Calling to mind Eleanora's finishing blow, Theodore momentarily and slightly furrowed his brows, but quickly returned to a calm smile. While her show of force had indeed revealed a trump card which he hadn't truly expected to encounter in her hands, it wasn't actually a danger to him–rather, it served to muddy the waters. A lot.
In the Dragon Family, there was one sole Talent that stood above all and was idolized to no end, as it was originally the chief Talent of the very first of their lineage: Dragon Pearl. The ways in which it could be used were excessively manifold, with creating one simply to use it as a sort of bomb being only the most barbaric and brutish one.
However, most others primarily focused on directly benefitting and empowering the owner of the Talent. They could significantly bolster their battle prowess, yet to outsiders, the Dragon Pearls' detonations were what defined them. And who could really blame them? For most, such a spectacle would certainly leave an impression.
'As far as I'm aware, the chances of being born with the Dragon Pearl Talent are ridiculously low. It's to the point that it is seen as by far the rarest of all trademark Talents of the Dragon Family. Three other heirs of theirs are confirmed to have it, all of whom are participating in the Heavenly Succession: There's one from the Astral Dragons, one from the Infernal Dragons, and another two from the Black Dragons. This would make Eleanora the fourth... But it's 'the rarest', huh...?'
He couldn't outright deny the possibility that the Dragon Family had got ridiculously fortunate, but he more so suspected that they had long since researched a way in which to increase the probability of inducing it in their offspring. Because it was extremely costly to do so, they wouldn't make use of it easily. Naturally, now that everything was on the line, they wouldn't hold back any longer.
'But whether or not that is the case, I'll certainly have to see Eleanora in a different light. Unless she gets very unlucky, she shouldn't die throughout the early and middle stages of this competition.'
Those with the Dragon Pearl Talent were extremely hard to kill, to the point that most who didn't outclass them by many cultivation stages usually wouldn't even bother to try doing so. This did not mean that it was the best in its field, though–quite a lot of Talents were similar to or even better than it. However, due to the deep-rooted prominence of the Dragon Family, it certainly was the most famous amongst them all.
"Beautifully fought, you two!"
Welcoming Vigdis and Eleanora as they got closer, he approached them with Cheong Suhyeon at his side. He didn't bombard either of them with detailed comments and analyses about their exchange, as the two of them were perfectly well aware of what they had done right and where they should improve, therefore his meddling would be very unwelcome.
"Would you like to recover your Energy for a bit first, or shall we get started?"
As ever a picture of generosity and grace, Cheong Suhyeon beamed at Eleanora, not intending to exploit her present slight 'weakness'. This wasn't just due to her good character, though. Nay, it was a sign of her unshaken confidence.
"... we can already take our positions, but give me a minute. I won't say no to your kind offer."
Scrutinizing the fledgling goddess for any sign of nervousness at all, Eleanora felt a hint of surprise. Despite what she had just witnessed, she only sensed a strong fighting spirit from her. Clearly, even when faced with Dragon Pearls, she didn't think that she would lose. And that was exactly why Eleanora chose to show her due respect and fight her at her peak.
"I'm ready. Please go ahead."
Shortly after, once Theodore and Vigdis had gone very far out of the way, Eleanora's Dantians had recovered from her prior consumption, leaving her brimming with Energy and ready to tackle her next opponent. Smiling sweetly, she extended her invitation.
"Alright, then I shan't hold back!"
From one moment to the next, the aura of faith which had always been surrounding Cheong Suhyeon grew a lot more intense, with no sign of it stopping anytime soon. From its usual intangible state, it quickly became tangible, and even overbearing. Surpassing the light of a sun, an incredible radiance poured forth, obscuring her from view.
Simultaneously, following in Vigdis' footsteps, she rose to a higher position on the hierarchy of life, ascension to 'the divine' being just around the corner. But instead of overwhelmingly cold detachment, which normally went hand in hand with this, she emanated a warm compassion. Of course, exactly akin to almost all deities which people prayed to, this was mostly a front–but if the believers were treated well enough, what was the harm?
All of the mobilized faith rapidly transformed from an ever-expanding glow into a divine avatar as big as a solar system. Even down to the clothing, it looked exactly like Cheong Suhyeon, but its air and disposition made it clear that she was a fledgling no longer.
'... what's with this absurd amount of faith?! According to my calculations, with all of the people currently believing in her, she shouldn't be anywhere remotely close to this!'
Disbelief written all over her face, Eleanora knew that her opponent didn't want to start off slowly and ramp their confrontation up step by step. No, she aimed to continue from where the last battle had left off! And judging by what she was seeing now, she was more than qualified to do so, even by solely relying on the path of faith. Ultimately, this meant that she herself also had to take it to the next level.
Just like before, fiery Energy suffused her body, then formed into a familiar, tight-fitting suit of armour. The silver light reappeared as well, fusing with it until it became dual-coloured–parts of it a deep red, the others a pristine white. It was perfectly balanced, this delicate state serving to further boost its performance.
Mobilizing a fair chunk of her reserves, she created not one, but a dozen Dragon Peals, all at least as powerful as the one which she had pressured Vigdis with earlier. Not once did she think about this world, or the state that it would be left in as soon as all of these got detonated. After all, from the very beginning, to her, it was merely a disposable duelling stage.
With both women having allowed the other the time to prepare, their cataclysmic battle began. As soon as Eleanora had got her bearings, the divine avatar manifested a blade of brilliant, concentrated light and slashed down at her, the world itself collapsing in the strike's wake.
Anywhere that Cheong Suhyeon's gaze fell, spacetime turned into a quagmire, restraining the Supreme Pillar heiress' movements, intending to force her to face her attack directly. Naturally, this couldn't escape Eleanora, who simply chucked three of her Dragon Pearls straight at the sword of light.
The instant that they met, a more than five times as powerful explosion ripped Enki XXXIII to shreds. Another twenty percent of it completely disappeared and its World's Will let out one more despairing screech before forever falling silent.
Regarding the two whose collateral damage it had been, they had both escaped the blast radius, entirely intact. Cheong Suhyeon had repurposed the parts of her blade that weren't used up to destroy the Dragon Pearls, into a shield to buy her the necessary time, whereas Eleanora had done something similar.
As absurd as it sounds, in their exchange, this had merely been a probing blow. Kicking it up more than just one notch, the aura of faith radiating from the divine avatar increased in intensity, transforming a tremendously vast region of spacetime around her into her own territory.
Everything with this 'Domain' was under her control, and it could even exist independently in the Lesser True Void... for a time, until she ran out of faith. Having enveloped her opponent within this area, extreme pressure bore down on her from all sides, threatening to obliterate her. While the might of this Domain couldn't quite equate to that of an actual world, it was still difficult to handle.
'She is practically pseudo 'divine' at this point, significantly more so than her companion from before. But including me within the Domain's bounds was a mistake.'
Condensing another handful of Dragon Pearls, she also secretly created three more within her Dantians, one in each. They formed a resonance with her Golden Cores, flooding her with enhancements of every sort, as well as firmly anchoring her to the realm of the living.
Like satellites, the Dragon Peals swam around her body, speeding up faster and faster until they turned into blurs. It was as if she herself had become an armillary sphere, one that would blow up everything that touched it.
The Domain's pressure couldn't bother her at all due to all of these reinforcements of her person, but naturally, this wasn't all that Cheong Suhyeon had in store for her.
Upon including Eleanora in her range of influence, she instantly summoned a veritable army of soldiers formed out of Energy and faith. Each one of them was clad in beautiful yet resilient, white plate armour and none of their personal features could be made out. Like impeccably trained troops, they positioned themselves in a formation around her, the engravings upon their armours forming into a mobile Array.
'They would be markedly stronger if she had a lot of powerful believers' souls in her arsenal–but alas, it's too early.'
Glancing at those besieging her, Eleanora nodded in understanding, then she charged straight into their midst, ignoring everything that stood in her way. She made a beeline for the divine avatar overseeing it all, the 'rings' formed by the Dragon Pearls' movements cutting apart the troops very easily.
Still, whenever one of them got destroyed or harmed, she felt herself becoming a tiny bit weaker–not permanently, but for a limited time. That alone, however, was already terrifying enough. If she had chosen to blow up this army in one go, then she could have severely burdened herself!
'So that is how you want to play it? If I let this drag on, eventually, I will be ground down enough for you to deal with me. But if I lash out, then I will take a huge hit, too. Well, all of that is under the assumption that you can keep me here. Escaping would be too boring, though, so let's go out with a bang!'
Yet again, everything would come down to a single exchange of the explosive variety. Considering the excitement that sparkled in Eleanora's eyes right as she decided on her next move, one had to wonder if at some point, the Dragon Family had veered off course and turned into a sort of training ground for bombing enthusiasts
Completely ignoring her own safety, all of the Dragon Pearls circling her armour-clad self got infused with far more Energy than they had housed before, then she chose to blow them all up at her own initiative–right where she stood!
No matter how outstanding Cheong Suhyeon's early access version of a Domain was, it was not a genuine one. It simply couldn't withstand the exaggerated explosion whatsoever. Even the divine avatar faltered and flickered, then hastily retreated and cut off the majority of its Domain, allowing it to be swallowed up by the ensuing destruction.
Their stage, which was exposed to the remaining force that hadn't been dispelled yet, once more took a devastating blow. And it was even worse than earlier, to the point where Theodore had to grab Vigdis and teleport them away to Enki XXXIII's farthest reaches.
Only a tiny portion of the world survived, with everything else gone completely. Cheong Suhyeon's divine avatar hastily put up another, more resilient but smaller Domain around her, then she made her way through the Lesser True Void and returned to safety. But by the time that she arrived, most of the abundant power of faith around her was already gone. Even keeping up her avatar was nearly impossible, so she dispelled it.
As for Eleanora, as the one closest to the epicentre, despite taking measures to redirect most of the explosion's force away from her, her body was still hit with the worst of it all. And yet, the barrier that she put up completely withstood it. Responsible for it were the three Dragon Pearls resonating with her Golden Cores–but shortly after the blast had been endured, they were entirely used up.
There wasn't much Energy remaining in her Dantians either. Fortunately, it was still enough for another trio of Dragon Pearls to take the place of the ones that had just given up the ghost. This allowed her to stroll unhindered throughout the Lesser True Void and make it back to the duelling stage's leftover scraps.
Both she and Cheong Suhyeon stared at each other for a time, assessing the other's condition. It was clear to see that the women's consumption had been massive and neither of them could continue to battle for long. Of course, they had plenty of trump cards still to play, but purely Energy and power of faith depletion-wise, they were close to the end of their rope.
"... let us call it a draw, then."
Eventually, Eleanora broke the silence and shrugged helplessly. She was definitely in the mood to wreak significantly more havoc, but she also didn't want to expose anything else to a certain spectating Winter Saint.
'For how early it is, she is absurdly strong. I'm confident that she can overwhelm the vast majority of Pillar descendants, and even some crappy Supreme Pillar ones. Theodore, you're one lucky bastard.'