Seleria waved her hand, and several tongues of flame detached from the fire barrier. Instead of dissipating into the air, these crimson flames flew towards their mistress and began to change their form. Within moments, ten scarlet daggers were circling around the red princess, and what was even more astonishing was that they were exact replicas of the daggers concealed in Aileen's sleeves. No mage could create an accurate copy of an object from fire due to the inherent instability of the element. Yet, these blades, clearly composed of fire, maintained their perfect form.
"Now it's your turn to defend yourself," Seleria pointed at Ragni, and the blades, as if responding to her command, sped towards the enemy. Ragni managed to deflect the first two daggers with her paws, then caught and broke two more, but after that, her movements changed. The dragoness no longer attempted to repel the daggers; instead, she dodged them. Three daggers struck the ground beneath her, while the remaining three missed her. Ragni landed back on the same spot and swiftly turned around. The errant daggers, following the red princess's command, returned to her.
"Damn persistent pests," Ragni kicked one dagger away, crushed another with her paw, and caught the last one millimeters away from her chest. With an angry roar, she crushed the fiery dagger, which disintegrated into the air with a metallic sound. "What unpleasant flames."
Ragni examined her paws; her scales, partly composed of meteorite material, showed some cuts, a few scales were melted, and the hand she used to catch the last dagger was slightly bleeding. Daggers made of regular fire managed to cut through one of the strongest materials in the world.
"In my case, defending myself will only be harmful to my health," Ragni spread her wings and soared into the air. Seleria, for now, did nothing, merely watching her opponent's movements. The dragoness ascended beneath the dome and then swooped down towards the princess, preparing to strike with her paw. A second before the collision, flames rose between the two girls, forming a massive siege shield. If I'm not mistaken, it was the same type used by one of the imperial guards. The dragon's paw collided with the shield, leaving only a small crack on its surface. Ragni swung both paws and, with her second strike, shattered the shield into pieces. The shards, transformed into fiery petals, calmly dissipated in the air. However, beneath the shield was another one, created from the sand of the arena, now engulfed in the crimson flames. This shield was just as sturdy and well-crafted as the first. Ragni exhaled flames onto the shield, and the sand began to melt rapidly at the point of impact. Soon, the shield crumbled, and nothing hindered the dragon's flames from reaching Seleria. The princess covered her face with her hands, and the crimson flames formed a miniature copy of the crystal barrier, which protected her from fire. But from such a close range, the pressure of the dragon's fiery breath was even more intense.
Seleria glanced for a moment at the flames behind Ragni, and sensing the danger, the dragoness flapped her wings and flew towards the dome. In the spot where the dragoness had just been, two sharp blades closed in, reminiscent of the Queen of Ants' daggers. Reaching the top of the dome, Ragni hurled two fireballs at the princess. Though the shield protected her, the impact made Seleria kneel on one knee. It seemed all of the princess's concentration was devoted to sustaining the crimson flame, making it difficult for her to evade even the simplest attacks.
Widely spreading her fingers, the princess raised her hands, and the crimson flames soared upward, scattering into small petals. Each petal transformed into a tiny scarlet arrow, akin to those shot by Aileen's crossbows. Soon, five hundred arrows floated above the princess.
"Where are your witty remarks, princess? Or is this spell proving too taxing for you?" Ragni smirked and started flying at maximum speed under the dome. The first volley of arrows shot after the dragon, but as they missed, they collided with the barrier and turned into dust. It appeared that objects created by crimson flames retained their properties until their form was disrupted, so colliding with a powerful barrier easily destroyed them.
Ceasing to bombard the too agile dragoness, Seleria directed all the arrows into battle at once. Before flying towards their target, they surrounded her from all sides, leaving no room for evasion, then closed in.
"Damn persistent pests," releasing flames from her mouth and hands, Ragni spun in place, creating a massive fireball around herself. The arrows flew into the flames and dissolved within, though some still reached their target, leaving several deep cuts on the dragoness's body. "Returning them!"
Gathering all the flames into one stream, Ragni unleashed it on Seleria. Shielded, the girl was still pressed to the ground by the princess's powerful magic. The crimson flames fueled the shield's destruction and gradually subsided, but Ragni continued her assault, and the flames were slowly fading away.
"This is not all. My power is limitless!" Struggling, Seleria stood up and boldly stared into her opponent's eyes. Ragni realized what she was planning, but it was too late; Seleria simply removed all her defenses. The dragon's flame was immense, but the girl endured it and stood against the never-ending torrent of fire. It seemed as if the flames were slowly submitting to her will. "All fire is my strength!"
The princess took a deep breath, and Ragni's flames began to absorb into her body, not only through her breath but also through her skin. Seleria's body started to glow with a reddish light; her hair rose upward, and her eyes sparkled with crimson radiance.
"Now you shall experience the power of the Crimson!" Crimson flames started erupting from Seleria's body, covering the entire arena. Ragni flew in the center of the arena, untouched by the flames, but gradually, the scarlet blaze turned the entire arena into a lake of pure fire.
"What have you planned with such a quantity of crimson flames? Seleria! Can you hear me?" Under the raging flames, the princess was invisible, but she was undoubtedly there.
The flames began to sway, and from them emerged a thick column that rushed towards the dragoness. Ragni dodged, and the column snapped its jaws in empty air.
"Jaws? What the hell is this now?!" Ragni watched as the lake of flames swayed, and one after another, other fiery columns burst forth—two, five, ten, twelve. The long appendages started taking shape: a wide maw, a row of sharp backward-curved teeth, burning eyes with narrow pupils, and a wide fin around its snout. "Damn, not this creature!"
The lake also gradually took the form of a massive body with a tail and two clawed paws. In the center of the arena, a true royal hydra was raging.
"Oh my goodness, what a monster," Sheraza gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.
"Actually, that's your daughter," Ignis gave her neighbor a suspicious glance.
"Yes, I mean, I just meant... how did she create such a thing? This is an ancient hydra!"
"Well, she is the one, I'd say even a royal one."
"But you can only create what you have ever seen, right?"
"Well, they killed it not so long ago, last autumn!"
"What?! And she didn't tell me about it?! This is very dangerous! She could have warned me!"
"She just didn't want to worry you."
"Eeh, sorry to interrupt, but is that fair?" Vina drew the attention of the royal individuals. "Seli created such a monster, and Ragni, in turn, can't take her true form due to the Rector's prohibition."
"No problem!" The Rector reclined peacefully in his chair. "This monster is just an expression of the Red Princess's magic. Her body is in the same state as at the beginning of the match, somewhere inside this beast. If Ragni wants to win, she'll have to find another way. Heh-heh."
"And you agree with this?!" Vina looked at the monarchs, and they both nodded in unison. "Aaah, damn it. Do whatever you want. Ragni, you can't transform into a dragon, but anything else is allowed!! Try your best, show what you're capable of!!"
"Thanks, Vina, at least someone supports me in this cursed booth," Ragni smiled and looked at the monster beneath her. "But still, how am I supposed to fight such a creature?"
Ragni spat a fireball at the hydra, but it shattered against its scales as if hitting a real creature. The flame even copied the hydra's movements. Standing in the center of the arena, the hydra arched its body back and released all its heads at the dragoness.
"The first time was more than enough for me!" Ragni evaded the first two heads and soared upward. Three more heads rushed towards the dragoness, and she repelled them with a blast of fire. One head tried to sneak up from behind, and Ragni swung her massive paw, smashing it in a single strike. Unlike the small daggers, the hydra didn't disintegrate from the blow; even though the neck fell to the ground, the head began to regenerate in place after ten seconds. "Even in this form, this creature infuriates me to no end!!"
Ragni swooped down, deftly slipping between the hydra's heads. The dragoness struck one neck with force, and it cracked, crumbling to the ground along with its head.
"As I thought," Ragni continued to strike at the center of the necks, and their number rapidly decreased. Regenerating the necks along with the heads proved much more difficult, so the new sharp-toothed maws hesitated to show themselves. Soon, only four heads remained, and they lunged at the girl all at once. Ragni turned towards them and stopped their advance by bracing herself with her arms and legs. A precarious balance was established; the heads couldn't reach Ragni, but she couldn't move from her spot either, risking being eaten. "Seems like I forgot something? Oh, DAMN!"
From the center of the monster's torso burst out a thirteenth head, much larger than the previous ones, and with a single motion, it swallowed Ragni!
"Sh-she SWALLOWED her!??" Katrina leaned over the balcony edge with horror.
"It can't be," I scrutinized the hydra's thick neck. From the outside, it indeed seemed as though she swallowed Ragni whole and was currently trying to gulp her down. It looked very realistic.
"Krito!! What will happen to Ragni?" Kat was in a panic.
"Alright, let me try to figure something out," I focused on the mark on my hand. Kurone's telepathy couldn't penetrate through the shield, but my connection with the dragoness was much stronger.
"Oooh, Ragni! Can you hear me?" It seemed like my mental shouts were falling into the void, but I felt her presence.
"Mmm."
"Don't sleep, you foolish dragoness! You'll lose the fight that way!"
"Huh? What's going on? Where am I? And how are you here?!"
"Oh, you finally woke up! You're currently battling Seli, and her big spell swallowed you."
"Oh, right. I should've paid more attention to my surroundings."
"Exactly! And how do you plan to get out of this situation?"
"I don't know, against divine flames, I have no chance. I doubt I can break free from here," Ragni's voice weakened.
"And that's it? Won't you even try to awaken your power?"
"I don't know, without your help, I doubt I can do anything."
"Forget about me! A month ago, I gave you a part of my soul. Whatever I can do, you can too. Just believe in yourself and fight with all your might!!"
Ragni fell silent; she couldn't bring herself to use someone else's power in a fair battle, but her desire to win overcame her.
"Fine. The power of the ancient god, black flame of destruction, answer my call, Gravitos!"
"RRRAAAAARRRGGHH!!!" A devastating roar shook the arena to its core. The lump inside the hydra's long neck came to a stop and began expanding rapidly. The crimson flames scattered, and a wielder of black flames appeared in the light.
Ragni was unlike anything she had been before. She remained in her human form, but she transformed her entire body into a dragon-like semblance. Her hands and feet were replaced with massive paws sporting sharp black claws. The torso became elongated, the chest enlarged, and the waist slimmed down. An imposing tail grew out from her back, and her wings expanded significantly to support such a form. The dragoness's head also changed: her hair shortened, barely covering her head, and was replaced with sharp spikes. Her neck elongated, and her head now resembled a small dragon.
Ragni's clothing tore apart during the sudden transformation, but the black dragon attire that she wore during our first encounter stretched and neatly adhered to her body. She was currently in a transitional state between human and dragon, a phase that all dragons usually pass through during their metamorphosis. She looked powerful and mesmerizing, but that wasn't all.
Her dragon body was engulfed in black flames. Emitting a faint hiss, the flames enveloped her paws, rose above her back, and replaced her hair with a jagged mane of black flashes. Just like before, the black flames behaved differently from regular fire; they dissolved into thin needles with a piercing screech.
But Seleria was also preparing to strike; all twelve heads had regenerated, and they encircled the black princess, ready to attack.
"Wow, Gravitos!! You didn't tell me your daughter mastered it!" Sheraza frowned and turned to the black queen.
"I didn't know either. Until now, it manifested unconsciously, and this is the first time Ragni has used it at will."
"That changes nothing! Seleria has been honing her power for years, while your daughter is just taking her first steps in it."
"Yes, but Seleria is greatly exhausted from the previous battle, and it's unclear who will run out of strength first. Besides, in terms of raw power, black flames have always been more potent."
The crimson heads lunged at the dragon. Ragni simply waved her hand in the air, and twelve small sparks of black flames shot towards them. The small sparks collided with the predatory heads and ignited into enormous black orbs. Within a second, the black flames, along with the heads, disappeared without a trace.
"This body is too unwieldy for you, Seleria," Ragni extended her hand, forming a black star on her fingertip, resembling a small ball with a thousand needles. "I'll free you from it."