Victor began to laugh even before Emma reached her position.
It wasn’t an arrogant laugh.
Nor a cruel laugh.
It was worse.
It seed genuinely amused.
Like soone who had just found an absurdly funny situation at the worst possible mont.
The destroyed clearing still trembled from the effects of the impact that had crushed the territorial chief. Fragnts of stone continued to fall from destroyed trees while dust and smoke slowly rose into the sky. In the center of that destruction, Victor remained with his hands in his pockets as he watched Emma advance towards him with an expression that promised imdiate homicide.
She really seed to want to kill him.
Which was understandable.
Victor had just stolen a hundred points after letting them do practically all the work.
Emma crossed dozens of ters in an instant.
The winds around her exploded into a storm of compressed blades capable of cutting steel.
Victor watched it approach.
Then he smiled.
"You two look so cute when you’re angry."
The first gust of wind struck her position.
Or it should have.
Victor simply vanished.
The gust swept across the empty space.
The next instant he appeared above her.
Emma’s eyes widened.
Victor lowered his foot.
BOOOOOOM.
The girl crossed the clearing floor like a human teor, opening a gigantic trench through the forest.
But before he could continue, the sky roared.
Charlotte had returned.
And she was clearly even angrier.
Thousands of lightning bolts began to strike simultaneously across the entire region.
Trees exploded.
Rocks lted.
The very air seed to be shattered by the absurd amount of electrical energy.
Victor stood there watching.
Then he tilted his head.
"...You two really got angry."
A lightning bolt struck directly at their position.
The explosion illuminated the entire forest.
When the light faded, Victor remained standing exactly where he was.
Without a scratch.
Without even having taken his hands out of his pockets.
Charlotte felt a vein throb in her forehead.
"GIVE BACK MY POINTS!"
Victor looked at her.
Then he looked at the enormous, headless carcass of the territorial chief.
Then he looked back at her.
"But he’s dead."
Her face turned even redder.
"I KNOW HE’S DEAD!"
Victor nodded.
"Then I can’t give them back."
For a full second, Charlotte seed close to having a nervous breakdown.
Emma returned at that mont.
The girl erged from the forest, enveloped by violent winds, blood discreetly trickling from the corner of her mouth.
She landed beside her sister.
They both looked at Victor.
Victor looked at the two of them.
Then he smiled.
"Even funnier when you make the sa expression."
The silence lasted approximately a second.
Then the two advanced at the sa ti.
The forest exploded.
Winds.
Lightning.
Shockwaves.
Entire trees were uprooted as Emma and Charlotte attacked from every possible angle simultaneously.
Victor simply laughed.
Not because he was trying to humiliate them.
But because it really was fun.
Emma appeared from the left.
Charlotte from the right.
Victor dodged the first.
Blocked the second.
Spun.
Bounded a kick.
Parried a sword.
Dodged three lightning bolts.
All without even seeming serious.
The two sisters began to realize sothing worrying.
Very worrying.
Victor wasn’t fighting.
He was playing around.
The difference was enormous.
Emma noticed it first.
Every ti she tried to pressure him using speed, he was already out of the way before the blow even began.
Every ti she altered the direction of the winds to surprise him, he simply changed position as if he had foreseen everything.
Charlotte noticed sothing similar.
The lightning must be too fast for normal dodging.
Victor simply didn’t seem to care.
It was as if he knew exactly where each attack would co from.
Which was true.
His blood perception showed him each of their movents even before the muscles finished contracting.
For Emma and Charlotte, it began to seem absurd.
For Victor, it seed perfectly natural.
"You two work well together."
Victor dodged a series of wind blades.
"But you fight too much."
Charlotte tried to decapitate him with a concentrated electric shock.
Victor appeared behind her.
"Complicated marriage in the future."
Charlotte imdiately spun around.
"WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT MARRIAGE?!"
Victor pointed at her.
"See?"
Then he pointed at Emma.
"Sa reaction."
Emma almost tripped.
Because she had really thought exactly the sa thing.
Victor started laughing again.
"That’s incredible."
The two beca even more irritated.
The fight intensified.
Emma created a tornado.
Charlotte fueled the tornado with electricity.
The resulting combination produced a destructive storm that swept through half the clearing.
Victor finally seed impressed.
"That’s it."
They both felt hopeful.
Maybe.
Maybe they had finally succeeded.
Then Victor walked through the tornado.
Walking.
Literally walking.
The blood around his body created a protective layer that absorbed most of the force while his physical resistance simply ignored the rest.
Emma felt her stomach sink.
Charlotte had exactly the sa sensation.
Because at that mont they both ca to the sa conclusion.
He was a wall.
No.
Wall was an understatent.
Victor seed like an entire fortress.
Every strategy they tried was crushed.
Every combination failed.
Every opening disappeared.
It didn’t matter how many attacks they launched.
It didn’t matter how much coordination they used.
The difference between them remained enormous. Victor noticed their stares.
Then he sighed.
"You’re overthinking it."
Emma attacked again.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
Charlotte tried to take advantage of the opening.
Victor held her sword with his other hand.
They both froze.
Because this simply shouldn’t be possible.
Victor held them both without apparent effort.
As if he were stopping two particularly aggressive children from making a ss.
Then he tilted his head.
"May I make a suggestion?"
Neither answered.
Victor continued.
"You would make excellent wives if you stopped trying to murder people over stitches."
Their brains froze for a mont.
Then exploded.
"WHAT?!"
They both scread together.
In exactly the sa tone.
With exactly the sa intensity.
Victor remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she started laughing again.
A genuine laugh.
Loud.
Amused.
Because it really was funny.
The two were practically mirror images of each other.
The sa expressions.
The sa outbursts.
The sa indignation.
The sa anger.
Emma felt an overwhelming urge to punch that smile.
Charlotte felt exactly the sa thing.
Victor let go of them both.
Then he jumped back.
"Look at this."
He pointed between them.
"Even the murderous look is the sa."
They both lunged forward again.
More furious than ever.
But now there was sothing different.
A growing sense of powerlessness.
Because no matter how much they attacked.
No matter how hard they tried.
No matter how much they combined their skills.
Victor remained several levels above them.
He didn’t seem tired.
He didn’t seem pressured.
He didn’t seem worried.
It was like fighting a mountain.
A mountain that was still making jokes during the fight.
And that was the most irritating thing of all.
Because deep down, they had both already realized it.
Victor wasn’t being arrogant.
That was what made it all worse.
He truly believed Jake posed no threat.
He truly believed he could defeat any participant present in that exam.
And watching that fight...
Emma began to suspect he was right.
Charlotte ca to the exact sa conclusion.
The problem was admitting it.
And neither of them intended to do such a thing.
Then they continued attacking.
While Victor continued laughing.
Because at that mont, for him, it had ceased to be a battle.
It had beco entertainnt.
Emma was the first to stop.
Not because she was tired.
Nor because she had given up.
But because, after several minutes trying to find a single real opening, she finally ca to an extrely unpleasant conclusion.
It was impossible.
Simply impossible.
She watched Victor casually dodge yet another perfect combination of his wind blades and Charlotte’s lightning bolts while maintaining that sa irritatingly calm smile on his face.
There was no tension.
There was no effort.
There was no worry.
Victor looked like soone strolling through a garden while the two of them used everything they had.
It was absurd.
Charlotte ca to the exact sa conclusion a few seconds later.
The girl landed beside her sister, breathing heavily, and watched Victor standing a few ters ahead.
He still kept his hands in his pockets.
Still.
That was offensive.
Very offensive.
Emma glanced at Charlotte.
Charlotte glanced at Emma.
Neither needed to speak.
They both thought exactly the sa thing.
Victor noticed imdiately.
His smile widened.
"Look at that."
He pointed at the two of them.
"Even the secret glances are the sa."
A vein throbbed on Charlotte’s forehead.
Another appeared on Emma’s.
Victor seed genuinely fascinated.
"You two were mass-produced."
"I’m going to kill him."
Charlotte spoke in an extrely sincere tone.
Emma nodded imdiately.
" too."
Victor clapped his hands.
"Finally, you two agreed on sothing."
The two completely ignored the provocation.
Because at that mont they were focused on sothing much more important. One last attempt.
One last strategy.
Perhaps it wasn’t possible to defeat him.
Perhaps there really wasn’t any chance.
But they could still try sothing.
Emma took a deep breath.
Charlotte did the sa.
Then they both disappeared.
The ground exploded beneath their feet as the two advanced simultaneously through the destroyed clearing.
Victor noticed imdiately.
Their speed increased greatly.
Much more than before.
They were both burning energy without any concern for efficiency.
It was a desperate attempt.
The wind exploded.
Lightning roared.
The entire forest seed to tremble as the two crossed dozens of ters almost instantly.
Victor watched it approaching.
Then he tilted his head slightly.
"Hmm."
Sothing was different.
Very different.
Because they weren’t attacking.
Not directly.
Emma appeared first.
Charlotte followed closely behind.
They both completely ignored any offensive opening and simply advanced on him at the sa ti.
Victor finally understood.
"Ah."
They wanted to grab him.
Emma held one of his arms.
Charlotte tried to restrain the other.
The intention was obvious.
Immobilization.
If they couldn’t defeat him normally, they would try to restrict his movents and inflict damage simultaneously.
A relatively intelligent strategy.
The problem...
Was Victor.
The boy watched the two trying to hold him for approximately half a second.
Then he smiled.
An extrely amused smile.
"You two are really cute."
They both imdiately felt that sothing was wrong.
Very wrong.
Because Victor didn’t resist.
He didn’t try to escape.
He didn’t try to counterattack.
Instead...
He simply wrapped his arms around both of them.
Emma froze.
Charlotte froze.
They were both completely paralyzed for a mont.
Because, one second, they were trying to immobilize him.
The next...
They were being carried.
Victor literally picked them both up.
At the sa ti.
As if they weighed absolutely nothing.
Emma’s brain froze.
Charlotte’s too.
Victor looked at one.
Then at the other.
Then he smiled.
"There."
The silence was absolute.
The two sisters stared at him.
Victor stared at them.
No one seed to properly process what had just happened.
Emma was the first to react.
Or try to react.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Victor seed genuinely confused.
"Carrying you."
Charlotte almost collapsed.
"THAT’S NOT AN ANSWER!"
"But that’s exactly what I’m doing."
Emma felt her face imdiately flush.
Charlotte felt exactly the sa.
The worst part was that Victor seed completely sincere.
There was no malice.
There was no sha.
There was no embarrassnt.
That made it all the worse.
Because it ant he really didn’t see any problem with the situation.
Victor observed the two won’s expressions.
Then he started laughing again.
"You two make exactly the sa face."
"WE DON’T!"
They both shouted together.
In the sa tone.
With the sa intensity.
Victor remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he pointed at them.
"You’ve just proven my point."
Their faces turned even redder.
Emma tried to break free.
Charlotte did too.
Neither could.
Victor seed like a wall.
No.
Wall was still an understatent.
It was like trying to move a mountain using physical force.
Eventually, the young man sighed.
Then he spoke in a much calr tone.
"Relax."
The two continued to stare at him.
Victor then shrugged.
"I’m not going to attack you."
That finally caught their attention.
Emma frowned.
Charlotte did too.
Victor continued speaking calmly while holding them without any difficulty.
"If I wanted to eliminate you, I would have done it a long ti ago."
Neither could argue.
Because it was true.
Painfully true.
Victor had dozens of opportunities.
Maybe hundreds.
But he didn’t use any.
He’d just been playing around from the start.
It was humiliating.
But it was also a fact.
Victor observed their silence.
Then he nodded.
"Great."
The next instant he simply threw them both.
Not with enough force to hurt them.
Not even close.
Just enough to push them away.
Emma spun in the air.
Charlotte did too.
They both landed several ters away, practically at the sa ti.
Perfectly upright.
Without any damage.
Without any new injuries.
Victor watched this and seed satisfied.
"Good landing."
Emma clenched her teeth.
Charlotte clenched her fists.
But neither advanced again.
Because now they both knew.
There was no point.
None.
Victor then put his hands back in the pockets of his dark coat.
That adaptive suit bought by Serafall remained impeccable despite all the destruction around him.
The clearing was devastated.
Fallen trees.
Craters.
Destroyed rocks.
Lightning marks.
But Victor looked like soone going for a casual walk.
That was irritating.
Very irritating.
He then began to walk away.
Naturally.
As if the battle were over.
As if nothing important had happened.
Emma blinked a few tis.
"Wait."
Victor turned his face slightly.
Charlotte also seed surprised.
Emma was silent for a few seconds before finally asking:
"...Are you leaving?"
Victor seed confused by the question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Victor looked at her.
Then he looked at Charlotte.
Then he answered in an extrely simple way:
"Because I already got the stitches."
Both of them felt a physical pain upon hearing that.
Victor completely ignored it.
The young man continued walking while speaking.
"It was nice eting you."
Emma stood still.
Charlotte too.
Victor then raised one hand without looking back.
"I’ll keep an eye on you."
Both of them imdiately froze.
Because that sentence seed strangely dangerous.
Victor took a few more steps.
Then...
He disappeared.
He simply vanished.
No explosion.
No teleportation.
No energy.
No visual effect.
One instant he was there.
The next he was gone.
Emma’s eyes widened.
Charlotte’s too.
Both of them imdiately searched the surroundings.
Nothing.
No sign.
No presence.
No energy.
Absolutely nothing.
Silence filled the clearing.
Several seconds passed.
Perhaps more.
Then Emma slowly turned her face to her sister.
Charlotte did exactly the sa thing.
The two remained staring at each other.
Confused.
Disoriented.
And extrely red.
The silence lasted a few more seconds.
Until Charlotte finally spoke.
"...What the hell was that?"
Emma remained silent.
She thought.
She analyzed.
She tried to organize everything that had just happened.
Then she answered honestly:
"...I have no idea."
Charlotte brought a hand to her face.
Emma did practically the sa.
They both remained flushed.
Which was irritating.
Very irritating.
Especially because neither could pinpoint the exact reason.
Victor had stolen their points.
Teased them both throughout the fight.
Called them both cute.
Talked about marriage.
Carried them both in his arms.
Laughed at them repeatedly.
And then simply disappeared.
It seed like a collective delusion.
Charlotte stared at the forest where he had vanished for a few seconds.
Then she sighed.
"...I hate that guy."
Emma replied imdiately.
" too."
There was a pause.
Then Charlotte added:
"...But he’s absurdly strong."
Emma remained silent.
Because she couldn’t deny it.
Nor did she want to lie.
After everything they had seen in that fight, the conclusion was impossible to avoid.
Victor was on another level.
He wasn’t just stronger.
He wasn’t just faster.
He wasn’t just more resilient.
He seed to belong to a completely different category.
Emma crossed her arms.
"...A wall."
Charlotte nodded slowly.
"...A fortress."
The two remained observing the forest for a few more seconds.
anwhile, far away, a certain vampire continued walking calmly among the trees with his hands in his pockets.
And he was still smiling.
Because that had undoubtedly been one of the most fun battles he’d had that day.
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