Author Note: Quick note, dears. You all know that I usually don't ask much from you, but if you can, could you leave a few 5 star rating if you are enjoying the novel? I would appreciate it if you, Dears, could push me up a few ranks, hahaha.
(If everyone played fairly, I would ask for honest ratings, but anything less than 5 stars pushes me down! So… I am being a bit shameless as well, hehehe. OwO)
Also, don't forget to check the massive gallery and advanced chapters on P******.com/mortrexo!
***
Dramel observed the battlefield in her Pipa form. Her gorgeous threads moved with her will, the tune of her music bathing the chaotic battlefield with a semblance of coordination and rhythm.
[Lyra's Harmony], the Fourth Sky of the Heavenly Constellation Steps, was a complex skill on its own. Most of the others had very straightforward effects, but Lyra's Harmony was a song that allowed the user to weaken enemies and strengthen allies.
Sadly, this was the only music-related skill Yasenia had. Therefore, Dramel could only use that one. So, to avoid falling behind the other treasures, Dramel had to improvise.
'What if I focus the skill? What if I change the rhythm here? What if I transform this part of the melody?'
As she repeatedly practiced the same skill, Dramel managed to create sub-segments of the already powerful skill.
"[Lyra's Harmony: First Cord Of Daze]."
Twang~
The sound struck Drakar's mind like a sledgehammer, leaving him dazed. Something Yasenia took advantage of to land a solid strike on his side.
"[Lyra's Harmony: Second Mind Cord]."
Twatwang~
A strong undead creature that almost stepped into Soluna's path stumbled, its undead soul flame flickering violently as it was nearly instantly killed by the piercing soul attack.
[Lyra's Harmony: Third Cord Of Heaviness]."
Twatwatwan~
This time, the three quick sounds combined and spread out, merging with the constantly sounding battle melody and affecting all enemies.
The seniors immediately noticed the wide-area debuff, and some exclaimed in awe. "They are moving almost a tenth slower. Impressive. That Pipa is incredible."
On the battlefield, Drakar and Rin Qiao suddenly felt as if their bodies were surrounded by a layer of lead. Both of them were already at a disadvantage, so when their movements slowed, Soluna and Yasenia proceeded to pummel them.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Yasenia swept Drakar with her flag, sending him flying everywhere on the platform.
Soluna smashed through Rin Qiao's defenses with ruthless efficiency, reaching her side and landing a single powerful strike on her body.
Yasenia glanced at Dramel from the corner of her eyes and couldn't help but smile. 'Great job, Dramel.'
Those three words made the Pipa's mood soar, and her music reflected it. In the next second, the song became firmer, smoother, yet more powerful. Even when Drakar and Rin Qiao wanted to get rid of the sense of heaviness, it was impossible.
Drakar shouted at Rin Qiao. "Do something and get rid of that disgusting instrument!"
Yasenia appeared in front of him, her eyes oppressively cold. Instead of using the flag, she gathered [Shattering The Heavens] in her fist and struck his face.
"Don't insult my Dramel, bastard."
BOOM!
The poor demon's skull cracked as he spurted a mouthful of blood while spinning back uncontrollably. Rin Qiao saw that and winced. 'Thankfully, I am against the spirit.'
Still, she did as Drakar said and sent all the undead underlings toward Dramel. The mass of undead moved swiftly and coordinately like an army, an aura of rot enveloping their bodies.
Dramel was not good against a large number of enemies, but even when they approached, she kept her song going. 'Even if I fall, just one extra second is good enough!'
One of the quickest undead arrived, ready to strike Dramel. The undead army surrounded the area as well, leaving her no escape route.
When everyone thought that Dramel would be incapacitated, a single sword light split the battlefield in half.
SLASH!
The undead that was stretching its rotten claw toward Dramel was bisected bottom-up, its two halves dodging Dramel as they flew forward from the momentum. Behind it, Draheart hummed with destructive sword energies around her. The sword's aura was even more profound than Dramel's, giving all who spectated a chill.
The next second, the sword disappeared, and hundreds of flashes of light slashed everything around Dramel.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
A net of sword lights spread out, and a heartbeat later, all the undead were cut into chunks, leaving only a few stronger ones with bodies riddled with bone-deep wounds.
Draheart spoke with her usual indifferent tone. "Continue, I'll protect you."
Dramel couldn't help but squeal in her mind. 'Big Sister Draheart is so coool! Kyaa!'
In the distance, Rin Qiao kept falling back and was barely defending against Soluna's relentless assault. She summoned walls using powerful death attributes techniques, and even added some rot auras and projectiles. However, the spirit was unstoppable, breaking through everything with her flames.
When she noticed the connection with over 1,000 undead beings being cut instantly, she turned to look and was shocked to see Yasenia's sword slashing through her army as if they were made of mud instead of solid flesh and bones.
Even if they were rot-attributed creatures, their resilience was incredibly high. After all, to resist their own energies, their bodies needed to be incredibly tough.
'What is this?! How can someone be so absurd!?'
Rin Qiao felt terrible. She had known before the battle started that Yasenia was powerful. And yet, even before she summoned that absurd dragon, they were losing!
Worse, while she was fighting against three beings, the sword, spirit, and pipa, Drakar was only being attacked by Yasenia.
Even then, the demon was being pummeled to the point that any other participant would've lost already. If his [Battling Demon Intent Domain] didn't help him convert damage to strength and increase his resilience, he would've collapsed long ago.
'It was that annoying Intent Domain that forced our result into a draw, but why can't I see it working against Yasenia? She shouldn't be able to continue her pummeling after all these attacks! Is Drakar holding back to take her by surprise?'
Even if she wanted to check, she did not have time. The spirit had already broken through her defenses and was speeding toward her with celestial energies drumming against the space around her.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Drakar was becoming increasingly flustered. 'W-Why am I not getting stronger?'
As he fought with Yasenia, he could tell that his body was gaining energy and becoming stronger. This sensation that he felt so many times before was too familiar to miss or confuse.
And yet, he was still losing.
Yasenia's flag descended from above, and Drakar quickly turned his sword horizontal, holding it with both arms and preparing for the impact.
BANG!
His leg muscles cried in protest, his knees almost bending under the pressure-filled hit. 'Is she somehow absorbing my energy? What is happening? Why are her hits heavier than before?'
As he blocked the flag, Yasenia's tail lashed toward his stomach. "[Celestial Sunder]."
A magma shield covered his stomach right before Celestial Sunder shot out. Even then, the Big Improvement Level Skill was not something easy to block.
The crescent of Celestial Energies cut through his shield, landing on his sturdy flesh and cutting deep into his stomach. The rest of the force pushed him back several steps, but the distance was quick to cross for the dragoness.
With a single step, Yasenia was already on top of him again. Her barrage of attacks was merciless. Each and every single blow hurt the demon, leaving him basically no chance to retaliate.
Unable to understand, he shouted with rage. "Why are you getting stronger instead of me!?"
Yasenia looked at his face and sneered, her battle flag sweeping horizontally. "You are not the only one who gets stronger as a battle passes. [Firmament Shaking Arc]."
BOOM!!!
Drakar flew back, his mind ringing with Yasenia's words. 'Tyrant Warlord… Is that Intent Domain related to the Battle Intent Domain in any way?'
His Battling Demon Intent Domain combined the Battle and Demon concepts, two very powerful ones. The complexity and strength of an Intent Domain like that required high levels of understanding.
However, if Drakar knew that the Tyrant Warlord Intent Domain came from mixing the Monarch and War concepts, he would've thought twice about his tactic to extend the battle. War was already a combination of Battle, Wisdom, Weapon, Instinct, and Slaughter concepts. Later, when she added the Monarch concept to all of that, she essentially forged an Intent Domain that made her the ruler of all those concepts and more.
While Yasenia was always overwhelming, that was because her opponents were unable to bring out her best. Unknown to everyone else, Yasenia's specialty was not burst fights, but long-drawn fights against several enemies of her same level of strength or even higher. The stronger her enemies, the stronger Yasenia was!
Yasenia's previously excited golden eyes gained a touch of boredom. "It seems that you have nothing else to show."
Drakar was confused. "What do you mean?"
Yasenia jumped back, leaving Drakar space to breathe. After she landed, she elegantly spun her Battle Flag and pinned it to the Platform. "Use that powerful buff skill now, or you'll regret it."
Drakar's face darkened, his muscles twitching. "You… are you underestimating me!?"
Yasenia didn't answer. Instead, her energy flowed out and into the flag. "I have been using it as a weapon, and it works. However, this flag's power doesn't come from there."
Whooom!
A low, humming sound spread out together with a wave of dense killing intent. "Dramel, stop holding back and use the buffing symphonies as well."
Rin Qiao and Drakar were confused when they felt a slight rhythm change in the gorgeous battle song. Right as the change occurred, Yasenia, Draheart, and Soluna's auras burst out, increasing in power by a large chunk.
"[Everlasting War Calamity Battle Flag:…"
Yasenia poured her energy into the flag, and her face paled slightly from the sheer amount of energy required to activate one of its several hidden functions.
The spectators felt a chill of fear when they saw that. What could make that tyrannical dragon woman show a trace of tiredness!?
Yasenia answered them, her voice echoing and twisting the terrifying waves of killing intent with her unbending will.
"... Everlasting War Calling]."
Drakar knew better than to gawk at the scene developing in front of him. So he quickly gathered his energies and activated his own final skill. "[Magma Demon Overlord Body]!"
All the latent power living within his body and accumulated by the [Battling Demon Intent Domain] surged out, enveloping him in scorching flames and increasing his strength exponentially.
Then, he lunged forward, his speed incomparable to before. "DIE! [MAGMA OVERLORD RAMPAGE]!"
His sword bloomed out with black fire, scorching the world around them as if it were the apocalypse. The sheer pressure of the attack was the highest compared to anything that happened during the final encounter.
However, as the black flames threatened to consume everything, the terrifying amount of killing intent Yasenia had been manipulating took shape.
Two black colored soldiers manifested in front of Yasenia, their genders unknown, as their heavy armor covered every single inch of their skin. The eye slits gleamed with feral red light, their auras making those looking think that they were born in slaughter and knew nothing but carnage.
Yasenia looked at the wall of flames in front of her and spoke lightly, her words commanding like those of a heavenly general. "Destroy the demon and undead."
A split second later, both of them disappeared, each rushing in the direction of her opponents.
BOOM!
The sea of flames exploded, the world clearing into the previous celestial background.
Drakar's eyes widened, and even with his buffed strength, he barely recognized the two savage, armored beings approaching him. Out of pure survival instinct, Drakar raised his sword to block.
The black armored berserker swung its massive broadsword with the ease of swinging a thin tree branch.
Both weapons collided.
Drakar felt the giant broadsword's bloody metal collide against his flaming sword, and then, his eyes widened. His eyes captured everything in slow motion.
When the black, bloodied sword struck, his wrists forcefully bent, his sword being pushed under the world-shattering strength of the knight. 'W-What—'
SLASH!
BOOM!
Drakar's world spun, his back smashing and bouncing against the platform, forcing him to see white. A quick scan with his spiritual sense told him that his wrists were broken, and his sword had a massive vertical line where the black knight struck.
"GRAAHH!"
A scream of madness and killing intent exploded from the black knight, its maddening aura chipping away at Drakar's heart and sanity.