174 Mystery (1/2)
When Layla heard the dragon's answer, she sighed and pressured him with her aura. Fafnir frowned as he suffered the intimidation ”Why?”
”Because you're too dangerous to be left alone” Layla answered and her aura was then imbued with her power over emotions ”And the dragon you talked about is the man I fell for, so do you really think I will let you go there so easily?” As she said that, Karma, who was behind, made a smug face and Jorga whistled and would've clapped if he had hands.
”And you also called me 'strange girl'. That's enough” When she added that, both Jorga and Karma stiffened.
Meanwhile, Fafnir's confusion was just deepened by her words and actions ”This is the G.o.ddess of Worldly Emotions' power… Is that why I can't get angry at you even when you told me that…?” He mumbled and glared at Layla ”Just what are you? You're using the power of a G.o.ddess but you're not one”
”You seem to be half human and half G.o.d, but you're not a child from the union of both since those kind of children don't have divine mana… I cannot understand” Fafnir straightened his body and squinted his eyes as if he wanted to dissect Layla with them ”Your entire existence is a mystery for me”
Layla smiled and tapped Deva's back with her feet a few times. Fafnir blinked and when his eyelids were lifted again, what he saw was Layla's rapier trying to stab his eye. His mind panicked as he didn't expect that. Layla's aura had calmed him against his will and lowered his attention without him noticing.
He immediately reacted and s.h.i.+fted his head to the side as he deviated the blade of the rapier with telekinesis by just staring at it. He managed to avoid having one of his eyes cut but Layla didn't let him go so easily.
She fired with rapier and spun with the recoil and punched Fafnir temple with the momentum. The dragon didn't think much of that strike before it actually landed.
His entire body was lighter in s.p.a.ce and it pushed him back for quite a distance. His mind blanked for a second and was shocked as he felt the pain rising to his brain. He gritted his teeth and flapped his wings to retreat and used his tail to strike Layla. But she was swift in transforming into a small dragon of light. She escaped the tail and receded too.
”(What was that?)” Fafnir was shocked. It's not like they were fighting a hard battle already or anything but he was honestly astounded ”(Even if we're in s.p.a.ce, the rebound and equivalence of ma.s.ses still apply. How the h.e.l.l did she push me back without even moving? How strong is her body?)”
His surprise was justified. It wasn't really a matter of life force level or overall strength. Layla's physic is just way smaller than Fafnir's and it would be normally impossible for her to push back a creature as big as him. And even if you have enough strength to do so, it should still have some repercussions.
For example, back when Arima fought with Errastas, he managed to block a single palm from the giant with the sacrifice of both of his arms. That simply meant that their physical weight, strength, and resistance were worlds apart.
This time too, it should've been the case. Layla and Fafnir were both technically at the third divine and had basically the same advantages. But Fafnir was a dragon, one of the strongest beasts in the world.
”There's only one explanation” Fafnir muttered as he looked at Layla ”You're not human anymore. I'm not talking about those little scales and wings. You turned into a higher species” He declared and Layla frowned.
”Magic power, life force, enchantments, theory… all of those are different for everyone and don't concern race or species. But the body is a different story. It's something you get at birth” Fafnir spoke while looking down at Lanya.
”Humans, G.o.ds, Therianthropes, Ranian, Jelorian, Kiarion, …all of those races can't keep up with my body for example. And it's something you can't change no matter what. You can strengthen your body but it won't become stronger than what it is actually capable of without consequences”
”We dragons are not only bigger; our muscles can hold much more power than humanoid species” Fafnir snorted ”Your muscles have mutated. If there's a silver line to how much you can change before being considered as a different race, you already crossed it”
What he said was completely true. The world is not fair and every living being in it has different abilities and some are more blessed than others.
Physically, humans are one of the lowest while dragons are the highest. For example, if Arima had done what Layla just did in his human form, he would've most likely lost his arm, even if he was resonating with Night.
The only exception was the 'Kind Demon' form and the 'Final Resonance'. Arima managed to attain those two transformations as if it was in his DNA. With them, he can surpa.s.s humans and dragons alike. But for Layla, it was something way different.
”You've become an even bigger mystery. Although I have mutated myself, it was because I was cursed and it only actually happened after I merged with a draconic essence” Fafnir smirked and said ”What could possibly create something like you? From what I can see, I've come to the conclusion that something or someone acted on your genes and soul and created you”
Layla's expression twitched ”I suppose I'm right then” Fafnir nodded ”That's an important thing to know actually. Now,” He paused and glared at Layla with killing intent ”I know that I have to kill you today. Your power may become unreachable for me in the future”
He uttered and disappeared from his spot as a golden light flashed. Layla's eyes narrowed and flew away to the right to evade the dragon claw that suddenly emerged from nowhere.
”You escaped, huh?” Fafnir's voice resounded and before Layla could even register what happened, he was already back to his original position ”The Unblinking Eyes? Indeed. A troublesome technique, as always”
The dragon casually remarked while Layla was having cold sweats. She barely managed to predict that attack. But she couldn't even understand how it happened.