There was a slight change in air pressure as we stared at each other before he was on me instantly. The demon reacted with a slight body tilt but the kick was much to fast for me to see or react to. His kick went spinning by our head before we threw a kick back into his chest plate.
He did not even feel the need to block or evade as it landed square in his chest but the attack was not meant to do damage as much as gauge his awareness. The prince slid back a few inches but was unperturbed.
I was expecting him to throw another kick as it had an effect previously but he slid in under my punch, put his palm on my ribs and pushed with an incredible force.
We landed a couple of meters back on our hands and knees. There was blood pouring from our mouth as we gasped for air.
"Did you like that one? It is a move I came up with recently specially for you. You need to be disciplined and this is an effective way to do it I think." The prince cockily said watching as I slowly got back to my feet. Upon standing all the way up, I could feel the bones in my side were broken and there was some injury to my organs deeper inside.
"That was quite the cheeky attack. You should have finished it with that one as it will not work again." The demon angrily growled with a challenge. The prince was not foolish enough to fall for such an obvious taunt I did not think but again he was standing only feet away putting his hand on our side.
Before he could finish his attack, the demon flipped us back onto our hands and kicked up twice at the prince meaning to injure him. They only slammed against the armor around his arms but as we flipped away to see the effects we could see the guards were dented.
"Oh, I was right. You are quite the strong one." Prince Hideki said looking at his armor. If I could keep chipping away at his armor, eventually it would start to hinder his movements and he would have to take it off. The only thing I could not figure out was why he had not used his wings to fight me from the air.
As we started lifting from the ground, he was on us instantly. Before we could even get a foot off the ground, he kicked me in the chest and punched me in the jaw. It was not strong enough to send us away but it made us land again. As I came down on my feet, we switched to my hands to throw a tornado of kicks. Each one hit his arms alternatively. Slowly the armor was giving with each attack.
Every attack from us was focused on the same spots on each part of his armor; the thigh area, the forearms, and the chest. For every successful attack we landed, he landed two. We did manage to get through his arm guards before my head started heating up again.
"Well mission accomplished, I suppose. You managed to make my armor unusable." The prince said as he undid the straps around his arms holding his guards in place. He threw a lightning fast combo of punches next and they were hard hits.
Another roar came surging out as we looked at the prince. The heat inside my head was too much. The demon was too angry. I could not form any coherent thoughts with all this extra anger swimming around. I was nothing more than a spectator in my own body by this point.
"I am going to rip your arms off your body, then your legs and you will be a armless, legless, little thing." The demon angrily growled. We rushed forward with a kick before I could even comprehend what happened. Prince Hideki ducked just under the kick to avoid it. The crowd was silent from that attack.
With one flap of our wings, we flipped over onto our feet and threw a fast two punch combos. They were instant. But they hit air as the prince turned and ducked his head around them.
"What...what happened?" Someone in the crowd said looking where I was just before. The prince threw some return punches but we dodged them instinctively.
"He's by the prince!" Someone else in the crowd shouted. We threw a combination of elbows and punches but none of them landed cleanly. A few scratched his face and left a small cut across his cheek but none had the impact we hoped.
"You are even better now? THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!" The prince excitedly yelled as he jumped away and took his armor off. He could not evade me for long with all the heavy armor weighing him down.
I took note of the weapons as we fought around the arena. Carefully, we veered towards the weapons as we battled.
'There is no way he will just let us grab a weapon. Steer him towards them.' I thought to the demon. We were only a dozen meters away but still much too far to grab without notice. There was no telling just how fast the prince was without all of his armor and we thought it best not to try it out so quickly.
With a barrage of punches, we managed to land one eventually but it had little effect. It was a powerful punch but still had no real power against him. But he countered with a punch to our stomach that landed as it was too fast to dodge even with the upgrade.
We doubled over in pain as we coughed up blood but were met with a kick in the face. I landed on the ground across the arena after rolling to a stop.
"Is that all you have to offer me?!" The prince yelled excitedly. His adrenaline was surging as we fought. I could hear it as he talked and his blood started rushing.
'We need to figure something else out.' The demon thought to me. We were in agreement then.
'I am just a bystander as of now. Do what you will.' I thought back. I did not think there was much we could do against him. He was superior in every way to us.
'I need full control of our body. Give me full power and I will end this.' The demon suggested hungrily. If I gave him full control, there was no way to guarantee I would ever have power again. But if I refused, we would be beaten for sure.
'This is a partnership. You can have it back after we clean up here.' The demon said noticing my worry. I had no reason not to trust him thus far so I had no real reason to refuse. I gave him power and I could feel the strength surging. It was like we were overflowing with power. But I could not sift through his thoughts like usual. It was cloudy inside our mind like a dream.
"You have something new..." The prince started before we were on him. We looked down on him as he stopped talking before he tried elbowing us away but we were behind him before he got his elbow up. A hard knee in the spine sent him sprawling away.
"This is getting interesting! You keep getting stronger! Finally, someone who can put up a fight!" The prince screamed looking at us. With the same speed I used only moments before he was on us throwing a kick at our ribs. The demon saw it coming but did not evade. Instead we grabbed his leg and chest and threw him away as hard as we could. He slammed into the opposite wall leaving a small crater.
When he jumped out and stood on the opposite side, he had his hands up and out a tad as he bent his knees. The prince looked like a mad man standing there in anticipation. Instantly, we felt a pressure on our arm as we blocked a kick. I did not even notice he moved until we were being kicked but the demon saw through the attack. His recognition and reaction speeds were astounding.
The kick made us slide a few dozen centimeters but did not do much else. I could not see the following flurry of punches and kicks coming from both sides. It was much too fast to register. But the occasional pain from being hit was registering just fine. We also seemed to be landing a few attacks but they were not nearly as effective.
We threw a punch at the same time the prince threw a punch and our knuckles clashed. The bones broke in my hand but the prince carried his punch through without even wincing. The demon threw a spinning kick sending the prince flipping away.
"I think it is time we end this. You have shown me all you have to offer. It was quite impressive. With some more training, you might be quite a force to be reckoned with." Prince Hideki said standing watching us holding our fist. He slid forward and landed a pinpoint set of five finger strikes with two going to either side of our head. I could feel our consciousness fading from the strikes.
"He is quite the interesting recruit, isn't he?" Hoizon said now beside the other prince. The other prince was standing on the opposite side of Hideki silently watching me fade. The crowd was roaring with cheers and applause from the battle.
"In a few years, he will be quite a threat..." Hideki said before I was gone. I occasionally opened my eyes being carried away from the arena. I was opening my eyes, not the demon. He kept his word and gave me control again.
"Even I had no idea..." Diach said before I faded again. There were short bursts of talking I could hear when I was conscious.
"For a non royal, he is..." Hoizon said before I was fully unconscious.
I woke up the next night in the medical wing. My head was pounding and the world was strange. There was a blur on everything around me as I tried to sit up.
Diach put his hand on my shoulder to stop me, "Take it easy. We still do not know the full extent of the damage you took in the tournament."
"What...what happened..." I asked groggily. There were only bits and pieces I could remember. As I called out to him, I got no response. I guessed he was sleeping as well.
Diach told me in detail what happened from start to finish. No matter how much I tried to remember seeing him, I could not remember him in the crowd. But with the amount of detail he recalled, he must have been watching from somewhere close.
"The crowd was roaring with cheers for you by the end. You had every one of them rooting for you. The surprises never stop with you, kid." Diach said with a slight smile. I would have smiled because they all seemed to understand now but my head was on fire.
"Now they understand I am the apex predator. I run the new recruits and vampires." I said confidently. He did not disagree so I took it as acceptance.