"Nox Manus. I, this Dark Lord, Tian Taio of the Dark Palace, claim you as my woman, and declare you both my bride to be, as well as the future empress of the world."
"…!" For the first time since coming to this continent, Nox had been stunned speechless. Never in her, her subordinates, friends or victim's dreams could they ever imagine that some crazy playboy would tie her up in a dark room filled with legendary items, pull out a cursed ring and forcefully propose to her. This was a reminder to her that anything can happen, at any time, in any place.
"Now then. We should start planning for the wedding, my love!" Tian Taio said as he stood up, grabbed her chin, deactivated the enchantments on her mask and pulled it off her face, as he went in for a kiss.
Unfortunately for the dark lord, as he would come to learn much later. Purposely removing Nox's mask is a taboo that must never be done under any circumstance.
Right before their lips could meet, the fiery blue flame from earlier returned engulfing Nox as the dark lord was flung away. And out of the fire stepped a silver-haired kid with fire coming out of her mouth and eyes. She was wearing the same ragged clothes and bandages as she did after leaving the inheritance trial, only this time the mask was off and, in its place, was a skinless, almost rotting face, showcasing her teeth and facial muscles for all the world to see.
"DoN't ToUcH mY mAsK!"
Those inhuman words echoed into the astonished dark lord's head as the screams of the damned could be heard in the background. As the dark lord managed to pull himself together, he realized what this was and began laughing like a madman.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH"
*sigh*
Just as the blue flames began to envelop the room, the dark lord came back to his senses.
"My Noxy is truly a genius. To have mastered aura control to this extent. You truly are the one for me!"
Tian Taio had finally realized that those blue flames were not a real flame, but rather the manifestation of Nox's will, her aura. Now that the fog in his mind was gone, he could finally make use of his full power.
With a burst of energy, the dark lord moved to release his own dark aura to counter Nox. Destroying the treasury in the process as a battle of fire and wills ensued.
…
"HAHAHAHA"
*(Infernal Screams)*
Throughout the entire Dark Palace and to the very edge of the city surrounding it. A loud laughter alongside countless screams could be heard echoing inside the heads of every sentient being present, as crimson and sapphire flames danced with a mix of black, covering the entire palace. The crimson flames destroyed everything it touched, spreading in every direction as if seeking to destroy as much as possible without any specific objective. While the blue seemed to create and alter whatever it burned as it moved in different yet distinct directions, splitting off into several smaller fires as it danced around the crimson, encircling and containing its rampage. Despite the crimson flames' best efforts, all the damage it caused was eventually reversed as it was pushed back by the countless blue flames growing in intensity.
…
Aura can be separated into three stages.
Stage 1: An individual enhances their body by reinforcing and strengthening it by infusing their willpower into it. The extent to witch this can be done varies between individuals as well as their emotional state of mind. Just to have an example the average person who is stuck on this stage would have the strength to crush a stone in the palm of their hand on a normal day, while on a bad day they might smash an entire boulder.
Stage 2: An individual will learn to manipulate their willpower and can now infuse it into external objects. Like a sword for instance. The power of such varies depending on the control and aura output of the individuals. The output would again vary under the same conditions as stage 1. The common example of someone in this stage would be someone who could slice through iron like butter on a normal day. On a bad day, they could slice entire buildings apart.
Stage 3: Ones aura control and output rises to a certain level they can concentrate their willpower to manifest a visual phenomenon. It can take the form of anything. It could take the form of an element like fire, or an animal like a lion, or an object like a book, it could even take on the form of a person. It is all up to what the individuals themselves think best describes their will. Just like its appearance the effect of this stage is highly dependent on the users personality, giving a near limitless variety of auras. That said, the power of ones aura is not limitless, as it uses the willpower produced by the user's soul as fuel. Hence the limit of ones aura is based on how much willpower ones soul can produce. One can temporarily increase the production rate of the soul by stimulating it with emotions just like in stage 1 and 2, however the difference in power between doing so for a 3 stage aura user compared to the previous ones, can not be measured in the same dimensions. To have an example, let's say you have someone with the ability to create a sword that can cut anything. On a normal day the average person would be able to cut anything that's shorter than the length of the swords blade. On a bad day, that sword could cleave mountains or split the sea.
And right now Nox was having a really, really bad day.
…
Back in the treasury. The dark lord was in trouble as his normally indomitable aura of destructive flames was being pushed back. Normally when two aura masters of the 3rd stage end up in a stalemate like this with the two different colored flames, the victor is usually the one with the highest output. However, despite running on a power high from having his curse removed, on top of the fact he just found his one true love. He was still losing in not only output, but control. She could have easily just overpowered him from the start, like what the dark lord was doing, as he was just spreading his aura everywhere while trying to surround Nox. However, instead she let him run rampant as the crimson flames surrounded her small circle of sapphire flames, small fragments of her aura were flickering outside surrounding and engulfing them both. Targeting key locations to limit, counter and reverse the damage caused by the crimson flames. She slowly was chipping away at his strength using a fraction of his willpower, while showcasing an equal or greater power by reversing the effects of his rampage.
"ha.ha.hahahahahHAHAHAHAHA"
In this perilous situation the dark lord started laughing, as his flames managed to push back the enclosing blue ever so slightly.
"You know honey. This has been fun. I so rarely get to let my aura lose like this. But good things have to come to an end at some point."
And with those words his crimson flames swiftly retreated giving away nearly all the ground it had left, as it was all concentrated around the dark lord. Turning him into a living ball of crimson flames as he moved with near light speed.
Realizing he stood no chance in a battle of wills, he opted to use his remaining aura as armor as he closed the distance, intending to restrain her using the power of a cultivator.
"It's a shame, but I'll have you take a little nap. When you wake up, it will be our wedding day."
The dark lord said as he was winding up his attack after closing the distance. However, the dark lord wasn't the only one who made preparations before this battle started.
*BOOM*
Just then, a loud explosion could be heard as the ground beneath his feat exploded. Nox had apparently predicted he would try to close the distance and secretly drawn a hidden explosion enchantment on the ground back when she was sealing the curse on her opponent, using a magic stone she had swiped while perusing the mountains of gold earlier. It didn't do any damage as the dark lord's elemental and physical resistance were too high. That said, it threw off his balance making him miss her by an inch, giving her the opening she needed.
"GeT fUcKeD!"
Those words resounded in his head as the angelic spare of pride suddenly flew into her raised hand while the dark lord's fist flew by her unmoving and unflinching head. The dark lord quickly channeled his qi to forcibly move his body backwards as the ragged little girl threw the spare like a javelin. In spite of his destructive aura shielding his body, the golden spear pierced right into his left shoulder and pinned him to the wall on the other side of the mountain range of gold.
Despite the circumstances the dark lord had been rather lucky. If his curse had still been active, normally an attack like that would have pierced a vital organ. Instead, it had just hit his shoulder, pinning him to the wall right outside the current range of the sapphire flames. He moved to remove the spear as he could perceive movements in the distance. The spear his fiancée had just thrown at him was the only divine weapon in his arsenal, hence he should thank his lucky stars it hadn't straight up cut of his arm.
Before today, every attack landed by an enemy would almost always be a critical strike. Every punch, stab, kick and bite fatal, he had been living his life on the edge of a knife. Barely surviving despite it all.
Such thoughts went through his head as his attention returned to his beloved. However, Nox, having put on her mask, while still in her child form had moved to a certain pedestal, holding the galaxy box.
"NO! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"
The dark lord screamed as he tried to close the distance, to prevent Nox from grabbing the box. However…
*Swoosh*
The divine spear sprung back to life as it came flying at his head. Tian Taio barely dodged a direct hit as he could feel a trickle of blood flow down his cheek. The spear made a U-turn as if realizing it had missed its target. And so began the dark lords desperate dance with the 'Spear of Pride'.
Nox, seeing she had some time, decided to grab the pill containing elemental energy as well. Having acquired everything she wanted aside from the 50 high grade spirit stones, she decided to retreat as she could tell the dark lord's reinforcements were arriving. She decided to recall the spear that was struggling against the dark lord's absurd physical strength as it was trying to pierce his face. However, the dark lord refused to let go of it and was pulled towards Nox alongside it. Seeing the enemy use her own weapon as a mount, she made a decision.
"Oh, well. I wasn't expecting to get everything anyways."
As she activated the galaxy cube making the stars inside it light up like a Christmas tree. The space around her began to distort as she vanished from the Dark Palace. Leaving a certain dark lord riding a demonic spear like a witch on a broomstick crashing face first into the wall.