The rainbow-flashing hybrid dragon and chaotic purple, orange, and blue demon clash over and over again.
I can see it all perfectly, as trails of their most intense aura make patterns like endless comets in the sky.
Each shockwave ripples through the whole domain, causing cracks in its barrier to get deeper, but neither of them land solid hits.
They are truly even matches for each other.
The more I comprehend the aura in the air, the more I realize how far the power gap between us is.
This version of advanced Primordial Aura is harnessing the true essence of their wills, and wielding it in physical form.
The feeling I got when coming in contact with that demon's daggers makes so much more sense.
He was manipulating fate itself, making the outcome in the reality I was existing in only lead to one end goal, and that was his will.
Now, when I watch these two auras clash, I can tell that very same principle is being used.
Their physical actions are almost meaningless in the grand scheme of this battle; they are just placeholders to get close enough to one another and exert the strongest version of their wills. The fates they're wielding bounce off each other over and over, attempting to dominate the other's path, but they are equal.
It becomes more terrifying the longer I stare.
"What a disgraceful end! You come back and use all of your remaining power, yet all you do is fight me on even ground. You should have done this at the birth of our era instead, when you first fell from the immortals' pedestal. Maybe then you would still have a fresh core that actually allowed you to use it without damaging your future!" Marcellus laughs.
"You are too young to understand. I could have killed you then, but that is not my purpose. I must let those that thrive within the system see their mistakes in the end, and live through them. The eternal paradise you speak of is not living; that is only an illusion. But you, and all the Royal Family Heads below, have created a wonderful display. It will be another great memory to pass on," Ember calmly yells back.
His next wave of white flames burns through a cloud of chaotic energy pulsing out from the demon's horns, and a patch of his Demonic Glyphs is melted off. When they both bounce away from their collision, Marcellus throws a blade out of anger and pours an extra potent pulse of orange light through the glyphs. It hits Ember on the leg in an area where his hybrid form does not grow scales.
This leaves a chaotic gash behind.
The dragon's eyes do not waver, and he takes advantage of the overdraft of energy used to strike.
Marcellus' retreat is slightly slower than usual, and this is enough for Ember to let out another pillar of white flames before his defenses can come up again.
The demon dodges, but his left shoulder is badly burned.
Both of them return to an even clash after this, conserving their energy and healing their wounds.
"You always speak in gibberish! Maybe spending billions of years system-hopping scrambled your brain. Don't you think you've tricked enough budding intelligent races into playing this same old game over and over? I wonder, what did the originators think they were getting into? And what did you believe they would think of us, the demons that we were created as a result of it? They all went extinct before I had a chance to see the Lower Realm from up here," Marcellus sneers back, once their clashes of harmony return.
Ember glances my way reflexively at these words but moves back into battle before the next clash. "They were lifeforms that could not live forever... in fact, many of them never lived more than a hundred years. It is quite amusing to me that lifeforms understand the scale of the system better than you. They would have been delighted to know an entity like you exists, and the chaos you have caused throughout the eras, because there would be no reason for the lesser races to excel and strive further without it."
Disdain fills the demon's aura, and the orange in its chaos turns to a bright red.
At the same time, Maria and I move forward.
Comprehending the strength of the auras around us makes it extremely intimidating to get closer to it, because logically it feels like we are walking into the death of our own fates. Our internal intuition cannot filter out the [Total Isolation] aura that shields us, all of the natural danger signs are still blaring in our instincts. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel✶fire.net
We fight through these thoughts.
Even when dense waves of white fire or chaotic energy collide with us, it phases through like we're not even here. I'm positive that even if that demon appeared right in front of us and stabbed me in the chest with his dagger, I wouldn't feel a thing.
It gets easier the closer we get, and the blaring survival instincts are pushed away.
They fade into constant noise that is filtered out in the back of my mind.
Instead, I focus on the warm feeling that finally returns in the depths of my soul.
Many of the bright glyphs that disappeared before are floating back up to the surface to become visible again.
Maria and I both make it to the tree line where the forest stops, then float higher up into the air to get to the edge of the tree's stump.
The glyphs are burning hot now, just like they were when we first were released from the demon's hold this close to the tree. The closer we are to this tree, the hotter they glow.
A solid seal begins to melt slowly, and right above us, Ember and Marcellus relentlessly clash.
"Reach the center. There is little time left," echoes through my mind with Ember's voice, but it comes out for all to hear.
Even the demon fighting turns his head to see us hesitating at the edge of the tree.
"No... the key... How have you—" his yell is interrupted by Ember's claws colliding with his blades.
Two streaks of blue and red light fly across the stump of the tree and stop in its center.
Along the way, the demon tries to veer out from his battle in the sky to stop us. He even throws waves of concentrated chaotic Advanced Primordial Aura down directly on our heads. However, it does not do a thing to us.
It only gives Ember more openings to strike.
The demon's body becomes covered in scratches and burns by the time we're both stood in the center of the stump. Its eyes are open wide in horror.
I feel millions of new glyphs floating to the surface of my soul, and the solid barrier melting to liquid, becoming thin and malleable, trying to let something out deeper down. This is the hottest essence I've ever felt, but it becomes extremely euphoric and pleasurable as well.
I'm certain a breakthrough is on the verge of triggering, but there is still a strange final barrier holding everything in place, not letting the bottleneck break.
As flashing lights of battle continue to burst overhead, I get the sinking suspicion the only thing holding us back is the one thing that is protecting us.