Tendrils of black energy begin to leak out of Zeruna, whipping around the room and forming a powerful aura. An aura as crimson as blood forms around the Vampire lord. Aldue, fearing for his life, steps aside, behind a pillar. Zeruna casts Greater Appraisal and begins to scan the skills of Caspian.

[Caspian, Level 4320
Occupation: None
Hp: 4,800,293
Mana: 3,124,923
Stamina: 4,370,000

Race: Vampire (Noble)

Titles: The Deranged, Vampire Lord, Blood Lover, The Love-sick, Eternal Beauty, Creature, The Merciless Beauty, Death Incarnate

Stats:

Melee - 12,030
Defense - 12,023
Speed - 14,203
Agility - 11,112
Finesse - 9,932
Strength - 16,034
Vitality - 15,923
Magic Attack - 5,833
Magic Defense - 13,828
Total - 110,918

Skills: Dominating Authority L14, Voice of Charm L8, Aura of Dread L12, Acid Resistance MAX, Fire Resistance L12, Curse Resistance L9, Water Resistance MAX, Falling Resistance L10, Electricity Resistance L11, Stun Resistance MAX, Ice Resistance L14, Explosion Resistance L11, Psionics Resistance L8 , Fear Resistance L14, Holy Resistance MAX, Unholy Resistance L7, Blood Wrath MAX, Ironskin L13, Blood Thirst MAX, Blood Siphon MAX, Vampiric Regeneration MAX, Paranormal Intuition L8, Parallel Thinking L13, Blood Lance MAX, Blood Magic MAX, Petrifying Gaze L11, Triplet Strike MAX, Breaker Impact MAX]

'Ah, this fight will be the first 'challenge' I have faced thus far. This is a battle I won't be able to finish with a single skill. Is it strange that I'm thinking of that Tai Lung meme: "Finally, a worthy opponent, our battle will be legendary." Honestly, that is indeed accurate. This Vampire will be the first fight. Is it just me or am I giddy? I can finally fight at full power without worry. I have no reason to hold back against this man. Well, I'm not going to let this silence stay around, am I?'

"Skill, Apex," utters Zeruna.

Immediately, an ear-splitting scream leaves Zeruna mouth as her veins bulge then turn black. Her skin becomes temporarily filled with a violet light that can be seen through her skin. The scream stops as the light fades and the veins return to normal. The sclera (whites of the eyes) had gone from white to a pitch-black colour darker than the night and her pupils had turned white. All of her stats had been boosted by 50% for 600 seconds,

She isn't holding back.

"Greater Status Boost, Quick Feet, March, Harden, Uriel, Magic Ward, Greater Luck, Infinity Wall, Lion Heart, Open Wounds, Fly, Regenerate, Greater Regenerate, Reinforce Armor, Protect, Sensor Boost, Witch Hunter's Blessing, Moon Veil, Long Stride, Bleeding Touch," Zeruna mutters. "False Appraisal."

She changes the information on her status to make herself appear as if she's level 4000. Now, if Caspian uses appraisal, he'll see his enemies stats lower than what they truly are. He'll think that the fight is more even when in actuality, he stands little to no chance.

Unbeknownst to each other, both of them had begun chanting innumerous spells, elevating their stats even higher. The room falls silent suddenly as the air thickens with power. Gently, Caspian raises himself from his seat.

'I have to try in this fight, I'll let my body guide my actions.'

Caspian's Bloodlance appears in his hands, despite the name of the skill, it looks more like a glaive than a lance. A long curved red blade connects to a red handle. The weapon itself constructed of his blood hardened into a solid form deadlier than an actual glaive.

There is a resounding boom.

The two charge from their positions, shattering the ground beneath them and launching debris into the air that seems to stop in mid-air for both of them. They were moving so fast that time seemingly stops, they've entered the 'world' between seconds. Reality halting to watch what was happening. To the average person, they'd merely see the two figures disappear and nothing else.

There is a thunderous clang as Caspian's Bloodlance crashes against Zeruna's arm blades. Caspian grins, someone can finally trade blows with him. However, his excitement end as the tips of Zeruna's blade grow and thrust themselves into his cheeks, immediately drawing blood. He jumps back, startled at the bizarre method of attack. 

Caspian kicks Zeruna in an attempt to put some distance between the two, only to have his foot caught under the Elf's arm. Zeruna withdraws her weapons from Caspian's cheeks and draws him in with a pull. Zeruna's elbow collides with Caspian's jaw pulled by the momentum of Zeruna's tug, causing the deafening boom.

Caspian soars into a wall as the suspended debris finally falls to the castle floor; however, he isn't given another moment to recover.

Zeruna immediately pulls him into her with Psionics and delivers a monumental kick into his soft stomach. He rebounds back into the wall only to be yanked back and choke slammed into the ground that cracks similarly to glass.

Zeruna steps back for a few seconds and watches Caspian lay still. He certainly isn't dead; it would take more than that to defeat someone of his level.

Caspian slowly rises to his feet to reveal his injuries: his jaw is angled inhumanely, blood flows from his mouth, and there is a head injury spewing blood. Caspian puts his hand to his jaw and snaps it back into its place. The blood from his head wound seals up less than a second later. This is the power of Vampiric Regeneration. It prevents you from getting injured but doesn't bring back your HP; only stopping when your health or stamina is at zero, or if the Vampire has large amounts of Holy energy in their bodies.

"You are more than I expected," he says. "You are certainly as powerful as you are made out to be."

"I expected more," Zeruna snarls, licking some off Caspian's blood from her face.

Caspian chuckles as his weapon returns to his hand, "Let's take this outside, shall we? I need to have my home in good condition for when my beloved awakens."

Zeruna's profile disappears, moving so fast not even Caspian's eyes could track. He attempts to predict the attack to come from the front and so he prepares for an attack in that direction.

"Skill, Fist of Mythril. Skill, Defense Breaker."

Zeruna right-hand lights up and Caspian immediately feels his body's defense drop to zero. He pivots around to see the Dark Elf barreling towards him only to fade before she reaches him.

There is another explosion-like sound as the entire wall behind the throne seemingly ceases to exist. With her skills, Zeruna had tripled her hand-to-hand damage with Fist of Mythril and lowered the Vampires defense to zero for a second. The force generated catapulted Caspian through his throne and wall, destroying both objects.

Caspian violently skids across the ground, smashing through a rock and a monster unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. His journey ends as he ploughs into the dungeon wall. The force from the hit causes the mana crystal embedded in the ceiling to shake for a few seconds.

The Vampire stands up, his injuries recovering near instantaneously. Zeruna gradually approaches him, her weapons ready. Caspian grits his teeth, the fight isn't in his favour. His weapon flies into his hand again. However, he now has a chance to injure, if not, distract the Dark Elf.

Zeruna's weapons begin to suddenly radiate a purple colour, she moves her arms and as her weapons cut through the air, they leave a trail of darkness. She enters a stance and slowly approaches; her deep black eyes staring directly forward. Blood slowly slithers across the ground, silently weaving up behind the Dark Elf.

The blood gathers into one pool ready to strike.

"I don't feel the slightest bit sorry about what I'm about to do,"

Zeruna mutters. Caspian says nothing, much to Zeruna's expectation. The Dark Elf pauses. "Heh, smart, I didn't see or hear that. We'll see what's faster, your blood magic, or me."
Blink, and you'd miss it.

Zeruna kicks off the ground, shattering it as she soars forward like a missile. Almost in sync with Zeruna's charge, the blood behind her sharply turns into spear-like spikes. Some come close to hitting her while others graze her skin and cause tiny cuts.

There is an explosion as the two figures disappear, they dash throughout the landscape, breaking rocks, shattering the earth, creating craters with every step. It was like watching a fight between two OP shonen characters. Every time Zeruna landed a hit with her fists, it would sound like a howitzer shell hitting the ground. Every time Caspian's Bloodlance parried, the clang of the materials would echo loud enough for anyone to hear. There was no sound when Zeruna's weapon cut through Caspian.

Any wound she's making, no matter how great, would seal and prevent bleeding. As they fought, Caspian's arm got cut off only to return ten seconds later as if nothing had happened.

"Check Health: Opponent," says Zeruna silently as she blocks four incoming strikes.

[Caspian's Health: 2,433,824/4,800,293.]

"Check Health: Self."

[Your Health: 7,601,015/7,633,680]

'I nearly got him down to half health while I've barely lost any. I'm not going to kill this man, I'll use his soul to free whoever's in that crystal. If she doesn't join me, that's fine, I'll free her and the girls who want to live.'

"Skill, Breaker Impact!" yells Caspian.

Zeruna suddenly feels a sharp pain in her abdomen, Caspian's skill-imbued fist is buried directly into her guts. She feels herself flying upwards with Caspian following her in the same direction. Zeruna pulls up multiple rocks to Caspian who flies uninterrupted through them. Zeruna disappears suddenly, her speed is way above his. However, there is no way she'd be able to change direction in the air. 

Teleportation.

Caspian looks below him to see Zerna hurtling towards him. There is a thunderous boom as Zeruna drives her fist directly into Caspian's chest. Her hand then opens out and she smiles.

"Skill, God's Wrath."

The ultimate skill against 'unholy creatures'. This includes Demons, Undead, Majin, Chimera, most Magical Beasts/ monsters and Vampires. However, it isn't exclusively limited to them; it works well against the other races such as humans.

A white light surges through Caspian, tearing his clothes as it courses through his body. His blood vessels light up, swell, then explode. His body is unable to regenerate his wound due to the amount of holy energy in his body. His skin tears along his veins and spews blood. Zeruna then unleashes a volley of earth-shattering punches and kicks, pummeling Caspian endlessly. There's not even a tenth of a second between each strike.

She stops.

Zeruna drops to the ground and lands gracefully like an angel. Caspian's limp body in near full paralysis crashes to the ground. He attempts to sit up only to twitch violently, more white lights move through his veins and he drops back.

'More of the rules have changed. In Chroniks, this skill would just do immense amounts of damage to opponents. Realistically, this would happen. This isn't a game anymore, so game logic won't fully apply.

"Funny, isn't it?" says Zeruna as she looks down to Caspian on the ground. "You wanted to use my soul to release the girl from her crystal prison, only to have your soul used."

"You had that skill from the start?"

"Yes, although it wouldn't have finished the fight immediately. Your hp is too high, so the effects of the skill will be less effective," replies Zeruna. 

"This is not how it is supposed to– AARGH!" Caspian tries to stand, this time getting to one knee before collapsing. "I will get my beloved–"

Zeruna's foot slams onto Caspian's back, pushing him back into the dirt, "Yeah, no, that's not going to happen. I know how you've kept yourself alive down here. It disgusts even me, keeping girls, draining them, keeping them alive barely, feeding them monster parts. I don't know if this will actually kill you, maybe your soul will remain forever lost or maybe you'll die."

"My beloved is waiting for me! I won't allow myself to die here!"

"You aren't going to die here, in this spot at least."

The crystal containing that girl needs to be opened with a powerful soul. Who better to than Caspian himself. Although he doesn't deserve such a merciful end. For a moment, Zeruna considered using Ragnarok on the Vampire as a follow-up but decided against it when she remembered the crystalised girl.

The Dark Elf's mind is already buzzing and whirring with possible ideas as to who the identity of this person is. She hauls Caspian over her shoulder and begins flying towards the castle. He is still unable to move and thus cannot resist. 

'A Devil in a crystal? What bizarre events would have lead up to that? If she agrees to join me, she'll probably make a good Child of Chaos. If she isn't combat-oriented, that won't be a problem. I'll still allow her to join if she so chooses.'

We have another big boi of a chapter, at least compared to my others. I actually published an unfinished version of this chapter briefly while I was proofreading. I was fast enough to delete it so nobody would see the mangled mess of the chapter that I was still midway through fixing. I'm happy no one saw it and thought it was the finished product. God almighty was it broken. 

It way still be a bit messy in areas that I haven't noticed, but I hope not. I also struggled coming up with a good title for the chapter so I called it 'the fight'. I know, creative right?

Anyway, I can't wait until the next chapter (I sound like a reader). Prepare yourselves.