Lucien stood at the top of the center tower, the icy wind that buffeted him being canceled out by his own magic. Across from him stood the Founder of House Nefarius himself, Alec Nefarius. The two men faced each other for some time, as Alec studied the Light Mage that had decided to risk his life to protect his people.

“You didn’t flee. Even though you could have used the secret teleportal relay that only Guild Masters can use. I applaud your commitment to your people, although I also must question your sanity.”

Lucien was unfazed by the vampire’s comment, as the magical aura emitted by the would-be Founder was nearly non-existent.

“Oh? You question My sanity? It seems that you cannot fathom the might you are facing, lamprey.”

Alec cocked his head and seemed puzzled by the words of Lucien.

“But I can. And I am hardly impressed. For one with such meagre aura to challenge one with such immense aura is worthy of both praise and ridicule, is it not?”

Lucien was now under the assumption that the impersonator of the House Founder was truly mad. Alec looked around the rooftop arena that the two were standing in and saw the multitude of viewing spells that allowed those within the five towers to watch the fight go down.

“What a nuisance, I do hate it when ants try to behold a being so far above them and comprehend the majesty of said being… But then again, I could say the same about myself and the Two Gods, now couldn’t I?”

Alec motioned towards Lucien with a beckoning hand, as if to say, “Come at me.”

“Miserable whelp! Die! Luminary Ray: Sunlight Yellow!”

From the dark and cloudy sky, a pillar of sunlight fell down and slammed into Alec. The light was so intense that the gazes of the audience and Lucien alike were unable to fall upon the pillar of holy sunshine.

“You see, little mosquito? You were nothing compared to my overwhelming…”

From within the roaring noise of the pillar of golden yellow light, the sound of maniacal cackling could be heard growing louder and louder. At first it was soft enough to be mistaken for the cheers of the crowd, but soon it eclipsed even the thunderous volume of the torrential beam of golden light. The laughter stopped, and with the sound of shattering glass, the massive spell that had poured down such destruction was erased with a single wave of the vampire’s hand.

“Im-impossible… You would need an aura many times my own to even begin to…”

Alec cracked his neck and shook himself as a look of boredom could be seen glazed over his face.

“Ah. What was it He said? Oh yeah. Just as a one-dimensional being cannot sense a two-dimensional being, and a two-dimensional being cannot comprehend the greatness of a three-dimensional being, you and your insufficient senses have no way of understanding what lies before you. You can see, yet you cannot. You hear, yet you cannot. You feel, yet you cannot…”

Alec let his gaze wander around the arena and take in the stunned expressions of the members of the Mages Guild.

“You. You really can’t see it, can you? My aura, it is beyond you, right?”

Lucien had a terrible feeling. It was the feeling of being a wounded mouse that was being toyed with by a cat. It was the feeling of staring into a bottomless hole that tried to suck you into its unfathomable depths. He finally realized what he was doing wrong and expanded his senses to go as far as he could go.

It was then he saw how hopeless his situation was.

As his Astral Projection managed to get over twenty kilometers from the tower, he realized what he had seen surrounding the House Founder. What he had seen was the very core of his magical aura, something normally so small that even the greatest mages only had a Magical Core the size of a grain of rice. And yet, this vampire had a Core that was radiating more than three meters from his body, and a Magical Aura that extended for more than nineteen kilometers! What was worse was that the House Founder had said that there were at least two other beings that had even greater magical power than he; his Two Gods!

“You know, it isn’t polite to stare at someone’s aura. Even I know not to do that.”

Lucien’s astral form wheeled around mid-air and saw the twisted and blackened form of something truly horrible, so horrible that he could not even begin to describe what he saw. This black Thing was there; it had gotten so close and yet had been so deathly silent.

“Rude.” The voice of Alec Nefarius emanated from the Thing. “I am not a ‘Thing’, and this isn’t even the most disturbing Astral Form there is. Now, let’s go back so I can show you people true magic, shall we?”

Lucien awoke from his Astral Projection with cold sweat running down his whole body and tremors of fear making him unable to stay still. He looked like a drug addict in withdrawal and could hardly manage to keep himself composed. Alec tapped his staff on the ground and used a simple spell (by his standards) to fill the terrified old man with a bit of artificial courage.

“Well, if that’s all you’ve got, then it’s time to end this match. Sorry, but you didn’t manage to impress me at all, so everyone has to die.”

“Not yet…”

Alec waited for Lucien to continue.

“NOT YET! I have one last spell, and it has never been beaten even by the one who surpassed me as the Number One Light Mage!”

As these words came from Lucien’s mouth, Alec’s voice shifted. Gone was the bored and disappointed man from before and in his place was someone who was, at the very least, hamming up his anticipation.

(Author Note: Imagine Alec’s voice shifting from someone who can’t care less to a mix of Seth from Street Fighter 4 and Mr. Perfect Cell from DBZ Abridged.)

“Oh-ho? Now I am intrigued. I had hoped you would have an ace up your sleeve, a trump card to be played when all others had failed! Come, show me your power. All of it! Hold nothing back! Your life, and the lives of your subordinates are on the line, so unleash everything! Show me the depths of the arcane that you have delved!”

Lucien focused every bit of mana in his body into a swirling mass inside of him. The mass containing his entire aura began to slowly chip away at his magical core, eating up his magical potential until there was but a single small spark left, just enough to let him live through his attack.

“There will be no going back from this. No matter which way this goes, I will never be able to cast a spell again.”

Lucien muttered his final words as a mage, much to the delight of Alec.

“GOOD! GOOD! YES! THIS IS WHAT I WANTED TO SEE!”

Lucien closed his eyes and yelled at the top of his lungs.

“THEN WITNESS THE DEFINACE OF LIFE! FINAL MAGIC: SEVEN-COLORED GRAND FINALE!”

From the staff of Lucien, a beam of rainbow light burst forth, consuming Alec in a dazzling blast of multicolored energy. The beam stretched for over a hundred miles before beginning to taper off and the death-ray of radiant power lasted for over three minutes. The beam was so intense that it melted away part of the arena and nearly blinded Lucien himself. The audience were cut off from seeing what had happened beyond that moment due to the magical storm that raged during the firing of Lucien’s final magic.

The beam of light faded from the world and Lucien collapsed to the ground, exhausted and crippled by his effort. The ringing in his ears slowly fades and was replaced by a sound that chilled him to the bone.

It was a slow clapping from right in front of him.

“Most impressive! Most impressive indeed!”

The Vampire, no, the monster was nearly unharmed by the spell that had hit him. His skin has some slight traces of damage from excessive heat, but aside from the occasional minor sunburn that had appeared on him he was otherwise unharmed.

“I will keep my word. You all get to live.”

Alec floated into the sky and spread his arms wide.

“Welcome, my child, to House Nefarius! Rejoice in the knowledge that you are among the handful of mortals who can lay claim to the fact that you are truly parts of a Vampire House without being a member of the undead! Together we will delve deeper than ever before and the limits before us shall be shattered like glass! But first…”

Alec snapped his fingers and Lucien’s whole existence seemed to move in reverse. First his Magical Aura and Core returned, then his elderly body grew younger and more powerful and finally his clothes were remade in the image of Alec’s choosing. As the temporal spell ground to a halt, Lucien realized that he would never be strong enough to deal with the being that hovered before him.

Alec snapped his fingers again and every living mind within the five towers and including Lucien himself were shattered like a broken mirror and put back together again. Lucien fell to the ground and accepted this new direction in his life, as did all the others who had hid out in the five towers.

“Now then, shall we seek the ultimate and final truth together, my children?”