Chapter 109: A fox is mischievous but a dragon is wise. (1/2)
It was only a single strike but the wave of energy that ensued, flames and light together, would have been enough to destroy everything in a mile radius if it wasn't for Arima's soul manifestation.
The only thing that remained the same as it would be outside was the shockwave that merely made the plants sway as if it was a simple breeze. It didn't even reach the group watching as it stopped right in front of them.
Lanya didn't want to waste time and wanted to end this fight as quick as possible. She was aware that when you fight with someone equally strong, the first error, as well as the first clean hit, would always be the main turning points.
She pressed the trigger of her rapier and the pellets left the barrels with a detonation. Because the two girls' swords were entangled, the shot was aimed at the sky but the noise surprised Velvet and her blade was struck by one stray bullet.
Lanya used the recoil to move in Velvet's blind spot. When she was about to swing her sword once more, the nine tails all produced orange flames and stabbed toward Lanya.
She reacted quickly and conjured a large wall of silver light that illuminated the surroundings and mixed with the dark blue hue of the bluestone beneath. The nine tails struck the wall of light and made it explode.
Lanya and Velvet both retreated because of the aftershock and glanced at the bluestone at their feet when the explosion subsided. There wasn't even a dent. They smiled wryly and charged at each other again.
Each time the two weapons clashed, a destructive force and aura would spread. The longer they fought in close quarters, the more serious they became. Lanya started using her tail a lot more, she was also firing with her rapier every time she saw an opening, and also made use of her wings to help her in her deplanements.
Meanwhile, Velvet appeared to mainly rely on her nine tails to counter and combined it with her sword skills. She had a great advantage from a sensory aspect; her ears were not only there for show and she had great hearing.
Until now, neither Lanya or Velvet had used any powerful magic and just fiercely battled with their martial arts using everything they had. They continued doing so for ten minutes at least. Sometimes they would be so fast that you could only hear sonic booms, detonations, and metal clashing.
Only people around Raal's level or higher could clearly follow their movements while the students had to do their best to even locate the places where the sounds were coming from.
Some who were quite resourceful and used magic to boost their eyesight. Lena got the help of her soul beast and watched. Ofia's eyes also had transformed and her pupils were shifting back and forth from left to right.
Other people were doing the same, especially those who possessed a soul contract with a beast that had better eyesight than a human.
Arima, Karma, and Night didn't care though. This place was their territory. They could perfectly 'know' anything happening within it without using any of their senses.
Lanya and Velvet clashed one last time when they both realized that waiting for an occasion to hit the other was too uncertain.
Lanya swung her rapier and traced a silver line in midair. She continued to slash with her sword and formed different runes and circles. Velvet's nine tails also moved and started drawing runes and circles in red color.
”[Hallowed Dragon],” Lanya chanted and the incantations she had written became a whirlpool that slowly formed a silver dragon above her. The beast roared and shook the air.
”[Burning Impalement],” Velvet chanted and the runes turned into flames that condensed into nine different spears hovering in mid-air.
The light dragon spread his wings and raised his head toward the sky and started inhaling. As he did, the varied lights filling Arima's soul land were absorbed as well. Silver energy gathered around the dragon's body as his lungs inflated.
At the same time, the nine spears of Velvet began to rotate and a huge amount of flames suddenly appeared behind them, ready to propel them like rockets. The spear in the middle was particularly big and seemed to be boosted by even more mana.
The two opponents only needed a thought for their magic to be cast at that point. The dragon roared and a giant beam of light came out of its maw. The huge spear on Velvet's side was thrown with unimaginable speed and the two attacks instantly met each other.
The encounter caused a tremendous discharge of energy that spread through the entire realm. Although the bluestone was still indestructible for them, some plants around started to lose some of their petals or leaves.
The audience watching couldn't spectate fight anymore as the light from the explosion covered the entire place.
At that moment, Arima smiled. ”A fox is mischievous…”
Velvet threw the other spears in eight different directions that went around Lanya and attacked her from the same number of angles.
”But a dragon is wise,” Arima muttered.
On the back of her right hand, Lanya's sigil revolved.
”[Fourth Destruction Art, Vashta Nerada] (The Shadow that Eats the Flesh),” She chanted and the zone behind the huge dragon of light was trapped by darkness. The blazing spears penetrated the dark smoke but nothing happened after that.
After a while, the dark smoke dispersed and the spears were nowhere to be seen. Lanya had prepared the Fourth Destruction Art at the same she was writing the runes for her light dragon.
Velvet snickered. ”I see,” She waved her hand and the explosion that was still ongoing became even stronger with more fire surrounding it. Lanya's eyes glowed and she extended her hands. The holy dragon thundered even stronger and the beam of light expanded.
A final discharge of energies occurred. The fire spear lost any stable form and exploded while the silver dragon howled one last time before vanishing. The sound and shockwave caused the students to cover their ears in pain. Arima snapped his fingers and the sound from outside was muffled as they were now surrounded by a peculiar transparent dome.
When the flames died down and the light dimmed, Lanya and Velvet were already making their steel talk. They also started using a lot more of their magic and aura. The orange fire was filling the air and the crisping sound of the flames could be heard at any time. On the other hand, Lanya's light was shining over the place and shooting numerous beams of light at Velvet.