Alzinth impatiently tapped on her forearm.
She had been waiting for quite some time and was beginning to think that maybe that brat had decided to abandon her father. That shouldn't be possible, the lineage has always been righteous.
Just as she was beginning to question herself, her ray of hope appeared before her, floating gently in the skies above her.
A wicked smile appeared beneath Alzinths mask.
“See! I told you your daughter would return! Her face–truly the picture of familial love” Alzinth boasted to the now unconscious Samel.
She had returned to her human form, and under her foot was Samel's unconscious body. She had warily decided that taking him out was better, After all, she didn't want a recurrence of what happened before to happen again. Her prey snatched from her clutches.
Watching the battle with Malgoth through her mirror, she knew the brat's class was intrinsically more powerful than Samel’s, its potential far greater. Although she wasn't completely sure what the class's true nature was, the one thing she had learned was its current weaknesses. As long as the kid didn't have a trump card, she couldn't lose, and that wasn't even counting the ‘hostage’ she had. A powerful void-based class of the Renhart lineage would soon belong exclusively to her.
Using a male body would also be disgusting. Alzinth thought to herself as she looked at Samels body.
“Hmmm, why is she just–floating there?” Alzinth only needed Tene to get within the range of her ability mirror dimension, and there was no way she would be able to escape from her grasp. It was an ability that needed advanced preparation and setup, something she had accomplished before leading Samel toward its location. Once inside, she could use her mirrors and abilities without any restrictions at all at multiple folds of their usual strength.
A little closer. Maybe I should hurt him a bit to rile her up? Just as she was going to remove one or two of Samel's limbs, Tene flew in from the skies, landing lightly in front of her.
Alzinth looked at Tene with apparent surprise, she had expected her to have at least said something before calmly flying down here to die. Knowing it was a trap, she still came down with very little hesitation–almost as if she had a plan.
“Like father like daughter, it seems. You do know this is a trap, correct? Just so you know, I watched your battle with my brother, your still too weak to fight me from that distance” Alzinth spoke with confidence, and she was already activating her ability, making sure there would be no other ‘outside’ disturbances.
Mirror Dimension.
Now activated, she set multiple transparent mirrors around Tene, Ensuring they were transparent and undetectable - [Mirror Portal]. Thick weapons, including the brat's father's spear, were ready to emerge from them at any time. She set thick mirrors of defense around herself, like transparent shields, surrounding her like a barrier - [Mirror Dimension - Perfect Barrier].
She was sure the girl wasn't even aware of the danger she was even currently in. Surrounded at all sides and there was nothing she could do to harm her.
“Be a good girl and turn around now.” Alzinth was going to knock her out, then she would begin the trial.
There–should be nothing the brat can do now.
Suddenly a wicked thought came to her mind. She looked at the father she no longer needed. Pleasure she hadn't felt since her last ‘conquest’ rushed up in her mind as she formulated a better plan. Alzinth wanted to take something precious from Tene first, it was in her nature, An urge she couldn't control when it took her fancy. She was usually more controlled than her siblings, yet here she was, in such a superior position…
“ No–wait, how about a deal?” A devilish grin spread across her cheeks.
“...”
She kicked her father's limp body towards her. She didn't need him anymore, there was no way Tene could escape now anyways. Why not have a little fun first?
“Choose between his arm or his leg–don't worry ill quickly treat the wound with an artifact. Then I'll allow him, at the very least, to live.”
…
Silence. Tene continued to stare at her proposition as a still statue, not a single change in her expression. This was no fun to Alzinth.
“Surely, you don't actually believe you can defeat me right?”
Snapping her fingers. Thousands of invisible spears surrounded Tene and Samel, each a light-made replica of her fathers - [Mirror Dimension - perfect clone]. She could release them with deadly precision, and speed, she would obviously only aim for the girls' non-vitals.
As soon as Tene maimed her father–of course, Alzinth planned to kill him anyway. She loved the look of anguish that most went through when hurting their loved ones, and then the look of shock that followed quickly afterward when she killed them regardless. Her favorite, like dessert after a good meal, was the anger, then despair that followed right after they realized they could do nothing to her. When they realized how truly unfair the world was.
She got giddy like a schoolgirl just thinking about it.
“Truly Vile. I had wanted to kill you quickly, but I'll create a special spot just for you in my list of people I dislike.” Tene said.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Alzinth was momentarily stunned, but then she quickly relaxed. She had been so rushed to see the girl dyed in the colors of despair that she had forgotten that there was no way she would have come down here without thinking that she could win, no matter how futile her plans truly were. Well, she would quickly receive a rude awakening.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA,” Alzinth couldn't stop laughing. To her, Tene's show of bravery while weapons were aimed at her from all angles, unaware, looked pathetic. Like a frog trapped in a well, she truly thought herself to be unbeatable. Putting brats like this in their place would only fill Alzinth with more joy.
“Ok, in all seriousness, I guess I need you to know your place before we can move along with the screenplay.” Alzinth partially lifted her mask and wiped the tears from her eyes, then opened the portals surrounding Tene, soon, thousands of artifacts were pointed at her in every direction, now all visible under the light. Some even touched her clothes at the tip, tearing the fabric.
Alzinth licked her lips, maybe she should cause just a tiny bit of pain to her, She could heal such wounds after the ritual anyways, as long as it wasn't fatal. The idea grew within her mind until she accepted it, while she was at it, she created spears around Samel as well, one such spear was now aimed directly at his heart.
“Beg me to keep him alive!” Alzinth shouted, using Samel's spear she drove it into Tene's left arm, expecting to see a colorful display of vibrant red stains in the snow. Instead, the sound of metal clashing with metal reverberated across the snowy mountainside.
“Huh!!?”
“Without proper technique, the spear is just a well-made item, it cannot pierce my skin,” Tene said, no, her voice was different, deeper.
All the weapons clones surrounding Tene and Samel except for the true void spear ignited into a fiery black haze, disintegrating into ash–no, even the portals themselves that held the weapons seemed to disintegrate, the mana holding their forms melting in a pot of abundant boiling mana that far surpassed what they were made from.
“Who!!” Alzinth trembled, she had never felt mana of this scale ever in her entire life, it surpassed what she knew even from her eldest brother. Mana, that seemed to burn through existence itself.
“Well–I suppose the king is no longer around, so hiding myself serves no purpose.” Tene said.
Tene removed the pendant from her chest, Tene’s body dissipated into smoke, and stepping out from the smoke was Vritra. Her same white hair flowed wildly down the back of her new outfit, one that she had borrowed from Urila, a set he had brought specifically just for her. He had also given her one of the three artifacts his father had given him. [Mystic Eye of Erales] - It could not only hide your status completely from onlookers, but it could change the wielder's form. It was the artifact the first king had given Vritra a thousand years ago, returned to her by Urila.
“Impossible!! dragons have been extinct even before our king's time!” Alzinth began to panic, she could now see Vritra's status, her true one, not the ‘fake one’ she had seen before.
Samel!!
“Not so fast, demon. I worked hard to make sure you lost your hostage.” A black, fiery barrier surrounded Samel at every angle. Normally Alzinth should have been able to create a mirror dimension within the barrier or something similar, but–It wasn't working, no matter how hard she tried, her magic would dissipate the second it came near the black flames.
“Why! Why isn't my magic working!! This is MY domain!” Alzinth shouted– her frustration appearing to grow. But in reality, she was already formulating a plan. She couldn't defeat THAT. She realized this as soon as she appeared, Alzinth had earned a high position in her family not because she was stronger than them–but because she knew how to choose her battles better.
“Just know that right now, you're within my mirror dimension, Dragon or not! This is my realm!” Alzinth shouted. Within one of her mirror worlds, she already began the activation of a device. She just needed a little bit more time.
“Oh.” Snapping her fingers, the entire realm burst into a sea of black flames, countless shards that once made up an invisible dome that covered the sky imploding into millions of fragments before incinerating into dust. Then just as quickly as they came, the flames dispersed.
“You mean that shoddy amalgamation of a domain spell? If it's built with mana my flames can tear it down.”
Alzinth shivered, she needed to escape now, every instinct in her body told her so–yet she knew the second she turned around, she would die. She prayed that the souls she had recently borrowed would fuel the device faster.
“S-so what?! Huh!! You thought that was my only trump card! I've instilled a poison within Samel, kill me and he dies!” The activation of her device was now at 40%, It was charging faster than before. Probably a result of the souls she fed it earlier.
“My flames can destroy all negative status effects and curses. Samel won't die from weaker poisons, else he wouldn't be worthy of being in ‘his’ lineage.” Vritra shrugged off her last threat. Black draconic wings sprouted out from Vritra's back as she began moving in her direction.
“W-wait a se–”
“No worries, I won't kill you straight away, If I remember correctly, I was to maim a limb, correct?”
Alzinths right arm was suddenly engulfed in an inferno of black flames, peeling back her skin in a matter of milliseconds, the flames purged her arm until all that remained was bones that quickly turned to ashes, scattering in the wind. Like an illusion, just as quickly as the flames appeared, they disappeared.
“A-ahh” Alzinths reaction came delayed, it had happened in a matter of a split second. She hadnt even had time to recognize that she had lost a limb.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!” Alzinth screamed, grabbing onto the stub that remained. She looked at Vritra with renewed fear in her eyes.
“He would have said that returning injustice with injustice was wrong. Pain with pain was futile, and such methods would never lead to the country he wanted. Yet he failed, I spent a long time thinking why.”
Flying into the sky with her wings, Vritra began slowly moving closer to Alzinth. In a panic, Alzinth let Loose spears from newly created portals, but with one arm Vritra deflected them as if she was warding off flies.
“Ugh” Slowly backing off, Alzinth created a portal in front of Vritra that should have blocked her from moving any further, her portals couldn't absorb living organisms, but they could act as invisible walls that blocked assailants. Yet as soon as it made contact with Vritra, the intangible mirror made from pure mana burned down to ashes. Steeping through the ashes, was Vritra her silver hair turning a messy ash white.
“It was because he couldn't bear to destroy others' dreams for his own. Even if the completion of his ideals would have led to a better future for all. I will not make that same mistake again.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!” Using the last of her remaining mana, Alzinth returned to her fox deity transformation. Her limbs enlarged and her fur returned to all her body parts. Her mana and other abilities multiplied tenfold as she roared in Vritra’s direction. She only needed to survive for ten more seconds until her artifact had charged up enough energy for a second use.
Vritra increased her flying speed, and within seconds she was already within close range of Alzinth. However, within a split second tens of thousands of mirror-like portals appeared, blotting out the cloudy skies in a transparent fog like looking through frosted glass. Each mirror began glowing with a strong blue tinge, absorbing the sun's rays as they grew brighter.
“Demon, you clearly lack pretense. A fledgling still in their second awakening dares to challenge me in the Tensha.”
70%!!.
“Release!” Within milliseconds, an onslaught of blue beams of light fell from the skies, eradicating everything below - [Mirror Dimension - Particle beam]. Entire mountains caught flames and the ground itself melted into molten rock and magma as smoke rose from all corners of their battlefield.
Yet, floating in the epicenter of the destruction was Vritra, unharmed with a barrier of black flames surrounding her.
“That was your strongest attack? I wanted to see what could have defeated the man I raised with such care–I assume you used underhanded means then. A waste of my time.”
100%. A large smile spread across Alzinths face as she pulled out a small silver ring from one of her nearby mirror dimensions.
“Your arrogance lost you the battle, dragon. The humiliation of making me run and hide, ill return it a hundredfold.” Pointing the ring at Vritra, countless intangible tentacles slithered towards her, passing through her flame barrier and encroaching on her body, grabbing her. The only one who could see these tendrils was Alzinth herself.
[Ring of the envious king] was an artifact that allowed its wielder to temporarily steal the mana pool of the victim. Alzinth fox's face took on a dangerous shape as her sharp teeth curved upwards enticingly, like a hunter who just cornered its prey.
“Malgoths inferior intellect blocked him from using his artifact correctly. You should have killed me while you had the chance, lizard. Now, I'll have fun ripping you piece by piece!” her magnified voice echoed out dangerously as she pounced at the still-floating Vritra, whose expression was now unreadable.
Wonderful, with a dragon's corpse, although I won't be able to use it, I can get far stronger! Its corpse will also become an extremely powerful undead in Lacoths hands, he’ll owe me.
Alzinth began planning what she would do with Vritra's corpse; she had used the ring many times before and had never lost after its activation–its main weakness was the ten minutes needed to scan and process the enemy's mana signature. Since all things demanded mana to function, stripping it left all lifeforms dependent on the system–useless.
If Alzinth had looked closer or had controlled her seething resentment at being looked down on, she would have noticed. Vritra was frowning–and her glare as she looked down at Alzinth was equivalent to a lion staring down at a bug.