章 1631: Shifting Tide
Though they were more than a thousand kilometers away, neither Asuna nor Fenrir was surprised by the fact they could vaguely sense the draconic version of Vahn's aura. It was like the whole world was responding to his presence, and, if not for the massive storm front that had spread across the sky, they would have even been able to see an aurora-like phenomenon in the upper atmosphere as a phenomenal amount of elemental energy rushed to his location...
Seeing the two girls staring toward the horizon with anticipatory gazes, Vahn cracked a wry smile as he said, "The Leviathan will be here shortly. I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not you will fight together or separately."
Hearing her Master's words, Fenrir turned her attention to Asuna, scarlet-eyes glittering as she met the gaze of the petite parka-wearing girl. Then, seemingly on the same wavelength, both extended their hands to reveal scissors. This caused Fenrir's ears to twitch slightly, but, rather than display any demonstrative disappointment, she just said, "I'll leave the front to you. If it looks like you are going to have trouble, I'll support with area-of-effect magic."
With a smile spreading across her face, Asuna nodded her head, pulling out her pitch-black tanto as she said, "Just leave it to me! I won't let it get by so easily~!"
Replying with a curt nod of her own, Fenrir used shundo to create a bit of distance between herself and Asuna before adopting a pouncing pose similar to a cat preparing to pounce as she said, "Bind, Gleipnir...!"
Following Fenrir's utterance, icy blue flames erupted across her body before quickly fading to reveal a cloaked mantle that seemed to be formed from a massive, midnight-blue, wolf pelt. At the same, silvery-white chains manifested around her wrists and ankles before pulling together Fenrir's front paws and linking them together with a large, moon-shaped, lock. A similar lock had also appeared on her left ankle but, perhaps understanding the folly of fully binding its master's movements, the chains coiling around Fenrir's ankles were left to coil freely.
With a rather dour but focused look on her face, Fenrir lifted her body to a standing position, front paws dangling helplessly as the cloak draped across her shoulders cascaded to conceal most of her upper body. This gave her a wild and untamed appearance, and, even with the bindings restraining her front paws, any enemy unfortunate enough to fall under the fiery Vanargandr's glowering gaze would feel as though they were a tiny mouse trapped in the corner by a giant, hungry, wolf...
Though she had felt Fenrir's aura several times in the past, Asuna couldn't help but grip the hilt of her own Zankpakuto a little tighter. She had complete trust in the wolfish-woman, but, regardless of how confident she was, her rational mind feared the power sleeping within Fenrir's body. It was one of the few things her Magic Cancel had absolutely no effect against, and, even if she used the State of Nothingness, Fenrir's Severing Laws compelled her to dodge time and again...
After performing a little shimmy to shake away the chill settling across her body, Asuna entrusted her back to the glowering Vanargandr. All the tensions in her body began to rapidly fade away, and, after around ten seconds, a feeling of absolute calm had descended upon her mind as her presence began to rapidly fade away. By the time she opened her eyes, any semblance of fear or trepidation had faded away, her heterochromatic eyes reflecting a calm yet confident glimmer...
---
Though it had no idea what was waiting for it, the Leviathan felt as though it had crashed head-first into a wall when it felt a sudden, oppressive, and murderous aura. Its instincts told it that death was waiting ahead, but, with no path of retreat, its only option was to either advance or attempt to hide inland. This would greatly decrease its offensive and defensive capabilities, but, due to its small size, less than three meters in length, it could easily hide in a small pond or seek refuge in a well.
While measuring its options, the Leviathan poked its head out of the water to get a better grasp of its surroundings. It could see the massive storm front it had created gradually spreading overhead, but, rather than the torrential downpour that generally followed in its wake, the elemental energy in the air was unnaturally calm. This caused a shiver to run down its spine as it resolved to, at the very least, never to return to Lake Argyre.
Without flooding to aid in carving a path inland, the Leviathan resolved itself to break through the enemy waiting ahead. It gave off an indescribably murderous aura, but, after just escaping an even more terrifying foe, it was confident in its ability to flee. Thus, after several minutes of mustering its own courage, the Leviathan began to slither through the water, slowly at first but quickly ramping up to supersonic speeds as it sliced through the water faster than any torpedo...
---
Borrowing awareness from her Master, Fenrir was able to sense the Leviathan the moment it entered into his domain. A wispy, bluish-black, aura began to rise from her body, and, without the slightest embarrassment, she did not hesitate to exclaim, "Master, give me strength!" before chanting, "Lord of the Frozen Temple. Release your icy breath! Nivis Casus!"
Before Fenrir had finished her chant, an icy blue magic circle had spread from her feet as several smaller magic circles manifested out of thin air. The larger circle was the structure of the spell itself while the smaller ones allowed her to make minute adjustments to the output in real-time. This was the surest sign that someone was an Archmage, as, without an extraordinary amount of experience, the only practical way to adjust the output of a spell was to use less magical power.
With the spell primed, Fenrir leaped high into the sky, paws extended towards the nearby river that separated the Continents of Tempe Terra and Noachis. Immediately afterward, several plumes of ice and snow, many reaching hundreds of meters in height, exploded beneath the surface of the water. Then, like an avalanche cascading down a mountain, several million tons of ice and snow formed a terrifying white wave that spread across the surface of the river, freezing everything in its wake.
Though it almost seemed like Fenrir would be able to freeze the entire river, the phenomenal power of mother nature could never be underestimated. The river might not be flowing too quickly but it's current carried more than enough force to nearly shatter the icy blockade before flooding into the surrounding area...
Quickly realizing her mistake, Fenrir's ears drooped as she leaped into the air, a subtle shade of red coloring her cheeks as she created a pillar of ice to escape the mounting flood. She didn't have the face to look directly at her Master or Asuna, but, through their shared connection, she was able to feel something similar to nostalgia as her Master mused, "This really takes me back to our walks in the Western Forest..."
Hearing her Master's words, Fenrir recalled his attempts to stop the flow of a river using his water elemental manipulation. He was able to stop it for a brief moment, but, immediately thereafter, he would be sent crashing backward before being swept up in the powerful current.
Though it did little to erase her embarrassment, Fenrir felt a little better knowing her Master had made similar mistakes in the past. Her ears instantly perked back up, and, though it was very slight, her tail began to gently sway from side-to-side as an even greater volume of magical energy began to swirl around her...
Seeing Fenrir growing excited, Vahn and Asuna displayed near-identical expressions, both smiling with equal parts affection and wryness. Fortunately, Fenrir didn't seem to notice this, as, following the massive flooding, an even greater volume of water surged forward as a glowing blue silhouette attempted to bypass them. Before it could, however, Asuna's expression visibly sharpened as she cut down and said, "Kami-no-Setsudan!(Divine Severance)"
Consuming nearly half of Asuna's reserves, a biblical gulf appeared within the surging tide, literally dividing it toward the horizon. It was a rather nonsensical display, but, having seen Asuna create a gulf across the surface of Phobos, Vahn wasn't surprised. The Leviathan, however, had a very human expression on its face as it stared wide-eyed at the girl that had nearly bifurcated it.
Trusting its instincts, the Leviathan had attempted to evade the moment it sensed Asuna's sword rise. As a result, it managed to get away with the loss of a fin and the tip of its tail. These were injuries it would normally be able to heal easily, but, surprising it even further, a steady trickle of glowing blue blood continued to flow from the wounds as it attempted to flee.
In response to the Leviathan's blood, the surrounding waters began to surge rapidly as several large dragon heads, formed entirely of water, erupted from the surface like a hydra. Each was capable of firing a large column of highly pressurized water from their mouths, but, long before they were able to, invisible blades passed through their necks, severing their heads in an instant. At the same time, cutting off the Leviathan's path of escape, two silvery chains sliced through the water, aided by the presence of Severing Laws.
Though it was able to coil back in an instant to evade the lethal chains, the Leviathan was awestruck to learn that the water surrounding its body had been frozen solid in an instant. This wouldn't be a problem under normal circumstances, but, rather than normal ice, a potent sealing effect had been infused into brackish waters. To further exacerbate matters, the chains it had barely evaded seemed to be wholly unaffected by this sealing property, moving freely to wrap around its body and cutting through its flesh with considerable ease.
The Leviathan wanted to cry out in rage and indignation, but, as soon as that thought crossed its mind, it felt 'something' pass through its body. All pain immediately faded away, and, before it even realized what had happened, a sense of finality had spread through its mind as darkness claimed its vision...
---
Though he hadn't actually expected it to give them any trouble, Vahn was surprised by how quickly Fenrir and Asuna had been able to overwhelm the Leviathan. It was one of the legendary 'Beasts of Calamity' that had tormented the Magical World since its formation. Despite this, it was completely helpless in front of the combined duo, almost as if it was just a normal magical creature.
Restraining a sigh, Vahn adopted an approving smile as Asuna and Fenrir turned their attention to him, clearly seeking validation and praise. In response, his smile became more sincere as he mused, "As expected. The two of you have worked hard and it really shows. As your Master, I can't help but feel extremely proud. Come, let me reward you."
Almost immediately after his words had fallen, a smiling Asuna appeared in front of Vahn using a nearly seamless shundo. She was even faster than Fenrir when it came to covering short distances, and, when it came to receiving rewards for her hard work, Asuna had never been shy.
Seeing the twin-tailed Princess beat her to the punch, a deadpan expression spread across Fenrir's face as she yanked the silvery chains coiled around her paws. As a result, the corpse of the Leviathan was pulled free from the block of ice she had created, landing heavily despite its diminutive size...
While cupping Asuna's face and lightly massaging her scalp with the tips of his fingers, Vahn briefly turned his attention to Fenrir as she dismissed her Zanpakuto and transformed into a massive wolf with a dense coat of midnight blue fur and a fluffy white underbelly. Then, without any hesitation at all, she picked up the Leviathan's remains with her teeth, tossing it into the air before catching it with her mouth and devouring the entire thing in less than ten seconds.
Though the Leviathan was much weaker than her, possessing a BP of around 3700, Fenrir was still able to benefit greatly from consuming its body. A mystical blue light glistened across her fur for a brief moment, and, though it was only a marginal increase, she felt as though her internal reserves had grown alongside her understanding of Water Elemental Energy.
Putting her new power to the test, Fenrir stamped her massive paw atop the icy pillar, generating a subtle pulse that spread through the surrounding floodwaters. In response, their ferocity decreased noticeably, and, though she wasn't able to stop them, she felt as though it wouldn't take too much effort to guide the flow back to the river...
Sensing the strange pulse of energy, Asuna turned her head to face Fenrir, a curious light flickering across her green-blue eyes. Unfortunately, this cost her the rest of her reward, as, equally interested in Fenrir's power, Vahn ruffled Asuna's hair one last time before walking past her and approaching the large wolf who continued stamping the ground with her paws...
Seeing Vahn walking away, Asuna felt a brief moment of confusion before puffing out her cheeks in a slight pout. She was tempted to point out that she deserved a much greater reward for defeating a literal Calamity-Class threat. However, this seemed a little petty, so, rather than make a scene, she decided to simply shundo next to Vahn, seamlessly linking her hand with his and walking alongside him the rest of the way...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: '(O w O)...','I kind of feel bad for the Leviathan xD...','*Stamping Intensifies*')
(A/N: As a general reminder: Fenrir is able to devour virtually anything, but, with the additional perk of her Heaven Devouring Wolf Innate, she benefits greatly from consuming things she already has a decent comprehension of. She isn't able to acquire the abilities of the things she eats, but, if she ate enough of the same monster, her comprehension would gradually reach the point where she could emulate them without much difficulty. Remember, Fenrir has always been 'very' good at mimicry~!)
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