Bully's second chance

"The winner of the first round is Karla Nice!" The referee announces. Serena is being taken away in a stretcher with the help of few knights.

Meanwhile, Karlos summons his magic circle and regular soil turns to into the tiles. With a single movement of his hand, all of the broken or missing tiles get replaced. 

Mikaela and Karl walk closer to her. Karl wanted to say some comfortable words for her struggle against the vampyer.

'Her defeat was certain, but at least she made an effort.' He thinks as he leans to talk to her. But Mikaela purposely pulls Karl back and crouches beside Serena.

Karl makes an annoyed look but quickly understands the situation. 'Serena needs a friend now. Mikaela and Serena must have known each other for some time and not to mention they are both girls. Hmm. They can talk more openly and provide more comfort.' With this words in mind, Karl takes a step back to let Mikaela talk.

"How did you lose?"

Karl immediately facepalms himself.

"I-I did everything. But-"

"Is this how are you going to prove those elders wrong?" Serena eyes become teary once again, she wants to argue but she knows that she lost due to her own lack of ability.

"Maybe your brother was right. Your place is in the house and the only thing you are actually good at is to look pretty, like a doll." Mikaela's words hit Serena like cold water.

"Hey, you don't ha-" Karl decides to step in.

Mikaela ignores him and walks towards the stage.

This time Karl leans to talk. "You don't have to take her words seriously. She doesn't know anything. A-"

Serena rubs her eyes and grabs Karl's hand. "That doesn't change the fact that I lost. Also, I hate to admit it but that lightbulb is correct to some extent."

Karl chuckles as he sees Serena's usual expression.

"Listen now, if Mikaela loses against that girl then you can just surrender. I don't know what but something about that girl seems strange." Serena advices as she held Karl's hand tightly.

Karl smiles at her words. "Nothing like that will happen."

Serena sees a purple glow in Karl's eyes.

"Because I am going to defeat her."

"What are you saying? I was not joking."

Karl stands up and releases her hand. "Neither was I."

Serena watches Karl's back in worry as she is being escorted to a healer. She tries to move her hands which causes a lot of pain.

"Miss Ratan, what are you doing? You are further tearing the veins. Please stop that."

Despite the knight's words, Serena brings both of her hands together. None of her fingers are straight and with her palm being crushed and pushed back into radius bone, it looks very hideous. Then she prays. 'Oh, Great Horizon! Please bless my warrior and look after him.' A vein suddenly pops which spurts a lot of blood. Yet she continues to pray for Leonard.

On the stage, the referee looks at Karla. "Karla Nice. Do you want to continue fighting or-"

"I will continue." Kalonice quickly answers.

"Very well." The referee turns to Mikaela. "State your name."

"Mikaela Lu-"

Just then Karl grabs her shoulder. "I will fight."

Mikaela turns to Karl and snaps. "What are you doing? Do you think the likes of you can beat her?"

"But I defeated you and I will defeat her too."

"On what basis? Last time, you won by a fluke. But this is different. The stakes are different. I don't want to lose like Serena. I can't afford it again."

Karl only stares at Mikaela.

"I need to prove my worth too. For that, I need to defeat you in front of everyone. So go back and sit."

Karl smirks. "Do you seriously consider that I would lose? I am stronger than you think."

"Oh? I doubt that." Mikaela taunts.

Karl pumps mana into his arms. "Want some proof?"

Suddenly a strong killing intent falls on Karl and Mikaela. They struggle to breathe."How dare you show such disrespectful behaviour in front of the sentinels?" The referee threatens.

"Quickly decide. Who is going to fight?"

"I am going." Karl looks at referee and answers.

The killing intent fades away. "This is my first and final warning to you both."

Mikaela's eyes burned with hatred as she glared at Karl. "Lose and I kill you." She whispered before leaving. Karl ignores her and looks at the referee.

"State your name."

"Leonard Avaritia."

"The second round between Black Pegasus academy and Karla Nice from The Groover and Aquilae academy begins now!"

Compared to the first round the crowd's lack of interest was more obvious. Few people even went far to leave their seats and go for a snack.

Karl immediately summons his circle and takes out the Talwar. Kalonice suddenly disappears and appears in front of Karl.

"You have no idea how much I waited for this moment." She says with a blush on her face.

Karl tries to slash Karla but misses by a huge margin.

"Not a sword user?" Kalonice asks in curiosity.

"You talk too much." Karl throws his sword at Kalonice which surprises her. Instead of dodging, she caught the handle of the sword mid-air.

She looks up and notices Karl is not there. "Behin-"

Suddenly a hand comes out for stomach and grabs the blade. Before the vampyer could understand what is happening, Karl pulls the sword back through her stomach. Kalonice quickly dashes away and grabs her stomach. Her expression was showing her pain.

"WOAHH!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"IT JUST THROUGH THE BODY!"

The crowd shouts their questions as they never saw such spell.

Kalonice smiles and stands straight. "You improved." She compliments.

"And you did not." Karl answers as he pumps mana in his arms.

Kalonice notices Karl's arms growing at an alarming rate. "That technique. Who taught you that?"

Karl immediately launches a series of pressure punches at the vampyer. Every single punch that connects with the ground shakes the entire stage. The newly placed tiles couldn't bear the pressure and cracks which creates a large dust cloud.

Seeing no resistance, Karl stops the punches and uses levitating steps to reposition at the edge of the stage. He tightly holds the Talwar in his hands, ready to parry any attacks.

CLANG! The sound of two strong metals colliding with each other echoes in the dome. It leaves an irritating deafening aftereffect. Thanks to Karl's last minute reaction and his defensive stance, he managed to block Kalonice's attack.

"Is that a weapon?"

"Of course not, you dimwit. That is a spell."

"What element is that?"

"Looks like Black ice?" 

Few people tries to guess Karla's element based on the spell she used.

Karl pushes the Kalonice back and takes look at her hands. 'Are those claws? They look similar to the claws of that black lynx.' Some kind of black ice has formed on her hands which are covered in a layer of purplish black flame.

"It is dark element." The chief confirms.

"Oh~ Haven't seen that since few decades." Lady Treypin says.

"Looks like we got some rare users this year." Karlos looks at Mikaela. "Light." Then he looks at Karla. "Dark." Lastly, he looks at Karl. "And the forbidden element of Space. Who knows? The other forbidden elemental user might be here too."

Lady Treypin chuckles at Karlos's words. "That would be too far-fetched. After all, no vampyer would be foolish enough to come here."

"I don't know about those bloodsuckers but I am more interested in the fight between light and space." The Chief expresses his thoughts.

"Again, what makes you so confident about this kid? Are you his father or something?" Karlos asks sarcastically.

"No. But I might know his little secret."

On the stage, Karl observes the claws that Kalonice formed on her hands. "Those look cool."

Kalonice raises her eyebrow at his words. "Is that a compliment?"

"Kind of." Karl uses levitating steps to appear closer to her and he swings his sword. Kalonice has a calm expression on her face as she deflects every attack from Karl by using only one claw. To others, It looks a child is trying to hit a grown and trained swordsman. Compared to Kalonice, Karl's attack are too wide and slow. Leaving too many openings.

"The footwork you use for movement. It is called as Levitating steps, right?" Kalonice asks.

"How do you-"

With the opportunity in front of her, Kalonice strikes. She uses her other hand to slap Karl's sword away. With no weapon in his hands, Karl quickly pumps mana into his arms. But he was too slow.

Kalonice grabs his neck and picks him up. "Play time is over. Be a good and listen while I am asking nicely. Marry me."

Karl struggles to breath as the vampyer strangles him. "M-Marry? A monster l-like you?" Karl's words breaks Kalonice's heart.

She releases him.

Up till now in Kalonice's life everybody has only said compliments and admirations for her beauty. Even in standards of vampires she is a top class beauty. Many men has tried to win her heart by using smooth words or exaggerated phrases. At one point she thought that everyone was lying or saying it to please the daughter of the duke. To confirm that she went to see a person whom she trust more than herself. Her grandpa and the Duke of Tenebris, the right hand of No life king.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Enter." A teenage Kalonice opens the door. Her body looks a bit fragile and skinny, her seductive figure is nowhere to be seen. The brilliant red glow of her eyes is still there with a hint of innocence. She is wearing a short gothic dress which has large ribbon on the back. "Grandpa!"

A old man who stands at 7.8 ft kneels to hug his granddaughter. Despite his old age and white hair, his skin is tight and body covered in muscles. He is wearing a pure black suit with a tie which has red patterns spread all over.

"I knew you would be holed in the study room." Young Kalonice says as she gives a little peck on the old man's cheek.

"So what's wrong my black rose? Is everything alright? Has your father said something?" Kalonice cutely shakes her head.

"No! Papa has been great. He even brought me a new book to read." The old man laughs loudly.

"Is that so? Study is important but don't forget take breaks."

"Hmm!" The old man pats Kalonice's head.

"Grandpa! I am suspicious!" The old picks the girl by the waist and puts him in his lap.

"About what?"

"Today, Charles proposed to me." Kalonice notices that the window in front of her suddenly cracked.

"Did he? We are talking about Charles Nightfallen right? The eldest son in the house of Nightfallen."

"Yes. So I asked why does he keep proposing to me. Then he told me that I am the most beautiful thing that he ever laid his eyes on."

The naive Kalonice failed to notice her surroundings, the old man started to emit a killing intent so intense that the every living being existing in 10 kilometers radius of Tenebris castle either fainted or experiencing multiple seizures. Not even the servants or people living in the castle were spared. Sadly, the only thing they could is to endure and hope that it ends. Not even in their dreams they will ever think of entering the study room to confront the cause.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY." An evil voice asks.

"I refused! Charles is as old as my father and I don't like the way he looks at me."

Kalonice looks at the face of her grandpa. The old man's tight and smooth skin is replaced by a rough and red skin. Fangs bigger than Kalonice's entire arm are poking out of his mouth. The pitch dark red eyes stare at the innocent girl. The demon growls.

"Hihihi. Grandpa looks funny." Kalonice gets comfortable and leans against her grandpa's wide chest.

"Therefore, I have suspicison that he is lying. In fact, everyone is lying. They lie to please me. Also, because I am your grand-daughter."

The killing intent fades away and the old man's heinous appearance reverts back to normal. "Ahem! I don't think anyone is lying. Afterall, you are beautiful."

"Uwah! Grandpa is lying too."

"No. It is the truth."

The young Kalonice pouts. "Hmph! I only believe because grandpa says so."

The old man lifts the girl and turns her towards him. "Listen here. Beauty is subjective. With little bit of effort anyone can be beautiful. When you will grow up and start your search for your significant other. Look for qualities which will benefit you both. Things like beauty or wealth can be obtained. But talents can only be made. Look for someone who will benefit the house of Tenebris. Someone who can take our race to newer heights. Do you understand?"

"But mother said-"

The duke raises his voice. "Do you understand?"

Kalonice is startles by the sudden change in her grandpa's voice. "Yes. I do."

The old man quickly regrets his words. He picks her up and puts her down on ground. "Don't worry about Charles. I look into him. It is still early for you think about such things. For now go and play with Yelm."

Kalonice grabs her dresses and looks up to the duke. "What if they refuse?"

"What?"

"What if. What if I fell in love with such talented person and that person refuses me?"

The old man smiles at his grand-daughter. "There is not a single mortal in this lands who would refuse my lovely black rose." The old man takes a pause. "But. If such thing were to happen. Ask again two more times. If he still refuses you or insults you in anyway. Then he is not the one for you. You are the grand-daughter of the Duke. Many talents will come for you."

"But why only two times?"

The old man pats her once more. "You will know if you meet such person."

Back on the stage, the vampyer still stands stunned. "You. You insulted me." She whispers.

"What?" Karl asks as he didn't hear properly.

Kalonice extends her hand towards Karl. "I love you. I need you. I will do anything for you. Yet you throw me away?"

"I did not ask for any of this!" Karl argues with a pressure punch. Kalonice does not dodge.

"You came on your own!" He punched again. Blood spills on ground.

"I don't need you. Go away!" Karl punched once more. That breaks her nose and Kalonice falls on the ground with tears falling from her eyes.

COUGH! COUGH! Karl starts to cough loudly as he used large amount of mana.

Kalonice slowly stands again.

Karl tries to breathe in mana but his lungs hurt with each breath. As he looks up at her, his eyes caught a glimpse of Kalonice's lifeless red eyes through the veil. The black claws vanishes.

"In few hours, I will leave this block. Please find me if you ever deicide to change your needs." With this words, Kalonice steps down from the stage.

"Karla Nice is disqualified for leaving the stage. Therefore, the winner of the second round is Leonard Avarita."