NOVEL NEXT Book 5: Chapter 110: Subdue
Like a shooting star, Princess Luna swooped down on Lilith, leaving behind a golden trail blaze.
Lilith was already poised and prepared for the impending confrontation.
However, Princess Luna, having foregone the formidable transformation that her dragon blood could offer, showed no interest in close-quarters combat.
As she closed in on Lilith, she extended her wings and abruptly halted when she was about thirty meters away.
With her palm wide open and lips murmuring incantations in ancient dragon language, she commanded the water elements within a five-kilometer radius to heed her call.
“Converge!”
Moisture from the surrounding air swiftly coalesced, defying the laws of nature to form a colossal water prison that towered three stories high, ensnaring Lilith.
A dragon language spell!
Lilith raised an inquisitive eyebrow. She had nearly forgotten that Princess Luna could employ dragon language spells to a certain degree.
However, Luna’s prowess would forever pale in comparison to her own, as a true dragon. The fact that Luna had to be this close for the spell to take effect spoke volumes.Lilith found herself puzzled by the purpose of this massive water prison. She could maneuver within it like a golden fish in a pond. While it might be lethal for an ordinary human, did Luna genuinely believe it could drown a formidable dragon like her?
Lilith quickly discovered that this was not Luna’s intent when the princess issued another command to the water prison.
“Burn!”
Dragon language spells were a force that could reshape the natural order. Although the prison was filled with water, it had to ignite under Princess Luna’s command! Pale blue flames danced upon the water’s surface, causing the liquid within to boil and evaporate.
Lilith began to feel a discomfort as she inhaled some of the steam, which scalded her more delicate airways. Nevertheless, with her extraordinary resilience, this could hardly cause any harm to her. The experience was akin to sitting in a hotter sauna.
Amidst the mist, Lilith gazed at the figure hovering in mid-air and scoffed, “All that effort just for this?”
“It may indeed be trivial for someone of your caliber, Master Lilith,” Luna responded, her tone tinged with smugness.
“But the best is yet to come,” she assured.
“I’m… eagerly anticipating it,” Lilith said with a wicked grin.
As Lilith lowered her center of gravity, the ground crumbled around her in a network of spider web-like cracks.
With an ear-splitting whoosh through the air, she propelled forward like a cannonball, directing her clenched fist toward the figure in the hazy mist.
To her shock… the blow failed to connect. Lilith’s eyes widened in disbelief. It turned out the figure hovering in mid-air was nothing more than an illusion! She had fallen for a clever ruse!
A faint magical fluctuation caught Lilith’s attention from the side. As she turned her head, she noticed sheets of paper covering her body.
The runes on the papers pulsed, forming an intricate web that entrapped her.
A talisman array?
A perplexed expression crossed Lilith’s face.
Talisman-activated spells were typically reserved for swift and covert assaults.
Such… fragile tactics seldom found use in confrontations between formidable adversaries.
In contrast to conventional arrays that had a core composed of specialized materials, talisman arrays lacked a central anchor. Damaging a single talisman or breaking any of the connected patterns instantly nullified their effectiveness.
In short, it was an exceedingly frail construct. Nonetheless, the expression on Lilith’s face contorted as she realized the precarious situation this seemingly frail contraption had created for her.
As she leaped into the air to confront Luna, her old momentum had dissipated, and she found herself suspended mid-air without any foothold! The talisman array’s purpose was clear—to immobilize her.
Lilith was effectively trapped in mid-air, unable to move. It was evident that Luna had skillfully lured her into this predicament right from the beginning. It also appeared that Princess Luna had put considerable thought into how to defeat Lilith ever since Lilith had previously bested her with just three blows.
A surge of magical power rippled through the air.
Princess Luna had already withdrawn again at some point, holding a black book in one hand and raising the other high.
Enormous magic power gathered above her, casting a brilliant radiance that resembled the sun. Luna’s delicate control allowed her to slowly sketch out the basic array of a terrifying magic.
“Hey, this makes no sense,” Lilith muttered nervously as she watched Luna drawing the array. “You were only close to the Saint Realm when I put you in place just now. After burning your dragon blood, you’ve probably barely reached the Saint Realm. Yet, here you are, manipulating saint-level spells with ease? Not even a character in the novel can do that!”
Princess Luna proudly raised the black book in her hand and declared with a hint of smugness, “I learned how to do it just moments ago.”
“That makes even less sense!” Lilith angrily retorted as she quickly began to move.
While she possessed considerable resilience, taking a saint-level spell charged up for over an extended period head-on would still pose a significant threat.
The rune array, though not immensely powerful, temporarily restricted her movement. This was exactly the reason Princess Luna had lured her into the mid-air trap.
Lilith felt akin to being suspended by an invisible rope; she could move around but remained ensnared. She could not touch the rope or reach solid ground, making swift escape impossible.
“Stop underestimating me!”
Lilith flung the slipper from her foot with precision, striking the talisman paper and breaking the array.
Princess Luna wore a somewhat irritated expression, wishing she had managed to lick both of Lilith’s feet earlier. At least, that would have prevented Lilith from having a slipper to thwart her plans.
Regaining her footing, Lilith wasted no time and, like a shadow, darted toward Princess Luna barefoot.
Luna’s calm gaze did not betray the panic Lilith had anticipated. She regarded Lilith with calculated composure, revealing she had already formulated a strategy. Her cherry lips began moving as she chanted another incantation.
“Converge.”
This time, the target of the order was not moisture, but… air!
Suddenly, the air within a hundred meters condensed and converged into a faintly discernible dense sphere of air before Princess Luna.
Lilith’s fist made contact with the small ball of compacted air, but she immediately felt a strong resistance. Despite the impediment, her fist powered through, though a seed of doubt flickered in her mind.
Converging moisture would have been more effective than air to block her attack. What was Luna trying to achieve?
The answer soon arrived when Luna snapped her fingers. The compacted air sphere disintegrated instantly, transforming into a tempest that swept through everything!
The wind was ineffective against Lilith’s fist, yet worked wonders with Luna’s wings, which remained still as she constructed a spell. Her wings transformed into colossal sails, allowing Luna to elegantly retreat, propelled by the gusts of wind.
By the time Lilith’s fist made contact with Princess Luna’s crossed hands, nearly ninety percent of the force had been effectively negated.
“Impressive,” Lilith dumbly exclaimed as her fist bumped into Luna’s hands.
“Thank you for the compliment, Master Lilith.” Princess Luna offered a gracious smile in response, then smoothly retreated once again, propelled by the force of the gale.
It was at this moment that her magic took form. It was a saint-level magic spell—Holy Lance!
A golden holy lance made of radiant light, emerged as if it had been hurled by a divine being. It carried a terrifying heat that could purify all the evils of the world and embodied the very laws of the Saint Realm, capable of defying the laws of nature.
The lance struck Lilith with flawless precision as she descended from mid-air, unable to evade due to the lack of solid foothold beneath her.
The moment of impact made Lilith mutter in realization, “Damn it, if only I knew how to do a double jump.”
A blinding light erupted, and a colossal and sacred cross rose from the ground, symbolizing the purification of all things. At its center, no living thing could possibly survive.
Without missing a beat, Princess Luna reached for a moon-shaped longbow that materialized in her hand.
She deftly nocked an arrow, its tip emanating the aura of the Saint Realm, and trained her aim on the spot where the smoke and dust billowed.
She was ready to release the arrow at any sign of movement.
“That’s truly remarkable.” Lilith’s voice, tinged with a hint of discomfort, emerged from the smoke and dust.
She continued praising, “I have underestimated you. To be honest, when I first laid eyes on you, I despised your arrogant attitude. But now, I think you’re qualified to act like that.”
Luna possessed an absolute talent, acute perception, superior intellect, unwavering composure, and remarkable resilience. It was the first time Lilith had witnessed such a remarkable combination of strengths in a single individual.
It was no surprise that Princess Luna looked down upon her siblings. If Lilith were in her shoes, she would have been deeply ashamed and likely severed all ties with those disgraceful people.
“Please refrain from such remarks, Master Lilith. I am doing everything to make you thoroughly loathe me.”
The tip of Luna’s arrow continued to track Lilith’s position via her voice. “What will I do if you decide to show me mercy just because you’ve fallen in love with me, Master Lilith? I won’t get to experience the ultimate pleasure!”
On top of being a supreme pervert, Princess Luna was also an extremely paranoid freak.
Lunatics are frightening, but they become even more unsettling when they have a coherent rationale!
Lilith pondered whether she would stand a chance against Luna if Luna possessed the same dragon bloodline as herself. There was no way to draw a direct comparison or determine the outcome, but Lilith held one certainty in her mind…
Her blood was boiling again for the first time in a while!
“That’s excellent, Luna. I’ve got my eyes on you. My team for the Martial God Tournament is currently one person short. Will you join me?”
“Huh? I’d be delighted, but the Martial God Tournament requires participants with strength weaker than the Saint Realm. I don’t meet the requirements.”
“You may not meet the requirements now, but… I’ll make you meet them!”
The smoke and dust that filled the air suddenly cleared. Lilith, whose clothes were tattered, was soaring up into the sky!
Princess Luna maintained her composure, channeling her magic power into the longbow. She aimed then released the arrow!
Lilith had no means of escape in mid-air.
However…
“Luna, I must thank you for making me realize the limitations of my fighting style.”
Up until now, Lilith had relied almost exclusively on brute force to conquer her adversaries. Even the White Jade Style technique merely amplified her raw power.
But today, Luna had shown her a new way of fighting that she could also use, one that did not require extensive training and accumulation of power!
After all, Princess Luna was a weaker version of herself!