FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

With Jude's agreement, the Principal announced the new changes. Because the number of competitors had now become odd, one of the remaining five was lucky enough to be exempted from the first round of elimination.

After several rounds and bouts which went on for two hours, the new tenth seat was determined. It was a beautiful young girl with light freckles on her cheeks. But because she was a lower-class noble, none of the spectators paid her victory much attention.

Soon, it was Jude and Roy's match.

Jude stood on one corner of the ring as he gazed menacingly at his opponent. It wasn't for no reason that he was feared among the second-year students.

Not only was Jude angry because Arlo and Joe had been allowed into the secret realm, but he was also displeased that a weakling he had put down several times still dared to challenge him, especially in front of such grand spectators.

'I will just put him down for good once and for all!'

With that thought in mind, Jude attacked his opponent first, something he didn't do last time, as he enjoyed crushing his opponent's will.

"Seems Jude really wants to put Roy down for good this time."

"I would do the same if I was in his shoes. Being challenged by a Plebian fool I could easily put down is nothing but infuriating." The Second year students conversed among themselves, as they waited with dark expectations. The previous matches for the tenth seat while not boring, weren't anything interesting, which was further proven by the nonchalant looks on the Counts and higher-class noble's faces. So, they all looked forward to a good beatdown.

The funny thing was that even those Roy usually defended from bullying from higher class nobles weren't exemptions.

Jude appeared before Roy with ghostly speed as the second years communicated among themselves, his fist thrown out in a punch.

However, what happened next wasn't something anybody was expecting.

Two swords suddenly flew into the air, one cutting into Jude's fist and the other streaking past his face, a line of blood drawn on its path. At the same time that blood spurted into the air, Jude's painful cry rang across the whole auditorium.

His challenger didn't hesitate to make use of this opportunity.

"Hands of darkness!" Several huge hands rose from the ground of the ring before surrounding the still-screaming Jude from all directions. At the same time, the two swords flew towards Jude, their sharp edges glistening threateningly. Roy didn't fall behind his attacks, his body dissipating into a dark fog, that instantly closed the distance to the still-screaming Jude.

Vampires could suppress their emotions, and that included pain. But because, Roy had surrounded the swords with darkness essence, and also taken Jude by surprise, he was able to inflict serious pain that had already passed the threshold of what a normal cultivator could ever bear.

The huge dark hands caught Jude in a tight grasp. Roy arrived before his two swords. His fingers turned into claws, something every vampire could do; and was different from Clan Cromwell's unique ability.

"AHHHH!" Under the relentless barrage of attacks, Jude roared like a wounded beast, his body covered in several cuts, some even revealing his white bones.

The spectators had yet to react and were still shell-shocked from the unexpected situation. Even Toon had a lost look on his face as he gazed at his number one underling. Soon after, the surprised look gave way to a deep scowl.

As if sensing Toon's glare, Jude didn't dare to hold back any longer and erupted with his full strength. He felt so angry to the point of vomiting blood.

Not only had the princess he had toyed with just last week become far stronger than him, but even the weakling he had effortlessly defeated was able to inflict serious wounds and pain on him. He had planned to defeat Roy instantly before taking his sweet time to teach him a lesson, but it seemed the latter had also experienced a breakthrough in his cultivation, becoming a late-advanced mage like him. He was genuinely surprised as he himself just had a breakthrough recently yet Roy was able to keep up with him.

The truth, however, was that he had severely underestimated his enemy, which placed him in his current predicament.

Now he didn't dare to do the same...

Erupting with all his strength, a burst of dark essence erupted from his body, the force destroying all the dark hands restraining him, knocking back the two swords that continuously moved past him as if controlled by invisible hands, and finally sending Roy flying.

Even though they were both at the same level of cultivation, Jude was a supreme-level talent which meant he could fight above his level. It was because of that reason that he challenged the third-ranked student. Honestly, while he had the lowest cultivation among the previous top ten, the truth was that his combat prowess was already among the upper ranks of the top ten. It was just that he enjoyed acting like a mountain that obstructed the other students from moving forward.

Invoking his clan's unique ability, Jude's hands transform into a monster's. His arms seemed to be covered by shining dark scale-like armor, while his fingers turned into four menacing claws, incomparable to Roy's transformation. The ends of his claws flashed with a sharp light.

"Just because you learned a new trick, you think you are now my match?" Jude walked threateningly to his opponent.

While the vampires could use weapons, most opted to use their bodies. Only a few tended to rely on external strength, the majority of them coming from Clan Ashley, Evangeline, and Rosaline's clan.

Jude's claws slashed through the air quickly, the sound of the air ripped apart resounding loudly within the building. Like two knives cutting through tofu, the two flying swords that had swooped in to attack him were cut into several pieces.

Roy ignored the pain he felt and tried to rise to his feet only to fail as Jude's kneel connected with his abdomen sending him back to the ground.

Raising his leg, Jude gathered all his strength and stomped down.

*Crack!*

The sound of breaking bones resounded clearly across the place.

"AH!" Roy shrieked in pain as he felt several of his ribs broken.

"What?" Jude flashed a smile, the blood filling his mouth making him look evil. Together with his red eyes burning with fury, he looked no different from a demonic beast.

"You are screaming already? I am just getting started!" Finished with his words, he raised his foot and stomped again, the cries of the body beneath him growing louder.

*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!**BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*

Jude stomped again and again until the crowd lost count of the number of times he had repeated this same action. At this point, Roy's high-pitched cries had turned into low whimpers.

*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*

Laughing maniacally as he continued man-handling Roy, Jude displayed why he was called the mad dog, and why several of his mates feared him.

The beating continued for almost fifteen minutes during which no one made a move to stop him. In fact, some of the onlookers had pleased expressions on their faces. The thought of a Plebian defeating one of their noble geniuses didn't sit well with them.

Also even though Roy appeared to be at death's door, the truth was that as a vampire, all he had to do was rest for about a month and all his wounds would recover naturally. Taking blood would even speed up the process.

However, while he might heal physically, the mental scar might never disappear.

Despite being a Plebian, Roy had endured numerous bullying and had worked hard to obtain his current strength. It was only by his power that he could prove himself and raise his status.

Yet despite being the eleventh...no, the tenth strongest among the second years, and even surpassing many nobles, it seemed nobody still acknowledged him, as proven by how he was left to suffer under Jude's hands. He was sure that if Jude were on the receiving end of this beatdown, the match would have been stopped almost immediately.

'I thought I could prove myself...' Tears uncontrollably spilled from his eyes.

"Huh!?" Jude finally stopped moving, "Hahaha! Are you crying? The fool is actually crying, hahaha!"

The body below him was completely unrecognizable at this point.

Roy's limbs were twisted at unnatural angles, his chest had become mangled flesh from which several broken ribs jotted out, and his body was completely covered in blood. He was such a sorry sight.

Jude's laughter slowly died down as he looked at Roy with a crazy expression on his face, a vicious light glinting within his eyes

Grabbing Roy's bloodied head, he pulled him to his face before flashing his trademark evil smile, "There is still more!"

Roy looked at him with shaky eyes as Jude clenched his other free hand.

"Now the best part, the face..." As he spoke, he unceremoniously smashed his fist towards Roy's face.

Roy closed his eyes, his mind clouded in despair.

Nobody came to help him.

Not even his Prince and Princess...

Not even the Counts...

Not even his Principal...

Not even his teachers...

And finally, not even his friends...

In the end, no one cared about him...

The tears fell like water from a broken dam.

However, after a couple of seconds, Roy noticed something wrong.

'Why hasn't the fist connected with my face? Or have I been hit and the pain was just too much for my brain to register?'

Confused, he slowly opened his eyes to see a fist just an inch from colliding with his face. At the same time, the sounds of shocked gasps drifted into his ears. He quickly shut his eyes once again to allow the tears clouding his vision to spill completely. Then he opened them and looked up once more.

This time he could see clearly...

There, behind Jude was a golden-haired boy with blue reptilian eyes, who restrained Jude's fist by merely grabbing him by his shoulder.

Then, Roy watched stupidly as the golden-haired boy's expression abruptly changed.

A tail suddenly appeared behind Jude's head as it swung forward with so much force that Roy thought he heard the air exploding. Thankfully the golden-haired boy was able to pull Jude in time to save him from the tail. It was just that the golden-haired boy seemed to have not controlled his strength, as Jude was swung away, his body spinning several meters above the ground before he unceremoniously kissed the ground and rolled away like a ragdoll.

'Huh? Was I beat to the point of seeing things?'

*****

AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel.