The floating archipelago shuddered beneath the shockwaves of Arthur and Roderic's battle, but they weren't the only ones battling.
A few kilometers away Selene faced off alone against the two dragons accompanying Roderic.
The orchard below had emptied almost completely. People hid behind stone outcroppings, inside caves, or behind the shields of the fruit trees, those who were able to comprehend the runes, watching with wide, and terrified eyes.
But Selene floated calmly in the air, her golden slitted eyes narrowed in focus, and her posture relaxed like she was just starting her warm-up.
The two dragons, one with wind affinity and the other cloaked with the darkness of shadow affinity, circled her warily. They could feel they were not her match, but they didn't have to fight her for long and just had to keep her busy till Roderic returned after killing the human.
The dragon with wind affinity, the one who had feminine appearance and sharp-features, chuckled as he looked at the fight between Arthur and Roderic and said, "Princess Selene… you should hand over the mana essence you have collected if you want the human to remain alive."
The shadow dragon, whose body flickered like his body existed in another dimension, added, "Lord Roderic can spare his life. But that depends on…"
Selene raised a single hand and flicked her finger without letting him finish his sentence.
A sphere of compressed light mana flashed into existence and detonated at point blank range of the dragon with shadow affinity.
BOOOOM!
A shockwave of pure luminescence blasted outward, forcing both dragons to cross their arms and shield their faces. The attack didn't harm them much, as they were far stronger than average Archmages, but it sent a message.
She wasn't interested in talking.
Selene hovered there, as lightning crackled and wind wrapped across her figure. She had full trust in Arthur that he would be able to come on top of this situation.
Her voice was calm, unhurried, almost bored as she replied. "You two can come together."
The dragons exchanged a brief glance.
"Arrogant," the wind dragon hissed.
Selene tilted her head. "We'll find out." And then all three vanished.
They collided in the air high above the orchard, three blurs slamming into each other with enough force to scatter the clouds.
The wind dragon swept in first, his wings unleashing a storm of razor-thin wind blades that can easily shred durasteel into ribbons.
Selene raised her palm.
FWOOOOSH!
Space warped around her hand, she had folded a part of her domain inward, creating a distortion that caused the wind blades to bend away, curving harmlessly around her like she was surrounded by an invisible wall.
Before the wind dragon could react, she flickered behind him.
It was not exactly teleportation, more like she warped space, taking a shortcut. As a glowing arc of lightning sliced downward.
CRAAACK!
The wind dragon spun, barely blocking with his arm, but the lightning attack crawled across his forearm, numbing it.
"Damn, she's fast!"
The shadow dragon didn't give her time to follow up.
Dark tendrils burst from the air behind her, spiraling around her ankles, wrists, throat trying to bind her.
Selene didn't even look at them. Her body exploded with light, an aura so bright it stung the eyes of everyone watching and the tendrils evaporated instantly.
Selene turned her head toward the shadow dragon. "You are really stupid if you think those attacks would work against me."
He snarled and lunged. In that moment, their positions blurred again, and each of their clashes shook the air.
…
The onlookers hiding among the trees and boulders were losing their minds.
An elf with silver hair whispered, horrified, "I…Is that… the Dragon Princess… She's fighting alone?"
A dwarf hiding behind a fruit tree muttered, "Those dragons are monsters even when they are so young. But who is that human, how is he able to fight against the dragon prince?!"
A human mage trembled. "I thought the stories about dragons were exaggerated. But this… this is insane."
Someone else swallowed hard. "And that's only her. Look at the other battle!"
They pointed in the direction where Arthur and Roderic were demolishing floating landmasses like toys. Their fight looked like two natural disasters colliding over and over.
And yet, Selene was the one people were more terrified of right now as Arthur and Roderic were mostly fighting with their brute force. But Selene was utilizing multiple affinities so casually, making them question when was the last time someone in history possessed a conceptual affinity like space.
…
A few kilometers away from the orchard island, perched on a floating boulder they considered a "safe distance," Arthur's friends were huddled together, watching two battles simultaneously with pale faces.
Finn's jaw practically hit the ground. "I knew Arthur's girlfriend couldn't be weak… BUT THIS?!" he shouted. "She's a freaking dragon and is soloing two dragons like she's clearing daily quests!"
Eva covered her mouth, and giggled. "What… are you jealous?."
Leon wasn't even trying to hide his shock. "She's… she's not even exerting herself."
Sophia's brows twitched. "I think she's toying with them." Natalya too stared at the fight, dumbfounded.
Finn jabbed his thumb toward Arthur's battlefield, where sonic booms echoed like drumbeats.
"And what about that?! Arthur's out there getting smashed through islands like a ping-pong ball and laughing!"
Leon exhaled, rubbing his temples. "We are seriously underestimating the people we hang out with…"
Sophia nodded stiffly. "We really are."
…
The dragons' teamwork improved. The wind dragon zipped left and right, sending barrages of tornadoes and wind spears.
And the shadow dragon flickered between the darkness, striking from angles people normally couldn't perceive.
But Selene remained unbothered. She didn't rely on overwhelming power, though she had more of it than anyone can expect from her smaller figure compared to the two dragons.
She fought with terrifying precision. Even a small gesture from her caused massive results.
The wind dragon threw a hurricane spear at her, a spiraling vortex condensed to be an extremely sharp-tipped projectile.
Selene just raised one hand.
ZUUUP!
Space folded like paper, and the spear vanished… then reappeared behind the wind dragon.
He shrieked and barely dodged his own attack.
"WHAT!" he yelled.
Selene's expression didn't change. She dived down on him, lightning roaring along her limbs.
CRASH…!!
Her kick hit his shoulder so hard his body spun, smashing through three floating boulders.
The shadow dragon retaliated instantly, drawing the entire area into darkness like ink spilling across the sky, as pitch-black void swallowed everything.
Except for Selene, because her body glowed like a star in the pitch black darkness. The darkness cracked and peeled away around her.
The shadow dragon stumbled back as Selene walked forward slowly, her voice echoing through his collapsing domain.
"Darkness only devours the weak, you should remember that."
She vanished, and appeared right before him.
A spear of pure light materialized in her hand, vibrating with condensed mana. And she rammed it forward.
The shadow dragon twisted desperately, narrowly avoiding a lethal strike, but the spear still carved a burning line across his ribs, sending blood spilling out of the wound.
He roared in pain and anger. "You…how are you this strong?!"
Selene tilted her head. "You came here to attack me. You should be aware of my strength if you are so confident."
The shadow dragon froze.
Her voice grew colder. "Now you will learn why that was a mistake."
The wind dragon reappeared, having finally recovered from being yeeted through kilometers across the floating boulders.
"Together!" he shouted. "We will only have to hold her back for a few more moments until lord Roderic returns!"
Both dragons expanded their domains at full capacity.
Wind howled and darkness congealed, as the very atmosphere twisted under their combined pressure.
And for a moment, it seemed the two dragons had regained control of the battlefield.
Selene stood calmly in the middle, watching as their domain swallowed her like a tidal wave.
Then…
BAAAAAAAAAANG!
Her own domain erupted.
Lightning arced in every direction, light burst forth like a sun exploding, wind wrapped around her like a storm given form. And space rippled in concentric waves, folding and unfolding around her.
The clash of the three domains made the entire space tremble, cracking the floating boulders.
Selene whispered something.
"Fall."
The entire battlefield shifted as she amplified gravity around the dragons through spatial distortion.
The wind dragon crashed downward violently, unable to control his flight.
The shadow dragon, who had started to flicker away to move out of the range of her attack, suddenly solidified, stuck in one place, unable to move.
Both dragons' eyes widened.
"What…?!"
"How…?!"
Selene lifted her hand, and the air vibrated. As two blades made of compressed light formed beside her, which were ten meters long.
With a simple gesture she released them. And the blades shot forward with impossible speed.
WHOOSH… ZAAAAAM… BOOOOM
One cleaved through the wind dragon's domain, then smashed him through multiple floating boulders, leaving a trail of blood behind.
He roared in agony but was unable to put up an effective defence.
The shadow dragon tried to counterattack, conjuring tendrils and blades of darkness, but the second light blade was too fast and struck him straight across the torso, blasting him backward in a cloud of black mist.
Both dragons were left gasping, bleeding, and pale.
Selene stopped, floating above them, her hair waving gently in the chaotic winds.
She asked calmly, "Do you still want to continue?"
The wind dragon coughed, "You… you're a monster."
The shadow dragon spat, "We underestimated you… princess!"
Selene's golden eyes hardened, as she lifted both her hands.
And a massive spell array formed behind her, so large it cast a glowing silhouette over half the archipelago.
The dragons watched in horror, and their instinct screamed at them to run from there.
But they couldn't, as her domain still held them in place like insects pinned under a needle.
Selene said quietly, "You followed me here, you threatened my people."
Her palm widened. "You will regret ever stepping into my path."
The spell detonated.
KRAK-KRRAAAAAAACK… BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The dragons were blasted downward at multiple times the speed of sound, smashing through three floating islands, carving a tunnel of destruction straight through the archipelago.
They finally hit one of the larger islands with such force that nearly split the land in half as their bodies came to a halt.
She had targeted their cores, even if somehow they came out alive from the attack, they would become cripple for life.
…
The onlookers stared at her like she was a force of nature.
One of the demons whispered, "She's on par with our prince… no… maybe stronger."
Another demon looked at her and said, "We have to inform the Demon Lord about her."
They both nodded at each other and quietly left the floating island.
A grandmaster dropped to his knees. "We're lucky she's not our enemy."
Even Leon, and the others watching from afar, felt chills crawling up their spine.
Finn rubbed his arms, shivering. "I… I think Arthur is in more danger from Selene than Roderic."
Sophia smacked the back of his head. "Idiot."
Natalya added softly, "But… she really might be the strongest person we've ever seen."
Leon gazed at Selene with awe.
"Yeah…She's on a completely different level…"
***
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