Chapter 160 Comba
(Long chapter)
Three black orbs of energy rocketed into existence, floating right above Dorian's right arm. At the same time, Dorian focused his mind not only on controlling the charging orbs, but also on manipulating the power of Law.
His Law of Valor strengthened his physique while his Law of Greed helped ease the burden his soul faced when manipulating so much energy. The burden placed on his Balance Demon form was greatly eased. The insight he would gain from practice like this would normally be little, but in real combat, Dorian didn't care a whit about that.
'Wrath! Mercy! Imbue into the orbs!' Dorian opted to not imbue Dragonfire into the Hyperion Beams.
Doing so many things at once was already stretching the limits of his concentration. His Balance Demon was just barely able to handle it.
At the same time that he was charging these attacks, the injuries he'd suffered to his arm began to passively heal at a slow rate. The passive Body of Balance Ability that his Balance Demon form possessed spread out the damage he took, meaning it would take quite a bit to heavily injure him.
However, the attack that the grey figure had launched was one that left remnants of some corrosive Law, one that tried to melt through his flesh. It was painful, even with everything he had fighting against it.
"Ohohoho! Are you going to throw something at me? I can sense the energy gathering in those orbs."
The man in grey spoke, his voice cool and relaxed as he finished batting out the Black Flames that had landed on his body. However, he didn't vanish this time and remained fully in Dorian's sight.
He looked very close to that of a nondescript, normal human. He had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, short hair, and was wearing a plain set of grey clothes. Everything about him seemed normal. Forgettable. Nothing special whatsoever.
'But he isn't a human. He is a Grey Mantor.' Dorian kept his eyes on the Anomaly as he handled his Abilities and Laws with skill.
'Ausra, what is a Grey Mantor?'
'Grey Mantors are an extinct type of Humanoid creature, distinctly related to the Shadoir and Ancestral Vampires of old. The Grey Mantor Bloodline is very powerful, a natural Lord Class being that has an innate connection to the Law of Corruption.' Ausra's voice echoed cooly in Dorian's head.
'Partially due to that, Grey Mantor young will find it extremely hard to survive, killed by their own blood while at a young age. Only when raised carefully and protectively, or if born a supreme genius, could a Grey Mantor survive to adulthood.' She continued,
'They possess a unique Ability known as Absolute Fade. No other being in existence holds this Ability. This Ability allows the Grey Mantor to 'Fade' away from reality completely, escaping from Fate itself. This 'Fading' comes with a price, however. While 'Faded,' a Grey Mantor's view of time and reality is distorted. Using one's senses, either physically or with one's soul, to sense one's surroundings while Faded is impossible.
'While it is possible to move, it is essentially impossible to recognize where one is moving in respect to the 30,000 Worlds. Grey Mantor's would typically reveal themselves for a brief moment as they marked their target with something they can sense innately, using that to track and attack while Faded.' Her voice echoed with finality as Ausra finished speaking.
'Reveal themselves to track me…' Dorian's eyes widened. That must be why he could sense the Grey Mantor, for a split second! In fact, he hadn't even physically detected the Grey Mantor at all. It was only the innate connection he had with all Anomalies that clued him in to its presence.
It also must be why he couldn't affect the Grey Mantor by using his will to twist Fate. It seemed Fate itself was unable to detect the presence of the Grey Mantor! A quite unique Ability that would be well suited to avoiding Fate Wizards, though movement while Faded sounded like it could be difficult.
"What do you want?! Why are you attacking me?" Dorian said out loud angrily, glaring at the Grey Mantor. A Valorous Aura burst around him as he drew upon the Law of Valor, reinforcing his defense.
"We're both Anomalies, what reason is there for us to fight?" He tried to reason with it.
"Hahaha, you make a good point. I don't have any personal vendetta against you." The other Anomaly began, nodding his head. He spoke in a lazy, relaxed manner.
"Yes, isn't his point good? After all, I was only asked to investigate." The Anomaly seemed to be talking to himself instead of to Dorian, as if he was carrying on a full conversation.
"My name is Fifteen and I am ranked 15th among our kind, brother. What number are you?" All of a sudden, the Anomaly seemed to zero in on Dorian, it's lackadaisical nature seeming to vanish. A dark Aura seemed to swarm around him, one that felt both dangerous and corrupt.
As Dorian looked at the Anomaly named Fifteen, he realized that the being was presenting a very real threat. In terms of energy, Dorian was tired from several hours of continuous practice. While he hadn't expended all of his strength, he had just over half of his energy remaining.
He needed to present an outwardly confident visage.
"Hmph. Numbers are meaningless. Power is the only thing that matters." Dorian's voice was gruff as he glared at Fifteen, his eyes cool.
"Hahaha, ohh, you aren't wrong!"
"Who cares about our numbers? We are all members of the Flock, right?"
"I suppose I do care, given that I took the name Fifteen."
"At least I didn't call myself Zero while really being born 2nd."
"Valid point, valid point."
Fifteen let out a flurry of conversation, rapid-fire as he spoke, line after line back and forth. It was unsettling and incredibly odd. The Anomaly clearly appeared to be mentally unstable.
"But…" Fifteen's eyes turned focused again as he zeroed in on Dorian.
"Why am I attacking you..?" He shrugged,
"Because I can."
WHOOSH
The Anomaly's body blurred as it, abruptly, transformed. Its body stretched and grew giant, completely warping into that of a towering, 30 meter tall demonic being. It was gargantuan, covered in huge muscles and green scales. The air around it pulsed with a Demonic Aura, giving it a terrifying appearance.
It also seemed oddly familiar to Dorian, the Aura it gave off reminding him of his Lesser Throne Demon form.
'Ausra, what is it now?!' He sputtered, in the split second before the Anomaly attacked.
'It has transformed into a Greater Throne Demon, a Lord Class Demonic Bloodline with an innate connection to the Law of Life. It does not appear to be utilizing that connection, however.'
"I'M A FAAAN OF THE DEMONIC RUIIIINSSSS!" Fifteen launched itself forward with a loud yell and charge, eschewing hiding to attack directly.
WHOOSH
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
In the instant that it moved, Dorian launched the three Hyperion beams he had been charging.
Immediately, the three lasers of black energy, imbued with the power of Law, shot towards the huge towering target.
Three explosions rang out as the Hyperion Beams landed.
All three missed.
'What?!' At the moment that he fired the shots, Dorian was immediately aware that they wouldn't land. The attacks were powerful, and Dorian's practice of the past several hours had made him capable of firing them in a general direction.
But as he shot them off, Dorian felt all three seem to coincidentally fire in a manner slightly off, a contrivance of Fate.
'Dammit! It's an Anomaly like me, its soul is twisting Fate, either intentionally or not.' He swore as he realized this. He would need to be perfectly on target to make the attacks land!
THUD
The Anomaly touched down right in front of Dorian, slamming one of its enormous fists right at his head.
'Fine, let's play this way.' Dorian thought, his eyes cold as he saw the attack mounting down on him.
'Perfect Body, activate.'
'Black Scaled Rage Dragon, transform!'
BOOOOOOOOM
A massive explosion shook the air as the Greater Throne Demon slammed its right fist into the chest of a towering, Black Scaled Rage Dragon. The Valorous Aura that covered the Dragon shook with electrical energy, combining with the Mystic Armored Body Ability to shield it from the impact. The energy from the Law of Corruption that the Anomaly wielded was unable to penetrate Dorian's defenses.
However, the force of the attack, as a whole, threatened to blast Dorian away. The sheer strength of the Anomaly was extraordinary, especially in its current form. It was very clear that it was physically stronger than him, even with his Perfect Body Ability, Mystic Armored Body, passive Great Strength and various other Abilities active. Dorian dug his back claws into the ground to force himself still.
'BLACK FLAMES!'
WHOOSH
"Arrrrgh, that again!" The Greater Throne Demon was knocked backwards as it was covered in black fire, searing its skin.
The huge, towering demon abruptly transformed again, this time becoming a small, fluttering bird that Ausra defined as a Sky Edge Eagle. The body of the bird was only a few meters wide, allowing it to dodge the Black Flames that had been burning the much larger demon. Its body blurred as it flew backwards at an incredible speed, slipping through gaps in the fire.
A split second later, the Anomaly returned to the appearance of a Grey Mantor. It dusted itself off, looking at Dorian with a look of appreciation.
"You aren't even fazed at all? You're a tough one, huh."
Dorian stared back at the Anomaly, his Black Scaled Rage Dragon bristling with power.
WHOOSH
He transformed back into his Balance Demon form, his eyes cool. Behind that coolness, however, a huge layer of shock existed.
'How did he keep his clothes so smooth and undamaged without storing them while changing forms?! I need to talk to his tailor.' Dorian glared at the other Anomaly, unable to make heads or tails of it. The grey clothes the Anomaly wore in his Grey Mantor form seemed to just magically appear as he transformed. When he switched into a huge form, Dorian had to store his clothes, even the Magic ones that could shapeshift, or else he'd tear them.
Dorian tossed the stray thought aside, however, as he focused on what the Anomaly said next, while also checking his status.
–
Dorian – Soul Status
Soul Stage: Lord Class (Pseudo-King)
Health: Good
Energy: 61,195/170,602
–
'My energy is taking a hit…' Dorian's eyes were cool as he took a step forward, his fists clenched.
"Hey, hey, hey! Hold on a moment." Fifteen held up his hands, shaking his head.
"I think you were right, friendo. There is no point in us fighting. It's clear I won't be able to best you in direct combat, so why should we waste our time pointlessly?"
Dorian glanced one last time at the grey figure. The sincerity in the man's voice seemed genuine and unfeigned, if still slightly insane.
It was also true that Dorian appeared to have the upper hand. That was mostly because he was expending his energy at a fast pace that would only last a brief time, but the other Anomaly didn't know that. The front Dorian was putting up was one of supreme confidence and strength, after all.
Especially his Perfect Body and Mystic Armored Body Abilities. It made his draconic form more than strong enough to trade blows and come off apparently unscathed from the other Anomaly's attack. That seemed to have left a big impression.
"Very well." He nodded. Many of the Anomalies he had met had ended up becoming allies or at least something that he wouldn't quite consider an enemy. Despite the fact that the man in grey had tried to kill him, Dorian was willing to overlook it as a misunderstanding and let them go their separate ways.
There was no reason to fight to the death over this and risk injury or anything that might make getting Helena healed more risky, even if the Abilities the Anomaly had were extremely interesting to Dorian.
"Yes, yes. It was clearly my fault to attack you." Fifteen began, nodding his head sharply as he took a few steps forward.
"As a member of the Demonic Council, my desires got the best of me! It has been a long time since I've been able to walk and fight freely."
"I was betrayed a while ago, you see, by one of our own." The Anomaly's voice switched in tone and pitch twice as he talked, looking at Dorian sadly. It stopped about a dozen meters in front of Dorian where it stood passively.
'Huh. It's talking a lot? It's not moving forward to attack, it's just talking.' Dorian stared back with his arms crossed, not allowing the confusion he felt to manifest. As the Anomaly rambled on, Dorian felt vaguely unsettled.
He did not lower his guard. He would not be so foolish as to believe its offer of a truce, not for a being he had just met that had also just attacked him.
'I feel like it's going to attack me from behind.' Dorian's instincts fired as he looked at the Anomaly.
'I feel like it's distracting me so it can attack me from behind… But how? It's just standing there.' Dorian thought, unable to make heads or tails of it.
The unsettling feeling grew as he became more and more confident. The rambling of the Anomaly had set him off, as had his own experience in the 30,000 Worlds. He was no longer the new pup that was learning his way in this world.
"Hup!" Dorian didn't wait to find out. Instead, he stamped his feet on the ground, once more unleashing Black Flames that covered his body. The attack spread out, covering an area roughly the size of five meters.
In the instant that he did this, the image of the Anomaly in front of him dissipated into the air. At the same time, another figure materialized, just a couple of meters away from Dorian. A second Demonic looking being covered in bright white scales with red streaked patterns on them. This figure was launching forward a fist, punching through Dorian's Black Flames.
'It has donned the form of a White Illusion Demon.' Ausra helpfully informed him.
"Not today." Dorian smiled a smile that failed to reach his eyes as he sidestepped the fist, his powerful reaction speed giving him an edge, and clamped down on the Demonic figure's arm.
"You-" Fifteen sputtered. Before he could say anything else, however, Dorian clenched down with his fist.
CRUNCH
"Arrrrrgh!" Dark, corrupting energy flowed over Dorian as the man screamed, slamming into Dorian's powered up physique and Mystic Armored Body, shearing through it. The pain was unbearable and incredibly damaging. If he held on for even a second longer, he would sustain permanent injuries.
With an almost casual throw, Dorian tossed the body of the Anomaly away from him, sending it soaring through the air. He played it off as if he had felt no pain, as if he wasn't the slightest bit injured from the attack. The black energy seemed to be related to the Law of Corruption, some sort of last-ditch self-defense mechanic in response to Dorian's attack.
THUD
The body of the Anomaly landed down hard, roughly 15 meters away, inside one of the craters formed by Dorian's Hyperion Beam practice.
Fifteen jumped up from the crater, cradling his right arm.
"You… hahaha… you're good, yes you are…" The Anomaly spat, his entire body trembling. Black blood leaked from his mangled right arm, the bones in it well and truly shattered. Dorian had imbued the Law of Wrath and the Law of Mercy into that blow, going all out. He would've been surprised if the Anomaly hadn't taken a serious injury.
"You shouldn't let your guard down just because you are sneak attacking." Dorian's words were full of authority and power, ringing in the air.
Fifteen's Aura wavered, but was still as oppressive and powerful as before. Despite his wounds, he was still a dangerous threat. He was full of energy, far more than Dorian's maximum amount currently. Fifteen was, after all, in the Middle of King Class.
And to Dorian, who was nearly out of energy and hurting, going up against Fifteen in his current state would be suicide.
He still had one last trump card. The Absorption Spell that was imprinted on his Soul Spell Matrix. While he had no idea how it worked, he could tell that the Spell would allow him to easily Absorb anything under Pseudo-Angelic, in his current state.
The Spell and his soul wouldn't be able to handle anything stronger.
But he didn't think he would need to use that. Instead…
He smiled.
Dorian had gone through a lot in the 30,000 Worlds. In that time, he'd learned one powerful lesson.
Sometimes one didn't need to be strong to win a battle.
Merely having the appearance of strength was more than enough.
Dorian blinked slowly. He didn't speak or reply. His body was wracked with pain, the electrical energy that coated him still searing his skin. He ignored that entirely, acting as if it didn't affect him. Instead…
He took a single, slow step forward.
"HUP!" Fifteen threw himself backwards, jumping more than a dozen meters as he put distance between himself and Dorian.
Every single action Dorian had taken in this battle gave off an impression of overwhelming power and strength. His movements, his attacks, even his speech. Everything was incredibly convincing.
Especially when it came to Fifteen, one of his fellow Anomalies, one who was expecting to be facing a stronger member of the Flock. Fifteen created an image of Dorian in his mind as a monster that was absolutely ranked in the first 10 Anomalies.
And, technically, Dorian was the Firstborn. He wasn't entirely wrong in his guess.
"You want to vanquish the Demon Race and destroy the ruins on Moria? Hypocrite! Just like Yukeli, you are nothing more than a hypocrite, destroying that which you deem evil!" Fifteen rapidly retreated away from Dorian, his body transforming once more into his Sky Edge Eagle form. His words were full of irrational anger as he continued to rage at Dorian,
He also appeared to have awakened some portion of Yukeli's memories in his soul, Dorian noted, his eyes flashing. It seemed he indeed wasn't alone in being an Anomaly with part of Yukeli's memories.
"I can't stand hypocrites!"
"We will meet again at those hallowed ruins, foolish brother!"
"You will not be able to survive then, should you dare! An army from the depths of Chaos itself shall be standing to greet you!" The Anomaly continued its odd habit of talking to itself as it fled, its tone of rage abruptly shifting to one of self-reflection,
"Of course, with that said, I'm also a hypocrite."
"But, then again, I never liked myself in the first place. So I guess that makes sense…" Fifteen's voice rambled off.
WHOOSH
The Anomaly's body blurred and vanished as it retreated at an extremely fast speed, leaving behind a slightly incredulous looking Dorian.
"Well, that worked."
Spurt
Blood spurted from Dorian's lips as he took several deep breaths, releasing the tension of the moment as he felt the Anomaly truly leave. He didn't fear that the Anomaly would try to sneak back and attack again, knowing the impression he left on it would buy him some time.
"Ugh. I'm okay." He took several deep breaths, shaking off the injuries. His Balance Demon body had helped tank a ton of the damage, as had his Mystic Armored Body form. His body slowly began to regenerate, expelling any remnant energy from the Law of Corruption that the Demon had wielded.
His biggest loss was the huge amount of energy he spent, but that was only temporarily.
"I did it. I managed to fight it out using my own power. Further…" His eyes flashed darkly as he looked in the direction the other Anomaly had fled in.
"You got lucky to find me now, when I was still mid-practice." The experience and practice Dorian had gained from this fight and his hours of practice had sent a huge amount of insight into using multiple versions of his Hyperion Beam Ability at the same time, as well as using his Abilities quickly in general. His mind went over these insights as he began to head back towards the city proper, the early light of dawn breaking.
He had already been half exhausted when the Anomaly attacked. Now, however, with all the insights he'd gained, Dorian had no doubt that he would be able to grow much more precise and skilled in using multiple Hyperion Beams.
"You'll wait for me on Moria, huh? With an army from the depths of Chaos to greet me?" He said aloud, his eyes cold. In the 30,000 Worlds, the concept of 'Chaos' was similar to the idea of 'Hell' from Earth. A place of eternal damnation where nothing good existed.
"That's just fine. I'll come to greet you." He smiled as an idea popped into his head,
"But why should I risk it alone? I can't put Helena's health in any sort of danger…" He nodded, his grin widening.
"I've got just the idea."
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Two days later.
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
"I have new information for you, Ruler Hallow! It concerns the Ultimate Great Lord Inigo."
"Ultimate Great Lord? What…? When did he ge- never mind. Just hand me the report."
"…"
"What?!"
"He's forming an army of Lord Class Wizards and Mystic Martial Artists?!"
"It's already 100 members strong?!"
"Even three King Class Mystic Martial Artists joined it, pledging their loyalty to his cause?!"
"It's already headed towards Moria to vanquish the Demon Emperor's Ruins and is only one Normal World and one Exotic World away?!"
"?!?!?!"
.