Ulysses stood frozen, unable to move as the storm of yin energy started to swirl around him. The superposition between the yin storm's dense intent and suppression by Hela's Dominion had left him somewhat helpless.
'If it wasn't for my seals I could easily break this. But that could be what he wants. This is troublesome.'
The dragon let out another deafening roar, and suddenly the storm was unleashed upon Ulysses.
The sheer force of the yin energy knocked Ulysses off his feet, his leather armor creaking under the pressure. The storm surrounding him was incredible, and the audience looked on in shock as the young knight struggled to stay on his feet under the onslaught. He was stuck in darkness without most of his senses, but his sensitivity to Intent was still active.
Only the five ordinary senses were blocked off. But Intent was a higher power. Ulysses, being a Truthseeker, naturally had talent with intent. He could easily fight a creature that oozed unbridled killing intent with both his eyes closed.
'It looks like a Chilling Yin Dragon, those have an unnatural gift for casting complex magics, but at the same time it seems different…'
This of course was no simple creature. Ulysses couldn't even tell what kind of dragon it was despite how knowledgeable he was on summoning magic, thanks to his master.
But Ulysses was not born to just give in, especially in key moments that would affect her...
"Enough!" Ulysses roared as he initiated a tremendous surge of energy from his dantian, causing it to course through his body. A golden film of light qi came from Ulysses' body covering his lance. The lance then rapidly shrank, becoming slimmer and shorter. Within less than a second it was only 150 centimetres. Ulysses spun the hilt of the short lance and pierced it into the ground. He gripped it tightly, anchoring himself firmly to the earth.
With a cry of defiance, Ulysses raised his head and faced the dragon. The yin energy hurled itself at him again and again, but the young knight stood firmly in place, his willpower unbreakable.
The dragon roared again, its rage and frustration palpable. For in that moment, the dragon knew that its current level of power was not enough to sway the young man's determination. And Ulysses was not done with his actions.
"You think a mere dragon is enough to defeat me?"
Ulysses could not see, hear or even feel Will's presence. After all, the latter wasn't even releasing intent. But he knew that Will was in the arena. For Ulysses Rijkaard, that was enough.
Ulysses quickly pulled out his lance and jumped back. Mid-jump, he pointed the small lance at the beast and shouted, "Photos' Judgement!" a blinding column of light appeared above the dragon blasting the site the creature stood. The column was incredibly thick, completely encompassing the creature in a column of light.
The ground beneath the dragon cracked and fissures and explosions wrecked the arena. It was like an apocalyptic arrow of destruction from the heavens. The fact that this still occurred after the enchantment by Hercules proved that his attack was extraordinary.
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"To think Ulysses Rijkaard was forced to use Divine Energy!"
"That's energy from Photos, the Luminous God of War!"
"Doesn't that make this a proxy battle between Photos and Odinson?"
"Using a combination of divine and light energy to counter the dark element attribute energy. Well played Scion of Light."
As the crowd discussed the events, the hooded figure remained silent as he narrowed his eyes on the dragon.
'Peerless, what a talented young man. To think there was someone who could use the Frozen Asgard Arts so well.'
The hooded figure kept his thoughts to himself as he watched on. He wanted to witness for the first time, a moment where Ulysses was humbled by a peer on the same level.
…
As Ulysses landed on the ground, he faced forward with unhappiness.
'Divine Energy can counter dark energy easily. Hela's Dominion cast without Hela's divine energy is a hollow shell of the spell. Master's enemy was contracted to a darkness-type divinity so Master couldn't break that Dominion. This on the other hand is brittle in comparison.
Hence all I had to do was attack with divine energy at a high enough output. The dark can consume the light, but never the divine. Still…'
Ulysses had managed to break Hela's dominion. He had regained his senses the moment the attack landed. He could now see clearly due to the divine light energy coursing through his body. But this came at a cost.
'At this rate, my seal will break in a minute at best. This is the weakest divine spell I can use that combines light and divinity.'
Having his seals broken was an outcome Ulysses did not want to see. Because the seal had multiple layers. Breaking the first layer would just unleash the second layer, which was so restrictive Ulysses wouldn't even be able to move if it activated. It also injured him greatly, a circumstance he wanted to avoid at all costs.
'If I don't finish him off soon, she will be at risk in the final. I can't let that happen at all costs!'
Photos' Judgement wasn't the column of light, but a reinforcement spell that improved one's all-around abilities and allowed one to Infuse light element divinity in spells one had mastered. The divine energy coursing through Ulysses made him immune to most of the dominion's suppressive effects and allowed him to fight with clarity.
The column of light was exactly what it appeared as. A simple light spell called Column of Light. A basic spell like Water Blade or Wind Arrow. Capable of being freely adjusted, cast and launched at will. This was the only direct attack spell he was allowed to use in the tournament. This was another reason why he was worried.
Ulysses could already feel the second seal awaken from its slumber. Its arrays were deeply embedded in his flesh and activated based on condition.
Photos' Judgement had put Ulysses at the limit of what the first seal could allow. But this was more than enough for him to damage the beast.
''Roar!"
The unexpected roar shook the stadium and caused it to shake a bit. The holographic observers were not affected much, but it still managed to rile everyone up. The blastwave from the roar cleared the arena and revealed the stupendous figure of the king of reptiles.
The dragon did not attack but rather underwent a change that stunned its small foe. The once luminescent dark purple scales were gone. Instead, a membrane of darkness had covered the beast. The membrane had scale-like impressions covering it while its eyes and mouth were the only visible parts.
The aura of the creature skyrocketed as it released large amounts of concentrated dark energy.
Ulysses could not compute what he was seeing in time, as a claw from the dragon swiped at him. With a crash, his tiny figure was blasted into the wall, leaving a deep impression on the once-smooth surface.
Fissures stretching hundreds of metres spread from the point of impact, covering the majority of the arena's circumference. Ulysses coughed up a mouthful of blood, his brain still attempting to piece what had happened.