Melia glanced at Aiden, who was rushing towards her, and then, the ring on her finger shone and a white longsword appeared in her hand.

“I didn’t think you would be a Body Cultivator,” Aiden muttered as he noticed Melia taking out her sword instead of preparing a spell.

“I am not. I am Mana Cultivator.”

Melia replied with a calm look on her face.

“Heh. And you are planning to fight against a Body Cultivator head-on? Maybe I overestimated you.”

Aiden, who was already in front of Melia laughed.

“Are your friends not moving yet?” Melia, however, seemed unusually calm.

This calm attitude of hers put Aiden on edge, his sword moved and slashed, trying to behead Melia in one move. There was no way a Mana Cultivator could fight against him head-on, after all.

“Why would they bother joining in? If it is a close-range battle, I alone, am enough!”

He exclaimed.

*Clank*

Melia simply blocked his attack and then parried his sword. Aiden lost his balance, Melia then aimed at his chest. Aiden dodged her sword and then jumped back, creating distance and regaining his balance.

This time, Melia rushed forward.

Yes, she, as a Mana Cultivator, closed the distance with a Body Cultivator,

*Clank*

Aiden blocked her attack and then slashed his sword.

This time, Melia stepped back.

Aiden’s speed, however, suddenly got faster, he moved forward and his sword slashed her arm.

Melia didn’t care.

A small wound like this, her regeneration would take care of it as if it was nothing.

That was the ridiculous advantage the Vampires had, small wounds like these were absolutely useless against them.

Melia rushed towards Aiden again,

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

The two of them continued to exchange blows and the more time passed, the more Aiden frowned in confusion.

How?

Just how in the hell was this still going on?

Why can he not push Melia away?

She was clearly a Mana Cultivator.

Whether it was speed or strength, he was superior in both cases.

Then why was Melia not down yet?

Why was she still blocking all his attacks and is even attacking him whenever she gets a chance?

Suddenly, Aiden attention fell on Melia’s eyes.

Her crimson eyes were shining brightly.

No, it was not an illusion, or not because of how focused Melia was, her eyes were actually shining.

Aiden then noticed something,

His reaction speed, for some reason, his reaction speed was a lot slower than normal.

*Clank*

Aiden blocked Melia’s sword that was about to reach his neck, he then realized that if he had stepped forward before, he could have blocked this attack way before her sword got this close to him, not only that, he could have even used Melia’s disrupted balance to attack her, but for some reason, he didn’t do it.

No, it was not like he didn’t do it, but he couldn’t.

His mind… it couldn’t calculate that fast enough.

And that horrified Aiden.

He had spent all his life training his sword, he had been into countless fights, and he had reached the point where his body would move in the most efficient way before he himself could think about it.

How can someone like him… fail to calculate a simple move like this?

Aiden’s eyes fell on Melia’s red eyes again.

“You… what have you done to me?”

He questioned.

Melia, however, didn’t reply, she just continued attacking,

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

Aiden finally noticed something else as well.

Their swords clashed as Aiden blocked Melia’s attacks.

In the starting, he was the one who was attacking Melia continuously, his advantage was clear and some of his attacks even passed through her defenses, wounding her in the process, however, as more and more time passed, the position started changing as well.

His advantage started vanishing, Melia started blocking more and more of his attacks and soon, she was the one attacking.

*Clank*

Aiden blocked another attack and jumped back.

He needed some time to think about the current situation. All of this was not only confusing but strangely unnerving as well.

Melia, however, didn’t give him any time and rushed forward again.

*Clank*

Aiden was forced back again.

*Clank* *Clank* *Clank*

Melia unleashed a series of attacks again, Aiden used his swords to block all those attacks but then,

*Slash*

One attack passed through.

Aiden failed to estimate the timing correctly, and Melia’s sword grazed his shoulder.

Of course, it wasn’t a big injury or something like that.

It was just a minor scratch.

But the fact that Melia, a Mana Cultivator, actually managed to hurt him, a Body Cultivator, in a close-range battle, without using any spells,

That was what took Aiden back.

The battle, from his advantage, to a deadlock, and now it has shifted to Melia’s advantage.

There was definitely something wrong here.

Melia’s red eyes shined again.

‘Don’t look into her eyes!!’ Aiden shouted inwardly.

He didn’t know what it was, but those red eyes were unnerving.

Aiden tried to turn away and look at Melia’s sword instead, but for some reason, he couldn’t convince his eyes to look away. Even after closing his eyes, he could still feel that stare.

Those bright Crimson eyes…

Aiden found himself lost in them…

His reaction speed got even slower and Melia’s sword broke through his defense again,

*Slash*

Then, again,

*Slash*

And again.

*Slash* *Slash* *Slash*

Soon, Aiden’s body was covered with sword marks, Melia’s attacks got faster and faster, and Aiden found it difficult to parry them all.

“I feel like this is the second time I am saying this to you,

But you people are a little too confident.”

Suddenly, Melia, who had been silent throughout the battle muttered.

“Don’t forget,

The one who suggested a 100 vs 13 were not you guys,

It was Nux.”

Melia spoke, and her words for some reason, triggered a big reaction from Aiden.

It was as if he had heard these words before,

“Nux had no reason to accept such crazy conditions.

A 100 vs 13 Deathmatch, why would he accept it if he felt like he would lose?

Did you not think this through?

What if…”

“It was all a trap to begin with…” Aiden ended her sentence.

“You are sharp,

Especially considering the state you should currently be in.”

Melia complimented.

“W-What do you mean ‘the State I am in’!? What have you done to me!?” Aiden questioned as he jumped at Melia and attacked. His eyes, still couldn’t move away from Melia’s eyes.

“Anyways, you held on well,

It seems that your companions are getting restless.”

Melia muttered as she suddenly jumped back.

*BOOOOM*

Suddenly, the ground she was standing on exploded.

A red-haired woman appeared in front of Aiden and kicked him with all her strength,

“What the hell are you doing!? How can you betray the Clan!?”

“W-What are you talking about!?” Aiden shot back in anger.

Betraying the clan? What was this bitch talking about!?

“What? You think we wouldn’t know!?

At first, I thought you were just playing around with her but you are clearly going easy on her,

Your plan to act like you are fighting her till her clan members deal with other members of our clan and then you, her, and the members of ExceedoGenesis will gang up on us, it is way too obvious!

You fucking bastard, so that’s why you wanted to stop us from fighting! You were on her side from the beginning!

Just you wait! I’ll personally make you pay after we destroy this stupid plan of yours!”

“What in the hell are you talking about!? Have you lost your mind!?

How the hell would their members deal with our members!? We completely outnumber the-“

Aiden retorted, but just as his eyes fell on the Battlefield,

He froze.