[Gabriel's Palace]
"He won."
Nephthys commented quietly as she watched the fight.
“Indeed.”
Gabriel nodded. Even though the fight had been only at the Duke level, she could not tear her gaze away from it.
It was like seeing all her deepest fantasies taking form. A lone hero fighting against impossible odds and finally winning by awakening his hidden power thanks to his determination. It was so simple yet so beautiful that she was spellbound.
“When the explosion happened, I really thought that this would be the end.”
Gabriel shook off her daze and laughed at Nephthys words.
“If the explosion had happened before his awakening then I would have immediately teleported him out. But, I am glad I didn’t have to. If I had to save him, I am sure that it would have crushed his spirit.”
Nephthys nodded. In a world where pure intent could affect reality, losing one fighting would be as good as being completely crippled.
For a dragon, even a hybrid one, having their pride completely crushed was something unacceptable. She had seen dragons kill themselves because of this.
'Still, to think he was that talented.'
The power Isis had over life and death was something out of this world. The power of death of her husband and her power over life from her phoenix heritage had perfectly fused in their daughter and resulted in giving Isis potential even higher than a pure Phoenix.
Until now, Nephthys had always thought that her daughter was the most perfect hybrid but,
“That form…”
“Oh? So you remarked? The war form of the dragon tribe. This is truly a powerful transformation.”
The dragons were the divine beasts with the highest defense and the highest raw physical strength. It wouldn’t be a mistake to say that they were machines purely created to tank as much damage as possible and wreak havoc wherever they passed.
Even so, because of their massive form, they were easy targets on the battlefield, while taking human form weakened them too much.
The war form was the result to get the best of both worlds. A mobility out of this world paired with a complete defense...but there was one specific detail that did not match the current situation.
“I thought only pure dragons at the King realm could awaken that form?”
This was what Nephthys couldn’t understand. During this fight, not only had Sol skipped many steps of dragon force, but he even reached the final step that had only been used by a few dragons over thousands of years.
“He isn’t even a Duke yet…”
Gabriel added quietly. She also remembered that Sol was a Dimensional Mage and had been fighting without one of his strongest trump cards.
‘Oh, my goddess..’
Now that the high of the fight had vanished, she was beginning to grasp the importance of what she had just witnessed. She had always wondered what the twin sister of her goddess was doing and why she gave so much importance to Sol. But now she realized that she had underestimated him too much.
A Blessed. A perfect Hybrid without any shortcomings. The power of a Chaos Dragon. A Dimensional Mage. A human with the highest Capacity ever recorded in history.
Any of those talents was enough to bring the one it belonged to the top. Mars was the perfect proof. But what would happen if all those were mixed? What if, in addition to all of this, he made a contract with another perfect hybrid?
‘Just what kind of monster is Lady Luxuria trying to create?’
“So, you won.”
Walking lightly on the sand, Isis walked toward Sol while observing the surroundings.
On one side, she could see the body of Rio with a hole in her abdomen. On the other side, she could see the corpse of White with one of its wings and head missing, blood still flowing from its body.
“I did, indeed.”
Tearing her gaze away from the two dead Dukes. She turned to Sol who was still floating with his head down, breathing roughly.
Even though he only took a glance at her, she had felt as if she was standing in front of a starving beast ready to tear her apart.
Thankfully, she was a Phoenix hybrid and as such could ward off the natural pressure he was emanating.
'At least it does not seem permanent.'
In her eyes, she could see that his previously warm soul seemed far colder. But slowly, the warmth was coming back.
Deciding to stay silent, she observed him as changes kept happening to his body.
The large wings and the tails vanished. The same happened to the scales and the threatening spikes.
Landing softly on the ground, Sol took a deep breath before looking at Isis.
“Your eyes changed.”
“Did they?”
He gently caressed the rim of his eyes before shrugging. “I guess it would have been too much to expect that everything would stay the same.”
Indeed, even though the black and gold color had faded and gave place the usual blue, the eyes of Sol were still that of a dragon, rather than the round pupils of a human. What’s more, on his head, his two curved horns were also still present.
In the past, it was impossible to say that Sol was a hybrid as long as he didn’t use dragon force. Now though, it would be hard to convince anyone otherwise.
Shaking his head, he looked at the result of his fight before sighing.
Isis misunderstood his sigh and asked with a mischievous expression,
“What, you regret killing them?”
“Heh, I definitely regret it. But not for the reasons you are thinking. I wasn’t my normal self when I asked her to surrender. The instincts were drowning most of my reasoning. Had I been my normal self, I am sure that I could have convinced them. It’s a shame to lose two Dukes.”
Sol looked at his hand as he answered. When he had transformed or rather when he had taken what should have been his natural form, Sol had not particularly felt different.
It was only now that he could understand how could and calluses he had been.
It wasn't something stupid like a double personality or some inner demon. It was just that under this form, most of his inhibitions were erased.
He didn't just become stronger. He became colder. His view of the world changed.
He could faintly understand now why all pure divine beasts looked down on others. When he was in that form, he felt as if everything should bow down to him. That it was the natural order of things. That he was a superior being.
At the same time, his mind kept an extreme level of rationality. Observing his enemies, detecting their flaws and the way to break them.
They said that a lion would use all his strength even to kill a rabbit.
This was the same. In that form, he became a cold and rational hunter. A predator willing to use everything at his disposal to win.
He still didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing.
On the other hand, when Isis heard his words, she hesitated a short while before walking until she reached Rio’s body.
She still did not completely trust him.
She still did not want to follow him.
But… Perhaps she could give him a chance?
That’s why she had decided to do one last test.
“Hey, Sol. Do you want to see a neat trick?"
She wanted to see. She wanted to know–just how would he react once he understood her true nature?
Would he look at her in disgust and veiled hatred like all her kins?
Would he see her as a potential weapon he could use?
“Hum...What are you talking about?”
She did not know. For all her power, foresight was not part of her skillset. Even so, right here, right now, she was willing to give it a try.
At least if she was to suffer another disappointment, better be sooner than later.
That was why,
“Let me show you.”
Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand over the head of Rio.
<<Necro art: Call of the valkyrie>>
Her deep red eyes began to shine, and one word escaped her lips,
<<Zone: Valhalla>>
“Arise.”
A sacred light dyed the world white.
Somewhere, many kilometers away from the light, a woman with features similar to that of Nephthys and Gabriel floated in the air. Her large Crimson feathery wings lazily moved from time to time.
Her attire consisted of a flimsy white robe that barely managed to hide her outrageous figure and left nothing to the imagination.
Had Sol or Isis managed to see her, they would have recognized that she was Nent, one of the four King ranked Phoenixes.
She had not been present since the start of the fight, but the large explosion had simply been eye-catching.
This was why she had managed to observe the one-sided beatdown that had happened when Sol unleashed his true power.
Frowning a little when she saw the actions of Isis, she shook her head and began to fly away. Refusing to observe such an abominable act.
Discarding all thoughts about her most detested niece, she began to think back to what she had witnessed. The fight had been a sight to behold. The boy had shown tremendous potential.
It seemed that she had to reassess how she saw him or rather they all had to do so. For she believed that she wasn't the only one attracted by the fight.
Be it her mother or sisters. They should all now understand just how important this boy was.
"Well then, I guess I have to take that matter of contract more seriously."
Letting a low chuckle, her lips formed a seductive smile, unlike anything divine being representative of chastity should have shown.
'The situation suddenly became more interesting.'
Now then, how should she act?
(AN: Well well well, the situation became interesting. Anyway, the fighting part of this volume is basically done. So time for some fluff and perhaps some sexy moments. Hehe)
