บท 960: Victorious
The Empress considered attacking that moving ring of fog, but it was too obvious. The human clearly used illusion-based attacks, and she seemed proficient with it. Not wanting to be caught in a trap, Hera focused her senses on the surrounding area. There was still nothing coming from Victoria—no smell, no heat, no mana. More specifically, nothing that made her different from the background noise. Just like when Viper and Crimson were using [Hidden Frontal Screen], the human was able to blend perfectly with the environment.
Or almost perfectly.
Out of the corner of her eye, the Ophidianite noticed something strange. A small trail in the shroud's mist. Not a visual trail, but instead a tiny path where the mana seemed to be pushed away. She wouldn't have been able to catch that if the floor wasn't flooded with her own mana due to the spell.
'Everyone, to the left. Pretend you don't see it,' Hera told her Court, sending the feeling of Victoria's location to them. All members, with the exception of Nimbus and Lurize, were standing around her, watching over her back.
'Got it,' Twiggy replied, already tracking the woman. The tiara was ready to command the rest of the court when it was time for them to act.
Victoria continued spinning, moving around Hera and coming out on the other side before she charged at the Empress. Everyone burst into motion. Livy and Vulcan blocked the incoming attack while Viper, Crimson, and most of the blades slashed and thrust blindly in the area they expected the human woman to be. Yet, almost all the attacks found no purchase. Only two of the blades were able to hit their mark—Pyro and Storm. Even then, their attacks did almost nothing. They bounced off the woman's clothes and skin as if they were hitting a wall. The tail spike flew back and attached itself to Hera once more, while Storm went back in for another blow, having a better idea of where the woman was.
Hera wasn't just waiting while that happened. She moved to the side, tumbling across the mist and firing a couple of poison needles towards the human woman. Her attacks missed, but they were also going towards the Soldier of Strength that was fighting Flint, Vash, and Lurize.
The human laughed, her voice coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once, "That is it? You are the big, bad, scary snake that was killing the Soldiers of Strength? Pathetic."
"Says the one who keeps hiding instead of coming for a fair fight!" Livy snarled.
"That's rich coming from you. You always outnumber your enemies. That's hardly a fair fight. But it makes sense. It's not like any of you could handle yourselves on your own. After all, even working together, you can't pass my defenses." Just as she finished speaking, four circular blades appeared from nowhere, two of them going for Hera while the other two aimed at Livy and Vulcan.
The Empress blocked the first strike while Shadow and Clay defended the second. Vulcan jumped above the one coming at him, but Livy wasn't able to move fast enough, the circular blade cutting her arm.
'Daskka!' Hera called right away, the Herald already turning into her purple mist form to heal the Leviathan.
Three more circular blades came flying from random directions, but this time, everybody was ready for them. They all moved to the side, letting the projectiles fall to the ground harmlessly. But Victoria was still nowhere to be seen. Hera decided to try something else. Covering the area in a spores field, she hoped it would be enough to show where the woman was. Even then, the illusion was too strong. There was no way for the Ophidianite to see the woman moving around. More smaller circular blades came flying out, some even enchanted with spells that exploded in contact. Everyone did their best to defend against the attacks, but the added magic made it much more complicated.
'Fuck it. Livy, boost me up!' Hera called and rushed towards the Leviathan, who quickly put both hands one over the other and launched the Empress into the air as soon as her foot reached the Leviathan's hands.
The Ophidianite flew into the air, dismissing all of her blades except Robin, Lurize, and Nimbus. Using her tail to bring herself around, she got into position to strike without any weapons in her hand. Twiggy, who was told about the plan through their connection, waited until they were at the right distance from the ground.
'Now!' the Tiara called, triggering [Silvered Strength] and [Bathed in Silver] to boost their attributes even more.
Hera quickly summoned Sun and Vulcan, letting Forge awaken the spear.
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Sun - Spear - Radiance
Attribute Scaling:
Empress Attributes: 852
Strength X 20.3, Endurance X 18.3, Charisma X 13.3,
Agility X 4.1, Intelligence X 4.1, Luck X 4.3
Active Skills:
Burning Aura - Seal of Eternal Radiance:
Sun creates a burning aura around himself. Enemies within the aura take continuous fire damage, and Sun's attacks with deal bonus radiant damage.
When taking damage while Burning Aura is active, the duration of the aura is extended slightly. Additionally, defeating an enemy while Sun's Fury is active grants a temporary buff to your Charisma while the aura is active.
Cooldown: 3 minutes
Extra radiant damage: +30%
Charisma buff + 10%
Duration: 30 seconds
Passive Skills:
Unyielding Spirit: Taking damage while wielding Sun's Fury increases your attack power and grants a temporary shield that absorbs incoming damage for a minute
Awakened:
The Scaling and Attributes are doubled.
All skills have their effects doubled, as well as the duration. Their cooldown is reduced by half.
Super Flare:
Thrust the spear forward, unleashing a burst of radiant energy that damages and burns enemies in a cone-shaped area.
Cooldown: 30 minute
Mana cost: 4 million mana
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The Empress barely registered the changes in the spear awakened form. The only thing she noticed was the empowered version of the skill she was about to use. Triggering [Super Flare] a massive radiant spotlight was created. It covered the entire area affected by the Shroud of Tartarus, where Victoria was still standing. The ground around the area started to melt with the intense heat generated by the attack. Even without being hit by the skill, the surrounding had all their color washed away for a moment. Replaced by a blinding white light. Anyone looking from the distance would see a pillar of light as if a divine being had descended.
Victoria was ready for something, but she wasn't ready for this kind of attack. The radiance energy blasted from above. The sheer force behind the attack sending her to the ground. Even then, after the initial hit, she was able to create a barrier to protect herself. Once the skill finished, the Shroud of Tartarus was still on the floor, as Heras spell wasn't affected by her own mana. But there was something new. A circus tent, of all things, near the western edge of the area. Surrounded by the molten rock created by the [Super Flare].
Before even landing, the Empress called the entire court. All of them going to attack the tiny tent that was just barely bigger than the Cyr Wheel the human was using as they appeared. But before they could reach it, Victoria blasted out of it, her skin glowing an ominous shade of red. Her white face paint was still there, fighting against the color behind it. The woman was also in clear view instead of being invisible, and the circular blade spun around her waist.
'Vulcan!' the Empress called, already understanding that this was her Soldiers of Strength form. Forge was halfway towards the woman when the Empress called. He slammed her with his hammer, sending a wave of strength mana into her body. But that barely had any effect. To interrupt this, he would need to trigger his [Daemonic Form]. Unfortunately, the daemonic influence was still too low for that. It wouldn't take long for him to be able to use his form, but they had to hold on for a while.
Despite the powerful attack, Victoria didn't withstand that much damage, and Hera could clearly see that. A thought crossed the Empress' mind. The woman mentioned her defenses were strong, and she might have said it literally. Throwing Sun at an angle, the Ophidianite tried to trap the human in her own weapon. Since she was wearing it like a hula hoop, there was a chance she could be yanked if something were to block her path. And that was exactly her intention. Make the blade work as a parking lot barrier.
The spear was able to hit the large target and stick to the ground, making the Cyr Wheel slam against him. However, Victoria barely lost momentum. She did a cartwheel to the side, freeing her weapon that moved along with her, and continued running towards Hera.
Livy went in for a [Draconic Eruption] that covered the ground in water. This was finally enough to make the human lose her footing, allowing the Leviathan to come down with an overhead swing. Even then, the strike missed, hitting the ground just behind her. But the sea serpent wasn't done. She triggered [Seal of Draconic Vortex] which pulled Victoria back as the water was dragged to the point of impact before bursting upwards. That gave an even better opening for the rest of the court. All members started attacking relentlessly at the woman, who now had lost all her momentum. Hera now had Eira in her hand, [Permafrost Vortex] already active in hopes of shaving away Victoria's defenses.
The moment they clashed, a cut appeared on the human's skin, but it was quickly regenerated by whatever skill the Soldiers of Strength gained. However, Victoria wasn't expecting to be hurt by a simple slash, much less she was expecting that the other attacks from the courts were starting to wound her. Especially Clay and Vulcan. The chain whip wrapped itself around her leg and pulled the blades, creating a large spiral gash on the limb. Forge, on the other hand was able to damage her bones instead of her flesh. One of the skills she gained after becoming a Soldiers of Strength made her skin almost turn to metal. The problem was that metal resonated with each of his strikes.
The human roared and started spinning rapidly, the Cyr Wheel hitting all the blades and Hera and smaller versions appearing from all directions. She was moving too quickly for them to defend completely. The court was barely able to avoid getting struck by more deadly blows. Seeing the Empress bleed was enough to push Vulcan's daemonic influence to the max, allowing him to trigger his [Daemonic Form]. Just like Victoria, his skin started to glow red, but it wasn't the same light. While the woman looked like a light bulb made out of blood, Vulcan was closer to a piece of bark still glowing red with the heat inside it. His muscles bulging, and the scars on his face becoming more pronounced.
Forge slammed his fist on Victoria, causing her skin to return to her normal pale shade. But that only lasted a moment as the red took over again. With each impact the mana that made her a Soldiers of Strength faltered only to rush back. Hera and the rest of the Court tried to help, slashing and thrusting at every opportunity, but it was very hard to do so when Vulcan was in this state. He became too wild, too unpredictable. And yet to attack the human would also put him at risk.
At least, for the court.
Victoria kicked the kangaroo away, jumping back to her feet and holding the Cyr Blade so tightly that her hands were bleeding. But before she could do anything else, she let go of her weapon and covered both her ears with her hands, screaming in pain. Vulcan didn't let up. He rushed back, tackling her to the ground and started jumping on her, slamming both feet in her torso with every landing. The woman continued to scream, flailing around wildly but unable to move away from the blows. After a couple seconds, while Forge was in the air, the yelling stopped and she fell limp as Victoria, the Soldiers of Strength, died.
Hera turned back to the harmony Guardians ready to help them fight their enemies, but there was no need. They had finished their fights. Flint and Roan were walking away from the body of a human while Vash was just staring at a woman with the circus makeup another corpse behind him.
"Holy shit," the harpy gasped as Vulcan dropped to his knees and vanished.
"Don't worry, he'll be okay. Are you okay?" Hera asked.
"What? Yeah. I'm fucking great. That bitch had a legacy!" Vash couldn't help but open a large smile. "It's mine now, and it's perfect."
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