『You can’t run around forever!』
As Vufailbane blasted out its Dragon’s Breath while maintaining its altitude, it swung down its foreleg as if to strike Inglis with it. With it being in the air, it obviously wouldn’t be able to reach Inglis, but its claw seemed to blur as a second, larger claw materialized. The color of the magnified claw was whitish and translucent, much like the color of the Phantom Dragon.
And that magnified claw appeared to follow the movements of its main body. It wasn’t a Phantom Dragon, so calling it a Phantom Claw would be more apt.
「!!!」
It surged to the surface, far from its main body, and struck over Inglis’ head. Its destructive power was so immense, it felt many times stronger than the Dragon’s Breath!
A hole was perforated in the ground, and a roar was heard. At the same time, the ice blocks that were beginning to fill the surrounding area were all destroyed, their shards scattered and thrown about. To Inglis’ naked eyes, her entire field of vision seemed to be filled with twinkling little stars. Quite the magical sight.
This attack made use of the application of the Phantom Dragons. Phantom Dragons were a phenomenon where a dragon’s biological aura or ki automatically took the form of its own kin and attacked its enemy. But, if the flow of that aura was intentionally manipulated and focused on a single point on the body, the Phantom Dragons became a new limb, and its destructive power seemed to be equal if not greater than that of the original body.
Just as the Phantom Dragons were active away from the main body to some extent, it seemed like the Phantom Claw also worked the same way.
The fangs of individual Phantom Dragons couldn’t pass through Inglis’ Ether Armor. Therefore, Vufailbane chose to concentrate its force and increase its destructive power. From the looks of it, it seemed like this technique packed more punch than Vufailbane himself.
If the dragon was engaged in a close combat where its main body could physically reach their enemy, they could increase the power behind their punches by leaps and bounds by simply overlapping their physical limb with a phantom limb.Oh how Inglis wished to have a head-to-head power contest with a technique like that! The current situation unfortunately didn’t allow for it, however. In addition to the Dragon’s Breath that was spewed from the distance, this Phantom Claw was also joining the chase, making it even more difficult for Inglis to continue evading.
Inglis jumped back to evade the descending Phantom Claw, and then she evaded the extremely cold Dragon’s Breath that had predicted where she would go by thrusting her ice sword into the ground and stopping herself. The Dragon’s Breath quickly changed direction and chased after her, but she immediately rushed forward and shook herself free of it.
The translucent right claw of the Dragon God descended from overhead. Sensing its presence, Inglis quickly switched her course to the left, then the left Phantom Claw instantly swung down. It missed Inglis but a large number of ice blocks grazed just the tip of her nose.
This attack fell to where Inglis was going, but not where exactly Inglis was. Vufailbane was tracking her movement, but he couldn’t catch up to her. It looked like she could continue evading endlessly.
『Take this!』
As though to say she left it with no other choice, the Dragon God began utilizing its tail. If it didn’t have enough claws, just add the tail then, or so she believed what Vufailbane was thinking. A Phantom Tail sprouted from the ground and whipped at Inglis from the right. It rushed forward, cleaving the vast expanse of ice in its trajectory. The sound of the giant tail breaking ice blocks mixed with the sound of ice blocks colliding with more ice blocks.
That tail, that most delicious hunk of meat that Inglis and her friends had been feasting on for the past few days, also provided the most delectable destructive power. The destructive power of its phantom tail must also have far surpassed its claws, that went without saying.
Inglis could evade the whipping attack by jumping over it, but the large number of ice shards that was brought with it was enough to occupy her entire field of vision, making it extremely difficult for Inglis to find a gap to squeeze through.
And Vufailbane wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
『Got you!』
「?!」
Right then, an impact came from Inglis’ side. It was a blow delivered by the right Phantom Claw. Inglis’ body was blown off with a tremendous force and hit the ground. The impact made her body bounce two to three times before she regained her position and landed squarely.
「A-ah, my costume is torn a little!!」
『I will smash you to bits!』
Immediately after, the left Phantom Claw came right in front of Inglis’ eyes.
「I would rather much not!」
It’s a precious outfit that Rafinha went to the trouble of handcrafting for me. As if I will let you ruin it!
Inglis’ right fist collided head-on with the left Phantom Claw. The impact blew away the ice shards that were raining down all around. The collision with the concentrated Dragon Roar felt different compared to when Inglis hit the Phantom Dragons. Both of their powers clashed in a deadlock.
「……! Fufufu… Excellent!」
Inglis was slightly pushed back, while the left Phantom Claw was deflected backwards, but she could say that the power of that strike was very close to the power of her own punch with Ether Armor active.
The numbness felt in her arm from that collision was so pleasant, Inglis couldn’t wipe her smile. She could always enjoy such a fierce battle and, whenever she was hungry, she could cut off the tail and feed upon it. Dragon Gods truly are fantastic beings. Not a single part of them is left unused.
『Tsk! But, I still have my wings!』
It had the unwavering advantage of the high ground, or so Vufailbane would want to say, but…
「Oh, I am not so sure!」
Inglis kicked the ground to exert her top speed. Her body jerked up, but not straight towards the Dragon God. Her target was one of the large numbers of ice chunks that had been sent soaring high into the air by Vufailbane’s tail whip.
Due to its ferocious force, a majority of them were still raining down.
「HYAaaaahh!」
Kicking a block of ice as her foothold, she leaped in another direction. Then she leaped away again, then again, and again. Inglis soared into the sky, continuously kicking at the ice scaffolds.
Even if she were to jump straight at Vufailbane, it would just counter her from a distance. Thus, by hiding behind the shadows of ice blocks while approaching in a complicated trajectory, Vufailbane would be unable to catch Inglis’ movement.
The tail attack was indeed a chance for the dragon to get at Inglis, but it also created an opportunity for Inglis.
『NUUuuUUUuuu?! Obstinate fool!』
「Thank you for the scaffoldings! And, one more thing, being in the sky doesn’t necessarily give you an advantage!」
That was followed by the loudest roar of Vufailbane yet. By then, Inglis, who charged at Vufailbane like an arrow, unleashed a kick that pierced deep into its abdomen.