A/N: Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 9: Roulette of Death?

"Before we start, I need to ask you something. What do you mean by life force?" Vladimir questioned.

"Just that. When you lose your points, you actually lose part of your life energy and your opponent gains it. If you win, then your powers will double. If you lose, your darkness will take over you."

"What are the rules?"

"There aren't any."

"Okay. That's cool, I guess."

"How about you spin first."

"Fine with me."

Vladimir spun the roulette and it ended on a -500.

"What the… oh well."

Suddenly, an orb appeared above Vladimir and shot him in the head with a red light. Another orb appeared above the Vladislov replica and shot it with a blue laser.

"OUCH! What the hell is that!?"

"Oh, right. When you spin, the person whose points get deducted gets zapped by a red laser. The person who gains points gets zapped by a blue laser, although that one doesn't hurt. Looks like it's my turn."

The replica of Vladislov rolled the roulette which landed on a +200. The orbs shot the respective people. Vladimir took his turn and landed on a -200.

"Alright, this is fixed, isn't it?"

"In a way, it is. However, I told you there are no rules. The way the roulette works is that it looks into the heart of each player and sees the reason they believe they exist for. If it's dark, then their darkness, which is me, gains points unless the player changes his reason to live to something that is light. But, for you, it's useless!"

The replica rolled the roulette and it landed on +100.

"I win. And now, you will die."

The red laser orb appeared above Vladimir's head. Suddenly, he raised his hand above his head and yelled, "Dragon Bane, RAGNAROK!"

The blade appeared right as the laser shot. The laser hit the blade, reflected towards the Vladislov replica. Because it hit the wrong player, it malfunctioned and drained all the replica's points. The blue orb appeared above the replica to give it the points, but Vladimir jumped over the roulette table and tackled the replica to the ground. The blue beam shot Vladimir instead of the replica. The replica dissipated.

"Bravo," a high pitched voice said in the darkness.

"So, how long have you been watching, Eva-sama?"

Evangeline stepped through the darkness and walked to Vladimir.

"The whole time. Actually, I was controlling the roulette table and the replica of your brother."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out. The replica just didn't give off too threatening of an atmosphere."

"Heheheh… You solved this problem in a better way than most people would. Most people would've just killed their opponent. That would be an easy win since there are no rules. And if something's dead, then they have no life force to lose."

"Well, I thought that if I killed the replica, then I would lose all of that life force and would have a rough time getting my strength back," Vladimir replied.

"Heheheh… You are very smart, Vladimir, because that's EXACTLY what would've happened."

"So what was this drill for exactly?"

"If you didn't find a way to win, I would've just absorbed your life force from the replica. But since you did win, you have twice your strength. Do you feel any different?"

"Not rea…"

Vladimir's bones started popping and his arm started to expand. His muscles grew to twice their size and Vladimir fell to the ground, conscience, but not moving.

"Do you feel any different, now?"

Vladimir tried saying something, but his words came out as mumbled sounds.

"I guess you're done with training, then. I'll let you rest until the test. Having your muscles grow to twice their size all at once is painful. Your body will need a few days to get used to it. Let's see, the test is in 8 hours, so that's about a week to rest…"

Evangeline walked out of the room where she put Vladimir down to rest.

One Week Later

"OI! VLADI-KUN! Get up! You have only 1 hour before the test!" Evangeline said as she tossed the sheets off Vladimir.

"Ehh… I'm up… wait, what did you just call me?"

"We don't have the time! I thought you wanted to make sure everyone was well prepared before the tests."

"Crap… you're right. Well, let's go!"

Vladimir practically jumped out of his bed, then changed his clothes in a record-breaking speed, and ran off to the real world.

"OI! Wait up! If you overdo yourself, then your muscles will fail you again!"

It was too late, Vladimir ran so fast that his muscles gave way. He was going so fast that he was already in the school's courtyard, but he went flying into a wall when his muscles failed.

Infirmary

"It looks like only your legs failed you this time. You'll have to take the test in the infirmary," Evangeline said.

"Thanks for coming to see me. But I was going so fast! I seriously think that I can outrun sound, now!"

"Yeah, I know you were going fast. Half the school collapsed because of you. Luckily, I miscalculated the time and it turns out that no one was in that part of the building at the time. But, man, the police are crawling all over the school because they think it was a bomb. Everyone besides you has to take the test in the courtyard."

Meanwhile at Library Island

Negi and friends were able to successfully get out of the library. They were walking home when Negi suddenly stopped moving.

"Negi? What is it?"

"I don't know. My legs stopped moving."

Just then he started walking again.

"Oh, I think I'm better, now."

The group continued on ahead, with Negi in the very back of the group. Negi felt a strange presence and turned around immediately.

"FINALLY! THE BOOK IS MINE!"

A figure that was fairly tall rose from Negi's shadow and was somehow not seen by the others.

"Wha… who are you!?" Negi asked aghast.

"Tell me, kid, do you know someone named Vladimir? He's my brother."

"Um… yes, why?"

"Give this to him." The figure ripped a page out of the book that Negi and his group went to Library Island for. "He'll answer all of your questions, most likely."

"Negi!" Asuna yelled. "Hurry up or we'll be late!"

Negi looked down at the page and back up, but the guy was gone. He decided that he would find out everything from Vladimir. He got his group together and left for the school.

Down an alleyway, Vladislov was looking through the book.

"Alas, the secret of Genesis is revealed!"