"An hasn''t even started yet," Lucius calmlymented. "Though I''m sure that you should''ve known it..."


    "I noticed itst time as well. There are times when you''re like apletely different person who doesn''t know anything about us. And at other times, you''re the same old Castiel who destroys whatever stands in his path. Just what has happened to you ever since you went to sleep?"


    Lucius had seen Asst time. As had been struggling around that time. Lucius even thought that this guy wasn''t Castiel. However, that was also the time where Castiel made an appearance inside As and removed all the suspicions from Lucius that this guy was actually Castiel.


    Despite that, it was still quite strange as how he didn''t know that An hadn''t even started fighting seriously yet.


    "Of course, I know that An isn''t fighting seriously. But what makes you think that Vor is?" As asked in return, finding a way to respond without looking like he was ignorant.


    He didn''t know just what An was truly capable of, but he was sure that it was way more than what he was showing. However, it wasn''t much different for Vor either.


    Unlike with An, As had actually seen Vor fight. He knew just how capable Vor actually was when it came to such things. Vor wasn''t even using the strength that he used when destroying the Blood Council, let alone using his full strength.


    At the moment, it was only both of them who were trying to gauge each other''s strength, but even in that, they were on equal footing, which gave As an impression that they were equal in strength, more or less.


    "So you think An can be defeated by Vor?" Lucius asked, quite amused. "I must say, you really hold some nice bias for your friend."


    "It''s not biased. I just know him more at this point. He has grown up a lotpared to how he used to be before. Of course, you two have grown as well, but a Progenitor''s strength doesn''t grow as much. It''s quite stagnant for the most part," As answered, taking a seat in the back since he believed that the battle was going to stretch for long.


    "That''s quite true. Unlike Werewolves, who grow in phases, yet quite fast, we gain most of our strength instantly, and then it''s a really slow process. But still, to think that An will lose... That''s impossible."


    "If you knew as much as I do about this world, you would know that nothing in this world is impossible. Even I used to think that some things were impossible until they were possible," As stated, remembering the thing about bringing a human back from death in the form of a Progenitor.


    "Like what?" Lucius asked, wondering just what he saw that made him think that nothing was imposed.


    "Didn''t you see the same thing?" As asked, shifting the answer to something else. "A werewolf living for so long, that in itself was impossible, but here he is. When ites to Vor, I would really advise you not to underestimate him. He might surprise you a lot someday."


    "Want to bet them?" Lucius asked as the battle in the distance started intensifying, leaving some marks on the surroundings as well. As the attacks intensified, the destruction of the surrounding area also intensified. Both the men started using a lot more strength than they were using before.


    " If you''re so confident in your friends, you should be quitefortable with taking a bet on him. If he wins, you win. If An wins, I win."


    "What''s on line for the bet?" As asked. If they were betting, he was sure that Lucius had something in mind for this bet. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could give. As had nothing worth giving. And he knew money and treasures wouldn''t hold any value for Lucius.


    "If you win, I''ll listen to yourmands in theing war. The leader of our side will be Lilith, as you decided," Lucius responded. "However, if I win, we will do things my way. I''ll be leading our army, and everyone will do as I say, including Lilith. So how about it?"


    "I''m afraid I can''t take the bet in that case. Theing war is too important for me to take that risk. Lilith ising to this war, as she confirmed. Moreover, she is also the perfect person to lead us as she can keep an eye on all the surroundings, leaving nothing out of her control."


    Even though the offer was good and he believed Vor could win, As didn''t take the risk. Why was there even a need to do it? It was much better to stay out of this bet.


    "Was that all the faith you had in your friend?" Lucius smirked. "I''m not surprised though. Bias only goes so much before you are different to ept reality."


    "It''s not bias. I still think that Vor can win," As answered. "It''s just that I''m not willing to take that bet.*


    "If you believe in him, how about you show just how much faith you have in your friend at the moment? Why are you hesitating? Unless you don''t really believe your friend? Is that the case?" Lucius found As'' reaction quite amusing.


    "ept it, Castiel. Even if you know the truth. You just don''t want to ept it before others."


    "How about you just watch? The reality will be clear quite soon." As didn''t let Lucius influence him into epting this bet. He stayed firm on his stance.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Lucius onlyughed in response.


    The battle raged on, as finally, everyone was using their peak strength. To Lucius''s surprise, Vor was still able to hold on! Vor was looking quite tired after the long battle, but it was the same case for An, who was also quite hurt.


    Since a lot of Vor''s poison was already inside An''s body, As was also unable to use hisplete strength since he also had to fight back the poison.


    The battle had started as a practice battle, but it had started to evolve into something way more than that. As could finally feel the blood lust of both.


    Things had escted too much. He had to intervene.


    "That''s enough!"


    As stood up, interfering in the battle himself.


    "It has gone on for far enough. Since none of you won, it''s a draw!"


    "What? How can it be a draw? Just step aside! Let me finish him! You can''t stop us now! Things were just getting fun!" An eximed, discontent.


    "Castiel, step aside. Let me fight!" Even Vor wanted to fight more.


    "If you fight now, who will fight tomorrow?" As asked in return. "Are you forgetting that we need to go to war tomorrow?"


    He red at An. "So you want to be taken there, filled with Werewolf poison? We need you to be strong. Not weak!"


    "And you," he looked at Vor. "You should also understand that you''re hurt. If the battle kept going on, both of you were seriously going to be hurt! In your battle, it would''ve been earth which had lost!"


    "I''ve let this Battle go on for long enough, but any more than that is just too much now! Go back to your rooms and rest now! We also need to go meet the Witchester on. So behave like adults and don''t make things hard for us!"


    The way As was scolding the two, it looked as if he was a teacher who was scolding his students. If the old him saw the current him, he would''ve been quite surprised. As wasn''t even twenty years old yet, and he was scolding people who were over a hundred years old, at least.


    Fortunately, Lilith wasn''t here to see this. Both men had no choice but to ept this. It was true that they had more important things to do tomorrow, so they couldn''t go all out today.


    "We will continue our Battle after we win tomorrow''s war!" Vor warned An.


    "I look forward to it," An answered,ughing lightly. "Next time, there won''t be anyone to stop us!"


    ****


    It was two at night. Luna was staying behind with Mise, who was sleeping. Most of the Vampires were also staying back.


    As, Lilith, Lancaster, and Vor were sitting in one of the Carriages that departed the small town. Behind their carriage, there was another carriage in which the Two Progenitors and Tyler were sitting.


    Only the group of seven was going to meet and negotiate with the witches to help them and to see if they could even be trusted.


    They didn''t want to trust the witches, only for their real n to be leaked. That''s why As had also taken some precautions. He had discussed with everyone as to how much he was going to tell the witches even if they agreed. There was no way they could be told the entire n, no matter what. They needed to be kept in the dark.