WorldSerpent:
Sorry for the lateness, :( my family came over from NY and is staying by us for a few weeks and I've had no time to write whatsoever as my cousins never allow me to sit by a PC for longer than a hour, so I had to write piece by piece. I've been drunk for about 3 days, I'm not really sure about the quality of today's chapter as I've been disturbed too many times but LengZai asked for an update as well as a few others that I couldn't ignore, so if you have concerns please voice them in my inbox or comment. Teehee-- If you enjoyed the chapter make sure to comment! and If you didn't, take a number and join the line! LOL
Inside the Church of Fire Cathedral located at the City of Auguste, three people are currently standing amongst themselves. One old man, a young hooded woman and of course Lucius Stormblade.
****
"This ring? Is none of your business, I'm here to speak with Astriel Firesong" Lucius spoke coldly to the old man.
"How dare you speak to me Salran Phoenix an Elder Priest in such a tone!! Have you no manners?!" The old-man retorted in fury, his eyes filled with anger as his fists curled into a ball and trembled.
"Phoenix? So you are related to that trash Fuhrer then I suppose?"
"THRASH??! BOY DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"
As the old man flared up he looked at the glowing light on Lucius' forehead and realized who he was. He had been taken by the ring and only now had he focused.
"Wait....your that draconian that killed my son Sauros..aren't you?"
The second Lucius heard the old man's name, he instantly knew who he was and made up his mind. He was going to infuriate this old man as he found out the old man was the father of Former Fuhrer. Lucius knew this old man was his enemy and the one thing Lucius and the Fuhrer had in common was their need to root out enemies.
Lucius ignored the man and asked the hooded young woman.
"Excuse me Miss, can you tell me where I can find the High Priest Astriel?" Lucius ignored the man completely and continued his exchange with the front door attendant.
"U-Uh um well, I don't know if she's willing to see anyone right now--she's been locked away in the deepest part of the church meditating"
The hooded young priest was quite nervous and refused to meet Lucius' gaze, she was clearly lying. However he could also sense the pressure being poured on her by the old man Salran. Lucius felt something was definitely wrong here.
'Why is the High Priest missing but this old man in her place? Why is the young woman lying? Could it be Astriel is being suppressed by this old man? Certainly I remember being told by Auriel that the Fuhrer had bad blood with the Church...This old man,he was planted here to suppress the church!'
Lucius thought to himself as he stole glances at the old man from the corner of his eyes.
However within the old man's mind he was under his own hypnosis as he had never been treated in such a rude manner, not only that but the person he wanted to kill the most had appeared before him and he was utterly unable to control himself.
'How dare he ignore me! and he even dared call my son thrash...there are no dragons around boy! If I kill you here no one will know! I'll make sure and take care of this woman as well...I can't have any witnesses'
The old man became furious as he allowed the thoughts to consume him and couldn't stand being ignored by Lucius any longer.
"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!!" He approached Lucius and stood directly in front of him, his eyes as if a fire was set ablaze as he stared down at Lucius.
"Say It again...I dare you to disrespect me an Elder Priest of the Fire Church once more"
Regardless whether Lucius would continue to taunt this man or not it did not matter, he could feel the man's blood-thirst and he was clearly ready to make a move on Lucius.
"Ah Lady Firesong, I was just looking to have a talk with you"
Lucius said as he stared beyond the two people in front of him towards the altar.
The two of which had a surprised look as well as a bit of fear in their eyes as Lucius called out to the High Priest. He did not miss those troubled expressions.
'As I thought something is wrong here' Lucius understood what he should do.
The two surprised priest turned around to see the if the High Priest was there....but there was no one there!
**WHOOSH**
Instantly a black trident covered in blue colored lightning went straight through the old man's back and it's triple edges protruded through the front of his chest and showed itself to the old man! It pulsed and a blue energy entered his wounds!
**VRRR**
"AHHH!!!"
He turned around in disbelief and agony, seeing his pained face Lucius gave him a cold smirk and launched it a second time!
**WHOOSH**
"AHHH!!!"
The man yelled out in pain as the black trident that was now covered in a faint red colored lightning this time and lodged itself in his right shoulder area. He was completely and successfully penetrating through and through. Old man Salran however had moved his body just in the nick of time so that the three edges avoided it's intended target , his heart.
**VVVRRRR**
As the trident pierced him, it let out a pulse of red energy similar to the first one that completely entered the old man's body and quietly remained there.
"Y-You!! HOW DARE YOU!!"
The old man gathered a fireball in his left palm in a swift motion and shot it at Lucius at a blinding speed. Compared to the Fuhrer's, this quickly made fireball was at least 10 times faster and it had no less power than a fully charged one of the Fuhrers.
**SSSS**
**BANG**
With a swift lean to the side the fireball flew past Lucius, destroyed the furniture within the church and destroyed the main door!
This man was clearly more powerful than the Fuhrer, Lucius was certain the old man had not trained in the way of Martial Arts and spent all of his time focusing on his Magical Arts. At the range he was standing at Lucius could easily dominate him with his 10th Rank Warrior Strength and Speed, not to mention his frightening prowess with a spear. His spear style "Instinction" was beyond the master level as he had trained with a spear for a few hundred years, his body cultivated to a form of extreme elasticity and power. His reaction time was beyond anything the old man had ever seen.
Since Lucius had gotten two attacks on the old man Salran, his divine power was routed towards his injuries and his speed had been heavily impaired.
The trident turned into a mana imbued spear which seemed to pierce the air and went straight at the old man once more! This time it was incomparably faster than the trident by leaps and bounds!
However it caught only air as the old man flew into the air and away from Lucius, successfully making a clean escape. He then began charging a powerful fireball much different from the one before, this one was white in color and it seemed to devour the air around it as it blazed gently.
Suddenly--
**BZZZTTT**
A Black Scale-like armor emerged from Lucius and with it, thorns appeared on it's shoulders, knees, elbows and along his spine. The thorns began charging with a deep red light that sparked uncontrollably and grew in power. The two was ready to fight to the death!
'It's time!'
Instantly a cold light flashed through Lucius' eyes
**SSSS**
The fireball having gathered great power was just about to launch, when it started gaining a bit of a blue color, the old man Salran seemed surprised as he stared at his hand. He knew all too well the color of this fire magic and it by no means had the color blue. Soul Fire was a white color with a tiny hint of red, he knew right then and there that it was an abnormality. However, It was much too late.
**FSHH**
From Lucius' Armor, two red colored thorns from his shoulder shot out and went directly towards the fireball in Salran's hand and embedded themselves! Old man Salran had tried to move his hand, but the gleaming thorns had followed him completely!
"AHHH!!!"
**BOOM**
They exploded as the blue color matched the red colors intensity, creating even more turmoil for the old man as he screamed! His left hand was completely blown away!
"AHHHH!!!!"
Lucius had stored two different kinds of energies inside of the old man in his first two initial attacks! He dealt severe damage to the old man so that the Divine power would be routed towards his external injuries rather than finding the two types of lightning inside of his body.
One was Positive Lightning Energy and the other was Negative Lightning Energy! He set them at two different frequencies so that they would not attract one another. However this could only work so long as he had used the Positive Lightning Energy stored within the old man first as it would become noticeable as it grew. The old man Salran choosing to cast his fireball at this particular time was his own pure bad luck, as he drew out the Positive Lightning Energy that fed off of his mana.
The old man Salran could not filter it from his body as his divine power was solely routed to healing his current physical injuries. Lucius' Dragon spear Black Star pierced his flesh like butter and had dealt him incredible damage!
That was not all, As the fireball became unstable and lost it's balance it fell to the floor and exploded right at the old man's feet! Resulting in a cry of utter agony!
"AHHHHHHH!!!"
Lucius knew how powerful this old man was the second he brought out that white flame and dared not hide his tricks. The Fuhrer had used Soul Flame as a last resort and this old man wielded it freely, he was truly much too dangerous to leave alive. Lucius had understood the only way to kill this man would have been to take him by an ambush, if he had fought him openly he surely would have died.
****
The old man emerged from the flames, his right shoulder was healed as well as the chest that had pierced in the surprise attack, however his feet had been badly damaged! The Divine power in his body had no time to rest as it started repairing his burns. The power of Soul Flame was indeed powerful, it even burned it's own wielder. Lucius understood that it also required a high level of control and concentration as the thorns had completely proved that fact when it disrupted him.
He stared at Lucius in fury and deep hatred even a hint of insanity could be seen. He begun gathering an astonishing amount of mana within his palm! It turned into a tiny white flame that devoured the air and grew rapidly in power, it began pulsing with a white light! Lucius knew this particular technique, It was the Deity level technique Rain of Fire. However this time it was made from Soul Flame and was incomparably more powerful than the one the Fuhrer had used.
The old man had lost his senses as he had been thoroughly disgraced and his life was in jeopardy by someone who wasn't even a Deity, his teeth ground and his eyes showed extreme animosity as it curled up into a sinister smile. This amount of power he began to display was proof he had surpassed the level of a Deity. He however would cause great catastrophe to the city if he used such a technique!
Suddenly--
**BZZZZTTT**
Lucius' Black War Armor shot out 6 thorns, this time they were charged in blue colored Positive Lightning Energy from it's body except the one on his forehead, two from his elbows, knees and shoulders. The six thorns that were charged in a powerful blue light landed in a complete circle around the old man creating a surprised reaction!
The old man then felt an energy surge within him as it spread itself evenly throughout his body! Fear! Complete fear! There was yet another anomaly within his body he had neglected simply because he did not know! His divine power had been routed the entire time and was unable to check the status of his own body.
This energy was without a doubt, the Red Negative Lightning Energy that Lucius had stored on his second attack! It started to spread itself evenly within the old man's body and he had yet to understand what was the point of it, but he had a feeling it was something extremely terrifying!
Suddenly--
**BZZZZTT**
The old man could feel his body being drawn in 6 different directions which resulted in him being pinned down by an unimaginable force!! Out of fear he retracted the power of the Rain of Fire in order not to make the same mistake twice.
This was the complete opposite way for Lucius to use his Insight on both Negative and Positive Lightning Energy! The old man could not use his Divine Power and he was helpless against this extreme force! Had he been trained in Martial Arts like his son he may have been able to purge it from his system, however Lucius could tell this man spent his entire time focusing on his Magical Arts.
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In an instant Lucius appeared before the man, a cold gleam in his eyes--
**BZZZTT**
A powerful light blue energy surged throughout his armor as his golden aura changed to red! He had released the Natural Lightning Energy that was stored when he was feeding Veranathrax in his egg form in the Lightning Spirit World.
The spear in his hand begun to gleam in a bright azure color as the Natural Lightning Energy wrapped and imbued itself within the spear along with Lucius' mana, the spear turned into a glaive as a high pitch charging sound filled the air!
**VRRR**
The glaive shuddered as it came down at the old man at a blinding speed filled with a thunderous fury!
However the old man Salran had already routed a bit of his divine power by that time and completely freed his both arms! He raised them just in time holding his spear imbued with a frightening amount of mana--
"THUNDER STRIKE!!!"
**BANG**
**CLINK**
The mana imbued staff violently convulsed and then broke but it had successfully repelled this powerful attack however--
**WHOOSH**
**WHOOSH**
Two Violet blurs went piercing at old man Salran's chest! It was indeed the Double blades that came from Lucius' shoulders. The two dragon tooth blades covered in a purple light embedded themselves in both of the Old'mans shoulders! He had been completely taken by surprise! How could he have expected two blades to come out from nowhere and attack him? Ever since he has been fighting Lucius he has encountered things he had never dreamed about in his wildest dreams.
First spikes that seem to follow his will, Spikes that completely lock on their target, Spikes that immobilize him, A spear that could change forms, Two blades that needed no control. He felt like he was fighting an assassin with the greatest killing tools, not to mention the quality of these tools were beyond anything he had ever seen, it was powerful enough to shatter his Vulcanic staff he was proud of and pierce his mana imbued body easily.
Mage bodies were by no means weak, as their breakthroughs gave them a sort of toughness and increased their vitality, however in the face of these attacks and SSS class weapons and armor he may as well be considered naked.
Lucius' glaive had already retracted into a spear and went piercing towards the old man's heart! Unable to accept the outcome the old man made a choice! A choice which would deprive him of respect yet he did not care!
'Fly!'
This was his choice!
'No matter how powerful in combat he may be! He's still not a Deity and is unable to fly! He only won against my son because he used underhanded means and prepared before hand with a cloud I was told. Apparently that cloud was a huge game-changer which made my son unable to fly! but now he doesn't have it!'
**BANG**
The old man in a swift motion blasted the ground in front of him with a quick fire ball which made Lucius retreat swiftly from his attack, Lucius reflexes allowed him to pull back enough that it only sizzled his armor a tiny bit.
When the dust cleared, Lucius saw the old man hovering near the roof and he was just about to break it through with a fireball that was being charged in his hand--
Instantly Lucius stance changed and a cold light flickered in his eyes.
'Trying to run? Impossible'
Lucius did not want to give this old man time to figure out his abilities, he wanted to use his advantage and bring an end to him before it became dangerous.
Lucius held his spear in a throwing manner, He leaned back and his arm slowly moved back like an archer nocking a bow. The muscles in his legs exploded and contracted, as it moved towards his loins, his stomach and then his shoulders. The sounds of exploding muscles could be heard if one was close enough. The power of this 10th Grade Warrior was much different than when he was an 8th Grade warrior. He could feel the disastrous pure raw strength building and using his body control he was able to bring out 90% of his max capacity with this throw!
As if it weren't enough a dark purple light condensed and enveloped the spear. The spear began to rotate furiously, with a loud roar Lucius aimed to throw the powerful spear and in the blink of an eye it crossed the room towards the old man.
"Heavenly Star!!"
**BANG**
Shortly after the spear left his hand a loud thunderous sound emitted as the spear flew across like a thunderbolt and broke the sound barrier!
The old man Salran upon feeling the change in the atmosphere quickly turned around, as he noticed the bright flash of purple light he could only stare helplessly as it's speed was simply too astonishing and unbelievable. Lucius' strength as a 10th Grade Warrior, his magnetic force Lightning ability as well as adding the rotating ability and sheer driving force from the lightning made it break the sound barrier and cleanly pierce the air! It was as if a drill had been placed at the end of a spear!
**SPLOSH**
"AHHH!!!"
It had went through and through the old man's chest as if it were a needle through paper! The look of helplessness in his eyes changed to lifelessness as the body fell from the sky and had not uttered a single word more. It had surely caused the old man immense damage, however he had been fortunate enough to predict it's trajectory and shift himself to receive the blow closer towards his shoulder area.
Not allowing the old man time to breathe Lucius appeared right after it pierced him, a purple lightning energy then covered Lucius' entire armor, in an instant he flew behind the old man who was currently falling from the sky near the roof!
**VRRRR**
The old man at first sensed the change in the atmosphere, followed by the intense whirring sound that broke him out of his concentration. As he opened his eyes what he saw before him was Lucius! He was flying! However, he did not have the time to be surprised as a glaive emitting a high pitched sound and a cold gleam swung at his temple in a diagonal manner. However after receiving the previous blow the old man could only be resigned to his fate, he stared at Lucius with a dreadful gaze and told him.
"Both of us will die here, maybe the city will perish as well, but as long as I kill you I have no problem"
Instantly the old man begun to glow as his body charged mana at an alarming rate, Lucius understood this man was about to cast a large scale spell that would most likely destroy his own body as well as parts of the city as they were directly at the heart of it.
A smile then crept upon Lucius' face as he stared at the old man.
"Suicide? Not at all"
A white orb appeared in Lucius' hand and it whirred and pulsed intensely, He slammed the orb into the body of the old man which in turn created a shield of white light that paused the surroundings.
**VORPP**
Salran had been completely dumbfounded! One of his Aces had been blocked! The time around him froze and he was unable to change his facial expression, however his eyes told what he wanted to say.
'How?'
The old man was incredibly weaker than Veranathus and so the Time Magic easily kept the old man in for a few seconds which Lucius took advantage of. His mana imbued spear went piercing at the old man's heart as his double curved blades targeted his neck and head.
The cold gleam from the spear and the two curved blades filled with killing intent made Salran feel a sense of fear as all he could do is watch helplessly as the three blades locked him into position and he was unable to move.
**SPLOSH**
The body which had been penetrated in three critical points had come to a complete halt and the old man's body lay lifeless on the floor before Lucius.
'What a disgusting spear style, Never before have I seen something so relentless and obsessed with killing, every attack was aimed at my vitals. If this boy wasn't weaker than me, no doubt it would have killed me in his first initial attacks'
Were his last thoughts on the matter as his body fell to the ground, blood trickling out of his mouth. His face unrecognizable with a huge gaping hole, as well as his head had been cut halfway off.
However, Lucius did not rejoice. Something was wrong, everyone shows at least a tiny bit of fear before they die it was natural and yet he found this old man was too calm!
Suddenly--
**SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**
"IF I DIE!! YOU DIE TOO!! DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY!!"
The sinister voice filled with fury as well as a hint of insanity pierced the air!
Suddenly the old man's body which had surely died convulsed on the ground, it began to thrash around violently and emitted a pure white light which emerged from his body and leaked through it's mana pores.
"SOUL FLAME MANIFESTATION!!!!"
The voice wrung out and alerted the entire city of the fight if it had not already been by now.
Suddenly a flaming transparent version of old man Salran appeared directly above his corpse! The old man was burning a pure white fire and as he stood before Lucius, the place had begun melting and set aflame! Lucius for the first time felt a sense of fear as he could not feel life from the man. He was not alive and yet he appeared in front of Lucius in what he believed to be a soul form.
Lucius did not try to hide his surprise as he was truly taken a bit shaken. What was more terrifying than an enemy that refused to die?
"Surprised? Yes I guess you would be...did you think my family name Phoenix is for show? I can kill you in this form and stimulate the divine power in my dead body to heal itself. I can be reborn completely, you however will die here."
The old man looked amused as he brought up this fact to Lucius, who could tell he was not lying.
"This is my ultimate attack, Unless you can attack a soul your attacks will be useless boy! NOW DIE!"
The old man charged toward Lucius with a burning palm outward, Lucius knew that no matter what he could not be touched by him!
**BANG**
With a thunderous step Lucius leaped away in an instant but the old man was much faster in his soul form! In an instant he caught up to Lucius and his hand launched towards Lucius' face! Lucius could feel it burning his face and it hadn't even touched him yet! Just as old man Salran's palm was about to grab onto his face--
**CRUNCH**
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A Black Dragon head had protruded from Lucius' chest and took a clear bite out of the Soul Form Salran's hand which made him scream out in agony. As his current form was that of a representation of his soul, naturally the pain was much greater than physical damage! It felt as if part of his soul was broken!
The Black Dragon head looked at him indifferently while chewing, a hint of greed in it's eyes.
"Oh?...This is actually quite good compared to the other ashy guy, Are you alive or not? Well Whatever not that it matters...Big brother can I eat it?"
The actions of the Black Dragon had stumped both Lucius and the old man! He casually ate the flaming soul!
"Well...sure.."
Instantly the young black dragon came out of Lucius's chest area and flew towards the Soul formed Salran, in his new form Veranathrax was much more powerful in all aspects. The old man upon realizing that the dragon was a Spirit immediately tried to stop him.
This dragon had brought fear in his heart, usually Spirits could only absorb minor souls. However, because this Spirit was a Dragon Variant with God-class potential it could naturally absorb much higher rank souls. In his current form, no matter how strong the old man was by the laws of nature he was nothing more than simple prey. He hurriedly tried to dissuade him--
"Y-You! You can't eat me!!! I'm a soul, Spirits are forbidden to eat souls by their King!! You will suffer for this!!"
"What? Is that all you wanted to say? Big brother is married to her, I won't feel any backlash for absorbing you..In fact I might be praised. Did you not see the ring on his finger? Don't tell me you don't understand what it means. No matter how many souls I absorb, I won't have to care! Besides you shouldn't speak so much when you're so yummy, you're wasting precious energy"
As the Black Dragon spoke to him he had not stopped moving towards the old man. Veranathrax's lips curved upward into a smile as noticeable drool came out the side of his lips as he stared at the old man with a hungry expression. The old man had been stifled by fear and only now did he feel as if the situation was completely out of his hands, he made a choice almost instantly--
'Flee!'
He instantly turned around and sped towards the opposite direction of the two! He did not stop and turn around, if he did he would have noticed the dragon was already upon him.
**CRUNCH** **CRUNCH** **CRUNCH**
That was the end of Salran Phoenix.