Chapter 227: Mother in law Love!
"The rules of the game are simple, a fight to the death!"
"OHHHHHHH!" The public seemed to like this news very much.
The referee raised his hand for the audience to be silent.
When the screams stopped, he continued:
"Both opponents are vampires of the highest level, so it is to be expected that rules limiting them would be removed and of course... This was also the request of both parties."
As it was a request from a former contestant and a current count, and both sides were in agreement with this rule, the arena administration decided not to interfere.
"And we prepared something so that the two participants could fight without worrying." The referee seemed to look at one spot and nodded.
Soon, a giant magic circle appeared on top of the arena.
"What is that?" Adam, Vlad's fourth son, asked curiously.
"A higher level defense barrier… I think." Lilith deduced.
"Wrong. My dear sister, this is spatial stretching magic." Theo, the first prince, spoke.
"Huh?" Lilith didn't understand.
All the siblings looked at Theo.
"Precisely speaking, this is a magical formation that allows the 'space' of the arena to stretch in any way the user desires."
"From what I could see in the magic circle, the administrator of this place chose to stretch the arena grounds into a 1000 KM space."
"...Oh, bullshit magic, huh?" Lilith spoke with a dry look.
"..." Theo flashed a small smile.
"You could say that."
"But… The Arena administrator has quite powerful contacts, huh? Not just any witch can do that."
"..." Vlad showed a small smile when he heard what Saul said.
The magic circle began to shrink, and slowly, the magic circle only covered the arena area.
From the outside, it looked like the arena hadn't changed, but inside.
"...That's pretty extravagant, isn't it?" Natashia said while looking around. There was now a large open space and a great distance between her opponent.
"This space was created with the intention of you using all your powers and not harming the audience." The referee explained, as he looked up, and said:
"Although, maintaining this space requires a lot of power, so please finish the duel before that time runs out." He pointed to the sky.
Natashia and Niklaus looked up to the sky and saw a giant stopwatch.
"2 hours, huh." Niklaus spoke.
"If the fight doesn't finish within that time limit, we'll have to cancel and leave it for another day." As the arbiter of this place and as an employee of this place, he had a duty to keep the public safe from any side effects of battle.
"Of course, what we just talked about is a public secret." He made a gesture of silence, and slowly the referee began to disappear.
And soon, he appeared outside the magic circle's area of ??effect.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The referee raised his voice:
"Let the game begin!"
"OHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"...." Suddenly, everyone's voice died, and they looked at the participants, confused.
Despite having heard the signal to start fighting, the two Counts didn't move.
"What is happening?" Someone from the audience asked.
"Who knows?"
"Idiot, they're the highest level of vampires, which means any unplanned move could mean defeating each other." Someone in the audience who was wearing glasses spoke while moving the glasses up.
"Ohhh, they're sizing each other up, huh?" One girl spoke.
"Yes. Correct."
Actually, it's not that they didn't want to move, they couldn't… Precisely speaking, Niklaus couldn't.
'What is happening?' Niklaus asked himself as he looked at the woman in front of him who was suddenly lifeless, she lowered her head, and her golden hair covered her face.
'Well... I don't know what's going on, but this is a chance.' He thought neutrally, and with one movement, he shot towards the woman. However, he did so very cautiously since the woman's current state was just weird.
Natashia looked at the man in front of her, the world around her seemed quite slow, and she could see the man's every movement:
'So slow...' She thought in disdain as she completely ignored the man's presence and focused on a single memory.
...
"You must defeat him, a defeat that will make them remember your name forever. You must show him what it means to be a 'Vampire Count'."
I must show him the power of my clan...
"A complete defeat, a crushing defeat, crush him like a bug!"
I must show how insignificant he is...
"Do it in a way that your daughter would be proud of you!"
I must make my daughter proud of me through my actions…
She remembered Sasha's words.
"Don't lose."
And then Victor's words followed:
"If you achieve this... I will marry you, I will make you mine."
If I achieve this, if I annihilate this insect from existence... Then, he will accept me, and he will pour all his love into me! His love will paint my whole being starting from the inside!
He will give me his love...
His love... His love... His love... His love... His love... His love... His love... His love... His love His... His love… His love... His love....
.
.
.
...HE WILL GIVE ME ALL HIS LOVE!!!!
…
Natashia lifted her face and looked at Niklaus.
"!!!!" Niklaus was taken aback by the woman's face.
She had a lifeless look, a big smile that showed all her sharp teeth, her cheeks were a little red.
"...The bug must be eliminated... For the sake of my happiness and my husband's..." She whispered in a low voice, her eyes starting to glow pure gold.
Rumble, Rumble, Rumble!
The woman's body was covered by lightning.
"Eh...?"
And in the blink of an eye, she was in front of Niklaus.
"That speed-...."
"Die." She punched Niklaus with all her strength.
The man flew in a straight line, but before gravity could have much effect, the woman grabbed Niklaus by the neck:
"Do not run away from me."
"This bitch-…"
BOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, a loud noise as if something had exploded was heard, but he couldn't locate the source of this explosion.
"Eh...?" Niklaus didn't understand what happened, he tried to free himself from the woman's grip, but for some reason, his body felt heavy.
'What is happening!?'
Natashia let Niklaus go, and she posed in a martial arts stance.
'One punch, one million hits.'
She punched the air.
And suddenly, Niklaus vanished from existence, as his entire body seemed to evaporate into thin air, and all that was left was blood splatter and...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A great blast of air blew every splatter of the man's blood out of existence.
And the damage from that attack extended in a straight line over an absurd distance.
Natashia just stood there in the martial arts stance, but this image startled several beings who were watching.
"..." Everyone was open-mouthed in shock. They just couldn't understand what they had just witnessed.
An older vampire in the audience sat in the stands and said:
"There's a reason vampire counts never fight..."
He swallowed hard.
"It's because when they fight... It can't be considered a fight… Yes, it is just..."
"A massacre." The one who continued the statement was Scathach, who was in Victor's room.
"..." The girls look at Scathach.An elder vampire who has trained their power to the limit are freaks of nature, and when these beings fight... It cannot be called 'fighting'."
Seeing the big smile on Scathach's face, the girls can't help but gulp...
They looked at the damage done by the woman:
"Just what happened…?" Sasha asked since she never thought her mother was this strong…
What she just saw shocked her as much as when she saw Victor attack Carlos at the speed of sound.
"Oh, she just punched Niklaus a million times in a second." Scathach spoke with the same smile on her face.
"...Wha-." Lacus, who had confidence in her speed, was speechless.
"This is fucking bullshit..." Violet couldn't help but say, and the girls nodded in agreement.
"Fue..." Pepper was just thinking about how the woman was strong enough to do that kind of damage, and it's not like this woman was her mother.
'Wait... if my mother is considered the strongest female vampire? Just how strong is she?' Pepper couldn't imagine.
"Just how fast do you need to be to achieve a feat like that?" Siena asked in disbelief.
"Too fast… Indeed, she needs to be very fast." Scathach laughed.
"That woman, hasn't she gotten stronger?" Agnes thought.
"I don't remember her being able to do that without harming herself, and I don't remember the damage being as ridiculous as it is now..." Agnes only had thoughts for Adonis, but some things she made sure not to forget, and that was the strength of vampire counts.
…Although, as she has a chicken brain, she often forgets about it.
But that's not her fault! 99% of her brain was dedicated to just Adonis!
And the remaining 1%, she needed to split between the duties of a vampire count and sometimes her daughter!
"…Huh?" Sasha looked at Agnes:
"What do you mean?"
"In the past, when Natashia did this, she suffered severe damage to her body and immediately started spitting up blood. After all, she is not like you, who has a natural resistance from birth to lightning." Agnes explained.
"But now... She's done it and looks completely fine... It's like she might be able to..."
"Use lightning without consequences?" Scathach laughed.
"Yes..." Agnes looked at Scathach, and when she saw the faces of the girls around her, something clicked in her head.
"That boy, huh..." Adonis spoke up.
"Again, that boy, now he's gone after the mother of his other wife..." She conveniently forgot the fact that she had encouraged the woman to do so.
"…Isn't the game over?" Eleanor suddenly asked.
"..." The room was silent.
"That's true. Why hasn't the referee said the game is over?" Sasha nodded.
"Well… That's obvious, right? It's because the game isn't over." Scathach and Agnes flashed a small smile.
"Huh? Isn't it impossible that man survived this!?" Violet couldn't accept that.
"Violet, my dear daughter..." Agnes looked at Violet with a serious look.
"Old vampires are beings that always have a plan B when they go to fight a being of the same level…" She looked at Scathach and then at Natashia, and then she corrected herself, "At least most of them are like that..."
When Agnes finished speaking, a change began to occur in the arena, a kind of black liquid started to come out of the floor, and slowly this liquid started to form Niklaus' appearance.
"Ugh, what is this?" Violet made a disgusted face.
"It's his power..." Scathach's eyes twitched a little as she looked into the black liquid.
....Chapter 228: The Power Of The Fulger Clan.
'Good thing I put a part of myself underground…' Niklaus thought as he looked at the woman who was in a martial arts stance.
Natashia relaxed her body a little and continued looking at him:
"Tsk." She clicked her tongue with visible annoyance, then, using her right hand, she grasped the sword that hung at her waist.
She removed her sword from its sheath and pointed it at the man.
Rumble, Rumble.
Natashia began to channel her powers through the hilt of her sword, causing the blade to hum with a golden glow of electrifying energy, with arcs jumping away and striking the ground around her.
'I'll spread more pieces of me...-' Niklaus didn't even have time to complete his thought before Natashia was already in front of him, swinging her blade down in a deadly arc!
Rumble!
CLANG!
The two Vampires' swords collided with each other, causing a massive shockwave accompanied by a deafening metallic clang, which burst forth from their position and resonated through the surrounding arena.
Looking into the woman's lifeless eyes that were glowing gold, he asked himself:
'Why is she so motivated?' He couldn't accept the fact that she was doing all of this because of her 'husband'.
Rumble!
Natashia's hands disappeared, which was followed by a part of Niklaus disappearing from existence. He couldn't even perceive what had happened.
"What am I seeing…?" A younger vampire within the crowd couldn't accept that such power existed.
That was the irrationality of someone who had the power of Clan Fulger, one of the strongest of the four great vampire clans.
Natashia Fulger's lightning power could do much more than provide a simple speed boost. When someone from this family trained that power to the limit, an irrationality such as her would be born.
An irrationality called Annasthashia Fulger.
The woman flashed a small smile, and then she was gone.
From the audience's perspective, golden rays began to dance around Niklaus.
And in the blink of an eye,
Niklaus' entire body became minced.
Looking at the woman's facial expression with his eye, he thought; 'It doesn't matter... I must focus on the fight, or I will lose.'
Niklaus' body was covered in a black liquid, and soon, his entire body was regenerated.
But before he could make a move, he saw the woman's palm pointed at him:
Looking at her crazy smile, he couldn't help but say, "Crazy bit-."
RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
A giant beam of concentrated power shot out of Natashia's palm and erased his body, along with everything in front of her, from existence, the beam soaring a considerable distance before suddenly,
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
An explosion of pure unadulterated power erupted forth from the point of impact, shaking the arena like a high magnitude earthquake and creating a mushroom-cloud the likes of those only seen in the aftermath of multiple nuclear warheads detonating simultaneously.
.
.
.
A hush fell in the arena. In fact, since the woman began fighting, the audience had become quiet, as they had no words or reactions to this situation.
The only reactions they had were...
"Wooow..." They looked like a group of children who had witnessed their first fireworks show.
And with that attack, they finally understood why vampire counts were called natural disasters, walking weapons of mass destruction, etc.
This crazy woman had ridiculous power in her hands!
"Tsk... Annoying insect." Natashia looked to one side, and on that side, a body started to be created, a kind of black liquid started to gather, and soon the image of Niklaus appeared.
Niklaus quickly pulled away from Natashia, brandished his sword from his waist, and stabbed the blade into the ground.
His eyes began to glow blood red, and as if he were a corrupted god of the seas, black water began to be created from where he was and surged outward throughout the area.
Natashia looked at the water with a neutral gaze, and with a small jump back, she appeared several kilometers away.
"Oh... Apparently, her instincts haven't weakened over time, that's good... That's good indeed." Scathach's excited smile was very evident.
"What is this rotten water? Why is my mother pulling away?" Sasha asked curiously. The target of her question was obviously the most experienced woman present.
Scathach.
"I do not know." The stronger female vampire replied in an honest tone.
"..." So there's something even she doesn't know... Sasha, Violet, and even Eleanor thought at the same time.
"But it was a good choice for her not to step into that water." Scathach continued.
"Why?" Sasha asked curiously.
"..." Scathach was silent and looked at Agnes.
As if understanding Scathach's message, Agnes adjusted her glasses and sensually crossed her legs as she started talking, "The Horseman family's specialty is 'corruption'."
The girls' attention was drawn to Agnes.
"Corruption...?" Siena asked, "What kind?"
"We don't know. After all, it's not mandatory for noble families to reveal their powers to the government, but if I were to guess..."
"It could be all kinds of corruption." Adonis was the one who continued.
"Take the example of Einer Horseman, his quills seemed to hold the power of 'decay'."
"Since that man is the father of that child, he must have similar power."
"...I wouldn't call it corruption, but decay does fall into the same 'group'." Violet thought out loud.
"We know." Agnes spoke for Adonis.
"But we are not sure how to categorize the power of this clan; after all, it is a very strange power."
"..." All the women were silent, and suddenly.
"HAI, HAI, HAI~!" Pepper held up her hand.
"What is it, daughter?" Scathach asked with a smile on her face.
"Doesn't that mean the Horseman Clan is a clan of 'necromancers'?"
"…Huh?" Nobody understood what she meant by that.
"I don't think that man is a witch." Agnes commented.
"Ugh..." Pepper elaborated a bit, "In some games, there is a specific class you can choose whose name is always either 'Necromancer, or Warlock', these classes are primarily intended to debuff enemies."
"Debuff?" Agnes asked.
"Yes, they cast spells which cause negative statuses effects that affect the target in a variety of ways, for example, some spells can cause the target to experience weakness, or affect their speed, inhibit their senses, cause paralysis, etc." She spoke with a big smile on her face.
"Oh... Maybe that's it." Violet and Sasha spoke at the same time. Although the two were not women who played many games, they had seen Ruby's sisters and even Ruby playing them on occasion.
And in those games they saw those women play, they could see that this class was very annoying to fight.
Why did they know this? Well... When Ruby died from a debuff from a necromancer or warlock, she spoke all the words that shouldn't be said in front of children at that time...
It was almost certain that if the enemies were cultivators, they would spit blood at hearing so many bad words coming out of a beautiful woman like Ruby.
"...How do you defeat a necromancer in this game?" Adonis asked a little curiously.
"You have to kill him before he casts a debuff on you, or leave his area of effect, you also have the option to wait for the debuff to wear off."
"Oh..."
"There are many strategies."
"But the most commonly used ones are." Pepper's smile grew a little, "Kill the annoying bug before it can do anything."A cold sweat broke out on Adonis' face, "...You are certainly the daughter of Scathach." Adonis flashed a neutral smile.
"... Fuweh?" Pepper looked at Adonis, not understanding why he said that.
Despite being far from each other, that same thought crossed Natashia's mind.
Though her thinking was very different from the younger girl:
Why doesn't he die? Why doesn't he die? Why doesn't he die? Why doesn't he die? WHY DOESN'T HE DIE!?
This annoying son of a bitch is getting in the way!
A dark, heavy aura began to leave Natashia's body, and her full focus was on Niklaus...
'... What a scary woman, what is this feeling?' He could tell it was killing intent, but there was something else mixed in, something heavy, something obsessive?
The man removed his helmet, pulled his sword from the ground, and looked at the woman with the same cold eyes, and for the first time, he said something:
"Annasthashia Fulger."
"HMM!?" The woman's gaze was now frightening!
Gulp.
The audience couldn't help but gulp.
"...Mother is pissed off..." Sasha said with a tight little smile.
"I wouldn't call that angry, more so that she's frustrated?" Violet and Agnes spoke at the same time.
"I would be feeling the same if this insect that doesn't die was in front of me, and I wanted to see my husband." Violet spoke as she looked at the woman.
"Indeed." Agnes agreed with her daughter.
"..." For some reason, it was pretty convincing when those words came out of these two women's mouths.
Everyone couldn't help but think at the same time.
"I'm honestly surprised, I never thought you were this strong..."
"Did you think I was a loser because I kept gambling around?"
"Yes." Niklaus didn't deny it.
"..." And that was the unconscious response of all the audience present.
"You've always had an attitude of gathering husbands and betting on your family's riches, living a not-so-healthy life, and, because of that, I thought you were the weakest vampire count." He cracked his neck a little and flashed a small smile.
"And really... You were the weakest vampire count..." Niklaus was sure of that, considering he made a point of studying all three countesses.
He didn't even bother to search for Eleanor since, for a Clan that lived far from society, she didn't have that much influence within it.
"..." Natashia didn't move. After all, the opinion of a 'bug' didn't matter... Yes, it didn't matter at all...
Veins started popping in Natashia's head. If before she was frustrated, now she is angry!
"This piece of shit!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A golden pillar of volatile electricity burst out of Natashia's body.
"But... Something has changed in you." He spoke in a low voice as he held the sword in front of him.
"Well... Now, she's annoyed..."
"Natashia..." Scathach facepalmed, "Apparently, she still hasn't learned to control herself yet, huh? She even looks like someone from her clan." She said while looking at Agnes.
"Huh…? My clan doesn't have hot-headed people like her!"
All the women looked at Agnes with dry eyes.
"..." Violet turned her face away since she had no words to say on the matter.
BOOOOOOOM!
An explosion occurred in the arena, and all the girls' attention returned to Natashia.
Natashia had entered Niklaus' range at speeds so fast it could be mistaken for teleportation and attacked the man with her sword!
"Stupid woman. She's entered his territory." Agnes spoke.
"Hmm... I've never seen that technique." Scathach's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
Natashia had her entire body covered in lightning so dense that it was as if she wore golden armor made of pure energy, adding an extra layer of defense to the armor she was already wearing.
"...'' The lightning arcing off Natashia's sword grew stronger and wilder, its resonating hum growing louder by the second. Her eyes glowed a glaring blood red, and when she was going to finish off the insect in front of her,
She found herself trapped by tentacles of water.
"Thank you for voluntarily entering my domain." Niklaus, despite having half his body missing, chuckled as his eyes glowed blood red.
The tentacles of black water tried to cover Natashia's body and pierce into her.
... Yes, tried.
"Huh?" He looked at the woman in disbelief.
His water power couldn't penetrate her lightning armor!
"Did you really think I'd be irritated by the words of an insect?" She grew a big smile that showed off her sharp teeth.
She ignored the black water that was the power of this man and raised her sword towards the sky.
FUSHHHHHHHHH
A gigantic pillar of golden energy erupted from the sword's blade.
Natashia held her sword as if she were an honorable knight preparing to smite the opponent before her.
"Are you crazy? If you unleash this power here, you won't be safe either."
"But that way, you won't survive, right? I don't know what your power is, and I don't care either, but... If I obliterate this entire area, you won't survive, right?"
"..." A cold sweat broke out on Niklaus' face.
"And did you forget?" Her smile grew so big it sent shivers down Niklaus' spine.
"I am the fastest woman alive."
"Fuck-."
"HAAA!" Natashia brought the sword down vertically, and when the sword touched Niklaus' body,
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An explosion of unimaginable proportions, one significantly larger than the one she'd created before, devastated the entire arena, spreading vibrations through the ground that could be felt all over the Royal Capital, casting a blinding light through the surroundings, affecting the majority of those who were spectating.
"Ugh...Did she win?" Sasha put her hand in front of her face to block out some of the golden light. She couldn't see a thing!
"..." A silence fell over the area, and no one could answer Sasha's question.
A few seconds passed, and as if they were in sync,
Scathach and Agnes rose from their respective seats and looked at the arena with a serious look.
"...?" Nobody understood the women's reaction.
"Mother?" Lacus called for her mother, but the woman didn't seem to hear her.
"Agnes." Scathach spoke in a cold tone that made the people around them shiver.
"I know." She looked at her shadow and said:
"Oda, inform Hilda."
Agnes' shadow took on the appearance of a man.
"Don't let anyone out of the royal capital until I order!"
"Those who do not obey must be burned alive!"
[Yes, Countess Agnes.] Oda spoke, and soon, the man's shadow left the room.
Nobody was understanding anything, why were the two women reacting so strongly? Wasn't the fight over?
Everyone asked themselves that.
"..." Suddenly a pressure as if a planet was falling on everyone's head burst forth from the arena.
"... What is this...?" Violet touched her right arm as she swallowed and looked at the arena.
"Is something there…?" Sasha spoke up.
"..." Eleanor was silent, but it was quite obvious that she was feeling an instinctive fear of this pressure.
"...This is...This is..." Pepper grabbed Siena and Lacus.
"Control yourselves!" Scathach's voice echoed throughout the room, and as if the pressure they'd felt were a mere illusion, the girls managed to recover.
A relieved sigh came out of the most affected girls.
"Luna, don't let any of my daughters leave this place."
"...Huh? Y-Yes, master!"
Scathach approached the glass and smashed her way through it.
The loud noise of glass shattering caught the attention of the audience, and when they looked at where the sound originated, they saw...
"Scathach Scarlett!" Somehow, the woman's appearance made the vampires in the audience more relieved.
The woman soon jumped out of the place where she was, floated to a pillar of the arena, and stood there. For a few seconds, she looked at Vlad, and when she saw the small smile on the old man's face, she thought:
'Tsk, you expected this, huh? So that's why you wanted me here.'
"Agnes, you must go too." Adonis spoke.
"…Huh?" She looked at Adonis in shock, her face distorted in anger, and when she was about to say something, she heard:
"Agnes, you don't have to worry about me, it's not like I'm leaving here, right?" He flashed a gentle smile.
Soon his expression turned stern, "And that's your job."
"...Fine."
Agnes turned around, walked over to the hole in the glass Scathach made, then jumped out as well.
"Agnes Snow too?"
"What are the two countesses doing?" Everyone was curious, but no one dared to try to ask them anything.
She arrived at a pillar on the opposite side of the arena and looked down with a serious expression.
As the golden light began to fade, everyone saw a scene that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.