The Grand Duelist

Abyssal Flame Master stood in a world enveloped by dark energy.

In this place forsaken by the gods, the dark energy was so thick that the sun shining above couldn't penetrate the land below.

The earth here was black, the sky was oppressive and pitch-black. Even the sparse withered trees and vegetation were dark in color.

Even the air was gloomy, hazy and thick... This was not a world that was suitable for human beings to live in. Even if a high-leveled player came to this place, they would find themselves quickly dying from the overwhelming coldness that surrounded the land and the never-ending fog of darkness that slowly consumed anything that it touches.

But miraculously... Abyssal Flame Master looked fine staying here.

He remained unscathed and unaffected by everything around him.

But there was a teasing voice echoing within his ears.

"You lack motivation."

"If I knew that you were this worthless of a human being, I would've not offered you that olive branch."

"Your lack of motivation makes me feel that you are nothing but a puppet. Sleeping, eating, playing, sleeping, eating, playing. Is that your daily routine? It is too dull that it's laughably droll. I wonder how you can even live with such a mundane routine every day..."

"You're even worse than us so-called devils. You tried so hard to obtain the favor of a god, but for what? To impress nothing, but a mere woman? Hehe, what a joke! What is worse is that you didn't even win! In the end, you lost to someone vastly weaker than you. Don't you feel any shame?"

The voice accurately struck Abyssal Flame Master's reverse scale, and he cried out in annoyance.

"Shut up! What do you know about me? We only met recently, what makes you think that you know me more than anyone else in this world?!"

"Hahaha, here we go again with that defiant attitude of yours, Abyssal Flame Master. You have such a domineering name, but little does everyone know that you're such a massive scaredy-cat." The teasing voice replied in amusement, one could feel illusionary chuckles while the voice was speaking.

Abyssal Flame Master was about to reply in defiance when a system notification floated right in front of him.

[Outside Interference detected, True Log-out Sequence Initiated...]

[Logging out...]

His surroundings transformed into a blur and when he awakened once again.

He found himself inside a small rented cubicle where he was playing the Virtual MMORPG: Victory.

His gaze darted to the side and there, he found the familiar face of his mother.

But instead of a genial smile, a fierce expression was plastered on his mother's face as she screamed.

"Jason! Did you steal money out of my wallet again just to play these useless games? Come out there and explain yourself!"

The commotion attracted the attention of the staff members within the establishment.

Soon, the mother and son pair were kicked out of the building.

"Now, explain yourself!" The middle-aged woman glared right at Jason. But Jason who recognized this woman as his mother felt like he wasn't staring at his mother anymore, but a stranger.

"I-I-I didn't steal..." Jason barely squeezes these words out from his throat.

Pa!

A fierce slap descended on Jason's cheek.

"How dare you lie to me again you useless piece of shit!"

"I.. I have always been patient with you, ever since father died. I shouldered everything for this family and this is how you treat me? You damned bitch!"

The middle-aged woman was struck dumb by the sudden curse that came out of Jason's mouth. Her first thought was that she had gone overboard, but she quickly recovered as she uttered in shock.

"Just what did you say?"

"You were my mother, but you changed ever since father got sick. Until he died, you never returned to be the mother that I knew. But I always treated you with the respect that you deserve..."

"Even though you never contributed anything to father's hospitalization, disappearing somewhere else and returning with a bunch of money. I still respected you, but you've changed since then..."

"If I knew that you would disappear and return with a bunch of money, I wouldn't have to sacrifice my studies and several years of my time to work like a dog just so I could provide for father's treatment. But when you returned with that money, you suddenly turned the table against me and now, even my beloved sister is now my enemy."

"Right now, there's no one in this family that I still consider as my family."

"But now that we're rich with that money that you got from somewhere, can't I at least indulge in doing what I wanted? I exchanged several years of my life to take care of my father when you were absent, and now that I am freed from that responsibility, can't I at least choose the path that I want to take instead of being dictated by you?"

Tears dripped down the middle-aged woman's face.

It was clear that she was hurt by what Jason had said.

"Son... I am not forcing you to do something that you hate..."

"I'm just... I am just looking out for your future..."

"I admit that I may have used the wrong method to get that money, but did we really have a choice back then? I'd rather sacrifice myself than sacrifice your sister to those bastards!"

"You didn't know what I went through so you do not have the right to talk to me like this!"

"But since you hate me that much, then fine..." The middle-aged woman took her smartphone and momentarily fiddled with it. Jason's phone rang and he received a system notification from his bank that said that he received about a million pesos.

His eyes widened in shock.

"I can never hope that you'll understand the struggle that I went through before I made that decision. But remember this, Jason. I wanted nothing but a good life for both you and your sister..."

"But since you hate me that much, then fine..."

"I sent you money equivalent to how much money you spent on your father when he was still in the hospital. Since you hate me that much then let's just cut ties. I hope you'll be happy with whatever decision you make in the future since I will not be there anymore to guide you."

The middle-aged woman revealed a languid smile amidst her tears.

"Goodbye, Jason."

She left and never looked back nor came back.

Jason stood there dumbstruck, but when he realized that everyone was now staring at him in curiosity. He ran out and eventually reached a silent and tranquil park where he looked up to the sky.

The afternoon sky was colored in an orangey-hue, even though it looked somewhat hazy since it was nearing night, it looked incredibly clear for Jason.

"I'm really the worst son."

"I may have gained the freedom that I wanted... But at what cost?"

Jason gave a self-deprecating laugh.

He wanted nothing but freedom to play Victory.

But ever since he was branded as addicted everything escalated so fast that everything has now come to this. 

It was too late to change anymore.

Since it was too late to return. Only a single path remained...

It was to move forward.

...

The area was now clear of Mutated Beasts.

Right now, it was time for the group to discuss their future actions.

"Alice, we both agree that Julie and Hulie are from the Vampire Race, right?"

Joseph was the one who opened up the discussion. He made a sidelong glance at the twin sisters and after seeing that they were asleep. He significantly calmed down as he asked.

Alice didn't deny what he said.

She nodded her head and replied, "That is true. That's an irrefutable fact."

"I see... But Vampires consume the blood of humans, right? And since there are no humans in this place. They kinda evolved into a Vampire that can thrive in this cruel environment without needing the consumption of human blood..."

"But still, fundamentally..."

"The blood of humans is the most nutritious food for them, am I right?"

Alice replied, "That's right... But I wonder how many years did it took them to evolve into Vampires with certain characteristics like this. It's really a wonder as to how they didn't starve themselves to extinction."

She revealed a rueful smile and glanced at the two sisters sleeping beside each other on a bed made out of stone.

"Wait, I have an idea for that."

"Hmm?" Alice stared at Joseph in interest.

"Cannibalism," Joseph replied with a single word, but his expression was serious and grim.

"Cannibalism?" Alice pondered for a moment as she agreed, "That should be possible. In fact, there's no sensible answer apart from that since the Vampires can only consume the blood of humans or the blood of their own kind for nutrients. Blood from other sources apart from those two are mere poison for them."

Joseph's eyebrows furrowed when he heard Alice's words.

He felt somewhat strange when she said that the blood of other beings apart from humans and their own kind were poisonous for the Vampires. Since if that was true, why were the Vampires able to eat the Mutated Beasts for their own consumption?

Was this also the product of evolution? 

Joseph thought to himself.

But he soon shook this thought out of his head as he inwardly uttered, Who cares about that for now. There's a far pressing matter for us to consider before we can even think about those Mutated Beasts.

Joseph decisively set those thoughts aside as he proceeded to ask Alice: "I have an idea that I want to consult you about."

"What is it?" Alice curiously asked.

"It's about the cure to the Curse of the Condemned."

Alice's eyes widened in shock, but her shock quickly turned into excitement as she asked, "Really?"

"Yes, I'm not lying!"

"Then, tell me! Hurry up!" Alice urged him to speak.

Joseph cleared his throat for a moment before he continued, "The blood of humans is extremely beneficial and nutritious for the Vampires. The enemy of darkness is light, so we can say that the Divinity of the Grand Duelist can defeat the curse within the bodies of Julie and Hulie..."

"What do you think?"

Joseph gave her a meaningful glance.

Alice's figure visibly trembled as she said, "Are you saying that..."

"Yes..." Joseph lifted a smile. As I thought it's really easy to talk with someone that can read along the lines. He appreciated Alice's quick thinking.

"No, that cannot be done! As I said, the Divinity of the Grand Duelist is incredibly sharp. Even though you are a human being, you have the Divinity of the Grand Duelist... Who knows what would happen to their bodies if they consumed your blood!" Alice objected to the idea.

Joseph nodded his head, what Alice said made sense and he couldn't argue against it.

But even though Joseph didn't want to endanger the life of the two sisters.

He believed that without risk, substantial rewards couldn't be acquired. So, if they wanted to cure the two sisters, they must take risks and do something about that curse.

No matter how mundane, or how dangerous that attempt would be...

"I am not going against what you said, but what if we gave them a drop of my blood? I mean, I don't think that a single drop imbued with the Grand Duelist's Divinity could cause that much havoc..."

"Furthermore, I am still a Pre-mature Grand Duelists, I haven't even ascended yet so, the Divinity shouldn't be that strong."

Alice fell into deep contemplation. But since she also wished for the recovery of the two sisters. She decisively made her decision and nodded her head towards Joseph's direction.

"It's worth a try... But only a single drop of blood first."

Joseph lightly smiled seeing her anxious expression.

"You know what Alice? If you treated me like how you treat Julie and Hulie then we would've been far closer than we are right now."

Alice's expression turned cold, "What? Why would you even compare yourself to them? They are cute little angels and how about you? You're just a pervert." Though she had a cold look on her face, her voice became low at the end of her sentence until she was the only one that could hear it.

Joseph looked at her in confusion and after seeing that she had no plans on explaining. He could only laugh before approaching the sleeping Julie and Hulie.

He took out his Rapier of Grandeur and Beauty and held it near his wrist. His expression was pale and his hesitation was clear from his labored breathing.

"Do you want me to do it for you?" Alice commented at the side.

"No, thank you..." Joseph swiftly replied. Who knows what will she do if she gets the opportunity to wound me for free, I think she'll rip my entire wrist apart and watch me die from blood loss. He made a sidelong glance at Alice which made the latter chuckle when she felt his gaze.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Alice asked.

"Am I really that evil to do something like what you are imagining right now in your head?" Alice sweetly smiled at the end of her sentence, and if this was the first time that you saw the current Alice...

You would think that she was just an innocent young woman who often liked to tease others.

But for Joseph? 

No!

A big NO!

Joseph stared at her with twitching lips before he decisively made a small cut on his wrist. Blood dripped down from the wound that he made and he collected it with his other hand. Walking towards Julie, he aimed at her mouth and sent a drop of his own blood flying towards her lips.

When it landed on Julie's lips...

Her instincts made her subconsciously lick the drop of blood and when it entered her body. A faint white ethereal glow surrounded her body. Alice and Joseph saw that the throbbing scab made by the Curse of the Condemned slowly calmed down as if it fell asleep.

"Did it work?" Joseph absentmindedly uttered.

Alice was the first one to recover from her trance as she almost exclaimed, "It worked!"

But she quickly suppressed the yelp that came out of her mouth as she ran towards Joseph in excitement.

Joseph was also excited by this turn of events.

They spent the next few hours testing the maximum dosage of blood that the two sisters could endure. They only stopped when they found out that they couldn't see the infected scab-like wound made by the Curse of the Condemned anymore.

Later, when the two sisters awakened. They were shocked silly by the scene that they saw. But it wasn't because of the fact that they found out that the Curse plaguing their bodies had disappeared...

It was because of Joseph and Alice who kept staring at them with bloodshot eyes and excited look on their faces.

"What do you feel? Do you feel fine? Or does something in your body hurt? Tell us!" Joseph exclaimed. His tone of voice sounded tired due to the sheer exhaustion that was slowly taking over his mind.

Julie and Hulie recovered from their trance.

Their eyes widened in shock as they exclaimed at the same time.

"The Curse... Wait, I'm cured?!"