The Prince of Demons

Onilin proved to be much smarter than her brother because she attempted to use her wing as a shield to deflect me while biting at me. I used my tail to swat her wing away before launching my paw out to strike her; I felt a very unsatisfying thud upon hitting her. Great, I was going to need to reinforce my body a lot more if I wanted to hurt her. Her defense is better than Zagzin at least. Onilin looked at her brother and just shook her head. Onilin jumped up, using her wings to get off the ground. I feel if I want to win, I need to use <Magic>. I conjured <Light Lasers> to attack her, aiming one for her head, one at each wing, several at her body, and a few around her in case she dodged. As Onilin twisted to dodge my attack, I used <Camouflage> to vanish, dashing along the ground and leaping up at her.

She grimaced as the lasers grazed her, looking around for me. Onilin seemed confused as to how I vanished as I made a <Light Blade>, kicking off the air above her with <Air Step> to try and impale her back to the ground. Her tail barely deflected me at the last second; Onilin sensed me a moment before I could stab her. She still had a nasty gash on her side as I pivoted around, stabbing at her several times with my tails. One of my tails hooked on her arm to send me back at her as she was gaining a bit of distance. I manifested a <Light Blade> on each claw while augmenting it with <Aqueous Formation>, swinging quickly at her. Onilin unleashed a massive burst of fire to knock me back and give herself more distance, but my projected claws launched through the fire, giving her four new slashes in her chest. She was proving to be much sturdier than her brother as her wounds were already closing.

Onilin clearly began adjusting mentally to what I had been doing. That healing of hers is annoying. I switched to using <Spirit Magic> to make <Channel Disruptor> needles again. Ikol shifted uncomfortably which Onilin definitely noted. This is his least favorite <Technique> of mine; Miril absolutely lost it when I tried using it against her. I shuddered as I remembered that particular thrashing from her. I made sure to reapply <Camouflage> to hide better before using <Ethereal Form> as I began pursuing her again. Onilin immediately flew high up out of my reach so I couldn't easily connect with her. I grimaced as she began flying erratically to avoid making a pattern. I began using <Air Step> to rapidly climb up; I reached her in a few moments while attempting to stab her with one of my needles.

Her pivot to attack me with her back legs was rapid. Is my control slipping as I go to connect, or is she sensing once I reach a certain distance of her? I knew I could only mimic the surroundings so well, so if she had a miniature field of <Mana> around her it would be possible for her to sense once I crossed the edge of it. I was fairly confident that was how she was stopping me from ambushing her. It's annoying, but it's not like she can track me all that well. Miril was able to track me much more thoroughly whenever I attempted this against her, but I knew she was half stepping between forms now to see the flow of <Mana>. Me putting together Onilin's method did little to change just how powerful her attack actually was. I felt numerous bones creak as I got launched back to the ground. I saw one of my needles in her foot which she rapidly went to pull out.

"That is a nasty <Technique>!" Onilin snarled at me. Yes it is.

Her recovering was bad for me, so I resumed my assault, launching a few needles at her with <Magic>. Onilin attempted to bat them aside with a reinforced wing, but they were sharp enough to barely stick in while I began sprinting back up towards her. I created a <Light Blade> in my left paw and more needles in my right. Once I hit the field of her <Mana> again, Onilin rotated to blast me with fire. Dragon fire hurts so much. I twirled the <Light Blade> to pull the remnant of the flames aside while stabbing another needle into Onilin. Onilin grit her teeth while her hand anchored on mine before slamming her skull into mine. I thought Ikol was hard headed. She was not dumb enough to let go as she attempted to hit me again, so I twisted my arm around to rotate my body, using <Channel Disruptor> on my tails to strike her three times in her chest. She roared in pain, flying downward as fast as she could to slam me into the ground. I activated my shield halo to brace for impact. I bounced off the ground, feeling the force across my body. That would've hurt if I took that directly. I activated the sun halo, chomping down on her hand while kicking with my back legs. Before I connected, Onilin swat me away with her tail as she finally cast a <Spell>. A wall of roots shot up in an attempt to entwine me.

Unfortunately for you Onilin, one of my teachers possesses <Nature Magic>. Orga, thank you for the practice. I swerved around the roots, taking to the air to avoid touching the ground. Having to fight a dragon without being able to land is going to be annoying. I now saw why Onilin hadn't been casting <Spells> until this point, as a massive lattice of roots and branches erupted from the ground, attempting to create a containment dome. I coated my claws with <Aqueous Formation>, launching a destructive slash at the core. A massive explosion of wood erupted, shaking the plains a bit. I noticed the splinters began glowing, reforming in the air to make tendrils that pursued me. Okay, that is an obnoxious <Magic>. I sprinted around while Onilin kept her construct between us, maneuvering sharply with her wings.

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This was not going to be sustainable at all. I used <Light Blade> to break the wood that got near me as I was trying to think of how to close the gap. I attempted to use <Light Burst> to shoot at her, but when I solidified she already created a plate to try and capture me with. Her <Magic> control is fast. The shape was a bit crude; that didn't matter because there was no doubt in my mind it would work. I shot back, alternating the use of <Light Blade> and <Aqueous Formation> to keep around me clear of her relentless tendril assault. I need to close the gap on her. It was only a matter of time before she adapted or I made a mistake chaining so many <Techniques> together. What could I use? I made a <Laser Array>, launching numerous beams at her to gauge her reaction. The roots pursuing me slowed as she prioritized protecting herself from my <Magic>. Even my faster beams were blocked. Do I turn this into a <Mana> competition?

I did not like winning like that. I want to win decisively; I just need to close this gap faster than she can react. <Light Burst> was fairly fast and she could still react fast enough. I mean, if I dragged this out, eventually she couldn't maintain such a thorough set up to detect and block my attacks. That was not a strategy I wanted. Can I move faster? Wait, I could try that movement <Technique> Miril showed me. Do I want to risk having to listen to a dragon if I mess up? If I stopped incorrectly there was no way I was not slamming into either the ground or her <Magic>. I could just ram her at that speed. That might be a bit too damaging to us both. Back up idea at least. Hold on. I didn't have to go through the tunnel. I doubt I could accelerate Onilin to make her lose control of her flight, but there was something else that I would be able to make move that fast.

"I'll give you credit, your fight was valiant! I will accept your surrender now!" I called out to her.

"Not a chance, Lux!" Onilin shot back.

"Final warning before I win!" I taunted her.

"As if!" Onilin replied with no hesitation. To be fair, from her perspective, she stood a good chance of winning.

Not going to happen today though. I did the half step between <Spirit Form> and being physical, activated the sun halo, and used <Light Blade> to make somewhat blunt rod. I only made the top of it curved rather than pointed. Actually, I made a bit of a block so it was closer to a hammer than a spear. This is still going to hurt when it connects. I made the tunnel of my <Mana>, throwing the rod as hard as I could into it. There was a boom as the rod launched towards her; I did not need to be fully physical to feel just how surprised she was as suddenly blasted out of the air. All of the tendrils around me fizzled as Onilin crashed into the ground below. I didn't kill her by accident, did I? Hopefully not, she was over all polite and nice to talk to. I returned to being physical, sensing if she was alive. Her <Mana> was flowing in a way that let me know she was rapidly trying to repair her body. I noticed she was shifting up, so I immediately began to prepare another rod.

"I concede!" Onilin called out quickly, realizing I was about to throw another one.

I stopped, casually hopping to the ground. I don't think she's going to try anything. Plus, I have Ikol backing me up if necessary. I had faith he could defeat Zagzin and then assist me if she sucker punched me. I landed near her, using my tails to flick away the cloud of dust that was settling before I saw Onilin. Good thing I made the end blunt. It was obvious how many bones I broke with that rod as she was resetting them back where they belonged. Onilin was doing a few test flexes of her hand and body to make sure everything was back where it belonged, looking at me with a complicated expression.

"Thank you for making the end blunt." Onilin told me respectfully.

"That tendril cage nature thing you made was annoying. I couldn't close the gap on you at all." I complimented her as I was struggling not to pant. That took quite a bit out of me.

"Sis!" Zagzin finally called out, rushing over. Ikol materialized next to me, looking ready just in case. Good Ikol. I pat his head.

"Relax brother, she simply caught me off guard with that last attack. I was not expecting her to be able to throw something that fast at me. It was my loss." Onilin replied as she kept stretching around.

"Are you okay, Chef?" Ikol checked, looking at me a bit worried.

"I'm fine, just want a minute to recover." I informed him. My head was still ringing a little and my ribs were sore from her attacks. Even reinforced and using shield halo, she was able to do a solid amount of damage. Onilin undeniably made her hits count.

"On three?" Onilin asked me.

"Three." I agreed as we both sprawled out, panting our lungs out. I was hungry now.

"Ikol, get us food." I ordered.

"Yes Chef!" Ikol agreed, bounding off to go hunt us something to eat.

"Good idea." Onilin concurred. My body was aching from that duel.

"He's an excellent hunter. We'll be eating well." I assured her.

"I trusted King Miril's son could hunt." Onilin stated, rolling a bit to make sure her side was properly healed as we sat recovering for a few minutes.

"Did it really do that much damage to your side?" I checked, not sure if she was just being thorough or not. We agreed to keep it beneath a certain threshold after all.

"You did not violate our terms; I'm just being cautious as I do not want to be in a fight and realize something didn't heal or get set back properly." Onilin informed me.

"Glad to hear." I replied.

"Where did you learn to fight like that? It almost resembles King Miril." Onilin asked while we were relaxing onto the nice field.

"You take that back!" I snapped at her immediately. I do not resemble her. I do not resemble that bezka at all. No. Impossible.