664 10/11 2:53 (Autumn, Day, Midrar)
Upon seeing the barrier's flickering, none of the Lunar Shatterers hesitated any, Grug stomping downwards and causing the ground around the steel pillar to erupt into long branches that enveloped the pillar, reinforcing its position against the Image's efforts while forcing the mass of Black Blood to slow down slightly in her efforts to separate the pillar from the others or risk being skewered.
Luna, seeing how the barrier was slowly starting to repair, did not hesitate in launching forward an harsh Aura-covered punch against the slowly-recovering barrier, stopping its stabilization and causing it to repeatedly flash yellow, threatening to unravel it right here and now despite the Half-Dwarf's efforts in keeping the barrier safe.
""Volcanic Strenght", correct? I see, an Innate Skill exclusive to the children of Dwarfs and Humans with not only the function of increasing the physical might of the owner but also their Earth- and Fire-Attribute Affinity and Resistance both. The counterpart of the Half-Elves' Innate Skill "Flowing Grace"." The vampiric one casually commented aloud.
Mark immediately moved, intent on reinforcing the barrier with his own efforts and to distract the Lunarian from his friend, activating his Unique Skill and crossing the distance to the copy of the Lunarian, only to widen his eyes mid-travel when he heard a light sound from his chest.
Time slowed down even further in his perspective, turning towards its origin and finally noticing a stain of Black Blood on his chest, stain that was currently burning bright.
He barely had time to widen his eyes, flaring his Aura by instinct alone to minimize the damage, before the stain detonated in his chest, and being sent flying back against a tree, half-shouting to vent his negative emotions before they could influence the way that he fought too much, pulling himself to his feet and ending his Unique Skill at once.
"How?!" He couldn't help but ask aloud before he worked out the answer himself. 'Luna figured out the requirements to bring something with me in my stopped time. Then she simply set some of her Black Blood on me to detonate a certain amount of time after I activated my "Time Walker" as a test, either once Luna was no longer connected with her or she simply guessed when I would activate my Unique Skill and prepared in advance. In other words…'
His Aura exploded outwards, turning on himself and washing his body with a destructive wave of electricity so intense that he even damaged himself despite being its source and the influence of his Spirit.
And demonstrating that his own guess was correct, upon his body traces of Black Blood disguised to be indistinguable from the rest of his clothes boiled and evaporated, saving himself from further explosions, Lightning-Attribute Mana flaring around him before precisely striking at the Image, sending it flying back and in so doing stopping its own efforts to free Luna even further.
However the Lunarian herself did not hesitate in advancing her progress to her liberation, not only continuing on with her Aura-enforced blows but also cutting into her own limbs and using it to create long blades of Black Blood that stabbed in the barrier in the exact opposite place simultaneusly, increasing the stress on the barrier especially once her Familiars joined in cyclically.
As the barrier flashed faster and faster, the white-haired one maximizing the efficiency and precision of her own and her Familiars' attacks and cooperation, causing it to be struck in a semi-constant illuminated state, sparks and short-lived protrusions starting to show up on it despite Grug having put the pillar back in its rightful position to help stabilize it.
Having understood that the situation was worsening, especially with the free Familiar having retreated and hidden beyond her own and her Party Mates' senses, the Magic Eyes-owning Rose decided to intervene despite her Party Leader's request to be as gentle as possible in her support of their battle to not rouse too much Luna's attention.
As her eyes started to glow even brighter, a pink light started to mix with the yellow light before she with her effort forcefully brought it back to its original dome-like shape before she was compressed even more, the pink light demonstrating Rose mastery over it and Mana itself by not only not distorting the barrier but to even interface with the Runes and the barrier to reinforce and stabilize it.
Immediately, Luna's full attention was fixed on the pink lights that combined with the barrier, exactly the reason that Mark told her not to interfere so overly as the Lunarian would easily become intrigued by her capabilities, thing he did not want at all considering his memories from the previous Timelines.
Yet even so Rose's action was the only thing that now maintained the barrier around Luna, hopefully long enough for Aler's preparations to be completed.
The Lunarian, meanwhile, was much more carefully examining the barrier, pushing against it to make sure that the now visible wall would not crush her, Aura flaring around her body before filling the space in the dome entirely, trying to enter in contact with the glow and in so doing with their origin yet finding the barrier to be stubbornly in the way of her efforts.
Luna pouted briefly once even her 'Presence' proved unable to reach outside the barrier before simply attacking not it but the ground beneath her feet, Black Blood freely pouring out from her body and completely filling the barrier except for a very brief space around her, her Spirit retreating within their Artifact.
Mark barely had time to widen his eyes in surprise before the long string of Black Blood connecting Luna's fingers and the rest was severed, a dark spark igniting over her left index finger that slowly floated to the string of blood, bursting into flames and consuming it to grow rapidly.
Immediately the barrier found itself in a much more dangerous situation as burning flames powered by Luna's blood and maintained by her releasing even more in the form of mist that fueled the Blood Flames, causing them to blaze ever more intensely.
"Grug, run now!" Mark screamed, causing the immense Half-Dwarf to immediately create a sphere of incredibly dense vulcanic stone around himself, instinctively moving to protect himself instead of dodging when considering his not exactly spectacular speed.
Even with his sight completely obsured by the dark flames that fed upon her blood, Mark was still able to visualize with his imagination alone as Luna held upwards one of her hands, a new flame held afloot there before it gently floated down, meeting the Blood Flames and rapidly consuming them, showing off the Fire-Attribute tendency of growing out of control.
The dark flames filling the dome immediately were consumed by grey flames that ravaged it, growing out of control, distorting the sphere violently until, despite Rose's best efforts, sparks of the No-Attribute-based Altered Fire-Attribute escaped from the barrier and rapidly spreading over it.
Immediately after, the Blank Flames, empty as they were thanks to the influence of her No-Attribute Affinity joined together with the Fire-Attribute, spread around the barrier, enveloping it completely and causing it to simply cease existing, the Energy forming and fuiling it being devoured to make ever more more flames in an accelerating cycle that exhausted the left-over Anti-Vampire Spell's Well.
And instead of simply exploding out of control, the flames' size having grown enormously thanks to devouring the considerable amount of Energy, it spiraled in on itself, condensing and forming a small sphere that levitated just a little bit over the Lunarian's floating form.
As Luna landed down calmly, her Aura flared up even more, surrounding the sphere of grey flames and starting to compress it even more, being left with only a small grey sphere that illuminated her body only briefly before she brought it to her opened mouth that closed around it, gulping it whole.
Small sparks of densely packed Energy were allowed to escape the container of Aura holding them, ravaging her body from the inside out, burning her and slowly melting her insides, Luna devouring and then recreating her own body cyclically thanks to her Unique Skill "Singularity".
Her Spirit-Image fell down from the sky, melting back in a waterfall of Black Blood that forced Grug to retreat, dodging the sharp blades it formed in its way down, most of the mass sinking back in her widened shadow while the smaller one, the part actually holding her Familiar itself, was absorbed back within her necklace, the gem now writhing and showing a pattern made by skull faces and limbs trying to escape it.
Immediately, her Soul's Durability increased, becoming sturdier and more easily letting her handle the strain caused by the constant burning of her insides, her Simple Domain opening fully to increase her control over her Vital Mana, especially thanks to her F.H.A.#11's Extra Effect that granted her the effects of the Skill "Enhancement: Domain", increasing this way her precision even further.
The Lunarian stretched before calmly ordering outloud. "Core, grant me the Skill "Dragon's Heart" at D-Rank." Immediately, the white haired one felt her connection with her ring increase significantly, as she felt it, and following that her Familiar, join the network of her Vital Energy and in so doing reinforcing her against her Blank Flames.
As her Aura let small amounts of Blank Flames at a time free to rampage within her body, Luna focused on her opponents, her smile widening even more upon the constant damage from the flames she was currently feeling and the growth they would cause as she digested the massive amount of Energy currently stored within her body.
----
Thanks for reading, comment if you have any thoughts about this chapter and story in general or any suggestion at all.
If you want to read chapters in advance of this and my other story, I have a Patreon.
( patr*eon.com/White_Chaos )