Chapter 253: Lord Vs. Dragon [II]
The split dragon fire detonated against the far boundary of Aeli’s white dome, illuminating the void in blinding red light.
"WHAT?!" Talira gasped in complete shock with her dragon eyes bulging.
Before Talira could shut her jaws, Vespera blurred into motion.
WHOOSH!
Using her single-armed lightweight acceleration, Vespera closed the eighty-pace distance in less than a heartbeat, appearing directly beneath Talira’s towering chest.
Driving her right boot into the white ground, Vespera channeled earth mana directly beneath the dragon’s feet.
’Obsidian Impaler!’ Vespera thought.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The white floor beneath Talira violently ruptured as five massive, fifteen-foot-tall spears of razor-sharp, compressed obsidian glass erupted directly out of the ground beneath her belly, thrusting upward like dark spears.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The obsidian spears struck Talira’s underbelly scales with terrifying force.
While they didn’t impale through her dragon heart, the raw explosive thrust lifted the multi-ton dragon off her feet, forcing her massive body backward and making her lose her balance.
"AGHHH!" Talira shrieked in pain and frustration.
Inside her mind, the dragon’s pride was burning to a crisp... She was getting out-maneuvered, out-smarted, and pushed back by a single-armed human wearing a woman’s body?
’NO!’ Talira screamed internally with her dragon heart pounding violently! ’I AM A PRIMORDIAL CRIMSON DRAGON! I WILL NOT LOSE TO A HUMAN...!’
BOOM!
Suddenly, a violent miraculous evolution erupted from deep within Talira’s ancient bloodline.
The perks of dragon biology... rapid combat growth and instantaneous cellular adaptation triggered under the overwhelming stress of the battle.
Talira’s massive crimson body violently expanded as her physical scale grew twenty percent larger, her wingspan stretching out to over seventy feet.
Her scales hardened into an even darker, volcanic black-crimson hue, and two additional swept-back horns sprouted from her skull.
And even more terrifyingly... a brand-new elemental aura ignited around her wings!
FWOOSH!
’This is just cheating, isn’t i—’
A roaring destructive cyclone of compressed, emerald-green wind mana suddenly erupted around Talira’s body, fusing seamlessly with her volcanic fire.
She had unlocked her secondary draconic element mid-combat... True Wind Magic.
"ROAAAAAR!" Talira roared, her expanded, dual-harmonic voice shaking the entire spatial dome! "FEEL THE POWER OF A TRUE DRAGON!"
Talira flapped her massive seventy-foot wings as the newly awakened wind mana amplified her aerial velocity tenfold.
She shot forward at Mach 3 speed with her massive form turning into a terrifying blur of fire and green wind.
"TAKE THIS! TAKE THIS! TAKE THIS!"
She unleashed a barrage of supersonic claw slashes and wind-blade waves that tore across the white dimension.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Talira screamed continuously with her battle cries filling the void as her skills grew sharper by the second.
Vespera’s purple eyes lit up with intense ecstatic thrill as she felt her core throb.
"YES! THAT’S IT, TALIRA! SHOW ME MORE!" Vespera shouted back as she didn’t retreat an inch. She leaned into the storm of wind and fire, engaging her own wind techniques!
SWOOSH!
Swinging her sword in a wide vertical arc, Vespera fired off her wind blade.
’Gale Guillotine!’ Vespera thought!
A massive sixty-foot razor blade of emerald wind shot out, colliding against Talira’s incoming wind-blade waves.
BOOM!
The sound echoed, shattering both spells into swirling gusts of air.
As Talira closed the distance, attempting to crush her with a massive, multi-ton claw slam, Vespera thrust her single palm forward.
’Hurricane Repulsion!’ Vespera thought.
BANG!
’I can finally understand what Mages with multiple kinds of spells feel in situations like this.’
They were simply too many options to choose from... It was madness to not pick one!
An atmospheric shockwave of pressurized air erupted from Vespera’s palm, striking Talira’s massive claw mid-air and forcing the strike three feet off target, causing the giant claws to smash harmlessly into the white floor.
CRASH!
’I’m still concerned on how Aeli is maintaining this, regardless...’
Vespera didn’t waste a single millisecond.
She tapped into her Gold Core’s highest-voltage lightning affinity as jagged roaring arcs of royal purple and golden electricity instantly erupted across her entire female body, coiling around her longsword like striking serpents.
Inside her mind, Silas was rapidly connecting the dots of lightning physics... like he had been doing with the other elements.
’Lightning isn’t just about speed or raw damage...’ Silas realized with clarity. ’It’s about continuous chain-reaction execution! It flows like liquid through nervous pathways which is why Harper moves the way she does...’
It felt so exhilarating...
’Thunderclap Blitz!’ Vespera thought.
KRA-THOOM!
Vespera turned into a literal bolt of golden-purple lightning as she executed nine instantaneous, supersonic dashes through the air, appearing at nine different spatial angles around Talira’s massive dragon body in less than half a minute.
ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With every single dash, Vespera delivered a brutal single-handed sword strike against Talira’s joints, wing-hinges, and neck scales.
Sparks exploded into the air like fireworks as the rapid-fire lightning strikes rattled Talira’s massive frame, overriding her nervous system with high-voltage paralysis.
"AAGHH! STOP! STOP MOVING SO FAST!" Talira shrieked, thrashing her head wildly as blue-and-gold electricity crackled across her scales.
Appearing directly above Talira’s massive dragon head, Vespera held her longsword vertically, pointing the tip directly down at the dragon’s skull.
’Voltaic Execution Chain!’ Vespera thought!
BOOOOOOM!
A massive lightning-bolt chain of pure electric energy shot out from her sword, impaling directly into Talira’s head and chaining down her entire spine all the way to her tail.
The high-voltage load locked Talira’s muscles in place, preventing her from flapping her wings or moving her claws.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
’I think... I can chain the last one into it too!’ Vespera’s eyes were glowing gold now, she seemed to have grasped it once more...
That same epiphany!
Channeling every single drop of her remaining lightning mana into her single right hand, Vespera gathered a colossal sun-like sphere of blinding apocalyptic purple-and-gold electricity over her head!
’Fulgur Annihilation!’ Vespera thought!
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Vespera drove the massive sphere of destruction straight down into Talira’s back.
A cataclysmic explosion of blinding light, roaring thunder, and destructive shockwaves erupted across the entire white spatial dome.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
Talira let out a long earth-shaking shriek of defeat as the overwhelming, apocalyptic lightning blast completely shattered her draconic defensive wards, fried her core reserves, and sent her multi-ton dragon body crashing violently down onto the white floor.
CRASH! RUMBLE!
"Augh!" Aeli grunted but she held strong as the cracks repaired almost instantly, she was being motivated by the very thought of not disappointing Silas.
The massive crimson dragon hit the ground hard, skidding three hundred meters across the white void before coming to a complete, motionless halt.
The blinding light slowly faded as the crackling thunder died down into quiet static.
Vespera landed lightly on her boots fifty paces away with her breath coming in heavy, steady gasps.
Her black shirt was slightly torn at the shoulder, and a deep bruise was forming along her ribs where a stray wind-wave had grazed her.
Quietly engaging her healing spell, Vespera let the golden light wash over her frame.
’Radiant Cellular Reconstruction,’ Vespera thought softly.
A gentle soothing golden aura wrapped around her female body. In a fraction of a second, the deep bruise on her ribs vanished, her torn muscle fibers re-knit themselves, and her physical stamina was instantly fully restored.
’No wonder people that can use Light magic are sought after... fucking cheaters. This means I should be able to use buff skills too.’
Over near the fallen dragon, a bright crimson light flared.
FLASH!
Unable to maintain the immense mana cost of her true form any longer, Talira’s massive seventy-foot dragon body dissolved into glowing red spirit particles.
When the light faded, Talira was back in her human form.
She was kneeling on her hands and knees on the white floor, wearing her torn silk tunic as her body trembling uncontrollably from total mana exhaustion.
Blood was trickling from the corner of her dark lips, her fiery red hair was messy and scorched, and her crimson eyes were wide and filled with dazed disbelief.
Her draconic power was completely exhausted.
Yet... her stubborn, ancient dragon pride refused to let her yield.
"I... I can still... fight...!" Talira gasped out, her voice raspy and weak.
Using the last sliver of her physical muscle strength, Talira pushed herself off the ground.
She staggered forward on wobbling legs, raising her trembling, pale fists to throw a desperate feral punch straight toward Vespera’s face.
"I WON’T SUBMIT TO A HUMAN!" Talira screamed weakly.
SWISH!
Vespera didn’t even raise a weapon.
With effortless single-armed duelist precision, Vespera simply sidestepped the slow exhausted punch.
She caught Talira’s outstretched wrist with her single right hand, gently redirecting the dragoness’s forward momentum.
As Talira overshot her balance and began falling forward into the empty air, completely spent—
SWOOP.
Vespera reached out her single right arm, wrapping it firmly and securely around Talira’s slender waist.
She pulled the exhausted red-haired dragoness tightly against her chest, holding her securely in a warm protective embrace before her knees could touch the cold floor.
Talira’s head flopped weakly against Vespera’s shoulder with her breathing heavy.
The violent, feral rage that had consumed her mind for centuries was completely gone, replaced by a strange and deeply comforting sense of safety.
’Wha... What is this...’
Vespera looked down at the battered, trembling dragoness resting in her single arm.
She reached up with her fingers, gently stroking Talira’s messy red hair with a soft, warm, and genuinely fond smile.
"You did good, Talira," Vespera praised her gently, her raspy female voice dropping into a low whisper right beside her ear.
She tightened her grip around the dragon’s waist, adding with a firm promise.
"You fought like a true queen today. But from now on... you better listen to your Lord."
Talira rested her head heavily against Vespera’s shoulder.
She felt the warm unshakeable strength of the person holding her.
She felt the gentle, soothing touch stroking her hair. For the first time since her mother had passed away hundreds of years ago... the lonely traumatized dragoness felt seen once more.
A single warm tear slipped from Talira’s crimson eye, tracing down her pale cheek.
Her vision began to blur into dark peaceful shadows as blissful exhaustion finally overtook her core.
As her consciousness slowly drifted away into sleep, a quiet thought echoed through the quiet sanctuary of her fading mind.
’Yes... My... Lor—’
Vespera caught Talira smoothly with her single arm locked like a vise around the dragoness’s waist as the last sparks of crimson mana dissolved into the air.
With a soft exhaled breath, she turned and handed the limp, exhausted red-haired girl over to Aeli.
Aeli caught Talira under her shoulders, supporting the dragoness’s weight with ease.
The elven arcanist raised her free hand, snapping her fingers with a soft resonant bell tone.
WHOOSH!
The infinite white spatial dome violently collapsed inward with the blinding expanse dissolving into particles of light.
In a fraction of a second, the familiar stone walls, cold granite floor, and damp air of the Keep’s training vault returned around them.
"An absolutely magnificent performance, My Lord," Aeli praised warmly, looking over at Vespera with eyes sparkling with adoration.
She reached up with her slender hand, gently tapping Vespera’s head in an affectionate praise-filled gesture that made the Lord’s eyelids twitch slightly.
Vespera reached for her left hand, slipping off the black metal ring.
FLASH!
A brief brilliant burst of golden Gold Core mana surged around her frame. Her height stretched back out to six-foot-two, her shoulders broadened, her left arm materialized back into place, and her golden-ringed eyes returned to their natural state.
Silas slumped back against the stone wall, sliding down until his rear hit the cold floor.
He let out a long, heavy sigh, rolling his muscular shoulders.
"Phew..." Silas muttered, running a hand through his dark hair. "That was... quite the workout."
Silas closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the granite blocks. Inside his chest, he could feel his core thrumming violently.
The volume of mana he had cycled during that high-intensity clash with Talira was causing his Gold Core to vibrate with a deep liquid warmth.
’I’m so damn close...’ Silas thought, his mind tracking his internal progress.
He was standing right on the precipice of reaching the second stage of Core Advancement.
Breaking through that threshold would grant him a massive, astronomical permanent boost of 30,000 points of raw mana.
To finally trigger the evolution, he just needed to achieve ’Adept’ mastery in the remaining fundamental elemental branches he had recently acquired.
The intense battle he had just fought... forcing him to rapidly cast, weave, and compress multi-elemental spells through a lightweight single-armed female vessel had accelerated his core’s comprehension at a terrifying rate.