Chapter 26: A Triumph of Will
When all of the participants had moved to the balcony to observe the battle without getting hurt, Imprevisto told Tony and Corazza to start. Immediately, Corazza made a dash for Tony, who had no time to dodge, and was subsequently thrown to the floor. Rosa and Maiale watched in horror as Tony struggled against Corazza, who proceeded to touch Tony's forehead with the palm of his hand. Tony grabbed the man's arm and tried to pull it away, but it seemed to have little effect as light-blue energy surged out from his forehead into the man's hand. It was then that Tony kicked the man off of him, and staggered up, feeling drained.
"You're probably feeling faint right now," Corazza said, holding up his glowing hand. "It's because I've just absorbed your nature energy, which renders those famous Specchio Occhi eyes of yours useless."
He's right, Tony thought, I do feel faint, so I can't use my Specchio Occhi eyes whether I have this Vampire's Curse or not, but there is one kind of power I still haven't used yet.
While Corazza was grinning triumphantly, Tony clenched his fist and threw a fistful of throwing knives at Corazza. While Corazza was busy dodging them, Tony used this opportunity to rush at Corazza and kick him high into the air. Then while Corazza was in midair, Tony sprang up and dealt several strong blows to Corazza from different angles, each one more painful than the next. While Corazza was crying out in pain from every blow, Tony was starting to get excited.
Then, a burning sensation on the back of his neck caught his attention. He knew the Curse was activating, and everybody was watching him. Tony remembered what Spauracchio told him, and cursed himself in frustration. While he and Corazza were falling, Tony couldn't help but feel thrilled, which only made the Curse spread further. Using all his will power, he tried to suppress the Curse, but it proved resistant. Then he thought about what Gelato, Rosa, and Spauracchio would think if he gave in now, and put all his energy into one final kick into Corazza's stomach as he hit the concrete floor with a loud boom! Corazza was stunned, as Tony steadied himself while keeping one foot on his chest.
"Wanna try to get back at me?" Tony asked, looking down at Corazza.
"No, don't make me go through that again," Corazza muttered weakly.
Instinctively, Tony touched the back of his neck, and noticed that the burning feeling was gone. Then Imprevisto entered the ring and inspected both of them. He briefly regarded Corazza, but was more interested in Tony as he circled around him a couple of times. Tony tried to look calm, but deep inside, he was worried.
"You didn't see anything unusual, did you?" Tony asked.
Imprevisto looked at him queerly. "If I did see the Curse, the match would've been over a lot quicker."
As Imprevisto held Tony's hand up, declaring him the winner, a few participants cheered from above, particularly the rest of Squad 7 and Maiale. But there was someone on the balcony who caught his eye: a thin man with long dark hair and eyes, wearing a dark gray suit with the purple Suono tie, but his face seemed familiar. He noticed Tony's stare, smiled at him, and walked away with Casco at his side. Tony thought this was strange, but turned his attention back to his cheering comrades, and grinned slightly in response.
Well, who would've guessed I had it in me to use Chemistry. Must've picked it up when that Beni Niro guy attacked me back at the apartment, with some variation to the actual attack. I think I'll call it the Acute Stress Combo (Lion Combo).
After Tony stepped out of the ring, Corazza was taken away by standby doctors to recover. He met up with his comrades as Rosa hugged him, Gelato nodded at him, and Spauracchio took him away to a secret room across from the balcony to seal the Curse away.
Inside this room was a large circle drawn in chalk with several candles placed around the circumference, with a burning oil lamp, a cup of water, a feather, and a pile of dirt placed at the four corners of a cross with a smaller circle inside. Tony was then told to take his clothes off, and lie kneeling down at the center of the circle, while Spauracchio wrote biblical verses all over his body in ink until they touched the floor. Once that was done, Spauracchio picked up the piece of chalk he used, and drew more patterns within the big circle. After that, he lit all the candles around the big circle with the oil lamp, and Tony started to feel awkward.
Then Spauracchio took the cup of water up and sprinkled it on Tony, and around the circle. After the cup was emptied, he placed the bowl down, and waved the feather in front of Tony. This made Tony's nose twitch slightly, but kept the urge to sneeze in long enough not to interrupt Spauracchio as he started sprinkling the dirt in the spots between the chalk. When the last spot was filled with dirt, Spauracchio stepped out of the circle, made all twelve hand-signs while calling out each one, and began to chant Latin words as the circle lit up and the written words felt hot on Tony's skin.
End of Chapter 26