A few seconds after Virgil clapped his hands, ten vampires landed in front of him.
“These are the ten best champions. You can choose any of them to fight.”
“I can fight all of them if you want me to. But you better keep your promise, or this night might become a tragic night for the vampires. And instead of celebrating it every year, they will mourn,” Rudy asserted with a serious look on his face.
A red-haired vampire bowed before Virgil and said, “My king! Let me fight this insolent! I will show him his place!”
“Are you sure about this, Victus? You don’t know what he can do or what powers he possesses. Once you have stepped in the ring and the duel has begun, none can stop it,” Virgil uttered in a solemn voice.
“I am certain, my king! I cannot allow an outsider to insult you like this!”
“Very well.” Virgil glanced at the other nine vampires and said, “Thank you for the consideration. I have decided to choose Victus. Please, go back and enjoy the show.”
The nine vampires bowed down to Virgil and flew away.
Vigil placed his hand on Victus’ head and said, “I wish you the best of luck.”
“I will not disappoint you, my king,” Victus uttered with his utmost sincerity.
Virgil flapped his wings and hovered in the air but kept his distance from the arena.
“Let me go!” a female voice echoed in the arena.
Rudy and Virgil looked at the source of the voice to see Jane getting chased by the elite guards.
“…”
Jane flapped her wings faster than before and landed in front of Rudy. She knelt down in front of Virgil and stuttered, “My… king…”
“Raise your head, Jane,” Virgil uttered.
Jane looked up at Virgil but lowered her head again.
“Did you bring Rudy here?”
“Yes…”
“You know that bringing a human here or even interacting with one outside is considered treason, yet you still did that. May I ask why you would willingly bring a human here?”
“I…”
“And out of all days, you had to do it today, the great day. I am disappointed, Jane.”
“Please, forgive me…”
“There is no mercy to—”
“Excuse me!” Rudy quipped and said, “I would like to change the condition of the rewards.”
“Hmm?” Virgil raised his brow.
Jane looked at Rudy with teary eyes and bit her lips.
“If I win the duel, you will have to remove the spells from Rias and forgive Jane,” he stated.
“Why are you trying to save a girl who stole Rias from you?” Virgil asked with a curious yet confused look on his face.
Rudy glared at Virgil and said, “She did that on your orders, you asshole.”
“Hmmm, okay.” Virgil shrugged his shoulders and said, “I will do everything you say; that is if you win the battle.”
“Don’t worry about that. I don’t even need to warm up to crush a puny vampire,” he uttered with a furious look on his face.
“Jane, step aside,” Virgil said to Jane in a calm voice.
Rudy and Victus glared into each other’s eyes, and Victus didn’t seem to be afraid of Rudy’s glare.
“Before we start the duel, I want to make it fair for both of them.” Virgil snapped his fingers, and the entire Arena started rumbling. “Don’t worry. I am just reconstructing the broken parts of the arena.”
“What rules are you talking about?” Rudy asked and thought, ‘I bet they are going to give me some sort of disadvantage.’
“There will be three rules!” Virgil announced, “The first one is, of course, no killing. Rudy and Victus, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to kill each other. If you do that, then you shall face my mighty wrath.”
“…” Rudy was left speechless as he never expected a rule like that.
“The other two rules will be created by you two. Rudy, you can make one rule of yours. And Victus, the same goes for you,” Virgil instructed.
“I don’t care about any rules. But if he wants one, then I am up for it,” Rudy replied with a shoulder shrug as though he didn’t care about it in the least.
“I want to make a rule where he can’t use anything that can be considered as anti-vampire, such as the light of the sun, silver, or any magic spell,” Victus asserted.
“Hmm. That’s a tad too much to ask for. But that’s not for me to decide.” Virgil looked at Rudy and asked, “Do you agree on his terms?”
‘Not that I have any of those things with me, so I couldn’t care less. But I will state my condition too,’ Rudy uttered inwardly.
“If that’s the case, then I would also like to add my condition.” After a brief pause, Rudy said, “I don’t want him to use any vampire powers such as charm ability or suck my blood.”
“Agreed,” Virgil nodded. “You may start on the count of three.”
Victus and Rudy prepared themselves for the duel. Although Victus had already planned how he was going to attack Rudy, Rudy had no plans in his mind. He had already predicted that Victus would have made his plan, so unless he failed, nothing would matter.
“Three! Two!”
“…”
“…”
The entire arena was filled with silence, and all the vampires were eagerly waiting for the fight to start.
“One!”
As soon as the duel started, Victus flapped his wings and hovered above Rudy.
“…” Rudy could also fly and do the same thing, but he was curious about what Victus was planning.
‘He must have seen me flying earlier, right? So why would he choose to attack me from the air? In fact, I believe that the fight in the air would be less interesting than the fight on the ground. But oh well, I will play along and finish the duel with one blow’.
“This is the end, human! You have already lost! I have the high ground!” Victus declared out aloud.
SIGH!
Rudy let out a weary sigh and slammed Victus to the ground using telekinesis.
===
Thanks, @IcewaterKat, for the gift!
