Chapter 931: A Broken Power.
Tink, Tink, Tink.
Rumble, Rumble.
Sounds of thunderous rumbling and metals colliding echoed around. In the sky, five blonde-haired women with similar expressions were engaged in a battle.
Clearly, these women were related to each other. Some would say they represented three generations of women from the same Clan, all fighting.
"You're using too much Energy, Sasha," Carmila spoke while hovering in the air, her eyes as well as her Dragon Horns gleaming with her Lightning Power. She was clearly fully charged and brimming with Power.
Another thundering rumble was heard, and in the next moment, Lightning clashed with Carmila, an ear piercing ring echoing out from the impact.
Sasha appeared in front of Carmila, resembling Carmila's appearance, with the only difference being that her arms and legs were covered in yellow Lightning Energy.
Despite the sounds of metals clashing, the women of the Fulger Clan were not using weapons to fight but rather their own hands, which were more powerful than most weapons out there. As it was only joint training to get accustomed to their Power, there was no need to take it too seriously.
... But that wasn't what the other Fulger Clan women thought.
Lightning began to gather near Sasha's chest and Carmila raised an eyebrow as she felt this powerful Energy. In the next moment, she grabbed Sasha's hand, spun her around, and threw the girl away.
Sasha adjusted her center of gravity as denser Lightning began to cover her body, and the weather around her began to change due to the electricity. Sasha's features began to distort and become wilder as golden Dragon Scales appeared around her neck, and her mouth opened unnaturally wide, revealing her sharp teeth. Golden Dragon Wings appeared behind her as if they were there to further adjust her center of gravity.
"... You're all so competitive... Well, you are my descendants, so, of course, you are," Carmila laughed, and just like Sasha, her body was covered in Power, her features beginning to transform, and pure Power began to form in her chest as well.
The way Carmila processed the transformation faster demonstrated her expertise in controlling her body. Even though she now existed in a completely different form than before, the millennia of training in her previous body had not been in vain, and her experience was invaluable.
Yet, even though Sasha didn't have that, she had something else... Pure potential.
In the next moment, two Dragon roars were heard, followed by massive beams of pure plasma.
"Yes, Yes! It's here! The power struggle, Lacus!" Pepper jumped excitedly.
"Yes, Yes, amazing," Lacus responded in a monotone tone to Pepper's enthusiasm.
"The power struggle!"
"Yes, Yes."
"POWER STRUGGLE!"
"I get it already, goddammit," Lacus stomped her foot in irritation, causing a small earthquake around her.
Unfortunately, contrary to what Pepper, Siena, and Lacus expected, there was no Power struggle. As the two beams of power collided, they completely canceled each other out and only caused a deafening explosion of Lightning and thunder.
"... Impossible... There was no power struggle! I even prepared my controller to rotate the analog stick!" Pepper spoke while displaying her console controller.
"... Where did you get that?" Siena asked curiously, as she hadn't seen Pepper with her belongings or her usual bag.
"I made it," Pepper said as if it were something simple to do, which, in the case of True Dragons, was indeed simple, as the Language of Dragons in Rune Form came naturally to them. The only difference was that some had more talent for it than others. However, without exception, all True Dragons could easily use the beginner level of this Power.
But since they had only just turned into Dragons a few hours ago, and Pepper was already using this Power, it showed her potential in this art... Although this potential was not the same as Anna's, who had struggled to control her Power and needed to be sealed by Victor until she could get used to it.
"How did you do that?" Siena asked curiously.
"Hmm... I just thought about what I wanted to create, and I said it out loud? I felt my Energy levels decreasing, and suddenly, what I said appeared."
Despite Pepper's explanation being quite confusing, Siena fully understood what she meant. Although they weren't "geniuses" like Ruby, the Scarlett sisters were not incompetent. You don't become one of Scathach's daughters without having some kind of talent. And as sisters who had known each other for a long time, they understood each other completely.
"Apple."
Siena felt her Energy decreasing, and in the next moment, a red apple, just as she had imagined, appeared in her hand.
"... Why an apple?" Lacus asked, puzzled. Couldn't she have created anything else?
"I've always wanted to try this fruit. After all, it's red like us." Siena opened her mouth and bit into the fruit with her sharp teeth.
"Hmm... It tastes like nothing."
"That's because you don't know the taste of a real apple," Rose interjected into the group. As the oldest Dragon present, she was here to help the other girls with their own understanding.
"Our control over Creation depends entirely on our perspective of Reality, which is why your apple has no taste," she explained.
"I see..." Siena said.
"Hmm..." Lacus opened her hand and said, "Strawberry."
In the next moment, several strawberries appeared in Lacus's hand. She smiled faintly and said, "Try them, Pepper, Siena," handing the fruits to her sisters.
Siena looked at Lacus suspiciously. As the older sister, she was well aware of Lacus's mischievous side. On the other hand, Pepper didn't suspect a thing and simply ate without thinking much.
Pepper opened her eyes wide and then blushed slightly as she looked at Lacus. "Lacus... You..."
"How is it? It's delicious, isn't it?" Lacus asked with the same smile on her face.
"Mm," Pepper nodded, her face blushing even more. She never thought her sister could be so naughty! She expected this kind of behavior from Natashia, Naty, Roberta, Maria, Agnes, or Violet, but not from her sister!
Siena narrowed her eyes suspiciously but also curiously. She looked at the strawberry and then ate it. In the next moment, just like Pepper, she opened her eyes wide and blushed a bit.
"You pervert!" She accused.
Lacus just smiled and didn't say anything, as if she had done nothing wrong.
Curious about what they were talking about, Rose took some strawberries from Siena's hand and ate them, too. Unlike the Scarlett sisters, who reacted intensely, she just raised an amused eyebrow.
"The taste of Victor's seed, huh... That's a rather creative way to use this Power."
"Our control over Creation depends entirely on our perspective of reality," Lacus repeated Rose's words with a cunning smile.
"That means I can make a strawberry taste like any flavor I want."
"But if the strawberry doesn't taste like strawberry, is it still a strawberry? Wouldn't it just be a new food shaped like a strawberry?" Pepper asked. "It just wouldn't be a strawberry, right?"
"Not exactly... Since Lacus doesn't know the taste of a 'strawberry,' she can improvise with her own perspective and imagination. In a way, it wouldn't be wrong because, from her point of view, that's how a strawberry should be," Rose explained.
"This Power is quite dangerous," Siena narrowed her eyes. "If we're not careful, we can cause irreversible damage."
"That's why Darling is personally taking care of Anna. He's the only one who won't be affected by her Powers since he's too strong for that," Scathach said as she walked toward her daughters. Without saying anything, she took the strawberry from Lacus's hand and swallowed it.
"Mm, delicious," she displayed a satisfied and somewhat indecent smile.
Siena, Lacus, and Pepper just stared at their mother incredulously but they shook their heads as if they had no choice.
Several thunderous noises were heard again, this time a bit closer to them. The group looked up and saw Carmila in the middle, dealing with Sasha, Natashia, Naty, and Victoria.
Even in a 4-on-1 situation with all her opponents being Dragons, with Carmila's experience, she was holding up quite well. Though, she was clearly being pressured; she had completely stopped talking to focus on the fight.
The five women disappeared again, leaving behind Lightning trails, and clashed in the middle of the arena. The fight was so fast that if it weren't for the Dragons' abnormal senses, the spectators wouldn't have been able to even see what was happening.
And even for Scathach, she wouldn't be an exception because, due to Race change, the women of the Fulger Clan had become even faster, capable of making several moves in less than a second.
For example, when Carmila, Victoria, Naty, Natashia, and Sasha clashed again, Sasha attacked Carmila's face with her claws, who defended the attack before retaliating, only to miss as Sasha dodged the blow and moved away by kicking Carmila's stomach.
Next, Natashia came from behind and attacked with her Lightning Claws, causing damage to Carmila. The older woman growled, turned around, and punched her daughter's face before disappearing to attack Naty, who was approaching from the other side. But while she was focused on Naty, Victoria came from the side and tried to kick her back.
Sensing danger, Carmila threw herself forward, avoiding the attack and falling to the ground while supporting herself with her hands, then attacking Naty's face with her feet.
All of these moves happened in less than a second!
The Fulger Clan was putting into practice what great warriors always said: that 1 second was enough to completely change the rhythm of the battle.
With their current speed, the girls had their own fighting rhythm, and just with this speed, they were superior to many other Beings out there, even their own sisters. After all, the Fulger Clan not only had absurd speed but also the explosive physical power of True Dragons.
"... If this planet weren't strengthened by Darling, I would really think this place could be destroyed," Agnes couldn't help but say, catching everyone's attention.
Currently, Agnes, Rose, Scathach, Eleonor, Violet, Natashia, Sasha, Carmila, Victoria, Naty, Siena, Lacus, and Pepper were training in this coliseum specifically designed by Victor to withstand the Power of a Dragon.
The Fulger, Snow, Scarlett, and Adrastella Clans were participating in the joint training in this arena, while the other girls and Goddesses were in different arenas.
Due to being different Beings, the Goddesses were in a separate arena that was even more resistant than this one. After all, they weren't just ordinary Goddesses but Dragon Goddesses, so their Powers were elevated to the maximum.
"I don't think this planet can be so easily destroyed... You can feel it, right?" Eleonor said.
"Yes..." Agnes nodded when she understood what Eleonor was talking about. As a Dragon, they could all tell just how 'strong' this planet was, and from what they could feel emanating from its center, the amount of Energy sustaining this planet was surreal.
"Carmila is certainly astute," Scathach said after observing the Fulger Clan's fight for a few minutes.
"What do you mean, Mother?" Siena asked.
"I'm talking about her using her descendants to recover her ancient instincts while also helping them get used to their bodies."
"...Hmm, is she really that strong? I know she's Natashia's mother, but she's barely fighting back in the battle."
"Carmila is older than me, you know?" Scathach smiled. "She belongs to the ancient generation of Vampire Counts, and unlike the current generation that kind of 'inherited' the Title, Carmila had to fight against several other Elder Vampires from the past who weren't weak. Not to mention, she never completely stopped training... Even if she couldn't get stronger due to her body's limitations, her Techniques weren't stagnant."
"Just think of me, but a bit older who never stopped training but couldn't train like me because of her responsibilities." Scathach wasn't exaggerating, just stating facts.
Although Carmila never stopped training, she had to divide her time between leading the Clan and handling the Clan's growing businesses from the past. Because of this, she never had the opportunity to fully focus on her training. However, she never completely abandoned it. Just because of this, she was already better than many lazy Noble Vampires out there.
After speaking so much, the Scarlett sisters had no choice but to watch Carmila, as Scathach rarely praised someone's abilities as she did now. The last time she did so was with Victor, and everyone knows what kind of monster he has become.
"As for her not being able to fight back completely... Well, isn't that normal? After all, her daughters and granddaughter aren't weak. With the improvement brought by the Race change, it's quite surprising that she can still handle her four descendants," Scathach said.
"Don't forget the fact that she also has the experience of observing Natashia," Rose added.
"Indeed," Scathach nodded.
"That's why I say combat experience is quite important," Rose said.
"Correct," Scathach nodded again.
"... But what about Victor? He wasn't exactly experienced when he destroyed a Pantheon, right?" Pepper asked innocently.
Rose and Scathach's faces twitched slightly.
"Don't use Victor as your marker for common sense. Besides, even someone experienced can't deal with a Power that superior," Rose said.
"Mm, as expected of Darling, he's the strongest," Pepper nodded in satisfaction.
....
