Chapter 35: Duel

-with Tobiichi, Lucias, and Miku-

"So you're the one who challenged me to a duel for my position? How cocky of you to think that you can even stand a chance against me"

A woman with pale white skin and long jet black  hair snickered as she stared at Lucias with contempt and extreme confidence visible on her expression.

"... Why do they all speak like that?"

Lucias sighed while walking inside the dojo where the duel is to take place according to the report given to him by the vampire ninjas on their side.

"Isn't it fun to watch their pride and self-esteem shattered after they lost?" (Miku)

Miku said as she followed him from behind together with Tobiichi and Seraphim.

"... I didn't notice it since all the entities that talked to me like that are all dead... well except the priest that we met 3 years ago" (Lucias)

Lucias says while holding the Katana that he bought from the shop on his waists before casting [Appraisal] on the woman standing haughtily in front of them.

Valentina

Race: Noble Vampire

Sacred Gear: None

Title: Baron

Job: Faction Leader

Level: 430

Hp: 512,000/512,000

Mp: 434,000/434,000

Strength: 487

Intelligence: 434

Endurance: 512

Agility: 618

Luck: 100

Charm: 700

Skills:

Vampire's Physique (lvl maxed)

Camouflage (lvl 87/100)

Stealth (lvl 71/100)

Marksmanship (lvl 49/100)

Ultraspeed Hp Regeneration (lvl 20/100)

Ultraspeed MP Regeneration (lvl 30/100)

Advanced Swordsmanship (lvl 11/100)

Blood Manipulation (lvl 1/100)

Blood sucking (lvl 60/100)

"How to say this... she is stronger than me in terms of raw stats but..."

"Her skills are quite mediocre"

Tobiichi continued his words as the 4 of them casually approached her without any the tension or fear that Valentina expected.

"Are you 4 blind or just stupid?"

She asked while looking down on the 4 of them.

"Do all vampire ninjas have sharp tongues?"

Lucias asked as he turned his head to look at the girls behind him.

"Now that you mention it~" (Miku)

"They do" (Tobiichi)

"Ahem..." (Seraphim)

Seraphim fake coughed to break the awkward atmosphere that was being created inside the dojo.

"Don't you dare ignore me human!!"

Valentina shouted in anger from being ignored by the golden haired boy below the stage that she was standing on.

"Human?"

Lucias muttered in confusion but remembered that none of the beings inside this room expect for Tobiichi and Miku have experienced the aura of a True God.

"So what if I'm a human?"

"You're a human? but that wa-"

Miku says with a confused expression on her face but was cut off by Lucias who placed her hand on her mouth to stop her words.

"Mnmnnnmnm"

Miku mumbled before licking his palm with her soft and warm tongue causing him to jolt in his place from her sudden actions.

"You..."

"Mmnn~"

"I'll lick your other hand if you want, Lucias" (Tobiichi)

"..." (Lucias)

"SHAMELESS!!!"

Valentina slammed her foot on the wooden floor of the stage in anger as she glared at the figures below her.

"YOU DARE FLIRT IN FRONT OF ME!?"

Tobiichi quickly grabbed Lucias by the collar and kissed his lips, forcefully intertwining her tongue with his causing the women inside the room to blush from her bold actions.

"Yes"

She said as she separated from their kiss, staring at Valentina standing on the higher grounds.

"Y-YOU!?"

"Don't cause trouble"

Lucias reprimanded while lightly hitting her head, looking at the short haired girl in front of him.

"Please hit me harder, Lucias"

"What?"

"You crave for that kind of play, Lucias Frey?"

"What!? No!"

"Not that I mind"

The cold and emotionless voice echoed inside his head, causing a severe headache to flood his mind as he held his head with his right hand.

"Please spare me"

Timeskip

"I'll make you regret for ignoring me, human"

Valentina glared at Lucias who was standing opposite her, casually holding his katana with his right hand, pointed at the ground as he stared at the glaring woman opposite him.

"That's what they all say"

He said, further provoking the woman as she readied her stance, raising her katana right beside her face, holding the handle with her two hands while pointing the tip of her blade towards Lucias.

"As expected from someone who learned advance swordsmanship... she has little to no openings"

"What? Are you chickening out humans?"

She mockingly says as she waited for the referee to start their duel.

"Not really... it's been a while since I met a real swordsman as my opponent"

Lucias says while tightening his grip on his katana without changing the lousy stance that he had before.

"Tch... An amateur, don't disappoint me human"

She said in irritation from seeing his casual stance like he wasn't taking her seriously at all.

"Begin!!"

The referee shouted causing Valentina to take a step forward to charge at Lucias but froze when she felt... the sense of death coming from his direction.

"What..."

She muttered in shock before repositioning herself as she closely observed her opponent, taking him seriously for the first time ever since they met.

She closed her eyes as she breath deeply, focusing all of her attention to the smiling boy in front of her as she created an exact same image inside as him her head. Trying to predict all possible outcomes if she attacks him.

-within her mindscape-

1st attempt

She transferred all of her weight on her feet as pressed it on the ground, launching herself towards Lucias at incredible speed while brandishing her sword behind her back.

She swung her sword sideways, aiming at his neck but before her sword could even reach his neck, Lucias sliced her neck, causing her head to fly up in the air while her blood rained down on the wooden floor of the dojo.

2nd attempt

Valentina quickly charged at Lucias direction with her full speed, immediately appearing behind as she swung her sword downwards aimed at his head, but Lucias who saw her attack smiled as he swiftly sliced her in half with his sword with great precision and speed, as the 2 halves of her body lifelessly fell on the ground.

3rd attempt

Valentina charged at Lucias for the 3rd time, but instead of aiming at his neck, she twisted her body to dodge his sharp blade before swinging her katana aimed at his right hand, trying to dismember his right hand from his arm, but Lucias quickly responded by changing his grip on his katana and slicing her body in half from her crotch up to her head, killing her in an instant.

4th attempt

Valentina tried her 3rd attempt again, and was able to successfully block his second attack before creating a small distance between them as she tries to regain her posture but froze when a sharp blade pierced her skull through her head before he moved his blade upwards revealing her perfectly sliced brain inside her skull.

5th attempt

Valentina tried another approach as she charged  towards him for the 5th time, successfully dodging his first attack by twisting her body, taking advantage of the fact that his current posture, she quickly spun her body around to move at his back before gripping her katana with her two hands, slashing at his waist but what she didn't expect was that Lucias quickly spun his body around at great speed, slicing her two eyes from their sockets causing her scream in pain but was cut short as Lucias sliced a large wound on her neck, causing her bright red blood to spray on him.

6th attempt

She retraced her previous movements in her previous attempts, but after she dodged his first sword strike, she feigned an attack to his waist, but Lucias who reached [Master Swordsmanship] instead swung his katana towards a different direction, completely predicting her real attack from his left side causing the blade to slice a large wound on her chest, slicing her large breast in the process as her blood gushed out of her body, creating a large puddle below her feet before falling down, dead on the ground.

Valentina tried to visualize multiple attempts to find any openings, blind spots, or weaknesses in each attempts inside her mind but every attempt only leads to one result... death.

Her body was sliced to pieces, pierced, dismembered, decapitated multiples time inside her head causing cold sweat to ran down her back as fear started to drown her heart, fear from the merciless ways that the boy had killed her in her mind.

No matter how many times she repeats her attempts, none was successful for the boy in front of him was incredibly fast and held no openings even with his lousy stance. Even her own regeneration wasn't able to keep up with his speed, he will instantly kill her before her body could even regenerate itself.

His techniques was only specialized in killing his opponents as fast as possible while taking all information available from them as they attacked him, to use it to his advantage.

In a matter of 10 minutes of standing still on the stage of the dojo, she died 277 times in Lucias' hand within her mind.

-outside her mindscape-

Valentina opened her eyes as she shivered in fear from gazing at his brightly smiling face, staring at her direction with a large grin visible on his face.

'Who is this monster!?'

She screamed in her mind as she stared at the boy with terror visible in her eyes, slowly losing her own will to fight.

'I wasn't able to properly utilize the information given to me by the skill in the past but now... thanks to my countless expedition inside the instant dungeon and training inside different dimensions, I can kill Dracula even if at just level 20'

Lucias thought while looking at the profusely sweating woman opposite him, looking at his eyes with great fear.

'Am I really that scary?'

While both of them were staring at each other for several minutes without making a single move, the crowd was confused by the sudden change in their chief's expression and action as the watched her tremble in fear while staring at the human she detested and mocked a while ago.

"What happened to Valentina-sama?"

"S-S-She's trembling!?"

"As expected, she's not a faction leader for nothing"

Tobiichi commented as she watched them with as her eyes flashed with amusement.

"What do you mean, Origami?" (Miku)

"As you know, I practiced the sword for a short period of time in the past, even though my achievements are as not as high as Lucias, it is still enough to see what actually happened"

"You know the reason why she fears him, Origami-dono?"

Seraphim asked in curiosity as she couldn't understand why the faction leader that she feared in the past was not trembling in fear while facing Lucias.

"During her first move, she felt it... I don't really know how to explain but... she felt that she will die if she takes another step closer to him. That's why instead of attacking him, she made a stimulation inside her head to find any faults ot weakness from his technique... but judging from her expression, she saw her own death multiple times inside her head without achieving anything... That's why she suddenly felt fear towards Lucias because she can't beat him with her current skills"

Tobiichi explained without turning her head to look at any of them as she focused on watching the fight.

"You... I'll give you a chance to attack me so... give me your best shot"

Valentina didn't react and just stood there, far from him, wary from his every move.

"If you're not going to move... then I'll attack first"

"YIIEEE!! P-PLEASE SPARE ME!! I-I SURRENDER! YOU WIN!!"

Valentina shrieked in fear as she suddenly kneeled on the ground, pleading for her life causing Lucias to look at her trembling on the ground in confusion.

"Am I really that scary?"