Salomé and Zelongue had chosen a vast desert plateau, surrounded by barren mountains, as their training ground. The air was saturated with a crushing tension: Salomé's energy shaped every particle within it.
Zelongue, seated on a rock, watched with silent attention.
Above them, the Ōculus Vorago, forged from Salomé's violet mana, unfurled their abyssal gaze. Each of these eyes probed reality, vibrating with a power that seemed to dissolve every illusion of order.
Salomé, her draconic wings widely spread, held a sword of violet mana in her hand. The blade flickered like a living blaze, ready to consume anything that opposed her. Around her, the Domain of Domination manifested: a dense and suffocating aura extending its authority into the very foundations of space.
— HAAAAA!
In a lightning movement, Salomé swung her blade toward the sky.
The world shattered.
Space-time exploded like glass beneath a colossal weight: black fissures streaked the firmament, revealing patches of other dimensions, foreign worlds teeming with incomprehensible energies. The entire earth trembled under the shock, and the air vibrated with a silent scream.
Zelongue abruptly stood, incredulous.
— She… she did that… with a single sword strike?
The Domain of Domination and the Ōculus Vorago did not merely increase her strength. They transcended it: her attacks no longer struck just the world, but the very condition that allowed this world to exist.
Calm, Salomé raised her head. With a simple gesture, she closed the gaping rifts. The scars in the sky receded, restoring reality to its former state. A sigh of relief passed her lips. Her wings and eyes faded in a halo of violet mana.
She turned to Zelongue and smiled, a new flame in her gaze.
Bakuran… Sakolomé…
When you finally open your eyes, I will no longer be the same. You will see me transformed.
Zelongue, still seated on his rock, fixed Salomé with an intense gaze. The gaping fissure she had just cut in the sky had receded, but the echo of this rupture persisted in the air, like a shiver etched into the very fabric of the world. He breathed deeply, speaking almost to himself.
— That wasn't… just an application of the Ōculus Vorago…
He stood up, his golden eyes sparkling with a reflected gleam.
— Salomé, what you just did… that was not a known technique. You didn't simply amplify your Ōculus Vorago. You… created something new. An unprecedented draconic skill.
Salomé, still soaked in the tension of her last strike, blinked in surprise.
— A new skill? Seriously?
Zelongue crossed his arms, watching her closely.
— Yes. But to be sure, we need to test it. I want to see how far this technique can go.
She furrowed her brow slightly.
— That's… part of the training, I suppose?
A faint smile stretched Zelongue's lips.
— Exactly. Consider this the last trial.
Salomé took a slow breath and nodded.
— Very well… let's see.
Zelongue stepped back, raising a hand. A colossal wave of mana burst from his palms and spread like a sheet of liquid fire, forming a gigantic dome around them. The structure enclosed Salomé in a circular arena, its interior vibrating with draconic light. Outside, Zelongue crossed his arms, eyes locked on her.
— I've generated an avatar, he said calmly. It possesses my power, my techniques, and my will… but none of my restraint.
A low rumble echoed within the dome. A silhouette emerged, forming in the void: the perfect double of Zelongue, imposing, his red-orange draconic wings spread wide. His golden gaze fixed on Salomé, predator-like intensity in his eyes.
— Go ahead!
The signal rang out like a death knell. The avatar instantly deployed his Ōculus Vorago, immense glowing eyes that opened in the dome's sky, probing every inch of the surrounding reality. Their reptilian pupils fixed on Salomé, making the air vibrate with a silent whisper: an unyielding ontological judgment.
Salomé reacted without hesitation. With a breath, her violet Ōculus Vorago flared, flooding the sky with their cosmic shine. The purple pupils met the golden ones, and an invisible crash tore the space apart. An existential pressure poured into the dome: two meta-conceptual powers, each imposing its own "order," clashed.
— They judge each other… thought Zelongue, watching closely. Neither manages to impose its tribunal on the other.
Salomé spread her violet wings, draconic mana burning around her like a contained blaze. The avatar mirrored her, his own red-orange wings radiating almost intolerable heat. The two dragons stared each other down, the atmosphere vibrating with dissonances of domination.
Then, simultaneously, they attacked.
Salomé swooped on the avatar, violet mana blade in hand, each movement amplified by her Domain of Domination. Her opponent intercepted the strike with a counter-blade forged of incandescent mana: the clash resounded like a muffled explosion, sending destructive waves that shook the dome's walls.
— She's not at an advantage… nor is he, thought Zelongue, following every exchange.
Their Ōculus Vorago analyzed, searching for the slightest conceptual flaw in the other's existence. Each attack targeted a deep weakness: a doubt, a contradiction, a breaking point in the ontological armor. But no crack yielded; their "judgments" collided against equally strong defenses.
The avatar flapped his wings violently, unleashing a torrent of draconic flames. Salomé responded by raising a wall of violet mana: the collision made the air implode, causing a shockwave that shook the ground. She countered by slicing the air with a sword strike, fracturing the space before her; the double dodged with a wing beat, his eyes still fixed on the young Deviant.
— You're fast… admitted the avatar's voice, grave and metallic.
Salomé replied with a cold smile.
— And you, predictable.
They vanished into a ballet of assaults, each blow mixing raw power and meta-conceptual pressures. Their Ōculus Vorago imposed a double reality: one where they existed… and one where they could cease to exist at any moment.
The battle intensified. With each clash, the dome vibrated dangerously, saturated with draconic mana. Salomé attempted a breakthrough: her violet eyes imposed a conceptual flaw in the avatar, but he immediately closed it, counterattacking with a pre-destructive projection. She erected a meta-conceptual barrier, the impact resounding like the collision of two universes.
Finally, they simultaneously withdrew, staring at each other in heavy silence. Their Ōculus Vorago continued to scrutinize one another, unable to judge the other. Neither could claim dominance.
Zelongue, outside, crossed his arms, an enigmatic smile on his lips.
— Perfect balance… Her Ōculus Vorago have evolved.
Inside the dome, Salomé slightly lowered her guard, breathing deeply. She knew this was only the beginning. The avatar still stared at her, wings spread, waiting for the slightest opening.
— Let's finish this, she declared, ready to resume.
Outside the dome, Zelongue observed attentively, arms crossed, his golden gaze following every movement. Inside, Salomé and her avatar clashed in a surge of draconic power: violet and red-orange Ōculus Vorago filled the sky, probing reality, searching for any conceptual flaw to exploit. Every flap of wings and sword strike made the arena vibrate, saturating the air with unbearable tension.
Yet, Zelongue frowned.
Why…? he thought. Her Domain of Domination is not as overwhelming as before. Since she activated it against the avatar, it seems… detached from her Ōculus Vorago. Exactly like my avatar. Is it possible she unconsciously merged them before? Yes… very likely. There must be a trigger, something pushing her toward this despite herself.
Inside the dome, the fight grew fiercer. The avatar lunged forward, striking with relentless speed; Salomé parried but staggered under the force of the blow, violet eyes squinting in concentration. Then, suddenly, a conceptual contradiction introduced by her opponent's Ōculus Vorago cracked her inner defenses: a tiny flaw, but enough to shake her will.
The avatar continued relentlessly. Incandescent mana blades slashed the air, forcing Salomé onto the defensive. She took hit after hit, her body torn by pressure, breath short. A jet of blood shot from her lips as she crashed into the ground.
Outside, Zelongue squinted.
— Looks like her lack of combat experience is starting to show…
The avatar pressed the assault, striking with surgical precision. Salomé, still dazed, parried awkwardly, every blow threatening to overwhelm her completely. A new cut opened on her cheek; her legs buckled under the next impact.
Zelongue, watching her condition, thought:
Maybe I should stop the fight…
Inside the dome, Salomé swayed, her mind wavering. Big brother… she thought, gasping, why can I never get to the end? Why does it always have to be like this?
A dizziness seized her. Before her veiled eyes appeared the silhouettes of Sakolomé and Bakuran, their faces bathed in calm smiles. Big brother…
But suddenly, a black whirlwind formed in her mind. A cold presence passed through her.
— What is that? she murmured.
Another silhouette appeared: that of Bakuzan, her lost brother, face empty and eyes black as the abyss. His emotionless gaze weighed heavily on her, terrifying and oppressive. A surge of adrenaline shot through her.
— Bakuzan!!!
Her eyes snapped open violently. She steadied herself on her feet, her violet wings erupting with an extra surge of mana, an aura fiercer than ever.
Outside, Zelongue smiled faintly.
— She's tough, this kid…
Inside, Zelongue's avatar charged at her, his red-orange mana sword ready to strike. Salomé lifted her eyes, violet gaze burning with renewed determination.
— Domain of Domination…
Barely had the words left her lips when her Ōculus Vorago flared, an immediate mutation coursing through them. Their violet light darkened and thickened, each draconic iris taking on a deep saturated hue, as if containing a bottomless abyss. The sky's fissures twisted under the pressure of this new power.
The Domain of Domination fused with the Ōculus Vorago: the vibration of judgment transformed into absolute predominance. From now on, these eyes no longer sought to probe or judge: they imposed. Salomé's violet mana spread like an overwhelming tide, pouring into the entire dome, permeating every corner, every breath of air, every particle. In the Ōculus Vorago's field of vision, all was subjected.
Zelongue's avatar froze for a moment, caught in overwhelming pressure. Its own red-orange Ōculus Vorago tried to counterattack, but the fusion of Salomé's eyes covered them with a violet veil and rewrote them. Their primary function, to judge and reveal, was denied: they were now dominated.
— Wha…?! growled the avatar, wings vibrating furiously.
A moment later, the avatar multiplied: a thousand perfect replicas, each brandishing the same draconic sword and radiating the same mythical power. The entire dome vibrated under this raging army.
But Salomé's violet mana spread still further, tightening its grip on each copy. The Ōculus Vorago turned toward these thousand Zelongue, and a wave of meta-conceptual domination poured forth. Each avatar felt its power collapse: their mana dissipated, their vital breath waned, and their once indomitable forms shrank into mortal bodies, vulnerable and stripped of their draconic grandeur.
Even their Ōculus Vorago, once unstoppable weapons, were supplanted: rewritten, they became common eyes, incapable of offering the slightest resistance.
— Impossible…! choked one avatar before being swept away by a wave of violet mana. The others fell to their knees, their bodies unable to bear the weight of this domination.
Outside the dome, Zelongue slightly widened his eyes. He observed the scene with a mixture of astonishment and satisfaction.
— At last… that's exactly what I thought.
A thin smile stretched his lips.
— It's a new skill.
Inside the dome, Salomé stood motionless, her Ōculus Vorago saturating the space, her fused Domain of Domination imposing supremacy. A thousand avatars reduced to powerless shadows, the once all-powerful eyes themselves dominated in turn: living proof that Salomé had reached absolute predominance.