40. Despair
Amora the Enchantress PoV:
Amora heard the mysterious silver-haired girl speak in an unknown language.
"[Perfect Unknowable]; [Life Essence]; [Mana Essence]; [Resist Break]."
Luckily, the Asgardian ability of all-speak allowed her to understand some parts of what she was saying. Earlier the girl called her an 'intruder' and welcomed her to 'the 6th floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick'.
Obviously, this realm was known as 'Nazarick' and this girl might be a warrior protecting the world tree. Well, this was not entirely out of her expectations as she had expected someone to be protecting the world tree.
The bigger issue was fighting this girl. Yes, she was all but certain the girl wanted to capture or kill her. Not surprising, as any sane dweller of any realm would try to defeat intruders. Asgard was the same.
Had someone invaded Asgard, they would face the same treatment and be killed without mercy. Though that might change soon as Odin was becoming softer compared to his warmongering days, but she digressed.
While Amora could understand the first few sentences the girl spoke, she could not decipher what [Perfect Unknowable] and the words following that meant.
It was almost as if someone had obscured the words to make it sound like nonsense, similar to the silent casting of magic she had observed in some other places.
In her opinion, this was some unknown form of magic. Not only was the sorcery used by the girl different from anything she had known, but even the very magical energies dwelling in her body were different from what Amora had known until now.
Yet, in this unfamiliar dimension, the varying nature of magical energies provided an intriguing avenue for Amora's magical research. However, the real challenge lay in the fact that she currently resided outside the realm of Asgard.
Her spells drew their strength from Asgardian sources and were at their zenith within its bounds. Conversely, here, in this foreign realm, her powers waned.
This, combined with the absence of allies skilled in close combat, placed Amora at a severe disadvantage.
Amora suspected the girl was a vampire, noting similarities to her prior research on a vampire lineage. Amora acknowledged that she had limited knowledge of vampires but knew that miracles happened often and nothing was ever truly set in stone.
Amora summoned her mystical energy and hurled bolts of energy at the girl, attempting to strike her down with her formidable magic. However, the vampire's supernatural agility allowed her to effortlessly evade the magical onslaught.
The Enchantress realized that this would be no ordinary battle. Amora attempted to use her seductive magic.
She cast a spell, attempting to ensnare the vampire's mind and make her vulnerable. But this had no visible effect. She also likely had immunity to mind control which Amora specialized in, as all her attempts to control her failed.
"~Ara, it seems you have already realized that mind control does not work on me. Too bad for you as it seemed quite powerful. But enough chatting. I am on a time crunch.~"
Before she had time to completely digest what the girl said, she disappeared from her previous position. Luckily, speed was one of the factors that Amora had in spades. She was able to doge Shalltear's attack by a hair.
The location where she was standing earlier was shattered by the impact of the girls' attack and dust swirled in the air. Amora could tell based on her experience, that the girl was holding back from killing her for some reason.
Possibly, she just wanted to apprehend her. In case she was defeated and caught, this gave her more room to work around. Perhaps this vampire was a subordinate working for someone else who ordered this girl to capture Amora instead of killing her.
As Amora continued her onslaught of magical attacks without letting her opponent catch a breath, Shalltear's natural immunities came into play. Spells that should have paralyzed or charmed her had no effect.
She was seemingly immune to mind-affecting magic, poison, and paralysis. Perhaps if she had access to Asgard's source of magic, the effect might be more pronounced but for now, all her attacks were meaningless.
Amora's frustration grew as she realized that the vampire was a nearly invulnerable opponent for someone with her abilities. The girls' resistance to magic attacks seemed very powerful. It was as if she was built to counter sorcerers.
The girl once again turned towards her and punched but Amora was prepared this time. She quickly cast an energy shield blocking the punch. This energy shield was capable of blocking attacks from Thor, but to her dismay once again, they were broken effortlessly.
While it was true that her energy shield was significantly weaker than in Asgard where it could block Thor's planet-shaking attacks, the mental blow of having her proud magic crushed was too much for her.
Amora decided that this could not continue. She had to use powerful curse magic to indirectly contain or defeat the girl if she could not use mind control or space magic.
Since the girl was desperately trying not to kill her, perhaps driving out her innate vampiric instinct for blood might give her the opening she needed to try and escape while the vampire was losing her sanity.
Amora quickly chanted: "Let thy thirst know no end, let thy seek what can't be sated, thy desires to rend."
Her still vast magical energies depleted a little after the successful casting of the spell. Amora was confident the spell would work as even someone like Odin would have trouble dispelling her curse magic. Her curses were so fearsome if cast in Asgard that Odin would rather not deal with it.
This was a curse that would amplify the target's thirst for blood, making it insatiable and unrelenting. The target's hunger would consume their thoughts, distracting them from battle and driving them to relentlessly seek blood to the point of obsession.
If used on someone like a human it would cause them to endlessly thirst for water instead.
The curse heightens the vulnerability of the target to distractions, leaving her more open to attacks from enemies. She had given it a simple name called the 'Curse of Unquenchable Thirst'. While she thought her strategy would progress as planned, the girl's voice broke her hopes.
"~Too bad, I am an undead. Curses have no effect on me. Now, [Vermillion Nova]. Any injuries you have can be healed anyway. It's fine as long as you are alive~."
The girl seemed to have decided it was time to end the battle after having shown her absolute superiority in this battle.
She chanted an incantation and summoned her own powerful magic, summoning pillars of flame that engulfed Amora. The Enchantress tried to shield herself by creating multiple barriers to block the attack, but the flames scorched her.
The flames enveloped Amora, forcing her to shield her eyes. Pain assaulted every fibre of Amora's being.
Yet, despite the intensity of the attack, Amora's Asgardian durability allowed her to withstand it, if only barely. Her regenerative abilities were overworked to try and heal the damage caused.
Without these Asgardian traits, she would likely have perished. The girl's relentless attacks became even more ferocious not letting Amora get back on her feet.
She struck Amora with a series of devastating blows, shattering the magical barriers that Amora barely conjured one by one.
A final punch knocked her into the wall of the structure as Amora lay on the floor covered in blood. Yet, the last embers of her fighting spirit were not yet extinguished.
With precision born of desperation, she cast a spell that had always been her last resort – Time Disruption. The fabric of reality seemed to ripple accompanied by green magical radiance as Amora harnessed the spell's subtle power.
Time itself shifted and twisted around her, creating a localized disruption. The injuries she had suffered were reversed, erased from existence as if they had never occurred. A surge of vitality flooded through her.
But the use of such a potent spell exacted a heavy toll. As Amora's magical energy drained away, her strength waned. The battlefield blurred as she struggled to maintain her focus. Even if her physical injuries were cured, she was not in a mental state to continue fighting for long.
She gazed at Shalltear, her eyes burning with a mixture of determination and exhaustion.
With the last vestiges of her magical power, Amora cast one final spell – a spell born from desperation and the refusal to be defeated.
"Astral Cataclysm!"
A burst of energy erupted from Amora's outstretched hand, hurtling towards the vampire girl. The shockwave of the blast expanded outward, engulfing the battlefield in blinding light.
Amora's body trembled as the last traces of her magical energy were consumed by the once-cataclysmic spell in Asgardian sorcery. Now she just hoped what little magic she had used for this spell was enough to damage the vampire.
The light gradually faded, leaving behind a battlefield transformed by the aftermath of their clash. Amora was about to breathe a sigh of relief as she could not detect the girl but her happiness was short-lived, as she heard the voice of the vampire girl once more:
"~Hahaha, that tickled a little bit. Perhaps if you were in Asgard, your magic could have harmed me You might have even fought me for multiple more hours and used more powerful spells if what little I know about Asgardian sorcerers is correct.
But too bad you are not and I am basically a living counter to all your magic. Now, lie down quietly, and don't throw more tantrums. We have to go back quickly.~"
As Amora watched the figure wearing red armour emerge from the clouds of dust, she closed her eyes having given it her all in battle.
***
Rewrote the chapter. There will be a mass release after a few days as the major arcs will begin as the aftermath of this battle.