Chapter 77: Duel between Monarchs

"I am really curious," Virginia Wolfe said as she smashed apart the ice with her crimson spear. "Why are the two of you serving such an unknown and young upstart?"

She then parried a strike from Stella, who had attempted to take her by surprise from an unexpected direction. However, having decades of combat experience under her belt (and garters), Virginia wasn't someone who would be caught by surprise so easily. Whirling about, she knocked Stella back with a spear, but before she could impale the young knight with a hail of blood stakes, a blizzard forced her to retreat.

"For you, young lady, I think I understand." A smirk curled across Virginia's blood-red lips. "To be so young and in love…yet so foolish. But you will soon realize that it is a mistake to attach yourself to a man."

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked while slashing at her opponent, but Virginia fended off her sword with her spear.

"The obvious, of course." Virginia cocked her head while twirling her spear and countering. "I know many young maidens like you, deluding yourselves into believing that you're in love…so you will do anything for a man. Even subordinate yourself to him. It's demeaning. Women are not inferior to men. You do not have to lower yourself to his level. And no matter how much you think you are in love with him, he will never return your affections. He'll play with you for a while, and then dump you for new and fairer maidens once he tires of you."

She lashed out, forcing Stella to skid back a few paces. The young knight glanced up and managed to raise her sword in time to parry a thrust from the veteran's spear.

Before Virginia could press her advantage, however, Silvia sent a storm of icicles crashing onto her position. Without even looking at the half-elf, the archduchess stomped on the ground and conjured a wall of blood that intercepted the frozen projectiles.

She then slashed at Stella, who deflected the spear to the side with her sword. They traded several more blows, but Stella was clearly tiring from the vicious exchange. In contrast, Virginia seemed relaxed. She leaned in as she tried to push the young knight down with her spear.

"To be fair, it will be difficult to find another maiden as fair and beautiful as you."

Stella gritted her teeth and heaved Virginia away with a sudden surge of strength, crimson mana swirling around her limbs and augmenting her physical strength. The archduchess giggled as she withdrew a couple of steps, and then swung her spear backward to shatter a volley of icicles from Silvia while keeping her gaze on Stella.

"All men are the same. They are beasts whose minds are filled with lust. You should join me. I'll definitely treat you better. Perhaps, if I win, I will spare that boy's life and ensure that he is devoted only to you. But as of now, he'll only regard you as a…toy. I don't know how he deceived you, but honestly, he is not worthy of your love."

She then glanced at Silvia, who was preparing another freezing spell.

"I mean, are the two of you really that blind? He's playing with the both of you right now, isn't he? What promises have he made to you?" Virginia swept her gaze from Stella to Silvia, her eyes glittering maliciously. "For example, which one of you is his wife? Or are both of you supposed to be his wives?"

"Are you misunderstanding something?" Stella snarled, hacking away with her sword and smashing through a cluster of blood stakes that Virginia had sent in her direction. "You've been talking about love and all sorts of nonsense this entire time, but aren't you the one deluding yourself?"

"I beg your pardon?" Virginia narrowed her eyes before sending a crimson blast of destructive mana toward the young knight. Stella dove to the side, avoiding getting engulfed by the caustic energy, and rolled to her feet.

"First of all, it seems that you've misunderstood one thing. I am not Klein's lover or wife. I am his aide, his knight…his sword. I have sworn my blade to his service, just like any other knight. And I did so because I share his vision and dream, not because I'm some helpless maiden who fell in love with him or something."

"Really?" Virginia scoffed as she thrust her lance forward. "Why him? I'm sure a talented knight such as you will be able to find much better ladies or even lords to serve."

"I owe him my life," Stella replied simply. "He saved me, and even helped me avenge a wrong against an enemy I couldn't defeat. Also, I share his vision and ideals, which is the complete opposite of yours."

"And what do you know of my vision and ideals?"

"Is it not of conquest, my lady?" Stella replied. "From what I hear of the Blood Queen, you intend to conquer the world. Uniting the vampire legion and becoming the next Demonic Empress isn't enough for you. Your next step is to destroy the human kingdom, Havan, and then continue expanding demonic territory throughout the continent."

"And is that not a glorious enough dream?" Virginia laughed. "What dream could that young upstart have that surpasses mine?"

Stella shook her head. "It's not the matter of surpassing…or scale. Klein wishes for peace. And I…"

She charged forward and swung her sword, forcing Virginia to deflect her blade with a thunderous clang.

"…share that desire for peace. I will fight if I have to…if enemies such as yourself threaten the safety of us all, but I honestly wish for an end to this constant warfare and bloodshed."

"Are you serious?" Virginia burst out laughing. "Such a delusion…it's crazier than even my dream of world conquest! As long as humans and demons exist, there will never be peace! We will always wage war against each other!"

Stella said nothing and simply repelled the next few furious blows from Virginia. The Blood Queen sprang away before icicles thudded lethally into the ground, and she swung her spear to unleash a wave of blood lances at her assailant.

Silvia raised a hand and froze them before they could reach her. As the frozen projectiles shattered in front of her, Virginia rested her gaze upon the silver-haired half-elf.

"And you, Witch of Winter? Do you share this madness?"

"Perhaps." Silvia shrugged. "I too am sick of the fighting. I long for a day where the borders between my domain and the human kingdom are filled with trade and travel instead of armies and warfare."

"What foolishness. And you think this young upstart can do it? Have you lost your mind, Lady Silvia?" Virginia scoffed. "Or did you perhaps fall for his youth? Did he seduce you with honeyed words and false promises? If this young lady has no wish to be the upstart's empress, then maybe you are the one who is occupying the position of his wife."

"Not at all." Silvia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, supporting Stella's attack with a barrage of icicles. "Unlike you, I have met my current liege. He helped me not once but twice, and I was able to personally judge his character for myself. Will he fulfil his vision? Perhaps not, but as long as I draw breathe, I will do my best to assist him. A peaceful future of coexistence sounds very tempting to someone as jaded of war as I am."

Virginia scowled. "Are you sure you are both not in love with him?"

"I believe you've read way too many trashy web novels." Stella sounded exasperated. "Just because we are women following a single man doesn't necessarily mean we are in love with him or we are a part of a harem. Or are you completely unaware that platonic relationships exist too? Besides, it's not as if he's the only man in the world, nor is he the only one who helped us throughout our lives. It's unrealistic to expect us to fall in love with him just because he happens to be the main character. We can owe him our lives or loyalty without actually being in love with him."

"That's impossible!" Virginia shrieked, slashing at Stella, who promptly blocked the blow with her sword. "How can you do this to the shippers?! They will get mad if he doesn't end up with anybody!"

"Uh, you do realize that this is a revenge story and not a romance one, right?"

"I don't care!" Virginia screeched, hacking and slashing with brute force and driving Stella back. The young knight was saved when Silvia intervened, throwing a few ice swords at the Blood Queen and prompting a hasty withdrawal. "You have definitely been seduced and deceived by that scoundrel! Don't worry! I'll save you from him! Even if I have to take your lives!"

She then plunged her lance into the ground and unleashed her ultimate spell.

"Divine Ascension! Night of the Bloody Armageddon!"

Both Stella and Silvia tried to escape, but they found themselves trapped within a massive sphere. Blood washed over their surroundings, forming a colossal bubble that blotted out the sky and the rest of the battlefield. Acidic red blood began dripping on them, causing Stella to hiss in pain. Fortunately, her regenerative abilities helped her, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before her healing powers would be overwhelmed and her entire body disintegrated.

"A Blood Barrier, huh? A vampire's ultimate spell. How very troublesome."

Silvia had formed an icy shield over herself to block out the worst of the acidic blood, but she looked very grim. Studying the dripping acidic blood, she grimaced.

"If you don't recant your allegiance to that filthy male upstart and pledge yourselves to me, then I have no choice but to kill you." Virginia was glaring sternly at the both of them.

Silvia instead turned to Stella and cocked her head. The young vampire knight immediately recognized the gesture. On the elf's signal, she was to attack. She nodded to signal her compliance.

"You won't be able to kill us," Silvia informed Virginia coldly. She raised both of her hands, azure mana cackling around them, and smiled icily. "Very well. I will respond to your attack with the appropriate amount of force."

"You won't be able to break out of my Blood Armageddon Barrier!" Virginia insisted, but Silvia was pointedly ignoring her. Instead, she closed her glowing eyes and whispered an incantation.

"Absolute Zero."

The blood-red barrier vanished in a flash of silver.

*

"You…"

Stryker was glaring at me. His entire body was encased in ice and was slowly crumbling away. His regenerative abilities and blood magic were the only things still keeping him alive, and he had somehow freed his head with a surge of crimson mana, but it was only a matter of time before his body was destroyed and he knew it.

Even if his head was preserved, he wouldn't survive the total disintegration of his body.

Moreover, I had both of my swords pressed against his neck in a scissors maneuver. One snip and his head would fly, ending his supposedly eternal existence forever.

"Not convinced yet?" I asked mildly. "Or should I deliver the final blow?"

Stryker held my gaze for a few moments. After what seemed like several minutes, but were in reality only a few seconds, he finally nodded.

"I gave you my oath," he said. "And I will stick to it. You have defeated me fair and square, and in doing so, proven your ability to me. No, you have proven your superiority over me. I am convinced of my defeat. As such, I will serve you."

"Thank you."

I withdrew both of my swords and sheathed them. With a snap of my fingers, I dispelled Absolute Zero. Freed, Stryker dropped to the ground and staggered. He then straightened himself and maintained a dignified posture. Holding his hand up, he cast a spell that sent several bats fluttering all over the battlefield to deliver a single message.

The battle was over. His golden legion was to stop fighting, lay down their arms and surrender.

All around us, the vampire knights clad in golden and chrome armor complied, setting down their swords and holding up their hands to submit. While they did so, Stryker turned back to me and dropped to his knees. He knelt before me and lowered his head.

"You are my king."

"I will be relying on you in future then," I responded with a slight bow. "I hope to learn from you."

Stryker smiled dryly. "If you do not mind learning from someone who has been defeated by you, I am more than happy to share what I know."

"Which is plenty. I know I lack your experience and wisdom."

Stryker shook his head. "That statement alone shows that you are wiser than me."

"I'm not sure about that. Anyway, the battle is not over yet. I don't mean to take advantage of you and your legion, but I will need your help to subjugate…"

Before I could finish my sentence, there was an explosion in the distance. I saw ice and blood clashing within a churning sphere of chaotic energies.

Silvia and Stella were still fighting hard against Virginia, and their duel was almost coming to an end.

Impatient to see the result, I hurried over to the site, drawing my swords to engage the dwindling Crimson Tide in battle.