Chapter 73: Factions V
The tension between the opposing forces was at an all time high. The endless gray clouds were still bringing a flood of rain, but now they suddenly started to swell with blue arcs of lightning. In contrast, two figures flew beneath the clouds. One burned with golden flaming wings, and the other started to glow as if she was a lamp.
Under one of the warrior-casters of Everrain, the rain falling from the skies around him started to turn into needles of ice, and under another warrior-caster, the rain started to form floating ponds beneath the sky that summoned familiars made of water. The Rain-Priestess waved her staff, empowering her servants and the gray skies with energy. In response the white haired male started to imbue lightning onto his spear once again, and arcs of lightning struck down from the gray clouds into his mythical weapon.
The draconic heir summoned golden flames from his hands once again, and the stars and constellations of the fiery sky he made started to move towards one point. A summoning portal made out of spiraling flame opened in the fiery starry sky, and a dragon made out of golden flames roared out as it came into creation.
In turn, Gayle pushed her bloodline, and the talon sword that was previously imbued with fire started to concentrate into pure light. The illumination power of her bloodline was on full display as she advanced from magical fire to profound light, it was the true essence of her Agni bloodline.
Likewise Gayle’s wings started to transform from gray energy into bright shining light, and in the next moment, she disappeared from her position as a bolt of lightning struck the space she previously occupied.
The golden dragon made of fire ascended into the floating ponds of water, the flooding rain that came down from above evaporated before it could even touch its bright scales. Everytime it swung its fiery claws at a water familiar they would burst into clouds of gas and smoke. It opened its bright maw, and what came out of it was an even hotter flame that burned the warrior casters of Everrain into charred corpses and ash.
An arrogant, triumphant smile appeared on the draconic heir’s face, before he turned his attention away for a second from the battle with Everrain, and to the battle between Gayle and the Bluelight noble. An angel with wings of bright shining light was flying through the tumultuous battlefield, and wherever she went, bolts of lightning would rain down on her position.
‘Maybe she’s a lost daughter of the Luminous Queen instead…’
The young man looked at Gayle and started to get lost in his thoughts about her identity, but a screeching cry from the clouds above redirected his attention back to his battle with the water casters. The screaming cry was as pleasant as nails scratching a chalkboard, and in the next moment a gigantic tentacle made out of water swung down from the gray clouds above.
The gigantic tentacle could have probably filled rivers with the volume of water it was made of, and with that weight of tons of liquid fury, it smashed the golden flame dragon down. The draconic heir watched as it was slapped down from the skies and onto the battlefield below, killing thousands of his own forces but hundreds of Everrain and Bluelight’s forces also.
The golden haired and golden eyed young man looked up to see a conch in the Rain Priestess’s hands, and in response he pulled out a singular red scale that was old and beaten.
“Playing with artifacts are we!?”
The heir pulled out a ceremonial dagger that glowed red with mysterious runes, and in the next moment he drew blood and dripped it down towards the red scale. For a moment the red scale shifted into a higher state of existence, creating three dimensional after images of itself before it calmed down and simply glowed bright red. Two more dragons made out of golden flame manifested from the fiery sky that served as a summoning portal, and in the next moment they miraculously started to combine. The result was a dragon with three heads and six wings.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The colossal monsters started their battle, and the enormous three-headed dragon fought the kraken in the skies above. The draconic heir flew into the crowds of Everrain, intent on burning all of them into ash and using the Rain Priestess as a cruel example, that he would give to his soldiers after the battle. The forces of Everrain had the same thoughts, and wished nothing but to drown the heir in seawater over and over until they got bored of him and finally let him die.
From a little further below the skies, Gayle and the Bluelight noble looked at the skies above them and both had the same thought.
‘What the hell did I get myself into…’
The two focused on their own respective battle once again, moving away from the apocalyptic scene little by little to insure their own survivability at the end of the battle. The “help” that they got from the two forces was an investment in their own selfish battle.
Whoever won out of the two would have to help the side that they received aid from. Although Gayle did not really get much help, something told her that she would be heavily rewarded if she aided the man. And if she didn’t…he would probably come after her if he got through the predicament alive.
It was simply how the world of upper aristocracy lived. Through plots and schemes that pushed them further ahead than their peers, they ensured their own success. The white haired man was in the same position. The stormcloud that they gave him actually served to prolong his life. If he wasn’t flying away at speeds higher than a soaring bird, Gayle would have already descended upon him with her talon sword that was now made out of light. If he did not aid them after he won, he was sure to have the Everrain force knocking on his door later in life.
The two individuals quickly figured out their ally’s intentions, but at the moment, that was the last thing on their minds.
The white haired male first wanted Gayle under his service. Either as a capable subordinate like the eagle-eyed woman, or as one of the hundreds of scantily clad women that served him in another way…The problem however, was her awe-inspiring strength. The eagle-eyed woman served him because she wanted to rise in power. Although she was fickle, he had the looks, the wealth, and the backing so that she would serve under him. But he had already offended Gayle, and the young woman was already out to kill him. The bigger problem, was that she could.
Immediately he threw away the thought of enslaving her, and instead focused all his efforts on killing the girl who started to glow like one of the stars of the sky. The wrathful clouds above swelled once again, and suddenly it was not water that rained down, but lightning.
The draconic heir and Rain Priestess diverted their attention once again, and saw a beautiful but apocalyptic scene. A white haired man rode upon a storm cloud, hastily blocking the strikes of a sword made out of pure light. At the end of that sword was a young woman whose body glowed like the moon, and whose wings blazed with golden light. Pillars of lightning rained down in between them as they were forced to separate, and beams of pure energy descended from the sky as her graceful figure somehow dodged each one in her miraculous flight.
The white haired man grew ever frustrated. Lightning was incredibly fast, but his energy manipulation and decision making was not. Although he could tell the lightning where to descend, it did not mean he could accurately pin down where Gayle would fly to in the next second. Her flight was erratic and unpredictable like a fly. It did not help that the illumination part of her bloodline acted as a booster for her intuition, so she knew where the lightning would strike in the next moment.
Though, everyone had a limit. Gayle’s energy reserves were rapidly dropping and so was her opponent’s. The pillars of lightning that rained down from the sky stopped, and Gayle went in for the kill. In response the white haired male pulled out…a pistol!?
It had a menacing silver sheen to it, and the body was long and beautiful. The exact model of the pistol looked to be from the series of volcanic repeating arms. A series of firearm models from a long and forgotten time, that shouldn't have been the inspiration for the weapon the Bluelight noble was holding in his hands.
The young man switched the safety off of the gun, and in the next moment an arc of red lightning coursed through the body of the pistol. Sentience and an aura of slaughter radiated out from the gun, but unlike other cursed swords and artifacts it refused to cry out. It was too prideful, instead it kept its silence for when its user pulled the trigger.
The young man steadied his aim but Gayle acted quicker. Once the Bluelight noble switched the safety off of the gun, a feeling of immense danger hit her like a truck. Her brain acted as fast as it could to avert the death that she knew was approaching.
‘Eyes! Vision!’
The white haired male’s eyes followed the bright bird that was flying through the skies. In the smoky battlefield filled with fire, water and lightning, she was like the bright moon in the night sky. It was particularly easy to keep track of her.
Yet to his surprise she was starting to glow brighter and brighter like the sun, just like in the eagle-eyed girl’s vision. The difference however, was that this assault of light was not an illusion. Suddenly the girl pushed her luminosity to the extremes, and an event similar to an arc flash took place. Many who were unfortunate to have been staring right at her were blinded by the light, similar to a flashbang.
The Bluelight noble in particular, closed his eyes from the burn that it especially inflicted towards him. That moment in time was all Gayle needed. In the next moment, a sword made out of light pierced the chest of the young man whose blood held lightning.