Spirit Form

A maniacal laugh boomed inside of the spirit witch's Bounded Field, sending light tremors throughout Åndelig skjebneplan.

"Gah—!!" The spirit witch coughed up a mouthful of blood, focusing within her instead. "S-Spirit Form!" She yelled out between heaving breaths.

Spiritual light appeared around her in a spectacular show of pure ethereal light. Green motes if spiritual mana began to rise from the ground, gravitating around the witch and seeping into her. The field she conjured aided the formation of the transformation spell she is currently casting as a last-ditch effort to save herself.

Fafnir immediately backed away, making as much distance between her and the witch possible. Pure aetheric energy flowed from the inner depths of his core and into his mouth, forming in the shape of a sword seemingly made out of purple fire.

「Skill 'Greed' has been activated」

「Mana absorption and mana regeneration has been enhanced greatly」

The evil dragon glared at the witch, his eyes shining with greed and hunger. "Thou hast made a most imperfect mistake, O Vox Spiritus. Thou hast clearly gotten weaker since our last combat, the unfortunate truth that thou wouldst fall for such a simple trick is an outstanding feat on it's own, even more so for one as experienced as thou. Truly…what a shame." Fafnir glowered with palpable hostility and indignity.

The blood-red dragon paid no mind as the spirit witch glared at him with unbidden hostility.

Light-green motes of spiritual light seeped into the witch and transformed her body. Her body became something out of this realm as her body became transparent and incorporeal, ceasing to become a mortal any longer.

Her eyes swam as the hole in her chest ceased to disappear, a feat that shouldn't be happening. "W-What did you do to me?" She asked nervously, then cleared her throat with a quick cough. "Vile monster." The spirit witch spat out.

A grin spread on Fafnir's face as further madness enveloped him. The sword blinked out of existence. "A simple but effective ruse that myself has constructed. 'Twas not a simple task, mind thou. Myself had to make various  pacts and vows to reach this level of magical insight. However, like everything else, everything that myself has ever wanted eventually fell to myself. Rejoice, Vox Spiritus, for thou will bear witness to my greatest power." The ethereal blade of purple flame materialized into existence once more.

「Skill 'Mind Link' is activating」

A voice whispered into Regin's ear.

—Be ready, it said clearly. Regin immediately understood who it came from.

There's no turning back now, he thought to himself.

「Attribute 'Contemplative Creator' has been activated」

A torrent of thoughts flooded the witch's head. My wound isn't healing…this is bad. Technically speaking, Spirit Form is a spell that lets me ignore my physical limitations by stowing it in a pocket dimension, isolating it from and reality via the spirit magic and Authority I had been granted by my vow to the High Spirits. By doing this, not only do I become invulnerable to physical and most magical attacks, it also lets me access my core much more easily because the physical barrier—my mortal body—has essentially been eliminated. The spell itself doesn't last long, so I usually only keep it as a final trump card or something…I never thought that something like this would ever happen, especially from creatures I have been granted absolute power over. The witch grit her ephemeral teeth as her mind raced to figure out the mystery of her current predicament.

*BOOM*

Fafnir leaped with so much force and momentum that the ground below him shattered as he practically flashed his way to the witch's side, the burning purple sword at his maw, ready to stab, slice, and skill.

"!" The witch reacted immediately, producing and manipulating conjured wind to alter the blood-red dragon's trajectory.

"Now!" The evil dragon's voice boomed across the witch's Bounded Field, prompting the melancholic dragon to spring into action.

「Your attribute 'Deep Thinker' has been activated」

「Skill 'Sloth' has been activated」

「All agility-boosting skills and spells has been enhanced greatly」

Time itself seemed to slow as Regin's mind stretched itself to it's absolute limit. Everything fell into focus, the wind ,the world, and the mana that remained present throughout it. Regin could sense everything at his own pace.

Mana coiled around Regin as he summoned forth the penultimate peak of his water magic.

As soon as Regin tried to create a structure or construct inside of Åndelig skjebneplan, he found that the world itself was resisting him, ignoring his own Authority and interfering with the formation of his spell. Nevertheless, Regin continued, using his heightened senses to continually rework and alter the structure of the spell—a feat so difficult that he may as well have just created a new spell on the spot. Maybe…

And so, that is what Regin did. He gave up on trying to alter the spell to match the nature of the witch's Bounded Field. Using his extremely heightened thinking speed, Regin thought of the spell he was trying to cast, then isolated the parts of it that he needed, then discarded the rest. Then, once he determined the nature and image of the spell that he wanted to create, Regin analyzed and assessed what was missing, opting to create all the rest on the spot as well.

Regin could almost feel his mind spitting itself apart as he desperately tried to create a new spell. However, his desperation paid off.

Bright green particles began to surround the area within Regin's range.

"Sjelens Speil…" The blue-blooded dragon muttered as soon as the spell was finished. Thin plates of reflective ice began to surround the spirit witch.

"…" The witch herself paid close attention to this phenomenon, her eyes gleaming with caution and fury.

*whish*

The blazing purple sword missed the witch completely as she manipulated the blood-red dragon's trajectory with her wind magic. However, a single drop of purple flame dropped from the blade itself and burnt a hole in her barrier like it was paper.

Aether, she thought herself. I don't know the specifics of how he got it, but it would seem he managed to tap into the energy of the planet itself. Moreover, he'd using such specialized version of it, no matter how imperfect and unstable it is…still, the fact that he even could do that means that this monster made a deal with an Outer God at the very least. I would normally resist all magic these two could possibly throw at me with my vow…but it would seem that when I activated my Bounded Field, my vow recognized it as a different space, thus lowering my magical capabilities. I should deactivate it…or so I thought at first, but it would seem that there's some interference going on. The witch narrowed her eyes to the blood-red dragon, Fafnir.

A victorious grin spread on his face.

「Skill 'Envy' is currently activated」