Syl

Chapter 113: Horsing Around

Unlike the pegasi, the unicorns felt far less threatening as they struggled to dodge any of my attacks. Their beams of light, while initially scary due to their speed and penetration, were not as deadly for me. With their wind, coordinated teamwork, and evasive speed, the pegasi would have been my primary concern if not for whatever Trixie did to hide my spells. With my spells hidden, I no longer needed to unleash an improbable barrage and hope to hit them, and their effectiveness was greatly enhanced. The pegasi were like delicate glass cannons that relied entirely on their speed and aerial maneuvering to survive. They only required a good hit or two to take down, and often, gravity would finish the job.

I barely paid attention as my [Sub-Cores] continued their task of dealing with them; it honestly felt great to have the team back together. The unicorns were either screaming in panic or bloody murder as they tried to deal with me, accusing me of treason, regicide, and even homewrecking. I tried my best to tune out their words and wished Trixie hadn't maintained the connection.

Some of the more advanced unicorns attempted to counter my attacks with blinding flashes rather than their offensive beams of light. Yet, their efforts were in vain. Even when my normal vision was impaired, I could still rely on [Mana Conception] or [Life Sight] to maintain my advantage.

Without warning, a thunderous sound, followed by a resounding neigh, reverberated from the hollowed tree. Emerging from the shadows was a majestic creature, a horse-like being with both pegasus wings and a unicorn horn. Its pearlescent coat, more radiant than any unicorn's, shimmered in the light. Its mane, a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors, was a testament to its regal nature.

"Wow, how many names does someone need?" I questioned.

There was a cacophony of laughter from Trixie before she struggled out her next words, "You... You gotta listen to this guy."

"I'd rather you not-" I tried to reject the offer, but Trixie did her own thing, and suddenly, I had another voice blaring in my head.

"Loyal subjects, why do you fight?" The alicorn spoke; even mentally, his voice was flowery and pompous.

One of the surviving unicorns spoke up, "Your majesty! This pegasus monster has been sent to assassinate you! Clearly, an agent of chaos! Her form twists and turns like the monster she truly is!"

The alicorn examined me and... smiled? His upper lip curled and showed his pearly whites. "Good heavens, what a fantastic mare. Your potential is outstanding."

"Your majesty!" The unicorn protested, "She killed many of your concubines!"

"We can spawn more as long as I hold this essence nexus, but an enchanting specimen like this doesn't come along so often... She'd make an excellent broodmare." He replied and fluttered his eyelashes as he gazed at me. I wanted to vomit, but Trixie just kept laughing.

"Your majesty! You can't; she is but a peasant!" The unicorn begged, and against my expectations, the alicorn snarled and, with a swipe of his horn, formed a blade of light that decapitated the unicorn.

"Good. Her voice was droning on." He chortled to himself and began to pompously trot towards me, "Good concubines for the harem are so hard to find, but you, my dear, could be my number one broodmare. Our children would be legendary; we could overthrow my brothers and claim the kingdom!"

"Uh... No thanks," I replied instinctually.

"Now, now, my dear. I do like a bit of feistiness, but I'm not opposed to breaking in a new mare."

I had enough of this and was about to go full slime chimera on him when Trixie spoke up, briefly holding back her laughter. "Please keep pretending to be a pegasus. Then, later on, shapeshift into something male; the uglier, the better, please!"

When I didn't immediately agree to her request, Trixie quickly added, "I'll give you a reward or something! Please, I haven't laughed so hard in years!"

I still had no idea where Trixie even was, and it seemed she could quite easily control the direction of these mental conversations. Her strength and abilities were still a great unknown, so I reluctantly grumbled an agreement. Meanwhile, the pompous alicorn kept regaling me with his glory.

Since he was so full of himself, I decided to layer out all my debuffs beforehand by keeping the conversation going. "Your... Majesty..." I forced out, "Why are you controlling this essence nexus?"

"Well, my dear, one as great as myself can never have too big of a harem. I was hoping to eventually find myself an excellent broodmare, and it seems my prayers have finally been answered with your arrival."

The debuffs were applied one by one, and I tried to think of something to keep the conversation going until they finished. "I see... But what of the other males? Surely they'd object?"

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"Ha! That is why I kill them as soon as they spawn. There's only room for one stud on this island. I'd not even let another male unicorn, pegasus, or alicorn dare to breathe the same air as me and my harem." He snarled.

Trixie continued to laugh, clearly eavesdropping on the conversation. My preparations were finally in place, so I cut off his conversation by launching a rapidly formed [Icicle] spell directly at him. Despite my sudden attack, he surprisingly reacted in time and formed a floating shield of light that blocked the icicle spell long enough for him to dodge before it penetrated through.

He gave another horsey grin, "Yes... Much potential, I'm glad you want to put up a fight, my dear. Forcing you to submit beneath me is far more exciting than if you were just willing."

I cast both [Combust] and [Frostbite], the two different powders blowing towards him before another thin light barrier appeared to block the dust as he launched himself into the air. I followed after him, bemoaning that this was going to be another aerial opponent and a nightmare to hit.

"I've hidden you and the royal twat from the remaining pegasus, so enjoy your battle uninterrupted!" Trixie giggled.

I chased after the alicorn while firing multiple spells at him, which he dodged and proceeded to mock. If snark was a skill, he'd have it maxed out. When his horn shone brightly, I expected more of the lasers, but instead, a floating golden sword of brilliant light appeared nearby and slashed at me. Someone triggered [Tranquil Flow], and I glided out of its slicing arc.

"Spectacular! Such grace!" He swooned.

Shuddering under his lustful gaze, I swapped to a barrage of twelve spells in retaliation; his eyes went wide as he suddenly had to try to dodge a hail of ice. Another shield of light formed, blocking some of the ice shards, but I finally managed to deal some damage to him. He seemed shocked at his own frailty, as the glancing blow should not have inflicted such a wound.

I expected him to be angry, but he swooned even harder, "Masterful! Looks like my eyes were right to see such a hidden gem."

A soft glowing light enveloped him, and I saw his wounds slowly closing up.

"Shit. He has healing magic..." I grumbled.

Another sword of light appeared from behind and slashed at me, but thankfully, I could sense the mana forming and knew it was coming.

"Feels unfair that his light sword is so much better than my ice sword..."

"What are you talking about?" Trixie replied, "You could do the exact same thing with your ice weapons... Don't tell me you thought you had to actually swing them with hands?"

"...Yes?" I answered, firing more spells at the alicorn while continuing to avoid his light blade.

"It's not even hard. I bet you could do it right now if this royal idiot can do it." Trixie pressed.

That really got under my skin; while I didn't consider myself a master of magic, this prancing, stuck-up alicorn being able to outdo me just wasn't acceptable.

Perhaps sensing my bubbling anger, Trixie gave an explanation. "Just form the spell and hold it; you should be able to mentally swing it. If it helps, picture using [Arcane Hand] without actually using it."

I followed her advice, and when the sword came down at me, I cast [Create: Ice Shield] and successfully blocked it. The alicorn prince once again swooned like a horny teenager.

"Marvelous. Breathtaking. Spectacular! I simply must have you!"

I cringed and quickly dodged a second golden sword, which apparated from the opposite side of the original, forcing me to block one while avoiding the other.

"Okay, so I can do that, but mine have a limited range compared to his."

"Yes? Just move the anchor point or recast the spell if that's too hard for you? " Trixie answered, sounding dumbfounded.

"Anchor point?"

"Okay. Who was your magic teacher? I'm going to have to seriously give them a piece of my mind." Trixie huffed. "You're creating custom spells, are on the verge of having two affinities of magic at level five, and yet you don't know what an anchor point is!?"

"Look. I'm mostly self-taught, and the one teacher I had believed everything could be resolved with a good [Fireball] spell." I answered while forced to form a second ice shield to block the now faster-moving swords.

"Of course, it was a bloody Pyromancer!" Trixie exclaimed. "This explains so much..."

I tried to approach the alicorn, but he was more than happy to keep fleeing while slashing at me with his swords. Occasionally throwing out a blinding flash of light in hopes of tripping me up, but [Mana Conception] was more than enough to still see the magical blade trajectories. I caught him with another spell barrage, but he smirked and healed himself again.

"Well, there's no way I can explain anchor points to you mid-battle." Trixie sighed, "How about you submit, then give him a show." Trixie's gleeful delight bled through the telepathic link.

Mentally, I sighed in resignation, but outwardly, I pressed hard on my [Acting] skill. I briefly considered if adding elven ears to my pegasus would be enough for me to borrow [Elven Glamour], but I decided to not risk it. When his blades clashed against my ice shields, I let go of the spells completely so they shattered and allowed the blades to cut into my flank. Alpha, still following my prior orders, made the wounds look realistic despite not causing any genuine damage.

"Your majesty! I'm no match for you... I submit." I declared, hoping my performance was enough. I worried I was hamming it up too much, but [Acting] seemed to feel like this was the right choice.

"Yes!" The alicorn responded, his voice dripping in arrogance and glee. The hunger in his eyes made me want no part of this, but Trixie kept egging me on to continue.

The alicorn smugly approached, and I showed no outward hostility or movement. His lip curled up as he showed his teeth and dramatically flicked his mane in the wind.

"Let me heal you, my broodmare, then get you cleaned up, and we can proceed to our castle." He replied and nuzzled against my neck. Holding back the urge to vomit, he cast a healing spell, and Alpha faked the wounds closing up.

"Do it!" Trixie ordered.

I positioned myself closer to him, placing my head on his torso, which seemed to delight him. Then, I triggered my shapeshifting. The ugliest creature I could imagine was the orc, so I made the largest and nastiest orc I could recall. My head was shifted into an arm, which grabbed onto the prince, not allowing him to leave.

"Wh-what!?" He stammered out in confusion.

My body rapidly rippled and transfigured; I ensured the orcish face was right up close and personal. Perhaps I still had [Acting] on, as I instinctually gave a nasty grin of rotten tusks.

"Hey, handsome," I replied out loud, trying to do my best orcish guttural imitation.

The alicorn prince screamed in shrill and pure terror, yet that was still outdone by the sheer volume of laughter that erupted from the pixie.

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