A single dive signaled the beginning of the battle.
Chris was the first to leap from the Phoenix's back, soaring into the high sky to display the destructive power of her Celestial Magic.
With a sharp cry, the magic power within her body surged out, instantly transforming into invisible tethers that churned the wind and clouds, commanding the wild thunder to obey her will.
The atmospheric pressure shifted instantly. Powerful gusts supported Chris's body, allowing her to hover suspended in mid-air.
The dark clouds overhead began to seethe, gathering around seven distinct focal points before spiraling downward. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into seven Thunder Tornadoes.
These explosive lightning cyclones connected heaven and earth, each three meters thick. Wherever they passed, trees, sand, and stone were sucked in and ground into microscopic particles by the piercing, chaotic, and frantic noise, staining the storms with a deathly dull grey.
They stood guard silently around the young girl like seven loyal servants, waiting for their mistress to give the order to attack.
The very clouds and lightning gathered by the Thunder Dragon had now become Chris's ultimate weapons!
"No matter how many times I see it, that power is terrifying!"
Darwin flew through the howling winds and exploding thunder, letting out a gasp of admiration.
Because his form was so large, he was inevitably grazed by the surrounding hurricanes and lightning strikes. Fortunately, in his Phoenix form, even if he was torn apart by the storm, he could be reborn from the flames.
Looking at the apocalyptic scene before him, his thoughts flashed back to many years ago, to the moment Chris first showed him the true application of Celestial Magic—
"Celestial Magic isn't just about controlling sun, shade, rain, or snow."
"Briefly changing the weather in one location is the most basic use; I could do that right when my magic first awakened."
"But that clearly wasn't enough. Sometimes the requests I received required things like 'continuous rain for three days' or 'half a month of clear skies'."
"So after that, I started learning magic to 'change a location's weather for a long duration'."
"But I quickly realized that wasn't enough either. Sometimes clients didn't want consecutive days of one type of weather; they needed intermittent patterns, like 'three days clear, two days cloudy, one day of rain, then clear again after the rain'."
"If it's just a few days, I can stay on-site to control it. But if they need it for a month or three months, I can't stay there forever."
"So, I spent half a year learning how to 'change the climate of a location'."
"Don't be fooled by how similar the words 'weather' and 'climate' are—in reality, they are worlds apart!"
"If 'controlling the weather' is the first stage, then 'changing the climate' is the second. Above that, there is the third stage, which is the true usage of Celestial Magic—"
BOOM!
A thunderous roar snapped Darwin back from his memories.
High in the air ahead, Chris let out a shout, absorbing the violent energy drifting in the atmosphere into her body. As the energy entered her, her eyes emitted a brilliant silver-white light.
Raising her hands, the storm and lightning transformed into two spears, each dozens of meters long, resting in her palms. She looked like a Goddess of Storms from ancient myth!
Then, like a javelin thrower, she hurled the two spears with all her might at the golden dragon sleeping on the ground!!!
The massive shifts in heaven and earth had long since awakened the lightly sleeping dragon. Sensing the energy attacking from above, the dragon snapped its eyes open and let out a world-shaking roar!
"ROAR—!!!"
With that roar, golden light burst from the dragon's body, and violent lightning surged outward in an unconscious explosion in all directions.
This unintentional discharge of electricity collided with the lightning spears falling from above, the two forces drawing toward each other even faster than their original speed.
The next moment, another earth-shattering explosion occurred!
RUMBLE—!!
The two forces of lightning neutralized each other, but the residual energy swept across the surroundings. The largest portion pierced through the atmosphere and hit a distant mountain peak, slicing off a corner of the summit. The rest turned into thousands of tiny electric currents, falling to the ground like raindrops and leaving dense, charred marks.
"This guy's got a hell of a morning temper!"
Erza quipped, seemingly ready to make her move.
Darwin quickly called out to stop her: "Wait, Erza! Seeing an attack like that, do you still think the Sword of the Wind God or the Blade of the Sea King will have any effect?"
Erza replied: "Ordinary versions wouldn't, of course, but I came prepared!"
Prepared?
Darwin immediately thought of Irene's Enchantment Magic: "Could it be..."
"Exactly what you're thinking!"
"Since the target is a dragon, before we left, I had Mom use her magic to attach a Dragon Slayer Seal to all of my weapons!!"
The moment she finished speaking, Erza kicked off, leaping down from Darwin's back. Avoiding the tornadoes controlled by Chris, she went straight for the Thunder Dragon's nape.
She crossed her arms in front of her, clutching dual blades in a strange twin-sword stance. As the distance closed to ten meters, Erza snapped her wrists, and sword light poured out.
"Wind and Water Continuous Slash!!"
Countless blades of wind and water hammered into the Thunder Dragon's neck, forcing it back down to the ground just as it was trying to stand up!
"Now's our chance!"
Seeing Erza's attack succeed, Chris was overjoyed. Refusing to let the opportunity slip, she maneuvered the seven storms beside her to press down with overwhelming force!
The golden dragon was struck first by the slashes and then by the wind pressure. Shouting in continuous pain, it sounded like a pitiful prisoner undergoing torture, a sound that would evoke pity from anyone hearing it.
The successive attacks kicked up a thick veil of dust and sand in the valley, obscuring vision. Chris used her wind control to hover high up, while Erza switched to an armor capable of flight, staying near the dragon to wait for the result.
"Did we succeed?"
Just then, the sound of breaking wind erupted from behind.
"Danger, Erza!!"
Hearing Chris's warning, Erza turned to see a massive golden whip wreathed in lightning—the Thunder Dragon was swinging its tail in a counter-attack!
"Oh no—!"
Erza's pupils shrank. Knowing she couldn't dodge in time, she threw her arms up to block, bracing for a hard impact.
At the critical moment, a giant hand descended from the sky, pinning the dragon's tail into the ground with nearly barbaric force!!
Erza instinctively looked up and saw Darwin's grinning face.
He was no longer a Phoenix, but a sixty-meter-tall white giant. This was—
Imaginary Take Over: Nika Form!