"3… 2… 1… go!" I announced, a wide smirk on my face.

These two, Lin Luo and Obsidia, were the strongest girls by my side right now, excluding Mei Gui. Not only this, but they are also both quite competitive. By pitting them against each other like this, a rivalry was bound to be formed. Since neither of them were the type to use underhanded methods, a rivalry between the two would cause both of them to continuously get stronger rapidly.

Lin Luo struck first, summoning her two swords of Divine Lightning and rising into the air. They were not all that strong since I controlled most of the power, but it was still powerful enough to match Obsidia's Chaosbourne Dragonfire. At least, when she's in her human form.

"… I'll finish this quickly." Lin Luo crossed her two blades and merged them into one, before thrusting it towards the sky and calling upon the heavens.

Immediately, thunderclouds began forming above her, paired with lightning and thunder all around. I hurriedly set up an Illusion spell to prevent anyone within the temple from seeing this scene.

The lightning bolts converged around her blade, striking down and empowering it. The lightning, for whatever reason, was red — which would've made sense if I was the one summoning it, but…

Perhaps… my Chaos has already begun to affect her? But she's only been with me for about two weeks…

"Holy Raijin, I summon you! Be my blade; cleanse this world of sin and purge all evil! Come, Divine Lightning!"

Obsidia snorted, as if this was nothing impressive. She opened her right palm, letting an evil black flame burn within it.

"Who needs chants…?" She smirked smugly, then shot a beam of fire out of her hand, black yet lined with red strands of energy.

Lightning met fire, and the two waves of energy collided with one another. Neither seemed to be stronger, and a loud explosion ensued.

Neither Lin Luo nor Obsidia let this opportunity go, immediately dashing into melee combat range. Lin Luo wielded her greatsword, while Obsidia empowered herself with draconic strength and let the Dragonfire completely envelop her body as she dashed in.

Lin Luo swung down as hard as she could, but Obsidia caught the blade with her bare hands. Well, her hands were technically wrapped in black fire, but she had no weapons nonetheless.

"Heh…"

"Tch…"

Lin Luo sprang away from Obsidia and dove downwards once more, but Obsidia had enough of staying on the ground. She spread her burning arms wide, creating two massive wings of fire that sprouted elegantly from her back, and flapped them to fly up into the air and thereby causing Lin Luo to miss her swing.

"She can do that too?" I mused, a bit surprised.

"Yeah," a voice suddenly said from beside me. I turned to see who it was, and blinked.

"Flaria…? When did you…"

"I sensed a high-tier Magic Beast fighting nearby, and decided to check it out. Who knew, it was this lizard."

"Ah."

"As much as I want to deny it, dragons are quite powerful, even in their human form. Of course, Phoenixfire is a thousand times better than Dragonfire, but they possess one advantage we don't — versatility."

"How so?" I asked.

"Phoenixes can't do what she's doing right now," Flaria explained. "When in our human forms, us phoenixes are pretty weak compared to a dragon in their human form. They can control their Dragonfire completely even not as a dragon, but we have to be in our original forms to wield Phoenixfire."

"Huh, I see…"

I wanted to ask about what happened this morning and what she dreamed about last night to turn into her human form and hug me so tightly like that, but I figured now wasn't really the right time, and turned back to the battle.

Obsidia began launching small fireballs towards Lin Luo, who used the blunt side of her charged sword to deflect them away. When she finally got close enough to Obsidia, she cleaved in front of her, sending a crescent-shaped barrage of energy out of her blade.

Obsidia's eyes widened slightly, but she was able to just barely dodge it. It seems that charged attack was too powerful even for her to block.

"… That wasn't a normal attack. How did you do it?" Obsidia asked, narrowing her eyes.

Lin Luo scoffed. "It's an ability I discovered recently. As for who gave it to me…"

She suddenly spun her head around to look at me, and curved her lips upwards into an evil smile.

"… You can ask him."

What? What did I do?

"Master, her Divine Lightning has been corrupted by your Chaos, making it Chaotic Lightning," Mei Gui explained helpfully. "Because of this, her sword has gained the same attributes as Chaos — the ability to consume, enhance, and replicate."

"Oh…?" Obsidia smirked. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but… you're not the only one who has been affected by that bastard."

I can hear you, y'know…

Obsidia suddenly thrust her hand out towards Lin Luo. For some reason, Lin Luo's body froze and her eyes widened in shock, unable to do a thing.

"What is she…" I murmured.

Obsidia, keeping a perfectly neutral expression on her face, waited patiently as Lin Luo began to slowly float towards her helplessly.

"My Chaos… is stronger than yours."

"What is that…?" I wondered aloud, stunned.

"My guess? A variation on a special Draconic technique," Flaria replied. "Dragons have a special power to drain the 'bravery' of people, but that usually is triggered by a roar in their normal form. When paired with the consumption ability of Chaos, however… this is the result."

"Rather than 'draining bravery', perhaps a better term is 'injecting fear'," Lan Xiao Su added. "At least, that's what I read in a book…"

"Huh…"

Lin Luo's teeth were gritted, but she had no way of fighting back. Her body wouldn't listen to her command, and she fell helplessly into Obsidia's clutches.

"That's enough," I interjected as Obsidia held Lin Luo's throat in her hand.

Obsidia shot me a sideways glance, as if dissatisfied, but she let go regardless. Lin Luo fell back to the ground, but I teleported in an instant and caught her before she could.

"… Hmph," Obsidia snorted, before turning away and heading off victorious — but someone hadn't had enough yet, it seems.

"Hah… hah… if this bastard didn't take 90% of my power… I would've crushed you…"

Obsidia stopped, turning back around to face Lin Luo. "I hope you realize… this isn't my full power either. I could become… a lot scarier."

As if to show, her eyes transformed into that of a dragon's for a second, but quickly reverted back to normal.

"Heh… so? Nothing in this world is a match for an Ascended Seraphim."

Uh… really? Because I clearly remember beating you, but whatever.

"… Do you want to die, human?" Obsidia asked menacingly, glaring at Lin Luo, who climbed back to her feet and picking up her sword, pushing my hands away as she charged herself with lightning.

"… You're weak, dragon. If you have guts, come at me again."

"…!" Obsidia's body was engulfed in black flames once more, and the battle between the two was suddenly ignited again.

"Hey… you two… I already said the match is ove-"

"Stay out of this!" Both of them yelled towards me at the same time, which surprised me a bit at first, but then…

"Heh… heheh," I scoffed darkly, clenching my fists. "You two… need to be disciplined."

In an instant, I vanished, first grabbing Obsidia's neck and lifting her up into the air, then Lin Luo's the same way.

"Wha-!"

"Tch… damn human… let go of me!"

My Chaos energy absorbed both their lightning and fire. They didn't stand a chance.

"I'd recommend carefully considering your attitude towards me," I said coldly. "I play nice most of the time, but don't forget your positions. Obsidia, you need me, and Lin Luo… you're nothing but a disposable pawn I can throw away at any time. Your power is in my hands."

"…!"

The two pulled on my hands to try and free themselves, but I responded by tightening my grip.

"… Do you understand?"

After a while, they finally tapped on my hand, signaling that it was too much. I let go, and the two of them both fell to the dirt, coughing and panting. Both of them glared at me in hatred, but I didn't care. I just wanted to keep them in check — make sure they knew that I was stronger than them both. That way, they would think twice before acting against me.

Spinning around, I headed back to the other girls without sparing a single glance behind.

Still… it seems like Obsidia in her human form is still stronger than the current Lin Luo… should I give her a little more of her power back? Hm…

I stopped walking and glanced back at Lin Luo briefly, who met my gaze with a hateful look.

"… Lin Luo. Come here for a sec."