Vast prepared to advance. With his left hand, he tossed the nunchaku into the air, distracting Eduardo for a brief moment. The Atirador Rubro fired at the same time, a projectile defended by the vampire using the palms of his hands as a shield.

The prince surged forward. Distracted by the shot, there was little time for Eduardo to react when his opponent appeared beside him, landing a punch squarely on his jaw. He didn't go flying only because he dug his legs into the ground.

Vast didn't have time to execute a sequence of blows because of the light soldiers. He still feared the effect of their touch. He retreated, and when the nunchaku returned to his hands, he performed another sweep of those beings by hurling the baton.

Twenty eliminated in total, but soon replaced. Eduardo became a veritable factory of those things, creating them incessantly.

He doesn't tire, does he? How long will he keep this up?

The vampire was capable of manipulating all the light that directly hit his exposed skin. Such a limit was obvious because the clones emerged only from his torso, none from the waist down — the part that remained clothed.

Just like the Curses, there must be some kind of weakness in the ability. It was the prince's hope, at least. Until he discovered what it was, he had to continue testing while avoiding deadly blows.

The blood manipulation didn't allow him to heal wounds, obviously, but it did give him greater control over the destiny of his own blood. It served very well to "staunch" wounds, in a way. Hemorrhaging was something he could ignore for the moment.

Ceasing the creation of soldiers, Eduardo used the light to slice through blocks of earth large enough to bury a kitchen. The supernatural strength evidenced by lifting such things easily and hurling them at Vast.

One after another, the prince dodged them, always seizing any opportunity to ensnare one of the blocks with the nunchaku and hurl it back at the vampire.

A brief exchange ensued. Neither of them seemed intent on closing in for hand-to-hand combat, and the reason became obvious in the next instant.

Vast felt a hand land on his shoulder, followed by a burning sensation that didn't ignite into flames thanks to his instant reaction. One of the light soldiers surprised him, defeated with a single shot from the Atirador Rubro, but it left its mark.

Understood. Beings made of condensed light at such a high level… Well, it could be worse.

Burns. If the contact had lasted more than a second, the flesh on his shoulder would have been devoured, leaving the bone exposed. The heat was intense enough to make a volcano resemble a relaxing thermal pool.

It's practically a sun… Each of these soldiers, they possess the power of a tiny living sun!

Touching them was definitely the worst thing to allow to happen. In fact, a quick analysis by the prince allowed him to identify another problem related to them.

It seemed that not only heat was a property but also light. The soldiers were sources of light in themselves. Eduardo, in turn, absorbed light and expelled it in the form of more soldiers. In other words…

Each one will only increase his power. The sun is just the main source; after that, it wouldn't help to sever that contact, as the soldiers would already act as new sources of light for him to absorb.

Eduardo didn't seem to realize this because his concern about remaining exposed to the sun itself was evident. Furthermore, none of the soldiers touched him directly after being created.

An idea sprouted in Vast's mind, and he promptly put it into practice. He lassoed one of the nearest soldiers with the nunchaku and hurled it accurately toward the vampire, who avoided the projectile with a sideways leap.

He dodged!? Wide-eyed, Then he can also be affected by heat?

It was only the first assumption that came to mind, but there seemed to be no reason for him to dodge other than this.

"What audacity you have."

TUMPH! The direct punch to the face muffled by his arms. Unlike before, Vast didn't go flying. On the contrary, he had the chance to counterattack with a knee and a jab, both avoided. He finished with blood shots.

Eduardo dodged them or received them with the palm of his hand, protected by a small disk of light that was then thrown right back at him. A sharp blade that became invisible halfway, scraping against the prince's face.

The soldier's throw prompted Eduardo to engage in close combat immediately afterward. In response, Vast used his blood to create gloves, hopeful that they would protect him if he needed to punch one of the soldiers.

An intense exchange of blows began, too fast for onlookers to follow. In reality, it seemed more like a tactic to occupy time in the fight and make it more epic, as it lasted no more than ten seconds.

The vampire grabbed Vast's arm and, in a spin worthy of a Beyblade, launched him into the air. The light spears protruding from his body were thrown at the prince still in midair.

Vast spun the nunchaku in front, a kind of propeller that served to deflect the projectiles, but not to block the lateral attack.

Eduardo took the lead in the battle, seemingly no longer afraid of the Cursed blood.

"You're pretty good at avoiding my blows" he exclaimed, ecstatic. "Have you been training?"

"Fighting someone who can predict the future changes your perspective."

But even as he said this, he could never claim to be in the lead.

The blood gloves were overcome by the vampire's brute force. The coagulated blood or nunchaku couldn't reflect light blows as it did with Diego's kicks. Moreover, the worst thing was that Eduardo showed no interest in sucking Vast's blood.

As time passed, the situation went from bad to worse. Hand-to-hand combat, tests of Eduardo and the prince against each other, and then a separation between the two, where the vampire gained the advantage.

In that moment, they were in the last situation. Eduardo withdrew after testing what he wanted, surrounding himself with the light soldiers again. Meanwhile, the prince did his best to keep the blood in his body.

"It's strange… Normally, my opponents die during the exchange of blows." Eduardo scratched his chin, satisfied. "You're much more balanced than most, a pity for you that the healing aura only works on others."

Misfortune for the prince. If the healing affected him, then things would be very different. Although it was only in his head, Eduardo admitted that, in this hypothetical situation, Vast would have a great chance of defeating him.

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The soldiers… they really never stop coming.

Vast noticed that small detail, one that apparently not even Eduardo had realized.

He's not conserving any energy. Even though the soldiers serve as new sources of light, it only makes him generate more and more replicas at the same time. He's not accumulating anything at all.

The reason for this could be many, but among the possibilities, Vast considered two: Eduardo had no intention of storing energy against him.

Eduardo was not capable of storing energy.

The vampire himself admitted that he lacked control over his own ability, so [Sonne], until now, was limited to creating light men, spears, and anything else capable of harming the opponent on direct contact.

An advantage for Vast, but it made him even more hurried. If Eduardo discovered a way to store [Sonne] energy for a more powerful attack or a different technique, it would be fatal for the prince.

It was a child discovering his powers against someone who feared the notable advancement of these discoveries.

"So, what do you say? Are you ready to give up?" said the vampire, proud. "I'll have the slightest bit of mercy if you do."

The soldiers began to appear faster, ready to turn the opponent into a roasted chicken quickly.

The prince, arms hanging by his side, simply stared at them for a long time. The legion doubling in size every time he blinked. His mind exhausted, but not completely. Of all he had done so far, the risky tests in that fight, there was still one thing he could do.

He glanced at Eduardo one last time. Those amber eyes eager to trap him there forever, to turn him into a fossil that would serve as an example for the next ones.

He said nothing to the enemy he barely knew, and ironically knew better than anyone.

In an instant, he bolted. His destination was not forward, but to the side, drawing a brief confused look from Eduardo.

Vast ran through the field without stopping, a kind of lone racehorse training for the test of his life. The trail of blood left behind, probably from open wounds.

He must be out of ideas. In that case…

Eduardo smiled, victorious. The time provided by the prince allowed him to create more soldiers.

"I understand! There's something allowing me to create many more soldiers than usual. But where exactly is this energy coming from?"

With just the sun, he created five soldiers at a time, but now he was capable of giving birth to ten at once. He wanted to understand how this worked and would seek understanding through the defeat of that persistent enemy.

Vast completed a lap around Eduardo, a considerable area — equivalent to a city block. Then, he leaped in a straight line, using the blood gloves to knock some of the soldiers out of his way.

The vampire reacted differently. There was already an army of over two hundred soldiers surrounding him, so it was time to attack.

The light spears burst forth from his body without pause, an unparalleled barrage — it became a living machine gun. However, contrary to what he imagined, Vast didn't dodge the spears. He allowed them to hit him regardless of where they struck, totally focused on dodging the soldiers.

What is he doing…!? Eduardo intensified the number of spears, but it was too late.

Vast was already right in front of him. The projectiles that hit him didn't penetrate beyond the most superficial layer of skin, even though the first ones had literally passed through his body from one side to the other.

In the brief moment they faced each other, Eduardo understood. The veins protruding all over the prince's body revealed his strategy. During the advance, he manipulated every drop of blood in his body, ceasing circulation and hardening the liquid at crucial moments so that his shots were softened.

It was as if a bunch of needles had hit him while he ran, nothing more than a small passing pain compared to what the sacrifice had given him.

The Atirador Rubro aimed at Eduardo's torso, but the shot wasn't straight. A shower of blood formed in front of the vampire, who before he realized it was completely bathed in cursed blood.

He wants to force me to swallow it?

Perhaps his intention was to test if contact with the blood on his skin would cause the same burning effect, but it had long been obvious that it wasn't the case. Moreover, after so much fighting, it seemed impossible that Vast would risk everything on such a foolish move as trying to force him to drink his blood.

There was something behind it, but his mind was incapable of thinking what.

Tsc! The hand came in a downward attack, wanting to smash the bloodied face against the ground. It failed.

Vast dodged the soldiers with some difficulty, struck by a touch here and there, but nothing that worsened his situation too much. In a few moments, he was already out of reach of the army.

Eduardo shook his body like a dog trying to dry off, but the blood had hardened in such a way that turned him into a red puppet, covered from head to toe.

"You're full of tricks, aren't you? Could you be a bit less disgusting? Just look at me! An actor can't be like this!"

His biggest complaint seemed to be with his torso. The blood had turned him into a plank, hiding that impeccable physique. No matter how hard he scraped, not even his ridiculous strength could remove the dried blood.

Tsc! This is a problem!

He aimed at Vast, his eyes gleaming with someone who had achieved his goal.

He had understood the enemy's intentions, unfortunately when it was already too late. The blood completely blocked the sun. With absolutely no exposed skin, both noticed the immediate cessation of the production of light soldiers.

He must want to get rid of these creatures to face me directly. It's an interesting strategy, but he can't defeat me just with that.

In addition to the vampire's own regeneration, his body and the fatigue accumulated throughout the fight were completely recovered by the effects of the prince's Curse. Each wound on him flooded Eduardo with a warm and welcoming aura, like the arms of an unparalleled love in the world.

He wanted to shout to Vast that his defeat was obvious and inevitable, but he became unable to. Not because his throat was also covered in blood or anything else, but because of that look. The determination still etched on the destroyed face of someone who valued his appearance so much.

What's this guy's plan? Is he going to destroy the soldiers? He squinted, analyzing every move the enemy made. Is he going to advance? Retreat? Shoot? No…

He smiled, impressed. No matter how much he tried to predict, it was impossible to know what that man would do next. Yes, because he was undoubtedly his most powerful opponent yet.

Vast leaned on just one leg, raising the other to the sky's limits like sumo wrestlers intimidating their opponents before the fight began. And, as expected, that leg descended like a meteor, crashing into the ground so forcefully that it caused a shallow earthquake in the area.

Eduardo saw everything tremble intensely and was briefly glad because thanks to that Vast wouldn't notice the tremor of his own body when he came face to face with those black eyes staring at him from afar, still united with that calm and determined voice.

"This ends here."

He raised the Crinsom Shooter to chest height, revealing a strip of coagulated blood attached to the tip of the long metal barrel.

Surrounded by his own soldiers from all directions, Eduardo couldn't follow the strip beyond the area where the prince was. However, he understood everything the next instant.

With the other end of this same red strip in his other hand, Vast tied a knot at the beginning of it. It was a loop, which he pulled with all his might, revealing what was caught in it.

The soldiers began to collide with each other, quickly crushed to the point of occupying the same space at times. In the short span of two seconds, all Eduardo saw was an inescapable wave of beings made of pure light converging toward him.

Slap! The sound echoed as the blood rope tensed completely. With that turn he gave around the vampire, Vast was able to leave a trail of blood wherever he went, creating a circle around the opponent. When coagulated, a lasso was created, which now crushed Eduardo against his own creations.

"YOU'RE FUCKED!!!"

From where he was, Vast only heard the sound of burning flesh. He held the rope tight so that it would be impossible for Eduardo to escape from that oven he had created himself.

The vampire groaned and screamed in pain as he was baked from the inside out. The layer of blood was like sand, and the heat generated by the contact of the soldiers with this layer redirected the heat inward.

The smell of roast increasing so fast that his nose no longer processed it. His eyes unable to see his own downfall, for it was through them that the smoke found a way to escape. The regeneration he was so proud of did not keep up with the pace at which his body burned.

"I CAN'T DIE!!! NOT LIKE THIS!! I… I AM… I AM SO FUCKING HOT…!!"

Engulfed in a sudden burst of flames, the world suddenly became silent for Eduardo, while Vast had the pleasure of hearing a short but intense explosion at the center of that small artificial sun, complete with a last beam of light, bathed in the crimson generated by the union of both bloods.

As the smoke rose and the smell of meat and blood dominated the air, the light soldiers disappeared. Still, Vast remained alert.

Gathering all the blood from the strip back into the Atirador Rubro, he approached slowly, his weapon constantly aimed at a blood cocoon still present in the area.

When close enough, he fired a shot. The cocoon in the shape of a human silhouette disintegrated instantly, revealing the completely empty interior, allowing Vast to also notice a dense mist mixing with the dark smoke.

Burnt in several parts of his body, with his precious clothes destroyed and blood covering him from head to toe, Vast raised his head to the sky and let out a long sigh.

"What a waste of time."

That day, there was an impact that would soon shake the rest of La Serva like never before. One of the Original Vampires, the bright knight; Eduardo, was eliminated.