I tried some other spells, but unlike in the dungeon I actually can't use any. Fine, this guy wants to fight without magic, I'll play along.
I pick up the sword the cultist was using and get ready.
This guy was quite strange, holding his sword in such an unusual position, and introducing many unnecessary movements.
I swing first but the demon fluidly steps back and counters with a flourished swing that I block, leading to a constant flurry of perfectly flowing slashes.
"Oi, you don't feel like you know the first thing about swords. How are you blocking all of this?" He asks in a calm tone.
I ignore his dialogue and try to catch him with a counter slash, but he effortlessly ducks under it and cuts through my side.
That really hurts.
He tries to go for another strike, but Raine gets in the way and blocks it.
"Annoying." He complains and bats Raine's sword away.
"Where are you looking!" I interrupt.
I'm outclassed in skill, it seems. But at least I have numbers on my side, even though he is easily deflecting and finessing everything.
Even with my senses able to barely sneak me past these blows, I can tell I'm going to lose if I let this continue for too long.
The only chance I can think of is moving towards the exit.
As soon as I get out of the exit I undo my transformation, fortunate that the magic cancellation was an area based spell.
"Woah! Transformation is cool, but you're still gonna die. I can just cast my spell again!" He says.
He's right. I don't think my physical advantage is enough...
Suddenly, I hear a deeper voice behind me.
"
The demon I had so much trouble with was turned into mincemeat in an instant.
When I turned around to see who did that, I saw a gigantic dragon that was much bigger than me.
Was I going to grow that big eventually?
I figured Ria would be dumb and try to run to it for some reason, but for once she decided to have common sense and chose to cry and hug my leg. Because now all of a sudden she can understand that a dragon can be scary.
"You've created quite the stir. The battle for this world has been accelerated greatly, and I am not impressed with the fighting ability of the one chosen to fight for us. Even with that, Chrome still has hope for you." The dragon says in a booming voice that only makes Ria squeeze me tighter.
"Who are you? And what do you want with me?" I retort, getting irritated that this oversized dragon is making my little sister cry.
"I am the Dragon God, Arx. I'm here to give you the power to face your final opponent." He responds.
Another god?
"Yet another god that looks strong enough to fight, yet delegates the job to me..." I sassed back.
Arx chuckles, "So you do have some spirit. But, while I may be the strongest of the gods in this world, I was not so bright in my early days. Azgaroth knows my true name, thus I have no chance of beating him."
"So, how are you supposed to help me." I questioned.
"The plan was to have you train and practice fighting, but there is no longer time for that. You have to be ready right away. To facilitate that, Chrome has told me your true name that he'd learned by spying on you after you were born." He speaks.
Hey, hold on a minute! What do you mean by spying-
"I, Arx Del Pyronas, pass my authority as a god onto Laviella Dex Tiama,
Suddenly, a surge of power incapacitates me, and it takes all my strength not to fall over and crush Ria.
It lasts for a full minute or so before it finally passes.
"It's done. You're now the new dragon god. You would be unmatched if you were a full adult, but we don't have the luxury of waiting. Don't forget Chrome said it has to be you, you can't shirk this responsibility onto anyone else." He mutters casually, "I'd better get back to the palace before they start wondering where I went."
"Palace? They let you live in a palace?" I asked shocked.
"I obviously don't fit well enough to live there, but of course I visit often, who do you think used to keep dragons in check around here? Not that I had much work to do, mainly just punishing foreign dragons that don't know the rules." He replies, "The dragons here know better than to act up, and they aren't usually the same brand of arrogant trash that inherit blood memories of being superior to weaker races."
Damn, the dragons here have genetic memories that teach them how to coexist with people, while the rest I can think of are basically told they aren't even worth interacting with... I wish I was born here instead!
Once he flies off, Ria stops squeezing me and Raine was too shocked to do anything.
"Did you see that?! Lava will be the best god ever! Everyone will praise Lava for being a good dragon or I'll melt them!" Ria rambled to Raine.
Hey, now! I'm not gonna be a tyrant! No melting people!
Anyway, my Mana capacity has shot up a good bit, but it still seems less than what an adult dragon is supposed to have.
The 'authority' of my new Mana is the important aspect, since I would be powerless against a god if they can easily cancel any spell I create without effort.
Just when I thought I was going home, I saw another dragon land in front of me, but this one was very familiar.
Damn it!
"
Whereever that 'holy' dragon Prismet is, that damned Saintess isn't far behind.
Thankfully, Ria and Raine go back underground to hide, so I don't have to worry about them.
This time, Prismet immediately opens her mouth towards me, and it's clearly an attack.
Fire breath?
"
I construct a Mana barrier in front of me to block it.
Prismet is older than me, so even with my new god status I still don't have higher capacity than her, but my higher authority makes my spells more efficient and powerful.
Instead of fire breath, it's a beam of concentrated light.
I didn't think attributes were a thing... But I guess some dragons here naturally have different types of breath attacks.
My simple barrier is broken, but it held up more than long enough for me to just get out of the way.
"Why are you trying to attack me?! I'm the only one that can face that demon!" I shout.
"The Saintess doesn't think so, and that's all that matters to me." The dragon responds almost mechanically.
"The previous Dragon God just now passed his power onto me! It has to be me!" I yell furiously.
Ilsia then interrupts from her position on the sidelines.
"No. As informed by the goddess, the authority of a god will pass onto the next best individual once that god dies. And for a godhood decided by strength, if they are defeated in battle, the victor should become the new god. Given that knowledge, once we defeat you, Prismet will then become the new Dragon God." Ilsia clarifies with an analytical coldness, "If you defeat the demonic god, you will inherit his authority also. Humanity doesn't need an unknown dragon like you as a demonic dragon god!"
"For the world, you have to die, impure dragon!" Prismet screams as she lunges at me with her claws.
Since we both have good combat sense, close combat would come down to speed, reflexes, and skill.
All of those were things I didn't have on my side.
"O' light goddess, support me in my endeavor to eliminate the evil in front of me;
Who the hell are you calling evil, you pathetically brainwashed dragon?!
Many pure white spears attempt to rain down on me, but I block all of them with another barrier.
Prismet tries to use my distraction to stab me with her claws but I don't need combat sense to predict that.
I duck and spin to slap her away with my tail, and she is sent flying into a tree.
She gets up mainly unharmed and is about to start trying again.
She did appear like she had experience fighting other dragons, after all she tried to cast
But I've had enough of this, and it was my turn to attack.
"Enough! " I roared at my enemies who were really starting to get on my nerves.
Prismet I wasn't sure about, but I was definitely going to kill Ilsia! And to do that I have to get through this annoying dragon first.
"You have threatened my family long enough, so for them, this world, and everyone else I care about, I will judge you myself!
But, as I was unaccustomed to using incantations, and not used to my new power, I was completely careless that my emotional ranting would be considered as an incantation; Not to mention I accidentally let too much Mana slip out for that spell.
Even miles away the sky was suddenly enveloped with a sustained flash of bright white light, just before an intense bolt of lightning struck down Prismet as if sent by Zeus himself.
The thunder was spectacularly deafening, and the defense Prismet deployed was not even stronger than a pane of glass in front of it.
I had to magically heal my ears that I destroyed with the close range thunder; That's when I remembered Ria and Raine.
Oh no! I probably hurt their hearing too!
I rushed over to check on them but thankfully Raine was smart enough to put up an acoustic barrier the instant she heard 'lightning strike'.
I thought it was over. After all, Prismet's once pristinely white scales were largely charred black.
Yet she still had enough strength to restore her own hearing.
I was sure that kind of lightning would not be survivable, even for a dragon.
Perhaps in the back of my mind I didn't want to kill Prismet.
I didn't even give her a chance to try getting up before I held her down with my claws on her throat.
"Run! Ilsia!" She cried, but when she turned to call out, Ilsia was already long gone the instant she thought she would lose, and left Prismet without care for the tears she now shed.
"You see? You were abandoned as soon as you lost your value!" I point out.
"No! Ilsia is more important! She will think of a way to save the world without you!" She denies.
"And how would she do that?! I'm the only one! None of the other gods can or want to do it, yet I'm ready to risk my life to fight some god I haven't even seen the strength of!" I chastised, "Wake up! She wanted you to become the strongest in this world so she could control you! Have you not once questioned a damn thing she's told you to do?!"
"No," Prismet whimpered. "She's-"
"Can you even tell me why you are following such a person?!"
I challenged her compromised mentality with the weight of reality.