The judge remained in absolute silence for a few seconds after the minor disaster involving Charlotte Valentine. The tired expression on his face now seed much more like soone completely reconsidering his professional choices. Part of the arena was still destroyed from Victor’s blow, staff rushed through the lower corridors trying to contain the structural damage, and half the participants seed emotionally shaken after watching Charlotte completely lose her dignity in public.
In the midst of all that chaos...
Victor simply calmly returned to Grace as if absolutely nothing had happened.
Grace watched him return in silence while small fragnts of ice still involuntarily ford around her own feet. Charlotte remained further away, being dragged by Emma while still pointing indignantly at Victor.
"HE HUMILIATED !"
"You did it yourself," Emma replied imdiately, without any emotion.
"SISTER!"
Victor heard that and let out a small nasal laugh.
Then the judge finally cleared his throat again, using magical voice reinforcent to interrupt the general ss.
"ATTENTION!"
The entire arena gradually fell silent.
The man took a deep breath before continuing, clearly trying to regain control of the Ritual.
"The first evaluation is over." He cast an extrely resentful glance at the gigantic hole left in the arena before continuing. "All participants will now proceed to the Primordial Receiving Area."
Instantly, several participants tensed.
Even so prodigies slightly raised their gaze.
Because this truly mattered.
The Primordial Blood.
The main initial reward of the Ascension Ritual.
The judge continued speaking as several officials began to open enormous tal gates around the arena.
"All those who pass will receive a drop of Primordial Blood before the official start of the second phase." His voice echoed heavily through the colossal arena. "A second drop will be given only to the survivors who qualify at the end of the Ritual."
Victor narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing that.
Two drops.
Even knowing this beforehand, it still seed absurd.
This was literally a resource capable of completely changing the lives of normal vampires.
Even the most arrogant participants now seed tense with anticipation.
The judge then raised a small black tal clipboard as he continued the explanation.
"The next stage will take place in the Ascension Area." His tone imdiately beca more serious. "An artificial territory created specifically for the Ritual."
So participants swallowed hard.
Others remained completely focused.
Victor simply listened in silence.
"The Ascension Area has multiple bios integrated simultaneously." The judge began to explain as gigantic magical holograms appeared above the arena showing maps of the territory. "Blood forests. Frozen regions. Toxic swamps. Ancient ruins. Destroyed cities. Volcanic fields. Subterranean environnts."
The images continued to change constantly. Victor watched everything with genuine attention now.
Because this...
This was different.
Very different.
In the past he knew, the Ascension Ritual was brutal, simple, and straightforward.
Pure survival.
No rcy.
No way out.
But this...
It seed too organized.
The judge continued.
"Currently, there are exactly two thousand two hundred and fifty participants qualified for the second phase."
The entire arena fell utterly silent.
Then ca the next sentence.
"Only twenty will pass."
The weight of those words imdiately fell upon everyone.
Even arrogant vampires tensed.
Because that ant a ridiculous survival rate.
Victor noticed several participants beginning to show real nervousness for the first ti since the beginning of the Ritual.
The judge then continued coldly:
"Death is entirely possible within the Ascension Area."
No emotion.
No attempt to soften the blow.
Because there was no need.
Everyone there was a vampire.
Extre violence was part of their existence.
"Artificial creatures will be scattered throughout the territory," the man continued. "Furthermore... combat between participants is permitted."
Now the murmurs began.
So participants turned pale.
Others imdiately began looking around, assessing potential threats.
Victor noticed this clearly.
The entire atmosphere changed.
Because now it no longer seed like an exam.
It seed like a planned massacre.
"However..." The judge raised a finger slightly. "There is a new rule implented this year."
Victor imdiately narrowed his eyes.
New rule.
This didn’t exist.
The judge continued:
"If you wish to abandon the Ritual, simply surrender officially to the supervisors scattered throughout the Ascension Area." He spoke in an extrely professional manner. "Your examination will be terminated imdiately and you will be removed from the territory."
Silence was instantaneous.
Victor stood motionless for a second.
Because this was truly wrong.
Not just different.
Wrong.
In the original Ritual there was no surrender.
There was no withdrawal.
You survived...
Or you died.
Simple as that.
Victor remained staring ahead while thinking rapidly.
He had never heard of this rule.
Not in the old records.
Not in the stories.
Not in future mories.
This definitely wasn’t part of the original Ritual.
"...Interesting," he thought silently.
Beside him, Grace remained completely still, observing the holograms of the bios.
Charlotte, further away, still seed emotionally devastated.
Jake Valentine now watched Victor much more seriously than before.
And up there...
The real monsters continued watching.
The judge then sighed wearily before speaking again:
"And before you ask..." He massaged his forehead. "Yes. This rule started precisely because of the absurd number of prodigies present this year."
Victor raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then the judge pointed directly to the Great Disciples scattered around the arena.
"If there were no option to retreat..." The man spoke dryly. "...the death toll would probably be too disastrous even by the standards of the Valentine Family."
So participants imdiately began to get even more nervous.
Because that basically confird one thing.
The monsters of that Ritual were dangerous even to the organizers themselves.
Victor almost laughed when he realized this. Then he slowly raised his gaze to the enormous holograms of the Ascension Area again.
Forests.
Frozen mountains.
Ruins.
Volcanic fields.
Territories too vast for a simple examination.
The Ritual had truly changed.
But honestly...
That only made everything more interesting.
Victor slowly smiled slightly as he put his hands back in his pockets.
Because regardless of the changes...
The end result would remain the sa.
He would trample everyone in that place.
The enormous tal gates of the arena began to slowly open as Headquarters officials guided the participants into the inner corridors of the colossal structure. The atmosphere no longer resembled a tournant or public demonstration. Now it looked like military movent before a war.
Thousands of vampires walked through the gigantic corridors towards the Primordial Reception Area. So nervously conversed amongst themselves. Others remained completely silent as they tried to process the absurd reality of that Ritual.
Only twenty would survive.
That number alone shattered any illusion of safety.
Victor walked calmly through the crowd with his hands in his pockets, observing the interior of the Central Headquarters. The black walls bore ancient battle scars scattered throughout, as if that structure had survived enough wars to transform destruction into permanent decoration.
Blood runes slowly traced the gigantic corridors, emitting a dark red light that made the atmosphere even more oppressive. Ard vampire guards watched all the participants pass by, not hiding their natural tension.
Because they knew too.
Many of those young people would not return alive.
Victor continued walking without much interest until he noticed movent nearby.
Grace Valentine was still walking relatively close to him.
She had remained absurdly silent since earlier, but Victor clearly perceived that she still seed strange after the whole situation involving the pat on the head.
In front of them, Charlotte was still complaining nonstop while Emma completely ignored her own sister.
"He did that on purpose!" Charlotte grumbled angrily as she walked away. "That arrogant idiot—"
"You tried to punch him," Emma replied calmly while reading her book as she walked.
"THAT’S NOT THE POINT!"
Victor heard that and let out a small, nasal laugh.
Charlotte imdiately turned her face away.
"...What are you laughing at?"
Victor looked at her for a few seconds.
Then he answered honestly:
"You."
Charlotte almost stumbled in indignation.
Emma just sighed wearily.
"...Please stop interacting," she murmured.
The group continued walking for a few more minutes until they finally reached a much deeper region of Headquarters.
And then...
Even so Great Prodigies fell silent.
The place before them was gigantic.
A colossal underground chamber rose below the main structure like an ancient temple buried deep in the mountain. Absurdly enormous black columns supported the distant ceiling while rivers of blood flowed through side channels scattered throughout the structure.
The air in that place was heavy.
Very heavy.
Victor realized imdiately.
It wasn’t just the absurd amount of blood energy spreading through the environnt.
There was sothing more.
Sothing ancient.
Sothing monstrously powerful.
In the center of the gigantic chamber stood a tall circular structure, surrounded by dozens of vampire priests dressed in black robes. Above that structure floated small red droplets suspended in the air.
The Primordial Blood.
Even from a distance, Victor felt his own body react instinctively.
Everyone felt it.
Because this wasn’t ordinary blood.
It was sothing far beyond that.
So participants began to breathe more heavily just observing the droplets suspended in the center of the room. Others remained completely still due to the absurd pressure emanating from there.
Victor observed it in silence.
Then he slowly narrowed his eyes.
"...I understand."
Even to him, it seed impressive.
Carmilla Valentine.
The Primordial.
The monstrous ancestor responsible for transforming the Valentine Family into one of the most absurd entities in the vampire world.
’If they knew I was fucking her last night...’ Victor thought, rembering Carmilla’s face sunken in ecstasy.
The participants slowly began to form lines around the main structure as the priests organized the reception of the drops.
Victor imdiately noticed that several vampires were extrely nervous.
Because this wasn’t just a reward.
It was compatibility.
Not everyone could handle the Primordial Blood properly.
In so rare cases...
The blood simply destroyed the recipient’s body.
Charlotte noticed this too.
"...Wait," she said for the first ti without shouting. "Could this kill soone?"
Emma nodded calmly without taking her eyes off the book.
"Yes."
Charlotte imdiately turned pale.
Victor almost laughed at the absurd change in attitude.
Further away, Jake Valentine stood silently observing the blood floating above the central platform with an extrely focused gaze. Leon seed completely indifferent as always. Grace simply observed everything in absolute silence while small frozen particles involuntarily appeared around her.
Grace remained completely still, watching the drops of blood floating above the central platform while small frozen crystals slowly appeared around her own body. The absurd pressure of that room seed to affect all the participants in different ways.
So were nervous.
Others excited.
So clearly frightened.
Victor simply observed everything calmly while keeping his hands in his pockets. Honestly, the hardest thing there was pretending that the whole situation wasn’t absurdly strange to him.
Because unlike the other participants...
Victor knew Carmilla Valentine personally.
Very personally.
’If they knew I was fucking her last night...’
The thought naturally popped into his head as he perfectly rembered the Primordial, completely destroyed with pleasure, clinging to him hours ago. Victor almost laughed to himself.
The whole situation was too ridiculous.
Thousands of vampires staring at a drop of her blood as if it were a divine relic while he literally had her nail marks all over his body.
The narrator of that story sincerely believed that several elders would die instantly if they discovered this.
The priests slowly began to organize the lines as the participants were directed to the main structure. The process seed absurdly controlled. Each drop of blood was kept inside small black containers covered in extrely ancient runes.
Victor imdiately understood the reason.
Containnt.
That wasn’t just blood.
It was a living entity compressed into liquid form.
The monstrous energy emanating from the drops made even veteran vampires tense.
Then the first participant finally received the blood.
The man trembled clearly as a priest handed him a small red drop suspended inside a crystalline container. The vampire took a deep breath before consuming it imdiately.
The effect was instantaneous.
BOOM.
Blood energy exploded violently around his body as red veins began to appear on his neck and arms. The man imdiately fell to his knees, trembling violently as he tried to withstand the absurd pressure entering his body.
Several participants tensed as they watched.
Charlotte’s eyes widened imdiately.
"...My god."
Emma simply turned a page of the book.
"dium compatibility," she comnted calmly.
Victor observed everything in silence.
Because it actually made sense.
The Primordial Blood didn’t just strengthen.
It forced evolution.
Forced evolution always hurt.
The first participant continued trembling on the ground for almost a full minute before finally managing to stabilize himself. The man stood up, breathing heavily, looking at his own hands with an incredulous expression.
He was stronger.
Much stronger.
The reaction around him changed imdiately.
Fear slowly began to mix with greed.
Victor perceived this clearly.
Because now everyone had seen it.
The gain was real.
Then the process continued.
One after another.
So endured relatively well.
Others fell screaming.
In two specific cases...
The priests had to intervene imdiately because the participants’ bodies literally began to collapse under the blood pressure.
Charlotte grew paler watching this.
"...Is this a ritual or an attempted mass murder?" "Both," she murmured.
"Both," Victor replied casually.
Charlotte looked at him in horror.
"...How are you so calm?"
Victor looked at her for a few seconds.
Then he answered honestly:
"Because I’m not going to die."
Charlotte fell silent imdiately.
The worst part...
Was that he didn’t sound arrogant saying that.
It just seed like a fact.
Further away, Jake Valentine received his drop.
Instantly, a monstrous explosion of blood energy took over the area around him. The ground even partially cracked as absurd pressure leaked from the vampire’s body.
Several participants imdiately retreated.
Jake remained motionless, enduring everything while red veins glowed all over his body. The Primordial’s blood clearly reacted absurdly well with him.
"Exceptional compatibility," one of the priests murmured, visibly impressed.
Jake slowly opened his eyes.
Then he smiled in an extrely arrogant manner while releasing so of the pressure around him.
The nearby participants tensed imdiately.
Victor just watched without much interest.
Then Leon Valentine stepped forward.
Unlike Jake, his reaction was almost silent.
The drop disappeared inside his body and...
Nothing happened externally.
No explosion.
No monstrous aura.
But Victor imdiately noticed the frightening detail.
Leon’s blood control increased absurdly in a matter of seconds.
The very air around him seed heavier now.
"How disgusting..." Victor thought.
Emma was next.
As soon as she received the blood, dozens of small blood symbols imdiately began to appear around her body like mathematical formulas being calculated in real ti.
Victor noticed instantly.
She was consciously analyzing her own evolutionary process.
"...Intellectual psychopaths are really annoying," he thought.
Then—
Grace Valentine stepped forward.
The entire environnt instantly cooled.
Even before she received the blood.
The priests exchanged small, tense glances as they handed her the drop.
Grace observed the blood in absolute silence for a few seconds.
Then she consud it.
CRAAAAACK.
The entire platform froze instantly.
A monstrous wave of cold exploded throughout the chamber as crimson ice began to violently spread around her. Several participants literally recoiled on pure instinct.
Charlotte almost fell trying to escape the cold.
Victor watched calmly.
Because that...
That was fucking beautiful.
Grace remained standing in the center of the freezing explosion as her blue eyes slowly glowed with refined blood energy. Her control over her own power clearly increased in real ti.
But unlike the others...
Grace didn’t seem to be suffering.
She seed comfortable.
Natural.
As if that blood had finally found its proper place to exist.
Even so priests tensed as they watched her.
"Monstrous compatibility..." one of them murmured involuntarily.
Victor heard that and smiled slightly.
Then Grace slowly turned her face.
Her eyes t Victor’s directly.
And for so reason...
She seed to be waiting for approval.
Victor honestly almost laughed at that.
Then he just slowly raised his thumb.
Grace stood motionless for half a second.
And an absurd amount of ice exploded behind her imdiately.
Charlotte’s eyes widened.
"...She just got happy?"
Emma slowly closed the book.
"...Impossible."
Victor almost started laughing for real now.
Then—
"Participant Victor Valentine."
The priest’s voice echoed throughout the entire chamber. Instantly, thousands of eyes turned to him again.
Jake stared directly at him.
Leon too.
Emma partially lifted her eyes from her book.
Grace remained completely focused on him.
Even the priests seed tense now.
Because honestly...
After what Victor did to the wall...
Nobody had any idea what to expect.
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