'She isn't someone to be taken lightly.'
This was the second time Sol felt such an emotion facing a Duke ever since he awakened his War Form.
The first time had been against Isis, which wasn't surprising knowing her origin. Now though, the woman in front of him was clearly at another level. It was as if what he was facing wasn’t a living being, but rather one made out entirely out of ice and snow.
“I…asked…why do you have a master's smell…on you?”
Even though her voice had the same emotionless tone to it, he could feel a hint of impatience creeping in it.
“Are you…her enemy?”
Her silver-white pupils slowly changed into a deep scarlet red.
*Whoosh* BOOM!!
Acting on more of a reflex than anything else, Sol used his arms to guard his side, but this did not stop him from being propelled like a cannonball and colliding against a huge mountain.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
Under the force of the collision, the mountain crumbled like a castle made out of cards.
“*Cough* *Cough* Holy shit. I felt that one.”
Walking out of the rubble with his clothes in tatters, Sol couldn’t help but curse as he looked with astonishment at his left arm that was limping because of a deep cut. A little more and his arm would have gone flying.
Blood was dripping not only from the deep wound on his arm but also from his lips. Clearly, some organs in his body had been shaken quite a bit. He was even sure that he had some broken ribs.
As if that wasn’t enough, his regeneration was hampered. The frostbite on his arm and the chill in his guts were the obvious reasons.
‘What is this strength?’
While it was true that he had been caught off guard and didn’t have time to put up a proper defense, the amount of damage he had received with just one hit was off the chart.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
The sound of ice being crushed sounded in Sol’s ears as he raised his head and looked at the Nabu.
The aura covering her body had completely changed. If before she looked like a transient fairy, now she was like an Ashura drenched in blood and filled with madness.
Be it her clothes, her eyes, or her hair, all of them had been completely dyed in a deep scarlet. In her arm was a long bident, seemingly made out of blue crystal. Blood could be seen on the tip, showing that it was the weapon she had used to attack him.
Sol initially wanted to talk and explain that he didn’t know who her master was. At the very least, if said master really had her scent of him, he was willing to discuss with her as they tried to understand who, out of all the people he came in contact with, could be her master.
But after being attacked for no reason?
“Fuck it.”
Sol cursed again. Because of his upbringing in this world, he didn’t like to curse and rarely did so. But now he was really angry.
His eyes shone with a menacing glint as he released a deep growl and immediately entered the first form of the dragon form.
Summoning a hammer from his dimension, the same one he used to crush Mia’s head, Sol rushed like a bolt of lightning.
BANG!!
His speed was so high that he immediately tore through the sonic barrier as if it was nonexistent.
BOOM!!
This was immediately followed by a loud roar as he swung his hammer with all his strength. The hammer was shining like a star because of all the mana it was filled with.
But what followed refreshed the world view of Sol.
Just one palm. One palm was all she needed to stop a hit strong enough to reduce any other Duke to ashes.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
The ground below them was already crumbling because of the shockwave and a huge twenty meters wide pit formed around them.
Even so, she did not take even one step back.
‘Not good.’
Sol’s hands became numb. What would happen if a normal human swung a sword at a wall with all his strength? Physics would do its job and the reaction force would most likely hurt him.
The same was happening in this case. Nabu was like an impenetrable wall that could not be breached.
Furthermore, her other hand wasn’t idle. She counterattacked with a fast jab, fully intent on piercing Sol with her bident.
“!!!”
For the first time, Nabu's expression changed as her eyes widened in surprise.
Her bident did pierce Sol as she had expected, but she felt nothing. It was as if she had pierced a mirage.
Sol’s figure vanished before reappearing a few hundred meters farther.
“Incredible. If I didn’t use my dimension, I would have become a shishkebab.”
“How…did you…do that?”
Despite the distance, Sol could clearly hear her voice.
“You think I am some kind of third-rate villain that will explain how my skills work?”
He scoffed inwardly. What he did was by no means simple. He didn’t even know if other-dimensional mages could do the same.
In short, by superimposing his body in this dimension and the other one, he essentially became intangible while in the normal dimension.
Of course, this move wasn’t invincible. If he faced someone like Lilith, Lilin, or Freya, he would still be unable to escape.
He didn’t know if the crazy girl in front of him could affect space, but there was no way he was willing to take the risk of exposing his trick.
After not receiving an answer, Nabu seemed to lose interest in talking and changed her stance. As if holding a gun, she pointed her bident at him.
Immediately, a powerful chill began to gather at the tip of the bident. Frost began to form all around her and it seemed as if she wanted to cover the world in ice.
Sol of course hadn’t stayed idle while she was preparing her attack.
Opening his mouth, mana began to condense like never before. A supernova of energy that would erase everything in its wake.
For a moment, the world seemed to be divided into two zones. One chilling blue and the others warming gold.
<<Dragon Breath: Chilling Light.>>
<<Dragon Roar: Supernova.>>
*Whoosh*
*Whoosh*
At a speed indiscernible to the naked eye, the two beams of energy flew at the same time before clashing.
There was a short instant of complete silence, a silence so deadly that it felt as though the world had come to a standstill. It could even make any onlooker doubt whether everything was an illusion or not.
It was at this moment that—,
BOOOOOOM!!
—With the thunderous sound of an explosion, a blinding light occupied everyone’s vision before a mushroom of dust rose so high in the sky that it could be seen from several kilometers away.
The very atmosphere seemed to be repulsed as a shockwave spread apart from the point of impact, covering several kilometers and absolutely destroying everything in its wake.
The air burned, the wind stirred and all sounds in the space of the explosion vanished, replaced by a silence full of devastation and destruction. It was like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
When the explosion finally stopped, all that could be seen was a deep crater spanning more than a kilometer. At the same time, the aftereffect of the explosion affected a radius of more than 15 kilometers.
The battlefield fell silent as the two opponents had vanished from it in a mysterious way.
But it didn’t take long for Sol to appear, completely unscathed, as space rippled. The moment the two beams clashed, he had immediately felt the danger and decided to hide in his dimension. Thereby avoiding the backslash that proceeded.
“Well, is she dead?”
He mocked in jest. He didn’t believe that this could have been enough to kill Nabu. But surely, she should have been quite wounded.
His smile vanished when the particles of ice seemed to float aimlessly in the air before slowly gathering together.
In the end, appearing with nary a wound, was none other than Nabu.
The moment she appeared, she did not say a word and rushed at Sol, slashing with her bident.
Sol, this time wasn’t taken aback by her attack and managed to avoid it by leaning backward. At the same time, he condensed a blade of mana filled with killing intent at the sole of his feet and with a backflip, slashed at her while taking further distance.
Nabu did not lose momentum as she avoided the sneak attack by sidestepping and continuing her relentless attack.
Meanwhile, Sol showed his growth as he dodged, countered, and sometimes redirected her attacks.
He had learned his lesson in the previous clash and knew that in terms of pure strength, he had absolutely no way to match her.
This fight was extremely exhilarating for Sol. He couldn’t think, couldn’t prepare. All his moves were done by pure instincts and experience. All his senses were working in overdrive in order to grasp the situation.
Even so, Sol was slowly losing ground and he knew it. Twirling, sidestepping, and so many different moves. It was as if Nabu was dancing to a piece of music that only she could hear.
The rhythm of the fight had completely fallen in her hand.
There was nothing he could do. Nabu was clearly a close combat expert and had ten thousand years of experience compared to her.
The fact was he had already activated his horns while Nabu was still in her base form. This showed the difference in terms of pure stats between the two of them.
She was faster than him and stronger than him. He could only stay on the defensive while she attacked him from all sides with her bident.
He briefly thought about using his war form, but he knew that no matter how fast his transformation was, she would be able to slash his throat five times before he could finish.
Eventually, Sol slipped up and Nabu did not miss that mistake. Like a predator pouncing at its prey, she broke his guard and was about to hit him heavily, but once again, her attack went through him.
This was followed by Sol vanishing once again and appearing far from her.
*Drip* *Drip*
Sweat flowed from his forehead as it dripped on the ground.
‘It is incredible.’
Sol had no choice to admit that Nabu was completely on another level compared to all those he faced until now without using his war form or his dimension, he had absolutely no chance of beating her.
The fight seemed to fall to a lull as the two adversaries faced each other.
“You are very strong.”
Sol was the first one to break the silence as he admitted frankly.
The girl seemed taken aback at his praise before nodding.
“You are…very weak.”
Sol’s smile froze on his face for an instant before it changed to a wry smile. While being called weak could be quite hurtful for some, Sol, on the other hand, did not mind.
Since the moment he left Lustburg, he had decided to stop caring about what other people thought of him. Furthermore, he knew very well that his growth was unequaled.
He was still in his growth phase and the him of tomorrow would always be stronger than the him of today.
No matter how much stronger than him Nabu was now, it did not matter since he would soon surpass her like he did with so many others.
Taking a deep breath, he focused briefly on his arm and was happy to see that it was completely connected. At least this was one worry away.
Dropping all useless thoughts, he was about to continue the fight but was surprised to see that the deep red that colored Nabu began to fade. Clearly, she didn’t want to fight anymore.
“Why are you stopping?”
She shook her head.
“You…cannot be… Master’s enemy...Too weak.”
“Oh? Is your master very strong then?”
“My master is…a Demi-god.”
Nothing else needed to be said. But who said that one had to be strong to have strong enemies?
Of course, Sol wasn’t dumb enough to mention this to this girl that seemed to have a pretty simple thought process despite how strong she was.
Still, he couldn’t help but ask as he was quite curious about who the master of Nabu was. After all, even demi-gods had different levels and for someone to become the master of a Dragon, then that person must have been one of the top tier demi-gods.
But the only demigod Sol had personally met were Ambrosia, Gabriel, and Tiamat.
‘Is it Ambrosia?’
It wasn’t impossible. After all, Ambrosia had quite the number of students and was one of the first mortal demi-gods as well as a Singularities. She was without a doubt a top-tier demigod.
“Is your master called Ambrosia?”
Nabu shook her head, “My master…Is not the Supreme witch.”
'Oh, so she does know Ambrosia. Then again that woman is quite old.'
Nabu fell silent for a short while before making her decision.
This was the first time she had found a lead to her most beloved master. She couldn’t afford to lose this occasion.
“My master is the Blazing Lioness… Her name is...Bastet. [1]"
‘Huh?’
Sol was completely dumbfounded at this name. If the conjecture that jumped in his mind was right, then…
‘Holy shit!’
—-
[1]: Congratulations to Christopher Torres who managed to guess the identity of Nabu's teacher.
(AN: I have been using Dragon Roar until now but I am wondering if Dragon breath should be more accurate? I won’t lie, I mainly use dragon roar because I was influenced by Fairy tail, a very good show but disappointing in the last arc, anyway. Give me your opinion.)
