NOVEL FROG Chapter 371 – All Moves Allowed
Since she couldn’t rely on the element of surprise anymore, Tina’s next move was to put some distance between her and the other woman. Her artifact gloves shone with azure light from the spiritual formations carved into them. With a strong clap, she called forth an explosion of air that blasted her backward while at the same time causing Rusilthea to stumble a bit.
In the next moment, Tina brought out some kind of pouch and tossed it on the ground. Thick, white powder caught up in the created drafts as the artificial winds caused small chaos over the ritual site. Noticing that, Asterios shared a glance with Bryn, and she in turn peered at Selene. Both ladies nodded and quickly moved to protect the magical circle with their barriers so that the battle didn’t accidentally obliterate it.
“Is the only way you know how to fight throwing cheap shots and using toys?” the silver-scaled female taunted. “Ma made such a big deal about the supposed powerful True Dragon waiting for me on the other end of the gate, but so far, it doesn’t look like you amount to much.”
Asterios smirked under his nose as he and the girls retreated to the side. It looked like their new friend had mistakenly identified Tina as that mentioned Dragon. Perhaps it was because of the solid punch the small girl had thrown at her, displaying a nice view of her azure, draconic plates. Or, it could have been…
The obstructive cloud suddenly parted in a circular shape at around shoulder height and Rusilthea’s gleaming eyes widened in surprise. She immediately brought her arms up, crossing them in front of her face as more scales shimmered down her skin with an incredible show of transformation speed. A split-second after she finished, a fierce jet of pressurized water hit her forearms, ricocheting to the side with enough force to spin her around.
As the dust settled, it revealed Tina in a slightly slumped position, closing her mouth after the recent attack. Most of her visible skin was covered in dark azure scales and the tiny plates crawled up her neck from the sides too. A few smattered her forehead and cheeks, adorning them with a fierce design. Just as in the past, a draconic tail had shown up behind her, and additionally, everyone could spot impressive black horns sprouting from the sides of her head. They stood vertically just like Ast’s, but with a slight angle forward.
It was obvious that she was using his energy to enhance herself. Or energies, in this particular case. Save for the white wings coming from Esil, she looked not that far from a True Dragon in a humanoid shape. And those draconic energies swirling through her circuits might have been another reason behind Rusilthea’s mix-up. In the end, the blue-haired girl was brimming with them while Asterios continued to hide.
“Now you are showing your true colors.” Phatru’s daughter grinned at her. “Though, having to resort to such shameful tricks? You must not be much of a True Dragon, then.”
The Dragon lady seemed to exude confidence, but even within her fierce expression, Asterios didn’t miss the faint flicker of anxiety deep in her eyes. Those never lied. And her pupils carefully examining her opponent with a barely noticeable quiver told him enough. Plus, the way she rubbed the shallow gash in the scales of her left forearm added to the effect.
“Why don’t you stop yapping about and show me what it means to be a Dragon, then?” Tina snorted. “So far, all you’ve done is receive a beating and complain. I’m starting to think we should have gotten your mother instead. She seemed competent.”
Rusilthea snarled back at her and lunged forward, a crackling noise echoing through the clearing. Tina was ready and formed an ominous scythe from Hydran’s body. She blocked the mighty swipe of the angered woman with its solid-liquid pole. The resulting position allowed her to easily take a slice at Rusilthea, scraping against the unruly lady’s scales once more.
They backed off a bit, each putting some distance between them. Tina didn’t wait for another blow, though. She reformed Hydran into a massive bow and drew its spiritual string back, creating an arrow out of wind and water mana. The projectile wasn’t too big since she focused on speed, but the long and thin swirling shape was still as breathtaking as ever. She released it right away, sending a whizzing thorn straight at her sparring partner.
It looked like Rusilthea wasn’t going to take any more chances with anything that came from the Summoner girl, choosing to evade the arrow instead of parrying it with her forearms. The sharp needle sank into the ground far behind her with so much ease everyone started wondering if it hadn’t been buried through the entire underground chamber.
More spikes of death followed while the female Dragon jumped from side to side, unable to move any closer to Tina. She could only step to the side or risk getting punctured like a pincushion. Until she gathered enough spiritual energy for a counterattack, of course.
Dodging out of the way once more, Rusilthea swung her fist as it became enveloped with crackling blue energy. Her tightened fingers slammed straight into the ground with the mighty roar of thunder. A bright flash caused everyone to blink and the grass underneath their feet rumbled.
But, it didn’t just rumble. Streaks of lightning ran forward over the earth and made it explode upwards. The combined forces of the tremors and the muddy avalanche threw Tina off balance a little bit, making her pause her assault. In that short moment, another loud boom reached her ears and Rusilthea suddenly charged through all the debris while blowing it to bits with her body. The Dragon lady’s crackling fist descended upon Tina’s surprised face.
And that was when her liquid familiar reformed itself on its own, creating a slanted shield of water in the way of Rusilthea’s blow. The trajectory changed, but the attack still clipped Tina in the shoulder, evoking a grunt from the much smaller woman. Her rival seemed surprised that the clothes had held up, but she simply didn’t know that those weren’t the simplest rags and towels. She would need much more to damage those elven masterpieces.
So, Tina didn’t let the chance go to waste and cashed in on the momentary lapse in focus of the stormy lady. Her angelic wings flapped strongly, creating a vortex around them, forcing Rusilthea to cover her eyes. As for Tina, she used the updraft to launch herself up and over her opponent, landing behind the other girl’s back. The incoming strike was rather unavoidable as the head-sized ball of water the petite Summoner was building up smashed into Rusilthea’s exposed back, bursting with grand force.
The poor Lesser Dragon was launched ahead and tumbled over the ruined ground for a little while before making a proper recovery and getting up into a crouch. Rusilthea was definitely not inexperienced in fighting, but she must have gotten a bit too used to trading blows with her kin because Asterios could spot plenty of simple mistakes she was making that would change a lot in the battle’s dynamic. Plus, he had a feeling that she would fare better in her serpentine form.
Yet, it certainly was impossible to say that she was not tough.
Meanwhile, Tina was trained in one-versus-one combat against opponents with diverse skillsets and abilities. Each Summoner she could face was going to bring something fresh to the fight so she had to be ready to learn on the fly, figuring out her strategies as she went. Right now, it was not much different than facing a frontline Summoner with lightning-type familiars. Until draconic forms came into play, she was in her element.
With a flash of her gloves and some somatic components, Tina slammed her palms into the grass and brought up a ferocious wave of rushing water in front of her. The small tsunami rolled forward without mercy, soaking and damaging everything in its path. Rusilthea spun around right before it reached her and cut it in the middle with a swift swipe of her tail, coming out of danger unharmed.
But, when she took a step forward to prepare another lunge, she wobbled and almost fell face-first into slushy mud. The rolling wave had turned the ground between her and Tina into a treacherous swamp. Her foot had already sunk almost up to the middle of her calf before she realized. It would prove difficult to run over such a messy surface.
Not for its creator, though.
The short girl didn’t even need to bother using her wings for more than the initial push as she slid over the thick mud with the soles of her shoes as if she was ice skating, with her scary scythe drawn into a prepared strike. A light blue glow emanated from under her feet, the evidence of another spell that further removed surface friction and prevented its caster from sinking into the swamp.
Rusilthea barely pulled her leg out before Tina arrived in front of her, but instead of going for a hit, the summoning ace swerved to the side, raining dark brown muck over her opponent’s entire figure. The other woman cursed under her nose while wiping her eyes off, missing the blade of water coming for her stomach. A pained hiss escaped her lips as Tina’s sharp scythe left a shallow cut on it, lightly scarring the scales on its sides.
“Enough!” Rusilthea shouted angrily.
Along the scream, a powerful explosion of crackling spiritual energy burst out of her body, knocking Tina away with a yelp of shock, in both the literal and figurative sense of that word. The blue-haired girl streaked through the mud, losing her stability spell, getting her outfit quite dirty as she tumbled over and over again, a faint crackle of lightning running over her body.
“Your constant stunts are getting boring. This is how you do it.” Rusilthea grinned as the electrifying aura around her intensified.
The draconic lady took a wide stance low on her knees and began grunting in effort. A slight breeze picked up in the area, causing the nearby trees to make some noise with their leaves and branches. Crackling sparks ran all over the woman’s skin as her eyes shone with power. She held her hands on the sides, palms facing up and fingers set into claws. Most of the lightning gathered in them.
Just as Tina was finishing pulling herself out of the swamp she had created earlier, Rusilthea thrust her hands forward and lightning shot out of her fingers, finding purchase in the soaked mud. Ten streaks of wildly dancing thunderbolts traveled over the highly conductive area and struck the terrain’s creator, evoking a pained scream from the dainty girl.
It didn’t echo through Althea’s lair for long, though, as Hydran’s timely intervention saved Tina’s skin again. The smart elemental spirit formed a flat platform underneath its mistress and shoved her out of the bounds of the sizzling swamp. To prevent any of the lightning chains from reaching her, Hydran stayed in the mucky earth while turning into a branching out spike, something akin to a leafless tree.
Asterios and the others watched as Firo, the tiny Water Serpent, slithered out of its gate to cast a recovery spell on its Summoner, doing its best to stay out of sight. Enhanced by Ast’s energies, the magic worked better than well and the cute aquatic beast disappeared back into its realm, aware that it was no incredible fighter. Its job was done so it could leave the rest to its familiar companions.
Seeing that it was impossible to target Tina directly, Rusilthea dismissed the attack and brought her hands back to her sides. “Let me show you what it means to challenge a Storm Dragon as a mere water lizard!”
Releasing a continuous, roaring shout, the mentioned Storm Dragon began gathering a lot of mana in her core. The winds started picking up into a small tempest, now bending some of the leafy crowns a little bit. Rusilthea continued to shout and shout and shout, but besides the flashy crackling of lightning all around her and over her body, plus the stronger breeze, not much else was happening.
Noticing that something was wrong, she stopped screaming and looked up, still casting whatever technique she had chosen to show them. “Why are the clouds not moving? What is this?”
In her disbelief and confusion, she didn’t spot Tina appearing right in front of her until just moments before the Summoner girl spun her scythe vertically. The curved blade somehow missed the target, but the weapon continued to spin, and it soon became clear that it was intentional. The butt of the long and very solid pole slammed right into Rusilthea’s crotch from below, choosing the wide-open target for a crushing blow.
The girls winced, sharply inhaling air, and even Asterios subconsciously clamped his thighs shut with a grimace. The fleshy smack could be heard throughout the entire place. They didn’t need to see the victim’s bulged-out eyes to imagine the pain.
And to make things worse, Tina did another spin while taking a step back. Her weapon trailed higher this time and struck Rusilthea’s chin as the woman hunched forward in response to the previous attack. With the audible clatter of bone, it was fairly obvious Phatru’s rowdy daughter lost at least one more fang from it, thrown back from the strength of the hit.
Even after pulling such a devastating move, the smart Summoner lady didn’t rest on her laurels and immediately withdrew herself from the female dragon’s relative range. What could cripple a human or an elf, would most likely only slightly inconvenience a Lesser Dragon. After they pushed through the pain and soreness, of course.
That decision proved to be correct as Rusilthea stood up from her knees fairly quickly, still holding a hand over her nether regions. At this point, she was more furious than agonizing. The pale complexion of her skin turned a tad flushed as she glared at her current nemesis.
“One of the first rules of fighting in a new environment,” Tina said with a lofty smirk. “Always check if the prerequisites for your techniques are met before trying out any big spells.”
The draconic lady snarled at her and immediately burst into action. Silvery mist enveloped her frame and Tina’s eyes widened slightly in recognition. She prepared herself but wasn’t ready for an almost instantaneous transformation, the head of a gray-scaled Lesser Dragon bursting out of the obstruction right in front of her, its jaws open as far as possible.
With a flap of her wings, she dodged to the side, getting smacked away by the giant serpent. Rusilthea flew forward and pulled up to turn back. That movement displayed her magnificent form in its full glory as she formed a shimmering, silvery crescent. In her true form, she had a slightly bluish sheen to her scales too. As for her size, she couldn’t really compare to Althea, and most likely Phatru too, but it didn’t make her any less glorious and scary.
Rusilthea opened her jaws once more as she flew back at Tina and spat a dozen person-sized orbs of crackling lightning. The winged girl began weaving and bobbing around them instantly, but they detonated by proximity and zapped her slightly no matter how well she dodged the spherical projectiles. Still doing fairly well in the air, she avoided a second chomping attempt but got swatted by the end of her opponent’s tail as the wriggling Dragon soared past her.
Tina hit the ground and looked up just in time to see Rusilthea gathering a lot of that electrifying energy deep in her throat, hovering in the air while coiled into a spiral. She had less than a second to push herself away before a massive ray of dense lightning struck the ground where she had just been. The deadly beam followed her like the perfect tracker and Tina twisted herself from side to side as trees fell and the ground became charred, leaving the feeling of static permeating through the air above the caused carnage.
Unfortunately, during one of the evasive maneuvers, the Dragon’s Breath nicked Tina on the thigh and sent an immense jolt of pain through her body, paralyzing her in a flash. She crashed through the top of a nearby tree and smashed into the ground, thankfully hitting the area transformed into a swamp so the landing got cushioned to some extent.
Glancing up as sparks still danced over her skin, she watched the floating Storm Dragon prepare for another attack of a similar nature. A shield of water and air combined began forming in front of Tina as she managed to curl her fingers and activate the arrays on her gloves, taking a conical shape. Seeing it from afar, Rusilthea felt how durable it was going to be and dove down onto the ground just before her target, aiming the blast straight at the barrier from almost point blank while hovering over the tiny human.
“That’s enough.” Ast’s calm and firm voice reached their ears from nearby.
The silver-scaled female paused gathering her power and glanced up at him standing behind Tina’s prone form.
“Who do you think you are to interrupt us?” She growled deeply.
Crimson-onyx mist surrounded his figure and grew quickly into a bigger and bulkier entity than the Lesser Dragon in front of him. Starting to walk forward menacingly before the hazy fog settled, Asterios emerged from it in his True Dragon body, standing slightly taller than the giant serpent in front of him. He stopped with his draconic muzzle hovering above Rusilthea’s.
“Who do you think I am?” He growled back at her with an even deeper rumble.
Her slitted eyes widened to the brim and the last bits of her lightning breath faded away as she clamped her mouth shut, starting to curl back into herself. She directed her snout downwards while looking up at him with a clearer trace of anxiety and perhaps fear as he glared at her.
“I lost,” Tina called out from below them.
Asterios released a puff of hot air at Rusilthea before lowering his head to give his lovely mate something to support herself on while standing up.
“That was a good fight,” the Summoner girl said with a warm smile. “Are you ready to talk now?”
Rusilthea nodded stiffly and began shifting back so Asterios followed suit. Still supporting Tina a little, he moved behind her. Besides this small intervention, he didn’t see the need to involve himself more just yet. It looked like his brilliant girlfriend had it all figured out.
So, he was content letting her handle things her own way.
