In the waiting room of the arena, they faced Jean D Arc, and standing in front of her; there was a vampire. He was like Marie, only less friendly. The teen would have been 19 when he died. He had a youthful, ruddy face only marred by tear lines. His presence made the coming fight more difficult.

Vampires are incredibly durable. Lex had pummeled Marie with little to show for it. Jean was probably a better necromancer than Cassidy. This redheaded vampire man might be even tougher.

While they were created in Egypt, the modern vampire was established in the mountains of Scandinavia. Far to the northeast of Goth and beyond the arm of the Holy Elysium Empire, a new vampire breed was developed. Expendable soldiers were always helpful, especially against a force with a superior number. The Scandinavian Confederacy of the Geeks, the Swedes, the Norseman, and the Swiss poured their resources into a secret weapon for a winter war. This soldier was built for the cold of Helheim itself. The weapons of peasant levies with limited cultivation couldn't break its skin, and if damaged, the blood of man could heal it quickly. This was the weapon the Scandinavian Confederacy unleashed upon the Empire lead by the Pope.

Vampires became even more helpful after they were perfected. They were as intelligent as men and could control lesser undead. At higher levels, they could appear almost living, especially after feeding. They had a heartbeat, if a slow one. In even the harshest winter, they thrived. The new vampire took these characteristics and improved upon them. Vampires of the confederacy used their near-human appearance to invade the empire's winter camps and cut them off from each other.

It was a war won through subterfuge. After that winter, all the land taken by the empire had been reclaimed with interest. Upon witnessing this new undead, the Pope declared them a blessing of Epsilon and sued for peace. In the years following that battle, the inquisitors of the empire worked tirelessly to create techniques to detect the new vampire.

New was a relative term. Morgan's necromancy text claimed it to be the last leap forward in vampire creation in the Scandinavian mountains a century ago.

Rumor had it many undocumented creations escaped. In some areas of the far north, these vampires lived in tribes and hunted lost humans and wild game. They're rumored to possess natural breeding capabilities. While most rumors were pure fantasy, some hold some truth to them.

Jean placed her wrists on her hips and grinned. "Do you like him? I think my Louis de Weston will prove stronger. Blue Beard brought him back as a souvenir." Jean said.

Morgan snorted. "He's beautiful; it's a shame he'll be paste on the floor in a few minutes. Don't worry; you'll always have Blue Beard." Morgan said.

Jean laughed and skipped forward to hug her vampire. "My sweet Louis, I want you to tear them all apart. Friend or foe, it doesn't matter; give mamma a show." Jean said.

Morgan's following words sounded less than confident. "Maybe, I'll make a wig from his hair for Lex. I don't know why you didn't shave it. Only 106 meridians, pathetic." Morgan said.

Lex remembered that hair color often displayed an undead's rank. Red should mean a low number of meridians.

Only when he fed qi to his eyes did he see it. It shocked him.

Jean had dyed the vampire's hair poorly. The vampire had violet roots. It had the highest potential an undead could practically possess.

He tried to ease his mind. It was as newborn as Thud, even if it was intelligent. This battle would only be it's second; it lacked experience.

"I think I'll feed the remains of your undead to the dogs. Both seem rather useless to me." Thud stepped forward, growling and slamming its fists. While simple-minded, it knew who its master was.

Morgan threw her hand up in a rude gesture and yelled. "Your mother is a dog." She turned on her heels and stomped towards the betting counter and threw down ten silver pennies. It was everything they had left. "Put it all on, Lex," Morgan said.

The mummy running the counter smiled, exposing black teeth, and took the silver. It spoke with a raspy voice. "Against today's contestants, we put your odds at 25.1 to 1. We will accept your bet. Your hatred towards the Charmed Coven is legendary." The mummy said.

Jean stomped over to the counter. "How dare you call my mother a dog? She's a queen. I bet that was your life's savings. Everyone knows you broke, princess." Jean said.

Morgan's mouth opened wide. He could feel her shock over the link. "Are you Queen Liuva's bastard daughter?" Morgan shrieked.

Jean's face went red, and Louis hissed dangerously. The poor girl shook as qi gathered around her at sweltering levels.

He thought about what he knew of Queen Liuva. Around 16 years ago, their country's name was Visgothithica. Britannia took over under the armies of Uther and his knights, the queen went into exile. To the last child, her line was slain. Only the queen still lived isolated in a small estate south of Dural. Whether it was near Arc village or not, he didn't know.

A queen's bastards aren't quite as numerous as a king's bastards. King Atta had hundreds of bastards. He got around.

Jean took control of herself. "I'm just a peasant girl from Arc village. My name is Jean D Arc, not Jean D Visgothithica or whatever the royal line was called." Orleans was the royal surname, and their princess was called the maid of Orleans. Even the lowliest of peasants knew that. The tale of the maiden and the flea-ridden prince mentions it multiple times.

Spectators all around the room stared at her. "We'll settle this in the arena," Jean said.

After that, he was separated and taken to the stage with Thud. Milly skipped over to him. "Hey, Lex Marie said you could speak. That's amazing; Cassidy kept me from the arena for months to teach me how to speak." Milly said.

"Why isn't Cassidy here?" Lex asked.

"Mistress is a bit of an introvert. She's watching the fight through scrying." When Lex blinked at her in confusion, she rushed to explain. "That's an acuity technique that any witch can use. It allows them to watch an area through quantum formations." Milly said. Lex didn't understand what quantum meant, but he didn't understand formations either.

Lex knew he couldn't learn the technique. Lex could barely differentiate Milly's qi from Marie. They were slightly different heat. But, Marie and Louis felt the same. Did that mean he could only determine types of undead, or were they nearly equal in strength? If he was only as strong as Marie, then their chances were good.

"Today's match is a coven-on-coven battle. Coven Silver Smith will fight the Charmed Coven. All bets are now final. At the bell's third tole, let the match begin." The announcer shouted.

It was only the three of them against ten enemies. Two centipedes made of torsos with ribs for legs crawled on the ground. They lifted their heads high, struck out with long barbed tongues. The mandibles were two lower jaws stuffed with muscle built to slam shut with the inward-facing teeth of a massive python. Flesh piled atop flesh stretched over the creature packing in more muscle. While they weren't the strongest monsters, he couldn't take his eyes off of them. They were more streamlined compared to the centipede created by the centipede coven. A couple of the witches by Jean were from the centipede coven.

That was interesting. Two wights numbered in the enemy ranks. He felt qi from them, similar to Milly.

Louis stood in the back, his arms crossed with a look of concentration on his face. Vampires controlled lesser undead. Neither Milly nor Thud appeared compromised.

Three were masses of spines wrapped around a bulbous human head. They stood on tripods of human spines and twirled several longer spines, snapping them like whips. A strange viscous fluid dripped from the bones sizzling on the floor.

Lex’s ninth foe was a wildcard. It was another zombie, a tall, skinny creature with a black mouth and empty pits instead of eyes. The zombie was weird. The qi flowing from it was different. It was hungry.

The final enemy might have been more dangerous than Louis. Goat flesh and hooves mixed with human skin giving the zombie a sure foot. It moved with impeccable balance. Around its neck was a mystical yin yang talisman from the east encased in bronze. Its black fur gave it a demonic appearance. Lex felt a controlled immittance of qi, unlike even Morgan.

He didn't like the setup. Not only were they outnumbered but possibly overpowered. It was going to be close.

The bell tolled, and the hungry one charged. It blinked across the arena at incredible speeds. The creature's horrible black mouth opened wide, revealing large insectoid mandibles. Lex saw them as the mouth closed around his neck.

As fast as the hungry creature was, it was predictable. Before Lex had reached the second stage of qi condensation, predictability wouldn't have mattered. When he hadn't finished the first spiral exercise, he only had his fist to fight with. These factors changed everything before he'd have to raise his fists and possibly take a bite.

Before the mandibles sunk into his neck or the teeth could bite a chunk out of him, his qi moved. It was thicker now. The second stage of qi condensation gave it weight, and his control increased the acceleration. A sudden hurricane of vicious qi spiraled around him suddenly when both creature's feet had left the ground. It chose to throw its weight into the bite.

The zombie's teeth shut off the target. With a slight turn, he was in position. Lex leaned forward and delivered two quick jabs. One body shot to spin the zombie and another to stop it. With the head in the perfect position, he took hold of the zombie's head and smashed it into the stone tiles. Green brains oozed over his fingers as the zombie's legs kicked out.

He sensed a powerful heat racing for him and turned too late. A finger made of black qi struck him in the chest. It ripped through his skin, sinking mid-joint before his qi pushed the technique out. For a moment, there was a hole 3cm wide in his chest. Golden blood gushed out in an excellent spray. He turned his head to see the goatman prepare a second strike.

A familiar heat came from his back. He turned to see one of the wights and ducked when the other leaped over him. Lex spun his qi and threw his hands forward. The other wight over head shot off to the side while he shot forward, thumbs extended.

He kept track of Milly and Thud. The fight was too fast for them so far, and the centipede was chasing Milly. A wight needed to die if they had a chance at winning.

Lex felt his thumbs slide through the jelly and produced two condensed qi spirals at their tips. He pushed them in and expanded them. The wight's brain gushed out of the eye sockets painting his black robe green. As the wight died, he felt his body freeze up. Even the qi in his meridians stopped. Only his cultivation continued.

The other wight leaped up and went for a grabble.

Before the wight could get a grip on Lex, two giant meaty hands smashed into it. The wight's eyeballs shot out first, bouncing off the ground before a squirt of brains followed it. What was left of the wight's headshot down into its chest like a zombie turtle? He heard Morgan scream and felt the finger technique slam into Thud.

The next second was achingly slow. He felt the wight's touch slowly leave him. Morgan screamed, and he couldn't do a thing about it. A part of him thought numb to yet more screams while a spark of rage began to burn. That spark grew into an ember, and his cultivation spiraled faster. He pulled more raja and smashed it together. It remained orderly as qi filled his dantian and flooded his meridians. His hand clenched into a fist.

One of the centipedes crawled over Thud and shot its tongue at his chest. It felt like many white-hot pokers stabbed into him. The barbs dragged the creature into him. Lex realized the tongue was to enhance the centipede's mobility. Instead of carrying prey to it, it dragged itself to the target.

His elbow broke free of the paralysis just as it shot towards his chest. Lex felt it bite into his hand and wrist. Needle-like teeth ripped into his flesh before dragging his arm deeper into the creature's gullet. Suddenly, Lex moved his shoulder.

With his shoulder free, he raised the creature and cracked it like a whip. Delicate internal parts of the beast ripped free, and half of the creature's rib-like legs stopped moving. Lex's other arm regained movement at that moment.

Milly was dealing with the heads and the other centipede. Louis chose that moment to charge between himself and Milly. He suspected Louis would try to finish Milly off first.

Still, Morgan screamed as Black fingers pummeled Thud because he was directed to protect Lex. While she piloted Thud, she felt pain from the finger attacks. He felt guilty about that. If he had speed blitzed the other side and threw caution to the wind, he might have already won. Lex gritted his teeth and quickened his cultivation base further.

He ripped one of the centipede's lower jaws off and tipped himself over. He made a decision that wasn't in his best interest. Tactically, he should let his allies fight and let the paralysis leave his body before the attack. In less than five achingly slow seconds, the wight's curse would go his meridians. Morgan didn't have that time. She felt each hole ripped through Thud's body like a stab from a knife.

Exposing himself from cover while he was paralyzed from his abs down was a stupid idea. With his left hand, he held the jawbone of the centipede. It was a very human jawbone bone crafted with python fangs. Those fangs were needle-sharp, and each was nearly 9cm in length. He crashed down on his right side, agonizingly slowly.

He could have ripped his hand free of the centipede and killed it immediately. While its barbed throat held his arm firmly, the many torsos it was made from gave Lex the leverage he needed for a good throw. With his legs paralyzed, he couldn't get the leverage he needed. So, he borrowed some.

Lex threw the jawbone.