Book 8, Chapter 32

More Than Just A Battle

Seeing the beauty of the two human women, the black dragon Tegras grunted in arousal. The petite lady on the right with her golden hair and blue robes looked especially delicate, a soft lustre on top of her skin making her almost ethereal.

Wait, golden hair, blue robes? The dragon had heard of this description before, and there weren’t many mages in Norland who matched it. Considering where they were, he narrowed it down immediately, eyes going wide as he shrieked, “SHARON!”

However, he was flying far too quickly, closing in on the two women who were facing each other. Recalling the Dragon Slaver’s reputation, he immediately dove towards the ground and practically crushed his own face, his claws digging constantly to stop the forward momentum. He eventually came to a stop after a hundred metres, a deep groove in the plains behind him, but he rejoiced that he had managed to stop at all.

The two unsuspecting red dragons still flew along in the sky, not able to react nearly as quickly. Once they were within a kilometre of Sharon, they suddenly froze up and hissed in terror, failing to keep control of their wings as they fell from the sky.

At this point, it didn’t matter who the other woman was. No mere black dragon could afford to provoke Sharon. Tegras quickly made a decision and turned around, sprinting along the ground and vanishing in the direction from which he’d come. His two guards were still rolling around in pain, unable to get up.

Was he fleeing? The ferocious and cruel Tegras had actually escaped? The duergar, harpies, and orcs were stumped for a moment, but they quickly connected the dots and dispersed in all directions. The various tribes of the Far North were violent by nature, but they also had to be cunning to survive.

Up in the sky, Apeiron flashed a faint smile, “The bugs are running.”

Sharon’s face was cold, “You’re the one I’m here for. Are you going to run too?”

“No, here’s fine. And I guarantee I won’t run again; have you come to kill me?”

The legendary mage calmed down, “This time, I’m going to beat you up. If you ever make another move against my little Richard, then you’ll die.”

“He’s the one that stole my little Nyris away first. I’ve already been tolerant of that treason.”

Sharon smiled coldly, “Stop quibbling, it’s your fault.”

“Then let’s fight!” The Empress suddenly blinked in front of Sharon, aiming a punch right at her face. It was covered in an electric aura, but the most frightening thing about it was its speed.

However, even as her fist landed on Sharon’s face Apeiron felt a chill in her heart. Knowing there was no way that the legendary mage would have let it land so easily, she retreated almost instinctively. Moments later, she saw an orb of light fly out from her opponent’s hands.

*BOOM!* Sharon’s portal explosion rocked the Far North for the first time, the shockwave and unprecedented heat spreading in all directions and wiping out the fleeing duergar and orcs while knocking the harpies to the ground. The searing flames brushed past Flamewood City, burning down any building that wasn’t protected by a barrier before a mushroom cloud rose into the sky. Seeing the distant explosion, Tegras almost lost his footing before launching up into the sky, getting to his maximum speed and fleeing with no hesitation.

Two silhouettes flew out from the fireball, both appearing to be in a sorry situation. The legendary mage’s robes were tattered and scorched, fresh blood flowing down from her delicate nose with a light hint of bruising around it. A few hundred metres away, Apeiron’s legendary-grade uniform was damaged as well, while her face was pale and burn marks covered her bare skin. Compared to Sharon, her injuries seemed much more severe.

The Empress’s eyes narrowed as she found that her punch had only left a slight nosebleed behind. It had admittedly been a probing attack, with the focus on speed rather than power, but it wasn’t much weaker than a regular full-strength blow. Even a defensive saint would have died to that hit, but it barely left a mark on Sharon’s face. Clearly, the mage’s body had grown stronger than when she had just awakened, while the spatial explosions had grown massively more powerful.

“How does that taste?” Sharon smiled sweetly.

Apeiron grinned with malice herself, “You crazy bitch, you just blew yourself up to hit me!”

“Eeehh, I wouldn’t mind a few more rounds. This means nothing.”

“Oh? Then go ahead, but I won’t be so easy to hit next time.”

As if by some tacit agreement, both of them commenced their attacks together. The plains shuddered as solid ice from thousands of years was vapourised by high heat, mushroom clouds started to blot out the sun. Dragons appeared amidst the explosions, some black, some red, and even some fire dragons. Apeiron’s figure was constantly blinking from place to place, occasionally making its way to one of the dragons and causing it to shriek and fall from the sky before dissipating into mana.

No matter how many dragons the Empress killed, Sharon always maintained it at a dozen chasing her. These dragons were all powerful, capable of injuring Apeiron if she were struck. At one point she appeared on a random black dragon’s back and grabbed it by the horns, but when she tried to twist it with both hands the head only moved a little. Shocked by the resilience that even legendary metal dragons should not have possessed, she exerted all her strength and finally caused the neck to creak. However, she only managed to twist it a quarter turn, but this was still far from the breaking point.

No black dragon had such strength. The Empress realised this was a trap and retreated like lightning, understanding that the dragon wasn’t a magical summon. It turned its head towards her and shot out its breath, neck crunching back into the original position with no real signs of damage. Apeiron instantly recognised the power within the breath and screamed, “Tiamat, how dare you try to fight me? Don’t think the Five-Coloured Dragon can protect you!”

This was indeed the Prime Evil, disguised as a black dragon to try and get close. She shot out another breath attack and smiled, “My master is the beautiful and unrivalled Sharon!”

Given this momentary distraction, Apeiron barely sensed a portal forming behind her and turned around to see Sharon stepping through, blocking off her retreat. Her expression warped and she charged straight in, brazenly engaging in close combat that caused a number of residual shockwaves and spatial tears that even Tiamat wouldn’t dare approach.

*BOOM!* Another explosion rang out with Sharon and Apeiron at the centre, but even as the flames raged the legendary mage shrieked from within and left the space nearby unstable. Tiamat felt a chill down her spine and escaped from range even as Apeiron dashed out within, laughing loudly and retreating into the distance.

Sharon flew out of the fireball as well, clenching both fists and shouting at the disappearing figure, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t escape? I’ll tear your island apart!”

Apeiron had already disappeared, but her voice still rang out in reply, “Touch my island and I’ll kill your little Richard! Hahaha!”

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