onto her legs and grabbed her blade with both hands, ready to intercept the vampire. The blades clashed with a deadly clang. The force of the clash forced Inja to increase her strength tenfold as she faced the vampire. With a powerful blow, she sent the short brown-haired woman flying across the room. Not wasting a moment, she lunged again, caught up in the adrenaline flowing through her veins from the increased intensity of the fight that was raging.

"You can't kill me, it's against the rules of dueling!" she warned her rising foe.

"I don't care about the rules! I want a serious fight in which you fight to the best of your ability! Not this ridiculous mascarade!"

The angel grinned.

"You have no idea how much I dream about it too!" she murmured as if to herself.

Inja was getting excited. The action of the fight and the frenzy of the activity had taken over her. She couldn't hold back any longer. She struck a powerful blow at her enemy, who could hardly take it. Without waiting, the angel brandished her sword which she had covered with natural energy to make it sharper than ever. In one swift stroke, she lowered it on the vampire who barely had time to raise her daggers to protect herself. But she wasn't quick enough and a thin red line appeared on her right forearm. Inja's katana had pierced her leather armor and blood was pouring from the inch-long wound.

The pain stung Sao for a moment, giving her an extra shot of adrenaline. She jumped to her feet and threw herself at the angel as she regained her position.

"That's what I'm talking about! Give it your all!" she shouted at the same time.

Inja let out a war cry as she further strengthened her natural energy on her katana and let loose her desire to fight. The two women exchanged a series of blows, each one more powerful than the last.

The unrestrained power of Inja's strikes began to make the vampire back off, as she flinched a little more with each blow and found it harder and harder to keep up with their exchange. The difference in power was becoming more and more apparent. If this continued, Sao wouldn't last much longer.

Suddenly, a sharp blow from the angel caused the vampire to let go of one of her daggers and bounce off the ground. Taken by surprise, she had no time to dodge. She barely had time to turn her head when she saw Inja leap forward towards her.

With a gesture as stealthy as a cat, she grabbed the short blade lying on the ground with her free hand and prepared to throw it at Sao, who, stunned by the speed of the action, had no time to move and could find nothing else to do but raise her other, still armed arm in front of her to protect herself. Just as the angel threw her arm back to gain momentum, the door to the battle room opened to reveal the Emperor of Esethea, followed closely by Niris. With a dematerialised scepter in hand, he took a few quick steps into the room before raising the staff, which glowed pale blue above the floor.

"Shit!" swore Inja inwardly.

But it was too late. Her arm was thrown, and the dagger flew straight ahead of her at breakneck speed. Seconds before impact, the scepter hit the floor, sending a wave of natural energy through the endless room.

"Legal duel number 357664895 interrupted in the name of article 7 of the protocol on the regulation of legal duels. The parties must cease the fight immediately," the robotic voice echoed in the huge clay room.

Inja, who had turned her gaze to the emperor to make sure that what was happening was what she thought was happening, slowly swiveled her head towards the one who had confronted her a few seconds earlier. She was afraid of what she was about to see. And she was right to be afraid. The vampire was kneeling on the ground, panting, her left arm covered in blood.

The dagger that the angel had thrown a few seconds before the fight was interrupted was stuck in Sao's shoulder, exactly where Inja had wanted to stick it. She had succeeded perfectly. It was a clean throw. The only problem was that the wound had occurred after the fight had been interrupted by the Emperor of Esethea. Any injury caused after the conflict had been interrupted was illegal.

Still short of breath from the battle she had just fought, Inja stood there without moving. She glanced at Niris, who discreetly gave her a thumbs up. She felt ashamed. What was he congratulating her for? She had just screwed up his plan beautifully and put them in a lot of trouble!

The emperor looked at the scene before him, also understanding the delicacy of the situation. With a glance towards the observation room, Inja saw the vampire get up in a hurry, followed by the other guests who didn't know how to react between shock and anxiety.

The Esethian gave Niris a worried look, who reassured him with a slight smile. The emperor was surprised by the young prince's confidence. He had arrived a few seconds too late, and if the fight ended in a draw, this wound caused by Inja would not go unanswered by Yousmaïl.

Before anyone could move, the Amadean princess entered the combat room like a fury, followed closely by the great intendant of the palace who seemed agitated as ever.

"Your majesty, what does this mean?" inquired Yusmail, who could hardly hide the anger in his voice. "Why did you intervene?"

Without losing his temper, the immense inhabitant of the sand planet answered him calmly.

"I found it necessary to interrupt this duel for obvious reasons."

The vampire glared at him.

"Would you be so kind as to enlighten me as to the obvious reasons for your intervention?" she hissed through her teeth.

"Your Highness, I understand your frustration, but you cannot question a decision to terminate that has been validated by the interface," the Aesethian replied without losing his composure, "This decision is final and you must accept it or risk legal action.

The vampire clenched her fist. She was mad with rage. Just as she was about to answer, the great intendant intervened and placed himself between the vampire and the merchant to try to ease the tension that had risen ten notches in one go.

"The duel is properly interrupted. If you wish to contest the decision of the interface, you will have to appeal to the legal duel review commission to verify that the interface did not make an erroneous decision," he said as quickly as he could.

He didn't like the idea of what he was doing at all, but it was the regent's orders. They were in the middle of an enthronement ceremony, all eyes were on them. They couldn't afford to ignore intergalactic rules openly. Especially since Emperor Aroslan had already intervened to protect Prince Jangta, causing a stir in the intergalactic community. The situation was too risky. As much as they hated what was happening in their own territory, the demons had no choice but to comply. For the time being. Once they were out of sight of the other guests and the media, it would be a different story. At least that was Seiran's mother's plan. But for that to happen, they would first have to bend over backward and put on a brave face.

The vampire glared at the great intendant, who shivered from head to toe under the princess's piercing gaze. He was already wringing his hands in all directions and began twisting his feet to relieve his stress. How he hated situations like this!

"I invite you to follow the recommendations of the Great intendant, Lady Yousmail. It is wise advice that will lead to a peaceful resolution of the situation," the Esethian comforted in an attempt to calm the princess, who seemed to have difficulty controlling her emotions and could go into a rage at any moment.

Niris watched the scene innocently. But in reality, he was not losing a bit of what was going on, savouring the vampire's anger with relish. He was secretly very pleased to be able to humiliate the princess who had more than assertive claims about his boyfriend.

If Niris had acted primarily out of concern for diplomatic order and the protection of Ascarm, he had also done so out of personal vengeance. He wanted her to understand that Seiran would never lay eyes on her no matter what she did or how powerful she was. She could fight as much as she could, the fight was already lost. Not fooled, Yousmaïl perceived without any problem the internal delight of the angel to see her losing face in front of everyone. She clenched her fists a little more, internally boiling with rage.

"Very well, then. I'll take it to the commission. But I will not let the crime committed by Lord Jangta's representative go unpunished! She wounded my guard after the duel had just been interrupted!"

The emperor and the great intendant looked at each other with embarrassment.

"Yousmail, the attack was launched before I could intervene..." the emperor began.

"If that's the case, there's no problem with a Peacekeeper looking into the situation, is there? Do you agree Lord Jangta?" the vampire cut him off with a satisfied smile.

"No worries on my part, Your Highness. I understand your need for clarification on the situation and I apologize for the actions of my guard that endangered the life of your guard," he replied to the amazement of the assembly.

Inja sighed. If the prince had accepted so easily it was because he had no doubt about the outcome of the investigation. She felt better. Fortunately, he was there to get her out of all this trouble! She, who was supposed to protect him, found herself in the situation of the one who was indebted to his protection...

Stung to the core by the little prince's assurance, Yousmaïl gave him a look of deep hatred. For her too, there was more than just diplomatic issues at stake. She had attacked the young Selanpis with the aim of hurting the angel, but she was now overwhelmed by a situation she could no longer control. Too bad. It was too late to back down. Vampires never backed down. They wanted a legal way, they were going to get it.

"All right, then. In that case, I'll call for a Peacekeeper right away," the princess said as she activated her identity chip. "And pending the verdict, I want Prince Jangta's guard confined in jail."

"Request for Peacekeeper intervention recorded. A member of the Intergalactic Peacekeeper Corps will be dispatched within the next twenty-four hours to Yerpena." the robotic voice of the interface rang out in the middle of the conversation.

"Your Highness, this is against the rules of intergalactic law! You can't imprison someone until they've been convicted or they're a danger..." began the great intendant, who was seriously starting to panic.

"That's fine with me," Niris replied again to everyone's surprise. "I authorize you to lock up Inja for the duration of the investigation. But I warn you, if she is found innocent, it will not be without consequences."

The vampire smiled with all her teeth. At last, she was winning. He had no choice but to accept anyway! And he was going to lose this trial! No one knew the laws surrounding legal duels better than vampires! And she knew she could convince the judges of the angel's guilt. It was perfect. She had won. She had restored her honor.

The emperor glanced at the angel with alarm, who reassured him with a blink of his eyes. He knew what he was doing. Yousmail was underestimating him. He was going to use the vampire's haughty attitude to his advantage to make her fall even further. Mastering his facial expression perfectly, he kept an innocent and apparently naive face as he gloated inwardly in anticipation.

Imperial guards came to handcuff Inja, who allowed herself to be handcuffed, glancing back at her prince, worried about leaving him alone in the palace. They dragged her behind them as one of them bowed to Niris to inform him of the situation regarding his custody.

"We will lock her up in an observation cell. You will be allowed to visit her twice a day under the supervision of a guard. We will ensure her welfare scrupulously and assure you that she will be provided with all the necessities of life for her minimal comfort."

Niris nodded. The demons had improved. They were now doing things by the book, which was a first for the biggest frauds in the intergalaxy.

"I thank you for this information and your attention to my guard. I will be sure to visit her regularly so please make yourself available for that purpose."

The guard nodded in agreement.

"We will give you the number of her cell as soon as possible. You will also have access to all the videos taken during the time she remains locked up in accordance with the intergalactic law of protection of personal data," he specified.

"Furthermore, as you are now deprived of your personal guard, you are authorised to call upon a replacement for the time of her confinement or to request the assistance of an imperial guard or a special member of the intergalactic guard," he finished.

Niris shook his head.

"It is fine, Azure will provide protection for me in the meantime," he replied.

The guard gave him a questioning look.

"The pegasus who accompanies me," the angel added at the perplexity of his interlocutor. "I will give him a size reduction bracelet so that he can enter the palace. I would also like Meica, the pegasus mare who accompanies Inja, to join her in her cell for the duration of her confinement. I will give her the same device as I gave Azure, so she will not pose a technical problem for you. I will need permission from Emperor Narjvik or the regent for this, could you request it for me please?"

The angel's tone was polite but deadpan. Again, he knew what he was doing. The demons couldn't refuse his request. Knowing this, the guard nodded one last time and bowed, announcing that he had to go now.

He left the room, leaving behind Yousmaïl, Mischien, and Niris who were still trying to digest what had just happened. Medics had gathered around Sao, who was being stretchered off to the Imperial Infirmary. They left the room as well, followed by Yousmail, who gave the angel one last hateful look before disappearing into the crowd of guests who were creating total chaos at the entrance to the battle hall.

Niris and Mischien looked at each other for a moment before saluting each other solemnly and going their separate ways without adding anything more.