VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

FACING THE COMPETITION

“Erika…” barely had the words left my mouth, the blond man stepped in, putting himself between her and me, “What gives you the right to pronounce my sister’s name?! Step back now!”

“He didn’t do anything wrong, brother.”

“Nor will he ever get to do it,” the man affirmed with menacing eyes, leading his sister by the arm away from my sight.

He clipped my wings before I knew how to fly—what a disaster. I wanted to get to know that girl better, talk more with her and learn about her life. Something in her drew me in, and it was more than a simple attraction; not even Vera’s charm shook my core this much. Erika. I am sure I heard that blonde guy say it, her name.

This time her smile was gone, and darkness swallowed her whole once more.

I walked back to the room, walking past the throne chair, but I had no stomach to lose myself in its golden splendor anymore. With one look at the floor, my reflection in the crystal-clean tiles became clear, revealing the pitiful sight of a broken man that now walked in my shoes. I dared to open that Pandora’s box and the only thing it did was unleash unexpected feelings that had been trapped deep inside me.

“Where the hell have you been?” A cold bucket of water that was the voice of my colleague, Rui, was thrown onto me with no mercy, “Where’s Vera? What have you found out? Answer me, mongrel!”

In the dead of my silence, the questions kept flowing like water on a river, but those fell on deaf ears. I couldn’t stand hearing that man, especially now that my entire focus was still directed at the girl in the black dress, a dozen meters ahead of us, preparing to depart. Then something triggered in me. A second wind crept up and sprung me into action. I decided not to go down like that. I pushed Rui aside without hesitation and started to make my way through the crowd, pushing aside whoever stood in my way when, eventually, I was the one who got rolled over.

“Outta my way, shrimp!” I heard before feeling a strong grab on my shirt's collar that pushed me with such raw strength I nearly fell to the ground. "Where's that blond prick?!"

I looked up, and the first thing I saw was this huge scar cutting his eyebrow in half and ending on his cheek, miraculously missing his left eye. A face so pale it looked like he had risen from the dead and black eyes so empty of life it resembled those of a dead fish. The sight of it was undoubtedly a fierce one, yet his pale face made me wonder where I had seen the man before. That character with the rough accent continued to shout and push until everyone around simply opened the way to him. His target was Erika, and the blond guy, who seemingly was her brother.

“Let's go, Erika; that man has enough filth to fill a swimming pool,” replied Erika's brother, looking down on the rough man who had been making a scene thus far.

“Oi! Do you have a death wish, blondie?”

“I see you left your manners back in your pigsty, Vlad Drácula.”

“Oh, so you've heard of me, Blitz.”

Listening to their conversation was when it hit me. Those two were leaders of tens of thousands, the supreme commanders of Germania and Romania. They had been quiet throughout the night, making me forget all about them, yet now they threw their fangs at each other without caring who watched. The radiating aura coming out of those two exerted pressure, unlike anything I had ever felt. It glued me to the floor—their presence.

The two powerhouses competing for first place in the VR Wars competition, as well as the title of Legend, and the throne that came with it, were next to me. As I was faced with two of the most probable people to win the competition, a growing grin manifesting on my expression became more apparent. This is perfect. They saved me the trouble of having to spend all night looking for them. What I thought was fear turned into confidence.

The pressure they were giving was almost asphyxiating, and to my eyes, they seemed huge. A confrontation of giants was inevitable.

“The only thing we heard of you was how sick of a stench you gave off.”

“We?” Asked Vlad, perplexed, only to find at the same moment that Erika was at Schneider's side. "Oh! Well, what do we have here? If it isn't the lovely Red Queen. How about a dance, beautiful? Or, don't tell me you two have a bit of an incest thing going on over there, gya-he-he?”

At that moment, Erika left her brother’s shadow and stepped forward, catching Vlad by surprise by grabbing his arm and bending it to his back; the maneuver itself completely immobilized him. Then, to end it all, a kick in the back of his leg sent him to the ground. “Gyaah!”

“Don't address me so casually, Mr. Stoica!”

“Oh, I see you like it rough, gya-he-he! C’mon, let me take a little bite out of that pretty white neck. I'll make ya’ feel good! You'll see!” Laughed Vlad, kicking his legs up and down like a euphoric child.

The pathetic state of Vlad Dracula, along with his twisted personality, made me sick to my stomach, and whatever interest I had in that pale man had gone up in smoke. As hypocrite as I am, at least I can keep that hidden; this guy flashes his true self around like it’s something to be proud of…It’s not! About the same time that Schneider and other people finally intervened and asked Erika to unleash her prisoner, my curiosity was vanishing as quickly as it had risen. Not even the sight of Erika or her unexceptional prowess in hand-to-hand combat could make me stay and see the end of it.

The entire interaction held enough information as it was; it gave me a good look at their characters. The Romanian Vlad seemed reckless, Schneider wasn’t one to take chances and obvious baits, and Erika was more than what she appeared, more than just his sister, an officer, or perhaps…more. The way she had caught Vlad and everyone else off guard and disarmed him put her former self to shame, which made me ponder. She acts on instincts, a silent hunter that lures her prey into a trap! Taking into account her reaction speed alone, this woman will be trouble down the line if I get to face her.

“What’s going on Ang–”

Seemingly, as I was about to leave, with impeccable timing, my missing partner then found herself in the middle of all that mess. Admittedly the fault lay in me; I should’ve gone to look for her sooner instead of getting sidetracked by businesses whose concerns were not mine. Unfortunately, her stunning looks in this situation backfired with Vlad Dracula's attention switching from Erika to my partner.

“Ohohoh! What a beauty!” He acknowledged, getting himself up with lightning speed and dismissing his former targets completely. “Where have you been all my life?”

“Ugh! Get away from me, you creep.”

“Pff…ha-ha-ha,” at her reaction, I failed to hold back my laugh. Honestly, I should’ve tried harder to restrain myself.

“Oi, are you laughing at me, shrimp?” He asked, diverting his attention onto me but putting his hands on Vera. “What the– Ouch!”

Shrimp? This guy’s barely ten centimeters taller than I am…does he think he’s a giant that can stomp everyone in his way? Being at the receiving end of all his malicious intent prompted me to not assume a defensive posture that I was so accustomed to doing but go all out on the offense. And the fact that he grabbed Vera’s wrist to the point of hurting her made me even angrier. So angry, I wanted to kill him right there in front of all the others.

Disregarding all orders from Pedro and Rui, I stepped in with a burning desire to hurt the man they called ‘Dracula.’

“Let me go, asshole!”

“Oh, and who’s gonna stop me, beautiful?! ”

But, before I could utter any words, Vera jabbed her assailant in his ribcage, making him go down to his knees for the second time that evening, yet his grip on her wrist held firm. Then, looking confidently toward me, she answered in her most vicious and confident tone, “If I can’t, then he will!”

I don’t know whether it was her words, the way she looked at me with those sparkling eyes, or the uncontrollable rage Vlad had created in me. Needless to say, whatever it was, everything that I was trying to contain spilled out in that instant. And the flames that I hadn’t seen since the bloody woods of Teutoborg suddenly erupted out as if the gates of hell had been opened themselves.

However, unlike at Teutoborg, no window declaring the activation appeared in my vision field; not only that, but the flames coming out of me this time were bigger than before, reaching high up into the ceiling and spreading to the outer edges of the hall.

Unknowingly how I did it, my AWP activated in a glorious red blaze that engulfed the entire hall in its zeal, as everyone did whatever they could to shield themselves from this hail of fire that seemed more like a strong wind, I merely moved forward. The entirety of my will focused on the man that had disrespected Vera to the point of physical aggression. Vlad struggled to get back up, and his expression looked desolate. His black hair blew back with the gust of fire and wind but didn’t catch fire. The whole thing seemed more like an illusion than a unique ability, yet I could feel neverending power overflowing inside me.