Vol II, Ch 59 – You all had better prepare yourselves, cause you’re gonna totally be amazed after I’ve completely dominated here.

The area around the fighting arena wasn’t as packed as the last time I’d visited. I ducked beneath a string of low-hanging lanterns as I passed between two stands selling weapons and other trinkets. It was as much a tourist trap as a place to watch or bet on fights, with blades that looked more decorative than functional at several stands and a seemingly endless array of shiny baubles. The fog was kept at bay, presumably by some form of magic around the area. There were even several tall statues of various demons swinging blades or standing proudly, their numerous arms, legs, and wings making an odd sight. Overall, it was messy and chaotic, but at least interesting. And an okay place to hide, I hoped.

The arena itself had seats, but I suspected one had to pay for those. Luckily, as I’d found the first time I stumbled upon the place, there were areas where you could stand to see down into the fighting pit without anyone bothering you.

When I approached the corner I’d last stood at, a group of five armored demons were there instead, as though to prove me wrong. They were laughing, drinks in hand as they watched the fight happening in the pit below. I angled away from them, intent to find some other corner to hide away in, but as I turned, their eyes were already leering my way. One of them nudged another, their loud voices suddenly quieting to just over a whisper. Not that I had any clue what they were saying in the first place.

I strode off faster, picking up my pace just before one of them shouted out something. Turning a corner, I caught a glimpse of three of the goons tailing and calling out for me.

How annoying.

It presented a choice: fight them off or try to run. Given that I only saw three, the two others could be circling around from another direction. I’d had luck with running from trouble thus far, but with five of them chasing, I worried about my odds. Not to mention that the situation could become much worse if they managed to catch me somewhere isolated. I had a good idea of what they would want from me.

So instead, I slowed. The three caught up with me quickly, not bothering to wait for their other two compatriots to finish circling.

As I turned to face them, I gave the three demons my best glare. “Piss off.”

They laughed, despite probably not understanding me. Then one stepped forward. He was reptilian, or at least, covered in green scales, with long black hair parted to one side. Unlike the others, his feet were bare, both having sharp talons that looked like they could tear through flesh with ease. He waved his arm, gesturing at me as he spoke. I didn’t need to know the language to know that it was something crass and inane. His other hand sat atop the grip of the mace at his side, in some form of attempted intimidation.

The demon was tall but fairly wiry. Rather than their strength, I was mostly worried about the group’s potential skill and numbers. Three on one weren’t great odds. With us being out in the open like this, hopefully they would simply harass me for a bit and then move on.

…I doubted it.

As he swayed up to me, clearly a bit intoxicated, I stepped away from him.

“Whether you can understand me or not, you really should just let me be,” I said, glowering at the fool.

He didn’t, or likely couldn’t listen, and instead, asked something of his companions. Both of whom gave a short reply, one nodding. Moving up to my side, the reptilian demon ignored my attempt to step away and slipped his arm around my back, grasping just below my shoulder.

Just as he started to say something else, I smacked his arm away from me. One of the other two, a big red ogre, laughed.

“Last warning,” I said, taking a step away from him and then standing my ground.

I glared at the three, trying to make my point clear. The leading demon either didn’t care or didn’t understand. He spoke in an annoyed tone as he grabbed my arm once more, this time with more force. I was almost surprised by how hard he squeezed the spot just above my wrist. The demon hovered over me, his effort at intimidation working annoyingly well.

I didn’t have a clear plan other than hopefully taking one or two of them down so fast that they wouldn’t have time to react. It would have to be enough.

My fist jabbed upward at his face, plowing right into his nose. He staggered back, and I snatched my arm away from him before he could pull me with him. While I still had the element of surprise, I stomped hard against his leg, right at the knee. The leather armor likely helped to pad the impact, but not enough to stop his fall.

The reptilian shouted in pain, hitting the ground. I was already stepping up to the next one with another punch. The big ogre looked at me with obvious surprise, stunned at what he had just seen, but my attack broke his stupor. His arm moved up, a clear sign that he had some amount of training, and blocked me. Then the last demon grabbed my new cloak and pulled me back. I stumbled, almost falling, just as he elbowed me in the side. My other elbow thrust toward him in reply, missing as I winced.

I’d lost the element of surprise. This was about to get difficult. Circling to keep them all in view, I prepared my next attack, knowing that I would need to stay on the offensive.

Then two figures grabbed my arms from behind. I cursed, kicking and trying to yank myself from their grasp. It seemed the other two demons had finally caught up.

They were faster than I expected.

It took but a moment to realize that trying to pull away from them was just tiring me out for little effect. I’d need to wait and hope for an opportunity if I wanted to break away from them. The reptilian demon got back to his feet, brushing away at the blood now dripping from his nose and muttering. I couldn’t help but smirk as he turned to glower at me.

“You’re lucky you outnumber me so much,” I said with a sneer, “or I’d have done far worse.”

He said something, and the two demons holding me began stripping the cloak off of me. As one let go of my arm, I elbowed him, managing to hit his jaw. Unfortunately, the big ogre was on me not even a second later, grappling me from behind with the help of the other as they yanked the cloak to the ground. I almost groaned at the sound of the fabric ripping.

The stupid reptile smiled as he eyed me up and down, taking in my skimpy white dress. I regretted changing into it. No matter how much I needed a change of clothes, it just wasn’t worth it at this point. The demon said something, causing the big ogre to chuckle and respond.

Then another demon stepped up behind their leader, seeming to appear right from the shadows. He was covered in leather armor, not dissimilar to the others. Two black horns curved out and back from the top of his head. In one hand was a naked sword, pointed toward the ground. His other arm clapped the reptile on the shoulder as he spoke in a slow, calm voice.

The group froze, making it clear they were in trouble. The question was whether I was as well. I had no idea whether this new figure was on their side or not.

He met my gaze, slitted pupils staring out from deep scarlet eyes. Bat-like wings spread out from behind him as he asked a question. Whether it was to me or the others, I wasn’t sure and didn’t particularly care.

“Let me go, you bastards!”

My fight to make them release me began anew, as I managed to stomp feebly against one of their feet.

The new demon laughed. “A vyxa who speaks Thelsian. Now isn’t that a treat?”

His accent was thick but plainly understandable, even through his gruff voice. He continued on in the other language, but I’d already frozen up along with the rest of them. He could speak Thelsian. He could speak Thelsian!

Then the two goons finally released me, and I fell down to my ass. Hiding my embarrassment, I shot right back up.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” I demanded.

I doubted I seemed intimidating at all, but needed to know if he was on their side. There was a chance he was in charge of them, after all. As excited as I was to finally be able to speak to someone, I couldn’t let that cloud my head.

It did confirm that some demons could speak my language though. It wasn’t just some weird magic from the summoning, as I’d begun to fear.

The bat demon tilted his head, saying something in their unknown language, before coming to a realization. “You don’t speak the Rhuyi, do you? My Thelsian isn’t best, but I can speak it. Do you know others?”

I shook my head, continuing my glare. “No, and you didn’t answer my questions.”

He laughed again. “I am named Ofnan and I work here at…” he paused to find the right word.

“The arena?” I offered.

“Arena, yes! These five say you are his,” he claimed, pointing at the reptilian. “Say that you are disobedient.”

My face twisted in disgust. “I would sooner gut myself. I belong to no one.”

The cheerful demon chuckled. “Yes, I thought it unlikely with how you punched him.”

Then he turned to the reptilian, telling him something with a smirk. The scoundrel in question looked at me as he responded. His hard, vicious gaze gave me plenty enough of a hint to guess at what lies he was surely spouting.

I interrupted him. “I don’t care what nonsense these thugs are saying. I’d never seen them before in my life until they accosted me here. They should be glad I didn’t get the chance to beat them senseless.”

I hoped that sounded sufficiently demonic for a response. Revealing that I was previously human felt dangerous, given that I had little idea how demons handled humans or my situation in particular.

The bat demon burst into a laugh, apparently finding most of things I’d said thus far to be funny in some way. At least he was easy to please.

“Thugs, you say. Not inaccurate, I think. Tell me, small warrior vyxa, what is your name?”

I paused. A demonic name would be ideal, but I knew so little about demon naming conventions, that I didn’t even know where to start. And that was assuming that “vyxa” didn’t have their own naming schemes.

The reptilian said something else, followed by a few hesitant words from two of the other thugs. Then the bat demon turned back to the five demons still awkwardly loitering around me and barked something at them. The stupid tall reptile growled, stepping up into his face before two of the others pulled him back. They gave apologetic grovels before the lot of them finally scurried off. My shoulders fell, some of my tension finally leaving.

“Ruby,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t come to regret it.

He nodded. “Unique, yes. Much like you.”

Might it have been better to give no name at all? I wasn’t sure. At the very least, he did not seem upset.

The arena employee, or perhaps he was a guard, glanced around before turning back to me. “I can escort you away, if it is well. Unfortunately, I must work.”

I nodded, trying to decide whether it was best to leave or stay. Either choice seemed a toss up on whether the five goons would follow me.

“Is there somewhere I can watch the fights?”

He nodded, seemingly pleased, and led the way.

“We get few vyxa here,” he said. “Rare. Never…” he trailed off, gesturing at me as though to explain what he was trying to say.

“Strong?”

He laughed. “That too. Without others.”

“Ah, alone, you mean.”

“Yes, alone is the word. Never alone,” he said, eyeing me with obvious curiosity. “I saw your fight. It was surprising. I thought of you in the arena.” He let out another burst of laughter. “A funny thought. Though you may have the strength for it. They would call you vicious.”

I almost stopped walking. The thought of actually fighting had occurred to me but not as a serious possibility. Yet with the language barrier issue no longer being such a problem, I was very much reconsidering.

“Is it paid?” I asked. “Can anyone join?”

“The fights?” he asked, looking a bit nonplussed. “Of course, yes.”

I hummed. “Alright. I might be willing, depending on the rules.”

Then he came to an abrupt stop, facing me with a look of alarm.

“It was a joke!” he insisted. “Not serious. We would not make you do that.”

“No, you misunderstand.” I shook my head. “If I am able and like the terms, I may be interested. Are there matches without magic?”

I could use the income after all, and fighting was something I was decent at. At least so long as it didn’t require magic.

He continued, “Truly, you do not need to. No one would ask such a thing. I did not mean to imply, you understand?”

He was really insisting on this. “I want to,” I stated clearly. “While I may have struggled in a fight against five opponents, I can surely fight one on one. I think I’m plenty strong enough.”

The demon nodded. “Ah, you jest. Ha! A vyxa fighter.” He grinned, only for it to fall off as my expression didn’t change. “This is a joke, is it not?”

“No,” I said, only slightly annoyed. “I am quite serious. Is it really that hard to believe?”

He nodded. “Yes. Quite hard. Even strong and high willed, for a vyxa, I would not wish for you to get hurt. I am unsure if vyxa are allowed.”

The demon scratched his chin.

“Well, let us go find out, shall we?” I declared, my tail swaying behind me.