Chapter 85: Reynard vs Seijumaru
The battle between Reynard and Seijuromaru began like a deadly symphony a duel of icy grace and electric fury.
Seijuromaru attacked first. His two immaculate white fans, edged with a lunar glow, spun in his hands with hypnotic fluidity. Each movement generated invisible blades of cryogenic wind that sliced through the air, hissing like frost serpents.
Swish! Swish!
Reynard parried with his stolen saber a black and reddish curved blade still stained with the blood of its previous owner. The clashes produced explosions of glittering ice particles that sparkled in the dimly lit hall.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Both combatants moved at superhuman speeds. Seijuromaru danced around Reynard with an almost arrogant princely elegance, his long golden hair flowing behind him like a lunar train. His fans slashed, spun, and struck in riposte, creating complex patterns of frozen wind that sought to carve Reynard into pieces.
Reynard, on the other hand, fought with brutal and calculated savagery. Each sword strike was heavy and powerful, charged with crackling lightning that left yellow trails in the air. He repelled the attacks and countered with oblique slashes and lightning-fast thrusts, occasionally forcing the Ice Prince to retreat with graceful steps.
Suddenly, Seijuromaru leapt backward, his feet barely touching the marble floor. A refined, almost sensual smile stretched his pale lips.
"Enough playing around."
He raised one fan above his head and murmured in a soft, almost loving voice:
"Cryogenic Lunarization."
The air around Reynard transformed instantly. A wave of absolute cold enveloped him. A thin layer of diamond-hard ice formed on his skin, then seeped deeper, like a living infection. The ice penetrated his lungs with every breath, turning oxygen into crystalline needles. His organs were compressed, his blood slowed, and his muscles grew numb. A slow, insidious, excruciating pain spread throughout his body.
Seijuromaru tilted his head slightly, admiring his work with aesthetic cruelty.
"Do you feel it? My ice doesn't just freeze your flesh. It invades the air you breathe. It crystallizes your alveoli, compresses your heart, and freezes your veins… You will die from the inside, slowly, feeling your lungs turn into fragile glass. A magical death… even poetic, wouldn't you say?"
Reynard gritted his teeth, a guttural growl escaping his throat. His veins began to glow with violent electric yellow. With a savage cry, he unleashed a massive lightning explosion that coursed through his entire body.
CRRRRRRRACK!
The yellow and white electric arcs shattered the ice from within. Shards of frost flew in every direction as Reynard regained his breath, his eyes burning with contained rage.
"You talk too much…"
The fight resumed with even greater chaos.
Reynard raised his hand and fired a concentrated Lightning Laser. A blinding beam tore through the hall like a divine lance, destroying everything in its path. Several golden pillars exploded with a deafening roar, sending incandescent debris flying.
Seijuromaru countered by snapping his fans.
In an instant, everything froze.
"He's frozing… the lightning?!" Reynard growled in disbelief.
Seijuromaru smiled arrogantly.
"You didn't really think that would work on me, did you?"
Reynard then materialized a pure lightning bow between his hands and unleashed a volley of Electric Arrows at the speed of light. Seijuromaru responded by creating dozens of Glacial Rose Petals with razor-sharp thorns that flew to meet them. Each collision produced explosions of frost and sparks.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two fighters then shifted to pure close-quarters combat. Their exchanges became blurred. Reynard activated his God Flash, gradually increasing his speed. 10 times… 20 times… 35 times… 50 times… 60… 100 times the speed of light. He became a living laser. His sword strikes rained down like a storm of blades. Seijuromaru, despite his grace, began to be overwhelmed. His fans struggled more and more to keep up. A cut appeared on his shoulder, then another on his thigh. Red blood flowed over his pale skin.
Sensing danger, Seijuromaru deployed his ultimate technique:
"Lunar Domain: Eternal Palace — Diamond Cascade of Judgment!"
The entire hall transformed. The ceiling became a starry night sky, the floor was covered in mirror-like ice, and an abnormal gravity pressed down on Reynard.
"Now… you can no longer escape me."
He launched a new technique: Waltz of the Phantom Fans of the White Snow Gods. Dozens of illusory copies of himself appeared, each wielding real fans. A converging rain of attacks descended upon Reynard. He responded with a raw explosion of power. He temporarily dematerialized his body into pure photons, passed through the illusions like a luminous ghost, and reappeared behind Seijuromaru.
"I'm behind you."
CRRRRRRRRRRRACK!
The blow was so violent that the shockwave shattered the golden floor around them. Seijuromaru spat blood, his body arched in pain.
Without giving him the slightest respite, Reynard immediately followed up. He raised both hands, concentrating all his energy into a massive lightning energy sphere. The yellow orb crackled with blinding intensity, illuminating the entire hall like a second sun.
"Take this!"
KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
The attack struck Seijuromaru head-on. The explosion was cataclysmic. The domain shook violently, as if struck by an earthquake. An entire section of the ceiling collapsed with a deafening crash, golden pillars exploded into thousands of fragments, walls cracked for several meters, and a shockwave swept everything away, hurling debris in all directions.
A blinding light filled the hall for long seconds. When it finally dissipated, Seijuromaru lay on the ground like a broken doll. His body was smoking, charred, covered in deep electrical wounds and black burns. He remained on his knees, breathing with difficulty, blood flowing heavily from his mouth and multiple wounds.
"I've already wasted enough time here," Reynard said.
He prepared to resume his run when Seijuromaru, in a final surge of pride, slammed the floor violently with both fans. An explosive wave of ice burst forth and struck Reynard head-on, sending him flying several meters back.
Reynard slid across the golden floor, braking with his feet, his chest slightly frozen. He raised his head, surprised but not truly injured.
Seijuromaru rose with difficulty, his body trembling, his gaze filled with a mixture of rage and disbelief. He wiped the blood from his lips and smiled a twisted, bitter smile.
"…You will regret damaging my beautiful human face…"
He burst into a hoarse, almost hysterical laugh despite the pain.
Reynard frowned. A memory suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
Training Room with Vulcan — Several Months Earlier
The room was immense, with no visible limits. Reynard stood at the center, shirtless, his body covered in sweat and burn marks. His breathing was heavy, his muscles trembling with fatigue. Facing him stood Vulcan in his true colossal form the Dragon of Earth and Lava.
The dragon was terrifying. His massive body, made of black molten rock and glowing red magma, dominated the space. Veins of lava flowed slowly along his scales, and his orange eyes burned with wild intensity. Smoke and sparks erupted from his maw with every breath.
Vulcan looked at him with a carnivorous, almost sadistic smile, revealing fangs as large as swords.
"Again, kid!" he roared, his voice shaking the entire room.
"You hit like a little girl! Where's your rage? Where's your dragon blood?!"
Reynard clenched his teeth and charged once more. He leapt high, enveloped in a lightning aura, and slammed his electricity-charged fist into Vulcan's massive forelimb.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact was violent, but Vulcan didn't budge. He simply laughed a deep, booming laugh that echoed like an earthquake.
"Harder!"
With a simple swipe of his paw, he sent Reynard flying dozens of meters. The young dragon tumbled painfully across the ground, spitting blood.
Vulcan approached slowly, his steps shaking the floor.
"Listen to me well, Reynard," he said in a more serious, almost paternal voice despite his brutality.
"A true dragon's power doesn't come only from magic. It's not about the amount of energy or technique."
He lowered his massive head until his smoking snout was close to Reynard's face.
"It comes from your will. From your rage. And from your blood. From that burning thing flowing in your veins that screams at you to survive, to dominate, to destroy everything if necessary."
Vulcan placed a huge paw beside him, cracking the floor.
"Let it explode when it needs to. Don't control it like a human mage. Let it consume you, then channel it. That is a dragon."
Back to the Present — Seijuromaru's Domain
The memory faded.
Reynard opened his eyes. A wild flame burned in his gaze.
"You want to see what a real dragon is?" he murmured in a low, menacing voice.
A deep rumble rose from his chest, then from his entire body. The air around him began to crackle violently. Blue and black lightning arcs danced across his skin.
Seijuromaru, still on his knees, instinctively backed away, his eyes wide with pure terror.
"Wh… What are you doing?!"
Reynard let out a primal, terrifying roar that shook the entire domain. The golden pillars vibrated, the stained-glass windows shattered, and even the moons in the sky seemed to tremble.
Then he transformed.
His body grew at a phenomenal speed. His muscles expanded, his bones cracked, black scales with electric blue reflections covered his skin. Majestic and menacing horns grew from his head, and an aura of pure destructive lightning enveloped him completely. In seconds, he became a majestic, imposing, terrifying true dragon.
Seijuromaru was terrified. He retreated several steps, his face deathly pale, his legs shaking. It was the first time he had ever seen a real dragon.
"H… How…?! How are dragons this powerful?! Is this… the true level of real dragons?! This power… this presence… it's impossible!"
Reynard opened his massive maw and unleashed a second deafening roar that chilled Seijuromaru's blood. Then he concentrated a phenomenal amount of energy. A gigantic, crackling lightning sphere formed in front of his mouth, containing over 50 million volts.
He released it without mercy.
KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
The attack obliterated everything in its path. The entire domain trembled like never before. A massive section of the golden corridors was completely destroyed, walls melted, the ceiling collapsed over dozens of meters, and a blinding light filled the entire space. Seijuromaru was struck by the colossal lightning with unimaginable violence. When the attack finally dissipated, he lay on the ground, unconscious, his body severely burned and smoking half dead.
Reynard returned to his human form, breathing calmly. He adjusted his torn clothes and murmured in a cold voice:
"I've already wasted enough time playing with you, little fox."
He resumed his run through the devastated corridors, determined.
"Seth… Hold on. I'm coming."
Main Tower — Vaeris's Domain
At the top of the highest tower, Vaeris sat on her majestic throne, surrounded by floating silk veils and soft lunar light. A trembling hybrid messenger knelt before her and reported the news in a hesitant, fearful voice: one of the intruders had destroyed Seijuromaru's domain.
Vaeris slightly furrowed her brows genuinely surprised for the first time since the start of the Festival. Her fan froze in her delicate hand.
"Seijuromaru has been defeated?" she murmured, almost incredulous. "I thought the little blond was dead… This human actually managed to beat my second son?"
She pressed her fan to her lips as a intrigued, dangerously amused smile slowly appeared on her beautiful face. Her violet eyes sparkled with new, almost predatory excitement.
"These humans… are far more interesting than I thought. The Moon Festival might be much more entertaining than expected."
She rose slowly, her violet eyes shining with intense light.
"Continue observing every movement. I want to see how far they can go… and if this continues, I may have to intervene myself."
To be continued….