Crown Game.

After passing the doors, the trio arrived in a large golden room filled with benches. They were the first to take the last test so they were the first to arrive in this place.

'I wonder what's next...'

Dracul sat down and leaned back against the wall as he started thinking about the next task.

'It would be nice if these tests could be harder...'

Luckily, Hatz and Anak were both quiet people so his thoughts weren't disturbed by any unnecessary noise.

About an hour later, the entire room was filled with chatter as everyone who passed the test arrived. The number of regulars had been cut down significantly but there was still a fair amount.

But Dracul didn't care about what any of them were talking about. He was trying to figure out how Shinsu worked. He could feel the energy around him but for some reason he couldn't interact with it all.

'Maybe there's a specific technique that I need to learn. I've never had a problem learning magic, but this energy is new to me.'

He fiddled with it for a few more moments until Lero ro entered the room.

"Did you have enough rest, regulars? I'm so happy to see you again! Haha, I came here with very good news."

Lero ro then went on to explain what the 'good news' he had was.

It was a bonus game that allowed the winners to pass the final test of this floor and go straight to next floor.

Needless to say, every regular was interested. Even Dracul felt like participating was the best choice.

"The name of this game is called the Crown Game. I will explain the details to you when we get to the next spot."

Everyone followed as Lero ro led them to massive room with golden structures hanging from above and a large golden throne in the middle. On this throne, there was a crown.

Lero ro then explained the rules behind the Crown Game.

Essentially, all one had to do was steal the Crown and hold it until the end of game for five rounds. Each round lasted ten minutes.Only five teams can participate in each round.

To Dracul, listening to anything further than that was a waste of time.

"We're going in first."

Anak nodded as she lazily leaned on the wall.

"As we should. We're the strongest team here."

Hatz, as usual remained in agreement with his teammates.

"50 minutes is more than enough time to handle these chumps."

A few moments later, the game finally began.

"Now, the Crown Game begins! I will count to five! So the teams that want to participate must press the buzzer during the count. Starting now, I will count for the first round participants! One!

Just as planned, Dracul and his team pressed the buzzer in their room.

BRZZTTTT!

The gate in front of them opened and the trio walked out, entering the arena.

They weren't the only ones. One other team joined them on the floor.

"Well, the count is over! The first round of the Crown game begins now!"

The moment Lero ro announced the start of the game, Anak's voice entered Dracul's ear.

"This time, leave it to me."

Dracul glanced at her and simply responded, "Then, go."

Anak brandished her weapon, the green needle like sword, and charged the other team.

Dracul watched as they tried desperately to stop her only for her to toss them away like ragdolls. Compared to other regulars, Anak was surely multiple steps above them.

'No wonder she was surprised at how easily I beat her. She's used to physically dominating her opponents.'

From the reactions of the other regulars, Dracul could see that they agreed with his thoughts. The shock on their faces from her overwhelming abilities was apparent.

The regulars who Anak had just thrown away didn't give up.

They pulled themselves together and launched a team effort to get the Crown before Anak could.

"They're underestimating her."

Dracul chuckled as she easily jumped on the throne, collected the Crown and sat on the seat before her opponents even got close to it.

Just like that, the first round was over.

They stood no chance.

"We're up, Hatz."

Dracul instantly teleported to the platform in front of the throne with Hatz in his hands, who was left in bewilderment by how he got there in the first place.

He dropped the swordsman on the ground and glanced back towards Anak, saying, "Just stay there. With me here, no one can get you off that throne."

Anak lazily yawned as she laid on the throne, playing with her weapon.

"You sound mighty confident, Dracul. How can you be so sure?"

Dracul turned his head away from her and looked at all the teams in their holding areas.

There were many of them who returned his fierce glare but most of them who saw him, avoided it.

"Just watch."

Moments later, a few more teams exited their rooms, intent on joining the Crown Game. Each of them had aspirations on winning.

They surrounded the throne as they readied their weapons or attacks, waiting for the announcer to start the round.

"May the second round, begin!"

WHOOSH!!

A team of two regulars immediately rushed Dracul with impressive speed, surrounding him quickly on both sides.

"No matter how strong you are, compared to the lizard, you're nothing!"

One of them, an ordinary looking woman shouted this as she charged at him with a sharp knife from the front.

Her teammate, an androgynous looking man, charged him from the back with his bare fists. He said nothing as he closed in on Dracul, eyes filled with focus.

THUD!

When her knife made that sound as it hit Dracul's unarmored skin, the woman's face dropped. Why did his skin feel like a thick layer of armor?

The man felt the same when his fist landed on the back of Dracul's neck.

Something wasn't right here.

"Tch! That was just luck! I'll try again!"

The duo tried to attack Dracul once again, this time with full force.

"Don't waste your time."

THWACK!

Her jaws smashed against each other as Dracul uppercutted the woman, sending her flying into the air.

The man tried to back off when he saw this but Dracul snatched him by the throat with such speed he couldn't even react.

Dracul jumped into the air, met the speed the woman was ascending at and threw the man into her, sending them both barreling down like meteors into the ground.

When the two finally stopped rolling as they hit the wall, he could see no movement from their bodies. They were completely knocked out, but still alive.

As Dracul landed back down in front of the throne, he looked over and saw Hatz easily cleaning up the other team by himself.

He expected nothing less.

'That's right, a team should have three people, so where's the other one-'

WHOOSH!

Dracul suddenly saw a massive beam of blue energy coming towards him, causing him to act instantly.

'This color...it's Shinsu.'

Anak was about to jump off the throne when he landed next to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"I said, don't move. Stay close."

The 'dark lines' that were wrapped around his body moved and formed a black ball of darkness around the duo, shielding them from the blast.

This shinsu beam, came from the teammate of the two people Dracul defeated. He had hidden himself within the chaos somehow and fired the attack at them, hoping to catch them by surprise.

As the smoke cleared and the ball of darkness opened up, revealing the two people completely unharmed inside, the man clicked his teeth.

'What a monster! I knew that guy was bad news! Luckily that distracted them long enough for me get Ho and Serena to safety. Sigh...we were in way over our heads in this one.'

Dracul caused the darkness to wrap his body, inside his robe once again and calmly watched the man take his teammates back into their room.

"Hm. Decent strategy."

He removed his hands from Anak's shoulder as he jumped down from the throne to guard it once again.

There was no need to worry about that team anymore, they had removed themselves.

Just as he was about to call out to Hatz, he felt something stirring behind him.

Dracul turned around to see Anak in a fit of rage atop the throne, weapon pointing towards the sky.

"You rats! Ignition!"

BOOM! BOOM! BANG!

Anak's weapon stretched incredibly long as it covered the entire arena, attacking the last team inside of it. Her anger was really aimed at the last team that left, but their rooms were a safe zone, so there was nothing she could do.

Unfortunately, this team was going to suffer for it. Until...

WHOOSH!

Anak suddenly jumped off the throne and headed to a random room, completely eliminating her team from the game.

Dracul watched in silence from the throne as she started threatening some team for a weapon of sorts.

"Swordsman, did we...just lose?"

Hatz nodded as he shouted at Anak furiously, completely incensed that her rashness caused them to fail.

For the first time in centuries, Dracul felt an emotion that he thought had left his seven cold, dead hearts.

Anger.

He wanted to just bisect the lizard for her foolish actions.

'...I need to calm down. I still need her for my team of three until that rule gets removed. But, she needs to be taught a lesson. If I can't take her life, then I'll just take something else she values...which seems to be that weapon she's fighting that boy for. That will be enough.'