[You have unlocked an Ultimate Skill]
[Age of Nightflame]
[Upon activation, the skill allows you to fade into the shadows, creating a magical barrier that blocks all foreign spells until your Stamina Points reach zero.]
[During the Age of Nightflame, the space within your Demonic Aura's AoE range becomes your Demonic Domain. All adversaries inside the domain will have their attributes reduced by 50%, while you gain 50% of their attributes. However, your stats will reset to their original state once the skill ends.]
[Stamina Usage: 20 SP/Second]
[Cooldown: 500 Seconds]
Alice pushed the transparent screen aside after reading the details. What mattered most was the fact that she had undergone a tremendous growth spurt.
Right now, she was still baffled over how she suddenly grew a voluptuous figure. Her once frilly, cute red dress now clung tightly to her body in all the right places. Her figure was now significantly taller, around 6'4'' and looked very matured.
"Mmm!" Alice nodded to herself, cupping and weighing her ample chest one hand at a time. "Nicely shaped."
Her slender arms gleamed under the faint light. Her skin was flawless, pale as snow, almost ghostly. Her mind felt sharper than ever, as if nothing could escape her senses.
"What is happening? Just how long was I inside that cocoon?" Alice clenched her fist tightly. "It felt so brief, yet it lasted like an eternity."
Before she could fully comprehend her transformation, Lady Hanako shot into the sky with a single kick, confronting Alice head-on. She brought her katana down in a vicious vertical slash, aiming to cut Alice in two.
Alice raised her scythe and parried with ease, deflecting the strike upward. She tilted her head slightly, dodging the follow-up attack as if it were nothing. As Lady Hanako faltered in shock, Alice twisted her body with her scythe in hand, unleashing a spinning strike filled with murderous force.
Lady Hanako barely managed to block. Her eyes widened in disbelief, caught off guard by Alice's sudden surge of power.
"How could she…" Her thoughts froze as realization struck. "No… it isn't her strength that's changed. My own power is being suppressed inside her domain… and she's stealing my attributes. What a terrifying ability. I must escape this place at once!"
Lady Hanako swung her katana, creating a violent gust of wind to push herself back. But before she could retreat, Alice's [Claw of Blood] morphed into a mass of tentacle-like appendages that shot out and latched onto her ankles.
The bloody tendrils coiled up her long legs, tightening around her supple thighs beneath the fabric.
"You insolent brat!" Lady Hanako hissed, her face flushed as the intrusive grip pressed against her sensitive flesh.
Alice smirked devilishly. "You're not going anywhere, master."
With a yank, she dragged Lady Hanako down, then swung her in circles at breakneck speed. The centrifugal force built until it howled past the speed of sound, and Alice released her hold, hurling the cat lady straight toward the earth.
"Kazezakura!"
Hanako cried out, summoning her cherry blossom petals to slow her descent. But Alice was faster. She spun her scythe in a wide arc, conjuring a raging whirlwind that tore the petals to shreds.
"As I thought… not only does Age of Nightflame cancel outside magic, it also suppresses and nullifies spells within my domain. I must finish this before my stamina runs dry!"
The cat lady plummeted and slammed into the ground, the impact carving out a massive crater.
"It's not over yet!" Alice charged her scythe with Demonic Aura and dived, her speed like a streak of black lightning.
But just as she was about to strike, Lady Hanako burst from the rubble and soared back into the sky.
The battle raged on, each refusing to yield. As Alice's mentor, Lady Hanako's pride would not allow defeat at the hands of her disciple. She showed Alice what it meant to conquer a dungeon, meeting her strike for strike.
Alice gritted her teeth, frustration twisting her face. 'What a monster… I've thrown everything I have at her, and she's not even scratched!'
"You cannot win against me unless you truly intend to kill me, young lady."
"Hmph! Just you wait!"
Their clash split the air apart, every blow sharper and heavier than the last. Sparks scattered like fireworks as scythe and katana collided, shattering stone and sky alike. Alice's demonic aura roared, shadows constricting around Lady Hanako like shackles.
Step by step, Alice pushed her master back. Her strikes grew swifter, her movements honed and relentless. Finally, her scythe broke through Hanako's guard. The katana faltered, and Alice poured all her might into a vicious strike that engulfed her master in crushing demonic power.
The ground ruptured beneath the impact, a storm of debris swallowing the battlefield.
Hovering above, Alice gasped for breath, sweat dripping down her face. Her chest heaved violently by the time she landed on the ground.
"I… I did it."
But as the dust cleared, her triumph turned to dread. Lady Hanako's body flickered, unraveling into black mist before vanishing completely.
"What…?"
A calm voice rose behind her.
"I commend you for defeating my clone, young lady. With this, your final lesson is concluded."
Alice whirled around, scythe trembling in her grip. "Your… clone?! When did you—"
At this moment, Alice realized that Lady Hanako was already using her clone from the beginning. Her voice cracked with fury and disbelief. "Are you mocking me?!"
Lady Hanako stood tall before Alice, her presence towering like a mountain. The air grew unbearably heavy as she released her true In-Yo energy. It surged outward in a crushing wave, so immense the very shadows trembled and shattered.
Alice gasped as her knees buckled beneath the weight. Pain lanced through her chest. She coughed violently, blood staining her lips. "Ugh… nghh!"
The difference in power was absolute.
"You may challenge me again whenever you wish," Lady Hanako said, her tone calm yet unyielding, carrying authority.
Alice's scythe slipped from her hands as her body quivered under the pressure. Her domain crumbled into nothing. She clenched her teeth until they cracked, forcing out words she did not want to speak.
"I… I yield!"
The suffocating weight vanished at once. Lady Hanako stepped forward, her expression softening as she placed a hand gently on Alice's head. Her touch was warm, a stark contrast to the oppressive aura from before.
"Good." A faint smile curved her lips. "You have done very well, Alice."
Alice lowered her gaze, her chest still pounding. The battle was over, but her master's overwhelming presence burned itself into her heart.
"Thank you for your guidance, master." Alice stood upright and bowed respectfully. "But, there is something that I don't understand. How did my body grow by leaps and bounds in just a brief moment?"
"Well… In this reality, you've been training for five years. But don't worry, it's only five days in the Azgaar Continent's time passage."
"Time Dilation? Hold on! So this realm is actually separated from the outside?"
"Precisely!" Lady Hanako clasped her hands. "This realm is actually a fragment of my memory where I was born."
"When was it?" Alice was intrigued by Lady Hanako's real age.
"Not that long, I suppose? Around ten thousand years ago."
Alice smacked her forehead in disbelief. She had guessed that Lady Hanako was a legit immortal. And perhaps, Andariel and the other madams were as old as Lady Hanako and maybe way older, even.
"Is there something the matter?"
"Err, not really." Alice shook her head. "Let us return to our realm. Momo and the others must have been worried."