Chapter 4: The Dueling Arena’s Blood
The sudden stillness in the Academy’s grand amphitheater was deafening. Thousands of spectators distinguished archmages, high-ranking military commanders, and prestigious nobles sat frozen in their gilded balcony seats, staring down at the sandy floor of the arena.
Lucas stood in the center ring, his face flushed with an ugly, mottled crimson. His jaw worked silently as he stared up at my balcony, where I stood with my hands casually resting on the stone balustrade. Beneath us, Lyra remained bowed slightly toward me, her silver hair spilling over her frost-forged pauldrons, completely ignoring the hero of prophecy.
"Lyra... what is the meaning of this?" Lucas finally choked out, his voice cracking through the silence. He took three long strides toward her, his hand reaching out to grab her wrist. "You’re confused. The dark mana from last night’s attack must still be fogging your mind! Vance is a corrupt, arrogant snake he belongs to a disgraced house! You belong at my side!"
Before Lucas’s fingers could even brush the edge of her sleeve, a wall of razor-sharp frost erupted from the marble tiles between them.
*CRACK!*
The jagged spire of blue ice surged upward with lethal speed, missing Lucas’s nose by a fraction of an inch and forcing him to leap backward awkwardly, stumbling over his own cape.
Lyra slowly straightened her back, her ice-blue eyes locking onto Lucas with a look of utter disgust. Her swollen, sensitive lips still carrying the flush of our intimate night
curled into a cold, cruel smile.
"Keep your hands to yourself, Hero," Lyra said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register that resonated through the entire amphitheater. "My mind has never been clearer. Lord Victor cured the affliction that was consuming my core a suffering you dismissed as mere weakness. My sword, my body, and my absolute loyalty belong to him alone."
A collective gasp rippled through the upper tiers of the stadium.
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
[ Hero Lucas Mental Fortitude: Severely Damaged ]
[ Public Reputation Shattered: -30% ]
[ Villain Points Earned: +1,200 ]
[ Active Task Updated: Defeat Lucas in the Exhibition Dueling Round & Force Full Mana Drain ]
Lucas’s breathing grew heavy and ragged. His righteous facade, carefully cultivated over years of church praise and easy victories, was cracking right down the middle. He gripped the hilt of his holy sword, The sword of the sun, so hard that the leather wrapping creaked under his gloves.
"He... he corrupted you," Lucas spat, his golden aura flaring violently, turning from a warm, comforting light into a blinding, abrasive glare. "He used black magic to twist your mind! Headmaster! I demand an immediate trial by combat! I will cut Vance down right here and purge his filth from Lady Lyra!"
On the headmaster’s balcony, the senior archmages exchanged uneasy glances, but the rules of the Royal Academy were ancient and absolute. A challenge issued before the entire noble court could not be refused without forfeiting all honor.
"Trial by combat is granted!" the Headmaster’s voice boomed across the arena, amplified by wind magic. "Lord Victor Vance versus Hero Lucas! First to yield, or first to be rendered incapable of battle!"
I didn’t bother using the stairs.
I stepped over the stone balustrade and dropped from the high balcony, landing silently on the arena floor in a soft cloud of dark, swirling dust. My heavy dark velvet coat settled over my shoulders as I drew myself up to my full height, casually rolling my shoulders.
Behind me, in the shadows beneath the balcony, I could feel Aria’s golden eyes tracking my every movement. Her body was still warm and hyper-sensitive from the dark mana I had flooded into her soul, her slender fingers lightly tracing the leather strap around her thigh where my hands had left deep, possessive marks.
Lyra smoothly glided backward, taking her place at the edge of the ring, her hands resting over her core as she watched me with intense, dark devotion.
"You brought this on yourself, Victor," Lucas snarled, drawing Aurelius completely from its scabbard. The divine blade hummed with intense, burning light magic ,magic designed to sear flesh and incinerate dark cores. "I will strip that arrogant smirk off your face, slice off your limbs, and break whatever spell you’ve placed on my women!"
"Your women?" I chuckled softly, taking a single, measured step forward. I didn’t draw a weapon. I simply kept my left hand resting casually in my trouser pocket while extending my right hand, palm upward, inviting him forward. "They were never yours, Lucas. You treated them like trophies to inflate your fragile ego. You left Lyra to burn in her own frost, and you used Aria like a disposable slave. They didn’t need a hero... they needed a master who knew how to handle them."
"Shut up!" Lucas screamed, his composure completely shattering.
With a blinding burst of speed, Lucas propelled himself forward, his holy sword cutting a glowing arc through the air aimed directly at my neck. The divine light surrounding his blade burned so brightly that half the crowd had to shield their eyes.
To an ordinary knight, his speed was terrifying. But through the eyes of my Heroine Capture System and my newly acquired Obsidian Mana Control, his movements were sloppily aggressive, driven entirely by unhinged jealousy.
When the holy blade descended, I didn’t dodge.
Instead, I raised my bare right hand.
CLANG!
A dense, liquid shield of obsidian-black mana coated my palm like a dark armor glove. The holy edge of the sun sword slammed directly into my bare hand, creating a shockwave of gold and black energy that shattered the marble tiles beneath our boots.
The divine light burned furiously against my dark mana, but it couldn’t penetrate an inch further.
Lucas’s eyes dilated in absolute terror. "What... how can your dark magic withstand holy light?!"
"Because your light is hollow, Lucas," I purred, my voice audible only to him.
Before he could pull his sword back, my fingers snapped shut around the glowing steel of his divine blade, locking it in place. I stepped inside his guard, closing the distance until our chests were nearly touching.
My free left hand shot out, wrapping tightly around Lucas’s throat, my long fingers digging deep into his skin.
"Gah...!" Lucas choked out, dropping to his knees as I squeezed his airway, lifting him slightly off the ground with raw, dark-infused strength.
I leaned down, pressing my lips near his ear as my dark mana flooded directly through my grip on his throat, invading his internal mana pathways. The cold, suffocating darkness surged through his veins, forcibly unraveling his holy magic from the inside out.
"Listen closely, ’Hero,’" I whispered, my voice dripping with lethal malice. "Every night you spent dreaming of glory, Lyra was kneeling in my chamber, begging for my touch. And right now, your shadow guardian is standing in the dark, her body thrumming with my darkness, waiting to lick the blood off my boots. You lost before you even stepped into this ring."
"You... monster..." Lucas wheezed, his eyes rolling back as his divine core buckled under the overwhelming pressure of my dark mana drain.
I slammed him face-first into the sandy floor of the arena.
THUD!
The entire stadium went deathly quiet. The golden hero of prophecy lay prone in the dirt at my feet, his holy sword dull and extinguished, his body twitching helplessly as my dark magic suppressed his core.
I placed my boot firmly on the back of his neck, pressing his face deeper into the sand, and looked up toward the spectating crowd.
"Is there anyone else," I announced, my voice echoing clearly through the stunned arena, "who wishes to challenge my absolute right?"
Silence answered me.
From the edge of the arena, Lyra stepped forward, her face flushed with pride and raw excitement as she looked at her standing master. In the shadows above, Aria let out a breathy, shuddering sigh, her legs trembling as the sheer display of my dominance sent a fresh wave of physical pleasure through her bound demonic soul.
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
[ Task Completed: Defeat Lucas & Force Mana Drain ]
[ Target Lyra Favorability: +15 (Absolute Submission / Current: +40) ]
[ Target Aria Favorability: +20 (Deep Physical Addiction / Current: +65) ]
[ Villain Points Earned: +2,500 ]
[ Rewards Granted: Skill: [Dominator’s Authority], Item: [Contract of Absolute Possession] ]