Unknown location.
The spirit's reaction to the snake's destruction was almost instantaneous. Its massive body unfolded towards me, and its wings joined together into one unified web. Every mouth of every snake they formed opened, and a magic circle appeared in front of them. A second later, a whole storm of black and scarlet rays of light flew out at me, completely obscuring both the sky and the size of the spirit body.
I thrust my arm forward, creating a shield and pumping mana into it.
In the next second, a bright flash of intertwining gold, scarlet, and black dazzled my eyes, creating the semblance of a second sun. The massive ball of destructive energy instantly grew to an even larger size, overshadowing everything in sight.
A deafening rumble rapidly spread around the area as the attack reached the shield. Any vegetation and wildlife nearby flew off hundreds of meters, and mountains and earth sagged from the collision of forces. And the heavens cleared under the weight of the power of the blast.
When everything subsided, I frowned, looking at the shield.
The amount of mana I'd poured into it was more than enough to support a dozen Servants using their Noble Phantasms at once. But after blocking just one spirit attack, cracks appeared on the shield. They stretched across its entire area, and if the attack had been a couple percent stronger, it wouldn't have been able to withstand it.
And seeing the shield cracking at the seams, which I dispelled a moment later, the frown on my face was replaced by a smile. An anticipatory and intrigued smile.
I could physically feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins and my heart quickened its pace. My eyes felt as if they had opened from a long sleep, and an excited shiver ran through my body.
This feeling... It was so... captivating... even divine.....
Come to think of it, this was the first time I felt challenged. The current situation was fundamentally different from anything that had happened before..... When I am forced to use my powers regardless of my whims and desires... When I have no confidence in my invincibility, wondering what the situation will turn into... It's mesmerizing....
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that I was not the only one in a kind of stupor.
Apart from the gods, who had obviously stopped all their actions and were looking at me and the spirit, the spirit itself was watching me with all its three eyes, analyzing what had happened. I could clearly feel his shock and incomprehension at how I had managed to do what he thought was impossible.
- You... What kind of power do you possess, otherworldly? A mortal cannot harness even the smallest fraction of it. - His deep and ancient voice, soaked with incomprehension and genuine surprise, echoed through the neighborhood.
- Oh? You forgot to add "usually", - I grinned and really generously poured mana into my magic chains - And also, it's not my turn, right?
Four vast magical circles formed next to me, sealed upwards. A second later, colossal whirlwinds of fire erupted from them, reaching all the way to the sky and spreading heat and light for kilometers around. Rain clouds formed in the atmosphere under the influence of the sudden temperature difference, closing the sky again and causing a torrential downpour.
Droplets of water in the vicinity of the tornadoes instantly vaporized, then just as instantly cooled, reaching the upper layers of the troposphere. And as long as there are tornadoes of flame, the rain in this area will not stop. Well, that's going to happen very soon.
As the raindrops bounced like bullets off my personal enclosed field, each tornado slowly shrank, gathering all the fire into a single point. A few moments later, four swords composed of pure flames were hovering around me. All the power of destruction without a single joule of energy lost was now concentrated into relatively small vessels. And each of these sword-shaped vessels had the power of an entire atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan in the twentieth century.
I looked at the spirit caustically and raised my hand. In response to my action, one of the swords changed position, pointing its blade towards the huge body.
- I hope you have enough sunscreen. - I said defiantly and lowered my hand.
The sword sped away with great speed, breaking the sound barrier and leaving a trail behind it like a comet's tail. In response to the attack, the spirit spread its paws wide as its wings changed formation again, forming a shield of swarming serpents in front of it. He managed to do so just in time for the sword to almost reach him.
The sky lit up again with a bright scarlet light, but this time from a ball of flame that spread for miles around. And a moment later, an explosion sounded, changing the surrounding landscape anew. The same was true of the sky, which was once again cleared of clouds and clouds, and dust obscured the view.
When it cleared, I saw what I expected.
The fire had indeed proved effective against it. One "wing" was almost half turned to ash, and the other was a third of the way down. Burns covered the spirit's body, and part of its mane was burned away.
I didn't have time to see much more, as a counterattack followed. His massive body, not supposed to be fast, was next to my position in a matter of seconds. An extremely wide mouth full of enormous fangs of various shapes opened, intending to swallow me whole.
I opened a magic circle and teleported to the ground while keeping my eyes on the spirit. His burns were almost healed and his wings had regenerated, from which instantly followed a barrage of magical rays on my new position.
I didn't feel like blocking, so I jumped from place to place, keeping my teleportation circle active at all times.
Every time the spirit opened its wings or jaws, a sword would immediately fly at it, causing more and more explosions. He wasn't afraid to shorten the distance between us, alternating between long-range and short-range attacks. Not forgetting to keep an eye on the swords. Two eyes focused solely on me, while the third focused on the swords that caused him palpable pain.
The beams interrupted my own shots with magic, sometimes damping and sometimes deflecting them from their original direction. I managed to avoid claw swipes and attempts to take a bite out of me, but a couple of blows still managed to reach their target.
They were enough to turn my medical cloak into rags, and one blow tore my arm off. It hurt, but not for long, as it recovered quickly, completely dissuading me from keeping my distance with the spirit.
Keeping it in place was not working for me. Enkidu's chains were useless as he was very quick to get rid of them. His attributes allowed him to do so. I tried using earth and other elements, as well as the fetters created from pure mana. However, there wasn't much effect. His 'wings' reacted instantly, firing at any kind of restricting body, and getting rid of it in the process.
As I teleported away, avoiding the spirit's attacks, the local gods caught my eye. They simply stood in a small group, tending to their weakened counterparts while watching the battle.
One far from prolonged glance was more than enough to see the emotion on their faces. Mouths wide open, eyes falling out of their eye sockets a little more, and utter disbelief at what was happening.
And of all of them, only two stood out - Hardy and the man in black armor. The latter had his arms crossed over his chest and was smiling a wide, fierce and excited smile. So much so that I could clearly see all thirty-two of his white teeth.
Hardy, on the other hand... Her eyes shone with passion in the light of the sun, which was almost over the horizon. For a moment I even thought that she could eat me alive at absolutely any moment.
Returning to the battle, I teleported practically to the edge of the enclosed field, where the spirit immediately rushed in.
I'll have to use it...
I had one last sword left, hovering behind my shoulder. So I used it, aiming it straight at the spirit's face. When he saw that, he didn't block as he had done in the past, but twisted his body so that the projectile flew right under his stomach. At that moment, I forcibly detonated my sword, buying myself a couple seconds, and changed my appearance. The familiar silk robe immediately covered my body, and the rings on my fingers shone with a bright golden light.
- The Time of Birth has come, He Who Owns All....
The cloud of dust and flame dissipated, revealing a beast bearing down on me with its mouth open and glowing magic circles on its wings.
Time slowed in my perception. Another microsecond, and I'd be right in its jaws. But it already mattered. The particles of light had time to gather in the sky and form a golden ring that changed the evening sky to a sunny afternoon.
- Ars Almadel Solomonis.
And in the next moment, the spirit body, as well as the landscape around it, was filled with a dazzling light of pure gold.
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