CHAPTER 73: | SOLIA'S REFLECTIONS

  ---

  Flash!

  The air shrieked, in a violent, world-ending scream as white lightning ripped across the sky.

  And where it touched the dirt pavement, or the blades of grasses that was bountiful everywhere didn't just burn.

  All of them were vaporized in an instant, the very roots buried in the ground twisted into black tendrils before collapsing into fine ash.

  The scent of ozone and charred earth filled the air, as a suffocating pressure that made the ground tremble could be felt, as white lightning crackled everywhere, like an omen that the heaven was angered.

  The dragon's resting on the burnt ground, stirred, as it's slit eyes opened, and a wave of draconic authority, that was heavy as a collapsing star, washed over the horizons.

  Then, with a casual flick of its claws, the sphere that Solia unleashed didn't just disperse, it simply ceased to exist, the energy within it was absorbed into the dragon's body as if it was taking a sip on the riverside.

  It was ridiculous.

  Solia's years of training to master this technique to these heights had been rendered into nothing but a mere trivial spell that could be dispersed at will.

  It shattered her pride as the lightning witch.

  'Damnit!'

  She stomped her feet into the ground, and lightning, thick and violent, crackled around her feet as she shouted.

  "Lightning impact!"

  The ground exploded, caving backward as her fist unleashed a powerful pressure.

  Lightning exploded outwards from her body, not in a crackle, but in a thunderous roar.

  But the dragon casually yawned, and a lightning barrier formed around it, not a static shield, but a swirling vortex of energy that effortlessly absorbed her attacks, leaving no trace of destruction behind.

  The dragon looked bored.

  Its wyrm like body, resembled an Eastern dragon with it's majestic whiskers, gazed at Solia, with draconic arrogance.

  Its lightning-blue eyes let out an oppressive light, and white wings could be seen attached to its wyrm-like form.

  It wasn't like an ordinary dragon, a mundane, run-of-the-mill one.

  But this one was a lesser noble, its elk-like horns symbolizing its status among the dragons.

  I couldn't help but smile, since this one was better than I had expected.

  "Interesting."

  Solia, knowing of my emotions due to our shared link, chuckled mischievously.

  Then she vanished in a streak of lightning, as the air crackled and sizzled at where she had once stood.

  In a moment she appeared inches away from the thunder dragon, then closed her eyes as a semi-corporal hands made of pure lightning materialized in the air.

  Then it began to punch the dragon, as its pace increased with every passing seconds, as the air exploded violently with each blow.

  Solia smiled with insanity adrift in her face.

  Her silken black hair, that was once dark before her evolution, had turned into a brilliant white, now blazing into pure neon under the lightning energy coating her form, casting an eerie glow across her face.

  Her semi-corporeal fist unleashed a frenzy of explosive punches, each powerful enough to level a mountain, blurring the line between reality and fiction.

  She now looked like a witch of pure lightning with an insane obsession, as each of her punches was a testament to her fury.

  "Hmmm, it seems that my dear Solia has learned how to construct her projectiles into tangible forms, similar to that of a soul stand... quite the interesting progress, but overall too stupid."

  What Solia's lightning armaments were punching was nothing but the thunder dragon's already-erected barrier.

  It was a vicious parasite, a defensive shield that actively drained her mana with her every attack.

  As she punched, a faint tremor ran through her, her strikes becoming weaker and weaker as her energy was siphoned away.

  As the lightning energy that had encased her body in abundance earlier began to flicker out, her lightning armaments slowly disappeared from the lack of mana.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Her attacks were ineffective, even with her stage being higher than the dragon's, thanks to their disparity in mana density and differences in skills.

  Since when have you heard of a dragon having an impure mana or skills issues when manipulating mana itself?

  Well, you haven't, right?

  And even if she was a [Stage 2], a stage higher than the dragon, it was still stupid to fight it head-on.

  Since she was just at the entry level of [Stage 2], and that's the very problem, since Solia was too stupid as to grasp her situation.

  Their exchange continued as Solia's lightning armaments continued to unleash a barrage on the thunder dragon's barrier.

  The thunder dragon itself only smirked at her futile efforts, which were nothing but foolishness, then let out a howl.

  "Foolish titan! How dare you, sinner, lead this invader into the land of the gods!"

  Solia clenched her teeth.

  Blood gushed out of her nose due to the impact of her attacks, since the barrier not only absorbed her power but reflected it, doubling it's strength, that sent her insides shaking violently.

  She was now taking damage from her own attacks.

  But Solia stubbornly continued to unleash a barrage, her lightning armaments becoming more and more tangible as she poured more mana into it.

  Her voice broke into a shout.

  "Break!"

  Solia's pupils widened with relief as the barrier of the thunder dragon, Zephyr, finally broke apart after she had punched it a thousand times.

  Crash!

  The sound of it breaking was not like glass shattering, but like a thunderous explosion echoing violently through the sky.

  Solia smiled with victory.

  But it was all a ploy that Zephyr had been planning all along, to catch Solia off guard.

  He shouted.

  "Zephyr originality: Thunder Imprisonment."

  True to his spell, the barrier that broke earlier turned into chains made of lightning then latched onto Solia's limbs like a slithering snake.

  Zephyr then shouted without giving Solia any time to process anything.

  "Zephyr originality: Thunder Bagua."

  Solia's face darkened as she saw a whale made of unadulterated red lightning coming out of Zephyr's mouth.

  It was not just a spell, it was a physical manifestation of his power, a living creature of raw destruction.

  She muttered in despair.

  "Impossible..."

  Her composed face broke as the whale phased through the air, then flew into her in slow motion.

  Her life rewound before her eyes as she smiled, tears flooding her cheeks.

  "Sorry, everyone... it seems that I'm going to follow you after all..."

  Crash!

  The sound of glass shattering into millions of pieces broke through the air as Solia, still closing her eyes, smiled for the final time.

  A second passed, then another, but nothing happened.

  Confused, she opened her eyes only to find her master in front of her, looking down at the dragon.

  She called out.

  "Why... why did you save me?"

  I gazed at her with disappointment at her incompetence.

  It seemed that I would have to educate this girl for a few months before she would be 'usable.'

  Solia felt the raw disappointment of her master.

  Her shoulders slumped to the ground as she gazed below, ashamed of her performance, and muttered.

  "Sorry..."

  But I only flicked my hand.

  As the whole island trembled violently.

  Then spikes made of earth, radiating with sacred power, rose from the ground and impaled the thunder dragon in an instant, pinning it like a bug on a board.

  "..."

  "Impressive, human... to be able to injure me, Zephyr, the guardian of this world."

  Zephyr gazed at me with joy.

  Since the very beginning of his existence, there had been no one who could rival him, be it in magic or physical strength.

  He was bored beyond bored.

  It wasn't until that fated day when a draconian who controlled the water, called the sea god, fought with him.

  Zephyr had lost in a devastating manner againts that god.

  But it didn’t matter as his opponent right now would give him what he wanted, of what he hadn't felt for what felt like an eternity.

  His smile twisted, as finally a notable opponent that could take his full power appeared before him, and it was none other than a rumored flimsy human.

  He cracked his neck as he gazed at the human before him with acknowledgment.

  He smiled then muttered.

  "You have gained the right to witness my true form, human... let us battle to the death! Let me feel the adrenaline of death!"

  His shouts rumbled like a crazy madman who had been starved for millions of years as he flicked his claws.

  Then his form turned into an unadulterated red lightning, then gathered into a mass of lighting, forming into a sphere as it was forming into something.

  Maybe it was a sphere?

  But no!

  It wasn't a sphere that could unleash a cataclysmic devastation but a handsome humanoid, though not as handsome as me.

  His only notable feature was his sharp jawline that displayed his handsome appearance, which radiated his authority.

  His elongated ears looked like an elf's but were covered in scales.

  Then his blue elk like horns, which radiated with lightning energy, coiled in his head like a crown made of thunder.

  His neon blue eyes glowed with intense electricity as his sky-blue hair cascaded down to his buttocks.

  He wasn't naked, unlike me, as my robes flew away from blocking his attacks that he named [Zephyr originality: lightning bagua], which was cringe as fuck as I chuckled.

  "Tell me... how cringe do you want to be?"

  Zephyr, with his primitive vocabulary, let out a confused smile as he pointed his finger at me.

  "I don't like your sarcasm, human... die!"

  Then red javelins by the hundreds struck my form in a split second, killing me in an instant.

  "..."

  But, well, that would have happened if I didn't have an incomplete soul stand, that is.

  'Fallen Lord Descension'

  It activated as it felt my will summoning it, as a semi-corporal hand with a majestic gauntlet that looked like the ancient relic of [Emperor Maximilian I] let out a power punch that swept all of the javelins in one go.

  Zephyr was shocked as his mind raced with excitement.

  "Intriguing! Indeed, you humans have always been intriguing since the dawn of time! Then let me, Zephyr, show mine."

  Zephyr closed his eyes as he swiped his hands to the back of his head.

  As a semi-corporal, draconic-looking hand appeared in the air as it met my fist, blocking its every attack.

  The sound of the sound barrier breaking could be heard as our fists met again and again.

  But Zephyr was winning in terms of speed, as his lightning-fast speed allowed him to block my every attack with ease as he matched my rhythm.

  Solia, watching our exchanges from the backlines, watched in amazement as she muttered.

  "Impossible... how? Just how does he have that very power that Drao wielded?!"

  She couldn't think of any solutions as she sat on the ground and watched the duel between these two monsters as she sighed.

  "Even if I know it... so what?"

  She smiled bitterly.

  "When I couldn't even protect my tribesmen from that imminent fate, so what good would it do me to know it?"

  Solia was having doubts after doubts in her mind.

  As an inner demon was forming inside of her as she couldn't help but recall her weakness every now and then.

  She gazed at the ground with tears running across her cheeks as she muttered.

  "Is being weak truly a sin?"

  Maybe give it a try? ??