Chapter 453 Tickling The Dragon
Thud! Arad teleported into the castle's garden with Isdis and the maids, "We really came back," The twins looked around, astounded at Arad's teleportation range.
They walked across the garden. Walking past the sprawling fountain under the sunlight. But then, he stopped.
"What is it?" Isdis stared at Arad, and he smiled, "You three head inside. I have something to deal with,"
Isdis and the maids looked at the keep's door, seeing Eris standing there in the shadows, her eyes glowing purple.
With one step forward, she walked out into the sun, plasma cracking from her eyes.
"Run," Arad pushed Isdis and the maids away. He then smiled, "The dragon scent in you has gotten stronger. What did you do?"
Eris lifted her hand, summoning a plasma spear, "You're the one who asked me to be attuned more to my draconic powers,"
^That look on her face. It's the same confidence she had before our fight in Rita City. She's coming for the kill.^ Arad smiled, "That's more like it. Even the sun doesn't burn you anymore,"
With a grin on her face, Eris threw the spear at Arad. He lifted his hand, deflecting it toward the sky with a passive face. ^That was strangely weak...^
CRACKLE! A long plasma chain with a morning star at the end flew toward Arad at a blinding speed, about to smack his head from the side.
^So that was a distraction,^ Arad thought, lifting his hand to catch the chain.
CRACK! The chain twisted, changing direction and going down, wrapping around his legs. ^So she can control it,^
CLACK! With one move of her arm, she pulled Arad into the sky with the chain, swung him around, and smacked him to the ground.
When Arad looked at the sky, he could see Eris dropping down on him with a spear thrust.
BAM! Eris stabbed Arad in the chest with a smile on her face, but that quickly changed as the scenery around them changed. Arad teleported them into the mountains.
CRACK! With his left hand, he grabbed the spear, and with his right hand, he grabbed her ankle, "Did you forget that I don't have any organs? Only a void exists in my chest."
BOM! Eris's spear shattered as Arad stood, lifting her upside down by the leg, "You can't match my strength or durability. Think of another way," With a powerful swing, he threw her.
Eris smacked into several stones before hitting a massive boulder and stopping.
Thud! She landed on the ground, supporting her body with her hands and coughing blood. "Dosen't mean I won't try," She replied.
Arad smiled, "I like a strong one," He cracked his fists, "Try beating me if you can,"
BAM! Eris lunged forward with a smile and a spear in her hand. Arad easily deflected the first thrust with his hand and blocked her shaft attack right after.
^Barehanded?^ Eris gasped and swung several other attacks, each one shaking the ground as her plasma pushed upon contact with Arad's hands. ^No, right before his hand touches my spear, he covers it with a layer of the void.^
Thud! Arad caught her spear in his hand, "You need more power to harm me, like that lung from earlier." CRACK! The plasma spear shattered in his hand as he grabbed her face by the other, throwing her back.
BAM! Eris smacked into another boulder, ^Even now, he isn't taking me seriously. It won't do if I don't get him at least get serious a bit,^
CRACKLE! Five plasma spears appeared behind her back as she conjured the chain and morning star in her hands. "This might hurt you," She started spinning the chain on her hand, ripping the ground apart.
BA-BA-BA-BA-BAM! The spears blasted across the sky, rushing toward Arad like missiles.
SWOSH! Arad weaved to the side, dodging them with ease. There might be five of them, but they are controlled by one mind making them easy to predict. So as long as he has enough speed, dodging them is never an issue.
CRACKLE! As he danced with the spears, he could see Eris flying around him using her plasma wings and chain. ^Unlike those spears, I don't know if she will run with her legs, fly, or swing with that chain. Her movements are unpredictable. I better set a safe plan.^ Arad's body glew for a moment as if he's covered in oil.
"Are you trying to confuse me? I can track you and the spears with ease," Arad said, pointing his hand, [Ice ball] He conjured a ball of ice and launched it at Eris, but he missed.
CRACKLE! Eris used her chain, pulling herself toward Arad in the blink of an eye.
She conjured a spear in her hand and thrust at Arad's side.
CLACK! His body twisted, his arm flailing toward her at an incredible speed.
Thwack! He managed to hit her in the face, sending her spinning in the air.
^What?^ Arad gasped, ^She didn't bite my arm? Was she?^ Arad was late, and her chain tied him in place. ^Shit! I fell for it,^
As Eris's body spun in the air, she landed on all four with her veins glowing purple. CLACK! She opened her mouth, her eyes all purple as a roar escaped her throat.
Lightning crackled from her neck and back as a ball of plasma emerged in her throat.
Arad tried to escape the chain, but the short amount of time he had wasn't enough. Eris roared, a plasma breath escaping her mouth in a concentrated beam of light.
^She's more of a dragon than a vampire now,^ Arad thought before his body got hit with her breath, sending him to pieces.
"Got him!" Eris shouted with a smile on her face, sweating from how heavy that was on her body to pull.
Thud! A hand landed on her shoulder, "Sorry, but I'm fine," Arad stood there. "That was a Gemini clone. I dug through the ground as a molerat."
"I knew you would survive, but not unscathed like this," Eris said with a sweaty face and a smile on her.
Arad lifted his hand, "At least you got me to use this,"
[Void Expansion]
Darkness rushed out of his body, swallowing Eris whole and covering the mountain. The people in the capital saw it and gasped, thinking their hero was fighting another monster. But, none was worried. He had beaten a dragon before. What could go wrong this time?
Eris could feel her body about to rip apart from the void, but she giggled, putting her together in a ball shape. ^I was waiting for this.^
[Plasma expansion: Purple Sun]
A star emerged in Arad's dark void, illuminating the whole place with its magnificent purple glow.
^What's that?^ Arad looked at the sun, barely able to stare at it directly. ^I should get the expansion to the maximum size quickly. He decided to play it safe and stay away from it for a while.
Hehe! Eris giggled inside her plasma, ^This time. No need to hold it back.^
She opened her hands, extending her fingers with a grin. [Purple Sun: Nova]
The sun flickered, expanding for one meter before collapsing.
Arad gasped as a blinding light filled his void.
A blast rushed forth, filling the void with gas faster than he could stretch it.
From the city, the people saw Arad's dark void flicker with a purple light, shattering in a loud boom that shook the ground. Silence fell between them as they realized it wasn't how the void cleared before. Something must have been forced to explode.
Arad fell to the ground, puking blood as if he felt a bomb exploding in his guts. His vision got blurry, and he couldn't feel his legs.
Thud! Eris landed beside him, conjuring a spear of plasma. "Come on, I know you aren't done yet," CRACK! With one kick, she sent him rolling to a boulder.
BAM! As Arad smacked into the boulder, he fell sitting on the ground.
"That's phase one. I still have two to four to beat," She said with a smile.
Arad's eyes flashed purple. CLACK! His wings expanded, and a massive tail emerged from his lower back. Two black horns extended from his head as he stood.
Half-dragon form, he still has the dragon and the vampiric wyrmwolf.
[Death Butterfly]
Eris plasma covered her body, extending two purple butterfly-like wings from her back as she pointed her spear forward, "I never got to face this before,"
CRACK! Arad disappeared from her view for a second, and she went blind, feeling a crack in her nose. ^Heh?^
BAM! Her body smacked on a boulder and fell to the ground.
Arad dropped from the sky, ready to stomp her stomach, but he stopped at the last moment, "You, you can't follow my movement?"
Eris lifted her hand, waving it and signaling for Arad to stop.
Thud! Arad sat beside her and tried to pull a healing potion from his stomach. GAH! He gasped, feeling an extreme pain in his guts. He will throw up everything he has stored if he tries to use his stomach.
"Sorry, I can't use my stomach now. You have to heal with your blood." He said, and Eris pointed toward the sky.
"I see," Arad extended his wing over her, hiding her body in the shadow, and her vampiric regeneration kicked in immediately.
GAH! Eris gasped as her face healed and sat up, "Really, a punch in the face?" She stared at him.
"I thought you would dodge it or something," Arad scratched his head.
"That doesn't matter now. I know I can't match your half-dragon form, but at least I can beat you normally and even blast your void," She giggled.
Arad patted her head, "You did well before you couldn't even match me in human form."
"Well, I thought I would at least be able to defeat your half-dragon form, but that tail of yours is better than I thought," She patted Arad's massive black tail.
Arad's brain expands from his brain to his spine in the humanoid form, albeit compact. That form isn't ideal as the brain has too much space to swell with blood when working. Therefore, when Arad shifts into his half-dragon form, his brain expands from his head to the tip of his tail, allowing more blood flow and resulting in higher performance.
The fact that his tail, horns, and wings exit his body also relieves stress on his internal frame, allowing more space for his muscles to expand and grow bigger for higher strength output.
The wings assist in movement and blocking incoming attacks while his horns act as antennae to amplify his magic and mental detection.
Arad's power increase in half-dragon form isn't due to a magical surge of power. He merely can use more of his power, the closer his biology gets to a dragon. Therefore, humanoids like Eris find it hard to reach him with their weaker bodies.
Eris looked at Arad, "What should I do to get strong enough to beat you?"
Arad scratched his chin, "You should be able to get a half-dragon form since you're a half-purple dragon. But your death butterfly doesn't count as it's merely your plasma covering your body," He looked at her.
"Plasma is stronger than flesh," Eris replied.
"If you're facing someone other than me, that works. But it means nothing if I can outclass you in speed and reaction time, let alone strength," Arad stared into her eyes, "Can you get one?"
"I will try,"
"You aren't going to argue back it isn't possible?" Arad stared at her, surprised.
"Last time I did, I got nothing. But when I did what you said, I got stronger. This time, I will listen without asking too many questions," Eris replied, "Sorry I didn't take you seriously last time,"
She stood, "Shall we get back? They must be worried,"
"Before that," Arad looked at her with a smile.
"Come on, here?" She sighed.
"You lost," Arad stood, "I doubt anyone would have remained alive around us,"
"Fine, I did lose after all."
****
Several minutes later, Arad and Eris returned to the castle.
"What happened?" Aella rushed at them, "Isdis told us Eris wanted to kill Arad,"
"That's true, but she failed," Arad replied.
Eris approached Aella, one hand on her hip, "Sorry, but I need to rest in my room. He almost broke my back,"
"In a fight? Arad went that far?" Aella gasped.
Eris glared at her, "No, idiot," And she walked to her room.
Pop! Zephyr emerged in Aella's head, "He's a dragon after all, she had that coming by tickling him like that,"
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