“Ladies and Gentlemen!” A voice erupted out of nowhere.

I opened my eyes, still, inside the darkroom, that the guards put me in. I entered by my own will, and they closed the door. Eventually sitting down, I focused on my breathing, falling into meditation. It was broken when I heard the man begin to commentate.

It was going through my mind that he was amplifying his voice, similar to Xirax’s soul ability and my nightmare side. A power which I could not control, the monster of my inner consciousness, the real vampire, I was afraid that I would have to use it.

“Now, time for the main event, the duel that will forever change this kingdom, this world, Antral!”

‘So, so childish, it’s like you want to get me angry’ I thought.

“The Bewachem brothers, two salamander demons, the king made them race, creating beings to help us if ever a war broke out! One chose science, while the other chose machines!”

An applause was heard, it was so loud that even I could listen to it, from whatever I was trapped inside.

“The two brothers, Wilhelm and Geoffrey, chose, and so it began, Wilhelm chose Jododam Blutrot, the strongest living vampire, while Geoffrey chose Ace Königshaus, the king’s brother, who unfortunately died due to unknown reasons.”

As I heard that, lighting began to crack around me. The man started to sprout bullshit left, right and centre, all minor, about how the two groups went along with their experiments, but that, lying about death, that angered me. Calming down quickly, I finally heard the announcer call out the names.

“Now towards the gate on the kings left, here we have Wilhelms experiment, a unique specimen.”

In front of me, doors began to open, and I decided to walk towards it and into the battlefield. My eyes were blinded due to the light before they adjusted. A colosseum, filled to the brim with people in fancy cloth, almost as it was the largest dress-up party held. Purple dresses and orange suites were scattered throughout the colosseum, mixed with clothes of brown and black, the more unfortunate people. I was glad that nobles were tolerant of the more impoverished people, as though they didn’t see them as inferiors, even in their power or wealth, but as equals.

“A unique specimen, a hybrid between a demon and, a human, having the best capabilities of both races, one of the three most recently chosen, ending the extras” life, Dyestral Blutrot!!”

Applause erupted from all around me, so much that I decided to look around. Towards my left, I saw a relevantly better place, a royal balcony; there I saw Wilhelm, Jododam, Quinn and Sashal, to name a few. My wife and I locked eyes, noticing her wings were out, twitching ever so slightly that I could see, sending what I should then do.

I released my wings, creating a wave of cold air throughout the colosseum, even more, the cheering was heard. It seems that I was right reading her expressions. The commentator then spoke again, everyone went silent, before he spoke again.

“Now on the right side of the king, the child of Geoffrey, the true balance of man and machine, Feuer Bewachem!”

An identical door symmetrical to the one I exited, began to open. It occurred to creak, but unlike mine, I noticed that the iron hinges were melting. It was clear what Feuer’s’sFeuer’s’s primary source was now, the polar opposite to my ice, fire.

Knowing what’s already happened, he probably has an advanced source or a way of using it. It was intense, as he didn’t even need to touch the metal to melt it. Slowly, the red hinges began to burn the wood of the gate, before it exploded.

It covered a quarter of the arena, but I was a guard from that, so on guard, that I could hear his metal footsteps. The cheering from the audience was drowned out due to my focus. Although everyone could see my bright face, rid of the emotion, inside, I was drowning in a sea of fear. I’m not sure if that was Feuer’s goal, but it didn’t work, as the fear quickly disappeared. As I was focusing on the steps, I heard the commentator begin again, talking about his life.

“The youngest and most talented demon of flames, the youngest and smartest boy, mixed with the strongest mechanics, able to burn forests to the ground, may I present! Feuer Bewachem!”

The smoke from the explosion had cleared, and there I saw him, Feuer. Around the same height and build as me, his platinum hair messy, going down to his shoulder blades, a soul of orange, his iris and sclera stained black, I couldn’t see where he was looking. He looked normal, but what I didn’t like is what he was wearing.

Shoes, gauntlets, and even a partial mask, covering his mouth, all connected to parts of his body. He was wearing, some sort of mechanical suits, like a skeleton on the outside, all combined with small rods so that it didn’t fall off, but even I could see that they were screwed into his body. Not everyone had such focused eyes, but I could see that this man had seen what was the opposite of life, like myself at the time.

We stared into the eyes of each other, ready for the commentator to do something to start the fight, may it be a bell or announcing it. I began to feel the heat emitting from Feuer hundreds of metres away, so I amplified my temperature, creating an invisible fight right then.

“Now place your bets!” The commentator stated “Cause I declare that the duel…. May commence!”