Chapter 122: Domination!

The roar of Valerian’s fury lingered across the dueling ground, vibrating in the bones of everyone who stood within the circle. His crimson aura boiled, a storm of his immense rage that had built up during the duel and noble pride that had been hit due to the unexpected difficulty of winning.

His aura swelled like a tide that sought to drown everything in its path, but despite standing at the center of that immense storm, Albedo stood calm & steady, a faint smirk on his lips as Havoc and Ruin glowed.

Valerian bared his fangs, voice dripping venom, “You mock me with tricks and toys, Human. Let me show you true power!”

His spear whipped forward, splitting into afterimages, each thrust coated in the blood-etched aura of his clan. The crimson arcs came from every angle, like a flood of snakes lunging to bite into Albedo’s neck.

The instant before the strikes landed, Albedo’s eyes glowed faintly purple, Source Code shimmering like script across his vision.

His perception fractured, threads of trajectory unraveling in lines of probability. With a calm pivot, he slipped through the cage as though it had always been riddled with holes.

“WHAT!”

“He dodged the Duskveil Clan technique?”

“How did he not tank a single hit?”

All of the Demons students were absolutely shocked at the fact Albedo dodged those attacks so effortlessly. Even Raphaeline and Arannis became intrigued at the method he took to do so, but no-one had time to full delve into it as Albedo continued his own barrage.

~BANG!~

Havoc roared, a bullet of Infernal flame detonating against Valerian’s shoulder before the vampire could fully turn. The explosion tore across his armor, searing through the shoulder plate and biting into flesh.

Valerian hissed, staggering, his crimson aura flaring defensively. But Albedo was already in motion, pressing for more and more.

His pistols blurred, the rhythm of his shots shifting from scattered counters to orchestrated patterns. Havoc fired in rapid bursts, forcing Valerian’s guard high, while Ruin punctuated each gap with graviton slugs that bent the vampire’s balance, warping his footwork into clumsy angles.

~BANG~BANG~BANG!~

One shot slammed into Valerian’s thigh, crushing muscle with gravitational weight. Another seared across his ribs, burning black lines into his armor. A third clipped his spear hand, numbing his grip.

The crowd gasped, the sound rolling like a wave through the circle.

“Valerian can’t keep up, he’s being pushed back!”

“He’s completely lost control of the battle’s rhythm,”

“No… impossible…!”

Valerian’s expression twisted, his aristocratic mask crumbling beneath frustration and disbelief. “Enough of this!” He lunged, spear whipping in a murderous arc. His aura surged, coiling along the weapon until the crimson light hardened into jagged edges of condensed blood energy.

“Bloodfang Rend!”

The spear slashed downward, releasing a wave of scarlet force large enough to cleave the dueling ground apart. The shockwave howled across the circle, tearing a trench in its wake.

But Albedo had already moved.

His hand flicked, a rune igniting briefly beneath his boots, Fractal Casting: Blink Step. His body shimmered, vanishing an instant before the wave struck, and reappeared behind Valerian’s guard.

The vampire’s eyes widened as he was too slow to react.

~BANG!~

A graviton slug slammed into his back, detonating with crushing force. Valerian was hurled forward, his body smashing into the ground with a heavy crack that sent dust spiraling skyward.

The crowd erupted again, but this time their disbelief carried a different note. It wasn’t shock that Valerian was being hurt. It was shock that a Human was dismantling him.

Albedo strode forward, Havoc and Ruin still smoking, his steps measured, unhurried.

Valerian rose with a snarl, blood dripping from his lip, his once-pristine uniform scorched and torn. His crimson aura shuddered, wavering as he tried to force it back into control.

“You… worm,” he spat, clutching his spear with shaking hands. “You dare, humiliate me, before them?”

But humiliation was the only word for it.

Albedo’s expression didn’t change. If anything, his smirk deepened. “You’re making this too easy,” he said evenly. His pistols gleamed as he raised them again.

The insult landed harder than any bullet. The crowd froze, even the Demon supporters unable to deny the truth in his words. Valerian’s every strike had been countered, every attempt to assert dominance turned into another stumble, another wound.

And it was about to get worse.

Albedo lifted Havoc and whispered a command. The pistol ignited, crimson fire coiling into runes across its barrel. With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed one of his new techniques, Infernal Scatter.

~BOOM!~

Havoc vomited a fan of hellfire rounds, dozens of blazing shots that blanketed the battlefield in an expanding storm. Valerian screamed, spinning his spear desperately to deflect, but the sheer volume forced him onto the defensive, his aura cracking under the relentless barrage.

Then came Ruin.

Albedo’s left hand flicked, and a graviton bullet detonated at Valerian’s feet, collapsing the ground into a sucking pit that dragged his balance downward.

~CRUNCH!~

The vampire’s knee buckled, his guard faltering—and in that instant, a shot from Havoc struck his chest, exploding against his armor. He was hurled backward, smoke trailing from the fresh burn seared across his torso.

Gasps tore through the circle. The Demon students who had shouted encouragement were silent now, staring in disbelief as their noble heir stumbled again and again, driven into the dirt by a Human who hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Raphaeline’s lips curved upward, her crimson eyes sparkling with something dangerously close to delight. “Ah,” she murmured, “and now the puppet’s strings show.”

Beside her, Arannis inclined his head faintly. “He’s dismantling him. Every exchange cuts away another piece of Valerian’s pride. If this continues, there won’t be anything left. It seems like he more wants to send a message to all the other students,”

On the field, Valerian staggered to his feet once more, his breathing ragged, crimson eyes burning with desperation. He could feel it, his aura waning, his body trembling, his strength leaking away under the relentless assault.

And across from him stood Albedo, calm, composed, pistols leveled with the confidence of a predator who already knew the outcome.

Valerian bared his fangs, blood dripping from his wounds, his voice cracking with rage. “I will not be your plaything, Human! I am Valerian Duskveil! Heir to one of the greatest houses of the Demon Throne!”

Albedo’s smirk turned razor-sharp.

“Then act like it.”

He moved again, faster this time, pistols roaring, fire and gravity tearing across the battlefield in perfect harmony. Valerian’s defense crumbled further, each block costing him more than the last, each strike opening wounds he could no longer afford to take.

The tension in the arena snapped taut as Valerian’s body trembled, veins bulging with a grotesque crimson glow. His breath came ragged, bestial, his eyes turning feral pools of blood. The spear in his grip pulsed like a living organ, veins of red light crawling up the shaft and into his arm.

The gathered Demon students immediately recognized it and whispers burst through the crowd.

“His Blood Art Transformation…”

“No, that’s forbidden!”

“He’s lost it!”

Celeste’s golden eyes narrowed in cold fury, her aura twitching as if ready to intervene. Even she knew the stakes.

Blood Art Transformation wasn’t just an advanced technique, it was a warform, forbidden in sanctioned duels due to the sheer brutality it brought. It was the power of a clan weaponized to its pull extent, so powerful using it would basically leave someone unable to move for days.

But Valerian didn’t care. His pride had been peeled away blow by blow until only desperation remained.

The spear elongated, jagged with fangs of crystallized blood, his figure cloaked in a writhing mist of scarlet tendrils that clawed at the ground around him. His voice was warped, guttural, layered with something monstrous:

“DIE, HUMAN!”

He lunged, faster, stronger, his weapon shrieking like a predator in hunger. The earth split in his wake, crimson haze consuming everything.

But Albedo did not move.

Havoc and Ruin hung loose at his sides, their glow dimming as a far heavier aura began to rise. His eyes glimmered with amethyst fire, the Source Code flickering across his irises as if reality itself bent to acknowledge what he was about to unleash.

He whispered. Just two words.

“Crimson Moon.”

The world shattered around them. To the outsiders, nothing happened, but for Valerian & Albedo, the dueling ground dissolved in an instant, the ring of students, the gasps, even the aurora above, all torn away like ash in a storm.

Valerian staggered mid-charge, suddenly finding himself no longer in the academy’s courtyard but in a boundless galaxy, magnificent stars shining all around. His spear trembled in his grip as his eyes dragged upward.

And there it was.

The Crimson Moon.

It hung impossibly vast above them, blotting out the heavens. Not just a celestial body but an overwhelming presence, radiating despair so deep it clawed into the marrow.

Its light wasn’t illumination but suffocation, its aura a tide of annihilation pressing down on every thought, every instinct.

Valerian’s knees buckled instantly. His crimson aura, once feral and raging, shrank to flickers like candles in a storm. His breath froze in his throat. His body screamed to move, to fight, but his soul was shackled by terror older than his bloodline.

He couldn’t even scream.

Albedo walked forward. Slowly. Calmly. His figure was silhouetted in the moon’s suffocating glow, every step echoing louder than Valerian’s panicked heartbeat.

The Vampire heir shook violently, eyes wide, lips quivering. He couldn’t process it. This wasn’t battle. This wasn’t duel, it was an inevitability.

Albedo reached him.

Valerian’s body locked, paralyzed not by magic but by despair so profound it unraveled him from the inside out

And then, Albedo simply raised his hand…and placed it on Valerian’s shoulder.

The instant his fingers touched, Valerian collapsed.

The Crimson Moon shattered.

The void dissolved.

They were back in the dueling ground.

The field was dead silent. From the perspective of every student, every professor, every watching noble… Albedo had simply unleashed his aura, walked forward without raising his pistols, and Valerian Duskveil, proud heir of one of the greatest Demon clans, collapsed to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut.

No one had seen the Crimson Moon. No one had felt its despair. All they saw was Albedo’s unflinching calm and Valerian’s inexplicable defeat.

The whispers came, hushed but wild, desperate to understand:

“What… what just happened?”

“Did Valerian faint?”

“No… that wasn’t fainting… that was submission…”

“He couldn’t even withstand Albedo’s aura?”

Celeste’s golden eyes glowed faintly as she studied Albedo with something far sharper than curiosity. She had felt something, something vast and ancient, but even she could not name it.

Raphaeline smirked faintly, her lips curling as though she alone enjoyed the hidden truth.

The Professors exchanged uneasy glances. Some leaned forward as if to question, others remained silent, but none dared interrupt.

And at the center, Valerian remained collapsed, gasping in silent terror, his eyes wide and unfocused as though he were still staring up at something none of them could see.

Albedo holstered Havoc and Ruin with a calm motion, his voice low but carrying across the courtyard like judgment itself.

“He can’t continue.”

Celeste’s whip twitched at her hip, but her expression was unreadable. After a pause, her voice rang clear, final.

“This duel is over.”

Her golden gaze swept across the circle, silencing every whisper.

“The victor, Albedo Neverwinter.”

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