Chương 87: 154 - Fascinate

The tier-20 javelin of blue lightning impacted the Dragon King and sent him hurtling upward and back, blasting through the huge skull behind him and then the ceiling. Vivi pursued with a burst of speed, sparing a glance down to wince at the destruction. Particularly of the skull. It was probably an important heirloom of the Caldaros family, seeing how it was situated right behind the throne. No matter what Embralyne had said, Vivi would really rather not wreck half the palace. She was trying to make amends.

Then again, there's always [The Clockwork Unwinds], she thought. She had only barely escaped the palace when a column of dragonfire descended onto her from above. Though much the same as Embralyne's, bright oranges mixed with darker grays, the fire of Cinereus de Caldaros compared to his daughter's like a jet engine to a candle. [Prismatic Barrier] flared and screeched, shards and splinters of rainbow energy crackling all around her." [Sundering Galeforce]."

A blast of wind exploded in all directions and dissipated the dragonfire, though it had already been tapering off. She pointed her staff to follow up or defend against whatever the next attack might be, but none came. The fire cleared, and Cinereus became visible again. Perhaps unsurprisingly, [Arrow of the Thundering Wyrm] hadn't so much as left a scratch, even if it'd been able to bypass his defenses. He had halted the momentum of that kinetic shove in only a few hundred feet.

"Magnificent," the Cataclysm breathed.

"What power! What incredible power!" Vivi didn't get the sense he was talking about her spells. Definitely self-infatuation. She looked down to see dragons streaming out of the hole in the ceiling. Embralyne slammed through the southern wall of the throne room a second later, with Vulkarius and two others in hot pursuit, the four of them blasting each other with fire and dueling with their swords drawn. It probably wasn't the time to talk, but also, Vivi couldn't just ignore the fact that the Cataclysm could speak.

And seeing how he had paused the assault, he was blatantly interested in doing so too.

"Do you have a name?" she asked. She waited, anxiously, for a response. She would have very complicated feelings if the Cataclysm showed any signs of personhood, even if Cinereus himself intended to give the executing blow.

"You will learn it when I break you and make you mine," he sneered.

"The same as the rest of this world."

"Right." It was probably the first time in history someone took enormous relief at such a deranged answer.

"Well, what are you? Can I ask that?"

"Your end. The end."

"Uh-huh. And why are you doing this?"

"Why?" Orange eyes flashed black.

"Because all deserves to be mine. It was always mine." Vivi considered, then nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Stark raving mad, just like the rest.

"[Imperious Nova]." A burst of blue arcane energy exploded above Cinereus's head and sent him slamming down with the force of a meteor—and punching a hole into some random section of the palace. Destroying a collection of world-famous paintings and other treasures, as far as she knew. She'd honestly forgotten that there was a building beneath her. She still wasn't sure whether the other dragons were under direct control like Cinereus was, but whatever the case, they took offense at Vivi's assault on their leader.

In seconds, a dozen spells and a dozen more torrents of dragonfire were crashing into her shields. Her barriers withstood the variety of blows without much strain. A vibrating, roaring wave of sound energy pressed harder than most—probably Solfirus, which she confirmed with a glance. But even the First Prince couldn't measure up to the King. Cinereus's spells were the only ones she couldn't bear indefinitely, and might even have to dodge. Okay, she thought to herself.

Step one is figuring out how strong each of them is. No accidental killing. With a [Blink], she tossed herself higher into the air for a better vantage point.

"[Gravity Well]." The tier-18 pinprick of magic ripped into existence in the midst of the flock of dragons, then began sucking them inward. Vivi made a mental note of how well each one resisted—Solfirus shrugged off the area-of-effect spell, teleported to the side, and pointed his staff at her with no apparent effort.

"[Illusion]," Vivi incanted. Numbers shimmered over her targets as she sketched tentative levels out. An '18' went over Solfirus. This way, she could keep track of each of them and cast spells appropriate to their hardiness. She wouldn't want to accidentally crush one underfoot. Cinereus made his return, teleporting behind her and cleaving his sword down. She sensed him coming, but the spatial magic formed fast enough even she didn't have too much time to react.

She started tugging her own [Blink] together, but paused right before activation. You know, I'm kind of curious… She let the sword strike her shields. An agonizing crack echoed through the air as her defenses buckled and fractured. They didn't break entirely, but still. Her eyebrows rose a fraction. Not that she had needed proof, but yes, definitely a threat. Even if she had a hundred and fifty level or so advantage. He might even be empowered by the Cataclysm. Stronger than normal.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. She allowed her teleportation spell to finish and warped away. After patching up [Prismatic Barrier], she nodded to herself.

"Okay. Time to get to work." Vivi metaphorically rolled up her sleeves and began taking her task seriously. How many spells would it take to tire out a small army of dragons, including their King? She swatted aside Solfirus's attack and responded with "[Crucible Beam]." The eldest of the Caldaros children went rocketing backward, temporarily dealt with. Beneath her, a few dragons had transformed into their bulkier, slower, but more powerful forms to escape the shackles of the gravity spell.

Waves of fire pounded into her shields, but she erased them and then dropped a series of elemental anvils on top of their heads. … making several other holes in the Palace as they, too, impacted like meteors. I should really take this higher up the mountain. She flew away, chucking spells at the dragons who either pursued through the air or tried teleporting next to her. Traditional movement was actually more reliable, so they mostly followed by wing.

Against similar-level or stronger opponents, [Blink] manifested with a clear arrival indicator, which made retaliation too easy. Not something she usually had to worry about, but against the Dragon King in particular, she might have to think twice about appearing right next to him. Still could work, just came with risks. An ice arrow slammed into a '16' with green scales. An implosion smashed two golden '15's together.

A black-flame immolation spell sent one with a '17' hurtling into the earth, writhing in obvious agony. Vivi's eyes widened, and she adjusted that '17' down into a '16' and eased the spell's potency. Cinereus's sword came swinging sideways toward her, and she zipped off with a burst of air. Much as she would've been interested in seeing that blade's enchantments wreak havoc on her barriers again, she really should conserve energy.

"You attempt to spare their lives? These pieces of nothing hosts? What pathetic resolve you have, insect." The man's snarling words were met with an incantation." [Lance of the First Dawn]." This time, the Dragon King didn't merely get tossed back. The impact of the gigantic ray of yellow-orange light made him disappear. He clipped the mountain face, destroyed a mile of terrain, and vanished into the distance.

Having specifically been looking to buy time, she focused on her next spell, even as she fended off the variety of half dragons and full dragons swarming her. Summoning magic always took a little more effort than most other branches, and so she cast for several seconds before it came together." [Spirit of the Rimewyvern]." A ball of ice popped into existence in front of her, then began spreading outwards in jerky bursts of frost, each expansion accompanied by the sound of shattering crystals.

In moments, a huge beast had been sculpted from thin air, carved of white-blue ice.

"Attack, restrain, but don't kill," she instructed the summon. Two dozen dragons were a bit much to keep track of. Like a swarm of gnats, honestly. Some help would be appreciated. And indeed, a tier-21 summon was more than a match for the horde of lesser opponents. A single icy breath encased four of the mind-controlled dragons in solid blocks, and they went plummeting downward. Including one in full dragon form, so a truly impressively sized chunk of ice. The wyvern streaked off to pursue others.

Vivi nodded in approval. Cinereus came searing back from the horizon, and Vivi focused on him. Still distant, he raised a hand toward her and cast some spell. The air around her shivered as a great flood of mana saturated the surrounding area. A vague pressure pushed into her, and she felt several barriers straining. She tilted her head. She couldn't actually tell what was happening. Not right away at least. The atmospheric mana itself is squeezing me? she realized with incredulity.

As utterly captivating as that idea was, a second thought jolted through her. Cinereus had hidden away all of his truly juicy contingencies, but not his entire repertoire. In fact, many of his best techniques were probably available to the Cataclysm. Like this bizarre implementation of magic which she'd never really considered. She was going to get to study the Dragon King's grimoire, in a roundabout way. This… this was even more exciting than she'd been anticipating! Er.

Not that she was excited, or enjoying herself. That would be highly irresponsible given the stakes of the situation. Cinereus growled and dropped his hand. The pressure disappeared. Vivi returned a halfhearted [Balefire Eruption], not wanting to seem like she was too obviously sandbagging. A proper Cataclysm wouldn't ever flee, even if it realized it was outmatched, but she didn't want to take the chance. And not only because she desperately wanted to see more spells.

After slapping away a few more pesky dragons, and after Cinereus had cleaved through the [Balefire Eruption], she and the draconic monarch faced each other, a hateful gaze in his eyes.

"Is that it?" Vivi asked.

"The mana pressure trick was sort of interesting, I guess." She wasn't the kind of person to taunt her opponent, but if it might prompt more secret spells of the Caldaros family? She would reluctantly be a little rude. As distasteful as she found it. By the bulging vein in Cinereus's temple—the exaggerated reactions still unnerving to see on the regal man—she could tell it had worked. Mana gathered, and Cinereus slashed his hand diagonally.

"Die, pest." Space tore around her. Or rather, tried to. Though her senses warped and went wild as a very fundamental fabric ripped in every direction, Vivi kept her wits and reached out to grab those bleeding edges of voidstuff. Stitching it back together with a thought, she stabilized the about-to-be rift.

"I did something similar," Vivi said, genuinely impressed.

"Less crudely, though. That wouldn't even have unanchored." The Cataclysm didn't react with shock or disbelief. He wasn't enough of a person to do anything but howl in outrage. He surged forward with his sword raised. And, admittedly, the direct contact of that legendary blade had done the most damage to her barriers so far. Dragons were as strong in martial combat as magic, generally, and Cinereus's sword was a relic very possibly without peer. But that didn't mean the attack was difficult to avoid.

She swerved out of a dozen screechingly fast blows, dipping far enough each time that the blade—and the surrounding dragonfire it was wreathed in—couldn't reach. She unenthusiastically cast [Everfrost] and waited for the Icecube King to break free. He finally did so with an explosion to shake the world. To her delight, he roared and immediately began pulling together yet another enormously powerful spell, without a signature she recognized. She wasn't being irresponsible extending this fiasco.

The mortal kingdoms might need one of these magical innovations someday, and Cinereus would hardly share them himself. She was simply being farsighted and canny by extracting secrets. A schemer. Rafael would be proud. A hesitance came over her as she shattered a dozen attacks from the gnats buzzing around the real fight—throwing them into the mountainside, flattening them with gravity, searing them with lightning.

As the seconds ticked by and Cinereus continued gathering mana in immense quantities while glaring balefully at her, she wondered whether she should interrupt it. At this length of cast time, the spell was wholly unfitting for one-on-one combat… it never would've worked in an actual duel. And thus something strong. Really strong. She should definitely stop him. But at the same time, it was going to be interesting. Unfathomably so. She knew it in her soul.

And if it wasn't part of Cinereus's top-secret arsenal, it wouldn't be that serious. Right? Before she could make up her mind, the spell finished coming together." Fall Into Nothing." The world flashed white… … and stayed white. Vivi's head whipped left and right. Floating in the air, shields fully intact, no apparent damage, she found nothing in each direction but a bright and empty expanse. What? It went through my shields? How? They're pretty comprehensive, magically speaking.

She extended her perception outward. She couldn't detect a shred of mana anywhere. As if a spell wasn't affecting her in the first place. It couldn't have been spatial dislocation; she was too much of an expert there. But she was also an expert in everything, so… what? She'd been right. This was fascinating. And there wasn't any rush. The Cataclysm would be waiting for her when she got back. Why had he even bothered with—? A horrifying thought hit her, and all enthusiasm vanished. Embralyne.