Layla's wings glowed as she rushed toward Fafnir whilst checking every future possible and every possible path to take. But no matter how she thought about it, she could only continue to attack as fiercely as possible. There was no way around.
When she closed the distance, Fafnir smirked and one of the golden lights stopped right in front of him. The light faded away and a giant decorated golden shield was revealed.
Layla tried to go around the shield but even if the latter didn't move at all, she was not able to pass as she stumbled upon an invisible wall. She clicked her tongue and thrust her sword at the barrier. The tip of the sword carried a small light sphere that promptly exploded when it touched the wall.
Multiple silver magic circles formed and tried to corrode the barrier. The gold shield from before cracked and broke after a few seconds.
But when that happened, a golden ax almost as big as Fafnir himself, materialized above Layla. It was shockingly fast and the blade was not escapable. She parried the giant weapon with her sword which, although a bound weapon, was far from Karma's level and cracked under the weight. A rapier was not meant to parry to begin with.
Layla decided to do it differently and discarded the idea of countering with her weapon. She concentrated her mana inside her body and strengthened it with the light attribute. Her eyes glowed. She transformed into a beam of light and punched the ax at full strength.
The golden weapon deviated and even cracked under the might of her body and the tough scales. Fafnir sneered and the next weapon turned out to be a hammer. Even tougher looking and bigger than the ax.
Layla gritted her teeth when she saw the hammer falling on her like a meteorite. She was being played with and it irritated her deeply. She clenched her rapier and met the hammer with the tip of her blade.
When the two weapons touched, a silver light escaped the rapier and covered the entire hammer like a spider net. The rapier cracked even more because of the clash but a small hole started to be dug on the hammer.
Fafnir was quite impressed actually. Those were not his strongest weapons, but he had thought this hammer would be enough to finish her. He wanted to continue watching but decided to transfer beside Lanya in the end. But he ended somewhere he didn't want to again.
His eyes widened and he laughed afterward. "I see, so that's why you couldn't predict my weapons' apparitions and movements. You were focusing your vision on me."
Layla bit her lip as the hammer's momentum increased. It wasn't obvious like this, but the strength behind that hammer could've easily destroyed a planet. She let out even more mana and conjured a massive ray of silver light that pushed the hammer away from her. The 'strings' of the net tightened and also tried to cut through the golden weapon.
"You can see the future but you are not able to concentrate on many things at the same time," Fafnir mocked and strangely stood up on his hind legs. "You lack training, little girl."
His body started transforming. His legs became longer and his upper body changed too. After a moment, Fafnir had become a three-hundred-meter-tall noble dragon with incredibly wide wings.
He stared at Layla and grinned. "Let me tell you, my vault only isn't my full strength. If you only take guard against one thing, you'll never win," he stated and raised his hand. He pointed his palm upward and chanted.
"[Dragon's Wrath]." A huge fireball, that soon expanded with a booming sound, was conjured.
If it wasn't for the fact that Fafnir made it right in front of her, Layla would've never believed it was magic. The fireball had the size of a small moon and its glow and flames were perfectly identical to those of a burning star.
"I'm a dragon after all," Fafnir remarked. "Try to resist this," he uttered and waved his hand. The sun moved slowly at first but then deformed unnaturally as its speed increased.
Layla looked at both the hammer and the fireball and her expression darkened. At this point, she knew that she had no other choice and closed her eyes. If she didn't do it now, she would die.
"[Second Resurrection, Maiden Ostara]," she intoned just before the sun hit her. The burning star's flames spread around in space. It looked as if they were floating. The silver net lost its grasp on the hammer and the golden weapon was lifted again. It exited the explosion's range while fuming. It placed itself vertically then fell again and struck the whole congregation of flames. The fireball was struck in its center and was blown away by a golden discharge.
This clash of magic generated a powerful wave that spread throughout the entire galaxy. When it reached Karma's group, it was surprisingly Deva who protected them. She opened her eyes and an odd transparent barrier stopped every wave coming at them.
But, other than in their general direction, the wave didn't stop and the closest planets were forcefully derailed from their orbit. The inhabitants must have felt an earthquake across the entire surface.
When the chaos of mana and aura finally ended, the area finally returned to normal and the only light illuminating this dark space was Fafnir's natural glow. Layla's figure had vanished and one might think that the fight was over but not only Fafnir but even Jorga and Karma were looking around with confused expressions.
They were all sensing Layla's presence. Her aura had disappeared but her natural presence which is created by any living being's life force was still there. The problem was that it was everywhere. As if Layla had become everything that composes the world around them.
"…Ostara?" Karma mumbled.
"Ēostre?" Jorga exclaimed and Karma glanced at him. Before she could ask, the world around them changed. The dark color of space disappeared and was replaced by a bright light. The planets and stars in the distance faded away.
The world had become completely whit but something was soon added to this strange world. Everyone looked up and spotted a blue streak becoming bigger and bigger. When the size stopped increasing, another line gradually appeared beside it in the same fashion.
Then, it was repeated numerous times until everything was blue above them. Afterward, some white spots appeared on the blue color and became wavy and transparent. The next phenomena occurred below them. A line of green, then another, until everything was of the same color.
Next were shades, contrast, details, optimizations… And finally, the trees appeared, the grass, soil, rocks, and mountains… Everything was completed by the apparition of a bright star in the sky.
Deva looked around along with Jorga and Karma. They were looking dazedly around them and so was Fafnir. The environment that was created right before them was extremely disturbing.
Everything was frozen in place and hardly could be qualified as dynamic. It was just like a drawing. No, this whole world had just been made like a painting. The sky and the ground were painted with a brush and so was the rest.
Fafnir frowned and produced a golden sword from his 'Vault' before grabbing it. He was on his guard and kept looking around. But that wasn't enough as he was struck by an unknown energy and was sent flying away.
His humongous body crashed on the ground but he didn't bury himself or create a crater. He even slightly bounced as some of the 'soil' and 'grass' stuck to him "This is… actual paint?" Fafnir muttered when he touched the paint on his scales.
He then looked at the ground and his eyes widened. "A canvas…" He was astounded. "This is a white canvas on which a scenery was painted," the dragon uttered. He stood up and stared at the place where he had been attacked by an undetectable force.
"What kind of theory is this?"
Before he could think of an answer, he felt something touching his back lightly before it turned into a heavy strike which made him roar as he flapped his wings and retreated. Immediately after, he opened his 'Vault' again and the golden lights reappeared.
When the third strike happened, it was blocked by the same golden shield from before. "Get out!" Fafnir shouted. "I know you're not in a physical form. You won't be able to win like this!"
Everything was silent for a moment then something changed on the 'ground'. The paint moved by itself and formed some beautiful patterns. All kinds of flowers were drawn; roses, tulips, lilies, anemones… Then a figure appeared right in the middle.
Karma gasped while Jorga and Fafnir were taken aback. If Layla was beautiful before, right now she was most likely the most beautiful person they had ever seen until now.
Her draconic appearance was gone and her features hadn't changed much but it seemed like her skin, body, and face had been deprived of every imperfection. Her eyes had turned mystical and if you looked carelessly, you'd only be able to see silver and red colors. But if you focused a little, you would realize that these colors are flowers.
Her dress was decorated with all kinds of plants while retaining its red, silver, and black hues. Her hair had also changed a little. After her 'rebirth', the hair she had above her shoulder had turned silver while the rest had become black. Now, the different strands were mixed and gave another charm.
But what struck the lookers the most was the impression she gave. She made you feel calm and serene and her whole appearance reminded one of nature, youth and vitality. Just a glimpse of her and your mind would be appeased.
"Ēostre… or Ostara is a Goddess who represents the opportunity of growth and rebirth after the stagnation of winter; the Maiden Goddess," Jorga recalled and smiled. "She fits the legend and image perfectly," he added and Karma nodded strongly.
Fafnir observed Layla solemnly and raised his sword without saying anything. Layla smiled radiantly and lifted her completely restored rapier.
Fafnir's expression twitched as every single one of her moves looked like art. "You wanted it. I'll go all out," her voice echoed and even managed to calm Fafnir a little even if it was a taunt.
The golden dragon clicked his tongue and flapped his wings, Layla didn't move and when the sword was about to hit her, the paint around raised like a whirlpool and shrouded both of them.