But suddenly, Zeon felt a fierce wind strike the back of his head.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't evade the attack this time, receiving a powerful punch that sent him crashing to the ground.
When Darun saw the person who had struck Zeon, a faint smile formed on his face.
Standing behind Zeon was a student in his blue and white school uniform, which contrasted strikingly with his gleaming gray hair and glowing crimson eyes—like twin embers of blood.
It was Victor Stormflame, second-ranked among the first-year students.
"What took you so long, you red-eyed bastard?"
When Victor saw Darun lying beside Solier, a strange look flashed in his eyes, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by an expression of chilling coldness.
"The real question is: what brings *you* here, Darun?"
Upon hearing this, Darun's expression grew uglier.
"You think I wanted to see your disgusting face? I came because of my friend... and unfortunately, the only way to enter this cursed tower was to get an invitation from one of the top ten."
Victor frowned and asked,
"A friend? Since when?"
But before he could finish, he felt a strange weakness creeping into his body. However, glowing white flames suddenly erupted around him, shielding him from Solier's gift and breaking its effect.
He then looked down at Zeon lying at his feet, who was glaring up at him with boundless hatred.
Victor said in a cold voice, lifting his foot toward Zeon's face,
"A gift that can paralyze a target's muscles? ...Interesting."
"But sadly, it's in the hands of someone weak like you."
And with that, he struck Zeon's face with enough force to shatter his jaw.
He then turned back to Darun, attempting to continue their conversation as if nothing had happened.
"I thought you'd decided not to—"
But suddenly, just as he was in the middle of questioning Darun,
A blood-red arrow pierced his abdomen.
The arrow was so fast he couldn't even try to dodge it.
Without even identifying the source of the arrow, fireballs exploded beneath Victor's feet, blasting the ground and flinging him away from Zeon.
When he looked back at where he had been standing, he saw Zeon, now with his broken jaw mended, staring at him with indescribable hatred.
At that moment, Zeon's form began to change—his skin covered in bulging blood-red veins, writhing like worms beneath the surface.
Upon seeing the transformation, Victor asked in confusion,
"A vampire? Where did you get vampire blood?"
Zeon didn't answer. Instead, the bulging veins burst, releasing blood that morphed into crimson whips, which he launched toward Victor.
As the whips surged toward him, Victor's calm vanished, replaced by lethal seriousness. He summoned iron gauntlets onto his hands and unleashed the Stormflame family's technique: his skin turned a vivid red like a tomato, and steam began rising from his body.
Without hesitation, he charged at Zeon with full force, easily evading the whips. Despite their speed, predicting their trajectory was child's play for a warrior who had fought life-and-death battles.
Seeing Victor approach, clad in a robe of white fire, Zeon panicked and began forming blood arrows, launching them at terrifying speed.
Victor realized he wouldn't be able to dodge the arrows this time, so he increased the intensity of his flames and shifted his stance to protect his vital organs.
The arrows pierced his right leg, left shoulder, and abdomen. But after clashing with the flames, they lost some of their power.
Despite his injuries, Victor used a spell to explode the ground beneath him, launching himself at even greater speed.
When Zeon saw that his attack hadn't stopped Victor, he tried to flee—but it was already too late.
Victor grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed his face into the ground, then began raining down brutal strikes, shattering his bones and crushing his flesh, while the pure white flames engulfed him, preventing his body from using the vampires' regenerative abilities.
But while Victor was busy killing Zeon, a giant eye appeared in the sky, its pupil a dull gray.
A deep voice echoed from all directions:
"Stop."
Upon hearing that, Victor paused, looked at the eye, and said with a smile,
"So, you've finally decided to act."
As he finished his sentence, the eye transformed into a middle-aged man with shoulder-length black hair, pale gray eyes, and wearing scientific glasses.
It was Professor Laurence Bergnorth.