The entire battlefield was riddled with explosions. Voraniel's swords and Yasenia's celestial bodies clashed around them, the shockwaves from their collision terrifying.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the golden cosmos created by the mix of the Endless Light and Celestial Intent Domain, Yasenia and Voraniel continued exchanging blows.
For the spectators, though, that description was not fully accurate. After all, Voraniel was constantly pushed back, his attacks barely doing any damage while Yasenia bulldozed through everything he threw at her.
Voraniel's wings were soaked in blood, his face bearing a large black mark where the flag struck him previously. He moved around quickly, using his superior speed to keep a distance. Even then, Yasenia was relentless.
He couldn't understand how, but the dragon was like a shadow, unable to shake her off.
"[Cloud Severing Light Sword]!"
His hands moved with blinding speed, attacking the dragoness with terrifyingly sharp light energy. The world momentarily turned white, just for that light to focus on a single line and slice through space toward Yasenia right after.
Yasenia saw the attack coming, and she waved her flag. "[Grand Cosmos Martial Art, First Form: Stellar Burst]!"
Her wave thrust forward, stellar energies swirling around its form. It felt as if a star was about to go supernova inside the flag.
BOOM!
Yasenia's attack pierced through, the terrifying force behind it carrying over and smashing toward Voraniel. Already having expected it, Voraniel raised his hand and summoned a massive shield of light.
BANG!
Yasenia's flag bounced off, but she didn't mind. Instead, her waist twisted, and her tail lashed out. The muscles in the tail chained, increasing momentum from strand to strand, and gathering enough force to look as if the tail lash would cave in the surface of an entire planet.
"[Celestial Sunder]."
Voraniel's expression changed, knowing just how dangerous this skill was. He needed to dodge, as blocking it would only result in heavy injuries. "[Light Sword Star-Crossing Step]."
His body transformed into a sword, and he reappeared thousands of kilometers away in less than an instant. Right after, Yasenia's tail lashed out.
Celestial Sunder manifested, tearing through everything and landing against the ground explosively.
Yasenia's foot moved, her Tyrant Warlord Intent Domain telling her where her enemy moved. Voraniel could feel Yasenia's incredibly vast and sharp spiritual sense sticking to him like a second skin. 'What kind of Spiritual Sense does she have? Ridiculous!'
Knowing that the dragon woman was about to chase after him, Voraniel decided to use his trump card. He very reluctantly accepted that at their current pace, he would be done quickly. "[Sword of Light Ruin Body]!"
Yasenia used Pegasus Gallop and Fairy Moon Steps, her figure shifting like a celestial phantom through the battlefield.
However, when she arrived, Voraniel's aura made a tremendous transformation. The sharp and luminous aura condensed, gaining a touch of timelessness. It felt as if an ancient being suddenly awakened, ready to cause a catastrophe in the world.
Yasenia's pupils thinned to lines when Voraniel moved. 'Fast.'
The man's golden hair fluttered behind him, his sword descending onto Yasenia as if he was attempting to judge the dragon.
Not daring to underestimate the super genius's trump card, Yasenia waved her flag. "[Celestial Aegis]."
BANG!
The celestial shield received the sword attack, gaining faint cracks. The strength behind the attack was high, but not as high as Yasenia had expected. This puzzled her for a second, but only a second because Voraniel moved.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
In the time it took Yasenia to blink, the man had swung his sword like the personification of speed possessed him. Celestial Aegis was slashed to pieces, and the man quickly crossed the remaining distance, appearing in front of Yasenia.
Yasenia's face changed slightly. 'His speed is ridiculous. I need to counterattack before I fall into his pace.'
She decided to take things seriously. "[Ursa's Grasp]."
First, the starry phantom of a giant bear manifested behind Yasenia, merging with her flesh and further increasing her already terrifying bodily strength.
Voraniel attacked, his sword moving at a pace clearly beyond Yasenia's perception.
Outside, people were already expecting blood to be drawn from the dragoness.
When Voraniel's sword reached Yasenia's arm, a sound that was very different from what he expected occurred.
CLANG!
His sword bounced, the cold expression cracking as a dumbfounded one substituted it. 'What? I couldn't cut through?'
Because of her battle-style and enemies, most opponents failed to actually test Yasenia's defense. Her dress, a mix of two supremely powerful passive defensive skills, already made her hard to injure, only for Celestial Dragon Body and the other body-related buffs to further increase her durability.
While she looked soft and pliant, Yasenia's defense was anything but!
Not convinced, Voraniel slashed at Yasenia continuously.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Arms, waist, legs, tail, back… Voraniel attacked her with a barrage of attacks that would've sliced any other person into chunks.
'Even if my skill sacrifices strength for unmatched speed, isn't her defense too ridiculous!?'
[Sword of Light Ruin Body] did exactly that, sacrificing a large part of his strength to gain attacking speed incomparable to anything at his own level. It put tremendous strain on his body. However, as long as he could injure his enemy, the fight would end one-sidedly.
Even if he had to hack at the enemy a million times to defeat them, Voraniel could do that and avoid being hit.
There was one more thing Voraniel noticed that made his body burst into chills. Yasenia's incredibly sharp eyes were actually following him, unblinking. It felt as if she was going to devour him with just her eyes.
Urged by that gaze, Voraniel moved around Yasenia's attack and stabbed at one of her eyes. The dragon's pupils thinned to vertical lines, and her lips gained a faint arch. "Got you."
To Voraniel and the spectators' utter surprise, Yasenia let go of the battle flag and raised her hand, piercing the sword through her palm and letting it slide through until her hand gripped his.
The sword tip barely missed Yasenia's eye, sliding on her temple and drawing a faint trace of blood.
Everyone held their breath. In that instant, Yasenia was smiling sadistically as her hand tightly held Voraniel's, and the sword stopped while touching her temple.
"[Stellar Burst]."
Voraniel was pulled forward by Yasenia's monstrous bodily strength, and then, the dragon punched his gut with the entire weight of her existence.
BOOOOM!!!
Voraniel bent like a bow, his mouth opening in pain as his organs were turned to mush. Worse, even when he wanted to leave Yasenia's side, her tail had managed to coil around his waist and leg.
Yasenia enunciated the next skill with relish. "[Seven Cosmos Martial Smite]."
Hearing the name of that horrifying skill while she clenched her fist flooded Voraniel's dizzy mind with pure, unadulterated terror.
BANG!
The first punch landed on his stomach.
BANG!!
The second, even stronger, landed on his face, breaking his nose.
BOOM!
The third, even heavier, landed on his shoulder, and the counterforce made the tendons on the held arm snap.
With a forceful yank, Voraniel flipped back to his initial position, Yasenia's fist once again targeting his face.
However, before she could, someone appeared by their side and stopped her punch effortlessly.
BOOOM!!!
The explosion created a shockwave that shook the surrounding area. Everyone couldn't help but shudder. 'If that punch landed on his face, she might've decapitated him!'
Yasenia turned to look at the Divine that appeared, and soon, she felt Tatyana's and Ao Xianlan's presences behind her. The Divine was a white-haired man with golden eyes. His stature was tall, similar to Yasenia's, and his white wings gleamed with divine radiance.
Unwilling to give this Divine any chance to injure her, she instantly released Voraniel and jumped back. The second she did so, Tatyana touched her hand and cast a profound sensing spell. Ao Xianlan did the same, just in case the momentary touch injured her in some way or form.
"You are quite strong."
The powerful Divine spoke lightly, holding the battered Voraniel by the waist. Yasenia nodded at him. "Thank you, Your Excellency."
She was unsure as to what title to use, so she just went with a formal one.
The Divine glanced at Tatyana and Ao Xianlan for a second before nodding. "Indeed, as Elyndor said, it's not worth it."
With those words, the Divine disappeared with Voraniel. Tatyana spoke to Yasenia with a smile. "Nothing's wrong. I checked and even used one treasure for it. Unless that man has some bizarre technique, you are clean."
Yasenia smiled reassuringly. "Thank you, Mom." She then looked up at the very tall dragon ancestor and smiled at her as well. "Thank you, Aunt Xianlan."
Ao Xianlan patted her head with a smile, and both seniors disappeared. The competition was not over, after all.
Looking around, she soon realized that of the other three pairs, two were still entangled in a fight. 'They are quite comparable in strength.'
Her gaze then moved toward the one who won. 'Rin Qiao. Vrixana's opponent.'
Being an undead and also a woman, Vrixana was at an absolute disadvantage. Most of her charm arts were useless, so the fight was rather quick, ending in Vrixana's defeat.
Vrixana was not too upset, and she didn't suffer much. Rin Qiao's army was quick to surround her and suppress her, so the Second Succubus Ancestor intervened quickly. There was no reason for Vrixana to fight anymore.
The rest of the battles were Drakar against Aerthion and Lan Ruyu vs Yan Bai.
Drakar and Aerthion, the demon and divine, were fighting viciously, with clear killing intent. Drakar's attributes were fire and magma, so most of the battlefield was engulfed in a true inferno.
Meanwhile, Aerthion was the opposite. He controlled Water, Ice, and Light. He had blue wings and hair, and golden eyes, all showing no emotions other than disdain and hatred.
The rivalry between these two races was well-known. So, their battle was by far the bloodiest.
Meanwhile, Yan Bai and Lan Ruyu were also two polar opposites.
Lan Ruyu, from the Jade Storm Heavenly Sabre Sect, was a rather pure swordswoman. Her sabre cut through everything with ease, and she even used pure [Sabre Intent Domain].
In a way, Lan Ruyu reminded Yasenia of her precious Eira. Her white-haired, doll-like swordswoman maid.
'Lan Ruyu's talent is below Eira's.'
Eira had reached Transcendence within 400 years, and her current level was probably extremely high. With a [Sword Heart], her path of the sword was almost endless.
Meanwhile, Yan Bai was a rare defensive cultivator. He controlled a rare concept, [Stillness Intent Domain]. With this and his Glass and Moon proficiency, the man was able to defend against Lan Ruyu's terrifying sabre attacks.
'Hm… This will take a while.'
Yasenia sat cross-legged and began recovering, preparing for the next fight.