The dragon's harem

Chapter 1264: Forced Growth

Tyal swung the Dragon Slayer upward, deflecting Aradʼs thundering punch, and the whole hall shook as a shockwave exploded from the impact.

Tyal winced as she got thrown back, the bones of her arms screaming in pain, almost shattering at the heavy weight of Aradʼs fists.

Before Tyal could land on her feet, Aradʼs knuckles had already healed, and he was charging at her like a raging boar, both of his fists stretched forward, aiming to shatter her guard.

Tyal used her wind magic to spin her body mid-air, dodged Aradʼs fist, and swung the Dragon Slayer at his elbow. She isnʼt getting anywhere if he still has his arms. She must sever them first, and then use that opportunity to attack his vitals.

Arad turned his arm to face upward and clenched his elbow like a bear trap. Tyalʼs sword got caught in the grip, and she got pulled out of the air toward him by the power of her swing.

Tyal couldnʼt believe what happened. She had never seen such a move in her life.

And almost at the same time, Aradʼs other fist was already flying toward her head at a blinding speed. She didnʼt have enough time to dodge, and her sword was stuck, so that wasnʼt even possible in the first place.

Tyal gritted her teeth and forced her body to move, twisting her torso and straining all of the muscles in her core.

The ungodly sharpness of the Dragon Slayerʼs blade showed itself as the sword slashed cleanly through Aradʼs elbow, severing his arm. And in the same motion, Tyal deflected Aradʼs fist a fraction of a second before he could smash her teeth in.

A deafening shockwave rattled the hall as a blinding wave of blue sparks illuminated the walls. There was no fire or lightning magic, just the sheer force of Tyal and Aradʼs attacks heating the air and disintegrating it upon contact.

Before Tyal could fall to the ground, and before she could even finish the block that had just saved her face, Aradʼs severed arm had already healed into a deadly fist that flew straight to her guts.

Tyal couldnʼt guard or dodge, and Aradʼs fist smacked into her torso, almost rearranging her organs and knitting a vest out of her intestines. Her armor cracked, and she flew faster than sound, leaving several shockwaves as she smacked into the wall.

Arad was faster than Tyal, stronger, more durable, and what scared her the most, he was far more cunning and devious. All of his attacks were premeditated and planned to kill her.

Tyal couldnʼt even imagine fighting him without the Dragon Slayer. Without the deadly blade, she wonʼt even be able to scratch his scales, let alone block attacks.

This fight is a losing battle. Tyal had no way of getting a hit on his vitals unless he made a mistake, unless Arad let her win. But Arad wasnʼt going to make any mistakes; He planned all of his moves a long time ago.

If Tyal wanted to win, sheʼd have to make the opening herself. Is it possible to defeat an opponent thatʼs far stronger than herself? She wonʼt know until she tries it.

Tyal landed on her feet, and Arad was already charging at her, not giving her any time to get into a stance. But that was all right; stances and calculated moves were useless against an unstopable force.

Without even standing straight, Tyal thrust her sword from an awkward position, putting her arms at risk to buy herself time to dodge Aradʼs charge.

The Dragon Slayer connected with Aradʼs fist, and the two bounced off each other. Tyal used that impact to send herself flying away from him, and then used her wind magic to fly around and get behind Arad.

She had observed Aradʼs fighting style and understood the essence behind it. His main skill is to understand his opponentʼs fighting style, digest it, and then adapt his own to counter it.

Tyalʼs fighting style wasnʼt rigid, but it had several hard rules, counters, and feints that she used regularly, of course, with a lot of cunning, traps, and misleading attacks.

Arad had already learned her fighting style and was now targeting her weakness, which means that as long as she fights as she usually does, sheʼll lose. All of the skills she had learned before were now being used against her.

She had finally started to understand what Arad meant earlier. She isnʼt a rigid fighter, but she also isnʼt a flexible one. Tyal wasnʼt willing to break the basic rules of her fighting style.

She swung her sword at Aradʼs neck, and he turned around like a wild monster, twisting his torso and neck beyond the normal limit to swat her attack aside.

Tyal expected that her attack would fail, but that was fine. Based on her fighting style, she should now reform her stance to recover from her weapons being smacked aside, and then immediately counter with a deadly stab.

Tyal didnʼt do that and instead swung her fist straight at Aradʼs face. She has to break the mold of her fighting style, adjust it to her opponent, and use that to her advantage.

Arad is too strong for her to overpower, so her only hope of damaging him is to exchange hits. Sheʼll sacrifice her arm to get a slash at his chest.

This is what Arad wanted her to achieve: the willingness to try something new mid-battle. If it was already a losing battle, then why stick to the basics that didnʼt work?

Tyalʼs fist got punched aside by Arad, and her blade was already a hairʼs breadth away from his chest. This was it, the hit she wanted.

Arad took a sidestep and twisted his torso, making her attack miss at the last fraction of a second. Tyal looked visibly frustrated, but she immediately channeled the next attack.

Aradʼs fist dropped at her head like a meteor, and Tyal saw her life flashing before her. She had already committed to the attack, most of her weight was being pulled by the unfamiliar sword, and she couldnʼt dodge or counter now.

As Aradʼs fist was a fraction of a hair away from her face, he smiled. His knuckles connected with her face, and her skull exploded into a thousand white splinters.

For a moment, it looked like Tyal had just been killed, but it was then that weak sparks of lightning spread across her whole body. It wasnʼt blood that splattered from her shattered head, but white mist.

Tyalʼs whole body exploded into a massive grey thunder cloud that split into ghostly snakes swirling around Arad like a tornado.

The snakes brushed across Aradʼs skin, and his scales got torn apart, filling his massive body with countless wounds. Blood splashed in the air as Tyal roared around him, shaking the whole hall.

Arad recoiled, a smile crossing his face as his blood evaporated, and he turned into a black cloud of bloody mist.

Everyone ran to the edges of the hall to avoid being caught in Arad and Tyalʼs clash, but even that wasnʼt safe. The grey thunder cloud and Blood mist clashed and mixed together, rattling the whole castle.

Tyal had finally unlocked her beast form, and Arad was now facing her in his Vampire Mist form and still managing to put a lot of pressure on her. She was a raging Typhoon and should fight like it.