The Power of Perspective

"Ulysses Rijkaard is injured. Someone actually caused him to cough blood!"

The crowd went into an uproar. To them, this was the most astonishing event in this tournament. Even with the dragon's might and Frozen Asgard Mask, the dragon should have only blasted him back at best. But it had somehow injured him. The only explanation was that its energy output was greater than Ulysses'. This was not something the observers could believe.

'So this is the true effect of the Frozen Asgard Hela's Domain. It not only allows the creature to fuse with the domain seamlessly, but it also gives the summoned creature access to the Frozen Asgard Mask. Or is the spell not just limited to the mask? ' pondered the hooded figure in the crowd. He was not the only person who had noticed the Frozen Asgard Mask.

Its appearance had caused quite a stir in the crowd because it was a rare skill often used by talented maidens. Now it was being used by a draconic summoning brought forth by a man. Not only that, but it was of a different colour. Unlike Will's white membrane, it was as black as night, showing that t had been modified by the creatures.

'The casting skill of Chilling Yin Dragons is incredible, I wasn't sure if it was one before, but now I'm confident. No dragon with that appearance in our sector could modify a negative energy spell so well.

Ulysses struggled to pull himself from the wall as tried to take stock of his surroundings. What greeted him was a scene he never expected to see so soon.

A massive inscription of straight lines intersecting had appeared on the dragon's Frozen Asgard Mask. Each intersection had complex matrices impeded into it while the paths of ice that looked like lines had Norse runes embedded into them. This was a spell Ulysses was all too familiar with. The form was different, but the principle was the same.

'The Valhalla Array!'

The caster this time was not Will, but the beast ahead of Rijkaard. No energy fluctuation or anything of the sort had come out of Will who stood still behind the dragon. The structure was like a pyramid of geometric lines that oozed power in unorganized rhythmic beats. Concentrated darkness attribute energy pulsated in the array as the creature readied its second spell. The dragon launched itself into the skies and got ready to attack. With a roar, it opened its large maul. A vortex of concentrated negative energy gathered in its mouth, creating a storm of frigid winds.

Ulysses was a bit shocked by what was happening. He was already shocked by the fact that the dragon could apply the Frozen Asgard Mask, but it had also somehow inscribed an array onto itself.

Will had used the array to amplify Mjolnir's Lockdown. Now the creature had used it to amplify the Frozen Asgard Mask on itself. Ulysses didn't know of a dragon species capable of such acts.

'Maybe it's not the dragon?' As Ulysses saw the dragon prepare its attack he could not help but wonder. What if Peerless had been the one to cast it?

The domain had not been cancelled. Ulysses' attack had pierced through, but Will had remained unharmed and the column of light had been blocked by the dragon's membrane. The mask had amplified the dragon's defensive and offensive abilities beyond what Ulysses could ordinarily match when in a sealed state.

'This still doesn't explain this massive energy spike. The Valhalla Array and Hela's Dominion are superb at boosting a spell's power but it should not be to such an exaggerated extent. Just what did Peerless do?'

Ulysses was running out of time as the first layer of his seal was about to come undone. The idea of having a direct confrontation with a beast capable of harming him was not attractive, thus he decided to ignore the beast entirely. Ulysses mobilized all the energy he could without destroying the seal and targeted Will behind the beast.

'Column of Light can attack from anywhere if cast by me. If I can't hurt the beast, I will just hurt you."

Ulysses pointed his lance and activated his only available attack skill. A blinding light appeared above the dragon and blasted down with blinding speed.

'Wait, what's this?'

Ulysses and the observers of the crowd were not sure what was happening. Ulysses had pointed his lance at Will, ready to hit him with a Column of Light fueled by Photos' Judgment. The light however did not appear above Will, but straight above the dragon. Ulysses could not understand why his attack had hit the wrong target. But it was too late to do anything as the light had already struck.

'That's the disadvantage of fast attacks. They can't be modified after being launched.' Snickered Will internally as he watched the show. Ulysses thought he was standing still. But he was not standing idly.

The melding with Hela's Dominion did indeed allow the beast to use some of Will's Frozen Asgard arts like the mask, but it had limitations based on Will's level and his experience with summoning magic. The Valhalla Array had been inscribed by Will on the beast through the dominion. So long as it was one with the dominion, Will could inscribe anything on it, this was a Frozen Asgard feature of the dominion that few people knew of.

But that was not all Will did. Will also used another spell without Ulysses noticing. Just as how Will had used the dominion to absorb Rijkaard's initial attack, the beast had also used the dominion to absorb the Column of Light. The observers had assumed that the array was there to amplify the mask, and in part that was true, but its true purpose was to allow the beast to absorb a much higher power. Divine energy.

Will could not absorb an attack made with divine energy at his level. But a top-tier dragon boosted with multiple spells and an array could do so under the right conditions. Ulysses was not aware, but he had fed the dragon with immense power twice with both Columns of Light.

'Why did my attack hit the dragon instead?'

Before Ulysses could finish that train of thought, another sight caught his eye. The blinding Column of Light that had descended from the heavens had been absorbed by the beast in an instant. It was as if a ray of light had been pulled into dark murky waters. Ulysses could not help but open his eyes wide in shock.

'So this is where the energy spike came from?'

Ulysses smiled wryly as he saw the concentration of World Energy the dragon was gathering build-up momentum.

'The beast got stronger with my own energy. It actually absorbed Photos' Judgment as a dark-type negative energy creature. What is that thing?'

Ulysses was stubborn and refused to give up. He launched another Column of Light with his lance pointed at Will, but the same scene repeated itself, the dragon took the attack while Will remained untouched, unhurt and undisturbed.

Ulysses started to discover an anomaly. His attention was becoming more and more focused on the beast as the seconds passed. This was normal as it was the greater threat, but its summoner was still Will, which meant Ulysses should still have been able to target Will with ease. Yet for some reason, the beast was taking up most of his attention.

'Is this what happened to Gianluigi?'

A light of realization flashed in Ulysses' eyes as he figured something out. He had watched the fight between Will and Indomitable Moon but he still could not comprehend how Gianluigi had been so thoroughly defeated.

'The dragon, it's pulling in my intent?'