896 Restraints
As Mira shot into the sky, holding Dominique tightly, the air around them whooshed violently, creating a sonic boom that echoed across the resort. The suddenness of the action took Dominique by surprise, her eyes wide with shock and confusion.
"Mother, what's happening?" Dominique managed to yell over the roaring wind.
Mira's eyes narrowed, her gaze fixated on a distant point. "Trouble," she replied tersely.
As they ascended higher, the scenery below transformed drastically. The lush greenery of the resort turned into a chaotic scene of destruction. A large crater lay below them as smoke and lava shot up from its depths.
In the middle of the crater, a figure stood. Androgynous in appearance, with long, flowing black hair that seemed to defy gravity. Their eyes were vacant, yet their gaze was fixed intently on Mira and Dominique.
"Who are you?" Mira demanded, her voice echoing with power.
The figure remained silent. Its expression remained unreadable, making Mira feel like it wasn't human. Then, without warning, they raised a hand, and a surge of energy shot toward Mira and Dominique.
Mira reacted instantly, creating a barrier of icy energy around them. The attack collided with the barrier, sending shockwaves through the air.
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"Stay behind me," Mira instructed Dominique, who nodded firmly.
The figure in the crater moved again, this time leaping towards them with incredible speed. Mira met them head-on, clashing in mid-air. The collision was like thunder, reverberating across the sky.
Mira and the figure exchanged a flurry of blows. Their movements were so fast they were a blur to anyone weaker than them.
However, the figure matched her move for move, countering her attacks with its own.
Dominique watched in awe, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't believe that she got to see a battle like this so up close.
The figure suddenly broke away from the fight, retreating a few meters. They stood still for a moment, and then their eyes began to glow with a strange light. A powerful aura emanated from them, filling the air with a sense of foreboding.
Mira tensed, sensing the impending danger. "Dominique, get back to the resort. Now!" she ordered.
"But Mother-"
"Do as I say!" Mira's tone left no room for argument.
Reluctantly, Dominique obeyed, speeding back towards the resort. Mira turned her full attention to the figure, ready for their next move.
The figure raised their hands to the sky, and dark clouds began to form, swirling ominously. Lightning crackled within the clouds, and a moment later, a massive bolt of lightning shot down, aimed directly at Mira.
She dodged, but the lightning followed her movements. Mira countered with a blast of icy energy, attempting to dissipate the lightning. For a moment, it seemed to work, but then the lightning intensified, breaking through her defense.
Mira gritted her teeth, pushing her limits. She summoned a storm of her own, creating a massive whirlwind of icy shards that collided with the lightning. The sky was a battlefield, with ice and lightning clashing in a spectacular display.
As the battle raged on, Mira realized that this was no ordinary opponent. They possessed a power that was unfamiliar yet formidable. She needed to end this quickly before it escalated further and implicated her new vacation spot.
With a determined look, Mira gathered all her strength, channeling the essence of her Absolute Ice Dao into a single, concentrated attack. She launched it at the figure, a beam of pure, icy power that cut through the air, freezing everything in its path.
The figure crossed their arms in front of them, creating a barrier of their own energy. When Mira's attack hit, a deafening explosion shook the sky. The figure's body shot into the distance, frozen in a block of ice.
Mira thought about following it, but its Qi signature disappeared from her perception not even a second later.
'...What the hell?' She frowned deeply, looking in the direction it went. 'What was that thing?'
As the dust and energy settled, Mira searched for the figure, but they were gone, vanished without a trace. The crater below was now a frozen wasteland, destroying any sense of tranquility that it once had. Fortunately, she was far enough from the rest of the resort that she didn't cause any damage to the facility itself.
'Who knows how many spirit stones I'd be out if I had to pay for this mess?' She grumbled before waving her hand and dissipating the ice,
Steadying her breath, Mira hovered in the air for a moment, scanning the area for any sign of the figure. When she found none, she slowly descended back to the ground, her mind racing with questions.
Who was that figure? What did they want? And why did they possess such strange and powerful energy?
It felt both alive yet dead, close yet distant.
'It has to be that puppeteer, right?' That was the only explanation she could come up with, but she didn't know puppets could be so advanced.
These questions lingered in Mira's mind as she made her way back to the resort, ready to check on Dominique and to prepare for whatever came next.
She could feel Dominique's presence, along with Rhydian, Elenei, and Coralia, all converging towards her location.
However, before she could make a move, an overwhelming force locked onto her, halting her in her tracks.
'Huh?' She growled, shaking her arm in an attempt to break out, but found that she was stuck. She tried shaking her tails, using her Qi, and summoning her Dao, but she was only able to produce little twitches, nothing substantial.
Her brows tightened as her frustration grew. '...So, something can hold me down, huh?'
Mira continued to struggle against the invisible constraint as she exerted every ounce of her strength. But to her dismay, she found herself completely immobilized, unable to move even an inch. It was as if an unseen hand had gripped her entire being, holding her in place against her will.
'Tch!' She clicked her tongue and manifested her scythe, using her Manifestation to its maximum potential. A domain of death spread around her, corroding everything it touched. With a thought, she mentally raised her scythe and slashed, using her Destruction Tail as fuel to rip through her invisible restraints.
A thin line passed through the air, separating… something. Mira could feel the pressure on her diminish significantly and narrowed her eyes in focus.
She mentally raised her scythe again, but before she could slash, there was another change.
The air around her grew denser, and a suffocating darkness enveloped her. Mira's vision blurred as she felt spatial fluctuations, an unmistakable sign of some kind of teleportation or dimensional shift. She braced herself for what was to come, her mind racing with possibilities.
Darkness descended upon her, filling her vision completely.
'...Was I just teleported?' She wondered, looking around only to find nothing but what seemed like an endless void. 'It doesn't feel like it.' Mira shook her head.
Instead, it felt like something was transposed onto her, like a formation or a domain of some sort.
'Hmmm~ Domain, huh? Could this be someone's Ruler–Weapon Endowment? Either that or someone teleported a formation or treasure onto me.' She mused but found herself free from those pesky restraints here.
'At least I can move.' She grasped her scythe and walked around, noticing that her feet made no noise. 'Is this that puppet master? Or maybe one of his friends? Why are they doing this? Is it really because of that old bastard Aelina told me to be careful of?'
She swung her scythe a few times, trying to rip through whatever was trapping her, but it had little to no effect.
'...Whatever.' Mira shrugged her shoulders and sat down. 'If their goal is to trap me and attack my companions, they're in for a world of shit. If their goal is to fight me in here, I'm either fucked or they are.'
She couldn't see any middle ground. Unless it was another bored old fogey that felt like playing games with the younger generation, those were the only options.
In the midst of the engulfing darkness, a faint light appeared overhead, gradually intensifying. As her eyes adjusted, Mira discerned a shadowy, transient figure emerging from the gloom. The figure was ethereal, its features indistinct, yet it exuded a sense of immense power.
"Who are you?" Mira demanded, her voice echoing in the void-
like space.
The figure's voice was soft yet clear, resonating through the darkness. "Hmm…" The figure hummed as it looked Mira up and down before nodding. "Not bad. The Outer Continents really have found someone special this century."
'Outer Continents? So, this coward is from the Central Continent?' Mira thought as she leaned on her scythe, staring at the being.
"Ah~!" Mira exclaimed exaggeratedly, pointing at the shadowing figure. "So, you're one of those kids hiding on your little island, huh? Finally felt like coming out of your turtle shell?" She chuckled, looking at it with mocking eyes. The being clearly regarded her as nothing more than dirt.
Mira knew these kinds of people well. Unless you poked their buttons, they would just treat you as some sort of zoo animal–
unique but ultimately a caged beast under their rule. Not worth engaging in a conversation with.
Though, that was something she could agree with. She didn't want to have a conversation with someone like this, either.
"..."
The air in the 'room' grew colder, but Mira shrugged it off.
"What? Mad?" Mira smirked, raising her chin. "Do something about it, then. Coward."
"This lowly peasant…"
