Despite being restricted to Tier 3 within the dreamland, as a Demigod, Hei Lian had ways to cheat.

First, she had unlimited mana. Unlike Ceres, who was limited to the amount of mana she had brought with her into the dreamland, Hei Lian’s powerful soul allowed her to maintain contact with her main body in reality. Through this channel she could access her vast mana pool, and if even that wasn’t enough, she could absorb the ambient mana to replenish those reserves.

Her second advantage was mana manifestation – the ability to create solid constructs of mana, the signature ability of all Tier 5 mages. Her armour, the sabres and the shield she had created a few moments ago; they were all mana constructs created using this ability.

The high-density crystal mana of a Tier 5 as well as a strengthened soul were both prerequisites for mana manifestation. This was the reason one had to reach at least the peak of Tier 4 before one could create a corporeal doppelganger. This was also the reason why Hei Lian had been so surprised when she had seen Ceres condensing her Domain into the shape of an umbrella, and later a fisherman’s hat. It was an ability far beyond her current capabilities. But after some probing, she had found the reason for that. Ceres dreamland Domain was special. It was much more powerful within a dream than it was in reality. It had allowed the young fox-girl to break the rules and skip ranks.

With these two advantages on her side, Hei Lian could have fought the Kaiju on her own and emerged victorious. But the problem with that, again, was that she was within Miyagi Vulpine’s dream. The further her actions were from the realms of possibility, the more rules she broke, the more likely it would be for her to attract the witch’s attention. And that would place an even larger burden upon Ceres’ Domain that was shielding them. Given Ceres’ limited mana, the sped-up consumption rate would shorten their stay in the dreamland.

It was all a matter of striking the perfect balance between power and sustainability. As matters stood, her best bet was to enrage the serpent and draw it onto the land where she could cooperate with the prince to defeat it with as little effort as possible.

Another beam of condensed light slammed into the back of her crystal armour, sending her tumbling forwards. Using calculated short-lived jets of fire, she managed to stabilize herself, roll onto her feet and keep running. Letting out a low growl of frustration, she blasted towards the island, leaving a shallow furrow in the water with her speed.

The serpent followed behind her a few metres beneath the surface of the water, each whip of its sinuous tail propelling it forward at blistering speeds. Once in a while, its red eyes would shimmer and scarlet beams of condensed light would lance out from the water and slam into her, forcing her to slow down to regain her balance and repair her cracked armour. The attacks were near instantaneous and they worked on line of sight, there was no way for her to dodge. All she could do was tank them and keep running.

She poured as much mana as she dared into the flaming jets at the back of her armour, but still, it was steadily gaining on her. Though, not fast enough. At this rate, she would reach the shore before it caught up with her.

When it seemed like she would succeed, a set of silver runes lit up on the body of the snake. Hei Lian found herself slowing down as the snake flickered forward in a burst of speed, its magic having altered the flows of time around both of them.

The serpent’s man-length fangs glowed an ominous red as it burst out of the water, its jaws wide, prepared to pierce through her and pump her full of its corrosive venom.

Suddenly, Hei Lian’s armour sloughed off her body, recombining into a full set behind her. While Hei Lian kept moving forward, the empty set of armour turned around and charged straight towards the gaping maw of the serpent.

Grabbing onto both its fangs with its hands, the armour dug its feet into its own shadow on the surface of the water and set its back thrusters at full blast, trying to slow the serpent down.

Even at full power, without Hei Lian’s support, it held up for only a few moments before it was impaled by the snake’s fangs and disintegrated by the glowing venom. Even in its final moments it did its best to eke out a few more seconds for its mistress by exploding in a blast of dark fire that scorched the serpent and made it hiss in pain.

Taking advantage of this window of opportunity, Hei Lian managed to make it onto the beach and join up with Ceres and the prince.

Thoroughly enraged, the serpent followed behind her, surging up from the water and onto the sand, cutting a deep furrow through it. Its body seemed to go on and on; over a hundred metres of pure ophidian terror made flesh.

Now fully exposed, its head towered up to the sky as it reared up to look down upon the tiny morsels who had enraged it so. Its red eyes were ice cold, its forked scarlet tongue flickering out to taste the air. Its silver sigils glimmered under the sunlight and its pristine white scales were marred only by a few scorch marks around its mouth.

The prince charged forward to meet it head on. Greyish-silver smoke poured out of his body as he ran, surrounding him and obscuring his form. The serpent’s eyes glittered again and again, but the beams passed through the fog harmlessly and slammed onto the beach, drawing channels of glowing glass on the beach.

One of the prince’s Aspects was the Aspect of Confusion. Rather than the following the orthodox Kitsune path of becoming an illusionist and beguiling his enemies from a safe distance, he had chosen the path of a brawler. And the greatest enemy of any close combatant was long-range attacks. Hence his choice of this Aspect. The silver-grey smokescreen acted like a perfect arrow ward, deflecting spells and physical projectiles alike, giving him enough time to close the distance and beat the tar out of his opponents.

Ceres had scoped it out during her previous trial runs and she rather suspected that Miyagi Vulpine had comprehended the Aspect of Confusion with help from the prince. Maybe even as a reward for completing this very mission.

The prince successfully managed to approach the serpent and the smoke surrounding him grew denser and expanded outwards violently as he activated his Domain.

~Domain of Suppression~

A combination of the prince’s three Aspects: Suffocation, Confusion, and Corrosion, this Domain was a nightmare for any close-combat fighter. Not only would they be starved of the air required to perform the high-intensity movements required of their profession, they would take constant damage from the corrosive smoke, while having no idea where their enemy even was. Even leaving the Domain would be inordinately difficult as it would confuse their sense of direction.

It was a Domain that was specially targeted towards hunting Kaiju as their huge bodies required a lot of fresh air to keep functioning.

Alone, it might not have been enough to confine the ouroboros, but he wasn’t alone.

Hei Lian walked over to the edge of the Domain and cast her own Domain over it. Jet-black flames spilled out of her palms and washed over the inverted bowl of the prince’s Domain, surrounding it in a shell of dark fire. Bright yellow flames moved out of her fingers and drew complicated runic patterns that spread all over its surface.

Now, whenever the serpent managed to break out of the prince's Domain, it would be faced with extremely dangerous black flames. And even if it managed to clench its jaws and punch through them, it would find itself back inside the suffocating silver-grey smoke. Hei Lian had turned her Domain into a closed space. Even if one tried to exit from one side, they would be shadow walked back in through the other.

Still, it took over half an hour for the snake to succumb, proving its legendary resilience as it continuously healed itself to pristine health using its Resurrection talent. It was only after exhausting the last scrap of its mana that it finally dropped down.

Suddenly, the scene of the dreamland grew illusory, all the colours and forms blending together as though someone had spilled a bucket of paint on the world. Then it reformed into another scene.

Hei Lian and Ceres found themselves back in the Daimyo’s pagoda, sitting in seiza alongside the prince. In front of them all was a large rectangular wooden box that had been opened, revealing its contents – a massive pure white snakeskin with silver runes glittering all over its surface.

The Daimyo was on his throne, looking just as lazy as ever. If not for his slightly less slouched posture and glittering eyes, one would never have guessed that he was impressed at all.

Clapping his palms lightly, twice, "Congratulations." he said. “What do you want as your reward?”

“I would love to visit the Arcanum, my lord,” replied Ceres. “It has always been my dream to peruse the books there.”

The Daimyo nodded slightly with a smile. “It shall be so. You have one day of Tier 5 access. Use it well.”

The scene dissolved again, then reformed. Now the two dream-walkers found themselves at the heart of a massive library, rows upon rows of well-maintained books and journals surrounding them in a labyrinth of shelves.

“Well,” said Ceres, smiling happily. “We’re finally here.” She reached up and lightly flicked one of her purple crystal earrings – the final remnant of her Domain. “We don’t have much time.”

“It’s enough," said Hei Lian. "Block the library. I’ll handle the rest.”

The earring glowed blindingly bright, decomposing into illusory purple smoke before reforming into a shimmering purple barrier that coated the walls, floor and ceiling of the entire Arcanum, cutting it off from the witch’s sensation.

“It won’t hold. You’ve got seconds!” Ceres cried out, her expression twisted into a scowl of effort, sweat beading on her forehead and soaking her back.

“It’s enough,” Hei Lian repeated confidently before abandoning her Bestia form and transforming into a nightmarish six-tailed fire wolf. She howled. Ripples of black and yellow fire spreading out with her as the centre, incinerating the shelves and books in their path.

Ceres’ barrier lasted three seconds. It took Hei Lian only two and a half to turn Miyagi’s memories of the collected knowledge of the Kitsune into her own.

In the real world, the crystal containing the dreamland cracked, then shattered.

Ceres’ eyes flew open with a jolt. She found that instead of her pillow, her head was resting on something tighter and springier. Looking up, she realized that her head was on Mars’ thigh, and her husband was looking down at her with his wonderful crimson eyes, his fingers lightly combing through her short hair.

Sighing with contentment, she relaxed and shifted a bit to get more comfortable.

She felt something detaching from her and flowing out of her shadow. ‘Hei Lian,’ she thought.

“Why are you here?” asked the wolf-girl unemotionally.

Mars pointed to the covered tray on the bedside table. “I brought dinner when Ceres didn’t turn up in time.”

“And why did you stay?” she asked, her tone a bit softer.

“I saw her dreamland diving so I replaced the dishes with stuff that would still be edible when served cold. Then I waited, knowing she would be hungry when she woke and would like to have someone to eat with.”

"Haah," Hei Lian sighed theatrically. "Have fun, lovebirds. Watching you guys is bad for my heart.” She turned around to leave, then paused at the door. “Oh, and if you do decide to get frisky, please change the sheets afterwards.”

The door to the compartment swung shut, leaving the blushing couple behind.