Chapter One Hundred and Four: The Twelve Trials—Another Victory Secured

“Take this!” The blue figure embodying lightning and the black figure representing darkness collided fiercely, their beams of light crashing together with such force that the ceiling of the underground train station shattered. The two figures engaged in a fierce battle suspended midair.

“Treshi Mischtla! If you have any other tricks, bring them on!” Dracula spread his massive wings behind him, standing tall before Mingchuan.

“I’m not Treshi, please don’t get that wrong!” Mingchuan gripped the holy sword tightly with both hands, pointing it at Dracula. “My technology is more than just this.” Taking two steps forward, Mingchuan suddenly appeared right in front of Dracula. “Second Space!”

A whisper echoed in Dracula’s ear, and in the next moment, a sacred light radiated in the air.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing much, just carved out a relatively independent battlefield,” Mingchuan said as he instantly thrust his sword through Dracula’s body. Dracula was caught completely off guard.

“I have broken through the limits of modern science and mastered four-dimensional space technology. Nothing can stop me now!” After slaying Dracula’s second life loop, Mingchuan declared with confidence.

“Four dimensions?” Dracula spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Mingchuan.

“Using space as a singularity, different worlds at the same moment as parallels, different times within the same world as vertical dimensions, thus constructing a parallel world progressing alongside the present time—that is my parallel space technology. Analogous to a singularity, one-dimensional and two-dimensional, two perpendicular one-dimensional lines form a two-dimensional plane. Parallelism and time are two different dimensions of space.”

“You’re too long-winded!” Dracula couldn’t stand Mingchuan’s detailed explanation any longer. He swung his demonic blade toward Mingchuan, who countered with the holy sword.

Sparks flew as the holy sword and demonic blade clashed evenly. At that moment, a blue-silver light flickered over the back of Mingchuan’s hand, spreading along the blade’s edge. The next strike saw Mingchuan’s sword gain the upper hand, cracks appearing on the demonic blade. Though minor, the damage made Dracula wary.

“Feeling like my sword is much stronger now, aren’t you, Dracula?” The two warriors’ weapons were mere inches apart, the holy sword pressing down on the demonic blade, the gap widening.

“My teacher is indeed a brilliant scientist, but unfortunately, he is not a blacksmith. He never studied alchemy, that forbidden art!” With a clang, the demonic blade shattered completely, and Mingchuan’s holy sword struck Dracula’s body once more.

Once again, Dracula was executed in close combat. Though it was only his third life loop, he could no longer endure.

“Good! Good! Once again, I’ll show you the true power of the bloodline Dracula!” With a mighty roar, Dracula’s body began to swell. Not only that, but non-human traits appeared: fangs, claws, and scales resembling those of a dragon.

“Come at me!” Dracula soared into the sky, wielding a demonic spear that looked like a black knight’s lance, yet bore an alien aura.

“Vlad III, the Prince of Wallachia, known as the Impaler, the earliest verified prototype of the vampire Dracula. I never thought my teacher would believe so much in that legend. Of course, you’re still not as famous as that legend!” Mingchuan saw Dracula’s demonic spear and responded in kind, swinging a crimson spear.

“In this age of advanced technology, to be forced into a divine war by even more powerful technology—what a pity!”

Suddenly, Mingchuan lunged forward, his two-meter-long spear stabbing sharply at Dracula’s body. Dracula, wary of taking Mingchuan’s spear head-on, forcibly blocked the attack with his own weapon, not knowing the true depth of Mingchuan’s skill. However, the strike was a feint. Mingchuan spun on the spot and swept his spear horizontally again. This time, the wound was not severe—only a shallow scratch on Dracula’s skin or scale armor, from which a faint trace of blood oozed.

Yet, even such a small wound caused Dracula’s expression to change drastically.

“Alchemy is considered a lost technology—not impossible, but it requires a tiny catalyst.” Mingchuan pointed his spear at Dracula. Crimson blood dripped from the spear’s tip.

“The Killing Stone—I call it P-Alloy—a material capable of causing death. I used some technology to fuse it with G-Alloy, the forging material. Therefore, this spear, I shall name it Gáe Bolg, the legendary weapon of Cú Chulainn.”

“Child of Light, huh? A fitting name to deal with creatures like us from the shadows,” Dracula said, wiping blood from his lips. Then...

In the next instant, the weapon pierced his chest.

－－－－－－Aside－－－－－－

From tomorrow until the eighth day before school resumes, there will be extra classes both morning and evening... It’s unbearably painful...