Chapter 238: The Witch Queen.
"...Honestly, he's… kind of weird," Selena spoke to her mother.
The queen's eyes seemed to sparkle in interest a little, and she said, "... Tell me more."
"..." Selena felt kind of awkward with her mother's interest in the new count, but even with those thoughts inside of her head, she looked at the window that was showing Victor's appearance, and she spoke:
"No matter how many times I watch this video, my thoughts about him never change."
"I'm listening."
.
.
.
Selena was silent for a few seconds to gather her thoughts and continued:
"He's very unpredictable, and he doesn't seem to follow any of the rules even though he's a count, he does what he wants, and people seem to accept that quite easily..."
"..." The queen was silent.
"He interrupted a duel between two of the other counts in the arena, a special event. Something like this has never been done before, and yet, he suffered no consequences. The king, the audience, everyone present just accepted what he did as if it was something normal."
"... And it is because of that, I said he's weird..." Selena seemed to be trying to think of better words to describe Victor, and soon her eyes opened a little:
"It may seem strange, but... My impression is that it feels like I'm watching a king..."
"..." The queen's smile seemed to widen slightly, but it quickly faded back to their usual size.
"And not just any king... Like an extremely charismatic king?"
Unlike the tyrant king, who, in less than a few years of his reign, lost his kingdom, either through a rebellion or through neighboring countries…
Or a kind king who, because of his kindness, would be exploited by enemies and even his allies…
A charismatic king is someone who is loved no matter what he does.
Yes, some of his people will hate him, some will not like him, but most...
Most beings will love him and support him in everything he does.
This type of king is the most troublesome to deal with.
Because no matter what enemies do to destabilize this man's kingdom, this task will be very difficult. After all, all of this king's subordinates love him.
An example of this type of king is the werewolf king who, despite being a tyrant, and sometimes making stupid decisions that could be considered 'bad' for his people…
The werewolves still like him… The werewolves will still follow and support him and give strength to the king.
Another example of this is the vampire king himself, Vlad.
Despite not showing himself to the public for a long time, the vampires don't seem to hate him, and they treat Vlad as if he were a god to them.
Which, in a way, he is. After all, he could be considered their parent.
But despite being the progenitor of the vampires, that doesn't mean he can change each being's individual thoughts.
'although... This man's family is not as tight-knit as it seems...' A cold smile appeared on Selena's face:
'To think that this sort of thing was happening in the family of a monster over 5000 years old… If I use it well, I can give this monster a taste of what I felt in the past.'
"...." A silence fell into place.
"My daughter, tell me your thoughts." The queen said in a way that caused her daughter to wake from her thoughts.
Realizing that she had fallen into her thought cycle again, Selena looked at the queen and said, "I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts."
"I know; you do it a lot." The woman flashed a small smile.
"..." Selena was silent, her cheeks turned a little red, she really wanted to change that side of her, the side that overthinks things, but it's impossible. She was just born that way.
"Is that all you have to report on the new count?" Her eyes twitched a little.
"Yes... I didn't interact with him much, and because of that, I can only say shallow words."
"I see..." The woman put her hand on her chin while she seemed to be thinking about something, and then she said:
"Selena, forget about our plan, and prioritize establishing a relationship with the new vampire count."
"...?" Selena made a strange face:
"But you put so many resources into this plan..." She felt doubtful because of this sudden decision.
"Resources are not lacking for us… And…" The woman's eyes glowed neon green.
"Vlad, that old man, his instincts haven't gotten any weaker."
"...?"
"I have to say that going this far to use that Clan's power to close this world down is a pretty preposterous action, just how many tons of energy did he use?" Her smile grew.
'Sending my eldest daughter as a distraction tactic didn't seem to work, and, even before I could carry out the plan, Nightingale closed herself off completely for a year.'
Thinking of a particular Clan, she cannot help but say:
"Ah~... It's a pity that we couldn't capture that clan for ourselves, they would be good acquisitions for researching time magic..."
"..." Selena did not understand at all, but her mother never said something useless, so she began to think.
'Time magic, Vlad, and lots of energy.' She connected the important dots of what her mother said, and soon the appearance of a man popped into her head:
"Alexios Alioth..."
"Yes... That old man used the power of that clan and closed the world for a year."
"...That explains the new count's changed appearance," Selena said. She didn't even care that she was away from home for a year, after all, for someone on her level... Time was no longer an issue.
"Because of that, I told you to ignore the plan and focus on establishing a relationship with the new count."
"...Okay, I'll do it." Selena thought it made sense, considering it's no use putting wasted effort into something that everyone knew was going to go wrong.
"Where is the new count?" She asked this because she knew that with the help of one of her sisters, the queen could know the location of any being in the world.
As long as this being wasn't special enough or was using magic to hide their location, it was an easy task for the witch queen to find an individual.
"I do not know." She answered honestly.
"…Huh?" She felt she had gone deaf all of a sudden. What did she mean she doesn't know!?
"It's the truth, I already asked Helena to investigate, and we didn't find anything..."
"Magic literally can't find him, he's like a ghost that doesn't exist." The queen's smile grew.
"…is he using some kind of magic?"
"It's quite unlikely, if it was a common location spell, I would even understand not being able to find it, considering any master level witch can protect from that spell... But even using 'destiny', I can't find him."
"...That's bullshit." Selena can't help but say.
'Fate', is the strongest witch locator spell. It is a spell that only the queen, along with one of her daughters, can use, and, just as the name implies…
'Fate' is a spell that literally reads a person's fate, and by doing so, the queen can learn about that person and their location.
Depending on the amount of energy and resources put into this spell, the queen may know 'everything' about that person.
Literally EVERYTHING.
Your past, present, and future.
From the moment that person was born until the moment of their death, the queen would know everything.
A ridiculous spell that was categorized as divine level by the queen herself.
But a spell of that level costs a ridiculous amount of magic and resources.
Resources worth 1 trillion dollars could disappear just by using 10 seconds of this spell.
By using this spell, she was literally burning MONEY!
"How many resources did you use in this spell?"
"Not much… If you convert it to dollars, it would only be 500 billion in total value."
'...That's not much?...' Selena felt that her mother's common sense of money had already ceased to exist.
"Why did you spend so many resources if you just wanted to know his location?"
She responded neutrally, "Trials and failures."
"Thinking something was wrong with the magic, my daughter and I tried several times and failed several times, and so, because of that, we spent this amount."
"Hmm... Did you try to use it on the beings close to him?"
"Yes, of course... But it didn't work either. Women like Scathach Scarlett, Annasthashia Fulger, Violet Snow, Sasha Fulger, and Ruby Scarlett just aren't detected by our magic anymore."
"..." A silence fell in the room.
The two women seemed to be thinking deeply, and then Selena broke the silence:
"By contacting that man, something changed in these women."
"Yes... They're being protected-... Wrong, the more correct thing to say is that he's protecting them?" The queen corrected herself, her eyes glowed neon green for a few seconds, and then she spoke:
"[email protected]$%#@!"
"..." All Selena heard were statistics noises and a sound that was not understandable.
Selena knew what that was. She had heard her mother say it many times in the past, an ancient language spoken by the ancient gods, unlike humans.
The words of the gods have power imbued in them, they can shape their desires through words, and only beings with a great deal of magic and knowledge of the ancient gods can speak these words without suffering consequences.
The queen's eyes showed an expression of annoyance, "... You softened in training... How can you still not understand what I said?"
"Mother, I didn't soften in training... This level of magic is just too hard to learn." She was honest.
"True~, True~" And the spirits confirmed it.
"..." The queen left the subject as she crossed her legs in a sensual way and said:
"In my day, all kids learned this at 10 years old, and they didn't have the resources that you have, I don't understand why you can't learn it." She was talking about her daughters in general.
All her daughters thus far have never learned much about magic from their ancients.
Of course, that didn't mean they didn't know some things, but they were still not on their mother's level... They weren't on the 'satisfying' level for their mother.
"The new count's mysteries aside, have you learned anything about the werewolf king's youngest son?" She asked.
"...He is just an ordinary prince, son of a mighty king, an ordinary man, not worth mentioning." She spoke in a neutral tone.
"Well, I expected something like this."
.
.
.
.
The woman's smile grew, "... The sons of the two kings are incompetent..." She felt like laughing at this irony. It seems that 'success' is not genetic, "Fufu, and to think that none of these men's children would inherit their blood."
"Fate sure is a bitch."
"..." Selena was silent. She didn't like her mother's smile at all since she knew the woman too well to know that when she flashed that smile, she wasn't planning anything good.
"Hmm?" The queen suddenly looked to the side:
"Oh, I see, I will." She looked like she was talking to someone.
She looked back at her daughter:
"Continue your mission, I'll be in touch with you soon."
"Yes, Mother." Selena bowed in a form of respect.
Fushhhhhhh.
All the magic in the place seemed to be sucked into the queen's image, and suddenly.
... She disappeared.
When the queen disappeared, Selena raised her face, and, as she stared at the place where the queen's image was, her eyes seemed to shine for a few seconds while several thoughts went through her head.
Soon, she turned around, tossed her hair back, straightened her spine, and walked confidently toward the exit:
"This time, I will meet you in person... Alucard."
...
At a hotel in Nightingale, Liza was looking out the hotel window with a cold gaze.
"I don't like this place, this place stinks..." She looked at the tall, dark man:
"Can we go? We are done with what we did here."
Anderson looked at the woman who had the appearance of an Amazon, "Not Yet..." Anderson's voice was grave, his smile was wide:
"Alucard, you owe me a fight, and I'm not going home until that fight happens." Anderson got up from the couch and walked towards the exit.
"...Alucard..." The woman's face twitched as she heard the hateful man's name:
"Yes, indeed... He must pay for what he did..." She growled a little at the end and followed Anderson.
"..." Anderson's three subordinates who saw this demonstration reacted differently.
"... Why is she talking as if that man killed a member of her family...?" Julian, a tall, dark man, spoke to Juan, a tall, thin one.
"You know, she's never lost a fight before to a man... especially to a vampire... She's frustrated."
"Ohhh, I see, I see." Julian thought it made sense, considering ever since he's known the brunette woman, she had always had the attitude of a strong, confident Amazon.
Losing the 'fight' with Alucard must have left her frustrated.
"Let's follow him." Yuran, a dark, Egyptian-looking man, spoke up.
Chapter 239: Anderson Goes To Visit His Friend Alucard.
That same day.
A tall, dark man stood at the gate outside Scathach's mansion.
"I still think that this is too risky, just what kind of fool does this?" Yuran complained.
"Does what?" Juan asked.
"Goes to the door of your supposed 'enemy', to call for a fight?"
"Ohh..." Juan started to wonder what kind of man Anderson was. Despite being a perceptive man, he was still a battle maniac who was raised by the werewolf king.
And, as the werewolf king always said, if you want to attack your enemy, attack him head-on!
Only cowards attacked from behind, and we are not cowards!
Anderson was just following his father's ideology. n𝑜𝓋𝖊-𝐥𝚋.In
"I think all werewolves are like that," Juan spoke with conviction.
"... Where I come from, doing this would be sheer foolishness," Yuran said.
"Oh? How did you resolve your conflicts?" Juan was a little interested, he knew this man came from the werewolf queen territory, but Juan had never left the werewolf king's 'territory', thus was interested in other werewolves' cultures.
"We poison the food, send assassins, etc." Yuran explained it very briefly.
But it was quite noticeable that the methods they used were considered 'cowardly' methods.
"..." Juan's face distorted in disgust as he found this attitude despicable.
Seeing Yuran's face, "Just to clarify, our queen also used this method to kill her father."
"..." Juan felt he had learned some useless information, and somehow, the respect he had for the wolf queen began to wane a little.
'To think that that kind-looking woman would do that...' He began to realize that you should always be careful with 'gentle' looking women. After all, you never know when that woman will stick a knife up your ass.
"Shhh, things are getting interesting," Julian spoke.
"Hmm?" Juan and Yuran looked at Julian
Seeing Julian looking at Anderson, he looked around and realized he was getting a lot of attention, and he decided he would warn his teammates about it.
"There's no way to be silent, look." Yuran pointed around.
"...?" The two men look to where Yuran pointed.
And they saw several vampires looking at the group with pitying eyes. They were looking at him as if they were mentally ill.
"They're crazy."
"They're really looking for death."
"Hey, isn't that the son of the werewolf king?" One told his friend.
"Yes… It's him, I wonder what he's up to…"
"I just hope he doesn't provoke a war, I don't want to fight a war."
"Yes, war is irritating." They didn't want to bother fighting each other's fights. They just wanted to live in peace and look for interesting things to do.
But obviously, the two men's opinions weren't the same as some vampire groups.
"What are you talking about? War is great! We'd have unlimited supplies of blood!" This vampire was clearly acting on his wishes.
"Yes, Yes." The two men didn't want to waste time discussing a pointless subject, so they looked ahead and continued to observe the werewolf pack.
After all, this was much more interesting.
"We're getting too much attention." Juan.
"Well, we're werewolves in a vampire only world, so of course, we would stand out," Julian spoke.
"...Make sense," Yuran said.
Soon the three men looked at Anderson and Liza.
Anderson took a deep breath, he seemed to suck in all the air around him, and suddenly, he opened his mouth:
"Alucard, I've come to bargain!"
"Ughhhh." The werewolves and the vampires put their hands to their ears. The man's voice was too loud!
.
.
.
.
A hush fell over the place, but suddenly all the vampires around them felt a chill down their spines.
The air started to get heavy, a dark pressure started to come out of the gate, and everyone could feel 'something' coming.
A 'darkness' covered the entire gate, and then several pairs of blood-red eyes opened and looked at the visitors.
Gulp.
'What is that?' The vampires felt quite threatened by those eyes. What in the seven hells was that?
"Hahahahaha~ I must say you've got balls, Anderson." Victor's voice was heard by everyone around.
Step, Step.
Footsteps were heard, and soon a being 'passed' through the gate.
Victor looked around and saw a dark-haired woman looking at him with a look that called for death:
"Did you come back for a new massage?"
"..." Liza narrowed her eyes, and a frightening pressure began to leave the woman's body, but she became calmer when Anderson touched her shoulder:
"It's my turn now, you fight him later."
"..." Liza was speechless.
Anderson looked at Victor with eyes glowing bright blue:
"You promised me a fight."
Feeling Anderson's fighting instinct, Victor's smile grew:
"Of course, I never forget my promises."
"Good." Anderson's smile grew.
Victor turned around and said:
"Come in. Fighting out here is not proper."
The red eyes that were watching everything at the gate entered Victor's body, and then the appearance of a normal gate was seen.
Victor walked up to the gate, 'passed' through the gate, and kept walking.
Soon, as if by magic, the gate began to open by itself...
Anderson started walking while looking at Victor's back.
"..." Anderson's subordinates saw their leader walking, and they started to follow him.
As the visitors passed through the gate, the gate suddenly closed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
A loud noise was heard.
...
A few minutes ago.
"Alucard, I've come to bargain!"
Pepper, who was calmly eating her 'breakfast' was surprised by the sudden voice as she looked at Lacus, "Pffft, Did I wake up in a Marvel movie and not know about it...?"
"Disgusting..." Lacus, who fell victim to the sudden blood on her face, didn't have a pretty face now as she glared at her sister with an annoyed look.
"Ugh, so loud. Does this guy have no sense of time?" Violet complained with an annoyed face since the man's voice was simply too loud.
"Yes, yes. Normally, you shouldn't do this in the morning." Natashia complained.
"...But how do we know when it's morning in Nightingale?" Maria asked with genuine doubt. After all, this world had no sun, it was an eternal night.
"It's easy enough." Natashia looked at Maria, "The time you wake up is in the morning, and the time you go to sleep is at night." She spoke in a serious voice.
"..." She looked at Natashia, a little shocked, and couldn't help but say, "Why does that make sense in a weird way?"
"Pepper, don't spit out your food," Scathach warned her.
"Ah…Yes, Mother."
Luna appeared beside Lacus, "Here, Lady Lacus."
Lacus looked at Luna, took the towel from the woman's hand, and said, "...Thank you."
Luna flashed a small smile: "… You're welcome."
"I have to say he's a pretty respectful werewolf, considering he didn't trespass on our property," Sasha spoke up.
"…our property?" Scathach raised an eyebrow.
Sasha looked at Scathach, "Yes." She spoke in a simple, easy-to-understand tone, then she continued:
"Everything that is yours belongs to Victor. And Victor is our husband, so everything that is his is ours."
"...Communism is strong with this one." Pepper couldn't help but comment as she adjusted her glasses.
"..." Lacus and Siena looked at their sister.
"...What?"
"Where did you get those glasses?"
"Natalia gave them to me." She spoke in a convincing voice.
The two sisters looked at Natalia and saw the maid making a 'V' symbol with her hand while smiling gently.
...It doesn't make sense-." Scathach would deny such absurdity, but suddenly Natashia spoke:
"Tsk, Tsk. Don't be mean, Scathach."
"Huh!?"
"Remember, everything that is mine is my husband's, and everything that is my husband's is mine too. This applies to you and Violet. You must not deny this absolute truth."
Nod, Nod.
Violet couldn't deny such a brilliant idea. After all, she'd thought like that before.
Scathach's face distorted, and she complained, "That doesn't make any sense! Why is everything mine, Victor's? He is only my disciple!"
"...."
Everyone was silent as they looked at Scathach with dead eyes.
Woman, you literally sleep with him naked day and night, you suck his blood, you have intimate moments with him. It is quite obvious that he is already something far beyond a 'simple disciple.'
They really wanted to scream it now!
"Anyway, what are we going to do with this man?" Siena asked Scathach, who owned the mansion, while she was clearly trying to change the subject.
"We?" Scathach glanced lazily at Siena.
"We don't do anything." She spoke in a simple, easy-to-understand tone.
"Why...?" Siena didn't understand. The standard procedure was to ask what it was the man wanted, and if it was something irrelevant, just freeze him and throw him in a secluded place; Scathach herself taught them that.
But she couldn't do that to the werewolf king's son, right?
Right?
'If he dared break into this mansion, I could do it…' Maybe she could.
"Didn't you notice?" Scathach raised an eyebrow as she looked at Siena.
"..." Siena's entire body shivered when she saw the woman's gaze. She knew very well that when the woman asked, "Didn't you feel it? Didn't you see it?"
This kind of question was clearly Scathach's way of always testing her daughter's abilities.
"...Of course I saw it, that's it, right?" She was starting to be covered in a cold sweat.
"That, what?"
"What do you mean, what? Of course, Victor has already done something!" She threw random words.
"...Hmmm..." Scathach didn't answer, as she just kept looking at her daughter with a gaze that was glowing blood red.
Siena looked like a rabbit being stared at by a predator, and her whole body was shaking now:
'Please, no training, no training! I don't want to train! No training!' She repeated those words in her mind like a divine mantra.
Sipppp
Eleanor was just looking at all this while drinking a red liquid through a straw. For her, this situation was quite fun, and she never thought she would enjoy just watching the girls interact.
Somehow, she felt like she wanted to participate too... It sounded like fun.
"…Hmm?" Violet looked at Eleanor, her senses were warning of 'danger', but she didn't know what it was...
But she knew something... The danger is coming from Eleanor.
"Western Bitch, aren't you going home?"
"..." Eleanor looked at Violet with a neutral gaze.
"…Haven't we already talked about this? I will only go when Victor goes too."
"Hmm..." Now it was Violet who was staring at Eleanor like a predator.
"...." Why did I become the focus of this madwoman? Eleanor was questioning Violet's sanity because she had literally done nothing but watch.
'Ah... She has no sanity from the beginning.' Eleanor realized a divine truth.
"... Master?" Maria suddenly turned her head and looked at a spot, her eyes were glowing blood red, and she had a slight smile on her face.
"Yes, master."
Maria looked at the girls:
"My master, he's calling us, he wants us to watch his fight."
"....." Violet, Scathach, Sasha, and Natashia looked at Maria with a dry gaze.
"...What?"
"That ability of yours to talk to Victor anytime is quite enviable. How do I acquire this?" Violet was honest and to the point.
Nod, Nod.
Natashia and Sasha nodded at the same time, while Scathach's eyes seemed to glow a little more intensely.
"Become a 'kin' of my master, it's up to you to acquire that," Maria spoke with the same smile on her face.
"... Shit, that's impossible." Violet made an annoyed face because, for her to become a relative of Victor, she would have to be a 'human', and that's something she never was. After all, she was born a vampire.
"…But you can feel the master's emotions, right?"
Natashia and Scathach both assumed an annoyed face.
"Oops..." She scratched her head and laughed innocently, as she'd forgotten that only Ruby, Sasha, and Violet had that 'privilege'.
"Scathach." The blonde looked at the redhead.
"What?"
"I feel like we're at a disadvantage here." She spoke with a serious look.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, my daughter, your daughter, and Violet have these special 'features', even his Maids have these 'features'. Why don't we have anything!?"
"HUUUH?"
"This is unfair, this is unfair!" She began rocking Scathach's body back and forth.
"We must do something!"
"We?" Scathach didn't understand why she was being included in this.
"Mother, Stop!" Sasha hit Natashia on the head.
"Ouch! Why did you do that!?"
Sasha's eyes glowed blood red, "Just stop, you're bothering Scathach."
"..." Is she a child now!? Natashia wanted to scream, and not just her, even the daughters of Scathach, wanted to say it.
"...I would really like to know why you are treating me like a child." Scathach's eyes narrowed.
A cold sweat started to break out of Sasha's body as she quickly turned her face away and started whistling.
Whistle~, Whistle~.
"What are you talking about? I did not say anything."
Rumble, Rumble.
"Darling is calling. We should go, I'll see you soon." Soon she disappeared, leaving behind a streak of lightning.
Scathach's focus was on Natashia.
"Oh, I'm going too!" Natashia quickly followed her daughter.
"..." They ran away...
The whole group thought.
Chapter 240: Anderson Goes To Visit His Friend Alucard. 2
Scathach, along with Violet, Eleonor, Pepper, Siena, Lacus, Luna, Natalia, and Maria, arrived in the backyard of the mansion.
"Hasn't the fight started?" Violet asked as she looked at Victor, who was standing in the middle of the yard.
"Not yet." Sasha, who was accompanied by Natashia, spoke.
"You're here..." Victor looked at the girls and flashed a small smile.
"Were you expecting us?"
"Yes, I want you to see this fight." He spoke with the same smile on his face.
"...?" Is he trying to show us something? The girls, except for Scathach and Natashia, thought.
Victor looked back at Anderson, who was warming up. He showed a small smile and then closed his eyes; he was waiting for someone else.
"Anderson, why are you so excited?" Yuran asked since he couldn't understand Anderson's excitement. The man was literally in the middle of enemy territory, and to make matters worse, the auras of those two women were honestly scaring the hell out of him. He just wanted to get out of here.
"How can I not be excited? A strong opponent is in front of me!" Anderson's smile grew, and, as if he was an experienced fighter, he started punching and kicking the air as he was warming up.
"I can understand you, Anderson, but... You're being very reckless." Yuran kept insisting it was a bad idea.
Seeing that the man was not listening to him, he said:
"Anderson-."
A vein bulged on Liza's head, and she looked at the man, "Just shut the fuck up, stop acting like his mother, motherfucker!" she roared.
"…." Yuran opened his mouth wide.
"Pfft." Julian and Juan held back their laughter.
"…What is this weird air around him?" Pepper was feeling weird.
"Mother, do you know-..." She was going to ask Scathach something, but she was silent when she saw Scathach's huge smile.
The woman's eyes were glowing blood-red while she was opening and closing her hand:
"That brat, just what did he go through in the past 1 year?" Scathach spoke while she was holding back so she wouldn't try to pull him into a corner and make him fight her.
Step, Step.
All the girls heard footsteps and looked in the direction of the sound, then they saw Ruby, who was in a white coat.
"You came Ruby," Victor looked at the woman.
"Sorry for the delay, I was busy."
"It's all right," Victor spoke with a small smile.
"..." Victor looked around.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, he looked at Anderson as the man seemed to be steaming from his body.
"Finally, you're ready." He spoke as he walked forward.
The magic circles on Victor's glove began to glow brightly, he assumed an open chest position.
"I was always ready." A dark red aura began to cover Victor's body as he took a deep breath and said:
"My Maids."
Victor's shadow seemed to grow around him, and several red eyes began to appear in the shadows.
Then hands covered in darkness began to leave Victor's shadow.
"..." Anderson narrowed his eyes when he saw this bizarre scene of beings coming out of the man's shadow.
Slowly four beings began to 'emerge' from Victor's shadows.
Precisely speaking, four women stepped out of Victor's shadow.
The four maids looked at Anderson with her blood-red eyes, then a maid looked back at Victor.
"Master." She bowed in respect.
"Kaguya, you know what to do," Victor spoke as he looked at Anderson.
"Yes," Kaguya replied in a neutral tone.
Kaguya returned to her normal position and turned around, "Maids." She didn't need to say much.
"We know." Roberta flashed a small smile.
Kaguya nodded, satisfied, as she started walking. She passed the three women, stopped at the front of the group, and assumed her position as her eyes began to glow blood red, and soon she disappeared…
And then she reappeared while she was standing in the sky.
"...She learned that too." Violet narrowed her eyes.
"The year we were away was not in vain." Ruby laughed a little.
"...I see..." Violet said as she looked at one specific woman who was wearing a French maid dress, 'She became a Maid too, huh?'
"I wonder what they are doing," Lacus asked curiously as she looked at the Maids, who started to disappear one by one, the only one who was present was Roberta.
Bruna appeared somewhere near the forest, and she appeared somewhere near the mansion.
The two women began to look around very cautiously.
"If I'm going to put it in simple terms... It's a preventive measure." Ruby explained.
"Preventive measure for what?" Lacus asked, even more curious than before.
"Let's say Darling made a troublesome enemy when he was in the human realm…" After that, she was silent, and it was clear she didn't want to say anymore.
"..." All the women narrowed their eyes when they heard what Ruby said.
"Helheim."
FUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
All darkness fell around Scathach's mansion and formed a 'realm' unique to Kaguya, a realm of pure darkness in which Kaguya had complete control.
Strangely, despite being covered in pure darkness, everything was still 'visible', although that wouldn't be a problem because everyone present here was a creature of the night.
"Anderson..." Yuran was in a cold sweat. He didn't like where things were going at all, and they were clearly stuck here.
"This time, I have to agree with Yuran, we have to get out of here," Julian spoke.
"..." Anderson didn't say anything, as he just kept watching Victor, who never stopped looking at him.
Finished with her preparations, Kaguya looked at Victor.
She didn't need to say anything since, with just one look, Victor understood everything.
Victor pointed his finger at Anderson, "Now, we can fight at will." The magic circle on Victor's hands began to glow crazily.
"...Oh?"
Victor's smile grew just like Anderson's, and he opened his hands and turned them up in the same position.
"Cocoon."
Fushhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
A cocoon of ice began to appear beneath the shadow realm.
"Bullshit, just how much power do you need to create a cocoon this size?" Liza couldn't help but say.
"I think despite being a...pervert...he's still a vampire count."
"...What did that bitch say?" Violet and Natashia's eyes narrowed at the same time.
"Shhh, don't make a mess now,
Finished with creating the cocoon, Victor snapped his finger, and rapidly the floor of an arena began to be created.
"Heh~, he got better at creating ice." Scathach spoke while looking at the ice created by Victor. She could clearly tell that the 'quality' of his ice was much better than the last time she saw it.
"He wasn't the only one." Ruby flashed a sly smile.
"Oh? I am curious now, my daughter."
"In the future, I'll show you, Mother." Ruby continued with the same smile, then she turned to look straight ahead.
Victor jumped into the ice arena and asked a simple question:
"With weapons or without weapons?"
Anderson jumped into the arena too, and he replied:
"Whatever." He took a basic martial arts position.
"I see."
"In that case."
Victor clenched both fists, and soon two ice gloves were created, as he assumed a martial arts stance as well.
"... That is..." Scathach narrowed her eyes.
"Nothing can slip through your eyes when it comes to fighting, huh?"
"What happened?" Sasha asked.
Natashia looked at Scathach.
"This stance is the martial arts that hunters use... Although it's a little weird... Did he mix my technique too?" Scathach's eyes narrowed. If that's true, which it seems to be, nothing other than genius level can be used to describe him...
Wrong. To call him a genius is an insult since even a genius would have problems doing what he did…
'Oh, but hasn't he done that in the past? He mixed Natashia's technique and my technique… But that's just a specific technique, not the whole fighting style.'
Let's watch.' Scathach decided.
"…Did he stay close to the hunters?" Sasha narrowed her eyes.
Knowing of her past with the hunters, Ruby looked at Sasha:
"Wrong. He got close to a hunter who deserted the hunters when she discovered a terrible truth."
"..." Sasha kept looking at Ruby, and soon she assumed a confused expression:
"Who are you talking about?"
"Mizuki." She said and then looked back at Victor.
"..." An awkward silence fell over the place when Violet and Sasha heard the woman's name.
"...Who is this bitc-... Cough, who is this woman?" Natashia asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"...well, in short." Sasha started summarizing who Mizuki was to Natashia.
Kaguya descended from the sky and appeared in the middle of the arena, and then took a coin from her pocket and said, "The moment the coin falls to the ground, the fight begins."
"...." The two men faced each other in their stances and didn't say anything. From their perspective, Kaguya didn't exist; they were just waiting for a sign.
And Kaguya knew it, so she tossed the coin into the sky and disappeared into the shadows.
The girls' attention was drawn to the coin.
The coin began to slowly fall.
... Tink.
When the two heard the coin rattle, their auras exploded as they disappeared from their position and collided in the middle of the arena.
BOOOOOOOOM
A burst of air occurred as the two collided, but it didn't seem to slow them down.
The fight finally began!
Both opponents began exchanging punches at high speed, each targeting openings where they could find them or using their strikes to create them, however...
Neither of their punches seemed to connect.
Victor defended and attacked.
Anderson dodged and attacked.
Suddenly, an opening seemed to appear on Victor's left, allowing Anderson to deliver a whip-like roundhouse kick towards Victor's head. However, Victor had purposely left that opening, allowing him to predict what would occur and dodge.
Victor lurched forward with his torso, allowing Anderson's leg to pass harmlessly above him.
While Anderson appeared off-balance, Victor struck forth with a devastating straight that tore apart the air in front of him.
Though it seemed as though Anderson was wide open, he followed through with his spinning kick, seamlessly transitioning into a backwards spinning elbow strike that collided with Victor's incoming fist.
A shockwave from the impact point radiated outwards, buffering the spectators' clothes with the gusts of wind.
The two then jumped back, away from each other, before simultaneously charging back into the fray.
Victor and Anderson's exchanges occurred so quickly that untrained eyes couldn't even comprehend their movements, all appearing like a massive blur.
BOOOOOOM, BOOOOOM!
With each collision that happened between the two, small explosions occurred, both from the impact and the initial movements of their bodies.
But that didn't seem to stop the two men!
In fact, they got even more excited!
"His foundation is more solid than before..." Scathach observed in shock.
"Using Darling's words, he said: Master, you told me that no matter what technique I learn, I must always improve the basics."
"...Oh...He didn't forget, huh?" She flashed a small smile.
"I don't think anyone would forget your teachings, Master," Eleanor spoke with a face as she looked at the fight.
Just remembering the training she had undergone, she felt doubtful if she would forget that trauma for the rest of her life.
Nod, Nod.
Siena, Lacus, and Pepper nodded while they had the same lifeless face as Eleanor.
"...Girls..." Scathach was speechless. She didn't know she was so loved.
"Okay, I've decided!" She said with a big smile.
"...." The girls, for some reason, started to get a bad feeling about this.
"If you liked my training so much, I will train you-."
"Please don't." All of them said at the same time.
"Eh?" Scathach was surprised.
"Please don't." They repeated what they said.
"..." Ruby just had a wry smile when she saw this scene. She thought that only Victor 'enjoyed' the training with Scathach. After all, he wasn't right in the head from the beginning.
"Why-..." Scathach was going to ask something, but she stopped when she heard a loud noise.
BOOOOOOOOM.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA~!" The laughter of the two men was heard.
They collided again in the middle of the arena, and this time, Anderson managed to counterattack. He grabbed Victor's arm and punched him in the face, but before his fist reached Victor's face, Anderson felt a chill down his spine, and he quickly let go of Victor and jumped back.
Soon an ice greatsword came out of the ground from where Anderson was.
Victor took the sword blade, pulled it from the ground, and held the Greatsword behind his back.
He flashed a small smile and said, "What? You said, 'Whatever'. Did you forget?"
"... Of course not." Anderson laughed, and as he took on a serious expression, he assumed a basic boxing stance.
The whole atmosphere of the man changed as he became more focused, sharper, and fiercer...
It was like a wolf that was about to attack its prey.
"Oh?"
A white power began to cover his body, and suddenly, he punched the air:
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic blast of white energy shot out of his fist and flew towards Victor.
Seeing the power flying in front of him, Victor's smile slowly started to become a satisfied smile, "...That...this is it...Yes..." He spoke incomprehensible words, and while holding the sword with his right hand, he raised his left hand up.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Roberta appeared in front of the group and raised her hand forward.
The remnants of Power flew towards Roberta, but the woman just remained in the same position as the power clashed in her hand. It was as if she was holding an invisible barrier.
"…What is this power?" Sasha asked as she looked at Anderson.
"I have a strange feeling about this power." She didn't know how to explain it. Something like a tingle all over her body? She just didn't like it.
"Unlike vampires, wolves are the beings that are closest to nature... That is." Natashia spoke in a neutral voice.
"That's the power of some element of nature. If I were to guess, I'd say it's light, but I'm not sure about that."
"..." The girls were silent and continued watching. Soon, the power started to disappear, and Victor appeared in the same position as before.
The ground around him was streaked with power, but the man himself didn't seem to have any damage.
"…Did he withstand that power without taking damage?" Liza opened her mouth in shock. It's okay since Anderson wasn't transformed yet, that is, he wasn't using all his strength, but putting up with the attack without suffering anything is just bullshit.
"Oy, Oy, if you take this onslaught without suffering anything, you're going to undermine my trust, you know?" Anderson spoke, but everyone could see that from the big smile on his face, he didn't look the least bit depressed.
Victor looked at his left hand and saw that his glove was a little cracked.
He clenched his fist and opened it again, as the small crack was fixed, then he looked at Anderson.
"Very well, you have my full attention now." Victor's smile grew. After a long time, he managed to find someone strong.
"Don't let me down, friend..."
"..." Anderson narrowed his eyes.
'His atmosphere has changed, will he finally get serious?'
He dropped the ice sword to the ground, and the sword slowly disappeared as it formed a puddle of water, so did his ice glove.
Soon he started walking towards Anderson.
A blistering atmosphere began to leave Victor's body, "Let's heat things up."
...