Pov Vildra
Yet another idiot charges straight towards me. I wrap around behind him at the last second, tearing an arm off using their own speed. A precise hurricane bomb knocks me off before I could rip off any wings. A beam of ice catches one of my wings. I ignore it, as I have 5 other wings to compensate.
Sudden dull pain shoots up my right leg, as a tiny sword stabs deep. I didn't sense it coming. That's something I need to figure out quickly. Luckily, it missed my veins, so the poison didn't spread nor did I bleed. I focus on the strong-looking dragon ahead of me. They're holding a crude pike that smells of mint.
I avoid their swings easily, focusing more on a strange rippling sensation on my back. A ring of mana forms, then expands to a finger's width. In the next moment, a barbed harpoon impales my back. I figured it out, and it only costed me my spine!
Some sort of spontaneous unstable teleportation, using the ring of mana as the destination. The weapons' momentum is preserved, which is why they're able to pierce me without any assistance. I can even theorize the weakness of this technique; no mana can be teleported in this way, as it'd collapse the target ring, and there's a maximum size that can be teleported. Most importantly to me, I can cancel the teleportation by putting some mana into the rings I sense.
The next ripple happens next to my neck. I both duck down to avoid it, and send a wave of mana into it. As expected, it collapses and fades away. Now that I've figured that out, I should probably do something about the harpoon in my spine. I think I can reach it if I just stretch a bit.
Another ripple appears near my head. And another by my right arm. Three more across me chest, one below my throat, two dozen below where I'm paralyzed. One by one, I cancel it out while pulling the harpoon out of my back. I got distracted. The pike-wielding dragon stabs into my stomach. They try to push me towards another dragon. I feel a sickle hook past my ribs, into a lung.
Four more dragons approach, stabbing and slashing their own weapons into me. Regretfully, I stop pulling on the harpoon in order to guard my head, neck, and heart. They clearly have never used weapons before, as their attacks are inefficient.
Suddenly, a piece of metal juts out of my stomach. Two dragons start pulling on it, tearing it out. Glancing down, I see my bottom half falling beneath me. An unideal situation. First things first, stop the bleeding. 'Antivermilion' works just fine, if a bit slow. Next, recover the lost mass. Luckily for me, there's plenty of meat around me.
'feast of mursymmuse'
I bite the air. There are screams as chunks of flesh vanish from the surrounding dragons. My mouth and throat fills with blood and meat and a little bit of bone. I take another bite. Then another. A spell slams into my back, but I don't acknowledge it. It's hard to notice when you're so hungry. Worst of all, there's no flavor.
Dozens of spells rain down on me, including an acid rain. The damage is insignificant. I continue to eat. Each bite is filled with something different. Teeth, eyes, kidneys, fingers, ribs, intestines, until eventually I feel hearts and brains. Only then is the hunger satisfied.
My body is almost ruined. Dozens of mundane weapons envelop me, small bruises and burns and frostbite litter wherever my scales have been torn off. I lost an eye, not that that's a problem anymore. I can feel the wind on my back, telling me that most of my scales there are gone. The scales I do have feel wet, either by my blood or the blood of those I ate. Miraculously, I still have two wings keeping me afloat.
The next wave hover out of reach, preparing enchanted tools of destruction; stuff they couldn't teleport, I presume. I try raising my right arm, only to find the muscles burned away. I guess this body has reached its limit. I let out the loudest roar I can. In response, half a hundred spells pour towards me.
12 seconds later, I am bathed in light. The anti-magic laser vaporizes the spells around me. My body starts to hurt.
The blood on my skin boils away, followed by skin burning like winter leaves. My flesh chars black, then melts into a tar, before finally reconsolidating into a foul mimicry of flesh. The light grows darker as I shrink and condense. From where my left arm once was, seven tentacles burst and wriggle, before merging together into an approximate arm with seven fingers. The wings on my back grow slits, where many 2-dimensional eyes open and stare.
I notice my heart beating, an unconscious sound brought forth into conscious thought. It feels alien to me. I no longer need it. It pops, flooding the insides of my lungs with blood. Tar-like blood drips down to where my stomach once was, and starts reweaving a lower body. Though instead of legs, I simply have three long, flexible tails now.
Finally, a layer of skin and eyes, as dark as the bottom of the ocean, consumes the rest of the light.
Everyone is silent. They can't help but stare at what just happened. A few immediately avert their eyes. The rest vanish into Repha's domain. All but two eyes close. It's far too exhausting sending dragons into my mind palace. The remaining can be dealt with manually.
There's only two dozen or so dragons left in the air. I'm sure some are dragon lords, and others would've been one with a little more time. It'll be a lot harder killing them now, and they're too smart for simple misdirection. I flip the gravity near one and rush towards another, but a column of flame blocks my path.
A faint ripple near my neck causes me to fly up in instinct. Another weapon stabs into one of my tails. Still not used to this body yet. The weapon slips out, pitch black blood corroding away the metal. At least I don't have to pull it out manually anymore.
In the distance, I see a fat dragon casting a dangerous spell. 'orb of annihilation'. Obviously, I can't let them finish casting that. Luckily, it's easy, as it takes 10 minutes to cast it. Why would they do that in the middle of a battle? Conveniently, there's also a clear path to them. Ignoring the web of diamonds by 'deconstruct'ing them, I rush towards the rotund dragon.
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As expected, everyone started casting everything in front of me trying to prevent me from reaching them. Which is where I reveal that I no longer care about most of their spells. Fire extinguishes on my skin, physical projectiles have predictable paths that I can avoid, and any damage I do sustain is superficial and regenerates within seconds. The only spells I avoid are anything that can disable my new wings, but only two of them have such spells now. It's easy keeping an eye out for them.
Soon, I reach the fat dragon. I charge in with my new arm ready to pierce their head, but also ready to retract in case of a trap. Unsurprisingly, there was a trap. Surprisingly, the trap was a cage of intricate magic circles surrounding both me and the fat dragon. As my arm isn't at risk, I go ahead and hollow out the dragon's skull, before analyzing the magic circles around me. All variations of reinforcement, probably designed to be nearly unbreakable.
I doubt these have much mana fueling them. It'll only last a few seconds. It'll be the tensest few seconds of my life. 'pleiades senses' alerts me to a significant amount of spells aimed at me. Not normal spells casted by dragons. These are ancient, casted using old magic circles on ruined books and slabs of stone. The spells of angels.
Blinding amounts of mana explodes towards me in all directions. I don't know how to react. I need time. I need a 'moment of eternity'.
...
Everything pauses. Everything, including me. Even Repha is paused. Time has stopped in this eternity. I must find a way to avoid the unknown spells. Luckily, I have eternity to think of a solution.
First, figure out my surroundings. 43 magic circles block my escape, and with some simple math, the weakest point is about three times as strong as afamantite. I won't be escaping that within the few seconds I have.
So what spells are they aiming at me? Short analysis tells me that it's impossible to know. I don't know that many angel spells; Repha's frozen, so I can't ask her this time. I don't even know some of the symbols in the magic circles they're using.
What I can assume is that they're projectiles. In that case, can I do anything against that? Maybe a spell? Let's go through the list;
'antivermilion', a healing spell. It's effective but slow. It won't work if I'm dead.
'buridice', a strong barrier that takes a minute to cast. I don't have a minute.
'chains of hadon', magical chains. Can't block spells unfortunately.
'deconstruct', deconstructs anything I touch. Only works on things that I can touch, which doesn't include those spells. It's also too slow.
'feast of mursymmuse', unfortunately, I can't eat magic circles or spells.
'gravitas', manipulates gravity. Won't help in protecting or getting me out.
'joneia', changes density of earth or create a ball of dirt. That'll only protect one direction, assuming it'll actually protect against these spells.
'manipulate memory', self-explanatory. Useless right now.
'moment of eternity', pauses everything except caster's thought. Currently using it.
'pleiades senses', empowers the 7 senses. Won't help me now.
'recandescent', bright flash of light. Blinding, but otherwise harmless. Might be useful against spells like 'eternal night', but it doesn't look like that's the spell they're casting.
'torl gate', magical one-way gate on anything. It'll only block one side, assuming it's strong enough to block that. It won't be enough.
Well fuck. I don't have any other options. No, wait. There's one more spell I can cast. A spell that I don't know the name of. If I can figure out the name, I can cast it. I need to figure it out, even if it takes an era.
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Interlude; Deals
"I'd like to make another deal. I'll teach you some spells, and you let me live in your mind palace. I'll even look for the spells you've forgotten! Though, I guess it'll take a few years. Hm? What? You agree to the deal?! Nice!"
...
"You want to make a deal? I can't garentee anything."
"That's fine. It isn't a hard deal. To put it simply, put me into your mind palace, but without erasing my memory. Give me an eternity with my daughter."
"...And what are you willing to pay?"
"Something that no other dragon can afford. A spell that can kill even a titan."
...
"How did you know I existed?"
"I know many things. And as I have realized, there's even more I can't find out. But that's besides the point. Again, I'd like to make a deal."
"...As long as it does not contradict with my other deals."
"Fully transform Vildra. Don't stop with this half-angel bullshit. I know it should be possible. That's what Nyctasia tried to do to me."
"I'll be honest, I didn't even know what I did until quite recently. I don't know how to turn Vildra fully into an angel. But I think I can do something better. If I focus on her flesh, I can try to make a sublayer of..."
"No. I will not risk my friend's daughter to an untested procedure."
"Then, I won't be able to agree to the deal."
"Fine. In that case, something else. Or rather, anything else. As long as Vildra isn't a dragon, I think it'll be fine."
"So, you want me to turn Vildra into... anything that isn't a dragon?"
"Yes. Dragons will go extinct, and I'd rather her not be part of that."
"Sure. And I guess the price has already been paid. Where did you even learn to write Avaegic?"
"⩚♱₷⫆⺃⩓"
"Sure, keep your secrets."
...
"Vildra, I don't think we should talk to Leviamuth directly."
"Hello Rephantasia. Yes, what a wonderful sounding name. Worthy of a smart coward."
"What the fuck? How're you in here? Vildra, kick her out! Vildra? Hello?"
"She won't hear our conversation. She's busy talking with them."
"Great, that answers one question. Now, who are you, how are you in here? And why do you sound so familiar?"
"I'll give you a hint. I eat the night."
"Nyctasia?! How- oh, you're with Leviamuth. I can guess how you've survived."
"If you want, I can let you join us. You can even visit you... friends every few thousand years."
"No thanks. I've invested a lot to this life. I'd like to see how it goes. Also, what do you mean 'us'?"
"Ugh, I don't like talking to that baby. They don't... why am I here?"
"Rephantasia, meet Saturn. The last living demon."
...
"That's all the spells that I could find. All but one."
"Did you find any clues for that last one?"
"...No."
"Got it. Maybe we'll find out more about it over time."
"Maybe."
...
"Why would you teach that spell to her? If she ever casts that, she'll die!"
"It wasn't- No. It was a mistake. She was so important to me. I taught her everything I knew... even that spell."
"Ironic. A spell made as a suicide bomb against angels and demons, will end up being guarded against by an angel."
"Look, as long as you don't tell her, it'll be fine."
"Is there a way to undo it? Or cancel it?"
"Yes. Just get a titan to stop it."
"So no then."
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Pov Vildra
Repha lied. I knew she lied when she said she didn't find anything. She sucks at hiding lies. But, undeniably, her lies are meant to help me. So, why would she lie about the spell? She's stopping me from knowing it, which must mean its somehow dangerous or otherwise not something I should know.
There are no known spells like that (obviously). Which must mean I learned it from a private source. Only two people come to mind; mom and Liberos. Liberos never risks anything, especially the daughter of her friend. Which only leaves mom.
A secret spell that only mom would know. She's not the kind of dragon to completely invent a new spell, especially one that could hurt herself. She probably learned it from somewhere else. Maybe from grandma Lapis? She was an angel hunter after all. It wouldn't surprise me if she had some sort of ace to use for emergencies.
But what is the name? Search my memories. What is the strangest, most out-of-place word or phrase that mom said that I can remember? 'Potato pie'? 'Brimstone buffet'? 'Encline'? 'Aphantasia'...
It sounds like the name of an angel, but it isn't. It means 'inability to form mental images'. The problem is that mom wrote that without context. That's the only potential spell that I can think of.
...
Time resumes. The spells approach. I gamble.
'aphantasia'