Chapter 139: Victor vs Leon.
Victor disappeared from the branch.
There was no preparation.
There was no energy explosion.
There was no visible sign indicating his movement.
One instant he was observing the swamp from a distance. The next, he had already traversed hundreds of meters using the Mist Steps. The Blood Demon Camouflage remained active until the last possible moment, completely concealing his approach as he advanced directly towards the center of that destroyed territory.
This time he wasn’t interested in observing.
Nor in analyzing.
Nor in launching ranged attacks.
He wanted to test something.
More specifically, he wanted to test Leon.
The man had survived the previous attack.
Completely regenerated.
And, most importantly, he didn’t seem scared.
Just cautious.
Victor liked that.
It was rare to find someone capable of remaining functional after losing half their body.
The swamp remained plunged into chaos. Survivors fled in all directions as shadows stalked anything alive within that region. Destroyed trees emerged from the mud like gigantic skeletons scattered across the horizon.
And in the center of it all...
Leon remained motionless.
Observing.
Waiting.
His eyes slowly scanned the environment as he tried to locate the origin of that monstrous attack from before.
Then Victor appeared.
No longer hiding his presence.
No longer concealing his energy.
No longer intending to remain discreet.
Leon saw.
And for the first time since the beginning of that battle, his expression changed immediately.
It wasn’t fear.
But it was definitely surprise.
Because Victor simply appeared in front of him.
As if he had come out of nowhere.
As if the space between them had never existed.
"Hi."
Victor smiled.
Then he attacked.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The punch landed first.
The explosion came next.
The air in front of his fist literally collapsed due to the absurd pressure generated by the impact. Leon instinctively crossed his arms at the moment of the blow, but that only prevented him from being completely pierced.
The ground exploded.
The mud evaporated.
The shadows around him dispersed.
Leon was thrown backward like a projectile.
Victor watched this while maintaining a smile.
"So you really can take a beating."
The observation seemed sincere.
Because few participants in that exam would remain unscathed after that.
Leon continued to be pushed.
Fifty meters.
One hundred.
Two hundred.
The destruction followed behind him like an open scar through the swamp.
But then something happened.
The shadows reacted.
Thousands of them.
Black currents began to emerge from the ground, from the trees, from the water, and even from the air itself. They clung to his body, anchoring his position to the surroundings.
The recoil lessened.
Then it slowed.
Until it finally stopped.
Victor watched this with genuine interest.
Because it was clever.
Very clever.
Instead of resisting the force directly, Leon had distributed the impact through hundreds of different points scattered across the terrain.
He didn’t block it.
He didn’t negate it.
He redirected it.
It was exactly the kind of application someone experienced would develop after a long time in combat.
Leon slowly lowered his arms.
The sleeves of his uniform were torn.
Part of his skin had been ripped.
The exposed muscles were slowly regenerating.
But he remained standing.
And now his eyes were completely focused on Victor.
No distractions.
No participants.
No wandering shadows.
Only Victor.
The smile slowly faded from his face.
Not because he was nervous.
But because he had finally found something he considered worthy of attention.
"The culprit."
Victor tilted his head slightly.
"Probably."
The silence lasted only a few seconds.
Then Leon stepped forward.
The difference between that movement and the previous ones was immediately noticeable.
When facing the other participants, Leon seemed relaxed.
Not now.
Now he was serious.
The water exploded beneath his feet as his body traversed the swamp at an absurd speed. The shadows followed the movement like predators following their master.
Victor felt it.
This was different.
Very different.
Leon raised one hand.
Blood began to appear.
Not just ordinary blood.
It was blood mixed with shadows.
A strange combination.
Abnormal.
The two substances gradually merged until they formed something solid.
A sword.
No.
Something bigger.
A colossal blade resembling a longsword, but too thick to properly be called that.
The weapon seemed alive.
Veins pulsed across its black surface.
Shadows trickled down its structure like liquid smoke.
Victor observed it.
Then he smiled again.
"Now it’s interesting."
Leon didn’t answer.
The sword descended.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The impact split the swamp.
Literally.
The water parted.
Mud was thrown to the sides.
A gigantic fissure cut across hundreds of meters of terrain.
Victor dodged by centimeters.
The wind produced by the blow tore part of his adaptive jacket.
For the first time.
Since the beginning of that trial.
Someone had managed to touch his clothes.
Victor looked at the tear.
Then he looked at Leon.
Then he started laughing.
Not because he was mocking him.
But because it really was funny.
Finally.
Finally someone was trying to hit him for real.
Leon kept advancing.
Without pauses.
Without hesitation.
The shadows around him began to condense more and more.
First on the sword.
Then on his arms.
Then around his own body.
It was like watching a living suit of armor being constructed during combat.
Victor immediately grasped the objective.
Strengthening.
Physical reinforcement.
Amplification.
The shadows weren’t just weapons.
They were a complete extension of his capabilities.
The next blow came even faster.
Victor blocked with his forearm.
The impact produced a shockwave so powerful that dozens of trees were uprooted simultaneously.
The two remained motionless for a second.
Then the ground sank beneath their feet.
Leon tried to press down.
Victor pressed back.
The mud beneath them simply vanished.
Transformed into a crater.
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
Victor realized.
Finally.
For the first time.
Leon was scared.
Not too much.
But enough.
Because that exchange had revealed something important.
Victor wasn’t using techniques. He wasn’t using any skills.
Not blood.
Not ice.
Not fire.
It was just physical strength.
And even so, it had completely matched the shadow-enhanced blow.
The realization wasn’t pleasant.
Leon recoiled instantly.
The sword transformed again.
The structure lengthened.
It thinned.
It changed shape.
Until it took on the appearance of a gigantic spear made of black blood and compressed shadows.
Victor watched it with interest.
"You like weapons."
Leon replied for the first time.
"You like destroying things."
Victor smiled.
"Me too."
Then the two disappeared simultaneously.
The next impact happened in the middle of the swamp.
Then above the trees.
Then in the sky.
Then back on the ground.
Each collision produced explosions capable of devastating entire sections of the forest. Shadows advanced like gigantic serpents as Victor destroyed everything in his path using pure physical brutality.
Neither seemed interested in retreating.
Neither seemed interested in negotiating.
And most impressively, both were clearly having fun.
Because, for the first time since the beginning of that exam, they had found someone capable of matching them.
Not as an equal.
Not yet.
But close enough to make everything much more interesting.
...
Far from the devastated swamp where Victor and Leon were turning entire kilometers of forest into rubble, a huge floating platform remained suspended above the dark clouds that surrounded the exam area.
There were no monsters there.
There were no participants.
There were no ambushes.
There were only observers.
And an absurd number of magic screens.
Hundreds of them.
Each screen showed different regions of the evaluation field while examiners, noble vampires, and various influential figures monitored the candidates’ progress.
Naturally.
The largest screen in that location showed no one but Victor.
Or rather.
Victor and Leon.
The battle between the two had become so absurd that practically all the other confrontations in the exam seemed insignificant in comparison.
One part of the forest was frozen.
Another was charred.
A third had simply disappeared.
And that was just collateral damage.
Serafall watched everything, comfortably seated in an extremely luxurious chair, resting her face in one hand.
Her smile was small.
But constant.
Her eyes followed Victor’s every movement on the main screen.
More specifically.
Every adaptation.
Every adjustment.
Every response.
Every new application of the abilities he had recently awakened.
Then she sighed.
One of those sighs that comes when someone already knows exactly how a situation is going to end.
"He’s dominating the battle again."
Her voice carried an almost irritating tranquility.
As if she were commenting on the weather.
Or watching someone stroll through a garden.
Not a fight capable of destroying entire territories.
Beside her, Chysis remained watching the screen for a few seconds before slowly crossing her arms.
The woman’s expression was much more serious.
Much more analytical.
Because unlike Serafall, she was still trying to understand what was happening.
And that was becoming increasingly difficult.
"I really don’t understand."
Serafall glanced at her.
Chysis continued watching the screen.
Her golden eyes followed Victor as he dodged a weapon created from Leon’s shadows, only to reappear at another angle immediately afterward.
"How does he do that?"
Serafall smiled.
"Which part?"
"Everything."
Chysis answered without hesitation.
"I understand him mastering the skills quickly, but applying them in real combat so precisely is surreal."
The screen showed Victor using Black Ice. Then blood.
Then his physical strength.
Then perception.
Then movement.
Everything flowed naturally.
As if those abilities had existed for years.
Not hours.
"Even geniuses need adaptation."
Chysis narrowed her eyes.
"I needed it."
She pointed to the screen.
"You needed it."
Then she pointed again.
"Everyone needs it."
Her eyes remained fixed on Victor.
"Then why does he simply learn and apply everything instantly?"
Serafall was silent for a few seconds.
The question was fair.
Very fair.
Because she herself had thought about it many times.
Since the ritual.
Since the awakening.
Since the first absurd display of talent.
Victor simply didn’t seem to face the same adaptation period that affected others.
It was as if each new skill was immediately integrated into his skill set.
Without resistance.
Without mistakes.
Without difficulty.
As if he were recovering something forgotten.
Not learning something new.
"Maybe he’s strange."
Serafall replied casually.
Chysis turned her face away.
"...Is that your explanation?"
"For now."
The answer came without any shame.
Chysis massaged her forehead.
Because unfortunately, it seemed increasingly plausible.
The screen returned to Victor crossing a storm of shadows produced by Leon.
Instead of retreating.
Instead of avoiding.
He simply observed the technique.
Analyzed.
Understood.
And began to adapt his own responses.
It was almost irritating.
"He learns during the fight."
Chysis murmured.
"Exactly." Serafall responded immediately.
"That’s what bothers me."
The woman continued watching the screen for a few more seconds.
"Normally a battle reveals what you already know, and with difficulty you improve, but..."
She pointed at Victor.
"He’s just playing around and getting stronger."
Silence lasted a few moments.
Because neither of them had a particularly satisfactory answer.
Then a third voice emerged.
"So it seems that what we talked about is happening."
The two women froze for a moment.
Not from fear.
Nor from surprise.
But from sheer exhaustion.
Because they immediately recognized who had arrived.
Rakshasa.
The vampire walked calmly across the platform while carrying a small cup in her hands.
Then she sat down beside them.
"Really?" Serafall commented while looking at the screen, "Has he already put his little dogs inside the examination area?"
Rakshasa nodded, "It seems he’s scared, since the Black Blood Unit is entirely there."
The Black Blood Unit was one of Edgar Valentine’s main forces. It was the special assassination unit that is sent in when the odds of victory are low.
"And Kayn didn’t say anything?" Serafall questioned.
"Well, the patriarch apparently told my father that this means if he doesn’t win this..." Rakshasa paused, "He’ll exterminate the entire branch of Edgar’s family for treason."
