When Yasenia slammed the enormous Tribulation Soldier into the ground, an overpowering shockwave razed several buildings to the ground, leaving behind an incredibly large crater.
However, the Tribulation Soldier was not a pushover; using quick leg movements, it managed to trip Yasenia's hind leg and place its soles on her stomach. The dragoness felt a powerful impact on her stomach as her four limbs became airborne for a second before she flew in a wide parabola.
Boom!
Like a mountain, her colossal body crashed against the ground, causing tremors. But the dragoness, resilient and determined, didn't stay down for long.
As both creatures stood up, they charged at each other with tremendous speed and started another quick-paced exchange of absolutely terrifying blows.
The sect members who saw buildings they often visited being razed to the ground couldn't help but feel their hearts bleed. Yet, there had been an announcement through the devices they were using to watch the battle that there would be compensation for all the damages and merchandise lost.
Of course, over the heartache for the loss, they could only feel awe as their sect master battled her formidable foe.
Yasenia dodged one of the swords aimed at her neck with a wide backstep and swung her tail at the Sun and Moon soldier. The enemy crossed its sword, blocking the attack while being pushed back three steps. Still, using extreme speed, it managed to close the distance between them and raised its weapons to attack.
Nevertheless, its weapons met two pairs of claws, as if the clever dragon had already predicted its attacks. After grabbing its swords, the Tribulation Soldier released a terrifying storm of Heavenly Lightning, surrounding the dragon that had locked them in a close-range situation.
"ROAR!"
The massive release of heavenly Lightning swarmed Yasenia's body inside and out, creating severe wounds everywhere. However, as she was being cooked alive, she pulled the soldier even closer and opened her maw.
"[SUN DRAGON BREATH]!"
BOOOM!
A scorching beam of pure Sun energy blasted onto the Tribulation Soldier, with no ability to defend itself. The energy contained in the devastating attack blasted the Tribulation Soldier flying backward for several kilometers, forcing it to impact against one of the distant mountains that created the sect's basin.
Yasenia didn't want to give it any time whatsoever to recover, even if she didn't know if it was possible, so she used Pegasus Gallop and crossed the distance in the blink of an eye.
With all the increases in strength she was currently bearing, the stress in her body was enormous. It was big enough that using skills other than the most basic ones felt impossible.
The empowered Sun Dragon Breath heavily injured the Sun and Moon soldier. The chestplate had been blasted open, revealing the pure energy body hiding behind it. Because the armor acted as a container as much as it was protection, one could feel the terrifying energies that had created the soldiers much more clearly as they escaped and spread all around.
This giant hole was dangerous for the Tribulation Soldier because aura was not the only thing leaking through the hole. Its energy was also oozing out.
The Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Soldier was on its knees when Yasenia arrived. Unable to respond to the descending punch coated in terrifying energies, it could only raise the two swords and meet the attack.
CLANG!
BOOM!
A metallic sound followed by an explosion echoed in the surroundings as the soldier was pushed back into the mountain again by Yasenia's star dragon claw.
Yasenia's meridians shrieked as energy circulated around them beyond their limits, and her dantian's energy was rapidly consumed.
She was on the verge of exhaustion, her mind blanking out from time to time as pure exhaustion filled her body.
Injuries riddled her entire body, with even her wings having deep cuts that made them look tattered. Massive gashes ran along her dragon body as blood dripped out of her mouth, showing that the internal damage was extremely severe.
Her claws were chipped, and her tail, which had been used to counterattack the Tribulation Soldier's tail attacks, was severely burnt.
Overall, her entire body made for an extremely sorry look of the previously ethereal and untouchable-looking Empyrean Cosmos Dragon.
However, she pushed on. After struggling crazily for who knows how long, she could finally see the end of her struggle, so even when her entire body felt as if it was falling apart piece by piece, she released a powerful and determined roar to the skies as the energy needed for [Starfall] moved along her saturated meridians.
"ROAAAARR!!"
The feeling of forcing one of her most potent skills through them was so painful that even her eyesight flickered white because of the pain.
Thanks to all the enhancements and Yasenia using most of her remaining strength for this attack, [Starfall] was manifested on a scale like never before.
The sky, which was a mix of Yasenia's Empyrean Galaxy Domain and the completely black Heavenly Tribulation Clouds, became white as gigantic white stars swallowed the firmament with the brilliance of a thousand suns.
Her voice, echoing with her dragon roar, spread like the judgment of a dragon god.
"[STARFALL]!"
As if the strings holding the celestial bodies to the firmament had been cut, the sea of stars dropped like rain.
What followed was a catastrophic attack that decimated the mountains several kilometers in front of Yasenia.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
One star after another impacted the general area where the Tribulation Soldier was.
White spheres of pure destruction, disintegrating everything they touched.
The dragon's energies were surging in the meantime, creating a massive pillar of light that blew her tattered wings upward as the dragon's body cracked like fragile glass.
"RAAAHHHHH!!"
A scream of pure emotion that was a mix of human and dragon constantly echoed from the dragon's throat as her body crumbled.
When the stars stopped falling, the dragon's limbs trembled, barely able to lift her. Yasenia's bleeding eyes looked at the place where her attack landed, her body maintaining all its energies and auras even though it was on the verge of failing her.
Her mind, tired beyond any point of exhaustion, was tense and alert as she looked at the results of her attack. However, the only thing that could register in Yasenia's mind was whether she managed to destroy the tribulation soldier or not.
The barren and molten land created by the decimating falling stars was still, making everyone hold their breaths.
Suddenly, a place in the distance moved as rubble spread apart, and a torn, flickering hand made of pure lighting burst from the ground.
Yasenia felt her heart dropping to her stomach as she gritted her teeth with seething rage and increasing desperation.
She was standing, but that was nothing but a façade. Her energy was almost depleted, her limbs could not move like before, and her internal meridian net had burst open in several places.
The Celestial Energy Star in her dantian had been reduced to almost nothing and had stopped rotating. At the same time, the energy ocean around it was depleted to below 1% of her overall energy.
Not to mention, her muscles and bones were in tatters while her internal organs were failing.
In truth, there was only one reason she was currently standing.
Kali's pill.
On one of her birthdays, Kali gave her a pill that prevented her death for 10 minutes, regardless of her injuries.
Yasenia had eaten that pill five minutes ago.
To say that she was between the line of life and death was not an exaggeration at all.
As the rubble moved and the body of the Sun and Moon Tribulation Soldier appeared, Yasenia clenched her teeth so hard that they almost cracked under the pressure.
'Was it not enough?'
Yasenia felt her damaged heart erratically beating.
'What did I lack?'
The Heavenly Tribulation soldier looked at Yasenia while missing its left side and both legs. But that didn't matter.
'I can't move.'
Yasenia was sending orders to her body to move.
'Come on. Move.'
The dragon, pushed far beyond her limits, used every inch of her remaining strength and will to order her body from the bottom of her soul.
'MOVE! YOU STUPID BODY!'
But her body couldn't move.
'WE ARE ALMOST THERE!'
Her body was too damaged to answer her pleas.
'ARE YOU GOING TO DIE BEFORE SEEING YOUR FIRST CHILD!?'
Her eyes were filled with bloody tears as frustration overwhelmed her body.
'WHY CAN'T YOU MOVE, YOU ABSOLUTE PIECE OF SHIT! WHAT MORE COULD I HAVE DONE!?'
A rage like no other filled her. Yet, even when the Tribulation Solder was closing in the distance by dragging its body through the devastated land, she couldn't move.
Yasenia wrathfully looked at the Tribulation Soldier, even through her tears of blood.
Her desire to kill it was beyond anything she had ever felt. She didn't know if the tribulation soldier even had enough strength to kill her. But, even if it just delayed its death for three more minutes, the heavens would win.
The Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Soldier was losing energy by the second at a ridiculous pace.
However, it clung to its purpose, wanting to kill this terrifyingly strong dragon.
A creature that could face such a tribulation, she would become terrifyingly strong if she survived.
Around them, Tatyana was clenching her fists as her aura increased, similar to everyone else. Their hearts were being ripped into pieces as they saw the dragon standing still as if she was waiting for her death while the soldier dragged its body closer.
How could they not know that their dearest couldn't move? That inside her head, she was probably trying her best to release one more attack but couldn't.
The way she fought in the end was extraordinarily reckless, yet it was the only way she could win. Everyone, seniors and juniors alike, were proud and praised how Yasenia faced the unfair Heavenly Tribulation.
The Sun and Moon Tribulation Soldier overwhelmed her in skill, strength, speed, and endurance. Instead of facing and accepting her fate, Yasenia managed to reverse it when the chance arose and pulled a miraculous reversal.
As time ticked away, the tribulation soldier suddenly stopped, and its body fluctuated.
Under the dragon's wrathful yet surprised, bleeding eyes, its body suddenly crumbled and burst into particles. The energy inside of it had been exhausted entirely, making it unable to keep its form anymore.
With less than a minute remaining on Kali's pill, Yasenia finally saw the tiny dot of hope at the end of the incredibly dark tunnel filled with desperation.
Right when the tribulation soldier fell, the entire world shifted as energy from hundreds of kilometers around rushed toward the dragon like a cyclone.
With Yasenia as a center, an ancient aura like no other began surging. Yet with the assurance that she had overcome her tribulation, the dragon's body relaxed, and all the energy that had been compressed by pure will expanded, making the body of the victorious dragon burst into a shower of blood.
"VALERIA! SAVE HER REGARDLESS OF THE COST!"
Kali's piercing and harrowing scream was the last thing that entered her ears before her eyesight turned black.