Chapter 90: Ch90 My Name....
Trish POV
My grandmother once told me that in the face of overwhelming power, neither skills nor talent meant anything.
This sole statement was the reason Dragons were called the strongest of all the races.
They were power—not just physically, but in all aspects of their being.
But I believe she was wrong.
I once saw a man, who was clearly weak, not give up in the face of overwhelming power.
He endured, and in the end, he was rewarded with powers of his own.
I once saw a girl suffer continuous defeat at the hands of her trainer.
She endured, and even while her breakthrough was measly at best, I noticed a spark. One which would continue to intensify until it was ready to light the world.
So as I stood before the raging inferno… I also had one objective.
To endure.
I won't die.
Not now… not until I kill the fool who threatens to take what is mine.
Never.
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It began with a loud boom, and the ground opened up, unleashing onto the world flames of untamed power.
Like the maws of a dragon, the earth continuously spat out these primal flames, like an endless trap.
Trish, who had taken off running, grabbed hold of the bleeding headmistress and leaped into the sky.
Stabbing her bulky sword deep into one of the pillars, she dangled with the headmistress before launching her even higher—just as the flames reached her height.
She then followed with a powerful swing, abandoning her sword as she caught the headmistress once again and launched her as far as she could.
She was confident the headmistress could survive, as long as she wasn't devoured by the flames. So, taking her sight off the principal—who was no longer her problem—she retrieved another blade from her storage ring.
This one was sheathed in a dark scabbard and had a slight curved edge. It was a sword from the east; hence she switched her fighting style to adapt.
Drawing the blade mid-fall, she observed the hellish ground below, covered in molten lava. Floating atop the hellish sight was Kahn, who stretched his hands toward her.
The lava, molded by his thoughts, burst into a sea of hands that stretched out to grab her.
With Aura increasing her thought process, she scanned around for some platforms before jabbing her katana into one of the pillars. Successfully breaking a part of it, she swung her blade and scattered the fragments to the ground.
Slowing her perception to the point the world began to halt, she watched as the rocky fragments of the pillar touched the lava.
Right as they did, she dove toward the ground with a tremendous burst of speed, overtaking the lava hands that sought to grab her before landing right on the makeshift platform.
Before she could sink along with the rock, she propelled herself at Kahn, her blade drawn in a dazzling arc that attempted to slice his hands off.
"This is my domain!"
Her attempt was cut short as an eruption of lava surged between her and Kahn, forcing her to jab her sword into a nearby pillar before launching her body up into the air again.
Bullets of lava shot at her with incredible speed, but with the aid of her Aura-coated blade, she parried them away before slicing another pillar and scattering its fragments around.
As they each fell, Trish's perception slowed once again as she used the descending debris as footholds, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks at Kahn.
Each was masterfully guarded by the man himself, but the environment—extremely hazardous to her—prevented her from fully finishing her strikes. Yet every time that happened, she adapted.
Not only her body, but her Aura.
The temperature, so hot it once left her dehydrated, began to grow deaf to her body.
The change began to taint her Aura into something undefined… something strange and foreign, something even Kahn couldn't notice.
Trish, moving like a phantom, pivoted across the pillars, shredding them and causing them to rain down bullets of stones onto Kahn.
Then, using the rocks as a pathway, she traced a beeline sprint toward Kahn.
This time he blocked, not with the elements, but by shrouding his right arm in a shell of magma rock.
The impact ripped through her scorched palms, and Kahn, taking advantage of that, tried grabbing her blade.
With her perception slowed once again, she manifested a rock she had stored in her storage ring and flicked it at Kahn.
He moved to block it, giving her a chance to escape by using his magma gauntlets as footing and leaping into the air.
Once again, the world became hyper-focused.
Looking down, she saw a shell of lava bullets attempting to shoot her down. Tilting her head, she watched them soar past her lashes without so much as a blink.
"You're one annoying brat."
Kahn let out a rasp, stomping the ground and freezing the lava in place, morphing it into solid surfaces.
He then leaped into the air and swung his fist forward. His action, a command, launched pieces of the solidified ground at Trish.
She sliced the first wave, kicked off the second, grabbed hold of the third—which flung her back—before performing a sharp spin and launching it back at Kahn.
He merely brought his hand forward, and the magma rock hurled at him came to a complete halt.
Just as he attempted to throw it back, it was sliced in two—the slash continuing forward, attempting to cleave him apart.
"You just can't resist the bait."
He smirked and caught the sword's fragment before following with a brutal kick but—
"Huh!"
The magma rock parted, and though his kick launched forward, he saw no figure behind it.
A sword had clearly cleaved his attack, but no one was there—as if it had been thrown.
"Shit!"
Reacting in time, he looked to his left—where Trish, with her fist clenched, threw a powerful punch at him.
He attempted to block by raising both hands against it, but her fist unclenched and from within a stone hidden within her palms was launched as a feint.
While Kahn reacted, Trish herself lowered her stance, grabbed her sword—which had fallen out of his grasp—and thrust it past his defense.
Kahn, who had blocked a feint, watched in horror as Trish's blade zipped over his magma fists and impaled his right eye.