Chapter 201: Aurora’s Spartan training
"Those who are strong enough can sense the thought transmission channel between you and your weapon, they can also interfere with it too-
-Just like this. It’s up to you to become able to hide that channel, that way they won’t be able to listen in, I’d teach you.]
Suddenly hearing Hades’ words but with Celestia’s voice, Arthur could not help but feel a chill down his spine, same with Celestia...if she had a spine.
Hades laughed at Arthur’s reaction before continuing.
"Let’s carry on boy, try to impress me."
◇ ◇ ◇
Let’s backtrack a bit to right after Hades and Arthur began their training. Aurora carried the remaining quartet with her and warped to the other hemisphere of the planet.
"There should be no interruptions."
She scanned the area and spoke after confirming there was nothing capable of interrupting their training. Turning to the quartet in front of her, she continued.
"Layla, intermediate stage grandmaster,
Nicole, inferior stage grandmaster,
Edward?...inferior stage grandmaster, and
Esna was it? Superior stage master.
The four of you combined should be able to take on a small island country together. Provided they do not have anyone in the intermediate stage of the grandmaster realm and above there."
Aurora’s words left the four of them slack-jawed. Layla snapped out of it first and hurriedly refuted.
"No, No, NO. Your majesty, your standards are ridiculously high and while I appreciate the fact that you think of us highly, it’s simply impossible."
Esna and Nicole nodded in affirmation upon hearing Layla’s words. Seeing them denying it, Aurora tilted her head to the side and spoke.
"That’s weird, I could take an island country on my own when I was a superior stage grandmaster. I assumed I was the same for you, after all, four of you can deal with a superior stage."
Seeing the serious look on Aurora’s face as she spoke sent a chill down their spines. Layla was already thinking about potential means to run.
"But I am not unreasonable and I also know when to stop joking."
Her next words made them heave sighs of relief, Aurora spoke with a straight face that it was almost impossible to tell she was joking.
[Authority of Life: Utopia of the Living]
She activated an authority before releasing her aura and spoke with a narrowed gaze.
"I would limit my strength to around your level so the four of you, try your best to take me down, I would not attack first. I will only defend and counterattack.
You have an hour, begin."
The sudden release of a hot flame-attributed aura made the four turn serious instantly, Layla gave out orders before she pulled out her assault rifle and opened fire.
"Esna you handle magic support, Use anything you can.
Nicole, you help us deal with her flames and provide offensive support when necessary.
Edward, I am counting on you to tank for us and overload her using lightning.
I’d handle the main offence."
Her orders were swift and precise, she wasted no time in opening fire the moment she was done speaking.
***PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPA!!!!!!!
**BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
The assault rifle had an extended magazine attached to it so the sound of the gunshots lasted longer than usual.
The first set of bullets exploded upon contact with aurora’s flame aura, however, by the time she was firing from the extended magazine, the ground froze over and Aurora’s flame aura was nullified by Nicole’s magic.
Two giant chains of ice burst from the ground and tried to ensnare her, however, she easily caught them in her hands and melted the two chains, turning them into water puddles.
The ground then burst open as iron spikes erupted from the ground Underneath Aurora’s feet and tried to pierce her.
She jumped up to avoid the spikes before grabbing one of them and melting it, she then reformed the molten iron into arrows and sent them in Esna’s direction.
Immediately after she did that, she turned around to block the sword that came from above, with a flaming sword of her own.
Raising a finger, she flicked the forehead of the wielder, causing them to disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Your illusions or clones are strong for your level but are ultimately still weak."
Aurora’s body glitched slightly in the smoke as turned her gaze to the real Layla whose sword was heading towards her head. She intended to tilt her neck to dodge but her body suddenly froze over, sealing her movements long enough for Layla’s blade to reach.
"Hmmm..."
Her whole body suddenly burst into flames, melting the ice instantly and almost burning Layla, however, a blue sigil appeared on her forehead alongside a thin blue coat of magic that acted like a protective skin, shielding her from the flames and their head.
Edward, who had been silent from the beginning, suddenly appeared in between Layla and Aurora with a great shield in hand.
"Absorb."
With that one word, Aurora’s flames suddenly went out like how a blown-out candle would, causing a look of surprise to appear on her face.
He then slammed the shield on her, sending her body flying in the direction of the giant golem waiting with arms wide open.
"Ha!"
Esna gave a loud cry as she commanded her golem to grab Aurora and slam her into the ground with the greatest force it could muster.
The Golem then picked her up and threw her into the air before her passive flame aura which returned after being absorbed by Edward, melted the golem’s arms.
"Nicole!"
Layla shouted out as she landed back on the ground with Edward, before bringing out as many guns as she could from her inter-spatial ring and tossing them into the air where they remained silent.
Nicole on the other hand slammed her palms together and nearly a dozen blue three-ringed magic circles appeared in a semi-circle formation above her head.
"Water wyrms."
From them, serpentine dragons emerged and charged towards the airborne Aurora, each with their jaws open and intending to bite.
Edward flicked his fingers and his great shield disappeared, in place a longsword appeared, with tendrils of lightning crackling around it.
"Paladin’s Judgement."
He rose the sword up and a magic circle appeared above his head and absorbed the lightning from the sword.
Another appeared above Aurora’s body and the lightning was released as a single bolt that dropped down at a speed faster than the eye could see.
Next, Nicole’s water wyrms all crashed into her at the same time.
***KABOOOMMMM!!!
As if the lightning and water combination was not enough, Esna decided to add more to the mix by utilizing another spell in her arsenal.
"Super conduct!"
A portal opened up underneath the explosion and high-pressure cold wind flew in, freezing aurora’s body in a block of ice with the enormous amount of water around her, and then Edward’s lightning dropped again.
***CRACKLE!!!
The combination resulted in what should have been an area of effect lightning and ice damage concentrated solely on a single point; Aurora’s body.
***BOOOM!!!!
Aurora crashed down to the ground as Edward deactivated his magic and placed his sword on his shoulder. His fighting style was that of a typical paladin.
He used a long sword in tandem with a great shield, however, he occasionally used only one of the two like he just did.
He was a warrior, first and foremost, proficient in heavy arms and armour, but at the same time had exceptional magic abilities, especially in the lighting department.
When using a great shield, he was able to absorb a certain level of energy-based attacks and use that energy to either strengthen himself or release it as an attack like he just did with the Paladin’s judgment.
Staring at the spot Aurora crash-landed in, he asked Layla with a skeptical tone.
"Is it really that easy to take down a deity?"
"Of course not, she’s obviously playing with us. She barely even reacted and just let our attacks hit her without even trying to defend."
Layla shot back with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. The next moment her annoyance turned to shock as she heard Aurora’s voice coming from behind her.
"Of course, I wasn’t reacting, that wasn’t me after all."
She hurriedly turned around and released an aura slash but Aurora caught the sword in her fingers before continuing.
"That was a clone, the real me would counter-attack; Like this."
She pulled Layla’s sword towards herself and created a wall of flames to block the water lance that Nicole threw at her.
She then delivered a palm strike to Layla’s torso but surprisingly, Layla took no damage nor was she knocked back. Her torso was covered in a thick layer of aura and her feet were rooted into the ground.
"Hmm..?"
Layla flicked the fingers of her free hand and the guns she threw in the air earlier, all turned their muzzles towards Aurora and fired.
**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
**PAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPAPA!!!!!
The bullets were all fired towards Aurora’s head, however, her literally flaming hair melted them all before they could hit her.
Layla then snapped her fingers and the bullets began exploding the moment they got even the slightest bit close to her head.
**BOOM BOOM!!! BOOM!!!!! BOOM!!!!!
