Chapter 628 Praise The Sun
[Plasma Expansion: Purple Sun]
Plasma gushed out of Eris's body, condensing around her into a massive ball akin to a purple sun, releasing so much heat that the cave started melting.
[Void Expansion: Devouring Void]
Darkness gushed out of Arad's chest, clashing with the purple sun and engulfing it in the blink of an eye.
Unlike their previous clash, Arad had expected Eris's expansion and smiled. Her purple sun hadn't grown bigger since the last time he saw it, probably due to her being unable to keep it stable more than a lack of power. And so to prevent it from exploding and tearing his void, he started crushing it with gravity magic instead of trying to eat it.
Eris could feel the ground around her purple sun disappear as Arad consumed her into the void. That had made it harder for her to feed the sun matter to expand it, but it wasn't a problem. She already had it big enough.
[Burst]
They expanded rapidly, pushing against Arad's gravity. He clenched down on it with all his might, and it exploded in a brilliant flare. At the same time, Arad used his void to suck as much as possible of the gases and matter released from the sun as quickly as he can in an attempt for preventing his stomach from bursting.
The sun faded, exploding inside Arad's space, shining brightly as it died. Arad smiled as the sun disappeared, holding his aching stomach as he dispelled his expansion.
"Nice try, but I already saw it once. You won't get me twice." He looked at Eris, who stood in place, sweating buckets.
Eris giggled, wiggling in place and barely managing to stand.
Arad stood, taking a deep breath. He never felt such pain before, the only thing topping it when Eris actually burst his expansion open. "You're really impressive. I fought adult dragons who can't output this much power,"
Eris stared at him with a crazed smile, "Arad, do you remember?" She lifted her hands up. "This is a fight of domination. No one would lose like this," She extended her hands up in a Y shape. "Praise the Sun!"
Arad blinked, confused.
[Holy Expansion:...]
Eris's body flashed golden, the light washing Arad's vision, painting it white.
[...Solar Domain]
Arad's arms evaporated as he got blasted back, his consciousness switching between life and death as Eris flew at him, kicking him in the face. Her whole body was healed, and her mana was restored.
Since the divine mana needed for holy magic is provided by the god, the caster isn't bound by the limit of their own poll of mana, but only with the endurance of their body.
For mortals, the only way for them to keep spamming holy magic is by using that same magic to heal their bodies, reducing their lifespan in the process. But, for an immortal vampire, Eris doesn't need to worry about losing years of her infinite life. A combination that shouldn't exist due to the nature of vampirism and holy magic, but her special case allowed for such a thing.
CRACK! Eris landed before Arad as his unconscious body transformed into his draconic form. "You know what's funny? My holy magic is far weaker at night than at day,"
Eris's holy magic is tied to the sun, growing stronger as the sun rises and reaches its peak at noon. Her vampire side is the opposite, reaching its peak at midnight. But, strangely enough, she's at her strongest at dusk and dawn, when the two powers mix.
Her draconic side is the most stable, being active equally throughout the day, providing her with a strong foundation that she can rely upon.
She pointed up, "The sun is rising," She smiled, "I only have a few minutes, I'll win in them,"
Three horns emerged on her head, two black ones in the back, and a long white one from her forehead. Four wings emerged from her back, two bat ones and two plasma ones, glowing brightly as holy lightning crackled from her toes up her hands and horns. Her hair shifted blond as she stared at Arad, a gentle smile on her face.
Arad's draconic body moved, lifting his right hand and giving her a thumbs up.
She blinked, "Okay?"
Arad stood, cracking his long neck, "I didn't expect you to pull a holy expansion right after your purple sun expansion. The toll both on your body and mana reserve should've been great. I let my guard down and wasn't ready to guard against holy magic."
"My power doesn't grow linearly with my phases." He stood tall, his massive body towering over Eris as his eyes glowed with a purple flare. "Don't let your guard down, this is several times stronger, sturdier, and faster than before." Arad lifted his right claw up, telegraphing his strike.
"How fast could..." Arad's claw dropped before she could see it, ripping her right arm and wing.
"What?" She gasped, her eyes turning aside.
"I told you to be careful. I can't hold back in this form as well as I do in my humanoid form," He lifted his left claw, "More muscles, more surface to absorb mana, and stronger nerves fully stretched across my body. It's should've been obvious."
[Holy Expansion: Solar Domain] Eris cried, unleashing the holy expansion once more.
Arad stood there, staring at her with his eyes glowing green and purple. A thick layer of cursed stone engulfed his body, shielding him from the holy magic.
"How long can you last?" Eris growled, staring at Arad as he looked like a statue standing before her. But suddenly, her head got pulled toward the ground, smacking her nose on the stones.
She tried to stand but felt heavy. Her face, knees, and hands cracked as she got pulled toward the ground with an even greater strength. Amplified gravity from Arad had brought her down, and she was forced to stop the expansion.
As the holy magic dissipated, Arad looked at Eris as she panted on the ground. "Magic grows stronger depending on how much mana, thinking, and refining you put into it. Stand up, and I'll admit defeat,"
"No, I give up," Eris growled, "Stop it,"
Arad nodded, canceling his magic, letting her breathe, "Are you okay?"
"The gravity pulled my blood down, and I wasn't able to heal," She rolled on her back, "I could use holy magic, but I feared you might think it's an attack and increase the output of your magic. Either way, I would have died,"
"You fought well," Arad looked at her, getting his massive head closer to her. "Especially witchcraft. You wouldn't have lasted half as long if you relied on an arcane focus."
"That what impresses you? Not the holy magic?" Eris chuckled.
"Holy magic is a borrowed power, not something you own. I hate that kind of power," Arad replied. "Witchcraft is a power you own. I'll praise that more even if it was weaker,"
"The nail polish was worth it," Eris sighed, "I'll tell that store lady that my husband loved it," She looked at Arad.
"You don't mean that," Lifted an eyebrow.
"Of course, the store owner didn't know what she was celling," Eris replied, "No use telling her," She sat up, her wounds healing, "So, what do you say, should I get some tattoos? Ones that hold magic scripture for mana recovery and capacity. I heard they even make transparent ones that glow blue when using magic,"
"I don't know," Arad scratched his chin, "Can they be removed? So you can exchange the effects."
"They should, but I need to look more into them," She extended a hand toward Arad, "Would you fund my witchcraft research?"
"As much as reasonably possible," Arad shifted back into his humanoid form, carrying Eris. "For now, rest,"
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