Chapter 91 : Breaking the queens pride (2)
Elizabeth watched Arthur quietly, then smiled.
"Well, that was really impressive," she said. "But it still won’t be enough to defeat me."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"But I can’t say I didn’t find it interesting," she continued. "I can tell you’re still human... but it feels like I’m standing in front of a vampire."
She tilted her head.
"Well, it doesn’t matter anymore," she said. "You will die either way."
In the next second—
A wave of mana exploded from her body.
The air behind her twisted.
Crimson liquid rose from nowhere, gathering and solidifying.
Hundreds of blood spears materialized in the air, each one razor-sharp, hovering in a deadly formation like a crimson storm waiting to be unleashed.
Elizabeth lifted a single finger.
Then flicked it.
The blood spears shot toward Arthur all at once.
The air screamed as they tore through it.
Arthur’s eyes sharpened.
He watched the incoming spears, their speed almost impossible to track.
"Let’s try this," he muttered.
He raised his hands.
Blood Control.
The trait he had just gained from his evolving bloodline.
He focused.
The spears were made of blood.
That meant—
They were within his domain.
He clenched his fists slightly.
Several of the spears trembled mid-flight.
Their trajectories wavered.
Then—
Ten.
Fifteen.
Almost twenty of them abruptly twisted to the side, colliding with one another and shattering into red mist.
The crowd gasped.
He had actually interfered with Elizabeth’s attack.
But—
That was his limit.
The rest of the spears, still in the hundreds, surged toward him with lightning speed.
Arthur clicked his tongue.
"Tsk."
From above, Elizabeth smiled.
"Her control over blood is leagues above mine," Arthur thought, eyes narrowing as he kept his gaze forward. "I’ll need more practice to increase my mastery."
The spears closed in.
Just as they were about to impale him—
Arthur spoke.
"Use Blink."
In the next instant—
He swapped places with Elizabeth.
Space twisted.
Arthur vanished from where he had stood.
Elizabeth suddenly found herself in his place—
Right in the path of the spears.
Boom.
The impact was deafening.
Dust and blood exploded into the air.
The arena shook.
Arthur, now at the side, raised his arm to shield his eyes from the dust cloud.
"That must’ve done at least some level of damage," he thought. "It was far too close to dodge completely."
Everyone in the crowd held their breath.
As the dust slowly settled—
An astonishing sight came into view.
The blood spears—
Were frozen in mid-air.
Just a few millimeters away from Elizabeth’s body.
Each one stopped at the last possible moment.
Not a single one had pierced her.
Arthur’s eyes widened.
"Wow..." he said under his breath. "She really does deserve the title of their queen."
Elizabeth looked at him calmly.
"Cheap tricks won’t work on me," she said.
In the next second—
Dark energy gathered in her hands.
It swirled, compressed, and twisted into shape.
Two dangerous, ominous-looking guns materialized in both of her hands, forged entirely from dense black energy. Their form was sleek but brutal, with barrel-like openings that seemed to swallow the light around them.
Just looking at them—
Sent a chill down Arthur’s spine.
"She’s playing with me," he thought.
Then she pulled the trigger.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Black bullets of compressed energy shot out with incredible speed, each one strong enough to punch a hole through solid stone.
Arthur moved.
He sprinted across the arena, his body reacting at the edge of its limits.
The first bullet grazed past his shoulder, leaving a burning sensation on his skin.
He ducked.
Rolled.
A second bullet ripped through the air where his head had been a heartbeat earlier.
He twisted his body sideways, his feet barely touching the ground as he used every ounce of his agility and reflexes to stay ahead of the barrage.
Bullets slammed into the arena floor behind him, blowing chunks of stone and sand into the air.
Sometimes—
He came dangerously close to getting hit.
One shot flew so close past his ribs he felt the air itself cut him.
Another passed just under his chin.
Elizabeth laughed maniacally from her position.
"Yes!" she shouted. "Entertain me more!"
Her guns kept firing.
And Arthur kept running.
Dodging.
Bullets of black energy tore through the air around Arthur, ripping chunks out of the arena floor as he ran.
He ducked under one.
Twisted past another.
Rolled as a third one passed just inches above his back.
Each shot was precise.
Relentless.
Elizabeth laughed as she fired.
But despite the barrage—
Arthur was slowly closing the distance between them.
Step by step.
"Too slow like this..." he thought.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"Activate Berserk... and Omnicognition."
The system responded instantly.
[ Berserk – Activated ]
[ Omnicognition – Activated ]
A violent surge of power exploded inside his body.
His muscles tightened.
His heartbeat thundered.
[ Berserk : All physical and mental stats has been multiplied by 500%. ]
[ Omnicognition: Thought speed increased. Parallel calculations enabled. Threat analysis engaged. ]
His speed and strength skyrocketed.
At the same time—
His mind shifted.
Thoughts that would normally have taken seconds to form now flashed by in fractions of a moment.
Angles. Distances. Timings.
His brain began processing dozens of variables at once.
Bullet speed.
Elizabeth’s firing rhythm.
The way her wrists moved before she pulled the trigger.
The pattern of her breathing.
The recoil of each shot.
In the middle of the chaos—
Arthur suddenly stopped running.
To the vampires watching—
It looked suicidal.
Bullets were still flying at him.
But from his perspective—
The world had slowed down.
He could clearly see the trajectory of each bullet.
He watched them cut through the air, their paths predictable.
"There... there... and there..." he thought. "Easy."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.
He stopped moving.
He was just standing there.
"What are you doing?" she sneered. "Giving up already?"
Arthur took a step forward.
Not a sprint.
Not a dash.
He walked.
Calmly.
Confidently.
Elizabeth’s expression shifted.
She aimed both guns directly at him and fired.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
But Arthur’s body moved with minimal effort.
A slight tilt of his head—
The bullet passed by his cheek.
A small twist of his torso—
Another shot went past his ribs.
A simple shift of his foot—
A third shot missed his thigh by a hair’s breadth.
To the crowd—
It looked impossible.
He was barely moving.
Yet none of the bullets were hitting him.
As if he already knew exactly where every shot would go.
Elizabeth’s smile faded.
Her playful attitude began to crack.
She clicked her tongue.
"Tch."
The guns in her hands began to change.
The dark energy swirled, the two pistols merging together as the barrels stretched, twisting into a longer, more massive form.
In her hands now—
Was a rifle made of pure black energy.
Heavier.
More lethal.
She lifted it with ease and aimed.
Then fired.
The first shot was different.
Faster.
Stronger.
Arthur barely dodged it this time, his body tilting back as the bullet grazed the front of his shirt and tore through the space just in front of his chest.
But that small movement—
Was enough.
He closed the distance in the same instant.
To everyone watching—
He seemed to disappear and reappear right in front of her.
Dust burst up around them from the previous impacts, partially obscuring the view.
Hidden within that curtain of dust—
Arthur moved.
Elizabeth braced herself.
"He’s going to go for a fatal blow," she thought.
She shifted her weight, ready to counter with her hands at the ready.
But instead—
A sharp sound echoed through the colosseum.
Paah!
The sound of a slap.
Clear.
Crisp.
It rang across the silent arena.
The dust cleared just enough for everyone to see.
Arthur’s hand was still raised.
Elizabeth’s head was slightly turned to the side from the impact, a faint red mark forming on her cheek.
Arthur’s voice followed, calm and steady.
"This is the first one."
Elizabeth’s gaze darkened.
The playful glint in her eyes vanished completely.
The crowd stared in disbelief.
A human—had just slapped their queen.