Shin's fight with the World Serpent was intensifying by the millisecond. His tight fists landed blow after blow on Ao's thick skull and the echoes of their strikes boomed like thunder within the Blue Payirci. One might think that Shin's inferior size would prove fatal in the duel to the death. After all, from an outsider's perspective, Shin looked like a fly while the World Serpent was an absolute goliath. However, the battle had surprisingly come to a standstill.
Shin's Cosmic Wings twinkled with starlight, and the Space-Elements overflowed from every fibre of its being. Whenever Ao thought that he'd managed to entrap Shin to land a decisive blow, Shin would simply use the power of his Cosmic Wings to teleport around the World Serpent.
In a fight where one party was so much smaller than the other, each side had to play according to their advantages. Ao's advantage was that he was far larger and had much more physical strength than Shin himself. One tailwhip from Ao was enough to render Shin physically handicapped and if any of his fangs were to pierce through Shin's human flesh… It would be game over for the poor Prince.
However, it wasn't like Shin was completely hopeless. Ao's size meant that his speed and dexterity was severely impaired. Compared to Shin who had literally the wings of a butterfly, the World Serpent was hard-pressed to land a clean strike on the agile cultivator. Shin teleported around the desert, moving from one advantageous position to another. If Ao's massive frame was about to come crashing down on Shin, he would simply teleport away using his Cosmic Wings, and repeat the process all over again.
Hence, after over a hundred moves, neither Shin nor Ao had held a distinct advantage.
"Stop squirming about and fight me!" At this point, even the usually patient Ao was starting to feel the heat. Lashing out in anger, the World Serpent sent a quick tail strike at Shin which in turn caused a colossal sand tsunami to arise.
With no feasible way to evade, Shin had to once again rely on the use of his Cosmic Wings to teleport far away. Clicking his tongue, Shin retorted: "Return back to your human form, and then we'll talk!"
"Human form? I'm a Primordial Beast, this is the way I was brought to this world! What human form?!" Ao scoffed at the outlandish thought. Turning into a humanoid form was just one method for Spirit Beasts to interact with other humans. It proved useful when it came to communication, but fighting was another detail altogether. In their human form, Primordial Beasts were only able to display a fraction of their true abilities. If Ao really fought in that mode, Shin would walk away with the destruction of the Paradise Heart within seconds.
"Shin, what kind of warrior are you?! Junius would never squirm around like a rat! He would face all adversities head-on!"
"... You sure are getting on my nerves." Shin frowned. He'd long known about the connection between Junius and Ao. Shin knew all about how Ao led Junius further down the dark path and groomed him to be a worthwhile asset to the Allfather. So, hearing Junius' name come out of the World Serpent's mouth really put a damper on his mood.
'Tch! If only I could use the Water-Element! I would end you right here, right now!' Shin cursed inwardly.
Shin's entire arsenal of tricks and techniques heavily relied on his ability to manipulate the Water-Elements. That was an undeniable fact. So with the Water-Elements in this Payirci as scarce as can be, Shin was unable to execute his true might against the World Serpent. Even if Shin did manage to turn this world into the aquatic world that he was most comfortable in, the Paradise Heart at the centre of it all would absorb his spiritual energies and supply to the Allfather to use.
In the end, Shin was caught in a no-win scenario.
'In the end, I must rely on the power of the Old Titans… Hah, I really wanted to save them for the Allfather...'
Steeling his resolve, Shin flew up high into the sky before teleporting three hundred metres away from the floundering World Serpent.
"Hmmm? Giving up so soon?" Ao shot Shin a snide remark, but the Prince paid him no heed. Shin's eye was on the prize, and his focus shifted to executing his next move.
'Water… Out of the question. Time… It should be useless here… As for the rest, yes… Three Titans should be enough…' His arms raised above his head, Shin reached deep into his Spiritual Body, calling out the ninth crystal obelisk within his soul. Five flashing lights expanded and contracted, each one more stunning than the last. Shin raised his right hand up, calling out for the three brightest lights of them all. And just like that…
WUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
In the material plane, Shin's body glowed with three distinct colours. The Cosmic Wings grew to three times its original size as a holy ring of light graced Shin's head like a Prince being bestowed a divine crown. Bathed in the golden light, Ao found the need to avert his gaze while coiling around to protect the Paradise Heart from the unknown power that permeated out of Shin's body.
With his Cosmic Wings and Golden Halo summoned, Shin looked more like an angel that wandered down from the heavens than a regular human being. However, that wasn't the end of Shin's transformation. The lights of the Space Titan and the Light Titan were beaming out of Shin's crown and back, but there was one more…
Shin had closed his eyes to peek deep inside of his subconsciousness. It seemed to be suicidal, closing his eyes in front of an enemy that could flatten him with one single clean strike. However, Shin remained confident. Why?
'That eye… What happened?'
Ao was the first to realise that something was amiss with Shin's ocular organ. The energies that were spiking out from within couldn't be compared to how Shin was in the beginning. The Cosmic Wings were mystical, the Divine Halo was holy and bright… However, that thing within Shin's left eye… It was utterly terrifying. All the three powers that Shin had shown, that thing within his eye… Ao felt that power residing within Shin's eyes… It was capable of shooting him down, even with his Primordial Beast's defences.
"..." Unconsciously, the World Serpent tightened its coil around the Paradise Heart, trying its best not to separate itself from the prized possession.
However, Shin wasn't going to let Ao rest for a single second. The bright golden halo above his head glimmered in dazzling light, blinding any that stood within its target radius. The halo turned the entire faux sky into an intense golden hue, creating an endless surge of starlight rain to fall from the heavens.
As if knowing that it would happen, the World Serpent quickly strengthened all of its body parts to withstand the oncoming onslaught.
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
The starlight fell upon the World Serpent's thick hide but failed to pierce through it as Shin intended. Yes, the World Serpent felt immense pain and burning heat permeated through all of his veins… But alas, the piercing power of the Light-Element was still too lacking as compared to the World Serpent's notorious toughness.
Noticing that he held the advantage for now, Ao attempted to ball up just a little longer so that he could ride out the storm and wait for a suitable time to counter-attack. However…
"Hiding is futile, stupid snake. Come and accept your fate." A hypnotic whisper entered the World Serpent's consciousness, luring it to raise its head to the mesmerising source.
And that's when Ao saw it…
Shin was floating right in front of his face, completely defenceless and without a single ally in sight. If Ao wanted to, he could open his mouth and swallow the poor guy down whole, and the war would be over. But… he couldn't.
No matter how hard he tried, Ao's body wouldn't listen to him. It was caught in a trance, just like the World Serpent's consciousness itself. There was a higher power locking him in place, a higher power that was unknown, even to the knowledgeable World Serpent who lived thousands of years. And its source… Was coming straight from Shin's left eye.
Shin's right eye remained with the same rich azure hue, a colour that was beautiful and gentle and the same time. However, Shin's left eye socket had changed entirely. Instead of holding a lake within his pupils, Shin's entire left eye had wholly disappeared. In its place, there was a chaotic gas cloud, one that was seemingly as small as an insect but could hold the entire universe in its grasp should it have to.
Ao had never seen or experienced such a mesmerising power in his entire life. No, he didn't even read of such a power from the many texts that the Allfather had supplied him. Right now, Ao was like a stunned animal in the shining lights. There was nothing he could do but stare in awe and fear.
And that was his downfall…
The longer Ao stared into the Mystic Cloud that slept within Shin's left eye, the longer his mind would be entrapped by Shin's own Mind-Elemental powers. Thus, after a good three seconds of watching Shin's enigmatic left eye, Ao's entire body just… froze.