Emily and I were seated beside the arena, and we could clearly hear the two combatants talking.

“Aria, we finally meet again,” her opponent said. “After all these years, I can finally have my revenge.”

It was a woman with gray, long hair tied in a ponytail. Her black, silken corset armor brought forth the glamour of a beautiful fighter. This was magnified by a white cloth for her skirt with one side opened, revealing her smooth legs, combined with a pair of black high-heeled boots. A collar in her neck and a golden bracelet in each of her hands further emphasized that she was not just a woman but also a warrior.

“My apologies, but I can’t seem to remember who you are,” Aria replied.

“So you even forgot about about me,” the girl spoke while looking down. She then angrily looked at Aria. “I will never forgive you!!!”

“The battle between Aria Silvermoon and Robyn Accalia, now begins!” The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle.

Robyn immediately dashed around the stage, attempting to confuse Aria.

She’s fast.

Moving like those characters fighting in an anime, I almost can’t see her. Meanwhile, Aria was observing her surroundings carefully.

Robyn then charged towards her, however, Aria immediately used her scepter and cast a spell. “.” The rune was finished in an instant.

Wow. Her writing is too fast. I can’t even follow her fingers moving.

The shield didn’t break, however, the force was too strong, Aria was knocked back a little. Robyn dashed around again and attacked simultaneously. Aria couldn’t do anything but defend herself---Robyn was just too fast.

“Aria...” Emily’s hands were clamped together.

This is bad. Defending alone is not enough, her magic will eventually diminish but Aria’s opponent is too fast, she can’t even counter attack.

“You can’t defend forever you know!” Robyn attacked again, breaking Aria‘s shield. The force accumulated was too much, the spell couldn’t keep up. Aria was thrown quite far.

“Hahahaha!!!” Robyn laughed.

“Aria!!!” Emily screamed.

“What’s wrong Aria? Stop using necromancy and use your “other” power!” Robyn shouted.

Other power?

“What are you talking about?” Aria asked. “Who are you?!”

“You still can’t remember me?” Robyn replied. “Then, let me refresh your memory for a bit... [Project: AD].”

“I-It can’t be. R-Robby?”

“Finally, you remember me. I will never forgive you for forgetting and leaving me back there.”

“N-No, you’re wrong. I have never forgotten you!”

“Shut up!” Robyn shouted. “If you didn’t forget me then why didn’t you recognize me?”

“T-That’s because... That’s because you’re wearing a girl’s clothes!”

… Huh?

“You’re a guy right?!” Aria questioned. “Why?” My eyes then switched to Robyn’s skirt.

What?

“Why are you wearing a skirt?”

“EHHHHHH!!!” Everyone was shocked.

No. No. No. No. Please, no.

“W-What are you talking about?” Robyn blushed.

“I’m sorry, Robyn. I didn’t know,” Dullahan spoke.

“Why Robyn? Why?” a random man shouted.

“It’s okay Robyn, we still accept you,” a bunch of random males cheered in unison.

It’s a trap!!!

“Noooo,” Robyn shouted. “You guys are ALL WRONG!”

“It’s okay as long as there’s love,” the butler shouted. ”I guess.”

“Shut up, you perverted butler!” Robyn shouted. “I was never a man. I am always a girl!”

“Ehhh?!” Aria was shocked.

“Really?!” Everyone had doubts.

“Yes. I... am... telling... the truth,” Robyn defended herself.

“I can testify she’s a girl. I used my ‘magic’~” Lucie confirmed.

“We believe you, Robyn!” a lot of random males cheered in unison.

“Yeah, we do!,” a bunch of random males shouted simultaneously.

“Just shut up!” Robyn angrily looked at Aria. “You will pay for this humiliation.”

“I-I’m sorry Robyn,” Aria apologized. “I-I didn’t know.”

“Shut up!” Robyn dashed at Aria and grabbed her. “I will never forgive you.” She then threw her in the middle of the arena. “Why?” And barraged Aria with a series of attacks in every direction possible. “Why?” Aria cast phantom shield again “Why did you leave me?” However, Robyn was moving too fast. “I was alone.” Aria couldn’t keep up, she could only defend herself.

This is bad, Aria is losing

Once more, the shield broke, Aria was hit and was thrown into the wall of the arena creating some cracks.

“Aria,” Emily murmured as she stood.

“I’m sorry,” Aria apologized, barely standing. The damage she took was too bad.

“If you won’t fight me seriously then I might as well end this.” Robyn removed her boots and her bracelets. “We don’t need you in this castle!”

Something’s happening to her. The aura around her changed. I don’t like this feeling.

Robyn transformed; her arms and feet turned like that of a clawed beast. With the addition of a tail and fangs, her appearance changed similar to a dog. It was further amplified but her new long ears and the color of her right eye.

She became... a werewolf?

“Die!” Robyn dashed at Aria; she was faster than before.

“Aria!” Emily shouted.

However, Aria was not hurt. For some reason, Robyn froze mid air. She then fell to the ground and immediately moved back.

“Finally,” Robyn spoke.

A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared, it was coming from Aria. “Ahhh,” she shouted in pain, holding her left shoulder. A black light then surround her, accompanied by smoke, it formed a tornado from where she was standing.

“Aria,” Emily murmured. “Please, don’t.”

What’s happening to her?

Suddenly, a lightning was shot from Aria’s place directed to Robyn, however, she dodged it.

Lightning magic?

The tornado subsided; Aria came forth. However, her appearance changed. Standing was woman filled with dark aura. With fangs and a bat wing in her left shoulder, I knew that she was not the same girl I met three days ago. The left part of her once beautiful face was covered by a black mark, with the iris of her left eye turned red.

Is this... really Aria?

“Finally, I’ve been waiting for this, ” Robyn laughed. “Artificial Vampire.”

Wait, a minute. Did I just hear “Artificial Vampire”?

“Aria,” Emily whispered, still worried as she looked at her sister.

To ease her worries I held her hand. “It’s okay, Emily. Believe in Aria.”

Meanwhile, on the arena, no one is making a move. It seemed the two of them were waiting for something. They were just looking at each other.

Suddenly, they both dashed into the middle of the arena. It was too fast. With just a blink of an eye, they reached the middle. As they threw their punches, the shock waves produced from it was too strong, it made an earthquake. The two of them then began punching each other nonstop. My eyes couldn’t keep up. It was like an epic fight scene of an anime.

This is too intense.

They continued until Aria finally landed a punch on Robyn, knocking her away. She then created lightning in her hands and blasted Robyn from afar.

“Emily, is that lightning magic?”

“No,” Emily replied. “It’s .”

“Psychic lightning manipulation? Wait by psychic you mean...”

“Aria once said, she can manipulate the around her, creating lightning. Aria, just like all vampires, is an esper.”

“Aria... is a vampire? And an esper?”

Emily and I were talking to each other when we heard a crash.

“Aria!” Emily shouted. It was Aria who crashed into the side of the arena.

“You’ve been using telekinesis to slow me down, ” Robyn said. “Too bad I am protected by . It may have worked before, but not anymore.”

“Wait, did she just said chi?” Shocked; I couldn’t believe it.

“Werewolves are known to be physically strong because they can perfectly utilize the usage of their chi energy in both their offense and defense. This also protected them against mind attacks,” Emily explained. “My mother once said, in the previous war, there was a powerful werewolf that annihilated an entire army of humans all by himself.”

“You lost,” Robyn spoke as she walked towards Aria. “You’re exhausted now and your psychic powers does not affect me anymore.” However, as Robyn walked closer and closer to Aria, she suddenly fell on her knees. “W-What just happened?”

“It seems you forgot something Robyn,” Aria spoke. “You were too focused on my vampire part that you forgot that I’m also a necromancer.”

“I-It can’t be,” Robyn said. “This is...”

“Yes. I’ve been using while we were fighting,” Aria said. “True, using your , you can nullify my psychic attacks.” Aria stood “However, it would also leave you vulnerable to magic.”

“No!!!” Robyn punched the ground. “This can’t be happening!”

“Robyn, I’m sorry,” Aria apologized. “From that day until now, I always regret what I did when I left you in that lab and I don’t know if you will ever forgive me.” Aria picked up her scepter. “However, it is not true when you said that I forgot you. It’s impossible. How can I forget you?” Aria wrote a rune “Since before, when I thought you were a guy...” Aria then smiled at Robyn. “You were my first love.” Pointing her scepter to Robyn, she shouted, “!!!”

“I... lost...” A green beam of light then struck Robyn.

After the explosion, Robyn was seen lying on the ground, unconscious. “The winner of the second match, Aria Silvermoon,” as the host finished announcing the winner, Aria returned to her normal form and fell down.

“Aria, ” Emily and I shouted.

“Guards, quickly bring them to the recovery room,” Dullahan shouted. The guards then quickly but carefully carried Aria and Robyn.

“Hiiro, please go to Aria,” Emily begged.

“Emily? How about you?”

“It’s okay,” she replied while looking down. “Actually, I also want to go to her, however, I have an upcoming match so I can’t.” She then looked at me in the eye. “Please, Hiiro, take care of her; take care of my sister.”

“Okay. I will go to her,” I said to Emily while going to Aria. My eyes then looked back at her and made a thumbs up. “Emily, good luck with your fight.”

“Yes, I will do my best,” she smiled.

The guards guided me to where Aria’s room is located. There, Lucie was standing beside the door.

“Lucie...-san?”

“Hello, Hiiro <3,” Lucie greeted me. “Aria is currently being treated right now, so you can’t go in.”

“I see.”

“That’s why, while you wait, I’ll tell you a story.”

“A story?”

“Ten years ago, a group of humans kidnapped two human children,” Lucie spoke. “They were the first test subjects of [Project: AD] or [Project: Artificial Demons] ”

[Project: Artificial Demons]? From the name alone, I can tell, this is some inhumane experiment.

“Wait, by two child you mean?”

“Yes, those two were Robyn and Aria,” she replied. “Like the name implies, [Project: AD] aimed to create Artificial Demons by transferring a demon’s organ into a human.”

Wait a minute, is she talking about organ transplant?

“The humans did a lot of cruel experiments to them, Robyn’s limbs were cut and changed into that of a werewolf while Aria had a more bizarre experiment,” she added. “Her heart was changed into that of a vampire. Right now, the blood flowing through her body is not hers.”

They performed a heart transplant?

“After two years of experiment, the two of them decided to escape, however, the other child was caught. That child was Robyn. Out of anger, the humans then punished her by performing extreme experiments on her.”

“This is… too cruel.

“Now Hiiro, what are you going to do~?” Lucie asked as she walked away. The doctors then came out from Aria room; I then went inside.

As I entered, I saw Aria sitting on top of the bed. It seemed, her room was separated from Robyn.

“Why are you here?” Aria asked. “You should go and watch Emily.”

“True, I am worried about Emily’s fight.” Aria looked gloomy. “However, I am also worried about you.”

“Worried? You? To me? Impossible,” Aria muttured. “We are just acquaintances who happened to know the same person. How can you be worried to someone like me?”

“Aria, I’m telling the truth.”

“Shut up,” Aria shouted as she looked at me. “I am an abomination; neither a human, a vampire nor a necromancer. I am just a test subject, a rejected experiment. I am nothing but trash.”

“You are Emily’s cool sister,” I shouted, stopping her from talking. “I don’t care what your past is, what you look or what you are.” Looking at her eyes, I walked towards her. “There’s only one thing I know; you are not a bad person. You saved Emily a bunch of times: you became her family when her mother died; you supported her when she was alone; you helped us escaped the village when we’re in danger; and now, you fought very hard for her sake.”

“Hiiro,” Aria mumbled as I grabbed both of her shoulders.

“Don’t call yourself things you are not. You are Aria, Emily’s sister and friend. You are not trash; you are beautiful.” She blushed. Realizing this, I let go of her. “I’m sorry... I got carried away.”

“It’s okay, Hiiro. Thank you.”

Today, I got to know Aria’s past, however, there was one thing that was bothering me the whole time.

Heart transplant. If you think about it, this is impossible considering the technology of medieval times. Or... is it because of magic that humans have this possibility? I don’t know what to feel right now.