2288 Dragon Knight (Part 4)

'Yet they are still alive while our enemies are dead and buried. Fight them as if they are Divine Beast or you'll go back to the Golden Griffon and I'll have to fight them alone. If we fail, it's with you that the True Queen will be angry.'

The Seven Headed Dragon swallowed a lump of saliva and telepathically nodded. There was a lot riding on the conquest of Ne'sra and he didn't want to be the one ruining Thrud's plans.

'You shouldn't have disengaged Phloria with that Blink.' Quylla said while adjusting their strategy inside the Blue Mermaid before starting the chase. 'We have less than two minutes to capture her.

'After that, even if we keep her from using Omnislash, the Give and Take ability of Reaver will be enough to overpower us. We have waited until now exactly to exploit her weakened state and not give her the time to cast spells.

'Yet the more time we lose, the more our advantage will decrease.'

'Are you kidding me?' Friya replied with a scoff. 'She has now a deep violet core whereas I'm stuck at bright blue. She was faster and stronger than me even back when we were both non-Awakened.

'Now with her superior physique and core, I needed to give my all to not get destroyed. To make matters worse, she has perfect body casting and I'm stuck at tier three.

'If not for the ambush and having my spells at the ready, I would be already dead. We can switch opponents if you want. You have a violet core superior to Phloria's and that Dragon looked a much easier opponent.'

'Deal.' Quylla nodded and they resumed the chase in the space of the two breaths they had needed to return to their peak strength.

Dimensional Ruler could conjure all kinds of dimensional spells without further casting so Friya only needed to search for the residual traces of Phloria's Blink with Life Vision to Warp straight to her.

'What the fuck?' Ufyl's seven pairs of eyes went wide when the dimensional door from which they had just walked out opened again, letting the Ernas sisters reunite again.

'My sister is the master of space, that's what!' Phloria slapped one of his heads to snap him out of it. 'The seven streaks in her hair are not for show. I have no idea what Silverwing is good at, but imagine Friya as talented for dimensional magic as Menadion was at Forgemastery.

'If you don't relax the space after every dimensional spell you use, Friya can reopen it at will, you moron. I told you everything you need to beat her, but you continue to not see past her human body.

'First Faluel kicked your ass and then Lith. Unless you are planning to add Friya to your losing streak, take your heads out of your ass and fight with everything you have. No holds barred.'

Losing to Lith didn't mean much to Ufyl. The little monster had defeated Iata, the strongest among the Generals, and then had wiped the floor with many other of his brothers in arms.

Even the True Queen held the Tiamat in high regard and considered him a worthy opponent so there was no dishonor in their disastrous previous encounter.

Being defeated by a Hydra despite having ascended into a Divine Beast, instead, was Ufyl's greatest humiliation. He could do everything that Faluel could and so much more, yet she had killed him and almost ruined the plan to conquer Belius.

The idea of suffering the same fate at the hands of a lowly human filled the Seven Headed Dragon with rage, making him shift to top gear. Now that he was in the open, he increased his size to five meters (16') of height and took out his blade.

'She can be the master of space, but with my superior strength, core, and reach, I'll kill her in a jiffy.' He thought.

Too bad that the moment Friya walked out the Warp Steps, the sparkles of Dimensional Ruler spread everywhere. Then, she performed a series of fast lunges despite the distance still separating them.

'The hairless monkey is insane. She's no True Queen, her movements can't produce air blades or shockw-' The words died in his brain as Dreadnaught hit him from every direction, not one lunge missing its target.

The tip of the rapier disappeared into a sparkle of light and was Warped at point-blank range from him. Even though they were all in front of Friya, different sparks lead to different places, making their trajectory unpredictable.

To make matters worse, Dreadnaught could conjure on its own any spell up to tier three with no cast time or mana expense on Friya's side. Whenever the sword bit into his flesh or clanged against his armor, it would always leave behind a tier three Frostbite.

Dragons were naturally weak to cold and Hydras had it even worse. Even after turning into a Divine Beast, Ufyl had carried over his enhanced weakness. The wounds hurt his already battered body but the cold crippled his strength.

"You bastard!" He roared while unleashing a burst of Origin Flames with one head, using another head to warm himself, and another to heal. Three heads cast a spell each while the seventh focused on the swordplay and slashed at Friya.

"My sister was wrong. You are not dumb as bricks. You are braindead." Friya took a deep breath of Invigoration, flooding Dimensional Ruler with more mana.

The sparkles of light coalesced in front of her, letting the Origin Flames through and striking the Seven Headed Dragon in the back. In the same way, Ufyl's spells were redirected against Phloria and his sword cut deeply into his own flesh.

'You useless lizard!' Phloria cursed as she was forced to a halt and Quylla reached her.

'Let me get this straight. I can't use Origin Flames, dimensional magic, spells, or physical attacks against your sister. How do you even fight against a monster like that?' Friya's size was unchanged, but she now looked like a terrifying beast to Ufyl.

'You can do everything you just said, you moron, but only from close-quarter combat!' Phloria replied. 'That's why I told you to keep a human size. As you are now, you are just a big target. Don't give her the time to adjust her Gates!'

"Don't worry, sis. I'm bringing you home." Quylla unleashed Bloodbind from the sleeves of her deep green Great Mage robe, trying to restrain Phloria.

Reaver released the lightning spells stored in its pseudo core against the chains, but to no avail. This time Quylla had coated her weapon with a hard-light construct that acted as an insulator.

"You have already learned your lesson and found a way to overcome your weakness. I'm impressed, sister. I wish that my partner was half as smart as you." Phloria released a burst of deep violet aura that reminded Quylla of Full Guard, but it was different.

Full Guard was supposed to be blue and not have physical substance. Whatever Phloria had cast, it pushed Bloodbind away long enough for her to escape the encirclement.

"Too bad that you are a pathological coward and a wimp. Otherwise you'd be an unparalleled warrior."