When Yasenia stepped into the next arena, a terrifying presence enveloped her body. Yasenia's facial expression shifted slightly as she looked across her to the woman standing in the distance.
Astarea was a slender and elegant woman who carried herself with grace and dignity. Her age and experience were far beyond Yasenia's, and her real strength naturally overwhelmed her as well.
'To begin with, Ralgar was slightly playful when fighting me at first. When I gain an advantage, I can capitalize on it until I have destroyed my opponents. However, Astarea is not like that. Lataria might've informed her about my skills as well.'
Astarea's eyes shone like ocean jewels, while her golden hair and long, white, feathered wings glowed with a tranquil light. It felt as if Astarea was looking down on Yasenia, not out of disrespect, but natural superiority.
This rubbed Yasenia the wrong way, so her cold face tightened as her bloodline exploded outward, swallowing the surrounding space.
Astarea's eyebrow twitched once, a flash of surprise appearing in her eyes. Nevertheless, that surprise soon disappeared as she returned to her tranquil temperament.
"Yasenia Dravory, Lataria has told me a few things about you."
Yasenia answered faintly, her eyes not revealing any surprise. "I guessed. Otherwise, you wouldn't be tense when fighting a junior such as myself."
Astarea's lips arched faintly, her voice echoing calmly. "You are wrong there, child. You defeated that demon, Ralgar. Even I wouldn't have an easy time defeating him, yet you show not a single trace of having been involved in a fight previous to me."
The dragoness smiled faintly. "Isn't that bad news for you? If I defeated someone at your level easily, then you are in a precarious situation, aren't you?"
Astarea shook her head, her long golden hair waving elegantly with her faint movements. "You are wrong. That demon probably underestimated you while trying to court you and reacted when it was already too late. I won't make the same mistake of taking you lightly." She smiled, a bit apologetic. "Sorry, child. I can't afford to lose this treasure. So, I will use all my strength."
After showing that expression, her aura pulsed outward, countering Yasenia's and pushing it back. In an instant, Yasenia felt as if she had fallen in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by pressured water that bound her movements.
Astarea's presence seemed to magnify, and her sapphire-like eyes emitted a white glow that radiated from the corners as her body was enveloped in brightness.
Yasenia's pupils shrank, but she didn't give up in the coercion space. "[Empyrean Cosmos Dragon Sovereignty]."
BOOM!
The pressure around her was blasted outward, but Astarea's presence was not undone. In the end, both sides clashed in the middle, unable to get a clear victor between them. Even then, Yasenia was not happy. 'I am someone who is practicing four active paths, and my bloodline is at the immortal level! How can this Divine have a comparable aura to me!?'
In the stands, Lataria looked at Yasenia with some surprise. 'Yasenia is actually able to push Grandmother's aura back!? That monster known as the number one genius of the Divines in the last 10,000 years!?'
There was a reason why Ao Jiuyao was so interested in Astarea. Her talent was so monstrous that few could even compare with her. While she was Lataria's grandmother, she wasn't that much older, having barely lived 20,000 years.
Astarea was not flustered. "[Luminous Ocean Intent Domain Level 3], [Water Intent Domain Level 3]."
Yasenia's face changed. 'Double Intents?'
"[Celestial Intent Domain Level 1], [Tyrannical Warlord Intent Domain Level 2]."
From Astarea, bluish water with a white glow surged out and covered the ground below them. Meanwhile, Yasenia's intents pushed the ocean back, creating an area around her where space glittered with the figures of countless galaxies, stars, and planets.
The result of both Intents mixing together was a cosmic sky with an ocean that seemed to stretch as far as the cosmos that it belonged to.
Astarea's calm face changed slightly, and she looked at Yasenia seriously. "So, Lataria was not lying. You actually understood the Celestial concept and even developed it into an Intent Domain. Your talent is truly enviable. It makes me feel like a frog in a well."
While Astarea's Intents were higher level, Yasenia's were of much higher quality. Therefore, both sides had their Intents restrained. Yasenia was not so calm, though. 'This is the first time… The first time that Celestial Intent Domain couldn't drag someone into my dimension.'
While it seemed that they had moved to Yasenia's Celestial domain, her Intent Domain was utterly suppressed, trying to control the Luminous Ocean Intent Domain. So, both of them were still outside, only having changed their surroundings.
Astarea asked Yasenia, elegant and poised. "Won't you come? You can't win if you don't get close, can you?"
Yasenia also knew that, but she was not impatient. As she looked at Astarea, she understood that she couldn't win while holding back. 'Sigh… If it was before I knew the function of the Bead, I might've fought while holding back and eventually lost on purpose… After all, I had no intention of revealing myself here. However, I can't do that. If I want to shorten the distance between Mom and me, I need this bead.'
The tension around Yasenia somewhat relaxed as her breath changed and her emotions calmed down.
Astarea noticed the change. 'She is coming.'
The first move of the dragoness was not light at all. First, Yasenia's aura skyrocketed. "[Celestial Cosmos Dress], [Celestial Dragon Body], [Immortal Breaker Body], [Celestial Tyrant Soul Unshackled].
BOOM!
A pillar of energy pierced the sky, and the monstrous strength of the dragon multiplied to the point that her presence distorted the ocean below her feet.
Astarea's face tensed. "[Luminous Ocean Coat], [Thousand Light Feather Strength]."
Her own strength surged, her wings glowing with matching radiance to Yasenia's celestial blue pillar of energy.
Those spectators were holding their breaths, wondering if they were looking at a match between first-level or mid-level Transcendents.
When both sides integrated their skills within their bodies, Yasenia took a deep breath and began the fight with one of her strongest attacks.
"[Celestial Dragon Breath]!"
ROAR!
A gargantuan blue beam burst forth, swallowing the space between Astarea and Yasenia in an instant. Astarea's face changed slightly, and her aura pulsed outward.
"[Mirrored Horizon Seal]."
A giant dome, made of reflective water and light, manifested in the surroundings. Then, hundreds of those mirrors descended from the sky, lining up between Celestial Dragon Breath and Astarea.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Many of those mirrors shattered, leaving only a few behind. With the breath completely blocked, Astarea waved her hand. "Return."
Yasenia's face changed when her own Celestial Breath suddenly shot from the mirror, almost matching the intensity of her own. Knowing firsthand the strength of her own attacks thanks to her copies, she didn't hold back in defensive measures.
"[Crystalline Moon Dress], [Celestial Aegis]!"
BOOM!!
Yasenia's Celestial Aegis broke, and the remaining strength of the attack exploded against her body.
Astarea observed from a distance with tranquil eyes. 'She received no damage.'
She intended to reflect the attack with extra strength. Sadly, her mirrors were unable to bear the strain and many shattered. 'She can block her own attacks… That's a problem. It seems that she isn't a super offensive fighter. Her defense is as sturdy as her offense.'
While she thought that, Yasenia's figure burst forth from the explosion, surrounded by a pegasus made of starlight—the dragoness's approaching speed was absurd.
Astarea stepped down lightly, and a wave of water surged out with her as the center.
"[Eternal Reflection Sanctuary]."
A vast lake of radiant water rushed over the luminous ocean, overlaying it to form a surface with thousands of radiant reflections.
Yasenia's face knew that the reflections were not decorative, and soon, she confirmed her guess.
As she approached, Yasenia suddenly noticed the radiant reflections ripple in front of her. A fraction of a second later, the light pillars of damaging light soared skyward.
'Tsk. Annoying.'
A quick use of [Fairy Moon Steps] helped Yasenia maneuver around the pillars. Nevertheless, she lost her momentum and was barred from approaching Astarea.
As she circled the area Astarea stood on, Yasenia's dragon wings burst behind her back. 'I will be able to maneuver easily with my actual wings rather than my energy.'
Astarea noticed Yasenia's wings and saw that the dragon was about to flap them. With a wave of her hand, another skill was activated. "[Aqueous Lightlance]."
Yasenia flapped her wings and activated Pegasus Gallop, intending to surprise her with burst acceleration. Right as Yasenia burst forward with ridiculous speed, a bright light consumed her sight. 'She read me!'
With no other option, Yasenia folded her wings in front of her.
BOOM!
The dragoness was thrown back, and thousands of pillars surged behind her. The dragoness was forced to crash against dozens of those pillars, her body suffering external injuries. 'Tsk. I can't continue like this.'
"[Star Dome]!"
A white light expanded from her body, creating a defensive area that blocked the pillars around her. Looking into the distance, she noticed that Astarea had yet to move from her initial position. Her flattened lips involuntarily arched. 'Strong.'
Seeing the dragoness smile, Astarea had a bad premonition. However, she didn't bother with it and instead tapped the ground again while her large feathered wings gently flapped behind her.
"[Moonlit Abyss Torrent]."
In the lake, the Moon's reflection appeared and enveloped the battlefield with a silver mist. Yasenia looked at the reflection and instantly recognized its nature. 'Illusions.'
"The Moon is my domain, Astarea. Break!"
CRASH!
With her roar, the illusion-based technique instantly shattered, unable to affect Yasenia's powerful mind or disrupt her body in any way.
Astarea's gaze deepened. "Such a powerful mind… It seems that I can only defeat you by tiring you out. [Aqueous Lightlance]."
This time, hundreds of giant spears made of water and flowing with light manifested around the Divine. Then, the divine pointed at Yasenia. "Go."
Yasenia's lips arched as a small laugh escaped her. "Haha! [Celestial Sunder]!"
Her sword and tail glowed, and then, the dragoness began swinging them continuously, clashing with the lightlances and counteracting them. Naturally, she needed to move around to dodge the pillars of light while also being careful of any other tricks from the Divine.
The spectators looked at the ongoing battle with surprise. Lataria muttered, baffled. 'Was Yasenia this strong before? It feels as if she had transformed into another person in the few days we haven't met.'