Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Heiligh Kingdom, Ur Village. 

In the mountains north of the Village of Ur, fifteen minutes have passed since Tio challenged Tatsuo, Sumire, James, Aletia, and Shea to test their strength. Yet, no fight has taken place since then. In fact, for the last five minutes, Tatsuo and James have been playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who would not fight her. 

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two playing Rock-Paper-Scissors, Tio, while watching them argue over who would fight her, had already dropped her fighting stance while fiercely blushing and fidgeting in place. Yet, Sumire, Aletia, and Shea had noticed Tio's state. 

"Um… Miss Sumire, why is she blushing like that?" Shea asked in a whisper. 

"*Sigh* It's because she's abnormal." Sumire replied. "I just hope things don't get as bad as Tatsuo told me about." 

"What do you mean?" Shea, unfamiliar with the term that had been used several times in the past to refer to Tio, masochist, asked in a confused tone. 

Meanwhile, Aletia, who was watching Tio' start to smile in a sloppy way, felt her world view shattering the more Tio's smile widened. 

'What is this?' Aletia asked herself. 'The dragonmen are supposed to be the epitome of power, dignity, and nobility. Then, why? Why is she acting like that?' 

"God damn it!" Tatsuo shouted, putting an end to Sumire and Shea's conversation as well as Aletia's thoughts. 

"Hahaha! Hell yeah!" James cheered while throwing his right hand, which was shaped into scissors, up in the air. He then brought it down and kissed the tips of his extended fingers. "I won! I fuckin' won!" 

Seeing that, Sumire, Aletia, and Shea turned to look at the two boys with differing expressions. While Sumire wore a wry smile, Shea looked on with confusion swirling in her eyes. Meanwhile, Aletia wore her usual expressionless look. Though, there was a wisp of despair swirling in the depth of her eyes. 

Tio, on the other hand, shook her head to get herself back into the here and now. Then, she looked at James. 

"Does that mean you're finally ready to fight me?" Tio asked with her cheeks still red. 

"Oh, no, it won't be me." James replied with a wide smile on his face. He then pointed to Tatsuo, who looked as if he had eaten something extremely bitter and continued. "He's going to be your opponent. Oh, and you might wanna wipe your mouth, you're drooling a bit." 

Hearing that, Tio's eyes opened wide in surprise. She then flicked her fan open, covering her mouth once again, before using her free hand to wipe away the drool James mentioned. After that, she once again took her fighting stance with her legs spread and her free hand pointing at Tatsuo with her palm facing him. 

"Very well." Tio said, acting as if she was not just caught drooling for no reason. "Then, shall we begin?" 

"*Sigh* Just give me a minute." Tatsuo said in a dejected tone. "Just let me put the house away first." 

Hearing that, Tio was a bit confused. However, she then remembered that the house was not there when she first landed a day ago. And when she saw Tatsuo rush inside before coming back out with an immobilized young man, drop said young man on the ground next to his companions, then rest insert some mana into it and watched it collapse into a much more manageable form, her eyes opened even wider. Then, when Tatsuo put it away in his [Inventory], her mouth fell open in shock, as well. Luckily, her fan was still hiding her mouth, so no one saw it. 

Meanwhile, Sumire, James, Aletia, and Shea dragged Yukitoshi away while they took their distance. They could tell, judging by the mana flow they could feel from Tatsuo and Tio, that this battle would be able to change the landscape on a limited scale. 

"Alright, are you ready?" Tatsuo asked after everything was put away. 

In response, Tio only nodded her head. When Tatsuo saw that, he, too, took his fighting stance. Though, he did not equip any weapons. 

"Are you looking down on me?" Tio asked when she saw that Tatsuo was unarmed. 

"No, not at all." Tatsuo replied with a serious expression on his face while shaking his head. "But you're not using a weapon. So, I won't either." 

"Who said I am not wielding a weapon?" Tio asked as she flicked her hand, and a whip replaced the fan in her hand. 

"*Sigh* Fine…" Tatsuo muttered as a pair of bladed knuckle dusters forged from Taur Stones appeared in his hands in reverse grip. "There. Now, are you ready?" 

Instead of responding, Tio flicked her wrist once again. And with that movement, her whip shot out in a straight line aimed at the middle of Tatsuo's forehead. 

In response, Tatsuo slashed the knuckle duster in his right hand at it, attempting to sever its end. However, to his surprise, the whip was only deflected. 

'Just what is that thing made of?' Tatsuo thought to himself as he ducked his head. 

The reason Tatsuo ducked was simple. As soon as he deflected the tip of the whip, Tio flicked her wrist once again, causing the whip to change direction in an attempt to coil it around his neck. 

Once Tatsuo was clear of the whip, he lowered his center of gravity and dashed forward, leaving an after-image in his place. Then, in the blink of an eye, he had closed half the distance from his starting position to Tio. 

*Snap!* 

Yet, Tio was not caught off guard. Instead, she pulled her arm back, causing the tip of the whip to double back, and head for the back of Tatsuo's head. 

Tatsuo, expecting as much after seeing how easily Tio manipulated her whip, slashed upwards, disrupting the whip once again. Then, he side flipped to his left before dashing forward once again. 

Seeing how easily Tatsuo was able to avoid all three of her attacks, Tio flicked her wrist once again, recalling the whip to her side. Then, she held out her free hand in Tatsuo's direction while circulating her mana. 

"[Blitz Hammer]." Tio chanted. 

With her chant, Tio sent a strong gust of wind towards Tatsuo to keep him from getting too close. However, Tatsuo knew it would be disadvantageous to keep the fight at mid to long range against someone as skilled with the whip and magic as Tio. 

"[Spatial Rend]." Tato chanted as he flipped the knuckle duster in his left hand and raised his hand over his head. 

In the next instant, with the bladed knuckle duster coated in his [Energy], Tatsuo swung his arm down. As he did so, he released a blade of [Spatial Energy] along the path of his swing. As a result, the gust of wind produced by [Blitz Hammer] was cleaved into, creating a path for Tatsuo to pass through. 

At the same time, Tio was forced to dodge the [Spatial Rend] that continued forward after cutting her spell. And by the time her footing was stable again, Tatsuo was directly in front of her. 

*Bang!* 

And with the momentum from his dash, Tatsuo slammed his right elbow into Tio's abdomen, causing her to double over. 

"Nngh." Tio grunted in pain. Despite the pain she was in, Tio pointed her free hand at the ground under Tatsuo's feet. She then chanted again while overcharging her spell. "[Updraft]." 

In the next instant, Tatsuo, before he could follow up with his next attack, found himself being blown up into the air by an extremely strong updraft. And when he was finally able to reorient himself, he looked down only to see Tio once again pointing her palm at him. 

"[Spiral Blaze]." Tio chanted. 

Tatsuo then saw a small flame manifest in front of Tio's palm before it began spinning. Then, it shot forward as a spinning column of flames. 

Reacting quickly, Tatsuo stomped the air, using [Aerodynamic], a derivative skill of [Air Dance] that he learned from the Kickmaster Rabbit, to create a small platform of compressed air under his feet to dodge the incoming spiral of flame. Then, he kicked the air again to reorient himself in Tio's direction and send himself flying towards her. 

Knowing that letting Tatsuo get close again was a bad idea, Tio started moving backwards. At the same time, she cast another spell to distract him. 

"Flame Bullet]." Tio chanted. 

A moment later, another ball of flames manifested in front of Tio's open palm. However, instead of sending the flames at Tatsuo in the form of a flaming whirlwind, she fired a number of small flame bullets at him. 

In response, Tatsuo once again coated his bladed knuckle dusters with his [Energy]. Then, as the [Flame Bullets] got close, he batted them away by swinging his weapons at high-speed. Finally, once all the [Flame Bullets] were dealt with, he kicked the air once more with [Aerodynamic]. On top of that, he stacked the final derivative skill, [Riftwalk], before appearing in front of Tio just as she cast her next spell. 

"[Flame Fangs]." Tio chanted after redirecting her palm from the sky to Tatsuo's new position. 

*Smack!* 

Yet, just as Tio's spell was about to be cast, Tatsuo, using the back of his right forearm, knocked Tio's arm upwards. As a result, her spell, which created a set of flaming jaws, teeth, and fangs, was cast into the empty sky. 

"Oh, dear…" Tio muttered, knowing what would be coming next. 

And just as Tio expected, Tatsuo whipped his left elbow across her jaw. He then followed up by throwing a low kick with his left leg into her right calf. At the same time, because he did not want to kill her by accident, he sent his weapons back into his [Inventory]. 

"Mmm~!" Tio groaned once again after receiving the two attacks. "Ahn~!" 

Unfortunately, Tatsuo, who had been trained as an assassin, had fallen into his zone. Regardless of man, woman, or child, he would attack in the most effective way to either kill or incapacitate his opponent. At least, he had the self-awareness to dispel his weapons before he started his onslaught. 

Unfortunately, because he had entered his zone, Tatsuo was unaware of the increasingly lewd groans and moans that escaped Tio's mouth every time he hit her. But Sumire, James, Aletia, and Shea, who were observing from a distance, were quite aware. 

"Well, that's all folks." James said while shaking his head. 

"*Sigh* You're probably right, Porky." Sumire replied while similarly shaking her head. 

"Is it okay for him to hit her like that, though?" Shea asked, kind-hearted as she was. "This is only a test, right? We don't wanna actually hurt her, do we?" 

"Don't worry about it, Shea-San." Sumire said in a comforting tone. "From what I've read about the Dragonman Tribe, they are all quite resilient." 

"I see." Shea replied while watching the ongoing fight with a worried expression. 

However, Aletia was feeling her world view shatter. With every lewd moan Tio released, she was finding it harder and harder to believe that the stories she had heard about the Dragonman Tribe being the most noble to be true. 

All the while, Tio was doing her best to defend herself against Tatsuo's rain of punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, grapples, and headbutts. And thanks to her physical attributes surpassing the majority of beings in the world, she managed to block, dodge, or parry nearly forty percent of them. But that sixty percent that landed left her panting hard and feeling pain all over her body. 

Unfortunately, despite her physical gifts, Tio eventually fell to Tatsuo's barrage. When she did, Tatsuo was left standing over her, still primed to attack if she were to stand once again. 

However, as time passed, it was clear that something was wrong. 

Lying on the ground, Tio's eyes were rolled up in the back of her head, which was not all that strange after being beaten as viciously as she had been. However, that was where what could be considered normal ended. 

On top of her eyes being rolled back, Tio's mouth was also open while her tongue hung out of it and drool leaked from the corners of her lips. On top of that, her body was twitching… Actually, that could be considered normal, too. But the fact that there was a slight protrusion on one side of her robe was quite telling, as well. 

And why was that protrusion only visible on one side of her robe, you might ask? Well, that's because the other side had slid down her right arm instead of just revealing her shoulder. As a result, the entirety of her right breast was visible, too. And that made it quite evident what the small protrusion on the left side of her robe was, as her hard nipple could be seen swaying from side to side as her exposed right breast quivered with every breath she took. 

Even more unusual was the fact that she was rubbing her thighs, which were almost completely exposed thanks to her robe riding up, together as if she was trying to scratch an itch that she could not reach. And finally, the slightly tart scent that was emanating from her lower half was the proverbial cherry on top. 

"Welp! He done did it now." James said while shaking his head with a gleeful grin on his face. "All I can say is, better him than me. One world-level masochist is enough for me." 

"*Sigh* I just hope he'll be okay." Sumire said in a somewhat pitying tone. 

"Wha… What just happened?" Shea asked while covering her eyes with her hands. However, the gaps between her fingers did nothing to block her own view. 

Meanwhile, Aletia only stared at what she was seeing with the most visible change in expression she had shown since she was rescued wither eyes and mouth wide open in disbelief. 

Back at the battlefield, Tatsuo was still staring down at Tio. However, with the passage of time, he was returning to his normal mindset. And when he did, he noticed the state Tio was in, and grimaced. 

'Damn it… I really did it.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Oh, but on the bright side, it looks like I learned a few new skills. I wonder when that happened, though.' 

Tatsuo decided he would think about that later. He could check the [Notifications] he missed after Tio had admitted defeat. 

"Do you yield?" Tatsuo asked, trying to hide his discomfort and wandering eyes. 

That question was enough to bring Tio back from her masochism induced stupor, as her eyes rolled back to where they should be, and she stared at Tatsuo with a heated, passionate gaze. 

"No… Of course not." Tio groaned as she slowly climbed to her feet. "I'll admit it, you are indeed strong, Tatsuo." 

As she slowly got back on her feet, Tio made a show of straightening out her robe and covering herself properly. Then, when she was finally standing upright again, she took out her hand fan once again and whipped it open before covering the lower half of her face in a futile attempt to hide her blushing cheeks. 

"But you have not defeated me at my best." Tio continued. "Do you dare fight me in my dragon form? Should you defeat me, I'd be more than happy to call you mast--- *cough* I mean, request your aid with my clan's issues." 

'She was about to say that she would call me/him master, wasn't she?' Tatsuo, Sumire, James, with great amusement, Aletia, with deep despair, and Shea, with total confusion, thought to themselves simultaneously. 

"*Sigh* If that's really what you want." Tatsuo muttered before leaping backwards to give Tio the room she needed to transform. 

And Tio did exactly that, just like when she took her human form, she was covered in a cloak of black mana. Then, her silhouette began to grow in size, the exact opposite of her transformation earlier in the day. A moment later, the black mana cloak vanished, revealing a seven meter long black dragon with golden eyes once again. 

*Swoosh!* 

As soon as her transformation ended, Tio flapped her wings, producing a powerful gust of wind. Then, after a second flap, she was lifted into the air. And after a final flap, she shot into their before starting to circle the area. 

"Now, allow me to show you my true power." Tio said as she looked down at Tatsuo and opened her mouth. 

In the next instant, a pillar of black and purple flames was shot from Tio's mouth. However, as dragon breath was pretty much the signature attack of any dragon, Tatsuo was expecting it. So, he used [Riftwalk] to get clear of the area before the flames could hit. 

*Boom!* 

Upon impact, the breath attack kicked up a cloud of dust and debris. In fact, the cloud was so large that, despite moving from the blast radius, Tatsuo was still covered by the floating debris. 

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* 

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* 

Despite that, three gunshots rang out from inside the cloud. However, when the bullets fired struck Tio's scales, they simply ricocheted away harmlessly. 

"Damn, without [Lightning Clad], they're not strong enough to do any damage." Tatsuo muttered. "But I couldn't use it in this cloud of dust. Otherwise, I might have caused a dust explosion. And that wouldn't have been good… For me, at least." 

As soon as his words ended, Tatsuo once again use [Riftwalk] to get clear of the dust cloud. A moment later, the entire dust cloud was dispersed by Tio, who had swooped down and slashed her claws, which were glowing with the same black and purple flames as her breath attack. 

"Well, damn…" Tatsuo said after turning around to look at Tio. "I forgot she could do that." 

"Come now, is this all you have?' Tio asked as she, too, turned to see Tatsuo. "If so, I would be sorely disappointed." 

*Bang!* 

Hearing Tio's taunt, Tatsuo narrowed his eyes, which caused Tio to shudder. Though, thanks to her size, it was not all that noticeable. However, the fact that her tail had just slammed into the ground was proof that she was agitated. 

"Fine." Tatsuo said in a low, menacing voice, as he had slipped back into his zone. "Then, I'll give you what you want." 

In the next instant, Tatsuo vanished from where he stood. However, this time it was not due to high-speed movement, which caused Tio to open her eyes wide in surprise before looking around for a trace of Tatsuo. 

Tatsuo then reappeared above Tio's back, the tips of his fingers each glowing midnight purple in color. Then, when gravity pulled him downwards, he slashed his hands like claws just as he made contact with Tio's back. 

*Roar~~~~~!* 

As Tatsuo's fingers, coated with [Spatial Slash] tore through Tio's scales and the flesh underneath, she roared in pain. Even so, that did not stop Tatsuo, as he continued to [Blink] around Tio's body and slash at her scales with [Spatial Slash] repeatedly. He did not even slow down when Tio flapped her wings and took to the air to evade. Instead, he just [Blinked] along with her. And with every slash, every broken scale, and every laceration to her flesh, Tio would roar in pain, again and again. 

["I think that woman might be even worse than Ayame, Partner"] Ddraig said while watching the fight through James' senses. 

'What do you mean, Ddraig?' James asked. 

["Those roars…"] Ddraig said, pausing thanks to the feeling of disbelief and disgust he was feeling. ["Are mixed with both pleasure and pain. I don't think even Ayame likes to be brutalized like that. And I'm just thankful to everything that I am that Tiamat wasn't like that when I was still alive."] 

Hearing that, James could not help but grimace. He then had to hold in his laughter when he heard Ddraig talking about apologizing to Tiamat for everything he put her through and telling her how much he appreciated her for being who she was the next time he saw her. 

*Boom!* 

Eventually, Tatsuo's onslaught proved too much for Tio, even in her dragon form, as she fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, causing the mountain to shake due to the impact. And when the dust that was kicked up by the impact settled, Tio could be seen sprawled out on the ground while Tatsuo stood on her snout, staring into her eyes with no emotion in his. 

"Now, do you yield?" Tatsuo asked coldly. 

"Ahn~~~! Yes, Master, I yield." Tio moaned out. "Oh! The way you ravaged my body. I don't think any other man could satisfy me the way you did." 

As soon as he heard that, Tatsuo immediately came out of his zone, stumbled while standing in place, and fell to the ground from Tio's snout. 

'Fuck! I did it again.' Tatsuo thought to himself while he fell. 'And this time, it was even worse than before.' 

Meanwhile, all the onlookers watched Tatsuo with pity in their gazes. Because, they all knew… There was no way he would be able to get away from the masochistic dragonman. Not for the rest of his life.