19-20

"It is your loss. You have failed to overcome me and my flames. But I will still give you the last chance to save your life."

Mei closed in on the defeated goddess.

Astoria was tired and her body was burning. Prolong exposure to her dragon flamed and made her body weak. She would have no choice but to yield to Mei.

But Mei would not kill her like that.

No, she would let the younger female live and then take her time hunting the half-goddess down. She would squeeze the last amount of enjoyment she could from the female in front of her.

And then she would move on to the juvenile baby dragon.

Astoria's human toy might have perished in the fire but Mei could still feel the abyssal tint in her fire.

The dragon was likely alive and well within her flames.

"I c-can't give up."

Mei had no idea why Astoria was being so stubborn over this topic. She had never seen the younger goddess this passionate about anything.

"I am not asking you to give up because that is a luxury for the strong. You, Astoria, are weak against me. You have no right to choose to do anything."

Mei could feel the half-goddess's frustration rise up.

Losing her companions must have blazed some kind of fire inside Astoria because her aura was getting more and more fired up by the second.

She would reach her blazing point soon.

The blazing point was a phenomenon only shown by abyssal beasts. It was when they pushed past a normal body's limit and enhanced their everything with the power of the abyss.

It was a point of no return for a beast.

Mei was sure Astoria had inherited this power along with her flames from her dragon sire.

The half-goddess was not even speaking now. Her words had been reduced to growls of pain and anger.

And her attacks had gotten more and more ferocious. Magic was running rampant.

'It's fun. I want this feeling to last.' It had been a long time since Mei had let loose like that. She could not help but embrace that feeling of joy.

It was so much fun for her that she did not even notice getting closer and closer to her fire.

And then she stepped into the area near her fire.

"F-Finally."

Astoria panted, forcing herself out of her blazing point.

Mei felt annoyed to be treated like a low-level mob. Was she not even worth it for Astoria to fight properly?

Did Astoria think that she could get away half-assing their fight? Mei would show her why no one messed with her.

"You little bug? Why did you undo your blazing point? Your body is done for anyway. Face me properly."

Mei roared.

She could feel the smaller dragon closing on her space but she did not care for it.

The dragon was not a threat to Mei and would not be for a long time to come. She could crush it anytime.

But for now, she needed to take care of the goddess that had pissed her off. Astoria needed to die to satisfy Mei's anger.

"Little bug? Me? But you are the one who is currently in danger."

Mei only got a second of warning before she felt something erupt at her side.

The magic she felt was like nothing she had felt before. It resonated with something ancient in her core and rooted her in the spot.

Why did it feel familiar to her?

'Don't move. Don't look at it. It's a disaster that will pass soon. All you need to do is to stay out of its way. There is no need to engage in similar power.'

It had been a while since Mei's inner goddess had done anything but get angry at the world. The main reason for this was a lack of challenge available to a goddess.

But now this! This looked to be out of even her control. This energy sends shivers down Mei's spine. It made her excited in a way nothing had for a long time.

"What kind of trick did you pull?"

Mei forced her quarry out despite her inner goddess's warning. She felt like she had to ask before she was consumed by this power. 𝚒n𝐧𝑟ea𝚍. 𝒄𝑜𝚖

"Trick? I did not pull any. I just got lucky to find a good partner to share my burdens with."

Mei watched in disbelief as Astoria walked around her and toward the burning piece of human.

Mei recognized the human form in front of her but it did not register inside her head. Her whole frame shook with caution.

"Y-You? What are you?"

Mei asked with a shiver of something in her voice but no one answered her.

It started with caution but it was quickly developing into something else. It was developing into interest.

==========================

The fire burned.

Aurora had never felt agony like this in her life. The fire was attacking her very core and Aurora could feel her body trying to keep up with the magic demand.

It was all an unconscious process and the healing was taking its toll.

Mainly because Aurora was still keeping a tight grasp on her goddess powers and suppressing them.

'Let it go. Let the magic run its course. You will feel much better once you do.'

The voice was like a siren inside Aurora's mind. She had to actively stop herself from letting go.

But she could also feel her life force vanishing from her body. She would not be able to keep up with the burning soon enough.

'Let it go. Let the abyss in and let it help you out.'

Aurora did not want to let the tower know of her existence but she also felt like she had no other option.

She could feel Mei's magic and Astoria's flames crashing.

And she could also feel Astoria's lifeforce depleting at a fast rate. The half-goddess was not doing so hot at the moment.

Then there was the small dragon body curled up on top of Aurora.

The dragon's aura felt worried and its small nose poked Aurora constantly.

Aurora could not die right now. She had to survive this and make the best of her life. She had to focus.

'Let your magic flow. Don't fear your magic.'

Aurora did not fear her magic but she did fear the effect the abyss could have on her. She feared the changes it would bring inside her.

Because Aurora was a goddess but she had not used her magic or charm actively.

Somewhere it had not sunk inside her brain yet that she was a goddess. But now it was forcing her to admit that fact.

Aurora saw her dividing line as a red ribbon inside her mind. It felt like it was holding something back on the other side of the cabinet.

And she reached out to yank it open.

Magic filled her entire being as she did so.

And Aurora finally felt her conscious rise up to face the world.

"Y-You? What are you?"

The goddess of calamity asked. Aurora could recognize that firey presence inside her mind.

The one who inhabited the traits of a phoenix and rose up from the ashes. That was who Mei had been before her rise in fame.

Aurora could not even tell where her mind was pulling all this information from, but she had it.

Aurora saw the flame heading her way but she did not feel afraid.

The energy in those flames felt familiar and mouldable. Aurora felt like she could reach out toward that energy and change its course.

But knowing you could do something and actually doing it were different things.

Despite Aurora's new awakening, she was no match for the raw power and experience Mei had. Aurora could only manipulate the flames to not let them hit her.

"You're not a normal human, are you? No human can match my flamed like this. Are you perhaps…"

"…A goddess?"

Aurora did not grace Mei with an answer. She used that time to maneuver herself toward Astoria's direction.

"Astoria, we are escaping. Brace yourself for the fall."

"Huh?"

"No, wait…"

A lot of things happened at once.

Aurora held Astoria from her waist and held her hand out at the same time. The baby dragon jumped in her arms at the last second before Aurora fell through the window.

Mei also reached out to catch Aurora's hand but she was not able to.

All she could do was watch the trio fall down into the depths of the abyss before snapping out of her shock.

"Well, fuck it. You don't get to escape me like that. I will follow after you for my match."

Mei was about to jump down but she never got a chance to do so.

All because of the tight grip someone had on her shirt.

"That is enough damage you caused. We can't afford to lose you right now Lady Mei. You need to calm down and listen to me."

It was Minerva who walked in with a grave expression. She had Lord Karan following behind her with a solemn look as well.

"I…my decision.."

Karan wanted to curse himself out for being this oblivious. Of course, Minerva had found out about his connections.

First of all, Minerva was a shrewd lady. It would be foolish of Karan to think of her as anything but cunning.

Then there was the fact that Minerva was the oldest goddess.

Being the oldest, she held a great advantage over everyone else. She had practically seen all the other gods and goddesses grow up and embrace their powers.

And then there was her intuition. It was unlike anything Karan had ever seen. She could just look at you and know your deepest, darkest desire.

Karan was about to answer her when he felt that happen.

The abyss erupted with power beneath their feet.

But that was not all. Somewhere in this tower, a great surge of power was converging. It felt like a curious mixture of the abyssal and bestial energy.

It almost felt like a divine power. But it was much stronger than Karan had ever felt before.

Had it not been for the small ray of familiar magic mixed in it, he would not even have known who that power belonged.

"That power? A new goddess? But there is something familiar about it? Was it the young woman who Astoria brought with her?"

It did not surprise Karan to know that Minerva had found out Aurora's secret with just one glance.

But it did surprise him to know that Minerva remembered Aurora's magic signature in just the first meeting.

"Did you know about it beforehand? Is that why you helped vouched for her?"

Minerva was asking questions now. Questions that made it hard for Karan to keep up with the conversation.

Did he know about Aurora's power beforehand? Of course not.

In-face, he had not even known that it was Aurora that wanted to set up the academy. The resistance had not provided him with any such information.

Karan had just decided to help on a whim because he had seen Rex's name on the report. That was all there was to it.

"Maybe I knew that about her. But why does it matter? Will you take the permission back now that you know about Aurora's real nature?"

Karan had to be careful about his words and actions now.

Aurora was in a delicate situation and he did not want to make it any worse.

"If you want to lie, the at least practice your skills. I can see through your words easily enough."

The jab hurt Karan. But Lady Minerva was not finished with her words.

"As for permission? I will have to think about that topic. But frankly speaking, I do not want to make an enemy of her if I can help it. Her power level looks to be on a similar scale to a high-goddess."

This was good. It was better than good.

Since Minerva was conscious of Aurora and her power, she would not take any hasty decision. She would also not cause any problems for the academy.

"We need to stop Mei before she does something drastic."

Now that one problem was dealt with, Karan could focus on the other side of things.

Mei was a powerful force of nature but she was not without flaws. She was hot-headed and easy to distract.

Karan had to believe that Aurora could take care of herself and had somehow gotten away from the calamity goddess.

"That we shall do. But we are not done with you yet. Whatever your reasons were, you still tried to help traitors. We need to take action so that the news doesn't spread."

Karen cursed his twisted fate and Lady Minerva's insight.

He would not have minded getting his reputation tarnished. It was something he was used to in a normal situation.

But now the situation involved the tower and Minerva's subordinates. She would be a bitch about everything being proper.

It was better to indulge her and to be on her good side.

After all, the resistance was counting on Karan to get the inside information and plant their moles. He could not leave the resistance hanging on his end.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Karan already had an idea of what he would be asked to do. It could not be anything public since it would defeat the whole purpose of keeping things quiet.

But it would not be something small this time either.

"Take a voe to be on the tower's side for the next sixth months I won't ask any more of you but this much you will have to do."

Minerva's words caused Karan to groan in irritation.

Six months was not a lot of time in terms of gods and goddesses. But it was enough to reinforce the image Minerva was trying to set up.

Taking a voe would mean that Karan would be powerless against Minerva's and the tower's orders.

But not taking it would also put him at odds with Minerva and the tower.

And while he did not care about what happened to himself, he did care about what happened to his fellow clan members and those under his command.

"Fine. But only six months. And I will not take any action against that new academy or the resistance. Do not try to use me to deal with them."

Karan laid his terms down.

Under natural scenarios, there was no way a god would be called down to handle such matters. It fell to the soldiers.

But Karan was not going to take any risks.

"Alright. I understand. And I was not going to ask you to do ant's works anyway. Now let go and find Mei."

Lady Minerva was a hard lady to please. But Karan could not help but feel like he had gotten away with something huge.

The pair found Lady Mei almost about to jump down the broken window.

"Well, fuck it. You don't get to escape me like that. I will follow after you for my match."

But before the goddess could make her decisive jump, Lady Minerva interfered and stopped her actions.

"That is enough damage you caused. We can't afford to lose you right now Lady Mei. You need to calm down and listen to me."

Lady Mei looked like she was pouting. It felt wrong to see that expression on the face of someone so old. (That was all in his mind. Lady Mei looked 21 in age.)

"B-But they got away. I need to pay them back for this humiliation."

Lady Mei looked pissed but so did Lady Minerva.

"Mei, don't cause problems. You will get your chance to face that goddess and dragon in the future once we secure them as allies. Don't make matters worse for us. We can't give Lord Alan such a strong ally."

Lord Alan was the god who had deserted the cabinet and formed the resistance. He had been too in disgust to see where the tower was headed and had made his decision.

Karan had never actually seen him but he was the second oldest god alive.

Legends said that his power was unbeatable but he had suffered an injury that made him unable to fight.

"You should understand this. There are 4 of us and three deserters in the cabinet. We cannot make the odds 4 vs 4."

Lady Mei finally calmed down.

Lady Minerva did have a point in her words. And if she suspected Karan as well, it would be even worse odds stacked against her.

"But the other three don't get along while we do. Won't we win if we attack them now?"

Lady Mei pouted as she spoke those words.

Karan took a step away from Minerva. The eldest looked like she was about to explode.

"Mei, behave and don't make things difficult for me. The damage control I will need to do is massive enough as it is."

And there went all the chances of peace Karan could have. Now he had to deal with an angry and annoyed Minerva on top of all the questions his subordinates would ask.

'I am so fucked. Why did I think helping the resistance was a good choice?'

==========================

They were falling down.

They were falling down fast and would hit the ground at any moment.

Astoria had already lost consciousness due to her lack of energy and Aurora was no better at the moment.

Aurora's magic was all over the place. It was lashing out and she could not even control it to slow her fall.

They were about to hit the ground and the fall would hurt, if not outright kill them.

Aurora wanted to live. She wanted to live and bring Astoria back home.

She wanted to live and make the tower suffer for all it had done to her and her previous life. 𝘪𝓃n𝐫e𝗮d. co𝗺

She wanted to live and come back to those who loved her. She still had things left to do after all.

And her magic responded to her honest wishes and slowed her fall.

It still hurt when Aurora touched the ground but she did not break her spine.

But Aurora could not stop her consciousness from fading.