Wichura n, Nightingale, the Kingdom of Vampires.


    "Count Wichura, Count Scarlett is here to see you," a vampire said, bowing respectfully.


    "I was wondering when he would be visiting. It seems he is here to talk about our n alliance," Count Wichura thought before ordering his underling, "Bring him to the hall."


    With thatmand, he folded the files he was going through and disappeared.


    "Nichs, I''m d you are here. Where is my future daughter-inw? I heard that she has returned, and I was more surprised when I heard that she was with the two princesses of the Hailstorm n."


    "He is a count, alright. He should have nted spies all over the continent. Well, I''m no better than him, and Matriarch Hailstorm didn''t bother to hide that her daughters had returned," Nichs thought, but he didn''t show any expression besides a small courtesy smile. read-only-on-MvLeMpYr


    "Yes, she has returned from the mortal world," Nichs nodded.


    "Shall we begin preparations for our children''s wedding then? My son will be thrilled to hear this," Count Wichura said excitedly, but when he saw the helpless expression on Nichs''s face, his excitement died down.


    "About that, we have aplication," Nichs replied.


    Count Wichura frowned, "Is it that boy who was with your daughter?"


    "Yes."


    "Are you going to break your promise to me, Nichs?"


    "Marrying my daughter Amelia to that boy will give me the benefit of forming an alliance with the two strongest Celestial Dragon ns in the Azure Dragon Continent."


    Nichs paused for a second before continuing, "Tell me, Ivan, would you refuse an offer like that?"


    Ivan frowned even more. Of course, he wouldn''t. He might be a count of vampires, but even then, he was the weakest among the five counts. In contrast, the Wichura n was considered the weakest count n of the five.


    The main reason Count Wichura was pushing for this marriage alliance was that he wanted to rise in power in Nightingale. By marrying his son with Nichs''s daughter, he hoped to strengthen his position.


    But even then, he wouldn''t be as strong as the Hailstorm n or the reheart n. If he were in Nichs''s position, he would have married his daughter to Sam without a second thought.


    "Then what bes of your promise to me? Void?" Ivan asked indifferently, his face losing all the excitement it had a moment before.


    "My hands are tied. I have no intention of offending the two dragon ns, Ivan, and I don''t wish to spoil our friendship either," Nichs said.


    "What do you propose, then?"


    "For the sake of our friendship and for the sake of fairness, we decided to make a contest. If your son manages to beat that boy in a one-on-one battle, I will fulfill my promise to you. But if he wins, then your son should forget about my daughter," Nichs said in a professional tone.


    "Of course, you don''t have to worry about me or Matriarch Hailstorm breaching this deal because the battle will be conducted in the presence of the public and in front of the leaders of powerful forces in the Azure Dragon Continent."


    "Hmph, you are really making this into an entertainment event, aren''t you, Nichs?" Ivan shook his head with a snort.


    "Are you going to ept this challenge or not?" Nichs asked.


    ''What should I do?'' Ivan thought.


    If he epted this challenge and his son wins, he gets his wish and also might get on the negative side of the Hailstorm n and reheart n. But if his son loses, he will not gain anything.


    If he chooses not to ept this challenge, it would seem like he turned down this challenge because he was afraid of the Hailstorm n and has no confidence in his son. He would be aughingstock, lose face in front of the continent''s leaders, and lose respect more than anything.


    Considering these things, the only safe choice he has is to ept this challenge. Then he would have lost nothing. If his son won, he gets his wish; if he loses, then that''s it. There are no losses.


    "Fine, I ept this challenge," Ivan said, gritting his teeth.


    "Good choice," Nichs said. ''As expected, he made the choice that will put him in a safe spot.''


    "When and where will the battle take ce?" Ivan asked.


    "In three days. As for the ce, it will take ce in Nightingale at Nightshade Arena," Nichs said before he stood up to leave.


    ...


    On that day, all the major forces in the Azure Dragon Continent received an invitation for the uing battle between Tomas Wichura and Sam Hailstorm.


    The major forces of the Azure Dragon Continent were vampires, dragons, and the Qilins.


    Vampires had their own state, named the Kingdom of Nightingale. There was no king but a queen, the strongest living vampire and a descendant of the vampire progenitor. The queen, along with her royal n, ruled the Kingdom of Nightingale.


    Most of thends were divided between the royal n and the five count ns, with the royal n retaining thergestnd and the central area.


    The five count ns were the Frostine n, the Kaminari n, the Telluris n, the Scarlett n, and the Wichura n. The royal n was known as the Drac n.


    All the leaders of the five count ns and the royal n were invited to witness the battle between Tomas Wichura and Sam Hailstorm.


    As for the Celestial Dragons, there were no kingdoms but territories ruled by the five Celestial Dragon ns. These ns were the Solheart n, the Hailstorm n, the reheart n, Cristallini n, and the Mistheart n.


    The leaders of these ns were also invited.


    When it came to Qilins, there was one big kingdom—the Lumin Dynasty—ruled by Yuna''s father, King Shun Fulmine, and the n to which King Shun belonged, the Fulmine n.


    The leaders of the Qilin kingdom were also invited.


    Soon, the news of this interesting battle reached every corner of the Azure Dragon Continent. Even forces on the other three continents caught wind of this news.


    Most of them were very interested because it had been a while since anything interesting had happened, and they were looking forward to that day.


    Some hoped something bad would ur just to satisfy their infinite boredom.


    ...


    [A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much! - Arigato! ??]