Vastra's eyes flashed with a dangerous light and the giant she was mounting started to convulsing strangely, his veins bulged and his muscles contracted. After a few seconds, the giant had become even bigger and his eyes had lost focus. He was completely under Vastra's mind control now.
Aphrodite scowled and thought that it was most likely the same for the assassin who kept sneaking up on her every time.
"(Should I use it?)" She wondered if she should use her Manifestation. She knew that if things continued like this, Vastra would most likely get out of the fight victorious.
But her type was an Instant-Cast and the biggest downside with that kind of Manifestation was that it didn't leave any room for a mistake. Of course, if the Manifestation injures the opponent, even if it doesn't kill him, it's worth it. But if the magic is by chance evaded, the caster will find himself in a tight spot where his Manifestation was wasted.
That was what Aphrodite was worrying about at the moment. Before she could make her decision about the matter, the giant charged and ruthlessly directed his fist at her. She sensed that the strength in that punch was a lot higher than before. It had been forcefully augmented by Vastra.
Aphrodite reacted quickly and her body literally became a gust of wind. When the giant's fist reached the ground, a crater was immediately caved in and the earth was dug out all around. The stone underground also bent and emerged to the surface before breaking into pieces.
Aphrodite reappeared above the giant and then conjured a sphere of compressed air between her hands. She quickly threw it away and it broke almost instantly.
"[Helix]."
The wind inside the sphere didn't burst but manifested itself as a vortex. It remained as so for a few seconds before it suddenly changed into a huge tornado that pierced the place where the giant and Vastra were.
When the tornado shrouded their figures, Vastra left the tornado alone and flapped her wings. She dashed toward Aphrodite and chanted quietly, "[Bloody Thorn]."
A light flashed and two red rope-like rays of light appeared in her hands. The two ropes became thorns that circled around Aphrodite and closed in as if they were alive.
They were unsurprisingly ripped apart by the powerful wind pressure but Vastra merely waved her hand and a thorn whip formed in her hand.
Aphrodite produced a sword out of wind magic and used it to entwine the whip that was swung at her. She then moved her free hand and a very cold air brewed as she pointed her palm at Vastra.
"[Freeze]," she calmly chanted and a large wave of wind targeted Vastra. The wind was so cold that the humidity instantly turned into snowflakes.
Vastra deployed her wings to urgently halt her advance thanks to the air resistance. She nosedived and left the freezing air's zone of effect. After that, the giant that had been attacked by the tornado earlier returned and put himself in front of Aphrodite. He immediately started freezing but he ignored it as if nothing was happening.
Aphrodite increased the output of her cold wave and it easily could affect even targets that were miles away.
But even as his torso was almost entirely covered by a thick layer of ice, the giant was still making his way toward Aphrodite. At the same time, Vastra pulled on her whip which was still attached to Aphrodite's sword.
The goddess of love clicked her tongue and decided to let go of the whip. She instead raised her hand toward the sky and let her mana flow out. The black clouds of Baphomet started spinning like a whirlpool and from the center of it, a tornado slowly started forming as the rain started falling.
This time, the magnitude of this tornado was on a completely different level and if you looked at the sky, you could easily see that it would be at least around fifty miles large and incredibly devastating. Vastra squinted her eyes and clasped her hands.
The rocks and boulder around started hovering. Vastra waved her hands and attacked Aphrodite with a barrage of stone.
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow and created a shield around her. She could easily resist Vastra's attack but the giant soon started hitting her shield with great momentum. Just the sheer strength behind those attacks was enough to produce a shockwave capable of traveling miles no matter what it would land on. Even the wind pressure created by those punches were enough of a threat.
Aphrodite was being pushed back by the giant and her shield threatened to break at any moment. The threat rapidly came true as a kick shattered her shield and sent her flying away.
She crashed on the ground and formed another crater. She coughed and grunted painfully. Vastra took the opportunity and controlled the earth. Everything around Aphrodite moved in order to clog the crater and bury her alive.
She stood up but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back. Her eyes trembled and she slowly turned her head around. The assassin that didn't appear until now finally managed to reach her with his blade. The dagger was barely missing the heart thanks to her luck. Simply because she had stood up too quickly, the aim of the assassin had been a bit off.
A stream of blood fell down Aphrodite's mouth and she released all of her magic power in one go.
"Scram!" The assassin was pushed back for miles and right about when Vastra's magic was going to engulf her, a mark on Aphrodite's chest shined through her clothes. Her sigil spun and she shouted, "[Resurrection]!"
Her aura exploded along with the surroundings that were trying to bury her. As her body glowed with blue light, she looked at the sky and saw that her tornado was about to be ready.
She then turned toward Vastra with her eyes that had now a light blue contrast. Vastra gasped and tried to retreat but it was too late.
"[Bow Down to Me]," Aphrodite's order echoed loudly and clearly. Shockingly, Vastra was forced to fall and kneel right away. It was also the same for the giant and the assassin. The three of them kneeled and lowered their heads.
"[Golden Rule]," she chanted and waved her hand. Her three opponents suddenly moved according to her instructions and gathered together at a single place.
Aphrodite sighed and finally, the tornado in the sky was finished. The wind composing it was extremely cold and the rain that was falling since earlier managed to enter the tornado and become ice. Making it even more threatening with its white color.
"Fall!" Aphrodite clamored and the tornado became a giant drill descended on Vastra's group with great speed. Just after, the blue hue around Aphrodite's eyes vanished and she helplessly started panting.
Her Manifestation was, unambiguously, controlling the minds of people to make them do what she wants. But unfortunately, it only lasted ten seconds and she couldn't order them to kill themselves, at least to the people at the same level of strength.
Therefore, because the effect had stopped, a second before the tornado could reach Vastra, she had managed to use the giant and as a meat shield.
When the tornado hit the target, the earth shook and everything it touched was pulverized. Even the mountains were not spared.
After five minutes which felt like an eternity, the tornado died down and Aphrodite observed the massive depression with numerous fissures everywhere across its surface. She looked around her and didn't spot Vastra or any of her lackeys.
She sighed and her eyes darted toward the battlefield hundreds of miles away. When she saw that Vastra's mind control was still active, she shuddered and turned around. She gathered her mana to conjure a shield that protected her from a red thorn.
Vastra was there, although injured and seemingly exhausted, she was standing nonetheless and her Manifestation hadn't been dispelled.
"It seems that you couldn't finish me," she said. "You were the one who locked me in the purgatory. I will get my retribution by turning you into my loyal puppet for eternity," she smirked and her killing intent was released.
"Damnit…" Aphrodite cursed as she looked at the succubus. The wound on her back was tingling and she definitely knew that there was something strange. An injury like that shouldn't be able to weaken her so much. "(Poison,)" she guessed.
She was about to call Gabriel for help but as if to retort her, a powerful magic wave spread and she lost connection to the archangel. From the corner of her eyes, she watched in shock as Gabriel fought against the three princes with Michael.
The three demons had released their Manifestation and so did Michael with the spear he had summoned. But Lucifer's magic had completely reached another realm after his Manifestation.
"As I thought. Your magic has always been special, Lucifer. Combining light and darkness isn't an impossible thing to do. But in your case, it always has been unclear how you could use it as an independent element," Michael said and the fallen angel laughed.
"It's just what I am."
Lucifer's Manifestation was an Eternal-Cast. The air around him was filled with black and white lights that would flicker from time to time. With just a thought, he could conjure his light-darkness magic which had gained a great boost and had the special characteristic of countering every other element.
Michael snorted and gathered light at the tip of his spear. He swung it lightly but a large wave of energy was released and struck Beelzebub before provoking a huge light explosion. Michael glared at Lucifer without even blinking at the brightness of his attack. "I will still get rid of you."
Lucifer sneered and snapped his fingers. The remnants from Michael's magic disappeared and Beelzebub emerged unscathed with a white and black barrier surrounding him.
"Rather, shouldn't you worry about her? You know she never was good in a fight," Lucifer suddenly grinned and Michael hastily turned his head toward Gabriel.
"Too late," Lucifer muttered and cast the spell he was preparing. A magic circle appeared spiraled into existence just behind Gabriel and fired a black and white projectile at her. The archangel couldn't react in time as it stabbed her.
"No!" Michael shouted and rushed to her side.
Gabriel hugged herself and trembled as if she was freezing. Her wings slowly started shrinking and her hair darkened. Even the holy light that usually surrounded her was vanishing. All of this, just because of one single beam of magic.
"My element is 'unbalance'. It's the deadliest bane for someone such as her who is pure and innocent," Lucifer jeered.
Michael gritted his teeth and caught her before she could fall down. He grabbed his spear with one hand and glared at Lucifer. At the same time, Aphrodite was also being pushed back and on the brink of defeat. Even Azes and Zeus were having a hard time. And because Gabriel had stopped healing, the army was also being decimated.
In that grim situation, Ifrit exclaimed in surprise and looked up to witness the sphere of life force fissuring. The black circle that was hovering above it like a halo was similarly weakening.
"Oh, so he survived, huh?" Ifrit muttered and everyone else also spared a glance at the sky. "Come on, show me what you can do."