2179 Fatal Flaw (Part 1)

Almost.

Dawn had no Domination, but thanks to her steed, she managed to control the overloading effect of Life Maelstrom and use it to her advantage. She conjured a hard-light construct right above her skin to keep the water and lightning to reach her, stopping the seizures.

At the same time, Sunrise used its abilities to heal her wounds and replenish her strength while also absorbing part of the silver lightning that was meant to send Dawn's energy signature in disarray and hurt her.

Life Maelstrom was still made of world energy and the first ability of any mage tower was to absorb and control it to strengthen their master.

'That's unexpected, but still a pleasant surprise.' Thrud thought while swinging her blade at the Horseman's crystal. 'All the more reason to keep that moron of Narchat alive and get myself a nice steed.'

'Dammit, that's why Mom recommended us to get undead as our hosts. They feel no pain and they are immune to seizures since it's not electrical impulses that move their body.' Dawn's comment was just born out of frustration, but to Acala it sounded like she was belittling him, making him lose even more confidence and feel inadequate.

The pleasant surprise was followed by another, this time nasty.

The Twilight Blade intercepted the Sword of Arthan and contrary to Thrud's expectations, it didn't budge of a millimiter.

"Surprise, bitch!" The Horseman flicked her wrist, pushing the Mad Queen's blade away and thrusting at the eye slit in her armor with a seamless movement.

'What the f-' Thrud could now see with Life Vision that the Bright Day was covered from head to hoof with a tier five Light Mastery spell, Morning Star.

The construct was infused with so much mana that it gave the spell enough mass to compete with that of a Divine Beast, bringing them to equal ground. It was a feat that required a constant expenditure of enormous amounts of mana but Dawn could afford it thanks to Sunrise.

Blades and magic clashed again and again as the two opponents moved through the air too fast to be seen even by a violet cored Awakened. They each tried to outsmart and outmanouver the other, but neither of them backed down of even one step.

The fight for Belius below them had yet to resume because the spells the Horseman and the Mad Queen conjured produced so much light that it blinded the soldiers on both sides.

The noise from their battle was deafening and each time they clashed, the sheer pressure they exuded would force even a Divine Beast to kneel.

"Is there any point for us to be here?" Many people from all the four armies on the battlefield said, no matter their race and size.

"How the heck can you do this?" Dawn was shocked seeing that none of her attacks had managed to reach the opponent.

"I'm old as well and unlike you, I spent centuries preparing for this." Thrud replied. "Every time my body experienced a breakthrough, I kept fighting until I got my ass handed to me. I didn't care about winning, only about finding worthy opponents.

"Defeat has a bitter taste, but it's the best teacher one could ask for."

"Then you're going to learn a lot today." The Horseman suddenly expanded her construct, using Morning Star's mass to push the Mad Queen away.

Matching a Divine Beast's might drained her mana faster than Sunrise could replenish it, but the mage tower needed but a second of respite to refill its master's cores.

Alas, the same could be said for Thrud's white core. Her body was filled with so much mana that the boundary between matter and energy was paper thin. It allowed her core to repair any damage her body had taken simply by absorbing the surrounding world energy.

Dawn inwardly cursed as Life Vision showed her that delaying any longer would have brought both of them back to square one. With no time to waste, she dashed forward and used her trump card.

The Mad Queen too didn't want to drag the fight any longer. Not only had she yet to understand what her enemies' real goal was but she was also starting to suffer from mana abuse.

It was the first time that Thrud had gone all-out for so long. The constant healing combined with the toll that using her best spells and bloodline abilities inflicted upon her life force were chipping away her strength.

To make matters worse, the fight was putting heavy strain on her equipment as well. Channeling an elemental aspect in the Davross increased her offensive and defensive power but it also weakened the Arthan's set.

Just like a human body, the only way for the mystical metal to recover its durability was time and rest.

The only silver lining in that situation was that Dawn wasn't faring any better. The mage tower supplied her with endless strength, but neither her body nor her equipment would endure it for much longer.

Davross could channel and amplify insane amounts of mana, but they had both used their best spells from the start, keeping the output of their gear to the maximum the whole time to both inflict and block damage.

Davross was facing itself and the result was bound to be a draw.

Thrud's equipment was outdated, but still the work of a Guardian and weighing several tons. Dawn's was tailor suited for her and crafted with modern magic, but it weighed barely a few kilos.

It meant that its little mass had to endure the same stress as Thrud's at every clash.

The Mad Queen lit up all the seven gemstones on Arthan's Sword but activated the violet one first, conjuring the tier five dimensional spell Crashing Warp.

She moved behind her opponent, but unlike a regular Blink spell, both the exit and entry point detonated in unison while also conjuring a powerful gravity field between them that slowed Dawn down.

The explosions would not only deal damage, but also blind the Horseman's Life Vision and propel Thrud like a rocket.

The Mad Queen moved too fast for Dawn to block or dodge. The Sword of Arthan pierced through Morning Star's construct, Dawn's armor, crystal and flesh until the two women's eyes were just a few centimeters away.

"Got you, idiot." The Horseman's body turned into stardust, leaving nothing behind.

'Wait a second, Davross can't just disappear. What about her steed?' Only then did Thrud notice that Dawn had exploited Morning Star's aura to hide Acala Blinking away.

Thanks to their bond, they could now have a body each whenever they want. She had conjured an armor and a sword from her prisms, letting the Mad Queen hit her so that she wouldn't suspect anything until it was too late.

Dawn had entrusted Sunrise and their equipment to her partner, buying him the time that he needed to cast her Blade Tier Spell, Rising Sun.

"Dammit!" Thrud turned toward the ex-Ranger just before the spell was completed. She unleashed the full power of Arthan's sword, fusing it with her tier five Spirit Spell, Royal Griffon.

A six colored beam of light erupted from her blade, further strengthened by Spirit Magic.