NOVPUBI wanted and needed to test her powers, Kiara as an Insect Empress has a lot of potential, but I still don’t know what category of power she falls into.
An Insect Empress can possess many types of powers, but it is always associated with its swarm, some are individually strong and this is because they collect power from their examination either directly or indirectly, there are also indicators, mages and those who simply focus on the Aura control, the most Primordial technique of their Race through which they control the insects in the swarm as if they were chess pieces.
"(A mage or indicator that is associated with magic is better for what I’m looking for, I hope her powers fall into one of these two fields.)" (I)
I look at Kiara noticing her appearance, her form is much more beautiful now, she has light green skin, her butterfly wings would be beautiful if it weren’t for the design of a pair of menacing eyes, her hands and feet are still covered in a butterfly’s exoskeleton Insect, on its head two large antennae are left behind mixed in its hair, its eyes are still composed like those of an Insect and there is a scorpion tail on its back.
I never knew how she could be so fanatical when I did almost nothing for her, it was Hades who chose to save her, it was also he who realized her call for help, I myself did almost nothing for her.
"Sir, how should we do this?" (Kiara)
"Put yourself forward." (I)
"Haku, if you don’t mind..." (I)
"< Blood Curse: Duel Seal >" (Haku)
A mark forms on my shoulder and Kiara’s back representing the effect of the Curse, with this we will not be able to cause any damage to anything around us, we can only cause damage to each other and only if one of us dies will the Curse breaks, of course Haku can also release the Curse whenever he wants and if the power is greater than Haku can withstand the Curse will also break.
This Curse is just an inconvenience and probably a risk in some cases on the battlefield, but for training like this it is perfect.
"Our area of activity will be the forest and this prairie here, we cannot go to the city or to the Temples of Fairies and Spirits." (I)
"All you have to do is show me how you fight, attack me using your powers, your intelligence or your body, no matter what method you choose even if it’s all of them, just show me your strength." (I)
"But I can’t get it right..." (Kiara)
"Even if you create a Territory and concentrate all of it into a single devastating attack, it would be useless before the master, your difference in power is too great to be filled by anything short of a Holy Weapon." (Haku)
"I’m not going to attack you either, so give it your all." (I)
The place I chose was outside the city, an empty area with a few herbivorous monsters and far from the 2 Temples of my Familiars, the people in the Dungeon are still not well, but I don’t know what I need to do and from what I heard it’s a problem that It will resolve itself.
I move to the center of the prairie among some flowers, Kiara had that heavy admiring look on her face, she was clearly conflicted and I can imagine she doesn’t want to fight someone she adores so much.
But it is this struggle that will determine whether her powers and her way of thinking are useful as a Divine Herald, this is an eternal position and I cannot simply choose at random, I need to think of compatible options that will fill the deficiencies of others.
"Haku, keep anyone who approaches away until we’re done here." (I)
"The combat time will be 30 minutes." (I)
"Start!" (I)
"..." (Kiara)
She seemed to still be struggling internally with whether or not to fight me when I gave the signal, she stood still for a few seconds before her eyes glowed with determination and her body disappeared as if it were an illusion.
Of course the whole time she can’t escape my senses, I saw her tail glow as a magic circle was created behind at a point where my eyes couldn’t see, but I have more than just my eyes.
She moved between the surrounding trees at great speed while leaving magic circles, she clearly concentrating on using magic, I don’t recognize the magic she uses but I can recognize the elements used being thunder, wood and Darkness.
"(She has good body control, it shows that she has not only trained her magic, but her way of running is very reminiscent of Ibuki, he must have taught her.)" (I)
I followed her movements with my eyes to apply a little psychological pressure by showing that I know where she is at all times, I want to know if she will be shaken by just this.
She doesn’t seem to show anything, but her Aura tried to blend even more with the Aura of the surrounding plants and trees in an attempt to further camouflage herself.
For a few seconds she walked around me 3 times without doing anything apparent, but I could see the spells prepared around her and the magic in a large area circling everything, as well as the insects she hid inside the earth.
"(Two layers of deception, the small magic circles and the larger one encompassing everything are forms of deception, she is a summoner, her every step on a branch or on the ground summoned small insects that within the earth and branches making them move underneath creating a hidden magic circle.)" (I)
I continued following her with my eyes until she disappeared, she created 20 clones and hid her real body among the leaves, each clone attacked me with poison directly, poisoned claws and tail, with my speed I slapped the back of the hands and tail of the clones while I left a gap in my defense on purpose.
Soon the real body moved the magic on a large scale created a dome of darkness around me that interferes with my senses, which would have worked if the difference in power wasn’t so great, my Dark element is stronger than hers and I can see inside that dome as well as if it were late afternoon.
I was watching her move as the magic gathers in her hands, as soon as she claps her hands together the flow of Mana goes straight to the ground where the magic waiting below activates, the space distorts as a Bug-like worm appears coming upwards with its jaw open.
When it came out of the ground trying to devour me, I just jumped up and turned, kicking it on the top of its head, crushing its skull, then I realized that I had lost sight of it for 1 second, when I found it I saw hundreds of circles magicians from where an army of butterflies of the 3 elements she controls.
That’s when I realized that even this big monster was just a distraction, she knew she was being watched the whole time and looked for at least one opportunity to do something without being noticed, I ran between the trees forcing the butterflies to divide to fly in this more complex space.
I tried not to increase my speed too much, but I moved in a complex way to avoid being surrounded by the butterflies and without letting them get too close, all the time I saw Kiara controlling the butterflies while she moved separately.
At some point she was coming towards me using a burst of speed with a Thunder magic, when she got to me her tail surrounded by clearly poisonous green flames was right in front of my face, but I dodged it by grabbing the base of the tail before to throw it to the butterflies.
At that moment I saw her smile as all the butterflies explode with their elements joining her in a three-color tornado.
"< Territory: Imaginary Realm >" (Kiara)
"< World Hive >" (Kiara)
The three elements expand at once creating a world full of insects made from one of these three elements, all of which were surrounding me in endless clouds of insects.
"< Torrent of Poison >" (Kiara)
Clouds of poison were surrounding me, so I used my wings to generate wind pressure to drive away the poison and I was still seeing her controlling the insects to organize thousands of attack spells at the same time.
For the remaining several minutes I was bombarded by lightning that I deflected, by columns of shadows trying to absorb my power uselessly as they couldn’t even pass through my Aura and wooden spears that tried to pierce my body every time it pretended to make an opening.
Kiara herself, in several situations, tried to attack me directly, hiding powerful magic to cast at close range or trying to use her poison at close range.
"The time is over!" (I)
"< Demon Dragon Pressure >" (I)
When the time was up, I used my Authority together with my Aura to apply physical and Soul pressure, breaking the territory into pieces, crushing all the insects on the ground and immobilizing Kiara, all in 1 second.
I stop quickly and Haku approaches Kiara helping her to get up, tiredness was visible on her face and her Aura was very weakened, but her eyes were full of life while the bright smile on her lips was strange after this intense battle.
"You did very well, you fight in a similar way to me using deception to confuse the enemy, but unlike me that is the focus of your combat." (I)
"You didn’t let yourself be shaken by being watched and you didn’t stop attacking at any point even though you didn’t achieve anything." (I)
"Not to mention the great field control he had at all times, he used his race’s mental multitasking characteristic well." (I)
"(Her raw power still lags behind, but she makes up for it in versatility and quantity.)" (I)
"(She would shine in fights against multiple enemies, but fighting only one enemy can be done.)" (I)
"Haku, take her to rest and tell her the rest." (I)
"So she passed?" (Haku)
"Yes, now I’m going to ask Cinthia to bring someone else to me." (I)
