It was like they'd teleported into a completely different environment, really.
When the groundwater tore through the earth in its desperate rush towards the only man it deemed worthy to control it, the floor beneath both him and Eris crumbled away.
The soil mixed into the massive waves and was swept away to somewhere random. Massive chunks of rock and stone were broken apart until they were crumbs and thrown out of the newly created lake entirely.
The battleground on which August and Eris had been fighting was sunken deep into the ground. They were now fighting an aquatic battle in a field of August's creation.
Naturally, the darkness domain was disrupted by the sudden appearance of so much water. Even more so when Eris was swallowed into it.
She diverted her focus to precision control. Using the darkness present inside the water itself, she propelled herself out of the waves and into the air where she currently stood.
Meanwhile, August was in his element when he was surrounded by water. He didn't follow her into the air, but instead immediately attacked from his position standing atop the waves.
'Form.'
August twisted his hand, and the waves morphed into twin dragons.
'Charge.'
The dragons rushed into the air. They chased Eris down and opened their maws, ready to devour her.
'Damn!'
Eris gritted her teeth.
She put up a hasty defense, but it wasn't anywhere near enough.
BOOOOOM!
The two dragons slammed into and through her darkness, and she was instantly drowned in their power.
The laws of water allowed both flexibility and rigidity. When they were used offensively, they could manipulate the enemy's body into positions that completely disarmed or even killed them.
Eris was a flexible person, sure, but she wasn't anywhere near the level of water. Her body was contorted by the currents inside of the water dragons, twisted in unimaginable ways.
Before she could right herself, the water turned rigid, trapping her in her uncomfortable position.
It would have been comedic to see her like that if it wasn't for the situation.
Besides, August wasn't finished yet.
'Pierce her.'
With another command, multiple streams rose out of the lake and turned to ice. They followed their dragon-formed brethren on their path and pierced as they were ordered.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
With the sound of them whizzing through the air, first blood was taken.
The icicles cut through the water dragons and put holes in Eris' shoulder, thigh, and stomach.
"Hssss!"
She hissed in pain as her eyes sharpened.
BOOM!
An aura of darkness spewed from Eris' body and polluted the surrounding water.
As it corroded into poison, August lost control over the dragons that contained her.
They instead became Eris' power.
She stayed within the poisonous substance only because it provided a natural barrier for her.
With the moment she had, Eris patched the holes in her body with mana and instantly prepared a move to throw off August's momentum.
The question was how she could do it.
With a body of water that big, it was like he had infinite mana while she was constrained within the limits of her own body.
She could form darkness to counteract that sea, but in the end, she wouldn't be able to compete.
August used a natural resource that was being strengthened by his mana and laws. He didn't have to use mana to create his medium, so his consumption would be far less than hers.
Considering that he was able to stand up to her properly and injure her so easily, it was clear that August wasn't far below her in power anymore.
If he had more mana, then this battle would be his win if it continued for too long.
Eris either had to match him and find a natural source of power or end this battle before it got to the point where mana capacity was the most important factor.
The first option…
'...isn't impossible.'
The time they agreed upon was in the evening, after all. The sky hadn't turned dark yet, but it was darkening with every passing second.
'If I want to gain access to that power source, then I need to prolong the battle.'
And prolonging the battle would give August the advantage.
She was stuck in a difficult position. It would be easily overcome if she transformed into a true dark dragon, but she wasn't so dishonorable to force her opponent into that situation when they were already in the middle of a proper battle.
If she had no choice, then she would transform.
Either way, judging by the way they were currently using their laws, a battle in their dragon forms wouldn't last very long.
What mattered now was bringing the battle back to its starting point, on an even playing field.
Her eyes went to the lake that supported August.
'That…'
At the bottom of every body of water was darkness. In smaller bodies, that darkness didn't have much of a presence, but the larger the body became, the larger the darkness grew as well.
A majority of the ocean was darkness. The creatures that lived there had to adapt to it just as much as they had to adapt to water pressure.
This lake wasn't nearly as deep as the ocean, but it was still considerably large. Almost a kilometer of rock had been destroyed in the creation of this lake.
With the amount of darkness contained within, it was definitely possible.
Eris put her arms out and controlled her energy.
She focused her will on the depths of the lake, connecting to the darkness where only a handful of creatures could survive.
It was a conceptual darkness, nowhere near as definitive as the shadows caused on the land. Still, if she could find a way to harness it, then this battle would turn in her favor.
August felt the subtle change in her demeanor. She was no longer releasing mana, focusing instead on maintaining the mana she already had existing in the world.
Her attention and focus had been diverted elsewhere, and when he followed the flow, he was able to see exactly where that was.
'I see…' he remarked to himself.
'So you want to make this a domain battle after all.'
Her domain had been crushed and his had been created. In retaliation, she was doing exactly what he refrained from doing earlier.
'But if you want to create a domain within mine, then you'll have to work harder than that.'
The stupidest thing August could do was give Eris the chance to make a big move. As long as she was restricted to only using smaller more precise abilities, she wouldn't be able to take the upper hand or injure him.
It was wishful thinking in a sense. Eris wasn't someone who could be stopped using ordinary means once she'd set her mind to something.
If she wasn't such a person, then she would have never pursued August to this point.
She was the first real rival he'd had in this world. Juno was different. They were friends and would never actually do anything to hurt each other.
Eris was purely a rival. She was someone he strived to surpass and someone who refused to be surpassed by him.
For a second, August thought that this battle meant more to him than he originally expected.
But that thought didn't last long.
WHOOOOSH!
The waters of the lake fluctuated. They swished from side to side, clashing against each other until a massive whirlpool was formed.
In the middle of the lake was a gaping hole that led deep underground.
And at its bottom, the only thing present was darkness.
VOOM!
It was as if that darkness opened its eyes and grinned a grin filled with malice.
August knew what Eris was trying to do, and he was already in the process of creating a counterattack.
Yet, she'd already completed her move before he had the chance to do anything.
'That's a real genius.'
She was also someone with the blood of a Holy Dragon flowing through her body. She wasn't someone August could defeat easily like the noble clan geniuses, but a competitor that had both the same starting point and potential as him.
Against someone like her, tricks wouldn't work.
The only way to win was to genuinely be more skilled.
But that was exactly what got August's heart pumping so ferociously.
A true test of skill, a battle where nobody could doubt the victor…
'...I'm starting to understand why Valerie's been ignoring the war for a month.'
This kind of battle was addicting, especially for a young genius who wanted to grow.
He supported her precisely because he understood this already.
Still, it was different when he was feeling it himself.
He looked at Eris with flames burning in his eyes.
It didn't matter if it would take a minute or a year.
He would defeat her properly.
That was something he swore to make a reality.
It was like they'd teleported into a completely different environment, really.
When the groundwater tore through the earth in its desperate rush towards the only man it deemed worthy to control it, the floor beneath both him and Eris crumbled away.
The soil mixed into the massive waves and was swept away to somewhere random. Massive chunks of rock and stone were broken apart until they were crumbs and thrown out of the newly created lake entirely.
The battleground on which August and Eris had been fighting was sunken deep into the ground. They were now fighting an aquatic battle in a field of August's creation.
Naturally, the darkness domain was disrupted by the sudden appearance of so much water. Even more so when Eris was swallowed into it.
She diverted her focus to precision control. Using the darkness present inside the water itself, she propelled herself out of the waves and into the air where she currently stood.
Meanwhile, August was in his element when he was surrounded by water. He didn't follow her into the air, but instead immediately attacked from his position standing atop the waves.
'Form.'
August twisted his hand, and the waves morphed into twin dragons.
'Charge.'
The dragons rushed into the air. They chased Eris down and opened their maws, ready to devour her.
'Damn!'
Eris gritted her teeth.
She put up a hasty defense, but it wasn't anywhere near enough.
BOOOOOM!
The two dragons slammed into and through her darkness, and she was instantly drowned in their power.
The laws of water allowed both flexibility and rigidity. When they were used offensively, they could manipulate the enemy's body into positions that completely disarmed or even killed them.
Eris was a flexible person, sure, but she wasn't anywhere near the level of water. Her body was contorted by the currents inside of the water dragons, twisted in unimaginable ways.
Before she could right herself, the water turned rigid, trapping her in her uncomfortable position.
It would have been comedic to see her like that if it wasn't for the situation.
Besides, August wasn't finished yet.
'Pierce her.'
With another command, multiple streams rose out of the lake and turned to ice. They followed their dragon-formed brethren on their path and pierced as they were ordered.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
With the sound of them whizzing through the air, first blood was taken.
The icicles cut through the water dragons and put holes in Eris' shoulder, thigh, and stomach.
"Hssss!"
She hissed in pain as her eyes sharpened.
BOOM!
An aura of darkness spewed from Eris' body and polluted the surrounding water.
As it corroded into poison, August lost control over the dragons that contained her.
They instead became Eris' power.
She stayed within the poisonous substance only because it provided a natural barrier for her.
With the moment she had, Eris patched the holes in her body with mana and instantly prepared a move to throw off August's momentum.
The question was how she could do it.
With a body of water that big, it was like he had infinite mana while she was constrained within the limits of her own body.
She could form darkness to counteract that sea, but in the end, she wouldn't be able to compete.
August used a natural resource that was being strengthened by his mana and laws. He didn't have to use mana to create his medium, so his consumption would be far less than hers.
Considering that he was able to stand up to her properly and injure her so easily, it was clear that August wasn't far below her in power anymore.
If he had more mana, then this battle would be his win if it continued for too long.
Eris either had to match him and find a natural source of power or end this battle before it got to the point where mana capacity was the most important factor.
The first option…
'...isn't impossible.'
The time they agreed upon was in the evening, after all. The sky hadn't turned dark yet, but it was darkening with every passing second.
'If I want to gain access to that power source, then I need to prolong the battle.'
And prolonging the battle would give August the advantage.
She was stuck in a difficult position. It would be easily overcome if she transformed into a true dark dragon, but she wasn't so dishonorable to force her opponent into that situation when they were already in the middle of a proper battle.
If she had no choice, then she would transform.
Either way, judging by the way they were currently using their laws, a battle in their dragon forms wouldn't last very long.
What mattered now was bringing the battle back to its starting point, on an even playing field.
Her eyes went to the lake that supported August.
'That…'
At the bottom of every body of water was darkness. In smaller bodies, that darkness didn't have much of a presence, but the larger the body became, the larger the darkness grew as well.
A majority of the ocean was darkness. The creatures that lived there had to adapt to it just as much as they had to adapt to water pressure.
This lake wasn't nearly as deep as the ocean, but it was still considerably large. Almost a kilometer of rock had been destroyed in the creation of this lake.
With the amount of darkness contained within, it was definitely possible.
Eris put her arms out and controlled her energy.
She focused her will on the depths of the lake, connecting to the darkness where only a handful of creatures could survive.
It was a conceptual darkness, nowhere near as definitive as the shadows caused on the land. Still, if she could find a way to harness it, then this battle would turn in her favor.
August felt the subtle change in her demeanor. She was no longer releasing mana, focusing instead on maintaining the mana she already had existing in the world.
Her attention and focus had been diverted elsewhere, and when he followed the flow, he was able to see exactly where that was.
'I see…' he remarked to himself.
'So you want to make this a domain battle after all.'
Her domain had been crushed and his had been created. In retaliation, she was doing exactly what he refrained from doing earlier.
'But if you want to create a domain within mine, then you'll have to work harder than that.'
The stupidest thing August could do was give Eris the chance to make a big move. As long as she was restricted to only using smaller more precise abilities, she wouldn't be able to take the upper hand or injure him.
It was wishful thinking in a sense. Eris wasn't someone who could be stopped using ordinary means once she'd set her mind to something.
If she wasn't such a person, then she would have never pursued August to this point.
She was the first real rival he'd had in this world. Juno was different. They were friends and would never actually do anything to hurt each other.
Eris was purely a rival. She was someone he strived to surpass and someone who refused to be surpassed by him.
For a second, August thought that this battle meant more to him than he originally expected.
But that thought didn't last long.
WHOOOOSH!
The waters of the lake fluctuated. They swished from side to side, clashing against each other until a massive whirlpool was formed.
In the middle of the lake was a gaping hole that led deep underground.
And at its bottom, the only thing present was darkness.
VOOM!
It was as if that darkness opened its eyes and grinned a grin filled with malice.
August knew what Eris was trying to do, and he was already in the process of creating a counterattack.
Yet, she'd already completed her move before he had the chance to do anything.
'That's a real genius.'
She was also someone with the blood of a Holy Dragon flowing through her body. She wasn't someone August could defeat easily like the noble clan geniuses, but a competitor that had both the same starting point and potential as him.
Against someone like her, tricks wouldn't work.
The only way to win was to genuinely be more skilled.
But that was exactly what got August's heart pumping so ferociously.
A true test of skill, a battle where nobody could doubt the victor…
'...I'm starting to understand why Valerie's been ignoring the war for a month.'
This kind of battle was addicting, especially for a young genius who wanted to grow.
He supported her precisely because he understood this already.
Still, it was different when he was feeling it himself.
He looked at Eris with flames burning in his eyes.
It didn't matter if it would take a minute or a year.
He would defeat her properly.
That was something he swore to make a reality.
