As Rage of a World Unbound and the lightning wall continued to war in the background, Sam slammed his hammer into Abrinadus’ foreleg, driving the dragon back, even as he slashed down with his other leg, his claws cutting through the thin air. Jagged blades of Dao pressure expanded before the claws, rending through the stone above and below. Sam winced as one tore through his armor and flesh, but ignored it in favor of striking home. Terra’s Will streaked forwards, a blur of metal and light, slamming into Abrinadus’ torso.The dragon’s body bent, scales breaking and twisted flesh tearing as a wave of momentum surged through his innards like a tidal wave.
A roar of frustration emerged from the titanic lizard’s mouth, and he grabbed at the air with his Dao, forcing it into compliance. Threads of the higher concept of Sovereignty were marbled into the overall matrix of the dragon’s Dao, which seemed to be oriented around control, especially over extensions of itself. It was how the E Ranker was reaching over millions of miles of space to possess its own clone, a feat that should have been impossible for anything at its rank.
Reaching fingers of bloody lightning snapped out at the air around the dragon, even as the gargantuan clash of Sam’s Primal skill and the dragon’s own breath attack came to a close in a quasar of mingled Daos and elemental powers, blasting a hole through both sides of the asteroid.
Sam and his foe studiously ignored this, instead focusing on one another. Abrinadus’ Dao seized control over the lightning flickering in the darkened cavern, and spears formed out of the chaos, dozens of feet long. They pointed themselves at Sam, and were released, arcing through the air with a buzzing hum. He deflected a few with Terra’s Will, teleporting around the rest, but halfway through the barrage, Abrinadus locked down space, and Sam found himself staring down a flying serpent of electricity, its flickering, amorphous edge appearing as a maw, closing in on him.
An epiphany struck him at that moment, not of the Dao, but in regards to a weapon that he had long since considered an extension of his own body. His Dao of the Conduit flickered to life as his hammer seemed to recognize its existence. Terra’s Will shuddered as it matched the nature of Sam’s Dao with the projectile coming its master’s way, and with a sudden sizzle, it transformed, going from a hammer into a thunderbolt, golden in color.
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Your weapon has evolved!
In proving yourself cognizant of the nature of lightning, at least on the level of your armament, you have unlocked the innate power of one of the fused weapons that make up Terra’s Will.
Sam grinned, and thrust the bolt forwards, its tip impacting Abrinadus’ spear a moment later, the forces canceling each other out. At first glance, at least. A split second after impact, Terra’s Will sheared through the crimson lightning, absorbing its power for its own. It struck home faster than Abrinadus could react, impaling the dragon through the neck. Currents of flickering gold raced across the hulking beast, sending it into paroxysms of pain.
“Were’t expecting that, were you?” Sam taunted. “I think you ought to stop playing with forces beyond your control.” He paused. “Forces that are copyrighted. Why, I ought to put your ambitions to rest, here and now!”
“I have no idea what you are blabbering about, but I can tell you’re mocking me. Enough of this!” Abrinadus’s body shifted, and his scales and flesh turned to lightning. Sam’s weapon was forced away, and returned to his hand, turning back into its usual hammer shape.
He gripped the weapon tightly, feeling a comforting warmth radiating from the metal, and through his armor. Terra’s Will was changing, and hopefully for the better.
Abrinadus’ scales, those that were left of them, glowed a brilliant scarlet, and for a dozen miles in every direction, permeating the asteroid itself, reality was suffused with the dragon’s Dao and elemental mastery, creating a field of lightning and dominion that weighed heavily on Sam’s shoulders.
Sam pulled out his Domain for the first time in the battle, and extended a dome of localized supremacy around himself, cutting off Abrinadus’s aura. He sliced through the thin air like a bullet, swinging his hammer as he went.
The dragon narrowed its eyes, and galloped forwards, moving at speeds that turned his entire body into a supersized missile. Spikes of the Dao extended out from his scales, for a dozen feet in every direction. Slicing apart the ground below, Abrinadus charged, focusing all of his might on Sam alone.
The spikes of energy condensed before the dragon into one immense spear of light, and reality narrowed before it, trapping Sam in its embrace. He swore and tried to break free with his own Dao, but it was futile. The entire weight of Abrinadus’ conceptual might was pushing down upon his body, forcing him to stay in the trajectory that he was stuck in. The only way forward was to power through. To any lesser man, that would have been an impossible challenge, but Sam had something that Abrdinadus did not. An immense complement of titles that boosted his stats to far beyond his natural level.
