*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
As Mane's dragon soared through the sky, it made it its sole purpose to cause as much harm to the Winged Serpent as possible. The fiery dragon was like a vacuum of fire, breaking apart the scales and skin of the Winged Serpent; causing the creature born of the flames of a dragon to scream in pain and terror each time. However, the Winged Serpent wasn't going down without a fight. After the first few clashes it understood that the apparition it was facing wasn't nearly as dangerous as the true dragons it had encountered before. And it was emboldened by it. It weathered the storm of attacks that came its way whilst delivering powerful counters of its own.
Unfortunately, it was facing a fiery contraption, and its attacks were merely fuel to the greedy Chaotic sentiments that devoured its Edict whole and refined it for its use. The fiery dragon crushed into the Winged Serpent repeatedly, reducing the formerly majestic and healthy creature to a mess of blood and gore. The serpent was barely holding on; it was struggling to handle the pace and swiftness of the attacks of the fiery dragon.
"Recreation," Mane mumbled, unhappy with the current events. In his eyes, this fight was lasting much longer than he expected. Although he had successfully stifled to attacks of the Winged Serpent, making it difficult for the beast to use any of its Glows, Mane wasn't pleased by the length of the fight.
Several pieces of paper flew out of his robe at his command. These papers were different from the regular ones Mane used in the beginning. They were pitch black, and glowed faintly with a metallic sheen. These papers were Elemental Papers. They were capable of soaking in and devouring a large amount of Edict and Chaos and becoming even stronger than they already were. It was a special kind of paper Mane procured, and he had so few on him that he rarely resorted to using them. But he wasn't afraid to use them when he had to. And though he wasn't pushed to a corner, he felt that they were perfect for this kind of situation.
"Augendae," Mane's eyes were narrowed into slits as he spoke. Chaos coated the metallic papers and presented them with even more fire power, making them as durable as high grade weapons and just as deadly, if not more so.
"Recreation: Origami Claws"
The metallic papers swiftly dispersed and morphed into claws. Some joined others to make longer, sharper claws, and at the end of the entire ordeal, there were only four large claws left out of the many black papers that were summoned.
"You shall move with the swiftness of Wind"
"The flexibility of the Waves"
"Your durability shall be unto you like an earthen shield"
"And your strikes shall be like the frightening whisks of lightening – the power that boasts of the birth of every flame"
Mane infused Words of power into his chant, merging elements into the black paper. His words were like sweet nectar, for when he sent the claws off to serve as the claws of his dragon apparition, they weren't singed by the fire but strengthened by it. And with its new claws, the fiery dragon was unstoppable.
*Roar*
With a billowing roar the wings of the Winged Serpent were torn off. Its anguished wails told of its pain, yet the fiery dragon was unmoved. And neither was Mane. The Young Supreme knew that it was almost over. And he wasn't going to squander the opportunity to kill an Ascended Beast.
"Augendae: Spirit Scan"
NAME: Yellow Eyed Winged Serpent
AGE: 600,000
HEALTH POINTS: 1,250/100,000,000
RACE: Dragonkin
BLOODLINE: Mutated Serpent
BLOODLINE RANK: Level 13
LEVEL: Ascension (Level 92.25)
POWER LEVEL: 700,250,000,000
WIELDER TYPE: Battle Beast
SPECIALTY: Cunning; Agility
GLOWS: Fire Breath; Phantom Claws; Full Armor; Petrification; Surge
BREATH: Whipped Winds; Fire Storm
"Let's try our own fire breath," Mane smiled from within the mouth of the fire dragon. His eyes blazed with the fervor of one hungry for completion, and his hands burned brightly like the sun.
"Brimstone," Mane stated and activated the power within. Flames much stronger than his regular tongues of fire engulfed him. These were blue flames that burned as brightly as the sun. But Mane wasn't finished. He wanted to one shot the beast before him. And he was going to give his all for that.
"True Flames"
Like pouring oil on fire, the flames around Mane surged and spread, and the yellow fire dragon became a blue fire dragon. Its flames were so strong that the body of the Winged Serpent held within its hands began to melt, much to its dismay. The Winged Serpent cried in pain and agony. It sought mercy yet that mercy never came. It tried reminding Mane that it hadn't chosen to come here. It was forced to come here by a strange power. It didn't think that Mane would understand. But he did. Only, he was the reason why it had been brought here. And he wasn't merciful enough to spare an Ascended Beast.
The Watchers weren't fools. When Mane asked for a powerful beast to face, they instantly brought him one. From the stench of cruelty and cunning in the eyes of the serpent, Mane knew that it wasn't ordinary. It was likely a tyrant in its world. And the Watchers may have been hoping to get rid of it, but they couldn't involve their hands; they couldn't dip their hands into the pot of life they had sworn to stay away from. So they used Mane. Mane wasn't a fool. He knew exactly what they wanted. And he knew better than to antagonize the Watchers on their turf.
Mane put his hands before him and gathered the forces of order – Edict. His eyes shone brightly as he drew upon his experience over the past two years. Two years had given him enough time to explore the limits of his power. Now he could face much stronger foes without Takeover. Two years had given him enough time to understand Titan's Fist to a great level, so much so that he knew that the word 'Fist' attached to its title was misleading. It was a fist of power, not a physical one.
A small fireball swiftly took shape before Mane's outstretched arms. Its heat was so great that the Wingless Serpent thrashed about in discomfort as it tried to escape. For its scales burned swiftly even though the fireball hadn't formed yet.
Unfortunately, the grip of the fiery dragon was like an iron vice. All the thrashing of the serpent did was open up its healing wounds and cause it more pain. Soon the fireball's core was complete; leaving Mane with nothing else but its exterior to work on. So great was its heat that Hildegarde had to move several kilometers away to avoid the fate of burning to death.
"He has become too strong," Hildegarde looked on with a complex expression. This young man whose flames she could initially ignore, and even sit within, was now a fiery force to be reckoned with. And he wasn't even using lightning yet! But this made her even wearier of their current situation. If Mane could so easily dispatch an Ascended Beast, then what about the Watchers who could bring him to his knees with nothing but their aura.
"Watch out!" Hildegarde screamed. Even in the midst of all the chaos, she trusted that Mane's ears wouldn't fail him. Her warning was because of the movement of the serpent. Upon realizing that its efforts to escape the grip of the fiery dragon were futile, it decided to go another way.
*Glow: Surge*
Its aura immediately exploded, forcing Mane to pay it a bit of his attention. An ominous feeling overcame him, and he divided his mind so he could keep an eye on the serpent. So with one mind he kept on growing his fire ball. With the other, he prepared a Lease to counter whatever was coming. As long as it was an energy attack, not a physical one, Mane was confident he could deal with it.
*Glow: Fire Breath*
Unlike Mane's lengthy preparations, the Winged Serpent's fire breath was prepared in less than a second. It opened its mouth widely and took a deep breath before unleashing a fiery breath wave towards Mane. Although the heat of its flames was incomparable to Mane's, it would be disastrous if it struck what Mane was building, leading to an explosion that would definitely leave him injured. And Mane hadn't ordered for a breath of fresh fire.
"Augendae: Reflexionem" Mane's eyes squinted as he chanted the Lease he had prepared. Chaos gathered before him and formed a thin transparent wall that acted as a shield.
*Boom*
The fire breath struck the wall, yet it could do no more. The serpent watched in despair as its fire breath was fully absorbed by the wall. Its eyes were laced with even more fear when its own attack was returned to its mouth.
*Boom*
*Hiss*
Along with a loud hiss of pain, the lower jaw of the serpent was broken. Its eyes flashed with helplessness at the current development, and it couldn't but feel that it wasn't going to get away this time.
All this while Mane was still building up his fireball. Once the fire ball had taken shape fully, Mane's eyes flashed with a sinister glow.
"Entangle it – Lightning Whips"
Small sparks surged out of Mane's hands and engulfed the fireball. The lightning formed whips around the fireball and held it steadily, a much different task from the destruction it was normally used to. This was a skill Mane had learned by studying Daisy's water whips exclusively. And what better time was there to use it than now – when he sought to create a destructive scene so grand that even the Watchers would have to seriously regard him.
"Gather and Shatter"
The fireball hummed in a tune so melodious that it was a pity that the only one close enough to hear it wasn't in the position to admire it. Mane let go of it, and it flew towards the gaping mouth of the helpless reptilian with all of its destructive might.
The pitiful beast couldn't even make any pleas, for it had lost its lower jaw. It could only watch helplessly as the fireball sank into its mouth.
"Titan's Might!"
Mane's words were a trigger, and the stable ball of fire and lightning suddenly grew berserk and was set off. With a disastrous explosion the entire serpent was blown into bits, leaving nothing of it behind. Its scales and flesh were turned into ashes. And all that remained were the remnants of its blood essence and energy, which Mane wasn't going to waste.
The young Supreme swiftly retrieved a small stone from his robe. This stone was something that could store the energy and blood essence of any creature, as long as the remnants of that creature remained.
"Devour"
The large amount of Edict that was tainted by the blood essence of the snake was absorbed into the stone. And once that was done, Mane placed it back into his robe with a satisfied smile on his face. The fire dragon around him dispersed, and Mane elegantly returned to the ground via Wind Walk.
"Sasha would like this. After all, she is a cat." Mane was certain that Sasha will become much stronger by consuming the remains of this beast.
"It is a pity that it was destroyed completely. Its entire body is a treasure." Mane lamented. But he only fought this way because he had no way to store the body anyway, so it mattered little.
"You were really thorough in your destruction." Hildegarde was back at her place soon enough, marveling at the scale of destruction Mane had wrought.
"Well, I can only be thorough," Mane shrugged. But he had hardly got another word in when several lights exploded all around the platform, causing his expression to turn grim.
"Those bastards!" Mane cussed for the first time in his life upon feeling the powerful auras within those lights.
"What are they thinking?" Hildegarde muttered, completely horrified. For the Watchers had sent more enemies to Mane to be 'exorcised'. And each target was an Ascender!