"Rae, I think it's time we had our duel," Trina said, her voice normal yet carrying an undeniable weight. "The way things are going, we need a united front for the vampires with a single leader."
Those were the words Rae had feared the most. The day she had dreaded for so long had finally come.
"So, where will we be dueling?" she asked, masking her unease behind a calm tone.
"The southernmost part of the Barony," Trina replied. "The boundary closest to the Forest of Monsters will do nicely. It's the best place for us to duel—isolated, with hardly any inhabitants. At most, we might encounter a high-class monster, but with the waves we'll produce, I doubt any would dare target us."
Rae nodded slowly. "Okay, so are we going alone?"
"Not quite," Trina said. "A duel must be carried out in front of clan members, so everyone acknowledges its authenticity and sees the new queen coronated."
"Oh, I see. So the other vampires are coming along," Rae muttered.
"Yeah. We'll head out in the morning," Trina concluded.
With that, their conversation ended. Each retreated to their respective rooms, but sleep didn't come for Rae. The night stretched long and heavy, her anxiety building with every passing moment. She lay awake, her mind racing, trying to devise strategies for the coming battle.
Trina was formidable—her strength, speed, and agility were unmatched. She could close the distance between them in seconds. And then there was her stealth, her mastery of shadow movement. From what Rae had observed during training, Trina's only real weaknesses were light magic and the delayed activation of her spells due to her reliance on chants. But would those slight disadvantages be enough to exploit? Probably not.
Rae knew her only hope was to fight defensively, to endure Trina's relentless offense long enough to create an opening. A shield—yes, that was the answer. But a physical shield was impractical; it would weigh her down and make her even slower. Then the idea struck her: a shield made of magic, a barrier that could repel any physical attack. But how could she achieve that? Could mana be manipulated to create a force field? She decided to consult her companion.
"Liza," Rae whispered into the quiet, calling on the sentient AI that guided her. "Is it possible to create a force field using mana?"
[Yes, it's theoretically plausible,] Liza replied. [But it would require you to pump out a continuous stream of magicules at a stable rate and maintain a concentrated area of magicules around you. Any disturbance in equilibrium would cause the barrier to collapse.]
Rae frowned. "So, basically, I can't use magic while maintaining the barrier?"
[Correct. And any movement above a certain speed would destabilize the barrier as well,] Liza added.
Rae sighed. It wasn't ideal, but it was a start. She decided to test the theory.
Her first few attempts failed spectacularly. The barrier crumbled before it could even take shape. Frustrated but determined, Rae scaled back her efforts, focusing on a smaller area. This time, she successfully created a barrier around her hands—it felt like wearing boxing gloves made of pure energy. Encouraged, she gradually expanded the barrier until it enveloped her entire body. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. Her body could pass through the barrier, but any external physical matter was repelled.
The barrier, however, had its limits. Rae's movements were significantly slowed, and the slightest disturbance could destabilize it. Exhausted but satisfied with her progress, Rae collapsed onto her bed and finally drifted off to sleep.
Morning came too soon. Trina's loud knock jolted Rae awake. Without even having breakfast, they set off, accompanied by their clan. Trina had insisted on running the entire 80 kilometers to the duel site, carrying no provisions. "We'll hunt and prepare our meals along the way," she had announced.
Rae had thought it ridiculous, but there was no arguing with Trina. Vampiric speed ensured the journey would take only a few hours. After an hour of running, the group paused to hunt, capturing a few deer to serve as their meal. Once fed and rested, they resumed their journey and arrived at the desolate duel site shortly after midday.
The duel's formalities began with a blood ritual. Rae and Trina each cut their palms, their blood mingling as a spell inscribed by the First Vampire was performed. The ritual ensured that the duel's outcome would be binding: the victor would be crowned queen, while the loser forfeited all claims to the throne.
With the ritual complete, the duel began. The other vampires retreated to a safe distance, leaving Rae and Trina alone in the clearing. The air grew tense as they squared off, each taking a stance.
Trina wasted no time, launching a head-on attack with blinding speed. She cast her shadow movement spell mid-charge, vanishing from view. Rae barely reacted in time, sensing the faintest disturbance behind her. A burst of wind magic deflected Trina's kick just before it could connect.
Using the momentum from the deflection, Trina rebounded off a nearby tree, hurling herself back at Rae with devastating force. Rae narrowly dodged the blow, her balance faltering. Trina didn't let up, pressing her advantage. A sweep to Rae's legs nearly sent her tumbling, but wind magic kept her upright.
Rae knew she couldn't keep evading forever. She activated her newly mastered barrier, bracing herself as Trina's next attack connected. Though the barrier softened the blow, the force still sent Rae flying into a tree, the impact cracking her ribs. Before she could recover, Trina struck again, only to be blinded by a sudden ray of light magic.
Seizing the moment, Rae unleashed a barrage of earthen projectiles. Trina darted for cover, but her vision was still blurry from the flash. A powerful punch from Rae sent Trina sprawling, but the older vampire quickly recovered, casting shadow movement to regain the upper hand.
The fight intensified, their attacks growing more desperate and brutal. Trina encircled Rae in a ring of flames, using fire magic to immobilize her. A devastating blow to Rae's legs and arms left her writhing in pain, but then something changed.
The air grew electric. Rae's mana surged uncontrollably, whipping the wind into a frenzy. The ground began to tremble as thunderclouds formed overhead. A mana storm was brewing—a phenomenon far beyond anything Trina had ever seen.
"Rae! Stop!" Trina shouted, panic creeping into her voice. "You'll destroy everything around us!"
But Rae seemed lost, trapped in a trance as chaos energy flooded the battlefield. Trina, desperate to stop her, combined fire and earth magic to launch a desperate attack. Before she could see if it succeeded, her vision went black.