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Vanishing from her spot, Aella reappeared shortly after, again clashing with Visiogon. Unlike the other few clashes, the land behind them cracked and shattered. Even the entire mansion, nearly a kilometer away from them at this point, turned to rubble instantly, causing both parties to back off.
Aella, in recoil from the powerful strike, and the other pair, thanks to fear of being crushed under the pressure.
“What? Wind pressure? How the hell did you manage that?” Luminastra questioned in a minor panic as she looked at Aella. What she saw was the little girl’s twisted smile turn into a deep frown.
“Huh, I didn’t burst into a crying fit this time. Is it because I’m so weak right now?” Aella mumbled to herself before wiping her tears away, “Hmm? You’re the one who can warp reality. You tell me~” Aella continued, humming her words with a giggle.
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‘Hehe. Although I say that, that attack made both my arms go numb. I probably can’t do that again.’
The force or scale of destruction wasn’t an issue per se. Even without Visiogon, Luminastra could cause that much destruction, and Aella’s raw output far exceeded her own. The problem was that Aella put no force behind that swing.
Aside from her speed, no mana or skills were added to increase the force of the attack. The best part is that Aella doesn’t really understand how it works, either. She knows that it abuses an underlying mechanic of curses and blessings.
Because Foxin is the only species that can innately do both, she is always considered a bug of sorts.
“That aside. I’m very curious about how your technique works. It’s clearly magic but doesn’t follow the same principles of chantless or tiered spells. Plus, that ominous foreign energy… You somehow found a way to create a whole new school of magic, didn’t you?”
As she spoke, Aella twirled her sword idly as her [Fox Fire] and Aura slowly regenerated her health. She wouldn’t admit it, but that explosion nearly killed her. She wouldn’t let it hit her twice, but she needed to figure out how her techniques worked.
It was to the point that she was thinking logically in the heat of battle. If that was from a sense of danger or curiosity, however, only Aella herself could know that answer.
The two sides circled each other, neither exactly ecstatic about making the first move with their hidden cards revealed. During their nearly half an hour of clashes, Aella had gotten a decent understanding of Luminastra’s abilities.
The girl had an Aetherstream, which Aella expected, but as far as she could tell, it was high-grade at best, so the battle of attrition shouldn’t ever be something she lost. Still, she needed to return to the others in a somewhat timely manner, so figuring out Luminastra’s Essense Script and closing this battle out was preferable.
‘Should I just burn my soul a bit? It’s still unstable from Japan, so no. Not to mention that this is a pocket dimension, so none of my rituals are worth using will be effective. Choices, choices.’
“You’re awfully calm. What happened to that enthusiasm?” Luminastra smiled.
Holding her face, Aella somehow managed to appear even more crazed because she could not stop one upping herself.
“Oh, please. I’m barely holding myself from foaming at the mouth. You’re the first person to make me feel this way.”
Luminastra physically recoiled as her face contorted slightly.
“I am 8 years old.”
“Biologically, so am I. Who’s the bigger creep here, though, me for making a suggestive comment to someone who is clearly older than they appear or you for running a racist, genocidal cult?” Aella shrugged in response.
Luminastra clicked her tongue before grabbing a pen out of her bag. It was a shame; she hoped Aella would become her ally, but not everything could go her way.
“Visiogon. The test is over. We’re attacking to kill.” She stated blankly, creating another magical rune with a single motion of her new “ weapon. “
“Finally! Your turtle shell was getting annoying! ROUND TWO!” Aella shouted, her cries being met with a bellow from Visiogon.
Dropping to the ground, Aella’s aura flared outward as she and Visiogon darted toward each other.
CRASH!
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The sound of these two forces striking into each other resonated throughout the realm. The moment after, Visiogon let out another roar, causing the entire land to vanish, engulfed by a void of nothing but darkness, before striking another three times in an instant.
Parrying the blow, Aella twirled back through the air, sending several gusts of wind barreling toward Visiogon before changing her attention to Luminastra, who hadn’t yet moved.
‘Aha… Lightning, Fire, Space, and now Darkness that tries to cut off the five senses? I’d probably be in real trouble if not for my sound element.’
“Essence Script: Bind!”
Cutting through the darkness, tendrils made of light shot at Aella from all directions, forcing her advance to halt and allowing Visiogon to attack her flank, just barely being able to catch the damned dragon before its massive maw bit down on her.
“Kuh… Your breath… Stinks!” She shouted as she struggled to match Visiogon’s strength, opting to send one of her swords straight through him and another toward Luminastra.
Once Visiogon’s grip let up, thanks to the hole in his body, Aella vanished from her spot, reappearing in the sky with a greenish-blue magic circle in her hands.
“4th Tier Wind Magic: GALE BURST!”
A giant orb of raging winds shot at Luminastra from overhead, forcing Visiogon to revive himself and protect his Dragon Rider. Contact between him and the spell caused a massive explosion to occur.
Taking the chance, she dropped into the smoke, only for a spike to protrude from the darkness beside her. She barely managed to block it with one of her spectral swords but was still sent flying a considerable distance before she could correct herself.
“It can attack me from uncanny angles as well? I think I need to give Boreas a new answer. I’ve found a new, most annoying being to fight,” Aella scoffed.
Seriously, Visiogon could contort in impossible ways to block her attacks against Luminastra, and if she killed the prior, he’d just revive himself.
Another dozen clashes occurred, each causing the damage Aella takes to add up. Thanks to her [Lunar Berserker Pill] and her [Fox Fire], it was sustainable for now, but without knowing how much Mana these spells of Luminastra took… Winning the battle of attrition wasn’t a strategy she could rely on.
‘Her magic… Essence Script. Its abilities are varied and don’t seem to play by the rules of elementalism… Is it altering something that already exists?’
As the gears in her head began turning, Aella’s eyes grew wide, and she let out a cacophony of manic laughter as she dropped to the ground. Upon touching the ground, she dispersed her swords and parried Visiogon’s attack with a strong gust of wind before rushing away at her top speed.
“I FIGURED IT OUT! I FIGURED OUT YOUR MAGIC TRICK!” She giggled as the darkness tried to catch her, but she evaded it by pushing herself away lightly.
“You’re editing the very existence of the artificial leylines that exist in this dimension! I have no idea how the hell you’re doing it, but as long as I note where the leylines are, your spells become predictable!”
Although she couldn’t see Luminastra, she could hear her breath become uneasy.
“Monster…”
Figuring that out was good, but it didn’t even solve half the puzzle. Aella figured out how Luminastra was casting her spells, but she didn’t have a detailed understanding of how leylines worked on Earth, much less a derivative dimension where things could have been changed.
Not only that, but Visiogon was still the immovable object to her unstoppable force.
“Well… If no doors out exist, create one.”
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“Firstly…”
Aella dodged another attack from the combined forces of the unending darkness that you’d typically only be able to see within the deepest parts of her soul and Visiogon before recalling all of her active spells and allowing her aura to flow freely, not bothering to reign it in, revealing just how stupidly high the amount of Mana she had was.
While it wasn’t quite pure enough to contend with those in the [Orion] stage, she had already surpassed the amount of Mana they usually had in her previous world. Thanks to the system, the numbers on Earth were heavily inflated, but even then, it was no small number considering that she’d been cultivating her Mana for a few weeks only.
It was to the point that she began illuminating the darkness, blinding Luminastra. She flushed her killing intent throughout her aura, stopping Visiogon in his tracks.
“Manifest; Pressure Breaker”
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The darkness began cracking like it was a physical object. Little by little, the light revealed itself, even as Aella retracted her aura. It didn’t take long until the sound of something akin to glass shattering echoed throughout the realm and the darkness to be repelled.
Along with the darkness vanishing, Luminastra fell to the ground and coughed up an amazing amount of blood. It should not be possible for the body of a child to hold that much blood, much less be alive after losing it.
It must’ve been something to do with whatever species Luminastra was a part of. Aella didn’t get to figure that out despite her being a Naturalis. However, Luminastra wasn’t the only one who suffered; Visiogon also started to become transparent. It was like his existence was fading.
This was unexpected but by no means a bad thing for Aella.
“This is the end, Luminastra. Any last words?”
Walking toward the pair with heavy breaths, Aella conjured her blades, ready to execute her biggest enemy.
“Too… many.” Luminastra tried to say with a chuckle, only for her to start coughing up more of her insides as she repositioned herself back.
“If… We met… Sooner… Would it be possible for us to be friends?”
“You’re still on about that? Such a weird girl. What’s the point of asking about the past and what-ifs? Instead of lamenting about the past, look to the future instead. Next time we meet, in another place and time, I’m sure we can become allies at the very least. Goodbye.”
With a gesture of her hands, Aella’s swords entered Luminastra’s body like she was a pin cushion.
“I hope… You keep those words… In mind…” Luminastra said ominously before her body began to dissipate and disperse into a swarm of different insects, leaving only a book in her place.
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