Initially, the tournament seemed like a school competition like many others, with the students doing what they could to overwhelm anyone who stood in front of them with their physical strength and their cunning and putting some healthy competition in their every move.

The principals were very satisfied with the progress achieved by all the boys and girls who had taken the field and were looking at them with evident pride "we managed to make humans and vampires coexist, don't you find it wonderful? It seemed unthinkable" the younger of the two was smiling.

"Of course, it also gives me some hope for a better future for everyone. If the centuries-old war between the two races ceases to exist, the chances of living in peace would be very high"

Professor Min, as a trusted friend of the two brothers, sat with them just like every year "it would be really nice because this would also give us hybrids more freedom to live as we deem right"

The two brothers had nodded, both with their eyes fixed on the members of the two teams that were competing at that moment "those are your students, right?"

"They are Nayeon and Dahyun, the former is a high-ranking pureblood while the other is a vampire with the power to absorb other's energy. They are both promising and seeing them collaborate is confirming all the ideas I have about them" his eyes were twinkling with joy, but that glint was replaced by worry a few seconds later.

Nayeon had grabbed the neck of a senior vampire and lifted him off the ground despite the latter resisting and being twice as big as her "poor thing, can't you free yourself from the grasp of a frail girl? Let help you rest in peace after this terrible humiliation"

Her hand had lodged in the boy's chest without warning, crushing his still beating heart as if it were a simple stress reliever.

In the meantime, Dahyun had not remained idle: she had landed the hybrid that was part of the same team as the boy her friend was having fun with, draining most of his energy and violently sinking her teeth in his neck.

"What the hell are they doing?" Jeongyeon had jumped up, her eyes wide enough to give the impression of being able to roll away at any moment.

The other girls had rushed up beside her, all shaken by what was happening in front of their incredulous gazes. Chaeyoung was having a hard time restraining herself "we have to stop them. I have no idea why they are behaving this way, but we can't stand here and watch"

"I agree with you, let's go" Jeongyeon had sprinted forward at full speed, followed by the other two vampires in their group. She had launched herself at Nayeon, clinging to her as they rolled on the grass and pinning her wrists to the ground.

"Let me go, I have to kill everyone!" she was delirious and quite keen to kick, so much so that her legs had to be blocked as well.

Chaeyoung, despite her superior strength given by the fact that she had recently become a vampire, was having a hard time keeping the lower limbs of the pureblood still "I don't know how long I will be able to keep her still, we have to calm her down as soon as possible or things will become bad"

A few meters away from them was Momo sitting on the back of her best friend, who had her face pressed to the ground "don't resist or I'll have to break your neck to get you a good nap"

Dahyun had calmed down immediately, suddenly clear "why are you threatening me?" she had full possession of her body again and her eyes were back to normal.

"Do you want to stop with this little theater? I'm getting bored to death and it's never good when it happens" Tzuyu had appeared next to the corpse of the vampire who had been deprived of his heart, looking smug "nice shot Nay, despite being the first time you were really precise"

At that moment time seemed to have stopped: the demon had made sure that each of them had visions to realize the situation in which they had been for months, not forgetting to laugh heartily in front of their dismay.

"I manipulated you in order to weaken you, was I good?" she used the power of thought to wipe out Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung and later help her favorite pureblood to get up "are you okay? You have your hair dirty with loam and blood and it's disgusting"

"I'm fine, but I'm very confused" the fear she was feeling was obvious, she didn't want to be close to her "you're not the person I thought I knew"

"Don't you like me like that?" Tzuyu's smile was charming and disturbing at the same time.

Nayeon had turned to look at her friends, unable to stop herself from crying "for nothing, you have hurt the people I love and who knows how many others and it's unacceptable"

The humans had managed to break through the barrier that had isolated the vampires and Tzuyu from the rest of the world and Sana was intent on wetting a stake with holy water. She had moved slowly, drawing on her experience to cancel her presence.

"I heard you, stupid Hunter" a wave of Tzuyu's hand was enough to lift the blonde off the ground and throw her at Dahyun and Momo "stay close to your beloved and your sister if you care about their useless lives"

Mina ran to her girlfriend to make sure she was okay, scared to death "Chae, don't lose control"

"It's her fault that so many people have died, she won't get away with it" she stood up intending to hit the demon from behind, but she was stopped by the pleading grasp of the person she was in love with. 

"I beg you and I'm willing to get on my knees if you want, but don't do it or she could kill you" she was crying, so much was the terror she was feeling "please, we all have to survive"

"To achieve this we have to get Nayeon away from her, immediately" Jeongyeon was clenching her fists in the grass to hold back her anger "now that Dahyun is back to her senses we can attack her in four, but I'm sure Nayeon will help us in the enterprise. We should be powerful enough"

The vampires she mentioned were already up for action "I'm going first, I want to try to distract her to give you some time" Dahyun couldn't get up due to a strong squeeze on her arms.

"Don't go, it's practically suicide" Sana whispered "we need holy water and a silver crucifix, break her neck or use a stake would only make her angry"

"I know you have holy water, give it to me" she was looking at her for the first time since their relationship ended.

The blonde pulled out the vial containing the clear liquid just mentioned "not even an entire swimming pool would be enough, we need something related to the Christian religion or a specific amulet. We can't beat her in any way"

"It doesn't hurt to try" Momo had moved quickly, starting to run after taking the vial from her sister's hands. She was very close to the demon, but someone had pushed her to the ground with great force.

"Don't be silly, we need a plan before we act" Jeongyeon's gaze seemed detached, but behind her mask there was a deep concern for the hybrid "I know you feel like the champion of the law, but I won't let you being killed"

"I want to save the one you love and you should try too"

"I just did, you stupid half-blood"

Momo did not have enough time to assimilate the meaning of that sentence due to a strong blue light that had shattered the barrier that was around all of them, revealing the figures of the principals and some teachers.

The younger of the two brothers had stopped on the spot, his gaze fixed and almost absent "this is not possible"

"What are you referring to?" the older was at his side and was visibly anxious.

"She looks the same as the woman I was with twenty-three years ago, the one I fell in love with and never forgot" he stood still, almost as a statue.

Tzuyu had her gaze fixed on the object that the man was holding "finally I can see my mother's amulet, I was sure you had it"

"Where is she? Where is Sally?"

The girl smiled sweetly "I blew her heart when I was four, such a weak woman didn't deserve to rule the Underworld" she covered her face to cry falsely "but don't worry dad, you will join her very soon and you two can live happily in the clouds"

She patted Nayeon's back lightly, approaching her ear "rip his heart out and bring it to me. Also take the amulet" she snapped her fingers to immobilize everyone present "it's your chance, you have thirty seconds"

The actions of the pureblood did not belong to her and for that reason she had acted with tears in her eyes, sprinting to reach the younger of the two principals and emulating the gesture she had made shortly before towards the vampire she had killed, with the only difference that it was Tzuyu who completed the work.

The object had stopped glowing the moment the demon's hands grabbed it "rest in peace, father" she said before detonating the still throbbing organ, not at all disgusted by the blood that had gotten into her face and on clothes.

No one had been able to move, but Dahyun had counted the seconds and she was sure there were only ten to the end of that momentary stillness. She hoped with all her strength that they didn't last too long.

"Well, there is only one thing missing to round off my daily mission" she put the amulet in her pocket to have both hands free, so as to place one on Nayeon's face and the other on her chest "you were a worthy one slave, but from now on I can get by on my own and I don't need you anymore"

In the two seconds that were missing, Nayeon's heart was destroyed as easily as a dry leaf could be torn to pieces. There were screams, but Nayeon's ears hadn't been able to hear them. Her lifeless body had slumped forward, supported by Tzuyu.

"I'll kill you, !" Jeongyeon was behind her, ready to strike her with all the strength and anger she had, but she was pushed back by an invisible force that knocked her over.

Tzuyu's eyes were wide open and her hands did nothing but the face of the girl she had killed, incredulous "what is this annoying feeling?"

She dropped to her knees, doing what she could to recompose Nayeon's heart with her powers and ignoring the amulet that had slipped out of her pocket "you can't leave me like this"

"I could be wrong, but maybe you have learned what it means to love someone" Jihyo was holding back her emotions, showing herself cold and detached so as not to collapse "you too will suffer for the bull you did, damn demon"

"I will not suffer at all as she will come with me and I will do everything I can to fix everything. Don't think you won because I will come back to eliminate all of you, my father was just one of the many targets on my long list"

She gripped Nayeon's lifeless body tightly, disappearing like smoke after whispering words to her in an unfamiliar language.

The tournament was canceled and everyone on the campus just went back to their home to take a shower and try to recover from the shock.

That same evening they had all gathered in Dahyun and Momo's apartment to discuss what had happened and to strengthen each other. Being accustomed to sudden deaths they had been able to maintain an emotional detachment that allowed them to think clearly and, as the effect of Tzuyu's powers had worn off, they had been able to remember many things that had been purposely removed from their minds.

"This twinning between vampires and humans has no value, it was planned by her to be able to have fun in moments of boredom. There was no need for our presence in this school, we are objectively weaker than you" Jihyo had taken paper and pen to mark the visions they had had and their memories.

"Sudden deaths and my transformation into a vampire are also part of her plans" Chaeyoung was drinking a glass of blood "she convinced me to go out alone at night so she could hit me"

Dahyun was absent-mindedly leaning on the table "she made sure to make me discover unpleasant things to make me weak and to be able to manipulate me in time of need"

"My family gave me a mission within the school and it has never happened before, we don't take care of these things" Sana also seemed a bit distracted.

"We've probably been manipulated in feelings too" Mina had her head resting on her girlfriend's shoulder "although I can't say I'm angry about it, it's the only good thing she did for me"

"She made me drink some blood mixed with holy water and at this point I wonder how many have been in the same situation as me"

Jeongyeon had remained silent until that moment "she made me believe that I fell in love with my best friend in order to separate us and be able to manipulate her at will, but my feelings were already turned elsewhere and this inconvenience made me waste a lot of precious time"

"I think the list of things she did would be too long to draw up, so I propose we come up with a plan to get rid of that demon" Jihyo had stopped writing to rub her temples in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the pain in her head.

"As I already told Momo and Dahyun we need holy water and items related to the Christian religion, but the amulet the principal is keeping could also be very useful" Sana got up to walk from one side to the other of the living room.

Mina was looking at her suspiciously "how do you know these things? Until a few hours ago we didn't even know about the existence of demons"

The twins were staring at each other "you have to tell the truth, I'm sure they will understand"

"I am a vampire hunter, but before you decide to eliminate me I want to defend myself by saying that I am a vampire for a third because of that fool of my twin" she pointed at Momo with contempt, but sincere affection showed in her eyes "I made many mistakes, both for my will and for Tzuyu's will, but I'm on your side and I'm going to fix everything I did"

"In fact I noticed a certain similarity between you two, apparently the stupid face is a family thing" Chaeyoung wanted to lighten the mood and for a few seconds it had worked, but the mood of the girls was difficult to lift.

"I need to rest a few minutes, I'm going to your room" Jeongyeon had turned to Momo before going to the room and throwing herself on the bed. She felt the strong lack of the one with whom she had spent many days, but at the same time the pain of losing her was not too strong because it was mostly fictitious feelings "I seem to go crazy"

"It is natural to feel this way, you have lost a very important person" Momo had reached her in the room and was leaning against the door "I'm really sorry, we all love Nayeon, but I don't think our affection for her can be compared to yours"

The pureblood hadn't turned to look at her "I came here to be alone for a while, I thought my intentions were clear"

"I wanted to be alone with you, I'm sorry for being so selfish in such a difficult time"

"If you are aware of it then leave me alone, I don't want to be disturbed"

Momo had teary eyes "I hope you can be well soon and that the feelings you have for her change into a different kind of love. I don't want it to have a chance to win your heart, I want it because I hate seeing people that I love while they are suffering. Excuse me for disturbing you and rest as much as you want, I will sleep on the couch"

As soon as the brunette left the room a salty tear fell on the pillow "my feelings for Nayeon have not been the same for a long time, but I'm too stupid to confess how I feel for you. You deserve a brave person by your side, just as my best friend deserved it. If I had been stronger, she wouldn't have died"

Each of them had a mixture of emotions that were almost impossible to manage, but despite the enormous loss they had suffered they were at least a little happy that they had not lost everything they cared about most.

Tzuyu was sitting on her throne with her gaze fixed on Nayeon's body: to keep it intact it was necessary to exert a lot of power over it while waiting for the glass case she had requested. She was ready to do anything to bring her back, even if she had no idea what her motive was.

A boy with two horns on his head had reached her and immediately knelt in front of her "Majesty, the preparations have been completed. Only the body of your beloved and your blood are missing"

"Very well, I'll be right there. Now disappear, we need intimacy before we part"

The servant disappeared instantly and the Queen of the Hell had approached Nayeon "you will wake up soon and you will be tied to me forever, it's only a matter of time. I have eternity available to make you forgive me"

With a snap of her fingers she made the tournament suit that the pureblood was wearing disappear to replace it with an elegant black dress "a new birth awaits you and you will have to be at your best. I can't wait to rule the world with you" she kissed her on the lips before placing her in the still empty glass case.

"You can start running your blood" another of her servants had told her, who had been assigned to deliver a cursed dagger to her.

Tzuyu began the ritual in all tranquility, cutting off her palms and imagining her and her beloved as they demolished the entire school created by her stupid and dead father.