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The Vermilion Bloodline
Vol. 1, ACT 1: Awaken The Dark, Chapter 3: The Fated Duel

Vol. 1, ACT 1: Awaken The Dark, Chapter 3: The Fated Duel

I shouldn’t have said anything. I only made things worse for Fumihiro-san.

Eiji looks over to Yuuto to see him giving a thumbs up while smiling.

After classes are over, Eiji attempts to chase after Yuuto in order to apologize to him but he just dashes away as quickly as possible as if trying to avoid the long stream of apologies Eiji was about to give.

◇◇◇

Dressed in his casual clothing, a blue long-sleeve shirt and black jeans, Yuuto stands in the shade playing a mobile game while he waits for the others to arrive. 

After ten minutes of playing on his phone, Yuuto gets bored, looks up, and notices blonde spiky hair in a crowd approaching him. As Eiji exits the crowd Yuuto notices he is with Isaac.

“They look so mismatched; Mitsugi-san is wearing a green varsity jacket, while Leblanc-san is wearing a white blazer. This whole group is going to look weird isn’t it?”

When Isaac notices Yuuto, his pace speeds up as he approaches. 

Isaac bows deeply as he exclaims, “Fumihiro-san thank you for the great match during the practical exam.” Isaac goes off on a tangent about training.

Yuuto stands there with a blank expression waiting for him to stop. 

“Isaac, you’re in public. Please be a bit more quiet.”

Hearing Eiji’s words Isaac stands straight up and gasps hard.

He stands there frozen in place until a boy with short messy black hair in a grey tank top nearly runs past them.

Eiji calls out to the boy, “Yo Daisuke we’re right here.”

When Daisuke sees Isaac he sighs deeply.

“He did it again didn’t he? Damn it Isaac how many times has this been? You realize that no one outside this group is going to care about what you say right?” Daisuke lightly slaps Isaac on the back in order to snap him out of it.

Concerned with Daisuke’s words, Eiji replies, “Daisuke, please don’t encourage him, it is embarrassing since we end up standing out more thanks to it.”

Daisuke replies in a relaxed manner, “Why do you worry about such small things Eiji? When we become heroes we will be the center of attention so what difference will it make if we stand out now or later? You know if this is embarrassing what do you think it will be like when we have to do those “embarrassing” things as heroes?” 

Eiji attempts to respond but doesn’t know how.

Finally noticing Yuuto, Daisuke introduces himself, “I am Uchino Daisuke. Nice to meet you.”

“Fumihiro Yuuto, nice to meet you.”

As the group approaches the cinema, Yuuto remembers he was never told what movie they were watching.

“I have been wondering this for a bit, but what movie are we watching?”

“It’s ‘Apocalyptic Dawn,’ a cult classic fantasy story about a group of young heroes -”

Yuuto interrupts him, “That should be enough of an explanation, I don’t want it spoiled for me before I even see it. Still, will you be okay in just a tank top? It is usually freezing cold in the theaters.”

“Don’t worry Fumihiro-san, I’ll be fine.”

Ten minutes before the movie starts Yuuto notices Daisuke shivering from the cold. 

“I told you it would be freezing in here, maybe you could ask to borrow Mitsugi-san’s jacket?”

Continuing to shiver, Daisuke responds to Yuuto pretending to be fine, “It isn’t that cold in here. I’ll be fine, the movie is about to start.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

A young man stands face to face with the evil god, Orishi, in worn-out lightweight armor, full of scratches and dents, the gold linings faded, blood dripping from the deeper cuts in his armor. His breathing ragged, he draws his greatsword. Letting out a battle cry he charges toward Orishi.

Orishi laughs in contempt as he deflects Lutz Schweiger’s vertical slash and kicks him away with a side kick.

“Foolish -”

After recovering, Lutz slashes vertically and Orishi jumps back. Lutz cracks a smile, stopping his attack halfway only to suddenly thrust  his sword forward, aiming for Orishi’s heart. The surprised Orishi quickly repositions himself and parries Lutz’s thrust.

“To think I fell for a feint. Don’t think that will happen twice.”

Having parried Lutz who was wide open, Orishi knees him in the solar plexus which causes him to be flung into a wall. He gasps for breath as he slowly gets up.

“I have observed you through your travels.”

Readying himself once again Lutz charges toward Orishi and is parried again.

“Your powers have grown, but it is not enough.”

Lutz’s eyes flash azure and crimson. He uses his magic to boost his reflexes and dodge Orishi’s riposte. Casting another magic he enchants his sword with lighting. He brings it over his head to let it charge up before swinging it down. Lightning leaves the sword as it rushes to Orishi who dodges but it follows him. He laughs quietly again and takes the blow full force.

“With a bit more training you will be able to stand beside me.”

Surprised by his words Lutz creates some distance between him and Orishi.

“WHY WOULD ANYONE STAND BESIDE YOU!!!”

“Why, you ask. You are my descendant after all.”

Shock befalls Lutz, causing him to nearly drop his sword. He shakes his head and thinks back to his allies who are fighting hordes of enemies to give him this chance.

“Even if I am your descendant I will never join you! All you have brought is destruction and pain to the world.”

Lutz casts his holy magic and enchants his armor and sword as he once again charges toward Orishi. Lutz strikes Orishi’s sword forcing it in place pushing all his strength into his sword.

“But I am the one who gave this world magic, did you really believe humans were capable of evolving to use magic by themselves? Were it not for me, you would have been devoured by the elements long ago. Humanity needs a god to rule over them. Just look at the destruction they bring themselves.”

Calming down Lutz replies, “You’re wrong! Humans don’t need an evil god like you controlling us. Magic or not, humanity will survive without you!”

Jumping back a few meters Lutz casts his ultimate magic, “I practiced and perfected this magic just for this moment.” His sword shines brightly, letting out a battle cry he dashes forward and slashes Orishi who, at the final moment, drops his weapon and embraces his death.

In a whisper Orishi speaks his final words, “Shina, you have won our bet... It seems like I will be joining you soon.”

Orishi’s body disappears into specs of light as Lutz falls over from exhaustion. Lying on his back he sees the crimson tinted sky return to its original azure tint.

A few moments later Lutz’s friends rush over towards him.

The movie ends with Lutz returning to live a normal life while his companions continue to fight over who will be his first wife.

After leaving the cinema Isaac asks a question to Daisuke, “It has been bothering me for a bit but why did Lutz not decide on one of them at the end? It seems weird to me how he decided to go for a harem at the end.”

Daisuke who is focused on warming up doesn’t hear his question so Yuuto responds, “To me it seemed reasonable based on all the events and struggles that happened to Lutz so far. Each heroine had a strong bonding moment with him and by the end they all became his pillar of support especially when Orishi revealed he was his ancestor.”

“In the moment where he thought back to his allies he seemed to realize that he couldn’t be here without them and what they meant to him. Picking one in his eyes would be like a person picking only one piece of clothing to wear. Even though it would lead him to many problems later down the line he probably thought it would be the best choice. Though it might have been him being too caring or the author not wanting the fanbase to get angry. I prefer the first explanation though.”

Having warmed up enough, Daisuke responded, “Fumihiro-san is right, Lutz has feelings for all of them and couldn’t bear the thought of picking one of them-” Daisuke sneezes mid sentence. “The movie skips out on a bunch of things that the novel covered which is why the harem ending seems weird to some.”

After properly recovering, Daisuke asks the group what they thought of the movie.

“It was a great movie, the final battle however made me think for a moment, how did humanity evolve in order for us to have gained our powers?”

Daisuke stops in place after hearing Yuuto’s question. While Yuuto continues to explain his thought process.

“Our powers don’t seem like things that could be caused by natural human evolution. Super strength and speed might be possible or even powers revolving our five senses but something like gravity or explosions would be difficult to trace back to any possible event that would cause a human to evolve that way.”

After a moment of deep thought Isaac responds “Maybe it is magic, or something of that nature yet we can easily explain it scientifically. For example we can explain Fumihiro-san’s gravity power as the manipulation of gravitons yet how he can control them is only explained by a theory. If it was magic it would be easier to explain though…” Isaac begins to mumble as he trails off.

“Magic huh, I never thought of that as an explanation.”

The rest of the day passes as they discuss the movie and ponder Yuuto’s question as a group.

◇◇◇

Yuuto stands in the practice field equipped with only bracers. Soon Hinami arrives fully equipped in her flame knight gear.

Hinami laughs haughtily as she looks at Yuuto.

“Do you really think you can beat me with no gear at all? And here you are, calling me arrogant.”

Yuuto stays silent and an instructor signals the start of the duel.

Hinami launches herself forward with a thrust attack, Yuuto observes it then dodges with ease.

Hinami repositions herself quickly expecting a counter attack but nothing happens. Yuuto just stands there staring back at her.

Slightly frustrated, Hinami jumps at him with a vertical slash expecting him to dodge and catch him in her feint. However Yuuto blocks it with his bracers then jumps back a meter.

Repositioning herself, Hinami becomes angry and lets out a battle cry and swings a heavy horizontal slash towards Yuuto’s torso.

Even though the strike carried a heavy force, he parries it easily and counters with a palm strike to her stomach, sending her flying a few meters back.

Gasping for breath and feeling humiliation along with anger, she charges at Yuuto with a random flurry of attacks, which he dodges easily. Hinami does another thrusting attack, only to be parried by Yuuto again. In that moment he grabs her wrist and swings a heavy punch to her stomach. This knocks her off balance, sending her to the ground while Yuuto is still holding her by the wrist.

Yuuto calmly speaks after a moment of silence, “You lost.” 

He lets go of her wrist and she gets up quickly.

“I demand a remat-”

Yuuto releases a bloodthirsty aura as he calmly speaks to her, “You only asked for a single match, don't tell me you want to go back on your word?”

Intimidated by the aura Yuuto gives off, Hinami accepts her loss.

“You said whoever loses has to be the servant of the other forever right?”

She nods.

“Then my first order is for you to stop bullying your brother and those you believe are below you. My second order is to learn to respect others and your opponents.”

After a moment of silence Yuuto continues to speak, “You underestimated me and easily lost, if you had evaluated the situation better, this match wouldn’t have been one-sided. Never forget that overestimating and underestimating your enemy could be fatal.” 

Yuuto starts to walk away as Hinami calls out to him.

“I-is that all you are going to order me to do?”

Yuuto continues to walk away as he says, “There is one more order I will give you, don’t take any more orders from me other than the ones I gave you today.”