Chapter 81: Sly Fox.
A man wearing noble garb, looking like he came out of a medieval movie, entered the arena; he looked like he was 190 CM in height.
A muscular body that can even be seen through the clothes he is wearing.
What stood out most about this man who had just entered the arena was his cold dead eyes.
The phrase, 'The eyes are the window of the soul' couldn't be more correct in talking about this man. Looking into the man's lifeless eyes, everyone could immediately think he was dead inside.
Looking into the eyes of the man who had just entered, Victor flashed a small smile:
"Oh?"
"You can tell?" Scathach displayed a small satisfied smile.
"Yeah. At first glance, it might appear that he is a man bored with everything, a dead man. But that couldn't be more incorrect…." Victor's eyes gleamed a little through the glasses he was wearing.
"Hahaha~. Foxes always know how to deceive someone, for these animals deceiving people is like second nature, that man... He's a fox." She laughed in amusement, looking pleased with Victor's opinion.
"... Is he strong?" Violet asked.
"Yeah. Of course, he's strong, but the question you should be asking is, how strong is he?" Scathach replied.
"..." Violet looked at the man again, she seemed to be examining the man, "I feel that my mother is stronger than him."
"Pfft... HAHAHAHAHA" Scathach started laughing as if she heard the funniest joke in the world.
"…" Violet looked at Scathach with an emotionless look.
"Girl, a woman who relies only on her powers isn't qualified enough to be called 'strong.' Do you know why?" Scathach bared all her teeth as she laughed.
"…" Violet waited for Scathach's following words.
"Because when someone takes that power from her, she will become useless..."
"... This-." Violet wasn't able to argue anything against Scathach's words. After all, she also knew that her mother had never trained anything in her life other than her power. Is she strong? Yes, of course, she is, she has mastered the control of her power... But.
Without that power, she becomes useless... It's like a wizard that if he loses his magic, he will become an ordinary person.
And she didn't even bother to train the vampire's basic powers.
Scathach continues, this time in a teacher's tone of voice:
"Remember, A hunter must always have several weapons in his arsenal at his disposal. He must always have different ways to kill a creature stronger than himself."
"If you can't use your innate vampire powers, use martial arts and force close-range combat. If you can't use martial arts, get a weapon. If a weapon is not available, take a stone. Use the environment to your advantage, use everything you can to kill your enemy, that's what a hunter does, and that's what I taught Victor."
"... I get it." Violet took this as a learning lesson, she thought she should ask Victor to teach her something in the future.
"…" Ruby, Lacus, Siena, and Eleonor didn't know how to react to these words, but as former students, they decided to take notes on Scathach's words, but they were wondering something internally; 'Why didn't she teach this to us too?'
The four women unconsciously looked at Victor.
Feeling the eyes of the women on him, Victor, who was looking at the man who arrived at the center of the arena, said:
"Let's go back to watching."
"Before that...Give me my sister." Elizabeth demanded.
"Hmm?" Victor looks back and sees Elizabeth standing behind him.
"It's not like I'm holding her here. You can take her off if you want." Victor stopped petting Ophis and opened his arms.
"..." Elizabeth walked in front of Victor, but before she could do anything, she took a pair of black gloves from her pocket.
Victor looked at the glove and saw several magic symbols engraved on the glove. "Protection?"
"Yes." She answered. Soon she started to move her hand towards Ophis.
"..." Everyone looked at this scene with curious eyes.
When Elizabeth's hands touch Ophis's arm, the little girl suddenly opens her eyes.
Ophis's blood red eyes were emitting a dangerous light, she gripped Victor's clothes tighter and looked at her sister.
Elizabeth's body visibly trembled, but she remained calm and said, "We need to go back, Ophis.
"Stop."
Elizabeth's body suddenly stopped moving as if paralyzed.
But this only lasted a few seconds, then she was able to regain control of her body:
"Ophis-." She smiled gently and tried to convince Ophis, but before she could say anything more:
"I will not go." The little girl refused to listen.
"Tsk." Violet was waiting for her to accept.
"Violet..." Sasha and Ruby looked at Violet:
"Do you remember our conversation?" Ruby says. She didn't like that either, but she's conscientious enough not to seek a fight with the king's family.
"Yeah. I won't do anything." Violet turned her face away.
"..." The two did not trust her words.
Victor exhibited a small smile, he closed his arms and strokes Ophis' hair:
"Let her do what she wants."
"Mm"
Seeing Ophis's satisfied expression.
"Sigh"
Elizabeth sighed and turned away from Ophis, she walked to a chair next to Eleonor and sat down.
Princess."
"Countess Eleonor."
The two exchanged little greetings.
Soon the whole group looked towards the arena, which began to create a dome around the two individuals, and suddenly a golden scroll appeared floating in the middle of the dome.
...
"Count Niklaus Horseman, thank you so much for bringing the Countship for me today~."
"You are very confident." The man spoke in an emotionless tone.
"Of course I'm confident; I'm not my sister who would lose something so important to someone insignificant like you."
"I see…" He looked at the audience with a bored look.
"..." Victoria was a little annoyed internally, she wanted to tease him a little to try to learn a little more about the man's personality, but he didn't react as she expected.
He looked back at her, "How are we going to decide this? A fight? A dance? A board game? If you choose a board game, I suggest chess... Oh but-."
He exhibited a small cold smile, "Chess can be a difficult thing for you, considering you don't seem to have much intellectual capacity."
"…" Victoria opened her eyes a little, she didn't expect this coming from someone like him, but she wasn't someone who would let this little insult disturb her emotions.
"I want a fight, something simple. With that, you will have no excuses if you lose... And we need to entertain this entire audience, right? A game of chess would be tedious." She smiled gently.
"A fight is fine with me." Niklaus agreed.
"How many rounds? How many competitors? And what are the rules?" Niklaus cracked his neck a little.
"One round is enough. The rules are simple, we fight until the other side has lost their heart or gives up on their own."
As vampires, they are immortal, but it is not true immortality. If the vampire has their head completely destroyed, they will die, and if the vampire suffers an attack with their mortal weaknesses, they will die too.
Because of that, she proposed a rule: if the vampire loses their heart, they will lose the game. After all, this type of injury can be easily healed with vampire regeneration.
"I heard from a little bird that your twin sons are geniuses, put one of them to fight... Then, I will select a trusted warrior to fight him." She continued with a gentle smile on her face. It was quite clear that she had confidence in the warrior she had chosen.
"...What a coincidence... I also learned from a little bird that was a color very similar to yours that you had a child, and to my surprise, that child was an oriental vampire; I wonder if the Clan Fulger knows that." Niklaus flashed a cold little smile.
"..." Victoria's eyes changed to blood red for a moment, and she took on a cold expression:
"Where are you going, Count Niklaus?" Victoria didn't like it. She's pretty sure she hid her son's information from the fangs of these old vampires. They weren't supposed to know about her son.
"Use your son to fight. If you choose your child, I will accept these terms."
'That fox…' Victoria knew that if she didn't accept it, the next news the entire vampire world would know was that she had a child by a foreign vampire, and she knows that the first person who would knock on her door upon learning of this information would be her sister.
Normally this would not be a problem, but as her son was born with the lightning power she did not inherit, her sister will demand that her son be turned over to Clan Fulger.
'He cornered me.' She knew that if her son fought, the chance of him using his lightning powers was high.
"...You can give up, you know?"
"…" Victoria clenches her fist tightly, she can't give up. She's come too far to give up now!
"I accept... He will fight."
"I accept the terms." Niklaus looked at the parchment, and, seeing that everything was correct, he turned away.
"..." Victoria watched the man's back for a long time, but soon she turned too and walked out of the arena; 'It's okay, my son inherited his father's talent, he can win without using lightning.'
Chapter 82: The match is starting...
After the events that took place in the arena, the two clan leaders split up and returned to their respective VIP rooms.
Inside a VIP room very similar to the one Victor was in, three people were present.
A blonde woman wearing a long elegant black dress was sitting on a sofa, and beside her was a woman wearing a purple dress with some white accents.
Unlike Victoria, where the dress was more noble, this woman's dress was more modern.
"Tatsuya, I'm counting on you… And remember not to use lightning. You can win with only your father's talent; I believe in you. Take care, my son." Victoria spoke with a gentle expression on her face as she looked at her son, a tall man at 185 cm in height, pale skin, long dark blond hair, and dark black eyes.
He was wearing a black yukata with gold accents.
"Yes, Mother." The man exhibited a small, gentle smile as he walked towards the exit of the room and walked towards the arena.
The moment Tatsuya left the room, Victoria looked at the woman beside her with a serious look different from what she was showing before.
"How? How can they know about Tatsuya? I'm paying you billions of dollars every month, so that doesn't happen." She spoke in a cold tone.
"…Believe me, Victoria. I do not know either." The woman spoke with a small sigh.
"Even for a witch like you... you don't know?" Victoria's eyes changed to blood red.
"... Sigh." The woman sighed after watching Victoria for a while.
"Yes, I don't know. But I do have a hunch."
"What?"
"One of that woman's daughters has the clairvoyant ability, maybe your son showed up at some important event in the future, and she knew about it? But that wouldn't explain why the Horseman Clan knows about it."
"..." Victoria was not satisfied.
"Hecate, I'm paying you a dear price every month for you to hide my son's existence and protect him." She assumed a cold smile, "From the moment that old man discovered my son's existence, you failed your job. I will lower your pay."
"...!" The witch opened her eyes wider, and her face darkened a little, "W-Wait, his existence hasn't been discovered by everyone yet, and that doesn't break the contract rule!"
Victoria ignored what Hecate said, "If you don't want to lose money, hurry up and find out what happened."
"Yes, I will." Hecate sighed a little relieved, she didn't want to miss her golden goose. Being hired by a woman with a net worth of trillions of dollars like Victoria was every witch's dream.
...
"So? Who will fight, my older brother or me? Maybe my little sister?" Einer Horseman asked, and, as always, he had that crazy grin on his face.
Niklaus, who was standing watching the arena through the glass, spoke without looking back, "Your older brother cannot fight, and I will not entrust such an important matter to my daughter."
"You will fight."
"Oh? Thanks, Father~" Einer continued to laugh.
"This is your last chance…Don't fail me like you failed to capture that alpha wolf. This time, the opponent is someone of your level, and he won't be using all of his power. You shouldn't have excuses if you lose to that woman's son."
Niklaus was very disappointed. He gave his son a simple mission and even sent someone strong enough to capture an alpha wolf, but even so, the two failed because of their arrogance.
"…" Einer kept showing his smile as he looked at his father seriously. He knew he had disappointed his father, and that is something that shouldn't be repeated.
"I will not fail, Father." He spoke with absolute confidence. He had no confidence in fighting an alpha wolf, but a vampire? That's easy.
"Good. Now, go."
"Yes." Einer got up from the couch and walked towards the exit of the VIP room.
"…" Zwei and Jessica just fell silent.
"How is the boy's condition?" Niklaus asked.
"Dying...sick..." Zwei responded neutrally, and then he continued, "He doesn't have time..."
"…" Niklaus started to think a little before speaking:
"... That's a problem... It's very difficult to create a hybrid. We can't lose it until we complete our goal."
"What shall we do with those individuals my brothers have brought," Jessica asked, she was curious about what her father was going to do with Lucy and his subordinates.
"Nothing. Karen is keeping an eye on them."
"I don't trust Karen," Jessica said. She couldn't trust Karen, she felt that this woman would betray them at any moment.
"My Daughter." Niklaus looked at his daughter with the same bored eyes he always has, "It doesn't matter whether you trust her or not. She's doing her job and giving information; that's all that matters."
"But-." Jessica wanted to say something, but her father continued,
"If she becomes useless and doesn't do her job, she should just be eliminated." He looked back at the arena.
"Asking for a vampire's trust is sheer nonsense."
"…" Jessica was silent, she didn't know what to say to her father because, in the end, she knew he was correct. Vampires will always act in their own best interest.
....
A man wearing a red and black suit walked into the middle of the arena. He was a tall man and was wearing a smiling mask on his face.
The man raised his hands in the air and said:
Ladies and gentlemen, the two clans have decided the rule of the game today!" His voice strangely traveled to all corners of the arena.
"Look at this!" He pointed into the air, and soon everyone could see a giant hologram showing.
...
Chosen games: a 1 v 1 duel.
Rounds: 1
Rules: If the participant has their heart destroyed, they lose. If the participant surrenders, they lose.
Time limit: No limit.
.
Clan Horseman bets: Vampire Count title
.
Clan Rider bets: The Rider Clogomerate
.
ATTENTION: THE GAME STARTS IN 10 MINUTES!
...
"OHHHH!" The crowd started clapping and cheering.
"It's a fight! A fight!" A man shouted excitedly.
"Would we be able to see two Count-level vampires fighting!?" A woman spoke with a big smile on her face, she looked excited.
"This is a great opportunity!" A man across the arena spoke.
"Finally, something interesting is happening." A bored-looking man spoke.
"…I wouldn't be so optimistic…." A pessimistic-looking woman commented.
The vampires who were present in the arena started to debate who would fight whom; they looked very impatient.
But it wasn't just them. Victor's group was also impatient.
"Tsk." Mainly Victor.
"Father?" Ophis looks up and sees Victor's annoyed face.
Victor looked at Ophis and smiled gently, then he began to stroke her head, "It's nothing, Ophis."
"Mm~" She exhibited a small smile and closed her eyes as if enjoying his caresses.
"Haha~. Be patient, Victor. These things take time to get done." Scathach commented.
"..." Victor didn't say anything and just remained silent.
"My aunt seemed to get annoyed for a moment." Sasha, who was beside Victor, spoke.
"Oh, did you notice?"
"Yes," Sasha nodded.
"It was only for a few seconds, but her emotions seemed to intensify," Ruby commented.
"That man must have done something." Elizabeth, who was a little far away, spoke.
"…You seem to know him, Princess." Victor looked at Elizabeth.
"Nothing escapes the king's eyes." Elizabeth smiled.
"HAHAHA!" Scathach laughed as if she'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
"…" Elizabeth's face became neutral.
"Nothing escapes the king's eyes. Except for Countess Scathach." She rephrased her sentence.
"Heh~, glad you understand, Princess."
"..." Elizabeth turned her face away and ignored Scathach. When she turned her face away, she could see her guards, who were still standing with thorns of ice hovering around them.
"... Can you let my guards go?"
"Oh... I forgot about them." Scathach snaps her fingers, and soon the ice is gone.
"Thanks, Princess." The guards spoke, and soon they broke away from the group and stood guard near the door.
Sigh!
Elizabeth sighed. For some reason, she just wanted to get out of this place, she couldn't handle Scathach!
"You seem to be having a rough time, Princess," Eleanor spoke.
"..." Elizabeth looked at Eleonor with a neutral gaze and nodded.
"Don't worry, we all understand your feeling."
"..." Everyone in the room except Victor, Sasha, Ruby, Violet, and Scathach, who were talking to each other, nodded.
"My mom is a very difficult person to deal with... Especially now that she's... Hmm... having fun?" Siena spoke.
"…" Elizabeth looked at Siena with a neutral expression.
Siena's eyes darkened a little, "But don't worry, you'll get used to it soon, and look! She found someone like her; we have two Scathach now!"
"…Bloody Hell, I want to get out of here…." She really wanted to get out of that room right now
Chapter 83: Let the games begin!
10 minutes had passed, and the game was about to start.
The hologram of the arena suddenly changed, and soon everyone could see the participants' faces, their age, and their names.
...
Einer Horseman, heir to the Horseman Clan.
Age: 105
.
Tatsuya, hired mercenary.
Age: 90
...
When the audience saw that they were two children, their reaction was mixed.
"Tsk, two kids." Some didn't like it.
"...It's better than nothing." Some just didn't care anymore.
"...They're cute..." Some thought they were both attractive.
"Boring." Some lost interest.
"I wanted to see the two leaders fight…." Some were honest with their thoughts.
Despite having different reactions, there was something they all had in common; they were bored! But there wasn't much better to do, so they were going to watch anyway.
"So it's him... Tatsuya." Victor's smile grew when he finally got to know the name of the person who had a strong presence. He had seen a strong presence some time ago near the VIP room where he was, and he finally got to know who this individual was.
"And Einer Horseman." Victor's eyes lit up a little when he saw the name 'Horseman'.
'So he's the heir, huh?' He thought with an indecipherable little smile.
[Do you want me to investigate it, Master?]
Victor suddenly heard Kaguya's voice in his head. He stroked Ophis' head and thought for a moment, "... No need."
The reason he refused was simple, he didn't want to put Kaguya at risk. When Victor looked at the leader of Clan Horseman, he could tell what kind of person he was, and with Scathach's words a few minutes ago, he knew that man was someone careful.
Despite having a convenient power that can help her escape from any situation, Victor doesn't want to risk putting his favorite maid in danger.
[Okay, Master. But if you need anything, talk to me. I'm feeling useless just being in your shadow.]
"Haha~, I'll talk to you if I need anything," he replied in a low voice.
"…" Ophis looks up and stares at Victor.
"Shadow..."
Victor displays a gentle smile and puts his finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence.
"Mm." Soon she lays her head on his chest.
"Heh~... She hid his last name, huh?" Scathach exhibited a small smile.
"He looks familiar somehow…." Sasha spoke as she stared at the image.
"..." Violet didn't care about the contestants, she was just staring at Ophis with a death glare. Despite ignoring it for a few minutes, she still felt jealous and envious of the little girl, and Violet was thinking of doing something.
"...Stop," Ruby spoke.
"...But I haven't done anything yet..." Violet looked at Ruby in disbelief.
"Yes. You haven't done anything YET." Ruby looked at Violet with a look that completely understood Violet's actions.
"…" Violet was wondering when she became so predictable…
Sigh!
Ruby sighed, "Don't do anything now, okay? I'm also jealous, and I also want to do something about it, but, despite my feelings about this situation, this little girl is still the king's daughter. So though my mother wouldn't mind it, and our husband wouldn't either, we must not get into conflict with the king."
"Tsk…" Violet turned her face away.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hearing the announcer's voice, the girls looked towards the arena, where they saw two men walking towards the arena.
...
A man with long golden hair was walking calmly towards the middle of the arena.
He was wearing a black Yukata with black details, and he also had a small Katana around his waist.
The feeling he gave was that of a sharp but gentle warrior.
A very opposite feeling from the other competitor.
He was wearing a black sweatshirt and black jeans. The man had a big, distorted smile on his face, and his crazed eyes gave away what kind of personality he seemed to have.
Upon reaching the middle of the arena, the two fighters faced each other.
Despite being opposites in personality, the audience didn't have a favorite fighter, they didn't care for the gentle-looking fighter, and they also didn't care for the crazy appearance of the other fighter. Instead, they just wanted to see something interesting!
The announcer knew that and, because of that, he didn't speak more than necessary; he approached the participants and spoke out loud so that everyone could hear.
"Everyone present here knows the rule, but I will repeat it. Permanent death is not allowed; if any of the fighters break this rule, severe consequences will happen to the Clan the fighter is representing..."
The masked referee looked at the two, "Did I make myself clear?"
They both felt a shiver down their spine as they looked through the small space of the masked man's mask.
""Yes."" The two replied.
"Good... Let the game begin!" The referee disappeared.
The moment they heard the referee's words.
The two participants seemed to disappear from view, and soon they appeared in the middle of the arena. Tatsuya was holding his katana, and Einer was holding a completely black rapier.
The two swords collided in the middle of the arena.
"...?" Tatsuya looked at the rapier with appraising eyes. He wondered when this weapon appeared in the man's hand, he knew his opponent didn't enter the arena with this weapon in hand, but he didn't have much time to think when he felt something trying to pierce his back.
Realizing the danger, Tatsuya decided to flee from this situation.
"Calm down, don't run away~."
"!!!" Tatsuya looked down and saw that his feet were trapped in the ground by some kind of black slime; Tatsuya's body started to crackle with lightning for a few seconds but soon stopped. Instinctively, Tatsuya would use his lightning bolts, but remembering his mother's words, he managed to control himself.
With no choices, he decided to do whatever was necessary not to lose the game from the start. So he uses a Parry technique and deflects Einer's blade.
In doing so, he managed to knock the blade away from Einer.
Realizing his chance, he makes a decision and … cuts off his legs!
With his body falling towards the ground, Tatsuya supports himself with his hand and moves away. He looked at the place where he was and saw a kind of blackthorn piercing the air.
'What is that?' With a calm face, he tried to understand the enemy's power.
"Hahaha~. I wonder if the public knows what's going on." Scathach laughed in amusement.
Suddenly everyone could feel a sensation that made the spines of their bodies shiver, and everyone in the VIP room looked at Victor:
Heh~. As expected, you didn't disappoint me again~" Scathach's smile grew.
Victor's hair seemed to be floating like it was defying gravity, his eyes were glowing a dangerous red, and he had a huge smile that showed all the sharp teeth in his mouth.
"Father?" Ophis called him.
But Victor seemed to be in a trance, and he didn't hear her.
Ophis looked at Victor, her big eyes shining cutely, she didn't understand why Victor didn't talk to her.
"That feeling is scary..." Pepper muttered a little, "Did he get like this just seeing those two fight?"
"..." Everyone in the room except Violet, Ruby, Sasha, Scathach, and Ophis, who were more concerned about looking at Victor, agreed with Pepper.
Seeing the face she considered an excited face of her disciple, Scathach started to think of a few things, she looked back to the arena.
"Aren't you going to attack me? Just because I'm in this condition, are you underestimating me?" Tatsuya asked in a cold voice.
"Hehehe~, I don't need to move to attack you."
Suddenly a blackthorn pierces Tatsuya's heart!
"Tatsuya… My son, why didn't you finish the fight…?" Victoria didn't seem worried about her son. In fact, she looked impatient.
"Tsk... This is boring." Someone in the audience complained. As a 450-year-old vampire, this kind of fight wasn't surprising to him.
That same feeling was shared by the other vampires who were similar in age to that man and were watching the fight. For them, it was just a child's fight. Do you have fun when you see two kids fighting? Of course not!
"What are you waiting for, boy!? Finish the opponent! And end this farce soon!" A man from the audience shouted towards Einer.
"HmmHmmm~" Einer seemed to be singing a song and totally ignored the man in the audience, then his red eyes started to glow.
"I feel weird~" Einer started to think of a few things, and soon he made a move that left everyone speechless. He takes the Rapier he created and pierces his own heart!
"…" An uncomfortable silence descended on the arena. Nobody understood what happened!
Silence remains for 30 seconds, then everyone hears the sound of breaking glass.
"The sky is cracking...?" Someone spoke in disbelief.
The sky suddenly broke, and soon everyone woke up in a stupor.
Vampires under 500 years of age looked at the arena in shock:
"Huh!? Are you both okay?"
"What happened!?"
The audience was freaking out.
An older vampire in the audience said, "Children these days are too weak to fall for this simple trick..." He shook his head in disappointment.
"Unexpected... I thought this would be easy." Tatsuya spoke in a cold voice. He was still standing in the same spot the game had started and was about to finish the fight when he realized that Einer had fallen into his power, but his instincts warned him not to get closer now.
Einer's smile grew disproportionately, "I see~ I see~. We didn't know about this power."
.....