In the depths of the colossal underground facility, where the echo of every footstep reverberated off the vast, empty walls, Blair stood at the massive door, her hand resting on the control panel.
“Good luck,” Blair said sarcastically.
“Luck? Why would I need that?” Aella chuckled, looking at the door. “Oh right, Cid, you might wanna cover your ears. I have a feeling this is gonna be a little loud.”
With a nod from Aella, Blair pressed the button, and the door slid open with a low hum, revealing the immense space within. Understanding what was about to go down, Stormy uncoiled himself from Aella and flew on top of Cid’s head.
Upon walking through the door, Aella could feel it. This area was expanded with Spatial Magic. When it came to spatial technology, Aella didn’t have a good grasp on it. In her past life, even bags like the one she had created the illusion of having large spaces by teleporting items to a specific area for people to grab whenever. It came with obvious problems, but they didn’t have a better alternative.
This, however, was a true pocket dimension. Aella wanted to try guessing how much something like this costs, but she didn’t have a proper sense of this world’s many currencies yet. She stepped into her new arena, her demeanor calm and focused. The air was cool and still, the quietness of the space belying the intensity of what was about to unfold
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the facility, forcing Aella out of her thoughts. Aetherion, in all his glory, emerged from the distant shadows of the large and empty room. His massive form dominated the space, his scales glinting dimly in the artificial light.
He had already begun his charge at Aella, attempting not to give her a chance to react with a surprising speed considering his massive frame. The ground trembled under his weight, and a gust of wind rushed ahead of him, carrying the raw power of his approach.
“Oh my, you have grown since we’ve last met!” Aella hit her hands together, mimicking a motion of realization.
Before, Aetherion was just shy of 10 meters, but now, growing only one rank has caused him to shoot well past 20 in size!
Unfazed and standing her ground, Aella raised her off-hand, still holding her hand to her face as Aetherion neared.
“Heel.” She said bluntly. The moment Aetherion came into contact with her hand, the winds began to rage in conjunction with her magically enhanced physique, stopping the massive dragon dead in his tracks.
“Naughty boy… Growing up just a little bit and getting all haughty, you need to be punished!” Aella commanded the wind, forcibly dragging Aetherion back as she activated her [Apprasial] skill.
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Although she sounded confident, Aella subconsciously took a step back, realizing that something was wrong with her body.
‘Heavy. Did he weaken me? No, I’m just heavier… Gravity manipulation?!’
She could tell. Her body’s weight was at least double what it is normally. Taking a single step forward confirmed this as her balance was off. This caused her smile to grow wider.
“Earth attribute, huh? I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as tossing rocks like those inferior specimens from the Abyss Nest.”
With a second charge after the initial shock, Aetherion charged once again, this time swinging his massive tail toward Aella, only for her to propel herself into the air, evading the attack.
From above, Aella summoned her sword before sending it darting toward Aetherion, who countered with a stream of Mana shot from his mouth, the explosive stream meeting the sword in a clash of power.
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As her blade was a construct made of mana, it could only collide and vie for power against the pure mana attack of Aetherion’s [Dragon’s Breath].
Aetherion wasn’t done, however. From behind, he manipulated the ground beneath them, creating pillars of the reinforced floor in an attempt to restrict Aella’s movement. Simultaneously, he sent arcs of electricity dancing across the space, shocking Aella but metaphorically and literally.
Using her tails, Aella launched herself through the air to the other side of Aetherion before she could rack up too much damage, her eyes wide in surprise.
“Electricity too?” Aella questioned for the first time since coming to this world. True uncertainty laced her voice. “What the hell does the [Earth] Element mean?”
Despite her apparent surprise, Aella didn’t let Aetherion have a chance, directing her sword away from the breath attack in a flurry of rapid, precise strikes in a single location.
The battle ranged on, a dance of immense power and agility. Aetherion’s every move alters the very nature of the battlefield, working against him as Aella deftly uses the newly created cover to become a blur to the dragon.
In a second direct clash, Aella slammed her tails into Aetherion’s massive claw to parry the attack before striking in between his scales with her sword and wind. As the battle continued, Aella continued to get more and more excited, causing [Wrath] to take effect.
Alongside [Wrath], she felt her body grow even heavier. Despite this, her attacks didn’t slow and only grew in power due to the weight behind them, thanks to the wind making her strike true
Aetherion wasn’t as strong as the boss despite his higher rank, but he made up for it with his speed, yet he still had trouble keeping up with Aella, even while impaired by being 3 times her normal weight. It was like she was unaffected, but the density of her attacks clearly said otherwise.
“It triggers off of touch? His ability… Could it be that?” Aella narrowed her eyes while she spoke to herself and leaped back, gaining some distance.
“Playing defensively… It’s really not my thing, you know, I’ll make sure you know your place, Lizard!”
‘System, the rest of my points into Strength. Now.’
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In response to Aella’s words, Aetherion let out another massive roar. In a final, dramatic moment, Aetherion increased the gravity around Aella exponentially, attempting to ground her with overwhelming force.
Not having any part of that, Aella creased a powerful upward draft with her fan, countering the gravitational pull before falling further back and doing a small ceremonial dance with her fan.
A light green magic circle formed around her body as a manic smile painted her face, and that terrifying giggle that was almost a signature of hers at this point escaped her vocal cords.
“[3rd Tier Wind Magic: Gale’s False Dance!]”
The wind around her began to condense into an armor of raging, razor-sharp winds before she propelled herself forward, feeling being extended at an alarming rate.
‘5 seconds tops. Realistically only 3. Make sure to control your Strength Aella. You can’t mortally wound him.’ She repeated to herself over and over again, making sure she kept enough rationality to not completely eviscerate her current opponent.
“[Dance of the Dragon Feller!]” Aella shouted out with glee as her fan began to glow and pulsate as if it was alive with a heartbeat.
The two mismatched foes clashed once again for a final time. Aetherion was durable, but it quickly became apparent that even his durable scales would falter to such sharp winds. He tried to back out, but in that singular moment where Aetherion took his full attention off of Aella, she slammed her glowing fan into his massive head, sending him far into a distant wall.
Disabling her spells, Aella turned to face her downed foe, who attempted to get up but couldn’t, blood dripping from countless wounds and flowing out of the larger one on its head.
If his abilities weren’t surprising enough already, Aetherion’s wounds already began to heal causing Aella to chuckle nervously. “Regeneration… That’s on the level of the Vampire Tribe or those Kings of Undeath… Forget being a demon lord. You might just be guaranteed to become a true God in the future.”
Aella suddenly understood why the Cult wanted to kill Seraphina before she could grow. From the start, she thought they were overreacting about the power of these supposed [Demon Lords], but now she understood just how wrong she was.
She thought the cult was in the right here. If Aetherion was left unchecked to grow without any form of guidance, it would be more than just a calamity to this singular world.
That being said, however, Aella’s moral compass was just about as useful as a waterproof towel so regardless of whether they were in the right or wrong, Seraphina and Aetherion were now people under her divine protection.
Seeing the doors open and Seraphina begin running to her wounded dragon, Aella shook off her idle thoughts and got straight to the point.
“Aetherion… I don’t know what the hell your problem is, nor do I care why you went from such a serene and gentle giant to whatever the hell this is… Seraphina and you are mine, and I have the power to execute unruly subordinates. Know your place, or your fate won’t end in just a couple of small wounds, understand?”
The wind carried her words to Aetherion with great haste, Ignoring his rather prompt response, Aella began walking toward the group which quickly formed around him.