Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Orion clicked his tongue with frustration. Lamenting that the combined beam he wanted to use traveled in a spiral and therefore was more powerful but simultaneously slower than the simple linear projection that already wasn’t managing to hit.

The spiral beam was beautiful… Two elements intertwining as they traveled, but the rotation added drag. It was a power trade-off he’d accepted for the moment because even if the direct beam was weaker, the damage it provided was necessary to at least threaten someone of Selphira’s caliber.

If he couldn’t hit her, the power didn’t matter. And she wasn’t giving him openings even now. Every shot he fired found only empty air where she’d been moments before.

If he couldn’t damage her, it didn’t matter that she also couldn’t damage him. She wouldn’t feel sufficient threat to accept granting him the jurisdiction he wanted to at least control in case she escaped.

Of course, the best situation would be getting rid of her right now if possible.

Killing Selphira would remove one of the kingdom’s strongest defenders. Would eliminate someone with decades of experience and political connections. Would send a message to anyone else considering opposing him that not even legendary tamers were safe from his reach.

If he wanted to crystallize her like he’d done with Victor but fully this time, he would have to drag her to a place where she couldn’t move freely. Or weaken her first with the faster but less powerful beams without forcing her to retreat in the process.

It was a tactical dilemma he needed to resolve if he wanted to end this confrontation in which he was investing a large quantity of corruption bodies in a manner that would provide maximum benefit rather than simply momentarily driving away an opponent who would return for more, perhaps on a less favorable terrain for him.

The mutants he was burning through were still a ridiculous amount but weren’t infinite. Each one directed toward Selphira was one fewer available for other objectives.

He needed this to end decisively. In a way that left him in position to consolidate gains rather than defending against future counterattacks.

So Orion continued trying to deliberately enrage Selphira to prevent her from retreating when her fusion inevitably exhausted itself.

If her amplified power ran out while she was still committed to the battle, he wouldn’t have to search for her throughout the entire region afterward when she’d escaped to recover appropriately.

It was preferable to finish this now when he had the best advantage of position and preparation.

And he was almost certain that with Victor in the present state, he had them trapped anyway.

They wouldn’t let him die easily. Not when the emotional investment was so obvious in the manner that Selphira had reacted to seeing him. It was the main leverage Orion had hoped for specifically for this purpose. And he trusted it would function as planned.

Love made people predictable since caring about others was a weakness he could exploit. And Selphira clearly cared about Victor far more than was strategically wise.

♢♢♢♢

From Selphira’s point of view, she was maintaining avoidance of the beams after having healed from the second impact almost instantaneously.

Her fusion form was resistant by design and perfect for healing. Accelerating regeneration beyond what any of the components would achieve independently.

In fact, she was already healing herself even when being thrown backward by the second beam’s impact. The process beginning before she landed because it didn’t require her being in a stable position to initiate techniques that had been refined until becoming almost automatic.

But Selphira felt with worrying clarity that her mana was almost used up.

Soon she would be at zero percent and couldn’t maintain the fusion.

Each defensive shield cost more. Each regeneration cycle drained reserves further. And she had no way to recharge that much mana in combat.

She would have to use the potion.

The Diamond-rank recovery potion. Irreplaceable treasure that she’d been saving for an emergency that justified burning resources that could never be replaced once consumed.

Victor’s life…. The kingdom’s stability. Stopping Orion before he could consolidate whatever plan he’d been executing. All of it maybe justified the cost.

But it still hurt. Knowing she’d be drinking a literal fortune. Using tool that could turn the tide of future battles that might be even more critical than this one. Gambling that this was the moment that mattered most.

But there was no other…

Suddenly Orion stopped launching beams.

The change in tactics was sufficiently unexpected that Selphira immediately increased her vigilance. She recognized it meant something new was about to occur.

Silence after a sustained bombardment was more threatening than the attacks themselves. Because it meant he’d likely shifted strategy. Was about to try something different…

And what she saw made fury mix with fear in proportions that made it difficult to maintain appropriate thoughts.

Orion had sent Victor’s dying body to the ground without ceremony. Letting him fall like he was an object without value rather than a person. And now he was aiming at him directly with his own energy. The implicit threat being absolutely clear without needing verbal articulation.

Victor’s body hit the earth with a sound that made Selphira’s heart clench. Not gentle placement but discarding. Like trash… Like used tool no longer needed.

And Orion stood over him. Black-purple energy gathering in his hand. A beam forming and aimed downward at the broken prince lying helpless at his feet.

“If you’re not going to stop running or negotiate with me in any way,” Orion said with a tone that was almost casual in its cruelty, “then I really don’t need the hostage anymore.”

Selphira cursed him with words she rarely used even in intense battle contexts.

Language that communicated exactly what she thought about the tactic Orion was employing. Obscenities that would’ve made soldiers blush. Threats that violated several codes of civilized warfare.

But despite the fury, she recognized she had no realistic option except to finally accept listening.

She’d seen that her power wasn’t sufficient to break that stolen barrier Orion maintained. And attempting to continue the frontal assault would only result in complete exhaustion without achieving the objective of rescuing Victor.

It was a tactical defeat that hurt to admit. But it was reality she couldn’t deny regardless of how much she wanted to continue fighting.