With cold violet eyes, Zenlith peers down on me like I'm nothing more than a pebble in his otherwise perfectly smooth path. Without even lifting a hand or showing a hint of exertion, another lightning bolt comes down on me. Of course, I'm unable to react, because lightning is faster than a human's reaction time. The electricity courses through my body and paralyzes me once again, but I can feel that its effect seems to be less potent with each consecutive hit I take. It must be my body learning to deal with the damage and automatically coming up with countermeasures. How convenient!

But really, hitting an opponent who's down on the ground. That's not very sportsmanlike. I quickly burrow my core deeper into the ground and then suspend my decoy body from a tiny thread - as tiny as I can make it without completely losing control over the other part. This way, when he does attack again, I can just detach myself completely.

Yet, no more attacks come. The self-proclaimed god floats down to the ground and disappears from my field of vision. I don't want to risk exposing myself as being alive by moving my eyes to look at him, so I can only wait until he either shows himself again or leaves. And if he's close enough, I can expand my body underground to swallow the entire area whole in one go, like a giant maw.

"Is this all?" I hear Zenlith's haughty voice reverberate throughout the area. Damn, I can't pinpoint his location when he uses this theatric effect. I know he landed somewhere to my right, but if he's outside my reach, I'd be exposing myself to him completely. Leaving aside not being able to swallow him in an instant, if I don't take him by surprise, he'll most likely use some kind of spell to burst out of me.

In fact, I feel like I shouldn't even try to swallow any of the sorcerers, since I'm sure they can invoke spells without the need of chanting, too. If I can't stop their magic, I can't take them inside my body, where I'm much more vulnerable than on the outside - or at least I think I am... However, what I can do is to crush them by encasing them with an outer part of my body covered in dragon armor. Juzual didn't mention that dragons were created by that mage of the beginning or something, so their magic resistance should work to a certain extent against even the spells of those sorcerers. I can try it out here, at least.

"I am disappointed. This is the extent of that traitor's teachings?" There's no scorn in his voice when he mocks Juzual. Well, I won't get taunted by that, since she didn't really teach me anything directly. "Keep playing dead like a good little puppy and I shall overlook your presence here." He appears in my field of vision as he steps in from the side, his eyes looking down on me without even a hint of concern for the chance that I might retaliate.

And with this he's within my area of effect. I expand my body explosively from underground and form a giant maw lined with dragon armor. I'll crush him instantly without leaving him time to react.

Zenlith doesn't show any surprise when my body comes at him from all sides, and in the next instant he disappears in a lightning strike, which shoots through my body at the same time. The paralysis wears off almost immediately, but of course, he's no longer within my reach. I react quickly by pulling myself completely underground, not even leaving a decoy on the surface. Now he won't know where I am.

"Futile." His echoing voice comes from everywhere and seems to vibrate through the very ground. In the next moment, that ground disappears and I'm surrounded by flying dirt and uprooted grass. Apparently I was lifted into the air alongside the earth I was in and am now floating helplessly towards the sky filled with black clouds.

Helplessly? No, I can fly in various ways, after all. I'll refrain from using Hestia's template, because the feathered wings make me feel that I'd be pretty vulnerable to lightning strikes. Everybody knows, flying P●kemon are weak to electric attacks. Instead, I turn into a variant of the Chaos Warhead, where I can retain a certain level of mobility. Creating funnels under my feet, in my palms and on my back, and covering myself with dragon armor plates, I practically clad myself in a kind of organic-looking version of a certain billionaire's armored suit. Since I don't need to chant anymore, I can create individual bursts of air in those smaller funnels for better maneuvering.

I immediately dodge to the side, knowing that another attack is going to happen right then - I had no basis for that, only instinct. But that's not how lightning works, as it strikes me again. Electric currents seek the closest and most conductive target, and in midair that would only be me. Still, the effect is almost completely repelled by the anti-magic carapace. I have to say, it's really the most useful template I've gotten so far. Hm... I think I might have said that about the Vularen one before sometime, but now it's the dragon's.

Shrugging off the slightly prickly feeling in my body, I stay afloat and look around myself. The flying dirt has been cleared away by my burst of air, but there's no sign of Zenlith. Don't tell me he can turn his body into lightning? I don't have any sea stones at hand to counteract that, you know? I mean, leaving aside the fact that I can't even react to a lightning strike, since I very obviously still have only a human's mental capacity - aside from certain things such as being able to work with a body that defies all laws of physics - there's no way to stop electricity.

Another lightning bolt runs through me, but this time the effect is already so diminished that I don't really feel bothered by it anymore. If this is the extent of Zenlith's power, then I feel like I won't have to be afraid of any of these self-proclaimed gods.

"Is this all?" I repay him his earlier mockery and spread my arms in a challenging gesture.

Lightning flashes and my target appears before me, his violet eyes devoid of any emotions. I guess my taunt didn't do much, even though Juzual made it seem like Zenlith is the arrogant type who won't let any perceived insult stand unchallenged.

"Do not get ahead of yourself, mongrel." Huh, I'm having the strangest kind of déjà vu right now. But before I can try to remember where I heard this phrase before, the man in white lifts a hand towards me in an almost lazy motion. In the next instant, something presses down on me from above and I'm pushed towards the ground at the speed of freefall. I impact the ground, but because I was able to harden my body, I'm not splattered this time.

Still, I don't see anything on top of me, but it feels like a huge hand is holding me down. I'm on both of my feet, but I can see where this is going; he's trying to make me kneel with this invisible force, and prostrate before him. Typical of his kind of people, they will toy with those they perceive as their inferiors. Reminds me of how my battle against Aurelia went.

Speaking of Aurelia, I think I should take her out of my body and let her help me fight this guy. I mean, I did kinda persuade her to help me by making her realize that these self-proclaimed gods toyed around with her and her people for all her life. Well, me and Juzual did together. But first...

I increase my density by pouring almost all of the mass from my non-physical inside out into my physical body, just like that time when I fought against Dregana in my human form. It increases my physical strength manifold and I can withstand the pressure coming down on me. Slowly straightening my back, I make my stand and look up at Zenlith, whose expression simply doesn't want to change. I'll wipe that poker face away!

Turning my hand into a dragon head, I shoot out a plasma breath and swing it around like a sword. It cuts through the ground and then the air, but misses the intended target by quite a margin. Umm... huh?

Zenlith's expression finally changes, but I don't like that it's because he's surprised at the fact that my completely telegraphed attack didn't even come close to hitting him; he didn't even need to dodge. Then he begins to laugh, his voice resounding through the area even though he is right in front of me.

"Was that an attempt to amuse me? If it was, you succeeded." His smile is one of mockery, and it really irks me. Also, this reminds me of Aurelia again, and I think this is the time to take her out from inside me, seeing as we're not in the middle of an exchange of blows.

I reach inside myself and pull the golden girl out by her hand. She manages to stay on her feet right after coming out, but it seems that my supersonic travels and tumble across the dunes did a number on her. I still don't really understand how my insides work and in what way they're affected by the outside, but I can tell from this that certain extreme movements will be transferred. Since she's golden, her face doesn't show whether she's feeling sick or not, but she doesn't move for a moment, her eyes focusing on the ground as if to stabilize herself.

"... what did you do?" She turns to ask me, but sees that I'm in combat mode, looking similar to that time when I fought her.

"We're facing one of those self-proclaimed gods, the sorcerer named Zenlith." I point to the man in white, floating up above and looking down on Aurelia with an eyebrow raised. Then realization seems to dawn on him and the eyebrow falls back down to form a hint of a frown.

"It would seem that you brought the failure." He comments, clearly referring to the golden girl. "What do you hope to achieve with her help?"

"To bring you down from your high horse." I respond with a fearless grin. I'm sure he still hasn't shown his true power yet, but so far, he's not done anything that could seriously hurt me. Aside from high gravity, extreme cold and lack of pressure, now even lightning seems to have no effect on this body anymore. I think the only thing that could damage me would be explosions and high temperatures - since that's what I gathered from that time with the fire magic instructor I swallowed but didn't immediately dissolve.

"Interesting." With this, Zenlith shifts his eyes to Aurelia, and lightning strikes her instantly. Since I stand so close to her, a slightly prickling feeling runs over my entire body, but it barely registers at this point.

"Hm, do I have something on my face?" She asks with a frown, when I seem to have stared at her for too long. Apparently she didn't even notice that she was hit with a high voltage electric blast just now. I can't help but laugh, and turn to look at the sorcerer who cast the spell with a mocking grin. However, he doesn't look perturbed at finding that we're both pretty much immune to his attacks. He still has that pressure thing, but it's not very effective either.

"Do you think you have me defeated because of this?" He doesn't smile triumphantly or show anger, and instead just asks in a matter of fact tone. I simply can't read how strong this guy is based on his reactions; as expected, it's not as simple as in fiction, where the bad guys are always gloating when they think they have the upper hand, or show obvious fear when they know that they are at a disadvantage. Zenlith keeps up his poker face regardless of what happens - except for mocking laughter that one time when I missed the plasma breath... ugh...

"Then show us what you got!" I taunt him once again. Next to me, Aurelia is putting her palm on the ground, turning dirt into gold, which she gathers into the shapes of various weapons. The fact that he lets it happen without a hint of worry means that he doesn't see it as a potential threat. In other words, physical attacks don't work on him or what? Well, if he can really turn into lightning, there's no way we could ever hurt him.

"Be careful not to choke on your self-confidence, girl." Zenlith states with a dangerous undertone and lifts a hand towards me. In the next moment I feel my throat closing up, to the point where I can't draw breath anymore. What's this? Is he using telekinesis or something?

Not that it's effective against someone who doesn't need oxygen to survive. I mean, I was in space for more than a month, and didn't choke there. Massaging my neck, I notice that it's being crushed by something invisible. Still, with this convenient body of mine, it doesn't impact me at all. Shrugging, I silently conjure up an array of spirit spears above me.

Zenlith lifts an eyebrow at the fact that I'm not affected, and lowers his hand again, causing the constricting pressure around my throat to disappear. I fling the spears at him, but he turns into lightning and flashes away in the blink of an eye. I have better aim with magic than with the plasma breath, since the former is based on thoughts and the latter requires actual dexterity and aim. Still, if he can even dodge these spirit spears, I won't be able to hit him with anything.

I don't see the point in Aurelia creating weapons, since her attacks are actually slower than those. Maybe they can act as a lightning rod and cause him to dissipate into the ground or something? That'd be the lamest end to someone who seems like the last boss in this world. I doubt that's going to work, since he wouldn't have been able to make it to the point where people could consider him a god otherwise.

Is it just me or is this battle actually really casual right now? I don't feel tense at all, unlike when I was up against Aurelia or those times at the academy. Maybe that's how people who can't hurt each other behave when they fight?

"Am I to assume that your mother has the same abilities as you do?" Zenlith flashes into existence right before me, eyeing me with something akin to a collector's interest. The suddenness of his appearance takes me aback and I almost stumble and fall onto my bottoms. "Then I may have to concentrate on her fully when the time comes." Huh, what's that supposed to mean? Is he actually that arrogant, to think that he can just half-ass it against maou-mama? Wasn't he mortally wounded by her before?

I swing my fist, powered with a burst of air at the elbow - I'll call this move lovingly "Rocket Punch"! This time, instead of completely flashing out of the way, my fist goes through his face, which creates electric sparks that cling to my skin like a spider web. The electricity runs through my entire body, but it doesn't have any effect. I'm sure if I was a normal human being, I'd have been electrocuted as if I had grabbed at lightning itself, and my heart would have stopped.

"I shall make you this offer only once, so be careful how you decide." He starts, ignoring my attack from just now. What's this, he wants to talk? After he attacked me first and struck me down with lightning? "Join us."

That wasn't unexpected. Is he actually making this offer because he has no means of killing me on and tries to talk his way out of things? I mean, I don't have any means of harming him either, but maybe he doesn't know.

This is an opportunity though; I can join the sorcerers and destroy them from the inside. I know there's at least one of them whose very nature is my bane, and with my powers right now it'd be quite risky to engage that one. I could try to catch them off guard and kill them one after another, though. In either case, this offer is quite enticing, but I will have to attach a condition that will give me more time to prepare.

I exchange a glance with Aurelia, hoping that she grasps my intentions. Her golden eyes appear to show understanding, though I don't know whether that's true or just my wishful thinking.

"If you cease your attack on Demon Queen Pelomyx, I shall join you. After all, you cannot expect me to fight my own mother." I respond to Zenlith's offer and look him in the eyes with an unwavering gaze. He should think that the only reason I'm opposing him is because he's attacking my mother, so it's quite reasonable. I mean, it's actually the sole reason for why I was in a rush earlier.

"You are too late." With his frigid voice and cold violet eyes, he completely denies my hopes. Then his body dissipates, as if he was just an afterimage. Huh???

Wait, what does he mean... too late?