Victoria employed a style that was much different from Victor. It was different from Chandler, as well. She used a lot of jumping strikes and more erratic movement. It was apparent brute force was not enough to defeat Astor and myself, so Victoria adjusted, in hopes of finding a successful approach.

At first she was difficult to time and track. She was incredibly quick. The time it took her to pounce, once her feet landed from the previous jump, was a split second. One moment she was coming down to the ground, and the next she was in mid-flight coming for my neck. Multiple times I was caught out of position, and suffered several scratches and cuts. The crowd roared with each blow I suffered. At this point, I also started seeing numerous members of the audience transform into werewolves. They howled mightily into the night sky, cheering on their fellow werewolf. This, naturally, made me uneasy. I did not know if their transformation was a signal they were losing control and were going to attack, or if they merely decided to change shape in order to better support another Lusonian. Whatever the case was, it did not concern me long, for Victoria was much more than a handful.

A few times she took me to the ground, and snapped at my head with her large jaws. Saliva dripped in my face, as she moved in closer and closer with each bite. At one moment, I could not stop her forward momentum, and her front-most teeth pierced the top of my chest. I screamed out and launched her off me, and as I stood, she rose to her feet as well. Victoria shook her head and howled to the sky, inciting the entire crowd to join in with her. Their voices were harmonious, all syncing together to create an ear-splitting noise. Then, Victoria began circling me again. I knew I had to formulate an offensive strategy, because at the pace I was going she was going to wear me down bit by bit, until I was dead. So, I decided to take the fight to her.

I rushed in, and began throwing punches of my own. The werewolf swung at me with her claws, blocking the strikes, but when I turned the speed all the way up on her, she could not contend. My fists were landing devastating punches to her face. Teeth began flying out and more blood was spilled, but it was hers this time. Then, as she was off-balance, I swept her legs from behind, causing her body to go up in the air, parallel to the ground. Instead of letting her drop from gravity, I decided to expedite her trip to the dirt, and I swung my body around, while bringing my leg down on her torso. The kick shot her into the ground beneath with extreme force, creating an indentation in the dirt. The crowd gasped for a moment, and then I went in for a kill strike. Victoria scratched my planted leg, though, as I lifted the other to stomp her head in. This caused me to fall back. The fight was clearly not going to end so soon.

When she rose to her feet, Victoria was slightly hunched over, holding her midsection. My kick caused great damage, and she was still reeling from the blow. Max could be heard in the background, screaming at her in their ancient language, so Victoria responded by ignoring her pain, and initiating combat again. There was no time for rest.

I parried all of her strikes and countered with punches and kicks of my own, further damaging Victoria. She was rushing in wildly, out of control and all over the place. It was clear the initial rage she fought with after witnessing her brother’s death was wearing off, and she was not able to replicate the same energy levels after suffering damage. Thus, I continued to capitalize on this by evading her attacks, and landing crushing blows of my own. Nevertheless, every time I moved in for the kill strike, she avoided it. It was frustrating, but I told myself I had to take my time in order to win. I did not want to press the issue, and become vulnerable to counters. However, I probably should have ended it earlier rather than later, because it did not take long for Victoria to go into her berserker rage.

It happened almost instantly. I was moving in to land a punch, and her body became filled with adrenaline. She moved faster than she had the entire match, and before I knew it, she was behind me, chomping into my shoulder. My momentum was carrying me forward as well, so when she snatched me with her jaws, I was yanked back, causing even more damage. The crowd erupted in joyous celebration, as she continued to shake me like a rag doll, and tear up more of my shoulder. The only thing I could do was take flight, so I gathered myself, and shot into the air about 10 feet. This startled all of the werewolves present, even Max. None of the Lusonians knew I could fly. Victoria was shocked initially, and that gave me just enough time to grab her by the crown of her head, and throw her off of me into the ground below. She crashed like a ton of bricks, and I immediately flew down to try and finish her. She was too fast, though, and rolled out of the way before I could connect. My fist rammed into the ground, shaking the entire arena, all the tents and cabins around us, along with the trees in the distance. A crater formed under my hand as well. I tried to pulverize her head into dust.

Victoria did not quit after seeing me fly. The berserker rage was still pumping through her veins, and she attacked as ferociously as ever. At first I tried to block her attacks and retreat from her advances, but the bite wound to my shoulder was burning with pain, and I was losing blood. The more I moved my arm, the more blood I lost and pain I felt. So, I began floating back and using my good arm to block her strikes while dodging. This continued for a few minutes, as she ran and leapt at me from several angles, trying to pin me down. A few times she succeeded and was able to knock me to the ground, but I hurriedly shot back up and continued moving. I knew, one more lockjaw clamp on my body, and I was done for. Luckily, my plan worked, for it bought me enough time to see her berserker rage subside.

Just as Victor did, Victoria grew weary and wobbly for a moment. I did not waste any time, and immediately went in to end it. Flying as fast as I could, I extended my good arm when I was in range, and punched right through her chest. My arm exited the other side of her torso, and dripped chunks of blood and flesh. Then, I yanked it back, and kicked her lifeless body to the ground. The crowd erupted in furious growls and jeers. That did not faze me. I won, and that was all that mattered.

Max leapt from his chair, and threw it into the arena. The wooden throne smashed into pieces, much to my delight. It made me happy to continue foiling the alpha werewolf’s plans. As he looked back at me, he pounded his fists into the wall-top beneath him, before resting on it as a ledge. Other werewolves in his group walked over, and told him they wanted to be the next to enter the arena. I looked back to Astor to see if he was doing alright. He did not look well at all, unfortunately. He looked more beaten and battered than I ever imagined anyone could be. Yet, that did not stop him from producing a slow, quiet clap with his hands to congratulate me on my victory from afar. I rushed over to him, trying to talk him into leaving with me. I told him even if we defeated Max’s entire crew, there was no way any of them were going to let us out alive. However, what he said next shocked me.

Astor looked me in my eyes, and told me the route to Castle Rathegalia. He also told me the location of the portal in the castle. With telling me the way to his old home and the location of the portal, he had fulfilled his duty of showing me how to get there to return to Earth. Then, he apologized, and said even though he told me he would accompany me to the end, there was no way he was leaving that arena. All of the Rathegalia vampires were most likely gone, and he was probably the last of his name and bloodline. He refused to let anyone say that the last Rathegalia ran from combat like a coward to save his own life. And if that meant he died in that arena, so be it. Astor was determined to restore whatever he could of his family’s name and legacy. It meant more to him than life itself. Yet, I did not understand, and when I said as much, he replied it was not for me to understand. At the same time, he gingerly stood to his feet to re-enter the arena.

I watched him stagger and stumble to the middle of the battleground, while I was in a state of confusion. However, as I looked on, everything became clear to me. For Astor, returning to Castle Rathegalia and overthrowing the evil warlord was not his ultimate goal. He yearned to restore his family name, and regain his honor in the eyes of his fallen ancestors and fellow vampires, and fighting to the death against perilous odds was the perfect opportunity to do so. He had successfully slain one werewolf while being seriously weakened and outmatched, and he was instrumental in helping me obtain my victories. He also helped me slay Leviathan prior to that, and in facing the end, he was giving me the knowledge of how to complete the rest of my mission. Astor had achieved feats no other vampire warrior had ever accomplished, and he helped me, someone he called a “righteous warrior”, in the process. All that awaited him was death, and in death laid his salvation and peace.

Alas, there he stood before me in the middle of the arena. Exhausted, brutally beaten, withered and dying. Nonetheless, he stood on his two feet, ready to face whatever Max threw at him. He was braver than any person I had ever known. He had more valor and honor in him than a thousand warriors could ever hope to muster together. I just prayed in that moment he was not also a dead vampire, because I was not ready to see my friend go…

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