"Celestial Authority."
It seemed like matter itself froze. The reparation of space, the swirling cocoon entrapping Damien, the rays of lunar energy piercing through him, and even the blood moon itself.
Everything stopped as an indomitable aura burst forth from Damien's body. Suddenly, the blood moon began spinning counterclockwise, its mana reversing and wrestling out of Ruyue's control.
As for Ruyue, she could only stare in shock as the moon conjured by her stopped obeying her will, becoming an independent existence.
Or was it?
Retracting the energy it shot towards Damien, the moon once again regained its full power before descending from the sky at a rapid pace.
It's target? Ruyue herself.
The moon barreled through the atmosphere, growing larger with each passing second before it eclipsed even the sun.
Ruyue stared at the oncoming attack with a grim expression before firming herself. She didn't plan on using this here, as she felt it'd be cheating, but Damien's prowess didn't allow her to hold back much.
"Come."
She said only a single word, but it was accompanied by an essence that radiated negative energy. The atmosphere froze over with something other than ice. In fact, the cold was worse than anything mere ice could produce.
It was to the point where even Damien, who was still coated in that same indomitable aura, was unable to approach her.
When the massive moon reached Ruyue's outstretched palm, it didn't result in the explosion that one would expect. Instead, it began to decompose into swirling motes of light before entering her body.
Turning her attention back to Damien, her silver eyes flashed.
"Erasure."
The black space created by the collapsing of space in their surroundings vanished, the cocoon entrapping Damien vanished, and the essence that achieved such feats charged directly towards him.
But Damien wasn't helpless in this situation. Even if he couldn't approach, the new skill he had just discovered was enough to counter this apocalyptic essence.
"Come forth."
A massive portal opened above Damien's head before a burning star raced out, charging straight towards the essence of Ruyue's erasure. And when they met, a silent collision was incurred.
Both forces eliminated each other, with neither having the remaining energy to continue forward.
With this, the battlefield was once again encased in silence. Damien and Ruyue glared at each other fiercely, amethyst aura clashing with silver. Neither was sure if they could make a move that the other wouldn't be able to counter.
Although they were powerful, their skill sets diametrically opposed each other, constantly leaving them at a stalemate. Still, neither wanted to lose.
And Damien was still confident in his chances. The Celestial Authority had many more uses that he was still trying to figure out, he just had to learn them through battle.
The star summoning he performed was only a basic application of his authority, the same was the case for wresting control of Ruyue's moon.
After all, he was putting into practice the authority of a genuine Celestial. Any celestial body would be dominated by his control, bending to his will. That is, if the celestial body didn't possess a stronger will of its own.
He had already tried to manipulate the earth around him, but it was clear that the Cloud Plane wouldn't allow him to do so. If it did, it would essentially be putting itself under him.
Damien mused that this would only happen once he was able to successfully bind the world.
But it wasn't just Damien who had more cards to play. Ruyue had only just begun using her second element, which also happened to be her trump card. There was no way she only had two moves to use with it.
But the problem was, her yin element wasn't suited for attacking. It was an element that mdenied impurity and denied positive force. It was best used for defense and diversion.
Hesitating slightly, she made her decision. She still had one card she was willing to show. She simply didn't want to reveal everything she had in a spar like this.
Raising both hands to the sky, she did something she never expected she would do today.
"Summon."
A dark red runic circle took form in the sky, etching itself into the atmosphere. Its size was so great that the sunlight shining down on them was dyed red.
Once it was fully formed, it shined brightly, releasing austere rays of red light before something clawed its way out of the center.
It was massive, towering over 100 meters tall, and humanoid. It had two goat-like horns protruding from the forehead of its central head, while two other heads were also present on its shoulders, each with a pair of blood-red eyes. On its back were bat-like wings that spanned for hundreds of meters.
By any definition of the word, it was clear that this being was a devil. But when this devil finally solidified in the world, it turned to Ruyue and descended onto one knee.
However, to Ruyue, this was par for course. If the devil had done anything else, perhaps she would have been surprised.
"Go, rough him up a bit but don't kill him."
The devil nodded its heads before turning to Damien with a bloodthirsty grin on its face.
Damien was immensely surprised by the sudden summoning, but to be honest, he welcomed it. It was just another challenge for him to overcome.
His eyes flickered between that of a normal human and reptilian slits and large clouds began to gather over his head.
Streaks of black lightning danced through the air as Damien's chest expanded. Draconic scales slowly covered his arms before disappearing and his teeth grew into fangs.
Rumble!
Thunder and lightning raged as massive tornadoes formed in the periphery. And in the center of it all, Damien floated while staring at the demon.
Both combatants were ready, and all that was left was to start the next round of their battle. However, before it happened, another person entered the fray.
"Alright; that's enough for now."
Tian Yang had been watching the proceedings from the sidelines while enjoying the show, but he felt that if they went any further, one of them would end up seriously injured.
Ruyue hadn't summoned one of her higher class devil servants so it was clear she was holding back, but Tian Yang was well aware of Damien's character.
Especially the way he could lose himself when a fight got too intense.
The flickering scales that appeared and receded into Damien's skin were clear proof that such a thing had already started occurring.
Standing in the middle of the battlefield, Tian Yang flicked his wrists. The bloodthirsty demon that had been waiting for battle was thrown back into the runic circle it came from while the storms around Damien quickly dispersed.
Although he felt like he was cockblocked, he couldn't really complain. After all, he knew that even a portion of his master's strength was enough to knock him out for weeks.
"You two sure had an interesting fight." Tian Yang commented with a smile.
Neither of them went all out and they didn't cause any major destruction like they could have, but he was certain that they both found ways to increase their current arsenal of attacks.
Ruyue and Damien descended to the ground, their transformed states fading as they glared at each other.
Although this battle had ended in a tie, it was solely due to interruption. Both of them were dying to fight once again, their competitive spirits burning with passion.
