When the sun rose the next morning, the grand mansion of the Baskerville family had been completely destroyed by the flames that suddenly engulfed it overnight.

No survivors were found, human or vampire. The only person witnessing such a scene stood away from the wreckage. At the top of the hill, Vast panted heavily, yet in complete silence. His eyes fixed on the fire for a long time.

I can't stop... He inhaled and exhaled three times, very slowly.

His clothes were quite destroyed, but he wouldn't give them up — not yet. He had until the end of the day today to reach the Tower, if the calendar he found while fleeing was correct.

The upside was that the goal was right ahead, practically. About five hundred meters away was the entrance to the Conqueror's Tower.

From a distance, it was large, but up close it was staggering. A structure comparable in area to a castle, and whose maximum height was not even visible, as it had long since exited the atmosphere. Perhaps it connected to another planet; dimension or reality. He would only know if he climbed it, which was an unthinkable act in itself.

"Just a little further." He started walking, with short, quick steps. "Just one more thing. Just this to resolve and I'll be there. Finally, I'll be there..."

The missing sleeve of his clothes revealed his partially charred arm, the garment in the same partially damaged state. The wound caused by the dagger still bled a little, and his face was that of someone who hadn't slept well in days. Still, he stood tall; respectable to those who looked. The situation was only in appearance, for he was still Vast Los Filho.

"The Prince of Von Legurn" said the voice of the heartthrob, impressed. "Or do you prefer I call you Poor Prince?"

Three hundred meters was the distance that separated Vast from the entrance to the Tower. Now, the expected last obstacle appeared. Displaying his abdomen reflecting the sunlight like a mirror, Eduardo stood in his path.

Unsurprised, Vast merely analyzed that aura initially.

Original Vampire

Strength 84/100

Agility 50/100

Intelligence 65/100

At his current level, he might be able to match in brute strength for a while, but prolonging the fight would be unwise. The same applied to agility.

As for intelligence, he was sure Carmilla's was higher, while Diego's wasn't far from that level. However, considering Eduardo was an Original, thinking that his mastery of his own ability would be equivalent to that of a Descendant just by assessing the numbers was akin to asking for death.

"Congratulations on staying alive" said the vampire, smiling. "But you know you're not getting past here, right?"

"I've lost count of how many said that, and yet here I am."

"Tsk! You're a pretty dull guy. Never did theater, did you? Your actions lack the drama needed to act alongside me!"

In the time it took to cook instant noodles, Eduardo removed his shirt and basked completely in the sun. As he had explained, the [Sonne] ability immediately kicked in. His body became a bright spot, almost as if he were an NPC with a special quest — to Vast, he really was.

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The reflected light was slowly converted into shapes similar to people. Figures of light emerged from the vampire's body with no sign of stopping, and if nothing was done, soon there would be a legion, and shortly after, an army of light men.

"The Tower will be mine! Once I completely master this ability and become immune to the sun, there won't be a Cursed one capable of..."

His pointless monologue was interrupted by a thud. Ten of the light soldiers in the front were thrown away by the swing of one of the prince's weapons.

The nunchaku retracted, the chain thick on his forearm. A fatal blow for ordinary people, and apparently effective against those things as well.

They're literally made of light, they're light, practically weightless. But I don't think this guy would create weak creatures for no reason. It's better not to be touched by them.

Vast spun the nunchaku again and hurled one end. The stick flew without distance limit like a spear, just as deadly. Three, five, seven, twelve! Several bright soldiers were impaled one after another as he made his way to the commander.

When he reached him, amber eyes aimed at the staff for a brief moment, and with a muffled thump, the weapon was stopped by the vampire's bare hands.

Damn! Vast pulled, but the red chain tensed to the point where it became dangerous to break.

"You interrupted me in the middle of my speech..." he complained in a murmur. "Ugh! Indeed, you are the worst actor I've ever seen."

He glanced beyond his small army, directly at the only enemy he fought against. The reaction from him, in turn, was to protect his face with his arms.

In an instant, the prince disappeared from where he stood, his whereabouts discernible by following the trail left by his body. He was thrown back, or rather, pushed by Eduardo's almost invisible attack.

He collided with the ground a few times, stopping after almost a hundred meters. His body was pinned by his nunchaku, its other end thrown at him, securing him as he rolled along the ground.

Without much trouble, he transformed the blood into liquid form, hardening it back into the chain shape in the next instant, just in time!

As soon as he got up, the 90-degree body tilt avoided the pair of sharp-nailed fingers aiming for his eyes.

"Don't forget! [Sonne] is just my little special ability." Eduardo grabbed Vast by the neck. "I'M STILL AN ORIGINAL VAMPIRE!!"

T U S H !!!

U U M S

Vast was violently buried into the ground, maintaining consciousness fueled by hatred to be able to dodge those fingers that repeatedly attempted to pierce his eyes.

With a slight loosening of the grip on his neck, he freed himself from the vampire's cold hand and assumed an attack position. The first impulse targeted the stomach, rising with a perfectly placed knee.

Eduardo frowned, but then smiled. The light reflected by his body ceased to generate soldiers and instead created small arm-sized spears. A total of three pierced the leg used to hit him.

Vast recoiled, retreating with a long jump backward. The spears — more like giant toothpicks — dissolved into small particles of light. As usual, rivers of blood began to flow.

Enveloped in the healing aura, Eduardo's minimal fatigue was restored. Satisfied, he sighed and aimed at the prince. The light soldiers continued to emerge from his body without pause.

"You're truly an intriguing person. I thought your Curse was based solely on brute force multiplication, but it seems you're also capable of manipulating your own blood."

Vast didn't divert his attention from Eduardo, luckily he didn't need to.

He discovered this feat during two fights he had against Descendants, one of them against Diego. Density and direction of blood were things he could control with a little concentration, and the same applied to shaping the blood's form, like when he created the key to escape the mansion. In the end, the meditation training he underwent while imprisoned proved to be much more useful than expected.

Eduardo continued:

"Your Cursed blood seems to be poisonous to Vampires. Now, does this apply to all Cursed ones? Are they all capable of manipulating their own blood? Are they all poisonous? It's something I'd really like to study more deeply..."

Vast couldn't deny the interest in such questions, but he was far from being the guinea pig to uncover all the answers.

Knowing the capabilities of his blood, Eduardo would never let Vast force him to drink his blood, but he also would never use such a tactic. Considering each other's abilities, the prince arrived at a simpler conclusion than he had expected.

"There's no way around it. You may be curious..." He pulled the nunchaku with his left hand, pointing the Crinsom Shooter at the vampire's face with the other. "But the guinea pig here is going to be you."

"Oho! I like what I see! Looks like you're getting the hang of acting!"

The ecstasy on the vampire's face was evident — it reminded him of Diego. Both became researchers in the midst of battle.

For the first time in history, a Cursed one challenged an Original Vampire, the supreme life form, to a battle to the death. The prize was, besides absolute victory, free passage to the infamous Conqueror's Tower!