The Villain's Story

Chapter 763: 1V1(2)

Each fist carried enough power to level a small island, to obliterate hills. The strength in their legs could launch them far beyond the clouds with a single leap—yet they remained grounded.

They exchanged nothing but fists. Defense was abandoned entirely, as if it were an afterthought. For the first few minutes, they simply punched the hell out of each other. And with every impact, the atmosphere itself tore apart, birthing tempests that scattered in every direction.

’... Insane bastards.’

Alpha cursed under her breath, her body slowly regenerating as she limped over to Beta—her dear brother, broken and brutalized by the dragon.

He wouldn’t be able to fight again. Not for a long while. He would need an ocean of blood to restore his muscles and strength. Both she and her brother had been completely overwhelmed by that dragon. He didn’t fight like any dragon she had ever seen.

Granted, she’d only encountered a few in her lifetime—enough to count on one hand—but even so, this dragon was strange from the very beginning. No matter how potent the artifacts or the arrays they had scattered across the battlefield, none of it should have fallen into the claws of a frost dragon.

They were far too heavily protected for that. And speaking of protection, that thing didn’t need any. He was trading blows—barehanded—with Victor: the greatest masterpiece her mother had ever created, the eldest of House Almada.

’... I can’t even interfere.’

The clash between blood mana and aura was so violent that any spell she attempted to conjure would disintegrate before reaching the center of the battlefield. That was how much force each strike carried—enough to make the world itself suffer.

’Let’s just get away... and wait for the ritual to complete...’

Hoisting Beta onto her shoulders, she retreated as far as she could from the two monsters locked in a hand-to-hand brawl beyond comprehension.

****

"How long has it been...? Since I felt this?"

Victor mused, even as his face caved in from a punch. He didn’t bother to block—just tilted his head to reduce the impact—and launched a counterattack.

From the outside, his body was a mess. Patches of skin were gone, torn off by the sheer force of the blows. His muscles were visible, raw and exposed. But he wasn’t the only one in such a state.

His opponent looked even worse. The dragon’s scales had buckled, driven inward, and his body was heavily damaged as well. Yet Victor had still not seen a single drop of blood to feast upon.

Every time this monster bled, the blood froze instantly. It was irritating. But Victor was having too much fun to be furious.

Still, he was... fascinated.

"Dear Sir, what a strange existence you are..."

Another punch landed on his face, slurring his speech, but he knew his opponent understood. Victor retaliated with a blow to the gut, forcing the dragon to hunch over.

A clean hit to the solar plexus—always effective.

"You are a dragon, blessed with immense mana from birth, but within you lies aura as well, the gift of the God beasts, though its reserves pale in comparison to your mana reserves...

He stepped forward and raised his leg, kicking Alan beneath the chin and sending him hurtling backward.

"How are you alive? Dear sir? Quite simply... it is impossible for something like you to exist, at all!"

Alan reappeared, landing a punishing kick to Victor’s knee, making him stumble. He seized Victor’s head and drove his knee into it repeatedly, until the latter broke free.

"You... you are an impossible individual. I have heard of others, spectacular members of their species, unlocking the ability to contain both mana and aura within their vessels, But I heard they all died a horrible death."𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

He wiped the blood from his lip, eyes narrowed.

"Yet you... shouldn’t even be able to do this, at all! You are a dragon, why would you forsake mana for... aura? I can’t put my head around it. I admit that my years of imprisonment have driven me insane, but this is... something else."

Alan faltered for a moment, absorbing his words.

’... Others, beside master?’

He had thought Arken was the only one. But of course, the universe was vast. It wasn’t impossible.

Still... the thought of them all dying so violently unsettled him.

"A dragon, is the apex of mana..."

Victor continued.

"Just why would you abandon mana for aura, even for a moment? Is it for physical enhancement? A reinforcement of the physical vessel? No, it cannot be... You are a dragon.

Mana is you, You are mana. That is the truth... So how?"

A strange silence settled as the two fighters slowly recovered, facing each other—one filled with curiosity, the other lost in contemplation.

"And more than that, you possess both a bloodline, and a lineage. The gifts of the two prime species, God Beasts and Dragons, that they bestow to those they favor... The bloodline of Life, Liorathen. And the Lineage of Death, Ariel... coexisting in one single organism...?"

Victor’s voice was nearly reverent now.

"So, so strange. Dear sir, don’t take it as an offense, But you should not exist, not even remotely, it is impossible."

"Yeah, I wonder why, too."

Alan’s voice was calm, just before he vanished again.

Victor scowled.

"That again? How annoying, repulsive..."

He began sprinting across the battlefield, speaking as he ran.

"You’re not a vampire, that is for certain. We inherit the abilities of those whose blood we feast upon, but you? You specialize in a lot of fields..."

His voice echoed across the ruined terrain.

"My body is that of a good beast, for that is the blood I feasted upon from birth. An incredibly powerful one at that, but you? You rival me, despite being a frost dragon."

He laughed, circling the crater of the fallen supreme meteor.

"Had you been an Earth or Metal dragon, I would completely understand, but frost? How peculiar. You are young as well..."

He kept running—faster, faster.

"That skill of yours... It takes a lot to maintain, am I right?

And he was right. A shrewd smile popped up on his face.

Alan couldn’t keep up while using Spatial Distortion. It drained both his mind and his aura reserves. He had aimed to rip Victor’s heart out with it—but the man was simply too fast.

Alan could keep pace under normal conditions. But not while splitting his focus across every limb, manipulating them simultaneously within a distorted spatial field. Regrettably, he cancelled his skill, and appeared before Victor again, who finally stopped his marathon.

"There you are... I wonder if this is one of those hobbies you are encouraged to do? I hear dragons are insanely curious, more so than for their own good... Is this a hobby of yours, to develop your physique to such insane levels, you awakened aura?"

Victor was unaware how Alan had awakened aura, and if he was being honest, he didn’t want to share. The man was already talking too much. It was annoying beyond belief.

"Why don’t you tell me what’s happening inside there...?"

Alan pointed towards the castle, where an invisible barrier had sprouted, a space unlike any he had seen.

"That... I don’t know. I only know the ritual is proceeding."

"Ritual?"

"It is the ritual to select the next successor of House Almada, My mother has strange ways of picking the successor. Isn’t it strange? Her entire life, she built me to be the successor, yet threw me away at the last second."

"..."

Alan stopped, gazing at Victor. He noticed the fury evident in his eyes.

"Whoever is inside, will be transformed into a vampire unless they are of a superior race, and be granted ownership of our house, They will be turned into a Vampire King, or Queen. It was supposed to be mine, but fate works in mysterious ways. No matter."

Alan raised his brows.

"Dear sir, Is the person inside another dragon?"

Alan didn’t answer, but his silence gave Victor all he needed.

"No? I see. It will be easier killing them then."

Alan appeared in front of him, and punched his face, Victor was sent flying as pure fury covered Alan’s face.

"I see... whoever is inside is special to you... No matter, I will still kill them and become head."

He fixed his jaw, and started to float in the air. The scent of blood all around increased to disgusting levels, and Alan almost winced. The smell was too much for him to bear, even with his nose blocked, he could feel it at this point with all his other senses. Even taste it...

"You are powerful, I admit... But here’s the catch with most who are capable of handling mana and aura..."

Two spheres of blood manifested in his hands, they spun at great speeds, drawing in blood from all around, from god knows where.

"They are only able to use one at a time... So tell me, how long will this charade continue? With those dwindling reserves?"

The verdant forest disappeared, replaced by a storm of blood.