Child of Destiny

……

Boom!

Right after Vladimir appeared, all of the Blood Elemental Mana gathered around him as if it was worshipping him. There seemed to be a powerful suction force pulling all of the mana toward his direction.

For each step he took, an invisible force quickly followed alongside the gentle flow of the crimson mana surrounding him.

At the same time, there was powerful pressure coming from him. It had no effect on Shin, but all of the vampires witnessing the scene, aside from Dracula and the vampire duke, had the urge to kneel down and worship him.

This was a completely different case compared to what Grimrace had done earlier since he was using his psychic powers to force the opposing side to kneel. This time, vampires felt a powerful bloodline suppression. It was a scene where they encountered a creature who was naturally on a higher standing than them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Some of the vampires who had weaker willpower fell from the ceiling and landed on the ground and went back to their humanoid form, completely powerless in front of such pressure.

Seeing that, the vampire duke couldn’t help but look warily at Vladimir. He knew that this elemental spirit was on a completely different scale compared to the first two spirits that fought earlier.

He knew that he couldn’t afford to let his guard down even for a brief moment, or else, he would lose in an instant without knowing what happened.

In the meantime, Dracula would take off his gaze away from Vladimir. Given his current level, he naturally knew that there was an elemental spirit related to blood element among Shin’s retainers.

He also knew that the elemental spirit was somewhat related to his kin. And after seeing Vladimir, he knew that he was right.

Observing Vladimir closely, Dracula knew that he was not a naturally born elemental spirit. He became what he was now due to multiple reasons, and one of them was a demonic curse.

Dracula didn’t know Vladimir’s background, but based on the demeanor that the latter had, he knew that this particular elemental spirit was from a noble bloodline when he was still a human and very pure at that.

“This is going to be very interesting,” muttered Dracula before turning his gaze to the vampire duke. “I can’t ask for a more fitting opponent given the current state of Duke Bellion.”

…

Meanwhile, Shin couldn’t help but look weirdly at Vladimir. He knew that this guy would reach a very high level by receiving the temporary boost from the system, but he was not expecting that it would reach this high.

Shin could tell that the current Vladimir couldn’t be compared to his previous state. Not even the strength that he had when fighting Hanzo was not on this level. The aura suppression might not be affecting him, but he could tell that it was overwhelmingly strong given the other vampires’ reactions.

Even the noble ones who just fought earlier were showing some signs of kneeling for Vladimir. If not for their powerful strength, then they would be in the same state as the vampires who were already kneeling away from the battle arena, not even daring to raise their heads.

What was even more surprising was the fact that Vladimir was not saying anything. Given his previous experiences, this conceited elemental spirit should already be flaunting how awesome and amazing he was.

But since the time he was summoned, Vladimir did not only say anything, but he also walked silently toward the battle arena. ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.𝚌𝚘ｍ

Shin didn’t have high hopes of Vladimir maturing, especially when he saw how Grimrace acted just previously. But contrary to what he was expecting, the elemental spirit didn’t do any foolish even until he reached the center of the battle arena.

Sensing something odd, Shin squinted his eyes and observed Vladimir very closely.

…

At the center of the battle arena, Duke Bellion waited patiently for Vladimir. And when the latter finally stood a few meters across him, the vampire duke finally bowed and introduced himself. “Duke Bellion, the sword of the Draconian Kingdom.”

Vladimir gave the vampire duke a cold look before introducing himself. “Vladimir von Ataraxia, seventh prince of Ataraxia Empire.”

Hearing those words, Shin couldn’t help but raised his eyebrows as this was the first time that he heard Vladimir say his full name.

Dracula, on the other hand, was surprised at what he just heard. He knew that Vladimir’s background shouldn’t be simple but he was not expecting that the elemental spirit was from one of the strongest empires during the Warring and Repelling Eras.

…

After introducing each other, the two contenders took out their respective weapons and held them straight in front of their chests.

Duke Bellion was holding a broad sword with a lion’s head at the bottom of the hilt and a steel guard that resembled a pair of eagle wings.

Vladimir materialized an exquisite rapier using the blood-elemental mana surrounding him. It had a complicated and beautiful guard that covered his fingers. Its thin blade was like crystalline blood in deep crimson color.

After holding their respective weapons vertically in front of them, the two gave each other a respectful bow before simultaneously disappearing from their previous locations.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

They reappeared after an instant, standing a meter away from each other and posturing their respective attacks.

Vladimir thrust his sword forward, silently targeting the chest of his opponent. His speed was so fast that it even exceeded Blackie who specialized in that area.

Swoosh!

Seeing that he was a step too late, Duke Bellion quickly adjusted his position and changed the trajectory of his attack, deciding to block the incoming thrust from his opponent.

Cling!

Duke Bellion was able to redirect the course of his opponent’s rapier by moving his broadsword in a circular manner.

After that, he quickly used the momentum from his previous action to throw a powerful slash at Vladimir, who was now in an awkward position after missing the previous strike.

Swoosh!

Executing a fancy footwork, Vladimir was able to quickly change his position and dodged the incoming strike before quickly counterattacking with a much quicker and more powerful stab of his rapier.

His hand seemed to disappear as a sanguine flash blinded his opponent for a moment.

Clang!

But despite how fast his attack was, Duke Bellion was still able to retract his sword and used its surface to block the tip of the incoming rapier.

Bang!

When the two swords clashed, the shockwave produced by the collision forced Duke Bellion and Vladimir to retreat. It even constantly spread outward and swept through the entire throne hall, creating a violent ripple bouncing at the walls of the hall.

The two forced themselves to stabilize their footing before staring at each other with serious looks on their faces. That brief exchange gave them an idea of how strong each other was.

After that, Vladimir quickly moved, launching himself forward once again. And when he arrived in front of his opponent, he quickly stabbed out with his rapier.

The blade suddenly vanished from Duke Bellion’s vision, preventing him from seeing the trajectory of the strike.

The expression on Duke Bellion’s face didn’t change as he instantly moved his head horizontally to the right. At the instant he moved, a crimson beam flashed beside his cheek, leaving a slight wound on it.

If the vampire duke had been any slower, he was a high chance that his head would have been penetrated by the rapier, leaving a bloody hole.

Not giving Duke Bellion any time to recover, Vladimir gracefully followed with another strike, stabbing out his rapier again and again. The rapier and his figure were unbelievably fast. His actions left a series of sanguine flashes in the air.

Even the vampires, who were now able to raise their heads and watch the fight, couldn’t help but wear a solemn expression on their faces. They knew that they would be dead if they were hit even with a single strike from those flashes.

Clang! Clang!

Cling! Cling!

The clashing sounds of the blades and the impacts of the shockwaves constantly echoed in the throne room. Vladimir’s terrifying rapier had been blocked by Duke Bellion. Aside from the first strike, none of the preceding attacks managed to leave a scratch on him.

Given the vampire duke’s vastly experienced in battle, he was able to completely grasp the timing of his opponent’s attack right after witnessing the first strike.

It was impossible to block such a series of fast attacks with judgment alone. So, Duke Bellion was relying on his sharp senses and properly honed reflexes to respond to each of his opponent’s moves.

Vladimir quickly understood that it would be impossible to rely on his speed to overwhelm his opponent, so he quickly took a different approach.

He started mixing some faints on his attacks, making it hard for his opponent to read his attacks. He even adjusted the timing of his stabs, using an ever-changing tempo of his attacks to confuse the vampire duke.

He was forcing Duke Bellion to commit a mistake. Just a single mistake was more than enough. Even if it was just a millisecond slower, it would be enough to deal a fatal blow.

Unfortunately, an expert like Duke Bellion had a lot of experience during his time being a knight in an army. He already experienced walking on a thin rope separating life and death multiple times, so his split-second judgment was entirely accurate.

Even if he was being suppressed by the barrage of attacks from his opponent, he was constantly looking for an opportunity to counterattack. And when he made his move, it would instantly change the flow of the battle.

The melee exchanged between the two continued, constantly increasing the intensity with every second.

No one dared to move their eyes away from the two as they knew that this exchange would have a huge impact on the rest of the fight.

……