The thrill of the hunt?

Never had that thought crossed into the depraved Cinderella's mind, and yet, oddly enough, she seemed to not dislike the idea. It would not be unlike her to watch a struggling animal squirm and run, begging for its life with bloodshot eyes as she shot at its joints one by one

Then again, what fun would there be in simply finding prey for the sake of finding it? She was depraved, yes, but not a monster. She would hunt when its time to eat, kill when she needed to kill, and torture if the bastardly creature deserved it.

Certainly, her heart was bound to be an ugly thing after everything it was she was forced to endure, but what about this… child?

Could she be called a child? A demon would be a better way to describe her. That cynical laugh and beautiful face didn't match up quite well, and the red of the girl's hood matched the red that covered her hand, face, and legs. Certainly not a beautiful color scheme on that angel-like body, and even more confused was Cinderella when this demon opened its mouth to speak

"Can I kill you?"

Four simple words were enough to rattle Cinderella's thoughts, to confuse her, and to anger her

"Are you picking a fight blondie?"

There, sitting on a rock not too far away from the princess, was a wolf in sheep's clothing. With a bored tone, and an almost too relaxed attitude, the red-cloaked monster spoke out again, locking eyes with who she hoped would be her next playmate

"I just want to kill you. You looked stressed, I thought I could help you. Is that a no?"

"Huh?"

Cinderella pulled out her weapons from their holsters, the twin pistols she trusted her life with, and took a shot that missed its mark, albeit not by much. The rock under the blonde girl shattered, with the girl herself jumping back and taking a seat on the floor, examining the smoking bullet hole on her cloak

"Hehe, so you do want to die?"

"I'll give you hell ya little bitch!"

Taking two more shots at the still target, both of which hit their mark, Cinderella yelled out in fury, only for those cries to be drowned out by laughter and a metallic *clang*

There, in the young girl's hands was a Warhammer that tanked both bullets and rendered them useless. With a laugh, a skip, and a beat, Akzukin closed the distance between herself and the dark-skinned princess at blinding speed. She puffed up her cheeks as she brought the hammer around with a spin, crushing Cinderella's side and sending her flying into a large tree as she coughed blood onto the ground. She fell to her knees, gasping for air.

"B-Bitch..." she wheezed out, clutching her stomach and staring up at the weapon that caused her such pain. Cinderella stood up, her legs shaking, removing the barrel on her right pistol, replacing it with a different one that hung around her waist. The moment she did so, she looked around desperately for something, for anything, for-

"Die!"

She took a shot at an unsuspecting nightmare; a small floating sprite obliterated the instant it turned to face the princess. Almost as soon as it vanished, Cinderella's shoes, a pair of golden Stiletto heels, began to glow with purple flames that engulfed her legs and soon covered her wounds, healing them, rendering them null. Once she was fully recovered, she aimed her sights at the girl's legs, though at the same time, Akazukin took to the air and came down with her hammer being brought down again, this time aiming at Cinderella's head

"Hahaha! You can't win with those little toys!"

"Can it!"

Rolling ahead and seeing the tree she was flung to before get snapped in half, the deprived princess smiled, gritting her teeth, speaking out with a low growl

"Just because you're pretty, isn't that right?"

"Huuh? Pretty?"

"Just because you're pretty, you think you can have your way, isn't that right?"

Cinderella's feet began to once more glow in purple flames, more specifically, in long wisps of Inochi that made their way up her body. Cinderella's limbs stiffened, and her skin paled in color turning smooth like that of a mannequin, but before she could move she heard a pair of voices in her head, voices she had always hated to hear

"Look at her! She thinks she can talk back to us when she's just a maid!"

"Honestly, how does the little insect even look us in the eyes?"

"We should have just gotten rid of her. All she does is cost us food"

"How ugly"

"Disgusting"

"We don't have a room, just sleep by the fireplace"

"You're getting soot on the ground you worm, clean it up!"

"Shut up…"

"Hm?"

"Shut up!"

Oblivious to the voice of confusion in front of her, Cinderella bit her tongue lip, drawing blood, and forcing her appearance to revert to normal. The lip healed almost as soon as the blood dripped down her cheek, but the pain remained. She took a gander at the blondie who dared look down on her. She remembered the sisters that tried to take everything from her, only to have their eyes gouged out and their feet cut to pieces. She remembered how much she endured and how little she got in return. She decided

"I won't die so easily you bitch"

She spun the barrel on one of her pistols and aimed once again at the girl who grew from angry, to confused, and finally enraged

"Why won't any of you let me have fun"

She ran forward and jumped up, ready to swing down once again, but much to her surprise didn't land on her feet, instead landing hard on her back with a stinging pain on both shoulders. She got tried again, this time jumping left and trying to get another blow to the purple-haired princess' side only to get her knees pierced the moment she tried to close in with a dash

"Gah-" Akazukin let out reflexivity as she saw the blood on her knees while she rolled onto the ground. CInderella, with a pair of depraved yet jealous eyes, walked up to the girl and aimed for both her guns at the red-hooded girl's heart, taking a shot before turning back and leaving the body and her jealousy behind

Of course, in this world of Library, beauty was unimportant. What one needed was strength and a heart deprived of any sign of weakness. Though, that did not mean Cinderella was not beautiful herself. If she was not, then there was no way the Prince would have fallen for her. There would have been no reason for her step-sisters to make her get covered in soot to hide her exotic skin, and gorgeous face, as well as making her dress in rags made seemingly to cover up all of her assets. Cinderella thought of this, confident about herself as she turned back to take one last look at the demon she had just put down, only to see a trail of blood going towards the edge of the cliff where Cinderella had just walked away from.

"Cats got claws, or rather, the little wolf has some fangs, huh?"

Without anger, nor fear, or even a hint of worry, Cinderella went on her way, trying to come up with a reason as to why, even if it was just for a moment, she seemed to pity the girl despite her beauty and strength. It might have been that her heart, even when compared to The Depraved Cinderella, was much more empty, void of reason

Such a violent girl she was

Such a pretty girl she was

Such a brutal demon she was