Victoria vs demon

Descending the winding stairs, she reached a larger chamber. She sensed a certain presence in it. The artifact seemed to be aware—either cursed, or perhaps being watched over by someone. Whatever it was, the witch didn’t consider it a threat; she was far more occupied admiring the architecture of the crypt.

Judging by the style, it had to be old—old in the way commoners meant it. It must have been built around the time she was founding her empire. But she didn’t have all day—Victoria needed at least three dresses for the first day of the celebrations marking the thousandth anniversary of her empire. They wouldn’t choose themselves.

She approached the table on which the artifact rested. Its appearance wasn’t unfamiliar. It seemed to be part of a set with the ring that had been discovered years ago. To almost everyone, that ring seemed like a magicless trinket, a piece of useless junk. But Victoria had always felt it was part of something bigger. Looking at the necklace, she was now certain she was right.

As she tried to touch it, a spirit appeared in the room.

What are you, asked Victoria, already knowing she was dealing with a lesser demon—and already disappointed. She had hoped for something more, and instead was getting a repeat of the boring fight with the demon guarding the ring.

• I am Vikias, the most powerful demon in this dimension. Bow your knee or...

• Or what, Victoria asked, amused before he could finish. Demons like him weren’t a threat to an apprentice - let alone her.

In response, the demon attacked with a series of spells. He struck her with a ball of energy, tried to influence her intelligent mind with telepathy, and attempted to trick her with illusions, making it seem like there were several demons in the room. But the attempts were truly pathetic. At that moment—as well as a few seconds earlier—the witch could have destroyed him with several basic spells. But she didn’t. She had noticed that the weak attacks weren’t due to lack of power, but rather to lack of knowledge of stronger spells, or an inability to use magic properly. Even master sorceresses would have trouble sensing the amount of power the demon held. But not her. It was better to drain him of energy. That way, the demon would be left defenseless—and she would gain his strength. It was a method she had developed herself, and one of the many reasons she was more powerful than gods, Victoria thought. Without further contemplation, she cast her spell. The demon tried to react, but it was too late. The spell allowed her to drain his power.

• Well then, most "powerful" demon, why are you guarding this artifact? If you answer me and I don’t sense a lie through telepathy, I’ll annihilate you quickly. But if not—you’ll be tortured for eternity.

• It’s a trap for magic users like you. I’m anti-magical. Instead of magic, you drained from me its opposite—its absence. In short, instead of magic, you absorbed anti-magic and stripped yourself of part of your power.

Only now did Victoria feel the significant loss of strength. She was still undoubtedly the most powerful magic user, but the gap between her and other witches had never been this small. But Victoria didn’t think about that- she hadn’t been this furious in years.

• Die, said Empress Victoria, casting a spell that both disintegrated and tortured.

The demon, however, skillfully avoided several spells and went on the offensive. The witch didn’t even consider trying to freeze him in place—she knew well that doing so would activate his passive defensive abilities, and his attacks alone couldn’t do much damage to her anyway. After a moment, the demon created several illusions and tried to hide from her view. Ineffective, Victoria thought with satisfaction, casting a stronger version of her spell directly at him. The demon managed to dodge, slowing her spell mid-air. That impressed her slightly. He was certainly in the top thousand opponents she’d faced. But this was his end. He began crafting a disintegration spell. Creating one powerful enough to break through her shield would take him much longer than it would take her. Then something unexpected happened. Instead of aiming at her, the disintegration spell flew toward her earlier spell—and behind it came another, this one accelerating time. It narrowly missed and hit the wall—or rather, the curtain pretending to be a wall. Behind it was a mirror. No spell in the world could break through Victoria’s shield — unless it was her own spell, more powerful than the shield itself. Victoria had no time. She had to carefully discharge her own spell so it wouldn’t explode in her face, and at the same time, create a new shield. She had no real chance to make it. And yet, she almost succeeded - or rather, she did create a shield strong enough to deflect the attack. Vikias was utterly shocked. But when she turned quickly toward the threat, her heel struck the edge of her gown instead of the stone floor. It threw her off balance, and the spell creating the shield not only collapsed, but exploded - weakening the one that remained.

In the final moments, Victoria saw her own face in the mirror. For perhaps the first time in her life, it was not a face full of royal pride, confidence, and that aristocratic smirk of a woman who could change the fate of millions with a single word. In that moment, her beautiful, imperially blue eyes were wider than ever before—and her lips, the same lips that just hours ago had barked orders like:

• Those are riding boots! I want the new navy stilettos with the pointed toe and embellishments!

Were now wide open like the mouth of a whore at peak brothel hour.

Vikias exhaled with relief. For thousands of years, he had defeated many mages through schemes and trickery. Victoria definitely deserved her title. He had severely underestimated her.

Had it not been for her fashion choices, he would have lost the first battle of his life.

After all, no one survives a spell like that.

Right?

A shame that she didn't survive it. So many things to break... her mind, her pride, that flawless body. So many ways.