[Luna POV]
Before I could respond any further, Reverious dashed towards me. Once he was right in front of me, he punched with his left fist. I deflected his strike with an arm. At the same time I did that, he used the blade-like tip of his tail to try and stab me in the back. I blinked to a spot not too far behind him. He quickly turned around and jumped towards me again.
“I know you’ve been watching me for the last few days, so you should know that this isn’t going to get you anywhere, but I’m willing to dance until you tire yourself out.” (Luna)
He didn’t reply and just increased the speed of his attacks. As I dodged, blocked, and parried his attacks, he constantly attempted to catch me off guard. At one point he even started to use space magic to attack from multiple different directions at once, but I preempted his strikes by making them go through portals that I made. I could have just stopped his space magic like I have been, but that would only prolong this encounter, so I decided to see what he could really do.
“Is…This…All…A…Prospective…Goddess…Capable…Of!? Why…Don’t…You…Fight…Back!?” (Reverious)
“Simple, I don’t want to just yet. It’s basic battle tactics. See what your enemy is capable of before going on the attack. Not to mention that I could end this in one strike, but it wouldn’t really be a satisfying fight with a dragon if I did that, so I’m observing for now. And I must say, you are doing quite well so far.” (Luna)
If this was an anime, he would have gotten one of those tic marks popping up on his head because his eyes started to shine even more murderously that before. His speed increased even further yet he still couldn’t touch me. After several minutes of constant dodging, he changed it up and used a kick. I blinked backwards to avoid it and stood where I ended up with my arms crossed.
“Done warming up?” (Luna)
“GRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!” (Reverious)
A wave of mana came from his body and his horns grew a little longer and more scales started to appear on the parts of his body that I could see. His speed also increased to a point that, to a normal person, he would look like he was blinking around, but I knew he wasn’t. Once again we spent a few minutes in a deadlock of me avoiding every one of his attacks while I got used to his rhythm. Once I felt like I had a good grasp on him, I decided it was my turn. After parrying one of his strikes, I performed a quick jab to the center of his chest. This sent him flying back. To stop himself, he plunged his tail into the ground and left a long gash before coming to a complete stop.
“Oh, I should set up a domain.” (Luna)
A quick snap of my fingers and that was done, so now we didn’t have to worry about collateral damage. I also excluded the others so that they wouldn’t get dragged into the ‘fight.’
“What is this!?” (Reverious)
“A Domain. Now we can go all out if we want and not have to worry about damaging the environment or hurting people. Once this is gone, all of the damage will fade away like an illusion.” (Luna)
“Heh. A mistake on your part then, allowing me to go all out. Though I must kill you in order to claim my place in the ranks of the divine, I will commend you on your master of space magic and that punch. You have clearly been taught well.” (Reverious)
“Oh? Do I have your real attention now? I may have given up on my battle mania, but even if it’s just at the level of playing around, I don’t mind losing myself in the moment a bit. Call it my last bit of combative fun in the mortal world.” (Luna)
I pulled my short sword that I received from Blake all the way at the beginning of this life out of my inventory and readied it.
“Though I do have to warn you, it’s called a Domain for a reason.” (Luna)
I smiled and the constellations above us and in my tails started to shine as I applied all the buffs at once to myself and Reverious. I also readied the bow and chain constellations and opened up thousands of Gates and illusory Gates.
“Show me what a dragon is truly made of!” (Luna)
I saw a small smile appear on his grumpy face and he blinked towards me. I dodged with minimal movement and swung my sword at him in return. He blinked back before kicking off a building and coming at me with a flying kick. I caught his foot and flung him away.
“Why do most brawlers do that, it’s so easy to counter.” (Luna)
“Apologies for the disappointment then. But I must say, you have prepared such an arsenal of things to attack with, yet haven’t used them yet. Why?” (Reverious)
“Simply because it’s not the time yet. A fight is more than just trading blows physically or magically. It’s in equal parts mental as it is physical.” (Luna)
“You must have had a good teacher, if you are so young, but wise in the ways of warfare.” (Reverious)
“Had one of the best in the world, in my opinion. He is the General of an entire country’s army after all.” (Luna)
“As fine a teacher as any.” (Reverious)
He once again shot forward, but this time he went through an opening in space and appeared behind me. I blocked the strike with a stellar magic shield before aiming and sweep for where he was going to land. Before I hit, he blinked behind me again and aimed his tail at me. After blocking the strike, I fired one of the constellation bows. He dodged backwards but I didn’t relent. Beams of silver light shot toward him as chains, both illusory, real, or stellar snaked towards him in an attempt to subdue him.
“Fufufufufufufufufufufu. Come on, show me more of what you can do! I won’t end this sparring match until I see everything! AHHHH! IT’S SO MUCH FUN LETTING ALL THE INHIBITIONS GO!” (Luna)
{Luna.}
“Sorry Tamamo, I’m falling into old habits again. I’m trying, but it’s hard not to when playing with someone like this.” (Luna)
{That’s fine, but remember that you still need him to be alive.}
“I know. I’m going to end it soon.” (Luna)
“Ku! Kuku! Kukukukuahahahahahahahahahahahaha! End it soon!? Nonsense! I will be the one to end it!” (Reverious)
As soon as he finished saying that, even more mana burst from his body that earlier. I stopped all of my spells and chains to allow him the opportunity to transform. Reverious was soon engulfed in light and the shape in the center rapidly changed from humanoid to a large and slender one. When the light died down, a majestic eastern-style dragon was standing there. He had a mane the same color as his hair only strands of gold were now woven in. Jagged teeth peeked out of the edges of his mouth. The horns on his head branched out like tree branches tipped with gold.
“Hah!” (Reverious)
He shot forward and just as he was about to hit me, I made another stellar magic shield in front of me.
“Now, now, I was kind enough to let you do this, so it’s only natural for you to show me the same respect, don’t you think?” (Luna)
I kicked him in the face and sent him flying into a building. I then used one of my rarely used skills. My perspective changed and soon I was in my fox form. This form had grown again and now I was just as big as Reverious.
{Oh my. The pattern of your tails has spread across your entire body now. It’s very pretty.}
“Thank you. Though it’s funny, at least to me, since I can now be considered a Starfox. Fufufufufufufufu.” (Luna)
While chuckling to myself at the joke I just made, I put my sword into my inventory again since it was too small to be used and instead prepared even more Gates. The constellations above me shone even brighter and the two foxes looked down at my with what looked like reverence. When Reverious climbed out of the now ruined building and saw me, his shock was visible, even with a dragon’s face.
“Hmm. Such a beautiful form. One fitting for a goddess.” (Reverious)
{Back off, Old Man, she’s mine!}
“You heard her, I’m hers and she’s mine, so there is no room for you to intrude.” (Luna)
“Pah! You know what I meant, you damn vixen!” (Reverious)
“Fufufufu. Have you noticed? The longer this goes on, the less upset you seem. Are you finally accepting reality?” (Luna)
“Far from it, my frustration remains, but as a dragon, it would be discourteous of me to not complement the strength of my opponent. Our paths, drink, and fights are three things we dragons love above all things. Though fights have fallen out of favor in recent years.” (Reverious)
“I see. Anyway, shall we wrap this up, we have important things to do after this and I have a golden apple to claim. Oh, and I’ll let you in on something good, though it’s not godhood, you do have another option that you can take. But like I said, we’ll speak about that after this is over.” (Luna)
I jumped forward and swung my claws at Reverious. He dodged backwards but slammed his head into a shield of stellar magic. My claws dug into his scales and pierced them like wet paper.
“GAH!” (Reverious)
“Point Luna!” (Luna)
“GRRR!” (Reverious)
While I still had my claws dug into his side, he snaked his head around and tried to bite me, but when his fangs made contact with my back, he was met with a mouth full of ice. I then used lightning magic and shocked him so that he gave up and tried to disengage. He nearly managed to by I grabbed him by the tail and whipped him around like a whip. The rumbling of the ground and the distruction of the buildings told just how much damage that did to him. Unfortunately, it seemed like I bit down a bit too hard since I could taste his blood.
“I honestly don’t know how vampires like Velvet can drink this stuff. It’s gross.” (Luna)
Reverious tried to get away, but I whipped him around one more time for good measure before spitting his tail out. I then used stellar magic chains to bind him and returned to my normal form. I then changed my domain and allowed the others to show up inside.
“…” (Ling, Nian, and Dusk)
“THE VILLAGE!” (Reed)
“Calm down, I don’t know how, but this place is just a copy of it.” (Ch’en)
“She really took down Old Reverious. I know what the others said is true, but it’s another thing completely to see it.” (Lisk)
While the other dragons present were shocked, my party members came over to me. Before I spoke, I spit some of Reverious’s blood from my mouth.
“Oh, did he actually manage to get you to bleed?” (Velvet)
“No, I just bit too hard in my fox form.” (Luna)
I spit out more blood.
“And by the way, this is absolutely disgusting.” (Luna)
“I wouldn’t expect it to. Blood never really tastes good, even to us, though there are exceptions.” (Velvet)
She said this as she glanced at Soleil, but I pretended not to notice.
“So, what was it like fighting a dragon?” (Skadi)
“Fun. I mean, he never managed to hit me, even when I buffed him to high heaven, but still fun.” (Luna)
“So, when are you going to call that spirit king nya?” (Mio)
“In a minute. We need this guy to wake up first.” (Luna)
“Just wake him up, big sis. We have other things we want to do, remember.” (Soleil)
“I know.” (Luna)
I poked Reverious and used some ice magic. He immediately woke up from the freezing ice and tried to move, but the chains held him down.
“RELEASE ME!” (Reverious)
“I don’t think I will. We need to have a serious discussion, so you trying to fight me again is out of the question.” (Luna)
I tapped my foot on the ground and Hoshi appeared, still asleep while standing.
“Hoshi, wake up.” (Luna)
[Agk! Oh, Goddess, mine, what’s the matter!?] (Hoshi)
“I bagged us a prospective demispirit, so mind explaining things to him?” (Luna)
[You work fast, oh Goddess mine.] (Hoshi)
Hoshi walked over to Reverious’s face and crouched down to look directly into one of his eyes.
[Nice to meet you, Reverious the dragon. I’m Hoshi, the Spirit King of space spirits, and I have a proposition for you.] (Hoshi)
Chaos Realm:
Astraea: Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! That was fun. That lizard thing was all punchy and Miss Luna was all *woosh woosh* and sparkly!
Evelyn: Gahahahahahahahahahahaha! And the lizard was flung around like a toy! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I feel I should be worried.
Order: Same.
Atmos: It's fine. Nothing's wrong with some play fighting in a world like this one.
True. Though it would have been fun to see Luna actually going all out. She hasn't done that since her first fight with kobolds.
Order: Isn't that like, the only time she could have gone all out?
And?
Order: ...Meh.
Atmos: That's the proper response.
Indeed.
[Luna POV]
Before I could respond any further, Reverious dashed towards me. Once he was right in front of me, he punched with his left fist. I deflected his strike with an arm. At the same time I did that, he used the blade-like tip of his tail to try and stab me in the back. I blinked to a spot not too far behind him. He quickly turned around and jumped towards me again.
“I know you’ve been watching me for the last few days, so you should know that this isn’t going to get you anywhere, but I’m willing to dance until you tire yourself out.” (Luna)
He didn’t reply and just increased the speed of his attacks. As I dodged, blocked, and parried his attacks, he constantly attempted to catch me off guard. At one point he even started to use space magic to attack from multiple different directions at once, but I preempted his strikes by making them go through portals that I made. I could have just stopped his space magic like I have been, but that would only prolong this encounter, so I decided to see what he could really do.
“Is…This…All…A…Prospective…Goddess…Capable…Of!? Why…Don’t…You…Fight…Back!?” (Reverious)
“Simple, I don’t want to just yet. It’s basic battle tactics. See what your enemy is capable of before going on the attack. Not to mention that I could end this in one strike, but it wouldn’t really be a satisfying fight with a dragon if I did that, so I’m observing for now. And I must say, you are doing quite well so far.” (Luna)
If this was an anime, he would have gotten one of those tic marks popping up on his head because his eyes started to shine even more murderously that before. His speed increased even further yet he still couldn’t touch me. After several minutes of constant dodging, he changed it up and used a kick. I blinked backwards to avoid it and stood where I ended up with my arms crossed.
“Done warming up?” (Luna)
“GRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!” (Reverious)
A wave of mana came from his body and his horns grew a little longer and more scales started to appear on the parts of his body that I could see. His speed also increased to a point that, to a normal person, he would look like he was blinking around, but I knew he wasn’t. Once again we spent a few minutes in a deadlock of me avoiding every one of his attacks while I got used to his rhythm. Once I felt like I had a good grasp on him, I decided it was my turn. After parrying one of his strikes, I performed a quick jab to the center of his chest. This sent him flying back. To stop himself, he plunged his tail into the ground and left a long gash before coming to a complete stop.
“Oh, I should set up a domain.” (Luna)
A quick snap of my fingers and that was done, so now we didn’t have to worry about collateral damage. I also excluded the others so that they wouldn’t get dragged into the ‘fight.’
“What is this!?” (Reverious)
“A Domain. Now we can go all out if we want and not have to worry about damaging the environment or hurting people. Once this is gone, all of the damage will fade away like an illusion.” (Luna)
“Heh. A mistake on your part then, allowing me to go all out. Though I must kill you in order to claim my place in the ranks of the divine, I will commend you on your master of space magic and that punch. You have clearly been taught well.” (Reverious)
“Oh? Do I have your real attention now? I may have given up on my battle mania, but even if it’s just at the level of playing around, I don’t mind losing myself in the moment a bit. Call it my last bit of combative fun in the mortal world.” (Luna)
I pulled my short sword that I received from Blake all the way at the beginning of this life out of my inventory and readied it.
“Though I do have to warn you, it’s called a Domain for a reason.” (Luna)
I smiled and the constellations above us and in my tails started to shine as I applied all the buffs at once to myself and Reverious. I also readied the bow and chain constellations and opened up thousands of Gates and illusory Gates.
“Show me what a dragon is truly made of!” (Luna)
I saw a small smile appear on his grumpy face and he blinked towards me. I dodged with minimal movement and swung my sword at him in return. He blinked back before kicking off a building and coming at me with a flying kick. I caught his foot and flung him away.
“Why do most brawlers do that, it’s so easy to counter.” (Luna)
“Apologies for the disappointment then. But I must say, you have prepared such an arsenal of things to attack with, yet haven’t used them yet. Why?” (Reverious)
“Simply because it’s not the time yet. A fight is more than just trading blows physically or magically. It’s in equal parts mental as it is physical.” (Luna)
“You must have had a good teacher, if you are so young, but wise in the ways of warfare.” (Reverious)
“Had one of the best in the world, in my opinion. He is the General of an entire country’s army after all.” (Luna)
“As fine a teacher as any.” (Reverious)
He once again shot forward, but this time he went through an opening in space and appeared behind me. I blocked the strike with a stellar magic shield before aiming and sweep for where he was going to land. Before I hit, he blinked behind me again and aimed his tail at me. After blocking the strike, I fired one of the constellation bows. He dodged backwards but I didn’t relent. Beams of silver light shot toward him as chains, both illusory, real, or stellar snaked towards him in an attempt to subdue him.
“Fufufufufufufufufufufu. Come on, show me more of what you can do! I won’t end this sparring match until I see everything! AHHHH! IT’S SO MUCH FUN LETTING ALL THE INHIBITIONS GO!” (Luna)
{Luna.}
“Sorry Tamamo, I’m falling into old habits again. I’m trying, but it’s hard not to when playing with someone like this.” (Luna)
{That’s fine, but remember that you still need him to be alive.}
“I know. I’m going to end it soon.” (Luna)
“Ku! Kuku! Kukukukuahahahahahahahahahahahaha! End it soon!? Nonsense! I will be the one to end it!” (Reverious)
As soon as he finished saying that, even more mana burst from his body that earlier. I stopped all of my spells and chains to allow him the opportunity to transform. Reverious was soon engulfed in light and the shape in the center rapidly changed from humanoid to a large and slender one. When the light died down, a majestic eastern-style dragon was standing there. He had a mane the same color as his hair only strands of gold were now woven in. Jagged teeth peeked out of the edges of his mouth. The horns on his head branched out like tree branches tipped with gold.
“Hah!” (Reverious)
He shot forward and just as he was about to hit me, I made another stellar magic shield in front of me.
“Now, now, I was kind enough to let you do this, so it’s only natural for you to show me the same respect, don’t you think?” (Luna)
I kicked him in the face and sent him flying into a building. I then used one of my rarely used skills. My perspective changed and soon I was in my fox form. This form had grown again and now I was just as big as Reverious.
{Oh my. The pattern of your tails has spread across your entire body now. It’s very pretty.}
“Thank you. Though it’s funny, at least to me, since I can now be considered a Starfox. Fufufufufufufufu.” (Luna)
While chuckling to myself at the joke I just made, I put my sword into my inventory again since it was too small to be used and instead prepared even more Gates. The constellations above me shone even brighter and the two foxes looked down at my with what looked like reverence. When Reverious climbed out of the now ruined building and saw me, his shock was visible, even with a dragon’s face.
“Hmm. Such a beautiful form. One fitting for a goddess.” (Reverious)
{Back off, Old Man, she’s mine!}
“You heard her, I’m hers and she’s mine, so there is no room for you to intrude.” (Luna)
“Pah! You know what I meant, you damn vixen!” (Reverious)
“Fufufufu. Have you noticed? The longer this goes on, the less upset you seem. Are you finally accepting reality?” (Luna)
“Far from it, my frustration remains, but as a dragon, it would be discourteous of me to not complement the strength of my opponent. Our paths, drink, and fights are three things we dragons love above all things. Though fights have fallen out of favor in recent years.” (Reverious)
“I see. Anyway, shall we wrap this up, we have important things to do after this and I have a golden apple to claim. Oh, and I’ll let you in on something good, though it’s not godhood, you do have another option that you can take. But like I said, we’ll speak about that after this is over.” (Luna)
I jumped forward and swung my claws at Reverious. He dodged backwards but slammed his head into a shield of stellar magic. My claws dug into his scales and pierced them like wet paper.
“GAH!” (Reverious)
“Point Luna!” (Luna)
“GRRR!” (Reverious)
While I still had my claws dug into his side, he snaked his head around and tried to bite me, but when his fangs made contact with my back, he was met with a mouth full of ice. I then used lightning magic and shocked him so that he gave up and tried to disengage. He nearly managed to by I grabbed him by the tail and whipped him around like a whip. The rumbling of the ground and the distruction of the buildings told just how much damage that did to him. Unfortunately, it seemed like I bit down a bit too hard since I could taste his blood.
“I honestly don’t know how vampires like Velvet can drink this stuff. It’s gross.” (Luna)
Reverious tried to get away, but I whipped him around one more time for good measure before spitting his tail out. I then used stellar magic chains to bind him and returned to my normal form. I then changed my domain and allowed the others to show up inside.
“…” (Ling, Nian, and Dusk)
“THE VILLAGE!” (Reed)
“Calm down, I don’t know how, but this place is just a copy of it.” (Ch’en)
“She really took down Old Reverious. I know what the others said is true, but it’s another thing completely to see it.” (Lisk)
While the other dragons present were shocked, my party members came over to me. Before I spoke, I spit some of Reverious’s blood from my mouth.
“Oh, did he actually manage to get you to bleed?” (Velvet)
“No, I just bit too hard in my fox form.” (Luna)
I spit out more blood.
“And by the way, this is absolutely disgusting.” (Luna)
“I wouldn’t expect it to. Blood never really tastes good, even to us, though there are exceptions.” (Velvet)
She said this as she glanced at Soleil, but I pretended not to notice.
“So, what was it like fighting a dragon?” (Skadi)
“Fun. I mean, he never managed to hit me, even when I buffed him to high heaven, but still fun.” (Luna)
“So, when are you going to call that spirit king nya?” (Mio)
“In a minute. We need this guy to wake up first.” (Luna)
“Just wake him up, big sis. We have other things we want to do, remember.” (Soleil)
“I know.” (Luna)
I poked Reverious and used some ice magic. He immediately woke up from the freezing ice and tried to move, but the chains held him down.
“RELEASE ME!” (Reverious)
“I don’t think I will. We need to have a serious discussion, so you trying to fight me again is out of the question.” (Luna)
I tapped my foot on the ground and Hoshi appeared, still asleep while standing.
“Hoshi, wake up.” (Luna)
[Agk! Oh, Goddess, mine, what’s the matter!?] (Hoshi)
“I bagged us a prospective demispirit, so mind explaining things to him?” (Luna)
[You work fast, oh Goddess mine.] (Hoshi)
Hoshi walked over to Reverious’s face and crouched down to look directly into one of his eyes.
[Nice to meet you, Reverious the dragon. I’m Hoshi, the Spirit King of space spirits, and I have a proposition for you.] (Hoshi)
Chaos Realm:
Astraea: Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! That was fun. That lizard thing was all punchy and Miss Luna was all *woosh woosh* and sparkly!
Evelyn: Gahahahahahahahahahahaha! And the lizard was flung around like a toy! GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I feel I should be worried.
Order: Same.
Atmos: It's fine. Nothing's wrong with some play fighting in a world like this one.
True. Though it would have been fun to see Luna actually going all out. She hasn't done that since her first fight with kobolds.
Order: Isn't that like, the only time she could have gone all out?
And?
Order: ...Meh.
Atmos: That's the proper response.
Indeed.
