After carefully assessing the space, Ophis began her strategy.
Hundreds of golden ripples spread out behind her, but no treasures emerged. The ripples were intended as a diversion, not a substantial threat. Following Ereshkigal's dismissive snort, the underworld's energy surged forward, crashing into the golden ripples and causing them to collapse under the force.
Ophis's intent was to slightly shift the focus of the underworld's energy. As Ereshkigal neutralized the threat to the King's Treasury, the purple sphere surrounding Ophis exploded in a burst of aggressive energy. This eruption overwhelmed the surrounding death energy momentarily.
With intricate blood-red patterns now visible on Ophis's black robe, she extended her fingers and pointed. Countless magic cannons materialized from the air and began bombarding Ereshkigal directly.
Normally, Ophis would rely on spells to compress and release energy, but with her mythical attire activated, she had absolute control. The casting steps were unnecessary; minor gestures were sufficient.
"Finally, you've decided to attack," Ereshkigal remarked with a confident and excited smile. She quickly gathered all the nearby death energy to form a barrier. However, as the Death Barrier collided with Ophis's magic cannons, Ereshkigal's confidence faltered.
The magic cannons, fueled by life energy, broke through the barrier and struck Ereshkigal, driving her into the ground and causing powerful shockwaves.
Not missing the chance, Ophis switched from offense to defense. She ceased the indiscriminate bombardment with the magic cannons and focused on the incoming death energy. The magic cannons were replaced by the intense energy condensed in her palms.
Golden light streamed from Ophis's right hand, wrapping around the purple energy she held. She pushed her hands forward, releasing a torrent of mixed purple and gold energy like a meteor shower.
As Ereshkigal climbed from the ground, she felt the overwhelming force pressing down on her. Each meteor contained energy equivalent to multiple magic cannons, creating a massive explosion that engulfed everything beneath Ophis.
Ignoring the smoke from the explosion, Ophis narrowed her eyes. She sensed that this attack alone was insufficient. Despite Ereshkigal's apparent discomfort, she was managing the situation with relative ease.
"Time to regain my footing," Ophis thought, but her expression shifted as the ground shook with successive explosions.
The underworld's energy surged again, causing a massive explosion near her. With half her body caught in the death storm, Ophis fought to restrain the eroding energy and adjusted her attack strategy, wrapping some of the energy around herself.
"I didn't expect you to be this capable," Ereshkigal remarked, emerging from the explosion. "Mastering the power of 'life'—it's beyond my expectations. Are you mimicking the abilities of the Heaven's Chain?"
Ereshkigal quickly deduced Ophis's methods. Though Ophis didn't actually master life energy, she had simulated it using her mythical attire after experiencing the reverse of death.
Ophis felt a twinge of frustration. Even though Ereshkigal was a human spirit, her strength in the underworld was formidable. Facing her was like fighting a battle that could only end with the collapse of the underworld, which was as challenging as using Ea—or worse.
Ophis needed Ereshkigal to reveal a flaw, even if just for a moment. She had bombarded the underworld to try and weaken or distract Ereshkigal, but it wasn't enough.
"You won't answer? Fine, let's move on to the second round."
Ereshkigal shrugged, not launching a direct attack but compressing the energy in the space around her.
Ophis realized that "penetration" was futile and that "erosion" was now Ereshkigal's strategy. With a frown, Ophis extended two fingers, but no magic cannons appeared. Instead, a beam of light, no thicker than two centimeters, cut through the space and dissipated at the edge of the underworld.
Ereshkigal's expression hardened as she noticed a massive semicircular wound on her abdomen. If she had reacted even a fraction slower, the beam would have struck her heart.
The beam's principle was simple: compress a vast amount of magic power into a fine needle, requiring immense precision. Ophis could only achieve this with her mythical costume active.
Ereshkigal's wound didn't impact vital organs, which was less critical for her in the underworld. However, it confirmed that Ereshkigal could sense high-density magic power and dodge such a rapid attack.
So…
Ophis's right hand opened and pressed down, unfolding an endless magic circle behind her that covered her entire back.
In this high-stakes game of attrition, high-speed assaults were dodged, and large-scale bombardments had limited effects. Instead, Ophis decided to employ short-term firepower suppression to shift the balance.