Jayr POV - Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Universe, Central World, Magic Continent, Great Canaat Mountains, Dragon's Den - 2013 AMB
Milim's reaction to the revelation that she can now be considered an aunt and that she can consider my family as her own was pretty cute to look at as she kept giggling with a wide grin on her face while bouncing around and petting all the subdued monsters we met on our way.
This continued until we finally reached our destination, the area where the sealed Chaos Dragon Gaia is located, as Milim's mood became much calmer and subdued.
We stand in front of the entrance of the massive chamber where Gaia is sealed, gazing at the enormous, clear blue star hovering in the middle of the empty chamber.
Watching the blue star, Milim mutters in a longing tone, "Gaia... Long time no see, my friend. We are going to finally help you."
Obviously, the massive blue star is the actual seal created by Milim using the True Dragon Star Magic, Drago True Boundary.
The user of this magic gathers a massive amount of Stardust to produce a massive star-like construct to entrap the target.
Within the star-like construct, the user is able to manipulate virtually anything: creating or restoring that which he desires, and discarding that which he does not desire.
It is basically a magic to create a new world, and obviously consumes an astonishing amount of energy to the point that any being that doesn't have a near limitless supply of energy may very well be drained to death trying to use it.
The Stardust is a type of special substance that is the basis of Star magic, and it is a miraculous substance with a myriad of special properties, possessing destructive power beyond that of spiritrons and a special nature that makes it impossible to control or counteract unless its nature is fully analyzed and understood, or one has the factor of Star King Dragon Veldanava.
Basically, the only users of this very special and unique substance are Milim, who directly inherited it from her father, the Star King Dragon Veldanave, and I, who can easily make use of it since I've naturally acquired the use of True Dragon Star Magic upon arriving in this universe, thanks to my immense power.
While watching the impressive construct in front of me, I calmly ask, "So, are you ready, Milim? Let me warn you, it is very likely that we have to forcibly subdue Gaia first before we can help it. After all, it is likely that in its current crazed state, he would completely ignore my Authority. Even more so, as it is already quite a powerful Dragon that is infinitesimally close to the True Dragon level."
Milim chuckles softly, saying, "Huhuhu. I know about that. Any abilities that enforce 'rules' onto others are completely ineffective against True Dragons, even if they were to consent to it and actively try to be affected."
Then the air starts to immediately change as she chuckles once more and says, "Huhuhu. There is no need to worry, my little brother. Get ready!"
Milim starts to emit a surging pressure as she raises her hand, and clear blue particles gather in front of it, forming a clear blue sphere of concentrated destruction that hums with energy, a radiant beacon of power in the misty air.
Milim's arm draws back, and with a fluid motion, she hurls the smaller orb toward the massive blue star.
The orbs tear through the air like a thunderclap, faster than the speed of sound, reaching the speed of light, and the next moment, the impact is immediate.
A flash of clear blue light envelopes the whole chamber, followed by an ear-splitting roar as the Chaos Dragon Gain reveals its presence in all its fury.
It is a massive dark dragon with multiple horns on its head and glowing red eyes; in fact, it immediately reminds me a little of Alduin the World Eater from Skyrim, only much larger.
(Image Here - Chaos Dragon Gaia)
Its form exudes menace, its wings shifting slightly as it glares at us with crazed fury in its eyes, fully revealing its nature as a force that transcends both good and evil and only seeks pure destruction.
Seeing that, I grin as I immediately realize that this is my cue, and without any hesitation, I transport all of us to my Battle Universe that I've prepared beforehand to ensure that our battle won't affect the Central World, as the rampaging Chaos Dragon is easily capable of widespread destruction that could easily affect innocent people.
As Gaia let out another ferocious roar, Milim grins and sprints forward with incredible speed, and I calmly follow after her making her grin grow even wider as she notices that I'm able to keep up with her as she shouts, "Let's go, little bro. Let's help Gaia calm down a little!"
She then leaps forward, ready to strike as the Chaos Dragon towers over her small figure, its scales are pitch black almost like an abyss that devours all lights, its eyes are bright red, predatory, full of malice and raw power, locked on Milim, but even if they appear completely crazed, I immediately notice a flicker of cold intelligence behind them.
Milim raises her arm and, without any hesitation, she delivers a powerful punch aimed at the Chaos Dragon's head, but at exactly the same moment, a pulse of power emerges from the black dragon's body that quickly forms an invisible barrier that completely blocks Milim's fist, whose power was enough to completely obliterate a mountain.
The next moment, the barrier around the Chaos Dragon pulses once more, and Milim is immediately pushed back, making her feet skid on the ground, tearing deep trenches into it as she steadies herself.
Then, Gaia opens its maw as it concentrates a massive amount of chaotic energies, but before it can complete the process and fire off its Dragonic Breath, I lead toward its head and deliver a powerful kick.
Soon, my feet touches the very same barrier that stopped and repelled Milim and in an instant, I realize that this barrier is actually a Gravity Field created by manipulating the force of gravity, likely used to block and negate all kinds of physical attacks from actually harming him, and possibily even weaken them in the case the attack in question is able to break through the Gravity Field.
While I come to that conclusion, I instinctely increase the power behind my kick making my feet easily breakthrough the Gaia's Gravity Field and continue to advance until it hits the Chaos Dragon's jaw making its maw shut close and its head snap upward quickly followed by the rest of its body that starts to soar up in the air before the dragon regains his bearing and flaps his wings menacily hovering above us with fury in its eyes.
Milim moves right next to me and, chuckling, she says, "Hehehe... So much time passes that I forgot that Gaia was born with a strong affinity for the earth element, and because of that, it has the ability to manipulate gravity! Be careful, Jayr!"
After saying that, Milim grins and exclaims, "Yosh! It's time to go all out! Hahaha! It has been such a long time since I've let loose! Gaia! I'm coming!"
The next moment, her body shines in a bright pink light for a brief moment, and when the light fades away, the figure of Milim in her True Form is revealed.
In this form, Milim looks more like the Dragonoid that she is, having a crimson horn adorning her forehead and large wings.
On top of that, in this state, her attire also changed as she wears proper battle attire consisting of a plain black dress covered in a jet-black armor.
(Image Here - Milim True Form)
After transforming into her True Form, Milim rushes upwards toward the Chaos Dragon, who let out a ferocious roar and dives toward her in response.
Seeing that, I smile and gently grab the silver Core Drill wound around my neck and call out, "Crateris!"
In response, the Core Drill shines brightly, and the next moment, Crateris in its Constellation Form appears right next to me before it disassembles itself, and all the pieces become attracted to my body as the Cloth equips itself.
The first piece to come are the upper part of the stem that separated and became two greaves that soon got equipted on my legs, then came the lower part of the cup that became the fauld and equipted itself on my waist, next came the lower stem and the base that became the gauntlet with some kind of shield in the shape of a pointed weapon and equiped on my arms, and lastly the upper part of the cup that became my chest piece that covers up to half of my chest, robust shoulder pads and helmet.
I look up and see that as they are about to clash, Milim takes advantage of her smaller and more agile size to outmanoeuvre the massive Dragon, closes in and delivers yet another mountain-obliterating punch aimed at its head.
However, as the fist was quickly approaching its intended target, the Dragon reared its head up with startling speed.
The sudden movement created a powerful gust of wind that blasts Milim back a few meters before its head snaps to the side like a striking snake, its jaws wide open and aiming for Milim.
I immediately yell, "Watch out!" And just as Milim's body flickers away, reappearing several meters back, I teleport in front of her and make use of the shields on my Cloth to protect her.
The next moment, the Dragon's head collides with my shields, the sound of metal meeting flesh reverberating across the area as the power behind this blow is more than enough to actually blow away a massive meteor; however, I hold firm, calmly pushing back as I've experienced much worse blows before, against much stronger enemies.
Milim doesn't let the impressive display slow her down, and while the Dragon's head is occupied with me, she flashes forward in a blur of motion, thrusting her fist at the creature's unguarded neck.
But before she can connect, the Dragon's wings snap open while at the same time, it unleashes yet another pulse of Gravity Field, sending us blasting toward the ground while the Chaos Dragon launches itself into the air, its massive body casting a shadow over us.
Its jaws open wide, and I smile wryly as I see the telltale dark glow of fire and miasma building within its throat.
The next moment, the Chaos Dragon unleashes a torrent of fire and highly concentrated miasma that corrodes anything in its path, even the very air itself, a veritable waterfall of corrosive flames that cascade down onto us.
The heat was immediate and suffocating, as the very atoms in the air were being corroded.
Seeing that, I calmly smile and comment, "That's quite a vicious Dragon Breath. Luckily, Gaia isn't the only one that can manipulate gravity to one's advantage."
Shortly after saying that, I manipulate my Spiral Cosmo and cast the Gravity Spell while chanting in Latin, "Dolor hic mundus cognoscet! Omnipotens Dis!! (This world shall know pain! Almighty Push!!)"
At the same time, as the name of the spell rings out, I use my Spiral Cosmo to create a repulsive force, which forcefully pushes away everything in the vicinity, including the Chaos Dragon's Dragon Breath, blowing it away and harmlessly dispersing it, completely protecting us from its effects.
Milim glances at me and, in an impressed tone, she says, "You can really also use the force of gravity? That's incredible! That is the main reason why fighting Gaia is so annoying!"
Hearing that, I show her a confident smile while thinking, "I can do a lot more than that. My stories were all true, after all." while thinking, 'In fact, I can end this battle whenever I want. The only reasons I'm playing along are that, for one, I need some time to further study Gaia's current state to find the best way to help it, an objective that is already almost complete. The other reason is that I thought that this was going to be a good bonding activity for Milim and me...'
As the last embers of Gaia's Dragon Breath fizzle out, we exchange a look before a grinning Milim says, "This is our chance. A Dragon's guard drops after such a prolonged attack. And remember, half-hearted Skills and Magic won't have any effect on Gaia, so either hit him hard with physical attacks, use True Dragon Magic, or very powerful Ultimate Skills; everything else is useless."
Hearing that, I smirk and say, "It's fine. I will simply use magic to support us. Now, it's time to make use of an old friend!"
Shortly after saying that, I open a portal to my Soulbound Territory, and from it, I pull out the weapon I've created many years ago back in the Arifureta Universe, and that, from time to time, I've upgraded using various materials I've gathered during my adventures, the Tactical Arms.
The Tactical Arms is a multifunctional equipment capable of functioning as a flight pack or a weapon, and has gone through some impactful changes since the last time I used it in actual combat.
The first significant change is that now the Tactical Arms is equipped with a removable beam torch instead of a Gatling gun.
The energy torch can usually be used for cutting and welding, but it can also be used as an energy rifle by adjusting the output of the central energy-generating device.
The second change is that now it does have an active Flight Form where the weapon transforms into a set of backpack wings, providing me with flight capability in case I'm unable to use my own capabilities for whatever reason.
By adjusting the position of the Tactical Arms' folded components, I can move in a very irregular manner, making it difficult for the enemy to aim.
In this form, the mounted energy torch can be used to fire at the enemy in front of me, and on top of that, the energy torch can also be separated and used on its own without affecting the flight form.
The Sword Form remains mostly unchanged; it is still a 2-meter-long sword that is around 4 tons heavy, which can also function as a shield due to its sheer size.
The blade has an incredibly sharp edge, and even in the rare case it isn't able to cut the enemy's armor, the impact due to its size and weight can easily damage internal organs or may even directly crush the enemy.
The Gatling Form is gone, as I felt quite awkward using it most of the time. I may have mastery over countless weapons, but I've a clear preference for those I'm more familiar with.
For that reason, I've changed the Gatling Form with the Arrow Form, a bow-like, ranged weapon form of the Tactical Arms. It is handheld when used and fires a very powerful energy arrow.
In this form, the Tactical Arms has a 'Short Mode', less powerful and whose range is in kilometers, and 'Long Mode', much more powerful and capable of shooting things in orbit from the ground, depending on whether the Arrow Form's "bow arms" are folded or unfolded.
Then I've kept the more agile form, Sword Arm, where the massive sword is divided into two smaller ones, which makes it possible to dual-wield them with more agility and speed.
Meanwhile, the Gatling Arm form changed into Torch Arm form, which is basically the same as the Flight Form, where the torch is separated from the rest of the Tactical Arms and used as an energy rifle.
Armed with the Tactical Arms in its Sword Form, I look at Milim, who grins happily and comments, "That's a cool weapon! I wanna one like that too!" before she focuses back on the Chaos Dragon and adds, "But for now, my fists are enough!"
Shortly after saying that, Milim flaps her wings and charges upwards, toward the Dragon flying in the sky before slamming into its chest with such force that it generates a massive shockwave that makes the nearby mountains crumble.
The crazed Dragon lets out a pained roar, its massive body twisting in pain as it crashes on the far side of the already ruined field with a thunderous crash.
I squint my eyes as I take in the Dragon's battered form, a small, fist-sized, nasty imprint is now clearly visible across its chest, while blackish-gray blood oozes from the wound like tar.
Seeing that, I flicker forward, my Tactical Arms poised for a strike while the Dragon rears back, its mouth opening to unleash another stream of fire.
But before the corrupted flames can erupt, its wings flare out, creating a wall of searing heat while at the same time jumping back; however, I can easily ignore that as not only the Cloth will protect me, but my own body can easily endure such "mild" temperatures, so I continue to advance and chase after Gaia.
The Chaos Dragon is suddenly above me, its massive wings keeping it aloft as it dives toward me, its claws rake the air, its mouth glowing with miasma and fire once more.
Just as the deadly mixture begins to ignite, I immediately react, changing the Tactical Arms into its Arrow Form, while at the same time, injecting my Spiral Cosmo into it to further improve the power of the energy arrow before firing it directly into the Dragon's open mouth.
The explosion is immediate, the force of it sending the Dragon reeling backward, and at the same time, Milim seizes the moment as she dives toward the suffering Dragon.
As she is quickly descending, I see that Milim is gathering an astonishing amount of Stardust into her fist, which now glows in a spiraling blue light, humming with raw, destructive force.
She twists her body mid-air, aiming for a devastating plunge attack while letting out a cheerful battle cry, "It's time to sleep, Gaia!Hiiyaaa!!"
The world slows for a moment, the wind howls around her, whipping into a frenzy under her glowing fist's power.
The Stardust coursing through her fist is bathing the battlefield in flickering blue and cyan light, casting jagged shadows over the area.
The Chaos Dragon quickly senses the danger, regains its bearing, and rears back, its maw opening wide, the embers at the back of its throat blazing to life.
But it is way too late as she is already there.
The impact is cataclysmic. Milim's fist sinks deep into the Dragon's spine, the blue glowing hand sizzling against its scales, sending a violent surge of energy through its body while the compressed energy detonates outward like a shining star.
A deafening boom split the air, and for a moment, the entire Battle Universe held its breath.
Then the charred dragon's body falls from the sky at astonishing speed before quickly crashing into the ground with such force that it makes the whole planet we are using as a battlefield shake for a moment, while also completely upturning the ground in the area of the crash.
Without wasting any time, I quickly approach the massive crater where the downed Chaos Dragon lies and immediately notice the damage that Milim's attack has left on the poor creature.
From the point of impact, a massive jagged wound, akin to that left behind by an explosion, marks the dragon's back.
The sheer force of Milim's attack completely crushed muscle, bone, and sinew into pieces, it's so severe that any other living creature would have basically died on the spot if not outright obliterated; however, even if grievoisly wound the Chaos Dragon is indeed still alive, only it is no longer in any state to fight back, or even move, which shows Milim's sublime control over her power... when she wants to.
The next moment, Milim lands hard on the already devastated ground, her body still buzzing with remnants of energy.
Milim looks at me and, with a grin, she exclaims, "Done! Gaia is down! Now do your thing and help him, little brother!"
Hearing that, I nod and immediately focus back on Gaia, and as expected, its Spiritual Body and Astral Body are indeed very messed up.
In this universe, for Body one refers to the various phase bodies meant to be the vessels that house the soul and can be divided into three phases: the Astral Body, the Spiritual Body, and the Material Body.
The Astral Body or spirit body is the innermost body, the protective container for the soul. It also acts as a sort of computational device that translates the intention of the soul and relays it to the spiritual body.
This layer requires a medium to preserve it, as it would otherwise slowly dissolve back into the surrounding space and release the soul into the cycle of reincarnation.
The Spiritual Body is what keeps the astral body and soul protected from the environment.
It acts as a foundation to accumulate power and a vessel to store energy.
For material life-forms and demi-material life-forms, it acts as a temporary virtual memory storage, while for demi-spiritual life-forms, it acts as a thinking device and permanent memory storage similar to the brain.
The Material Body, or the flesh, is the anchor that keeps the spiritual body attached to the physical plane and allows for interaction with material objects.
Material life-forms and demi-material life-forms need a material body to stay alive, while demi-spiritual life-forms and spiritual life-forms need one to remain anchored to the material world. Without a material body, beings of a spiritual nature are doomed to eventually either die or be rejected by the material world and ejected back into their spiritual world of origin.
Gaia's current state is likely the result of the damage that its Astral Body and Spiritual Body received upon death and the unfortunate timing of its revival.
To be more specific, the main reason why Gaia was revived in such a corrupted state is because not only were its Astral Body and Spiritual Body were almost completely gone, thus leaving its soul completely exposed, but that also, Milim's enraged state during her Harvest Festival and her hatred during its end also had an effect, twisting the Gift Gaia recieved in a more destructive and malicious direction directily affecting Gaia's soul.
Luckily, such a state is also quite easy for me to fix, so without wasting any time, I immediately start to work.
First of all, I completely destroy Gaia's Material Body, as it's going to be useless, especially for what I plan to do.
Then, I use Spirit Magic to safely grasp Gaia's Soul, Astral Body, and Spiritual Body before they could start dissipating and get dragged on the other side, then I continue to use Spirit Magic to cleanse the soul from the negative influences that have been affecting it for such a long time.
After that, I separate the Soul from the Astral Body and Spiritual Body and carefully envelope it with my Spiral Cosmo and Divinity to ensure its safety while also reinforcing and blessing it.
Then I focus on the corrupted Astral Body and Spiritual Body and this time, I decide to use a more simple and direct approach as I use Restoration Magic to rewind the time of the corrupted Astral Body and Spiritual Body, basically forcefully stripping away the effects of Milim's Harvest Festival had on them, bringing them back to the time before Gaia's first death and revival.
This process takes more than a few minutes, after all, I'm rewinding more than 2000 years, but soon the process is complete and I move on to the next part where I use my Spiral Cosmo to reinforce the Astral Body, the Spiritual Body until they match perfectly with Gaia's much more powerful Soul.
At this point, I put the Soul back into the Astral Body and the Spiritual Body before casting Evolution Magic on them while also using my Divinity and Authority over the Voice of the World to further accelerate and help the process, and soon, Gaia fully takes that final step and evolves into a True Dragon.
Thanks to that, the newly evolved Gaia starts to shine as it forms a new Material Body on its own, assuming the appearance that will perfectly reflect its personal self-image and individuality.
During the whole process, Milim is very excited as she continuously jumps around waiting for the process to end, and soon, the light fades away, revealing Gaia's new form, that of a cute, small dragon with big eyes and purple scales, making Milim squeal, "Heee! It's so cute!"
(Image Here - Gaia)
Hearing Milim's voice, Gaia immediately turns toward her and without any hesitation, it flaps its wings and dives into her chest yelling, "Milim!!"