Chapter 84: Tatsuya Vs Einer.
"What...? What just happened...?" Violet rubbed her eyes.
"...This power is dangerous. I didn't even feel like I was in an illusion," Sasha spoke in a serious voice, she felt uncomfortable as she imagined she could be in an illusion at any time.
"Illusion...?" Violet looked at Sasha.
"Yes. I don't know how it works, but that is the power he just used, right?" Since she wasn't sure what she was talking about, she looked to Scathach for answers.
Sasha was internally surprised, 'Is his power so strong that it could affect several young vampires present in the arena simultaneously?'
"…" Seeing what Sasha was doing, Violet also looked at Scathach.
Sensing Sasha and Violet's gaze, Scathach looked at them and flashed a small, unreadable smile:
"You're correct that his power is an illusion, but that's not all." Then she looked back at the arena.
"..." Sasha and Violet nodded. They understood why the woman spoke so mysteriously, she was basically saying; 'Use your brains; the problem is right in front of you.'
"Hmm… That power, when was it activated? I don't remember looking him in the eye…." Ruby commented.
"Indeed... He doesn't have an emo attitude either." Pepper, who got up and approached Ruby, added.
Violet and Sasha looked at their sisters:
"What are you talking about?" Violet asked as she raised her eyebrow.
"Nothing." The two spoke at the same time.
...
Tatsuya looked at Einer with a cold look on his face:
"Tell me, do you think your reality that you see is really real?" Then, his eyes changing to blood red, he started walking towards Einer.
"I don't know, and I don't care either." Einer looked to his right side and ignored what Tatsuya was saying.
"I see..." Tatsuya's image disappeared from the arena.
"If the act of observing reality is what determines what is real, then…." Tatsuya appears beside Einer and attacks him.
Black thorns suddenly grow from the ground and cross Tatsuya, and Tatsuya's blood splashed in Einer's face.
For just a small moment, Einer's face displayed a tiny bit of pleasure. He thought he had it right this time, but soon a strange sensation like the one he'd felt the first time hit him.
"What am I to you? A reality? Or an illusion?"
The image of Tatsuya being pierced by the black thorns disappears like a mirage, and a Katana blade appears behind Einer and cuts him vertically.
"Fuck-" Einer tries to dodge the attack, but he can barely manage. He had to sacrifice his arm, his arm fell to the ground, and he felt the pain.
He backed away quickly and looked at his arm, and again he felt that nagging feeling in his heart.
"This isn't real..." The moment he identified what was real, his arm disappeared from the ground and returned to his body.
"If you can't understand me, you can't fight me since you can't fight what you don't understand."
A katana suddenly pierces Einer's chest.
Cough!
Einer coughed up blood on the floor. This time, he felt that this wound was real!
He creates black thorns behind him and attacks Tatsuya.
"Tell me... The wound you just received, does it exist?"
"Tsk." Hearing Tatsuya's voice, Einer's face for the first time showed an annoyed expression.
"Fuck off!" Several thorns appear around Einer.
"Where are you! Show yourself!"
"…" The audience was silent. They couldn't understand what was happening right in front of them. But, of course, this only applied to the younger vampires, the older vampires knew what was going on, and the only thing that crossed the mind of the older vampires was:
'Where did the leader of Clan Rider find this man with such exotic power?' The eyes of the older vampires looked at Tatsuya with a look of limitless curiosity; for them, who were bored, Tatsuya was a perfect existence to kill their boredom.
"Hahaha, that kid must be having a hard time right now." Scathach chuckled, she looked at Victor, who seemed to have all of his senses focused on the fight.
"Do you seem to understand what's going on, Victor?" She exhibited a small smile.
"..." Hearing Scathach's question, everyone looked at Victor.
"Yeah. Look, Tatsuya is going to cut his legs off now."
And just like Victor said, Tatsuya's Katana appears on Einer's legs and cuts diagonally!
"!!?" Einer was going through a difficult time, he understood what was going on, but despite understanding the enemy's power, he couldn't do anything to counteract that power.
"It's useless." He heard Tatsuya's voice again.
"As long as you don't understand my existence, you can't fight me." The katana appears again in front of Einer and tries to cut off his head.
Einer quickly creates a thorn shield in front of him and jumps back using his hands.
When Tatsuya's Katana touches the thorn shield, the katana disappears like mist.
"..." Victor's group was surprised again.
"This is a tough fight for me." Eleonor was honest, she was primarily a fighter who used strength to overcome everything.
"Indeed. This man is like an eel, he is very slippery, and that power is irritating to fight back against." Elizabeth spoke.
"How do you fight someone who can confuse all your senses? He has the advantage." Lacus spoke.
"You are thinking wrong." Victor and Scathach's voices were heard at the same time." The group was silent again.
For the first time, Victor stops watching the fight and looks at Scathach, then he exhibits a small smile, "Do you explain, or do I explain?"
She smiled, "...You explain." She wanted to know Victor's thoughts.
Victor gets up with Ophis in his arms and says something in Ophis' ear:
"Mm…" The girl nodded in agreement.
He decided to demonstrate, after all, is better than explaining:
"Watch." He places his hand in front of Ophis and descends slowly.
The group started to watch the movement of Victor's hands, Victor's hands began to glow with the power of lightning, and it caught the girls' attention even more; he looked like he was going to do something big!
Suddenly he said, "Now, where is Ophis?"
"...Huh!?" The women looked up and saw that Ophis had disappeared.
"She disappeared!?" Elizabeth screamed and got up from her chair, she couldn't lose her sister again!
Ruby, Sasha, and Violet look around, and soon they see Ophis sitting on Victor's ice throne, but since the throne was so big, it looked like she had disappeared.
"She's on the throne…." The three spoke.
Elizabeth walks close to the throne and sighs with relief when she sees Ophis sitting in a Cute fashion.
"What I just did is simple, I focused your attention on my hands, and you didn't see Ophis come down from my arms, a simple attention-shifting trick."
"That's basically what he's doing to deceive Einer. Of course, he's not using this simple magic trick. He must be using his power to make it work on a large scale."
"Hahahaha~. Good, you get it, but you missed something, idiot disciple."
"Oh?" Victor and the group looked at Scathach.
"That man, he is not trying to deceive the boy of Clan Horseman; he is deceiving his very existence." She exhibited a teacher's smile, "By becoming a difficult creature to be observed, the brain cannot understand what it is observing, so it looks like he is using a form of illusion."
"He said it, right? You can't fight what you don't understand; that's basically a tip he left."
"I see..." Victor's smile grew a little.
"Father..." Ophis raised her hand up in a gesture that told Victor to hold her.
"... What a spoiled girl~." Victor smiled kindly and picked up Ophis again, then sat on the ice throne he created.
"Better..."
"…" Elizabeth didn't know what to say or think seeing her sister like this.
Crack!
Violet's grip was so strong that she broke the ice throne she was sitting on a little. In an attempt to ignore what she was seeing, she said:
"He is hiding his very existence, and by doing so, he manages to fool his opponent...?" Her brain was spinning to try to understand what she just heard.
"That doesn't make any sense," Ruby said.
"His power is quite unusual in our community. I think he must be a foreign vampire." Siena commented, as an older vampire, she could understand the battle and the power of man, but even for her, his power was something interesting and curious...
"The power of the vampires out there shouldn't be that strong." Elizabeth continued.
"His power is not strong." Eleonor explained, "It's the way he uses his power that makes it look like his power is strong."
Suddenly everyone could feel a dark pressure; they quickly look into the arena and see Einer's body covered in a distorted black aura:
"Annoying... Annoying, your power is irritating, your existence is irritating." He had a distorted expression on his face and seemed very upset.
"I don't need to understand you to defeat you!" A pillar of black energy came out of Einer's body. Slowly, Einer's skin began to change to a dark black, he started to grow in height, his ears grew, and black wings made of pure power grew up behind him.
His hair lifted as if defying gravity, his eyes took on a deeper shade of red, his teeth sharpened.
"That's..." Victor's smile grew distorted, and everyone could see the big smile Victor had on his face.
"The Vampire Count Form."
Chapter 85: Tatsuya Vs Einer. 2
"This power…" The audience was speechless, especially the younger vampires.
"How did he achieve this form despite being so young? It's impossible!" Some were unbelievers.
"OHHHHH! That's what I wanted to see! Now it's interesting!" The most bored vampires didn't care; they just wanted to have fun.
"Hey blond boy, show me something interesting too!"
The two fighters ignored the voices of vampires from the audience and focused their attention on each other.
...
"Father…" Zwei spoke in a neutral voice, but one that held a sense of warning.
"I know. It's all right. It's not like it's rare for the sons of vampire counts to take that form." Niklaus didn't look worried.
Jessica looked intently at the arena. Although this was a power she still hadn't quite grasped, she hoped that by watching her brother do it, she might understand something.
...
"Lady Victoria..." Hecate looked worried.
"…It's okay… My son can win, but…." After seeing the form her son's opponent took, she thought; 'These damn geniuses, how old is he? Only 105? And even though he's so young, can he take that form?'
She was really starting to get worried about her son. Even though her son is a full-fledged genius, he hasn't released this transformation yet! She knows it's foolish to just let him fight without using all of his powers...
But despite knowing this, she's still a mother, she wants the best for her son and doesn't want to involve her son in Clan Fulger's schemes.
"…Hecate. If things get bad, send him a message telling him to use all his powers."
"...What about the Fulger clan?"
"I'll deal with those bastards later, but first, we must win this game."
But despite being a mother who wants the best for her child. She was an ambitious woman. A contradiction of ambition, desire, and a mother's affection.
"I see. I will get the message across if something happens."
...
Crack! Crack!
Sounds of breaking glass can be heard. It felt like reality was breaking...
"This reality will decay in the face of my power!" He raised his hands, and his power seemed to cover all the space around him.
The moment he raised his hand, the world around him began to rot, and slowly, the illusion disappeared and showed Tatsuya, who had a surprised expression on his cold face.
Einer broke Tatsuya's power with sheer brute force!
"And to think you surpassed my power with pure strength... And there's also this transformation... Do you call it Vampire Count Form?"
"Are you scared now? Don't be. We've just started." Einer's smile grew.
"Wrong…I'm not scared. I just realized that I still have a lot to improve... that's a good thing." Tatsuya braced himself.
"I see." Einer didn't care. Einer's wings of power seemed to grow, and, as soon as he rose into the air, he spread his wings.
Black thorns began to grow inside the wings, and soon a shower of thorns flew towards Tatsuya.
Using a foot movement that would be the envy of any martial artist, Tatsuya dodged all the thorns.
He seemed to be dancing in the middle of the arena and avoided all attacks with as little effort as possible.
The thorns hitting the arena seemed to be causing a decaying effect, and the ground was becoming unstable.
But for Tatsuya, it wasn't a bother; he just realized that he shouldn't let those thorns touch his katana.
"His footwork is awesome. I want this technique..." Scathach and Victor's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
As two beings who were always wanting to get stronger, seeing a new technique was something that made them very interested.
Scathach; 'Does this look like a Japanese martial art? But it seems that whoever invented this martial art adapted it for use by vampires...' As a 2,000-year-old vampire, she could already understand the technique with just a glance.
And it took less than 10 seconds for her to understand that this technique was useless for her. After all, she had something like that, and the technique Tatsuya used was created specifically for Katana users.
But she thought it didn't hurt to learn, and, because of that, she just watched the boy fight. By doing that, she could learn faster since, as a master of all martial arts, it was something simple for her to do.
"Interesting... It's very similar to the technique I use, but it's more refined...." Lacus was interested in the match now. The vampire count form and Tatsuya's footwork caught her attention.
Sasha had the same feeling as Lacus, but she didn't want the speed, she wanted that calm that man has; even being in danger, his emotions were never altered.
She wanted that, and this thought was shared by Violet, she knows that one of her weaknesses is that she loses control of her emotions too easily.
"Tsk." Seeing that he wasn't making any progress, Einer decided to change his strategy.
"Cocoon." He whispered in a low voice.
Soon several black thorns came out from under the arena and formed a black cocoon.
"Hey!! I can't see the fight that way!" The audience complained.
"Yes! Yes! Do something! It was just starting to get interesting! You mother fucker!"
"Do not worry!" The referee acted quickly, then used a magical observation device, and soon their fight could be seen through the giant hologram that was floating above the arena.
Using the cocoon as a means of using his powers, Einer was throwing several thorns at Tatsuya, a simple overpowering tactic.
"This is getting complicated…." Tatsuya whispered while dodging the black thorns. Then, realizing he was getting cornered with each passing minute, "I don't have any choice…." He decided to do something.
His eyes began to glow blood red, and golden energy began to shine in his Katana, "I'm sorry, Mother. I will be rebellious today."
He suddenly stopped moving and assumed an Iaijutsu stance.
"I got you!" Einer yelled excitedly. He was finally going to kill this slippery eel! He completely forgot that he shouldn't kill opponents.
"Ryujin..." Tatsuya whispered in a low voice as a colossal pressure started to come out of his body, and that pressure crushed all the black thorns. He drew the Katana from its scabbard, and everyone could see only the wake of the Katana attacking the air.
"Hakai no Sora."
ROOOOOAAAAAAR!
The image of an oriental dragon with blue eyes and golden scales that appeared to be covered in lightning seemed to come out of Tatsuya's sword, and it flew towards Einer.
"What!?" Einer quickly fled from Tatsuya's attack; he was not foolish enough to try to defend against that attack.The dragon destroyed the cocoon easily and continued to fly towards the dark skies of Nightingale.
"That is!" Sasha rose from her throne and looked at the dragon in shock, "He has the power of my Clan!?"
"..." A moment of silence descended throughout the arena.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" This time everyone was impressed.
"That was amazing, blonde boy!"
"Incredible!"
"Do it again!"
The audience looked like excited children now.
"... Tatsuya..."
"Maybe it's better this way," Hecate spoke to Victoria.
"That's not what I'm surprised at."
"Oh, he disobeyed you, huh?"
"Yes, he was always an obedient boy." Victoria wasn't angry, she was just surprised that Tatsuya disobeyed her.
Einer continued watching the dragon until it disappeared completely. Then, he looked at Tatsuya, his eyes glowing for a few seconds. After that, he descended from the heavens, took his transformation off, and created a Rapier with his powers.
He positions Rapier in front of him and takes a fighting stance.
"Oh?" Tatsuya was curious.
"I'm just wasting energy uselessly, you're too fast, and my powers won't hit you." He looked completely different. Even his voice became more serious.
"This is the most efficient tactic." He understood that he couldn't overcome Tatsuya with raw power, and he also could only assume that form for a few minutes before he was completely exhausted; he didn't want to risk losing because of that.
"I wonder if this is a good idea. How are you going to hit me if you don't understand me?" Tatsuya exhibited a small smile.
"You're wrong." Einer disappeared and moved in front of Tatsuya.
Soon the two blades collide in the middle of the arena. Tatsuya tried to use his powers to deceive the opponent, created a mirage of himself, then backed off.
But he was surprised when Einer ignored his mirage and ran towards him.
Again the two blades collide.
"Now, I 'understand' you." He displayed a small neutral smile.
"..." Tatsuya exhibited a slight smile, "I wonder about that."
Soon the two collide again and begin to fight.
...
Crack! Crack!
Broken ice sounds can be heard. Everyone looks at Victor and sees him squeezing the armrest of the ice throne as if holding on to keep from jumping into the arena and fighting.
A frightening pressure began to leave Victor's body, and his smile only grew and grew. But, this time, the pressure felt more terrifying, and it seemed to be affecting everything around.
Some places in the room seemed to be hot like the desert, some places seemed to be cold like the North Pole, some places in the room were making small sounds of electricity crackling.
"!!!" Eleonor, Siena, Lacus, and Pepper quickly left the part that was too hot and went to the part that was cold.
"Heh~" Scathach flashed a small smile, she completely understood how Victor was feeling.
"V-Victor? Stop-... Hiiii!" Pepper tried to talk to Victor, but she couldn't, she quickly fled behind her sister, she knew the place near Victor's wives was the safest.
"...Monster." Eleonor and Elizabeth spoke at the same time when they realized that this was being caused by Victor.
Elizabeth was the most shocked: 'That man has the powers of the three strongest Clans!? What in the seven hells is going on!?' She felt that she needed to find out what was going on. As a princess, she started to think that the three clans came together and decided to create a monster, and the result of that is Victor.
"Ahhh~..." Victor let the air out of his lungs, the air seemed to be very hot, and while keeping his smile:
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He started laughing madly.
...
administration room."
"..." Niklaus nodded coldly. He knew this was against the rules, so his curiosity was piqued:
"May I know who the new bettor is?" He asked as he walked towards the exit of the VIP room.
"Countess Scathach Scarlett."
"..." He suddenly stopped walking, a small hint of surprise appeared on his face, but it soon disappeared as if it didn't exist, "Okay..."
"Wait here."
"Yes, Father," Jessica spoke up.
"…" Zwei nodded.
...
Victoria and Niklaus meet at the door to the administration room.
..." The two looked at each other in silence for some time.
" Oldest first," Niklaus spoke with a knightly gesture.
"Oh?" A vein popped in Victoria's head, she flashed a neutral smile and said, "Why don't you go first? After all, you are someone of high status."
"That's true..." He nodded, then opened the door.
When Niklaus opened the door, they saw a woman with long red hair standing next to an old man. They seemed to be chatting amiably.
"Oh?" Scathach's smile grew, "You arrived, good. Come in, come in."
"..." The two were wondering if they could refuse this offer, but remembering what was at stake, they entered.
They sat on opposite sides, and as they sat down, they heard Scathach's voice:
"I don't want to waste a lot of time with useless conversations. So my proposal is simple: I want my disciple to fight your two heirs."
"..."
"My bet is simple: Whoever defeats my disciple, I will support 100% of whatever goal you have."
"!!!" Victoria and Niklaus' eyes seemed to glow.
With the same smile on her face, Scathach continued:
"Do you want to take the king's throne? I will support it. Do you want me to teach your children? I will do it. Do you want to destroy the human world? That is a simple job. Do you want a war against the wolves? I would love to participate."
"The period of my support is 1 year." She flashed a cold smile, "How about? It's a good deal, right?"
"…" Yes, it was a great deal. In exchange for winning the fight against a vampire who is this woman's disciple, they would have the full support of the strongest female vampire.
Just by having Scathach's name in whatever plans they had, that plan would carry more weight than usual. It just goes to show how much weight that woman's name has for all vampires.
But they know that there is no free lunch in this world... If this woman trusts her disciple so much, then he must be very strong... But it was hard to know; after all, it's known to everyone that Scathach has enough disciples scattered around the world.
And many of them weren't so strong that they could fight two geniuses alone.
"What do you want if your disciple wins?" Niklaus was faster than Victoria to speak. For him, that was a good deal, and he trusted his son, considering his son had 'that' which no vampire had.
"…Hmm, you don't have much that is useful for my disciple and me… Oh, how about this? My disciple is allowed to come to your house at any time to 'use' your heirs for training, and he can learn anything that is not a 'secret' for your Clan?"
"…" This was a rather strange condition even for the two vampires.
"Hmm... Explain to me in more detail about your bet." As a businesswoman, Victoria wanted to be sure what she was getting into. After all, a bet with Scathach shouldn't be simple, right?
"Huh? Haven't I already explained? Are you stupid?" She made a confused face.
"…" A vein snapped in Victoria's head, she thought she must be being cursed to find two people she couldn't offend on the same day.
Soon, they started arguing about this matter. Victoria wanted the title of count. Niklaus wanted to protect his title, and he also wanted the resources he could only gain from Victoria.
But with Scathach's intervention, things had to change, and they didn't have many choices in this matter; after all, the bet was just too good.
The support of the strongest female vampire in the world…
...
30 minutes later, an announcement was heard.
"A new player has joined the game!"
"Heh?" This was the reaction from everyone in the arena. They know it's against the rules!
Soon Victor's image appeared on the screen.
...
Victor Walker/Snow, Fulger, Scarlett. Disciple of Scathach Scarlett.
Age: 21
...
"What?" All vampires were shocked.
"What the fuck is 'Walker/Snow, Fulger, Scarlett?' What is his relationship to these three Clans!?"
"Wait! He has the same last name as that woman!"
"Disciple of Scathach…? Another one?"
"He is young! A baby!"
"He has the same name as that woman, so they're families!? Is that why he is her disciple? Huuh?"
The audience was going crazy with lots of questions, but one thing was for sure, they were curious now.
"D-D-Darling!?" Violet stutter.
"H-H-Husband!?" Sasha couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"...She did this..." Ruby looked very tired.
"Pffft... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Victor was laughing a lot now.
"... Father... Having fun," Ophis spoke.
Scathach enters the VIP room:
Hearing Victor chuckle, she showed a small satisfied smile.
"Victor."
Victor stops laughing and looks at Scathach.
"Go have fun, my stupid disciple. But... Remember, don't lose... If you lose or demonstrate a pathetic fight to me, prepare for your punishment." Her eyes glowed blood red as she flashed a sultry smile:
"This time, you will spend 10 years training with me in isolation~." Scathach would not allow a weak disciple.