Thalion saw the horror on his opponent's face when he activated his domain skill. It was so ridiculously powerful that even he almost didn't recognize it at first. A massive storm erupted with him at the epicenter. The winds were so violent that entire patches of earth and grass were ripped from the ground and flung about in the lower parts of the storm and this was with Thalion still eighty meters above the ground after diving down a bit while firing a lightning beam at the elf.

Powerful lightning bolts were unleashed constantly within the storm, the air so saturated with electricity that no one without a lightning affinity could survive inside it without taking constant damage. That wasn't even accounting for the furious winds and the massive lightning strikes descending from the sky.

The domain was so overwhelming that Thalion couldn't risk using more than a single lightning beam. So much energy was coursing through his body it felt like he was being torn apart. His storm horns, normally a powerful amplifier for every lightning ability, were making things even worse. Normally, Thalion loved how the horns focused and intensified every one of his skills but now, it was far too much. At this moment, he genuinely feared that casting another lightning beam might rip him apart.

The domain itself was already incredibly destructive, and even though he wasn't targeting himself, he was still caught in its effects. The horns amplified everything to the point it felt like an overcharge. His passive skills only made things worse. Unlike active ones, he couldn't control or tone them down. They simply existed, and the input was overwhelming. Even the smallest adjustment would have made a huge difference, but he had no idea how to accomplish that.

For this fight, he had no choice but to endure. Thankfully, his opponent was struggling even more. She was forced to summon winds around herself just to keep the storm and its electricity from tearing her apart. Even then, it was only enough to stop the constant passive damage. The massive lightning bolts from Stormcaller's Fury still descended on her, forcing her to dodge or stab upward with her rapier to block them. Thalion wasn't even fueling the skill with much mana, yet each strike still drove her closer to the ground. Her winds, which had worked so well against his other abilities, didn't repel lightning nearly as effectively. That forced her to spend much more mana than before.

And that wasn't her only problem. She seemed to have completely lost track of Thalion within the storm. Before, Eye of the Storm had formed like a traditional hurricane with him in the calm center. Now, there was no safe spot. On the outside, it still looked like a hurricane, but inside, it was entirely different. Winds shifted chaotically, forcing constant adaptation to avoid being thrown around. The gales were so strong that a single mistake could easily break bones or even kill outright.

Even Thalion had to fight to stay in control while racing through his own storm. Minor cuts tore across his body, but his fast regeneration erased them almost instantly. If not for his advanced body-tempering, he would already have been crippled or dead. At the very least, both his wings would have been broken. Instead, he was speeding through the storm with mind-boggling velocity, circling the elf like a predator.

Still, he didn't want to risk attacking her directly with his claws or beak. If she reacted quickly enough, it could be his end. Eagly wasn't enormous. In fact, it was a little smaller than a normal golden eagle. After his fusion with the storm crystal, his body had become thinner, though his wings had grown slightly longer, perfect for faster and more enduring flight. Their shape reminded him of frigatebirds, creatures that fed mostly on fish and almost never landed except to nest. Compared to eagles, they were even better adapted for endless flight.

Thalion liked that Eagly wasn't massive like the lightning manta, for example. The smaller form made him harder to spot and harder to hit. Of course, when he did take a blow, it was far more dangerous than in his sturdier forms, one rapier stab could be devastating.

As the storm raged on, azure flames crackling with lightning began to spread through it, growing brighter and more violent as though the entire domain itself was feeding them.

The flames didn't look like normal, calm fire burning on wood, but like streaks of lighting racing through the fast-moving storm winds. For Thalion's opponent, these flames meant serious trouble, straining her even more, because unlike him she couldn't simply fly through them. Thalion, on the other hand, was enjoying the power boost his skill granted him.

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His passive divine skill was also enhanced by his bloodline. Unlike his other abilities, however, this one worked differently. The fire aspect remained about the same, but the rest was greatly amplified. For Thalion, simply being within a few meters of fire granted him a buff, and the closer he got, the stronger it became. The elf had no such luxury. She had to constantly reinforce her shields or dodge the flames, something made even harder by the raging winds.

Thalion didn't let her off the hook either. From time to time, he launched wind blades at her. They were so strong that even he was pushed back in the opposite direction, which was troublesome in such violent currents. Twice he lost control and was thrown around by the storm, but since the elf was struggling just as much, it balanced out in the end.

Thalion was momentarily stunned when a massive white horse came flying past him at insane speed. One of the elves on the ground must have been standing too close to his domain, and the animal had been swept up into the storm. The horse clearly wasn't happy with its situation either, but Thalion wasn't in any position to help it.

Until now, he had been lucky that his opponent was content to wait for him to run out of energy rather than try to overwhelm him. But her tactics changed. Suddenly, she unleashed her full power, her aura spiking as she tried to kill him as quickly as possible.

Thalion instantly regretted not having some kind of boosting skill. Then again, with his new bloodline, it was probably for the better. Using one might have killed him outright. The elf's boosting skill, however, was the strongest he had ever seen. Power surged around her, strong enough to push his domain back. Her attacks now tore through his storm without being weakened.

In a flash, Thalion found himself on the defensive, using his domain only to dodge and accelerate, barely staying ahead of her furious strikes. Even empowered, the elf had difficulty moving through the storm. She was fast but Thalion was faster. This was his domain, and he let the storm carry him.

Still, her swings and stabs carved wide arcs through the winds. Thalion had never thought it possible to cut a storm apart, yet that was exactly what she was doing. His domain wouldn't last much longer, and rebuilding it from scratch would drain far too much mana. He was already down to forty percent, with the storm and lightning constantly draining him. It was time to switch tactics. Holding back, wait out her boosting skill, and recover, seemed like the better tactic.

He briefly considered using his bloodline skill, but that was too risky. Revealing that he could potentially steal bloodlines would make him enemy number one for every bloodline user and those were usually among the most powerful. At least, that had been his experience in the tutorial.

The elf unleashed even more wind skills, creating weapons of pure air, arrows, swords, spears, that came at him from every direction. Thalion dodged left and right, guided by the danger sense of his title. It was the only way to avoid the overwhelming number of spells.

Her speed increased further as she tried to close the distance. Thalion, meanwhile, pulled back to give himself more time to react. Diving toward the ground, he prepared to shift forms, either back to human or into the crippled eclipsari. His human form healed faster thanks to a passive skill, but the eclipsari was faster, tougher, and better suited for dodging.

The fight had escalated to the next level. Every move could be the last. The elf was relentless, furious, and utterly focused. The skies thundered around Thalion as he shot downward, a few hundred meters from the ground. He refrained from using Skydive, wary of accidentally driving himself into the earth at lethal speed. Instead, he glided down in wide arcs, weaving sharp turns to dodge the elf's pursuit.

She was far stronger than he had anticipated. Still, Thalion was determined to win. Nothing could stop him if he played his cards right.

Just before hitting the ground, Thalion shifted into the crippled eclipsari. He felt more comfortable in that form, especially with his human body lacking armor and sword. Immediately, the flames changed, and the storm lost much of its brilliance since he no longer fueled it with mana after transforming.

He easily avoided the next wind spear thanks to the eclipsari's intuition combined with his title. The two worked together perfectly, allowing him to weave between attacks while the world around him dimmed. He didn't bother summoning a domain of umbral miasma. It would be destroyed in an instant anyway.

All he had to do was wait. Just a little longer, until she burned herself out from overusing her boosting skill. Then it would be his turn to strike.

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