Eric caught a sudden flash in Valoric's green eyes as he turned.
Almost instantly, Valoric's blade shimmered with the same eerie red aura they used during the tournament.
"You're breaking the rules," Eric stated while circling each other with caution.
The crowd's cheer was exchanged for low gasps. Using powers to harm an imperial member without the supreme order is a heavy crime, even in a duel.
Eric had expected some retort, but all that came was the fast-paced, barely audible footsteps thundering their destruction toward him.
He raised his blade before his face in instinct. A loud bang rang through the arena as the swords fricced together.
A low whizz sound of the ground, which had a trail of flames, buzzed through the air. Valoric's inhuman strength drove Eric backward, blade screeching against blade.
Is this what it feels like to have a blade pressed against one's throat? Those words rang through Eric's mind.
Before he could recover from one blow, and in the blink that followed, dozens more rained down. Eric's body was drenched in nervous sweat.
The fear of losing his mask over his lies was louder than the beats of his heart. The power he was rumored to have was nothing but a remnant of the past now. But he couldn't let them know that.
If everyone learns that he doesn't have any powers, it will be a disaster. What if Nashia sent him back to the Zenith Empire after learning the truth?
Each blow from Valoric wasn't just force – it was fury, hatred, loathing, and trauma gotten from humans.
"Your majesty. Sir Valoric is using his powers against him. That's a violation!"
Duchess Lancaster's voice barely made it to Nashia's ear. Her nails were dug into the armrest of her throne. A low curse slipped under her breath before she stood up, her voice commanding through the arena.
"Halt! Drop your weapon, sir Lavrov! You've broken rules."
Though Valoric wasn't in a state to hear the command of his empress. His mind was clouded with the thickest cloud of haunting memories of the battlefield.
10 years. A very short period for a vampire, but the amount of cruelty, humiliation, and twisted ways of humans in the battlefield he saw outweighed everything he knew.
All those years, it was he who protected the back of Nashia with every ounce of loyalty one can pull out from their body. Even at the cost of letting his fellow brothers fall apart before his eyes.
"You don't deserve to stand beside her majesty."
Valoric muttered, loud enough to let people hear his words. His words took time to be heard, but not the swing of his blade.
A burst of vampiric energy amplified the air as it finally hit Eric straight to his chest. The pain jolted through every nerve of his body. He fell on his knees, coughing up blood.
"Valoric Lavrov! I command you to halt and drop your weapon!"
Another voice of Nashia rang through the arena. Sauveur had his sword unsheathed to save Eric. But the protective barrier around the arena blocked his way.
Valoric paid no heed to his circumstance. Another swing of his blade created a wave of vampiric powers. Hitting Eric on his forearms.
The force of the blow had him rolling in the mud, way too close to the water stream behind him. One more hit and he is straight down to the water.
He raised his blade once again, preparing for another. The once enthusiastic spectators were now wrapped in worry and pity for their Emperor Consort.
As Eric saw him swinging his sword over his head, he closed his eyes — waiting for the blow to hit him as he was unable to move anymore.
One second. Two seconds. Then a few more seconds. Nothing touched him. He opened his eyes.
The air was still sizzling. Light smoke blurred the view. Then he saw the majestic black-red shaded sword.
It was her – Nashia. Blocking him from Valoric's view, standing there as regal as she always has been.
A few moments earlier, as Eric was on the verge of falling into the water stream, she grew worried that this duel was ending badly.
When she saw him down on the ground with his eyes closed, hands clutching his chest, and blood trailing down his lips, it made something undone in her.
No one gets to touch him, even for harming him. It should only be me. Those were the only words that rang through her mind as she pulled on a string that detached the skirt part of her dress.
She leaped up onto the safety bar from the throne area and jumped onto the arena ground in a few leaps. She moved so swiftly that people didn't even notice her going down there.
She stood before Eric with her majestic sword, blocking him from Valoric's attack. He looked up at her in shock and surprise.
It was unbelievable that she would step in to save him despite being cold and distant with him.
"You're not dead yet, get up," a cold, distant voice pulled Eric out of his little daydream.
Nashia said as she stood with her unsheathed sword. Speaking with a voice full of confidence and authority. Her eyes ablaze. She turned back to face Valoric and spoke,
"Sir Lavrov, you do know what you did, right? You've disappointed me. I announce Eric Leonardo de Rosario as the winner of the duel."
As she declared her decision, the crowd cheered and clapped.
"However, you seemed too eager to use your powers. Should I assume you're bored since you aren't on the battlefield anymore?" Nashia's voice cut through the cheers again.
The gallery again fell silent. They could feel she wasn't going to let him go just like that.
"Then have a duel with me. You can use your full power. You won't mind if I step in, right, sir Valoric?"
Nashia's words sliced the silence of the gallery. Her tone was calm and composed, but there was a dangerous undertone to her voice.