Yasenia looked down at her beautiful lover and laughed lightly. "Was it hard, love? Then, go rest by Andrea's side."
Cecile looked at the side and saw Andrea sprawled on a sofa with a languid expression. Without another word, she moved over there.
Yasenia saw Cecile throw her body on the sofa and spread her wings limply, making her giggle. Turning toward her "last standing" dear, she smiled. "Well, Honey. Do your best."
Kali nodded and looked up with her verdant green eyes, expectant. Yasenia hugged her waist and leaned down, kissing her lips softly. Kali wound her arms around Yasenia's neck and sighed through her nose in comfort.
Feeling her tongue come in, tangle and spread her flavor, lick and savor her gums, Kali moaned.
"Kali against Etruria."
The fox separated and looked at Yasenia with a happy expression. "I love you, Yasenia."
Yasenia smiled and hugged her one last time before letting her go. "I love you too, Honey."
Kali's tail wagged as she separated, and she began walking toward the side of the arena.
As she moved, she retrieved her veil and put it on. Her entire aura became calmer and more profound while the energy released from her Dantian began rotating around her body.
Once she looked to the other side, she could spot her opponent jumping down as well. It was a female Dolur with an exceedingly slim body. She looked thin to the point that it was concerning from a mortal point of view.
Her limbs were long, and her face was relatively beautiful, if not for being a bit too thin.
Kali observed her and waited for the countdown.
"The battle will start in 10…"
"9…"
Right as the judge started counting, Kali's gathered energy burst outward like a tide as she used her skills first to increase her own strength.
Unlike the rest of the girls, Kali didn't have many self-strengthening skills. Most of her skills were domain-like, spreading her presence toward the surroundings.
[Three-Tailed Nature Fox Aura] was the first skill she used: a self-strengthening skill that evolved from her Energy Coat. Then, she moved her energy to release her innate skill [Flower World Domain].
With the sound of the wind blowing, her surroundings were instantly covered in a beautiful vortex of flying petals and flowers. Together with it, she released [Fox Flower Land], a skill that covered the ground of the entire arena in multicolored flowers. Some were white, others pink, others red, others yellow, and some were black or purple.
After releasing these three skills, Kali used [Life Intent Level 3] to increase the flowers' effectiveness and her future skills. Not only that, she released a pulse of energy with [Growth Intent Level 3] and [Evolution Intent Level 3] to enhance the flowers.
By the time the countdown was close to zero, Kali had released a massive field of flying petals and infested the ground with a multitude of flowers.
The woman on the other side was solemn as she looked around. While she wanted to get rid of this, she had tried to send an energy blast at an area with flowers, and after they were destroyed, new ones quickly filled the space left behind. 'That won't work, huh? Do I need to rush face-first into the death field she is unleashing?
Looking around, her lips arched in a wry smile. 'Well, there won't be any place without flowers at this pace. Hm? Is she finally summoning?'
Kali spread her arm forward, and her voice echoed. "Come forth, [Nature Dragon Spirit Queen]."
A torrent of flowers and petals circled before Kali, and when the countdown reached zero, a three-meter-tall and green-skinned woman stepped out.
Her ridiculously curvy body and long green hair attracted the attention as much as her green eyes with golden slit pupils did.
Her beauty, a balance of green hues that perfectly harmonized, gave the impression that life itself had descended.
Etruria looked at the begin that just appeared, and even after the countdown reached zero, her body wouldn't respond. She wanted to rush forward, but when Valeria's eyes landed on her, it felt as if her soul was being grabbed by something.
Just a simple gaze had paralyzed her to the point of wanting to shout surrender.
Thankfully, that fear instantly disappeared with the terrifying woman's gaze moving away from her. 'What was that!?'
Meanwhile, Kali titled her head as the female Dolur on the other side didn't charge at her as she expected. 'Hm? Why is she not attacking? Shouldn't she be feeling anxious about giving me more time?'
Not understanding what was going on in that person's mind, Kali waved her hand and used her [Verdant Dryad Superior Summoning].
The new rush of energy snapped Etruria out of her daze, and she quickly rushed forward.
Kali looked at that and shook her head. "Too late. Next time, don't give your opponent extra time."
WHOOOSH!
One hundred pillars of green light shot toward the sky, and from them, women appeared like a celestial army descending.
All of them shared the same qualities as the tallest woman: green skin and green hair. Still, their auras were much less menacing than Valeria's.
Etruria's face fell as 30 dryads wearing heavy armor rushed forward. 'Did I lose already because of that misstep?'
Kali commanded her army and ordered them to release a barrage at her.
Meanwhile, Etruria gathered strength and shouted. "It won't be that easy!"
A spear appeared in her hand, and she swung it horizontally against the wall of wooden shields.
BANG!
Five dryads were blasted flying; their shields shattered together with their arms.
Kali looked at this with a neutral face. While they had buffs, they were still summons created by someone below the Fifth realm. If those could fight hand-to-hand with a mid-level Epoch Core, then it would be nothing but absurd. Even someone like Andrea had trouble receiving their attacks.
"[Fox Essence Boost], [Healing Life Aura]."
Her energy created the vague shape of a fox around her, and then the green fox exploded, spreading around in an enchanting green mist.
[Fox Essence Boost] was used in tandem with another skill, increasing its strength.
When the mesmerizing green mist touched the damaged dryads, their wounds were repaired at a ridiculous rate. In just two seconds, they were back up and ready to fight. Even their shields and armor recovered.
Moreover, Kali didn't forget to order the rest of the dryads to release supporting fire.
Wooden walls, arrows, healer dryads, and others that used roots to restrain her movements were constantly using her energy. Her dryad mage squad had five healing, five defensive, five restraining, five offensive, and five enhancing dryads.
When this group worked with the 30 tank dryads, it allowed them to not be completely overrun by the Mid-Level Epoch Core.
However, they were far from wining.
Right then, Etruria was releasing strikes at terrifying speed, blasting flying between one to three dryads with each strike. Even with the regeneration, enhancing, support archers, and support melees, the frontline was close to crumbling.
Even then, Kali didn't feel flustered. "[Nature Fox First Tail: Nascent Life]."
The innate skills attached to her tails were unleashed, covering the 100 dryads. When [Nascent Life] arrived, it seeped inside them, and their eyes became slightly sharper.
Etruria was about to blast another dryad flying, but to her surprise, that dryad agilely sidestepped while two sword-wielding dryads attacked her from the side. 'Ha? Why are they suddenly more coordinated- Arrow!'
She quickly flashed using complex footwork, dodging the arrow that almost hit her head.
Moreover, that wasn't all.
Etruria saw Kali wave her second tail, another wave of energies surrounding the 100 dryads, making them even more ferocious. 'I can't break through. I'll need to kill them one by one.'
Etruria's movements accelerated, her body becoming a shadow as she appeared right by one dryad's side and slammed her spear downward.
BOOM!
The dryad was blasted into pieces, and she quickly moved to the next, taking two out in less than a second. 'Tsk, I should've done this since the beginning.'
Kali waved her arm once more. "[Life Enhancement: Verdant Core]."
"AHHHH!"
Etruria heard one of the dryads give a sudden battle cry, startling her. She turned sideways toward the shield-bearing woman rushing at her, looking into its eyes. 'Huh? What happened? Why does she seem so… alive?'
However, being surprised was one thing; failing to react was another. "Die!"
Not wanting to take any chances, Etruria unleashed a powerful spear skill and became a shooting star that appeared by the dryad's side.
However, before she charged, Kali had chanted another skill. "[Spirit Overgrowth]."
The dryad that had several buffs on her went berserk as a massive aura explosion was released from her. Then, with ridiculous reflexes, Etruria saw that Dryad move her shield just perfectly to block her tricky attack.
BANG!
Even with all these buffs, that dryad still couldn't resist Etruria's full-power strike and was blasted backward. However, if one were to look at Etruria's face, one would see shock and horror. 'It resisted it!?'
She felt the impact, but she didn't see the dryad's body explode like the rest.
BOOM!
A pillar of green light was emitted from that dryad as she rushed back at her with a cold expression. Etruria could see the wounds and armor regenerating as she came against her, making her grit her teeth in frustration. 'I have yet to face the fox, yet I'm struggling against this stupid summons!?'
From the back, the Nature Fox's gentle voice echoed again. "[Life Enhancement: Vitality]."
The already buffed Dryad was strengthened again, making neon-like green veins appear all around her body as her aura increased yet again.
The next time they collided, while the result was not that different, Etruria's face had become ugly. 'The damage I did this time is even less.'
Remember that while she was facing the supper-buffed dryad, the other 99 had never stopped harassing her.
Each second, dozens of roots burst from the ground, trying to grab her leg. When she wanted to go around and sneak attack the dryads at the back, tens of wooden walls would interrupt her for enough time for the armored dryads to come in her way again.
Moreover, Etruria realized that Kali had already resummoned the ones she had killed previously.
'THIS FIGHT IS A NIGHTMARE.'
Etruria was feeling suffocated to the point of not being able to express herself outward other than to attack quicker, stronger, and without caring about anything. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"
Kali looked over with a neutral face, but one could see the seriousness in her eyes. 'That dryad will die soon. I've placed too many buffs on her. I have… 30 seconds? I need to land a decisive blow quickly.'
While Etruria had been harassed to the point of becoming crazed with frustration, Kali also hadn't been able to land a proper hit on her.
Kali lacked the most single-target firepower, which is why she struggled in one-on-one matches where her opponent's strength was superior to hers.
After using another healing aura, Kali blended her energy with the surroundings and quickly rushed forward. She had yet to use Valeria because she wanted to defeat a mid-level Epoch Core without her.
Once close enough, Kali used [Flower Blooming Steps], her movement technique, and appeared behind Etruria.
Etruria, thinking it was another pesky dryad, turned around and attacked like usual.
"[Spirit Severing Sword]."
Kali's figure flickered as she released an extremely quick sword strike and retreated.
Etruria was confused as she didn't feel damage, only for a second later for her mouth to bloat and then vomit blood. "W-What!?"
Etruria quickly retreated, entering a defensive stance and quickly checking her insides. 'My internal organs are damaged? How did she do it? Also… Huh? SOUL!? SHE ATTACKED MY SOUL!?'
As she pondered and defended, she felt a threat from above and quickly reacted. "YOU WON'T GET ME AGAIN, LITTLE GIRL!"
Using perfect rotational energy from her heel to the tip of her spear, Etruria thrust upward in a massive attack that created a void in the air.
BOOM!
Feeling the thing above her disappear, Etruria's lips arched. "I got-."
STAB!
Etruria blinked and looked down.
Piercing through her chest, a wooden sword with sharp edges entered her eyes. "H-How?"
Kali answered as she retrieved her sword, making blood flow. "You are entirely surrounded in my domain. A trick this simple is not hard."
Etruria smiled, blood flowing from her mouth. "I see… Well, fought."
Then, she fell forward.
The judge appeared.
"Kali wins!"