Fire Against Sky

Black fire surrounded Anatalien, and memories flashed through her mind. Memories of her soul burning, of pain unimaginable consuming her from the inside. It was repeating, only this time she knew what was happening. She had protections. The ring on her finger blazed with power in her senses as it protected her soul, her Soulful perk, made her able to dissociate from the pain and act without worrying about the damage, much like how the Unyielding perk of the Crucible of the Body.

Her technique broke, and Awirren's beak pierced through her shoulder. Anatalien screeched in pain as they tumbled through the air. White bolts flew from above, striking Awirren's back, but all the cover of black fire swallowed each of them with ease.

She was dying, she knew, even though the ring and her perk gave her a layer of protection, there was nothing that could stop the sheer destructive potential of the black fire that burned all around her. Smoke choked her lungs, it stung her eyes. She couldn't see, the noise of the burning inferno filled her ears, her nerves were on fire and the pain was the only thing that she felt. Her skills were the only thing that was letting her know what was happening around her, and her |Greater Threat Sense| was screaming in her mind, while her |Perfect Air Current Sense| was struggling to catch all the currents around her. The fire both on the ground and around Awirren had created an area filled with countless wild currents.

She couldn't endure this for much longer. The fire was going to overwhelm her defenses, and soon.

With a mental effort, she focused on her body, and just let it go. The bonds that held her body pulled apart, her individual Essences splintering apart in a shower of light. Sky and Bond Qi formed around her physical bodies Essences, each individual grain, a myriad of Essences that comprised her body, were grasped and shielded by Sky and Bond Qi. And with Master of Sky and Bond, she pulled her splintered body back through the air in a surge, away from Awirren.

The black phoenix made to follow, but light broke through the smoke above, thousands of lances pierced through and smashed into Awirren, pushing her back.

Awirren kept her focus on her body, her Soul feeling stretched as she forced her body to reform. Her Forging of Body and Soul had granted her the ability to break the bonds that held her body, to splinter it into countless pieces and move it through the Sky as she wished, but it cost her Qi. She reformed high in the sky, next to Sigmund wearing a bright white armor, and still firing his light lances at Awirren who was shrouded below, hidden by the smoke in the air.

Her Evolved Form reemerged, the wounds in her body still present. Unlike Ryun, she couldn't heal instantly, though her bonuses did make her regeneration faster.

The sky around her was thick with smoke, with flames licking up toward the sky. So much Essence was filling the sky that Tali felt her stats lowering, her Forging of Body and Aspect's weakness hitting her hard. Directly below her, she saw glimpses of black fire as Sigmund continued his attack. He was burning his skills and perks to enhance his abilities, she could see that it was taking a toll. Keeping up the onslaught on Awirren was the only thing that kept her from flying up at them.

Tali could see the exhaustion on his face, using his most powerful skill so much in such a short period had exhausted him.

Awirren was powerful beyond what they had expected, beyond what Tali could've ever imagined. She had to stop her, before she had the chance to show more of what she had kept hidden.

Tali pulled out potions from her storage, catching them with Sky Qi and carrying them straight into her open mouth. She closed her beak, shattering the glass and started downing them, the glass was too weak to break her skin, so the pieces just flowed harmlessly with the liquid down her throat. She felt the potions boosting her stats, boosting her regeneration, replenishing her Qi, everything that she had, a wealth of a minor Sect spent in seconds. Two elixirs that she got from their dome as a reward, she downed the last. She chose the Sky as the Aspect which to improve, as she was afraid. What Awirren had demonstrated with her Soul was beyond her, and Tali's Bond Qi only damaged those whose meaning she could overcome with her own. She wasn't sure that her power could match what she had felt from Awirren's Soul, and she wasn't about to risk a direct confrontation with the monster below her, not when she might lose.

She felt her willpower surge and her connection to the Sky deepen. She entered her Ascended State: Sky Bond Ascendancy, and her core flooded with power of the Sky. The wounds closed a little faster, and her tiredness drained away. She activated her Domain, summoning the Sky Expanse into reality.

The world shifted, the smoke and fire fading away to a realm of infinite blue sky. Only three people existed in this world, Anatalien herself, Sigmund floating next to her, and Awirren's far down below them.

The monster shrouded in black fire screeched, her wings beating furiously as she headed up toward them. Tali moved her Qi, preparing a technique, and Sigmund attacked again, a whisper leaving his lips.

"SLOW HER."

She felt the world bend to make his words a reality, and knew just how much it would take from him. His words and power were directly linked to the will they were opposing and the effect he wanted them to have. And what she was feeling from Awirren was unlike anything she had ever felt before. A wild storm of seemingly infinite willpower.

Awirren did slow, but she wasn't slowed anywhere near what anybody else would've been. But, it was enough.

Tali focused, adding a meaning to the power she was shaping and then unleashed her technique, {Empty World}.

She targeted the center of Awirren's being, the air inside her lungs, her Sky Qi surged across the distance, the technique touching every Essence that was related to Sky. And then it expanded, pushing everything out, an explosion of Essence.

The fire on Awirren's body, her aura expanded, thinned and disappeared as it was blown away. Her chest bulged as her lungs were trying to expand, threatening to explode her from the inside.

And then new fire burned across her feathers, it snaked its way up to Awirren's beak and into her mouth. Tali watched in shock as she felt her Qi eaten by the flames.

"Did she just burn the air in her own lungs?" Tali whispered out loud, not able to contain her surprise.

Awirren's eyes locked on to them from below, and then faster than Tali could react, Awirren moved. She blasted through the air, straight for them.

Everything hurt, but the pain was only fuel for her anger. The smoke and beautiful flames were gone, replaced by the wretched blue sky filled with light. She could not stand it, it was her right to swallow all light, the Sky filled with flames, a tapestry of colors that burned all those unworthy was the only truth of this place.

The two above her opposed her, they hurt her. The bones in her chest ground against each other, fractures that pierced flesh and made it hard to breathe. She had burned the wretched Qi that had tried to kill her from the inside, but she couldn't burn the damage already done.

She hated them, she hated everything. No one should dare touch an empress on her throne, and the sky was hers.

She ignited her Cloak again, and beat her wings. With [Mad Wind Rush] and [Maelstrom Crescent of Madness], she broke through the air, her Soul burning up inside of her and her fire fraying the space around her itself. A black and red crescent of power blasted ahead of her, making Anatalien twist her Evolved body and dodge.

Awirren unleashed a {Field of Everburning Fire}, its effect subdued as the Sky of the Domain around her pressed in from all sides, but it was still enough.

The man was slower, his flying disk construct barely able to move out of the way in time. She twisted through the air, spouting flames in all directions with her technique. A thread of fire lashed at the man, hitting his hand.

The fire burned with the intensity of her Soul, her unyielding will. Armor melted in an instant, followed by flesh and bone. A sword made out of light appeared in his other hand, and swiped as the flames rushed up to devour him whole. He cut his arm off above the flames, sending the limb flying.

Awirren blasted by them, and took her rightful spot in the Sky above them. She spread her wings wide, a technique burning in her body.

Then she threw her will against the Domain surrounding her, and activated her perk. The Domain shook as tears appeared in it all around Awirren, techniques and attacks came from above but fire spilled from the tears swallowing them whole. The light around Awirren died, and then the Domain broke apart as the Mad Flaming Sky was born.

A realm of madness and fire.