After the events that took place in the arena, the two clan leaders split up and returned to their respective VIP rooms.
Inside a VIP room very similar to the one Victor was in, three people were present.
A blonde woman wearing a long elegant black dress was sitting on a sofa, and beside her was a woman wearing a purple dress with some white accents.
Unlike Victoria, where the dress was more noble, this woman's dress was more modern.
"Tatsuya, I'm counting on you… And remember not to use lightning. You can win with only your father's talent; I believe in you. Take care, my son." Victoria spoke with a gentle expression on her face as she looked at her son, a tall man at 185 cm in height, pale skin, long dark blond hair, and dark black eyes.
He was wearing a black yukata with gold accents.
"Yes, Mother." The man exhibited a small, gentle smile as he walked towards the exit of the room and walked towards the arena.
The moment Tatsuya left the room, Victoria looked at the woman beside her with a serious look different from what she was showing before.
"How? How can they know about Tatsuya? I'm paying you billions of dollars every month, so that doesn't happen." She spoke in a cold tone.
"…Believe me, Victoria. I do not know either." The woman spoke with a small sigh.
"Even for a witch like you... you don't know?" Victoria's eyes changed to blood red.
"... Sigh." The woman sighed after watching Victoria for a while.
"Yes, I don't know. But I do have a hunch."
"What?"
"One of that woman's daughters has the clairvoyant ability, maybe your son showed up at some important event in the future, and she knew about it? But that wouldn't explain why the Horseman Clan knows about it."
"..." Victoria was not satisfied.
"Hecate, I'm paying you a dear price every month for you to hide my son's existence and protect him." She assumed a cold smile, "From the moment that old man discovered my son's existence, you failed your job. I will lower your pay."
"...!" The witch opened her eyes wider, and her face darkened a little, "W-Wait, his existence hasn't been discovered by everyone yet, and that doesn't break the contract rule!"
Victoria ignored what Hecate said, "If you don't want to lose money, hurry up and find out what happened."
"Yes, I will." Hecate sighed a little relieved, she didn't want to miss her golden goose. Being hired by a woman with a net worth of trillions of dollars like Victoria was every witch's dream.
"So? Who will fight, my older brother or me? Maybe my little sister?" Einer Horseman asked, and, as always, he had that crazy grin on his face.
Niklaus, who was standing watching the arena through the glass, spoke without looking back, "Your older brother cannot fight, and I will not entrust such an important matter to my daughter."
"You will fight."
"Oh? Thanks, Father~" Einer continued to laugh.
"This is your last chance…Don't fail me like you failed to capture that alpha wolf. This time, the opponent is someone of your level, and he won't be using all of his power. You shouldn't have excuses if you lose to that woman's son."
Niklaus was very disappointed. He gave his son a simple mission and even sent someone strong enough to capture an alpha wolf, but even so, the two failed because of their arrogance.
"…" Einer kept showing his smile as he looked at his father seriously. He knew he had disappointed his father, and that is something that shouldn't be repeated.
"I will not fail, Father." He spoke with absolute confidence. He had no confidence in fighting an alpha wolf, but a vampire? That's easy.
"Good. Now, go."
"Yes." Einer got up from the couch and walked towards the exit of the VIP room.
"…" Zwei and Jessica just fell silent.
"How is the boy's condition?" Niklaus asked.
"Dying...sick..." Zwei responded neutrally, and then he continued, "He doesn't have time..."
"…" Niklaus started to think a little before speaking:
"... That's a problem... It's very difficult to create a hybrid. We can't lose it until we complete our goal."
"What shall we do with those individuals my brothers have brought," Jessica asked, she was curious about what her father was going to do with Lucy and his subordinates.
"Nothing. Karen is keeping an eye on them."
"I don't trust Karen," Jessica said. She couldn't trust Karen, she felt that this woman would betray them at any moment.
"My Daughter." Niklaus looked at his daughter with the same bored eyes he always has, "It doesn't matter whether you trust her or not. She's doing her job and giving information; that's all that matters."
"But-." Jessica wanted to say something, but her father continued,
"If she becomes useless and doesn't do her job, she should just be eliminated." He looked back at the arena.
"Asking for a vampire's trust is sheer nonsense."
A man wearing a red and black suit walked into the middle of the arena. He was a tall man and was wearing a smiling mask on his face.
The man raised his hands in the air and said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the two clans have decided the rule of the game today!" His voice strangely traveled to all corners of the arena.
"Look at this!" He pointed into the air, and soon everyone could see a giant hologram showing.
Chosen games: a 1 v 1 duel.
Rounds: 1
Rules: If the participant has their heart destroyed, they lose. If the participant surrenders, they lose.
Time limit: No limit.
Clan Horseman bets: Vampire Count title
Clan Rider bets: The Rider Clogomerate
ATTENTION: THE GAME STARTS IN 10 MINUTES!
10 minutes had passed, and the game was about to start.
The hologram of the arena suddenly changed, and soon everyone could see the participants' faces, their age, and their names.
Einer Horseman, heir to the Horseman Clan.
Age: 105
Tatsuya, hired mercenary.
Age: 90
When the audience saw that they were two children, their reaction was mixed.
"Tsk, two kids." Some didn't like it.
"...It's better than nothing." Some just didn't care anymore.
"...They're cute..." Some thought they were both attractive.
"Boring." Some lost interest.
"I wanted to see the two leaders fight…." Some were honest with their thoughts.
Despite having different reactions, there was something they all had in common; they were bored! But there wasn't much better to do, so they were going to watch anyway.
"So it's him... Tatsuya." Victor's smile grew when he finally got to know the name of the person who had a strong presence. He had seen a strong presence some time ago near the VIP room where he was, and he finally got to know who this individual was.
"And Einer Horseman." Victor's eyes lit up a little when he saw the name 'Horseman'.
'So he's the heir, huh?' He thought with an indecipherable little smile.
[Do you want me to investigate it, Master?]
Victor suddenly heard Kaguya's voice in his head. He stroked Ophis' head and thought for a moment, "... No need."
The reason he refused was simple, he didn't want to put Kaguya at risk. When Victor looked at the leader of Clan Horseman, he could tell what kind of person he was, and with Scathach's words a few minutes ago, he knew that man was someone careful.
Despite having a convenient power that can help her escape from any situation, Victor doesn't want to risk putting his favorite maid in danger.
[Okay, Master. But if you need anything, talk to me. I'm feeling useless just being in your shadow.]
"Haha~, I'll talk to you if I need anything," he replied in a low voice.
"…" Ophis looks up and stares at Victor.
"Shadow..."
Victor displays a gentle smile and puts his finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence.
"Mm." Soon she lays her head on his chest.
"Heh~... She hid his last name, huh?" Scathach exhibited a small smile.
"He looks familiar somehow…." Sasha spoke as she stared at the image.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hearing the announcer's voice, the girls looked towards the arena, where they saw two men walking towards the arena.
A man with long golden hair was walking calmly towards the middle of the arena.
He was wearing a black Yukata with black details, and he also had a small Katana around his waist.
The feeling he gave was that of a sharp but gentle warrior.
A very opposite feeling from the other competitor.
He was wearing a black sweatshirt and black jeans. The man had a big, distorted smile on his face, and his crazed eyes gave away what kind of personality he seemed to have.
Upon reaching the middle of the arena, the two fighters faced each other.
Despite being opposites in personality, the audience didn't have a favorite fighter, they didn't care for the gentle-looking fighter, and they also didn't care for the crazy appearance of the other fighter. Instead, they just wanted to see something interesting!
The announcer knew that and, because of that, he didn't speak more than necessary; he approached the participants and spoke out loud so that everyone could hear.
"Everyone present here knows the rule, but I will repeat it. Permanent death is not allowed; if any of the fighters break this rule, severe consequences will happen to the Clan the fighter is representing..."
The masked referee looked at the two, "Did I make myself clear?"
They both felt a shiver down their spine as they looked through the small space of the masked man's mask.
""Yes."" The two replied.
"Good... Let the game begin!" The referee disappeared.
(https://youtu.be/N7XvA9gOCxQ)
The moment they heard the referee's words.
The two participants seemed to disappear from view, and soon they appeared in the middle of the arena. Tatsuya was holding his katana, and Einer was holding a completely black rapier.
The two swords collided in the middle of the arena.
"...?" Tatsuya looked at the rapier with appraising eyes. He wondered when this weapon appeared in the man's hand, he knew his opponent didn't enter the arena with this weapon in hand, but he didn't have much time to think when he felt something trying to pierce his back.
Realizing the danger, Tatsuya decided to flee from this situation.
"Calm down, don't run away~."
"!!!" Tatsuya looked down and saw that his feet were trapped in the ground by some kind of black slime; Tatsuya's body started to crackle with lightning for a few seconds but soon stopped. Instinctively, Tatsuya would use his lightning bolts, but remembering his mother's words, he managed to control himself.
With no choices, he decided to do whatever was necessary not to lose the game from the start. So he uses a Parry technique and deflects Einer's blade.
In doing so, he managed to knock the blade away from Einer.
Realizing his chance, he makes a decision and … cuts off his legs!
With his body falling towards the ground, Tatsuya supports himself with his hand and moves away. He looked at the place where he was and saw a kind of blackthorn piercing the air.
'What is that?' With a calm face, he tried to understand the enemy's power.
"Hahaha~. I wonder if the public knows what's going on." Scathach laughed in amusement.
In the VIP room, Victor and Krishna were excited just seeing two vampires fight, Krishna knew that those two were way weaker than him but a fight is a fight and it had been a long since he or Victor had a proper fight so they were extra hyped seeing them.
"Heh~. As expected, you both didn't disappoint me~" Scathach's smile grew.
The fight continued and soon Einer brought out his count form.
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.
and after getting beaten up a bit Tatsuya decided to use his lighting.
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!?"
In the middle of the battle Tatsuya had shown a footwork that peaked the Intrest of Scathach, Victor, and Krishna but it was useful for Katana users only.
"Krishna you should use that foot work when you use katana." Scathach said while looking at the fight.
"Already got it...a few times should be enough to learn it but improving it will take time"
"Don't worry I will help you improve it but learn it yourself."
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, and 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.
"Krishna created a shield around the women while he controlled his own excitement."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He and Victor started laughing madly.