'After all of that, I only managed to take down 'one of his lives?' What weird Magic or Law does he study to have multiple lives? Ugh.' Dorian mentally repeated what the Shade Prince said, feeling a headache coming on.

–

Dorian – Soul Status

Soul Stage: Lord Class (Pseudo-King)

Health: Perfect

Energy: 72,213/112,221

–

He winced slightly as he checked his status. He'd depleted a massive amount of energy in just a few moments.

He wasn't sure what his biggest expense had been. Either manipulating the Fate of the Shade Prince in combat or maintaining his Perfect Body Ability. Even the energy he drew upon from the Laws of Wrath and Valor was taxing on his soul, wearing him down.

Either way, he wasn't at a level where he could maintain this level of combat for too long.

He took a quick glance around, noting that all the onlookers had fled. It appeared that all the ones left behind had been studying the Door of Splendor carefully, intent on taking the full 3 hour time limit to prepare.

'Sorry gang.' He mentally sent them an apology for scaring them off.

Dorian maintained his Perfect Body Ability, but dropped off the Moving Force Ability. He kept his focus purely on the dangerous Shade in front of him, watching the Prince's every movement.

"The Autarchy again, huh?" Isaac muttered, his eyes cold as his mind flashed back to the arrogant Diamond Wizard he'd encountered.

"Did you think the Commune would just fall over after hearing that?" Isaac's voice gained a sense of grandeur and strength as he spoke, an Aura of light fluttering around him.

The Holy Prince of the Church of Light studied a Law that was considerably difficult to master.

The Law of Holy Light.

The Law was related to the Law of Light, but also to the Law of Reincarnation, and several other abstruse Laws. It held incredibly mystical properties, but its chief powers lay in two aspects.

One was in speed enhancement with an increased talent in regards to Light Magic.

The other was in a mystical, unexplainable ability to die and come back to life, through the use of 'Angelic Lives.' Apparitions that took a vast amount of time and effort to construct, ones that could heal or reverse virtually any injury, even a fatal one.

Isaac focused on the first aspect of his Law as he launched himself at Dorian, raw energy running flush through the Holy Prince's veins. A pair of wings that appeared to be made out of pure light appeared on his back, increasing his acceleration.

At the same time, a full set of white armor covered the Wizard, giving him a fierce, mighty appearance. A glowing, gold and white lance appeared in the Prince's hand, one he immediately stabbed forward with, hurtling straight at Dorian.

(Image – https://i.imgur.com/1z54hCT.jpg )(Doesn't Open In App)

WHOOSH

Dorian, in his Perfect Body state, could just barely see Isaac blast through the air towards him at an incredible pace.

'Okay, well, bluffing didn't work this time. Still, I can handle this.' Dorian mentally shrugged, refusing to let himself panic as he put his full focus into survival.

BOOM

An explosion echoed forth as Isaac's lance slammed into the spot Dorian had been standing at, piercing several inches into the ground before halting. Energy and wind ran rampant in the courtyard, shredding the air to and fro. While the ground and walls were incredibly reinforced, the air itself was still the same as normal air.

"What?" Isaac muttered, his eyes wide in shock.

He had missed.

Or, rather, his target had disappeared, causing his attack to hit thin air.

WHOOSH

"Arrgh!"

Isaac leapt forward, feeling a horrible burning sensation flood over his back, melting through his white armor in a split second. He flipped over and rolled on the ground, particles of light flashing as he retreated.

A small, black skinned humanoid stood, covered in Black Flames. Dorian's Ifrit Form.

In the moment that Isaac had attacked, Dorian had shifted into his Red Salamander form. At the same time, he'd activated his Condense Ability and reverted his growth, becoming extremely tiny.

This made it seem as if he had teleported from Isaac's perspective.

After the attack missed, he'd instantly reformed, but this time in his Ifrit Form. He'd taken that moment to breathe out a flood of Black Flames, sending the deadly Dragonfire melting into the back of the Holy Prince.

"You bastard! You teleported? Dragonfire? How?!" Isaac's chest heaved from exertion as he forced himself to come on guard towards Dorian, just now managing to extinguish the flames. The powerful, and completely unexpected, Dragonfire had melted through his armor and any other protection he had, horribly burning through his back and charring his internal organs.

WHOOSH

Once more, an angelic apparition appeared in the air floating above the Shade. The apparition looked down sadly at Isaac for a moment before vanishing. Light particles began to flood into the Holy Prince, restoring his injury.

"Another Angelic Life lost…" Bitterness and actual fury could now be heard as the Holy Prince glared at Dorian. The Kingly Aura he gave off was on full force, running wild in the enclosed space.

Dorian hadn't been watching passively in that time. He'd simultaneously activated a Spell and another Ability while the Holy Prince healed himself.

"Fire Magic: Flame Sword!" He mixed the spell with his Black Flames Ability, activating it multiple times. He formed a web of swords that were covered in Black Flames around himself, a protective barrier that the Shade would have to break through if he wanted to reach him.

Dorian had correctly surmised from the Shade Prince's movements that the Shade preferred melee combat and wasn't much of a Wizard.

'Ability activate, Hyperion Beam!' As he did this, he also activated his Hyperion Beam Ability, starting to charge it up. The attack was imbued with energy from both the Law of Wrath and the Law of Valor, giving it a decidedly powerful strength.

The strain Dorian felt was enormous. Activating so many Abilities simultaneously while also maintaining his awareness made this the most difficult battle Dorian had ever experienced.

"You will die for that, Borrelian." Dorian's odd fighting techniques had somehow managed to successfully convince the Shade that he was a member of the Borrel Autarchy. Unfortunately, that just seemed to have made the Shade even more determined to kill him.

WHOOSH

The Prince became fully serious. The brilliant white armor once again fully enclosed him. A glowing lance once more appeared in his arms. This time, however, the air began to whip back and forth as light began to concentrate. Distortions ran flush as energy exploded and ran wild, the world visibly starting to warp.

'I can't let him finish charging that attack!' Dorian instantly made a snap judgement call.

Without hesitation, Dorian brought all of the Flame Swords he had cast into existence together, side by side. He then threw up the still charging Hyperion Beam, causing it to merge with the Black Flames and Flame Swords.

Rkkkkkkk

An odd keening noise echoed out as Dorian's attacks combined in an unorthodox way, causing the charging Hyperion Beam ball to be covered in red and black flames. Dorian felt a huge amount of strain just holding the ball together.

Immediately he released it, pointing it directly at the Shade Prince.

'Black Sword Beam! Go!' Dorian named the attack as he launched it forward.

The combination of magic shaped the beam of light into a massive, pointed sword, trailing black and red flames in the air like a beautiful river of boiling heat. The attack seared through the sky and pierced right towards the Shade Prince.

'Land!' Dorian pulled on his soul, willing the attack to take out the Shade with every iota of his being.

WHOOSH

The sword-like beam of light melted through the air in an instant. Dorian mentally checked his status as he launched the attack.

–

Dorian – Soul Status

Soul Stage: Lord Class (Pseudo-King)

Health: Perfect

Energy: 41,213/112,221

–

'Damn, I'm burning through energy.' He mentally swore.

Byyyoooorrrrrnnnn

The sword-like laser of energy slammed directly into the Shade Prince's unmoving figure.

Instead of an explosion or cascade of energy, the beam melted right through the armor of the Shade.

And directly pierced Isaac's heart, incinerating it in one go.

"What?" Dorian started in shock. The blow had been a fatal one.

Once more, however, an angel appeared, floating above the Shade's body. The angel looked down sadly, and, once more, the Shade Prince began to heal.

"3 lives you've cost me. I'm down to just 2 now…" Isaac's voice was haggard as he looked at Dorian.

His Angelic Lives could revive him from death, but each time he died or was fatally wounded, he would have to experience the agony and pain of being killed of that injury, twice over. His second lives were powerful tools… but they came with a painful price.

"No more." The energy around the Shade Prince seemed to freeze. He had finished charging his attack. The Kingly Aura vanished, leaving a pristine, calm Aura floating in the air. One that was incredibly full of both danger and peace, at the same time.

'Alright, well, that's just cheating.' Dorian's eyes flashed stubbornly. He could revive from being killed over and over? How was that fair, at all? Didn't that mean the Shade Prince was nigh unkillable as long as he had extra lives left?

'On to Plan B then.' Dorian didn't waste any time, his mind racing ahead of him. He couldn't maintain his Perfect Body and keep fighting indefinitely.

"Solaris Blut." Isaac closed his eyes and then opened them, now shining with golden light as he announced his attack.

One of the Holy Prince's most powerful techniques, Solaris Blut was a technique he created himself. By condensing the energy in his soul and enhancing his body to the extreme, while activating and spending one of the painstakingly expensive Angelic Lives he'd formed, Isaac could accelerate himself to an ungodly speed.

The impact of moving his body at such a speed was, without a doubt, fatal to himself. However, the use of an Angelic Life allowed him to fully restore himself after attacking, making the doubled-edged technique one that cost him only an Angelic Life, and not his own.

The Holy Prince's figure blurred, even in Dorian's vastly enhanced perception of time, appearing next to him in a single millisecond. The Prince's attack was so fast that even he himself could not track it, aiming blindly at Dorian.

He was moving at far too fast a speed for Dorian to be able to defend against, even in his fast state.

In the 30,000 Worlds, a huge amount of research had gone into the various reaction speeds of different beings.

Regular humans could recognize the existence of something in as little as 13 milliseconds. Powerful Lord Class humans could realize something and react to it in as little as 3 or 4 milliseconds.

Dorian, in his enhanced state, with his Perfect Body Ability active while using his Ifrit form, was able to react to the insanely fast attack in a fraction of a millisecond. While his body could not move at anywhere near such a speed, Dorian's mind could.

And in that millisecond, Dorian transformed again. At his current level of strength, the transformation from one form to another took approximately a microsecond, a thousandth of a millisecond.

WHOOSH

The Holy Prince's Solaris Blut strike cut forward, penetrating the air where Dorian had been standing.

And pierced by him, slamming into the stone wall of the courtyard.

BOOM

An explosion echoed out as the Holy Prince's lance exploded, as did a good meter of stone from the wall, showering the courtyard in light particles and stone debris. The armored body of the Holy Prince seemed to collapse in on itself as it hit the wall, instantly killing the Holy Prince.

An instant later, the angelic apparition appeared once more, bringing the Holy Prince back to life.

Just in time for the Prince to blearily turn around, on full alert as he looked at where he expected to see Dorian's remains.

And instead found himself staring at empty air.

"…again?" Isaac muttered, his voice full of pain and confusion as he gathered his bearings.

skitter skitter

A clattering sound drew Isaac's attention as he slowly turned and looked off to the left.

Just in time to see a small, tiny lizard hurtling its tiny lizard body through the air, a Spatial Ring wrapped around its neck like a necklace. A tiny little grey shirt and matching tiny black pants could be seen worn on the tiny lizard's body.

The same type of outfit that Dorian, Isaac's target, had been wearing. Only, now tiny lizard-sized.

tap

In the instant that Isaac blinked, his eyes wide in shock and at a complete loss, the lizard landed on the Door of Splendor, its paws tapping upon it.

And instantly vanished.

Leaving the Holy Prince alone, his mouth agape.

"…what?"

.

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