In the upper levels of the colossal arena, far above the thousands of participants in the Ascension Ritual, there were areas reserved only for truly important figures within the vampire hierarchy. These weren’t just luxurious boxes or common aristocratic spaces.
They were political territories.
Each seat in that region represented enough power to destroy entire countries if they so desired.
The Destroyers naturally occupied the highest position, observing everything as entities completely separate from the rest of the vampires. Below them ca the Blood Kings, the military leaders, and the most influential figures of the great vampire houses. And among those absurdly dangerous presences, a woman observed the arena while resting her face on her hand with an amused expression.
Rias Valentine.
She was tall by feminine standards, possessing a posture too refined even among vampire aristocrats. Her long hair was a shade similar to extrely dark wine, almost black under certain lighting, while her red eyes observed the arena with genuine interest.
But the most striking detail was the coat.
The enormous piece of black fur that partially covered her shoulders clearly didn’t co from an ordinary animal.
That fur belonged to a werewolf.
And not just any werewolf.
The sheer size of the fur alone made that obvious.
Several nearby vampires avoided even looking directly at the coat.
Because there were old rumors involving Rias Valentine and the territorial war in the north.
Extrely violent rumors.
She remained seated in a relaxed manner while observing Victor down below talking to Grace Valentine as if it were the most interesting scene of the entire night.
Next to her was another Blood King.
Tomas Valentine.
Unlike Rias, Tomas had a much less extravagant appearance. The man wore relatively simple dark clothes by aristocratic standards, short gray hair, and a perfectly trimd short beard.
But his simplicity created precisely the problem.
Because Tomas Valentine possessed that extrely heavy presence typical of veterans who had survived too many wars.
He looked weary.
The most dangerous type of person possible.
His eyes remained fixed on Victor for several seconds before finally comnting:
"The Serafall boy is surprising."
Rias imdiately smiled slightly.
"You’re being too polite." She slowly crossed her legs as she observed the arena. "That was completely absurd."
Tomas made a small nasal sound in agreent.
"Soone of that level appearing out of nowhere is truly surprising."
And it was true.
Because monstrous strength among vampires didn’t simply appear out of nowhere.
Especially not at that level.
Great prodigies were usually known from a young age. Monitored. Observed. Analyzed by the main families for decades.
Jake Valentine, Grace, Leon, Emma... all of them were nas known for years.
Victor was not.
Until a few months ago, practically no one took Serafall Valentine’s son seriously.
He was seen only as a troubled boy isolated by his own mother.
Now...
Now he had erased a colossal wall of existence before thousands of witnesses.
Tomas watched Victor stroking Grace’s head below before slowly raising an eyebrow.
"...He really just touched her?"
Rias imdiately started laughing.
"That boy is completely crazy."
Because it really was absurd.
Grace Valentine wasn’t just a powerful prodigy.
She was an emotionally frozen creature.
Most of the Ritual participants could barely converse normally near her without panicking due to the absurd natural pressure she carried.
But Victor simply called her cute.
Then he stroked her head.
And now Grace seed close to suffering a critical brain failure trying to process that.
Rias honestly found that scene wonderful.
"Chysis is going to lose her mind when she finds out about this," she comnted amusedly.
Tomas chuckled softly.
"Rakshasa too."
The two remained watching the arena for a few more seconds until they noticed movent nearby.
Edgar Valentine had risen from his chair.
Imdiately.
Too fast.
Too nervous.
The man avoided looking directly at the arena as he began walking towards the side corridor reserved for the inner areas of Headquarters.
And that alone already seed suspicious.
Rias noticed imdiately.
Then she smiled.
It was an extrely beautiful smile.
And dangerously cruel.
"Are you leaving already, Edgar?" she asked as she watched the man pass close to her. "I thought you wanted to watch the whole Ritual."
Edgar’s expression imdiately hardened.
His eyes t Rias’s for a split second before he replied curtly,
"That’s none of your business."
Rias continued smiling.
The problem was precisely that smile.
Because she was clearly having fun.
Edgar clenched his teeth before continuing to walk down the hallway without slowing down.
The man practically disappeared from the main area soon after.
Silence hung for a few seconds.
Then Rias and Tomas looked at his tense back disappearing down the hallway.
And they both smiled almost simultaneously.
Because it was too pathetic.
Edgar Valentine was scared.
Extrely scared.
Tomas slowly rested his arms on the chair while letting out a small, amused sigh.
"I think soone’s going to die soon."
Rias let out a small, nasal laugh.
"No." She shook her head slightly. "He’ll run away before that."
Tomas partially shifted his gaze to her.
"...Do you think so?"
"Of course." Her smile widened slightly. "Edgar is a coward."
And that wasn’t even a gratuitous provocation.
It was honest analysis.
Edgar Valentine had survived decades within the monstrous politics of the Valentine Family precisely because he knew how to escape at the right mont.
He wasn’t a warrior.
He wasn’t a monster like Kayn.
Nor a functional psychopath like Leon.
Edgar was a political survivor.
The problem...
Was that people like that usually panicked when real monsters appeared.
And Victor definitely looked like a monster now.
Tomas observed the arena again as he spoke calmly:
"Do you think the boy knows?"
"About Edgar?" Rias asked naturally.
Tomas nodded slightly.
She remained silent for a few seconds before replying: "I don’t think it matters to him."
...
The judge remained completely motionless before the monstrous hole cutting across part of the arena. The blank expression on his face seed like that of soone trying to accept that a gigantic administrative problem had just arisen right in the middle of the Ascension Ritual.
Because this was no ordinary damage.
Victor literally knocked out the main equipnt of the first stage.
So of the Headquarters officers were already desperately arguing further back as they observed the enormous debris scattered across the arena’s structure. Containnt spells were being constantly activated to prevent the cracks from continuing to advance.
The judge finally coughed dryly.
Then he looked again at the empty space where the colossal wall had once stood.
"...Right." He cleared his throat, trying to regain so professional dignity. "Those who haven’t yet managed to attack..." The man visibly hesitated for a second. "...will automatically advance to the next stage."
The arena fell silent.
The judge quickly added:
"There’s no way to rebuild sothing that clearly shouldn’t have been destroyed."
So participants imdiately began to celebrate.
Others seed relieved.
And so officials looked close to having a nervous breakdown.
Victor just watched without much interest as he put his hands back in his pockets. Honestly, he’d expected sothing like this. It didn’t make sense to delay the entire Ritual because of a non-existent wall.
Then—
"THIS IS ABSURD!"
A female voice echoed violently through the arena.
Victor slowly turned his face.
A girl with light hair had practically risen from her chair in a fit of genuine rage. Unlike Emma Valentine’s absurdly controlled deanor, this woman seed emotionally unstable enough to explode soone in the middle of the arena.
Victor recognized her imdiately.
Charlotte Valentine.
Emma’s younger sister.
And also one of the great prodigies of the new generation.
She pointed directly at the judge while practically foaming with irritation.
"HOW CAN I PASS AUTOMATICALLY?!" Charlotte shouted furiously. "I TRAINED FOR MONTHS FOR THIS!"
The judge looked close to giving up on his life.
"Miss Charlotte, the structure was—"
"I DON’T CARE!"
She then turned her face directly to Victor.
And clearly that made everything worse.
"AND YOU!" Charlotte pointed aggressively at him. "LOOK AT THE SS YOU MADE!"
Victor sighed.
Deeply.
Slowly.
In an extrely tired way.
Beside him, Grace watched Charlotte in absolute silence, but the temperature around her imdiately began to drop a few degrees.
Victor noticed this.
Then he just glanced at Grace sideways.
"I’ll be right back."
Grace blinked slowly.
She still seed strangely frozen from the mont he stroked her head earlier.
Victor then began to walk calmly towards Charlotte while the girl continued to freak out at absolutely everyone around her.
"That was incompetence!" she kept complaining. "Who was the idiot who made such a weak wall?!"
"You just saw who destroyed it," soone murmured from the crowd.
"SHUT UP!"
Victor reached her a few seconds later.
Charlotte imdiately looked up.
She was relatively tall by female standards, but Victor still needed to look slightly down to et her gaze directly.
She crossed her arms angrily.
"What?" she asked aggressively.
Victor casually pointed to his own chest.
"Hit it."
Charlotte blinked.
"...What?"
"Hit it," Victor repeated calmly. "Isn’t that all you wanted to do?"
The entire arena imdiately began to pay attention.
Charlotte seed unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Are you kidding ?"
Victor remained completely serious.
"You wanted to leave a mark on sothing." He shrugged slightly. "Then hit it already."
The silence around them grew absurdly louder.
Because it all seed completely surreal.
Charlotte’s eyes widened slightly in indignation.
"Are you provoking ?!"
"No." Victor answered honestly. "You’re throwing a tantrum because you lost a wall."
So people around them imdiately started laughing.
Charlotte almost exploded.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH—"
"Just hit it already," Victor interrupted calmly. "Or sit down and stop yelling."
Her expression began to tremble with anger.
Because the worst part...
Was that Victor seed genuinely unconcerned.
No aura.
No exaggerated provocation.
No real hostility.
That made it seem even more humiliating.
Emma Valentine, observing everything from further back, slowly closed the book with a small, tired sigh.
"...She’s going to screw up," she murmured.
And she did.
Charlotte lunged forward.
Blood energy exploded violently around her arm as the girl charged at an absurd speed directly towards Victor.
Several participants imdiately recoiled.
Her blow was genuinely strong.
Not on the level of the main monsters of the Ritual, but still absurdly above average for the new generation.
The punch struck Victor’s chest.
BOOM.
The impact echoed through the arena.
The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly.
The wind exploded around them.
And then...
Nothing.
Victor didn’t even move.
Not an inch.
Charlotte stood completely still with her fist pressed against his chest as her eyes slowly widened. Victor looked down.
Then at her.
"...Was that it?"
Her expression began to break down emotionally.
Because she had really hit with full force.
Victor honestly didn’t even seem to feel it.
He then calmly held her wrist.
Without excessive force.
Without brutality.
But Charlotte imdiately realized she couldn’t move her arm.
"Ready now?" Victor asked.
Charlotte opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then she slowly looked away, filled with sha, while the entire arena watched the absurd scene.
Victor released her arm naturally.
"Great." He then turned his back. "Then stop yelling."
Charlotte stood there for a few seconds, completely emotionally devastated.
Then—
"SISTER!"
She imdiately pointed at Victor, almost crying with indignation.
Emma closed her eyes.
"...I hate my family."
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