The Damned Princess and the Warrior-King

A streak of dust clouded the horizon as a giant chariot swept up dust as it rode over a dirt road. The crimson chariot was pulled by two terracotta-coloured aurochs of immense proportion, ancient creatures of a more primordial time. Upon the chariot stood a giant of a man, more than seven feet in length; it was none other than Gangting. His red hair framed his copper-coloured face like a lion’s manes, his face itself was battered a dozen fights yet his eyes pierced dauntless into the world underneath thick bristle brows. A heavy crimson cloak, trimmed with golden fox fur, hung from his wide shoulders and fluttered behind him in the wind. His muscled chest and back were protected by an inch-thick bronze cuirass that was inlaid with gold and emaled within a dark terracotta hue. His arms were thick as logs and covered in a patchwork of scars, including a fresh bite mark from canine on his left arm; his underarms were protected by bronze vambraces that were trimmed with golden fur. A skirt of crimson cloth embroidered with golden thread hung from his waist; a skirt of lamellar strips hung over it. His feet were bare, but his shins were protected like his underarms. Those with keen eyes would notice that the giant wore bandages underneath his cuirass and on his left leg. Gangting had received wounds during his crusade to reclaim Duoshang, which ended in failure and nearly in his death. Most of his wounds had healed and are now part of his trophies, along with the other scars that he had received from many a battle but two wounds did not heal; even after months they still fester and string and no magic nor potion can do much more than soothe the pain. The wound on his leg was caused by hellish flames from a dreadful fire demon and the wound on his chest was inflicted by a stinger from a demonic scorpion. These two demonic spawns harboured an evil power that Gangting could barely stand; he would have died there and then within the walls of Duoshang if Tudigong, the God of Land and Soil, himself had not intervened in a tempest avatar of holy rock and sand. The redhaired slayer had visited many a healer on his long trip back to Fiore but none could help him, they all agreed that it was a miracle that he was still standing. The Brute was still looking for a cure.

Gangting was back in Fiore for since a couple of months. He had barely crossed the border between Iceberg and Fiore of he ran, quite literally, into his old friend Johann von Weiss. Together they dealt with a band of highwaymen, who before their encounter, tried to mug the wounded Demon Slayer. Johan had taken up the task to eradicate the criminal's root and stem for his guild Dies Irae and offered Gangting too join his guild with the promise that he and the guild would give him support in a second attempt to relieve his empire off the demonic spawn. Gangting offered his support to Johann and his guild immediately without a second thought, he saw the merit of the guild and the usefulness of the support it gives when he would march once more to the walls of his beloved city. The guild of Dies Irae was located on the Amber Isle in Minstrel, quite far away from Fiore; Johann stressed to Gangting the usefulness of a passport and so Gangting acquired one in Hargeon and then proceeded to do a job in Monster Land with a young slayer called Solmar, afterwards he had met with two curious people. One of them was a tiny lizard, a gecko and the other was none other than Oda Nobunaga; whose ghostly forces Gangting had attacked, all living dead must be evil according to the Redhaired-Slayer. He was currently following the railroad to visit a couple of important cities to the east of Fiore; from Hargeon to Clover Town would this journey bring him. The next city he was about to reach was Oshibana. He looked in each city for jobs he could do, before going back to the guild.

Ganting entered the own from the south, his chariot thundered over the cobbled road, making quite some noise and besides that, it was a bit too large and dangerous as well to ride in the town; Gangting decided to pull over and let his chariot ascend the heavens and continue on foot. The town of Oshibana wasn’t that big and held nothing of note really but there was something that caught the Giants attention; a smell, it was not caused by industry or by the magical-powered vehicles. What Gangting smelled stirred emotion within him, fuelling his internal flame of wraith; his wounds started stinging, only one such smell would bring this about; Demons. The smell was something Gangting could never describe to people, whom couldn’t smell it; Gangting’s Demon Slayer magic had increased his senses including his sense of smell. The smell stank in a mysterious way, a smell unlike anything else he had smelled ever in his life; it as an alien smell, surreal to this world. The smell was strong and Gangting could not define one demonic being; demons had different accents to their smell depending on the species, and at times the higher demons had a unique smell. It was apparent that the town was invested by the foul spawn and he would cleanse this town of it, as soon as he had found the source. The Giant Slayer stomped through the town, making the earth tremble slightly as he moved about in his search for the source.

Gangting decided to cross the city south to north and then west to east over its main roads to divide the city into quadrants, making it easier for him to determine in which part of the town the demons reside. The town might be small, but it took Ganging nevertheless a couple of hours. One particular area, near the edge of the town, was the smell strong and Gangting patrolled the area. His steps had stopped their treble as he wished to maintain the surprise.

Gangting traversed over a street, looking left and right at each alleys and adjoining streets. He noticed two faint lights in a dark allay and then they were gone. The giant stopped, wondering what he had seen; a rational explanation was that it must have been a cat, nothing to worry or care about but Gangting dismissed it. He had to check it out, it might end up being a cat indeed, but the other possibility was that it had been a demon he was looking for. The mountain came in motion again, moving through the narrow alley through which he could just about move through; he wouldn’t be able to spread it arms out the slightest. He was near the end when a demon appeared, small of stature; to small of stature. Gangting had just seen him but had run over the demon before he could react; he came to a stop and turned around. The demon must have felt as if he had walked against a wall at full speed, while the wall was moving with at him as well; that collision alone would have done great harm to hit head and surely would have bashed out all air from its lungs besides that, the demon also fell hard with his head upon the corbels and had his body was stomped over the feet of the Giant. Meanwhile Gangting only felt pain on his chest because of his terrible wound; his chest plate had pressed against the festering wound that he had received by a stinging demon. The Slayer gazed upon the demon whom was gasping for air, his chest was heaving heavily up and down but with each movement of the chest the creature shrieked in pain. It had surely broken broken a couple bones; he was sure of it after a loud scream in pain, followed by blood that came burbling from his mouth; a broken rib had pierced its lungs. Gangting stared for a moment in silence but came back in action, he raised his right feet and stepped with it on the demon’s head and applied pressure. Moments later a loud crack was heard and can’t turned around. His right feet left partial footprint in crimson upon the uneven corbels.

The Giant took a deep breath through his nose; he could smell a mixture of demonic stenches. There were more, many more. The one he had just trampled was but a scout he assumed; a larger horde would probably be near. Gangting felt confident that he could best them and was had grown impatient during his search; it would be better if they would find him, the scout might have warned others when it skirted away the first time. The brave fool thought perhaps that it stood a chance against the greatest demon slayer that had ever set foot upon this earth, even thoughts history does not recall his him nor his deeds. ”I am Gangting of Duoshang,” his voice, used to shout orders in the thick of battle, bellowed out and the ground thundered and shook with it, ”demons come forth and show yourselfs; I challenge you all.”

It did not take long before the first band of demons appeared; they were armoured and armed, they formed a straight wall of shields and iron when they were close. One of them stood out, it carried a large wicker bag upon it’s back; Gangting looked curiously at it and noted how another demon took an object out of bag and placed it in a sling that was made by a long wooden shaft and a rope with a rest for the object. Gangting was an experienced warrior and commander and recognized it; his thoughts were confirmed when he saw a bright flash. It was a firebomb and the thrower had just lit a clay jar filled with burnable materials. The jar was flung at him, a mistake; the clay being a material of earth could be manipulated by Gangting with ease and the clay pot was drawn to his hand as iron to a magnet. The Giant caught it, nearly burning his hand at the fuse. Gangting lunched forward and threw the jar with great force forwards; the pot nearly travelled fully horizontal at wall of shields, there it explodes into bit and oil was strewn about. The burning fuse fell upon the, with oil besmirched, cobbles and a fury of flames rose up. The demon shrieked in fear and confusion, some of pain as fire licked their limbs or they had been hit by fragments of the pot. Gangting used the moment to charge forward, with each step the ground shook. The Giant jumped through the fire and smashed into the faltering shield wall like a battering ram a brittle door. A brawl ensued and Gangting refrained from using magic; they were not worth it to use his magic. The fight was short life and the Slayer ended up victorious; many a lifeless body laid about him, yet some bodies still shrieked in pain and some tried to crawl away with broken bones and open wound, leaving behind a trail of blood. Gangting looked about, he could do nothing and most of them would die but some could get away and that was something he could not allow; he rose his hands up and around spikes grew out of the ground, they were of solid stone and razor sharp. They pierced all the demons around him, all died. Gangting lowered his hands and the spikes sank back into the ground, it was as if he pushed them down.

A hooded figure appeared, surrounded a bunch of demon spawn; Gangting could feel the aura the hooded figure sends out into the world. A demon, whose blue eyes glow fabricant in the shadow of his hood; his blue cape fluttered behind him as he strode over the road towards Ganting. The Demon Slayer immediate knew, it’s was a greater demon; the master over all others. Dust swept up as Gangting charged, the rhythm thunder of each step reverberated deep within the earth. ”Earth Demon’s Smite,” shouted Gangting loudly as the corbels below defied gravity and attached them self around Gangting’s arm, forming a thick layer of earth with a holy aura of silvery blue light that simmered upon the earth gauntlet like dew on grass in the light of a full moon. His earthen arm formed a thick spike and slammed it into the chest of the greater demon, who was unable to get out the way as his demon guards stood to close upon him. The demon fell over his subordinates and those there were not hindered by their lord charged at Gangting who easily swung them to the sides; breaking upon him like waves on a rock. The greater demon lunched out with brilliant blue flames, Gangting could feel the heat before he even saw the flames and nearly instantly fell a part in sand and dust and rose up from the ground behind the greater demon; he saw as the blue flames flooded the place he had stood moment ago, the dust and sand that had not yet fallen to the ground instantly turned to glass, littering the ground in a rain of little red scolding glass beads that formed a mesmerising carpet of glass upon the corbels. The demon looked confusedly around but Gangting did not wait until he was spotted. ”Earth Demon’s battering ram,” bellowed Gangting loud as a new the corbels defied gravity and swarmed to his arm to form a massive log upon his arm, which came crashing  down upon the face which just had turned towards the sound of the Slayers voice. A sicking sound was heard, along with cracking and splattering; a fountain of crimson squirted blood everywhere. The demons that had survived the ordeal ran like hell and Gangting followed with angry steps, he felt not liked running after them but never the less each step made the ground shake as he left the town towards the wilderness.