The dragon's harem

Chapter 1444: Missed Chance

The longer the fight between Arad and Mathilde went, the more he realised that the last thing he wanted to fight was an angel.

They were made to resemble the abominations they were killing, and thus, all bore strange powers of their own. It didn’t matter how much Arad tried to resist, his legs refused to move as well as they used to.

What worried him even further was that influence wasn’t of any magical or mystical nature. Mathilde was just too skilled with her legs and had enough mastery over her footwork to taunt him into moving the way she wanted, always being several steps ahead.

What’s more, it was just her humanoid, angel form that moved with that grace. Her true form, the ugly amalgamation of feet and eyes, moved with the same grace.

Mathilde wasn’t just skilled with humanoid feet, but also possessed countless talons, hooves, and even fins. She used them all in tandem, throwing a storm with her real body. Arad could swear that he saw her turn into a cow as he went behind her, and throw a kick at his guts with her iron hooves.

Arad’s four incarnations were sent flying as Mathilde kicked them all with a single spinning kick, leaving two with broken ribs, one with a crushed face, and the last one with a broken arm.

Arad glared at her, “You move and kick like a horse.”

Mathilde looked back at him with a smile, rubbing her face with her hand, “And you slap like you’ve got something against me. Believe it or not, no one before you managed to slap me.”

Arad smiled, “Really? That’s an honor. But I expected an angel that got deployed several times to the frontlines to have received at least a wound or two.”

She moved slightly, running a finger down her chest and to her belly, “One blasted a hole through my torso, I’ve lost a leg, and one blew me to bits, but I survived thanks to Sylph pulling my remains away and patching them.” She shrugged, “But a slap, no one had done it before, and it hurt a lot.”

She took a step forward, but with only that, she appeared standing right in front of Arad to the point her chest touched his torso. “I’ll have to ask Dalla to teach me.”

As the two stood there, the clash above never stopped. Arad’s void wrapped around Mathilde’s true body to consume it, but she kept pummeling him down, being too hard and rough to melt.

“It’s your loss, Lord Arad.” She smiled. “You’ve fought well, not many can claim standing against an Archon.”

Arad glared down at her with glowing purple eyes, his face dark, but she could hear his heart beating like a drum, accelerating with each second. No, it wasn’t just one heart, but two beating in tandem.

“You’re a soul, aren’t you?” He asked, and Mathilde started to feel threatened. That question, he already knew the answer; all angels were pure and powerful souls.

“Wait!” She gasped, but was late. Arad’s arm flew forward and grabbed her by the neck. At the same time, his void swallowed her true body. And then, she could feel it, the darkness piercing her body.

Arad had changed his tactic; instead of trying to fight Mathilde directly, he would try something else. If she were a soul, then he should be able to turn her into a Void Creature.

Now, Arad knew that he couldn’t turn her; she is too powerful and willful and would resist his power. But she is bound to get hurt and weakened, which might give Arad an edge.

Mathilde’s eyes opened wide, and she wanted to cry. Not because she was in pain or anything like that, but because this was probably the test Sylph left for her. That goddess, she’ll kick her in the face when she returns.

AO was now trying to turn her into one of his primordial angels, and she would’ve loved to accept it. All angels dreamt of returning to the service of AO, but now, if she did that, she would expose Arad’s identity to him and throw everything into chaos.

Would she accept the promotion and mess everything up, or reject a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get her job done? As an angel, Mathilde had to choose the latter. What a shame, rejecting such a chance, this sole fact would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Arad’s chain around her shattered, and she jumped back, “Sadly, it won’t work.”

Of course, she was already getting beaten to a pulp by Arad, who took the chance to whale down on her. But even with all of his efforts, it was nearly impossible to severely damage her. The fight between them had been reduced to an endurance marathon. Would Arad get exhausted first, or Sylph’s divine energy run dry first? He won’t bet on it.

As the fight came to a halt, Mathilde took a step back, and her true body faded away alongside Arad’s dark void. The two appeared standing where they were before.

Dendron had already resurrected in the corner, and she glared at them. She expected to see one of them either dead or dying on the ground, but strangely, both are standing.

“Arad! What happened. Did you give up?” She flew toward him, and Mathilde was the one to reply. “No, the test is over. I ended the fight.”

She took a step forward, then another, and then another. “I’ll take you all to the upper branches.”

Arad waved his hand, letting everyone else out of his stomach. Cerilla and Dalla walked out first, followed by Jasmine, D, Merida, and Grace.

Mathilde looked at them and smiled, “Lady Cerilla, Master Dalla, Queen Plum, Queen Jasmine, Wizard D, Lady Merida, and Blessed Grace, I greet you all.”

“Archon Mathilde?” Cerilla gasped. She had heard of her before since she is a warlock of Sylph, but she had never once met the angel. Sylph talked about her several times, sometimes praising her and sometimes sounding a bit angry, but in all, Mathilde sounded like Sylph’s most trusted angel.

“That’s me. I’ve heard about you a lot, Lady Cerilla. Her divinity, Sylph, is waiting for you.”

Cerilla rubbed her eyes a bit and then looked closer at Mathilde, her eyes failing to see her clearly. “Where is your halo, and why do you look strange?”

“Ah, about that. I’ve fought Arad, so I’m finding it a bit hard to mask my true self. So don’t be afraid. The halo, the golden circle that should be above my head, I don’t have it. Only weaker angels have them.”

Mathilde explained that weaker angels look like a circle of golden light; the halo is their true body, while the humanoid shape beneath is just a projection of their power. Since Mathilde is far more powerful, she fully hides her true body, so there is no halo.