Chapter 139: Punch

“Challengers! Please step up to the Door of Splendor and challenge yourself! Only if you possess a powerful force of will can you find success and safely pass through. The rewards for this trial can be found on the other side! Bravely step forth, into the history of the 30,000 Worlds! If you cannot pass the door after 3 hours, you will be expelled from the Ruins.”

The Ruin’s Ausra voice echoed out loud, coming out of nowhere as she announced what the challenge was in more detail. The large silver and gold door seemed to flash, radiating an almost welcoming wave of energy.

Dorian put all of this to the side, however, as he took record of the situation before him.

‘Helena is in danger.’ Dorian instantly recognized that. His heart dropped and his brain went into overdrive.

It was clear that the Shade was targeting Arial, the Lightsworn Fox. He must be part of the group of Shades that was chasing after Arial before, back on Blizzaria.

Probably justifiably, too, from what Dorian knew. Arial herself had told him that she’d killed several Shades, though, Dorian guessed that the intentions of those now dead Shades hadn’t been honest either.

Still, it was clear that the focus of this Shade was Arial.

But Dorian knew Helena. She had bravely run out in front of an enormous King Class Dragon to stop it from attacking a city full of people she didn’t know.

There was no chance she wouldn’t try to protect Arial too.

‘Damn it, Helena! Why do you have to be so foolishly nice?’ Dorian thought, ignoring the fact that he did the exact same thing when it came to that dragon.

“You can’t have her.” Helena proved Dorian’s point as she stepped away from Trajan and in front of Arial. A heavy Aura of strength began to form around her, her Law of Might shining forth.

‘Huh? Is she stronger now?’ Dorian eyed the female Vampire.

–

Species: True Vampire

Class – Lord (Pseudo-King)

Maximum Energy Level: 156,201

–

‘Wow! That is a ton stronger!’ Dorian’s eyes widened. Helena’s strength had exploded, jumping to be one of the strongest Lord Class experts Dorian had seen, apart from the freakish Diamond Wizard Taemin.

That said… it wasn’t enough.

“Step aside, girl. I have no quarrel with you, despite your alliance with those two Anomalies.” The Shade’s voice was commanding. A mighty, King Class Aura burst forth from him, pressing down on everyone present.

Around them, everyone else in the courtyard backed away. All of the other experts in here were at the Lord Class, and most of them had been concentrating on the huge door, as if studying it, before this interruption.

“She is not just a girl, you night-crawling mutt. She’s a respectable woman!” Trajan’s voice echoed back as he stepped forward as well, a cool, nature-like Aura wrapping around him in refreshing waves.

‘No, you two are outclassed!’ Dorian thought, frowning fiercely. The Shade was extremely strong, the two most likely didn’t stand a chance.

The Shade seemed to shrug,

“Whatever.” His Aura bursts forth to the maximum, bright light and powerful strength crashing down on Helena and Trajan. The duo weathered the impact, looking worse for wear.

Helena winced, biting her lip slightly. Her hand reached for her Spatial Ring, as if to pull something from it.

Dorian felt his heart go cold.

Instinctively, the two Laws that he was studying seemed to appear more powerfully in his mind.

Dorian tapped on these Laws at the same time.

Angry, rage-filled energy from the Law of Wrath covered his body in a reddish haze, full of deadly power.

Cool but strong energy from the Law of Valor matched up with the offensive energy from the Law of Wrath, supporting his body and empowering him.

The energy from the two Laws were not perfect matches. Wrath and Valor were two very dissimilar concepts. However, Dorian’s force of will shoved the two together, refusing to let either one fail.

Each of the two forces tried to take over Dorian’s emotions, energy from the Law of Wrath trying to fill him with raw fury while energy from the Law of Valor tried to fill him with unwavering courage. The two combined, forming a type of righteous anger in Dorian’s heart.

Dorian felt himself gain a huge amount of offensive power.

However, as he looked at the Shade in front of him, he knew it wasn’t enough.

The gap between them was wide. A Mid King Class Shade, one that appeared to be powerful even among other King Class beings.

‘More…’

Dorian activated his Moving Force Ability.

Energy flowed into his body with every step he took as he began to walk forward. The mystical, intricate Ability allowed him to harness his own momentum, turning it into a source of energy to empower his attacks.

‘More!’

Dorian activated his Perfect Body Ability.

The world around him lost some of its color. At the same time, his Wrath Vampire body warped, every part of it becoming fully adaptable and strong, as if it had been trained for eons to achieve perfection.

He felt energy practically hemorrhage itself from his soul. He ignored that all, however, as he focused on the present.

He had a single thought in his mind.

‘You will not harm a hair on her head.’

For the first time in a very long time, Dorian went all out.

WHOOSH

“Thundering Winds: Flush Gale.” Dorian activated one of the Mystic Martial Arts he had left in his memories, one he had used before. One of the fastest movement techniques Yukeli had known.

Energy flooded into Dorian’s legs, and in his mind, he pictured himself soaring through the sky, moving forward while standing atop a great gust of wind.

Dorian moved.

Dorian’s perception of time had been so enhanced by his increased strength and Perfect Body Ability that, as his body blurred forward, he felt as if the world around him was moving in slow motion. Time itself seemed to have dilated as he dashed forward towards the Shade that was threatening Helena.

Against his expectations, the Shade noticed him. Despite Dorian’s overwhelming speed, the Shade managed to turn its head around and see him, the man’s eyes widening in real shock.

Particles of light began to swarm around the Shade, quickly starting to form a set of armor.

Not forming fast enough, however, to block Dorian’s attack.

“Rumbling Earth: Boulder Breaker.” Dorian punched out in a simple-looking, straight punch, his arm aimed towards the chest of the shade. His movements were fast and precise, the knowledge and skill associated with this Mystic Martial Art among those left in his mind.

This punch drew upon the energy of his soul, using his Soul Spell Matrix to power it. As the energy flowed through him, Dorian mentally pictured himself smashing apart a huge, ten meter large stone boulder.

The Shade somehow, impossibly, managed to raise up an arm to deflect Dorian’s attack.

It wasn’t that Dorian was too slow. Far from it, in his current form, he was ridiculously fast. Powered by an incomplete Divine Ability, his Moving Force Ability, the strength of two extremely strong Laws, and the body of an incredibly fierce Wrath Vampire, not to mention the colossally strong Mystic Martial Arts created from one of the greatest Martial Arts geniuses in the history of the 30,000 worlds… Dorian was virtually a monster in his own right, right now.

However, of all the opponents that Dorian had ever faced, this Shade was simply the fastest. In terms of attack speed and reaction speed, he was probably much faster than the other Shade, Jasper, that Dorian had fought against on Blizzaria, and that Shade had moved at a ridiculously fast speed.

As the Shade raised its arm, Dorian smiled in a grin that showed his fanged teeth.

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‘I command you… to miss!’ He drew upon his will, commanding Fate to obey him.

Energy flooded out of Dorian’s soul, from his Abilities, his movements, his commanding Fate, everything. Dorian ignored this as he focused purely on his goal.

The Shade’s arm moved in a perfect arc, ready to deflect Dorian’s blow.

At the last second, however, the energy from Dorian’s Aura seemed to interact slightly with the energy in the Shade’s Aura, in a negative, shocking way. This made the Shade flinch, just a tiny amount, at the unexpected intrusion.

That flinch raised the arm of the Shade by about a millimeter, just enough to offset its defensive angle.

BOOOOM

WHOOSH

The Shade’s body was flung away from Dorian like a rag doll as his punch landed and blasted past the arm, slamming directly into the Shade’s chest. The ground beneath Dorian cracked, shards of stone flinging into the air as he came to a stop, energy writhing off his body like steam as his chest heaved from exertion.

The Mystic Martial Arts left behind by Yukeli were all extremely powerful. Every move Dorian had previously used still laid firmly in his mind. While he didn’t have access to all or even most of Yukeli’s martial techniques, he could still use the ones he’d attacked with before.

Perhaps not at the level that Yukeli did… but still easily enough to achieve mastery.

At least he had gained one good thing from the memories that had been planted in his mind.

THUD

The Shade’s body slammed into the side of the courtyard, cracking it. If the ground and walls had been made of regular stone here, the entire courtyard would’ve been obliterated due to the sheer force of the impact.

The Shade’s Aura and particles of light flattened down like a pancake at the blow, vibrating with almost a whimper as the attack settled.

Shock and fear swept over the crowd of Lord Class spectators as they witnessed this, all of them falling back away from the door.

‘Got him. But he’s not really down yet. Tough bugger.’ Dorian’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his fist, feeling it sting, and then over at the downed Shade. Abruptly, he turned to the side, looking at Helena, Trajan, and Arial.

“A friend sent me to help you guys out. Go take the door trial, I will handle this.” Dorian opted to not reveal himself, not in front of the spectators as well as the Shade he had just attacked. Giving away his identity, even in a subtle manner, could come back to bite him.

It also meant he couldn’t greet Helena like he’d wanted to. He quashed the bitterness in his heart, however, as he stayed focused on the present.

The trio didn’t need any encouragement, nor did they bother asking questions. Even if Dorian was lying, the situation at hand was a dangerous one and taking this seeming miracle to escape was the best option they had.

Helena spat out a hurried thanks as she retreated, Arial in tow. Trajan simply gave Dorian a nod. The trio sprinted over towards the Door of Splendor, arriving in front of it.

Dorian took his eyes off of them as he turned to look back at the Shade, feeling an unsettling, eerie Aura start to appear.

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

WHOOSH

Behind Dorian, three blasts of wind rang out as Helena, Trajan, and Arial all vanished, moving past and into the Door of Splendor, activating whatever trial Yukeli had set there. Their bodies were nowhere to be seen, transported away.

WHOOSH

Blinding light burst forth from the spot where the Shade had been smashed as an apparition appeared.

A beautiful angel made of pure light appeared out of thin air, standing above the downed Shade. The angel looked down at the Shade, concern present on her face.

“That was… a good punch. You took one of my lives.” A pained voice echoed out as the particles of light faded slightly, revealing the bedraggled image of the Shade that had been threatening Helena.

His face was covered in streaks of black blood. The warrior was clutching at his right arm as if it was broken, cradling it. As he stood up, the particles of light that had faded surrounded him, flashing as they began to flow into his body.

At the same time, the angelic apparition vanished.

Before Dorian’s very eyes, the Shade began to heal at a visible rate.

“Name thyself, attacker. You do not have the choice to step aside. Do you have any idea how hard it is to create an Angelic Life?” The Shade’s Kingly Aura burst forth once more,

“I am Holy Prince Isaac of the Church of Light, born in the lands of the Shade Commune. Who are you to attack me?”

Isaac sounded genuinely curious as he set the break in his right arm, moving it into a position it could heal from. His voice was gentle, but contained a hint of danger within it.

‘Well… I can’t tell him who I am now, that’s for sure.’ As Dorian realized who he had just attacked, an apparent major figure in a Major Power, he instantly made a snap decision.

“Who am I?!” Dorian bellowed, his voice containing pure, raw confidence.

“Hmph! It is you who no longer has the choice to step aside!” Dorian took a threatening step forward.

As he took that step, the rest of the onlookers, all Lord Class experts that had fought hard to get a spot to investigate the Ascension Ruins, seemed to take that as a cue.

Almost as one, all of them rushed towards the Door of Splendor, immediately wanting to flee the scene before Dorian and Isaac went on a rampage, fighting a true battle.

Isaac’s eyes narrowed as Dorian spoke.

“I am a close ally of Vice-Head Taemin of the Diamond Department!” Dorian thumped on his chest loudly,

“DO YOU DARE QUESTION THE AUTHORITY OF THE BORREL AUTARCHY, FOOLISH SHADE?!”

.. .. … .. .. .. .. ..

Far away, outside of the Ascension Ruins, Vice-Head Taemin sneezed, rubbing at his nose furiously.

“Are you alright there, Taemin? I can understand how you might catch a cold on this world of eternal fire and lava.” Head Jiro looked over at the Vice-Head. The Head of the Diamond Department was currently sitting at a small and dainty table, one that was covered in a lacy tablecloth.

Several different sized shot glasses and cups were distributed on the table evenly, all filled with different types of alcohol.

Jiro had been licking his lips as he stared over the delicious feast of alcohol, putting up a small drinking ceremony to pass the time as they waited for their targets to exit the Ascension Ruins.

“I’m fine. I’m not sure what that was.” Taemin said, shaking his head.

“It almost felt like someone was wishing me bad luck, somewhere far away.” He shrugged.

“How odd.” Jiro replied, picking up a shot glass,

“You know what we should do? We should drin-”

“We should drink to it, right?” Taemin glared at his rather irresponsible Department Head in an annoyed fashion, once more cursing his own luck. How on earth could he have known how irresponsible and undedicated the Head of the Diamond Department was, so many years ago when he first decided to practice Diamond Magic.

Jiro looked back at Taemin in consternation.

“Hmph. As I was saying. Quite odd.” Jiro shrugged.

“Yes, it was.” Taemin grunted and shrugged back, a second time.

“I agree, pretty weird.” Sun Wukong said, nodding his head.

Jiro nodded back, as did Taemin. The two went back to their waiting for a moment, Taemin aimlessly pacing back and forth while Jiro stared at a particular goblet, a mesmerized look on his face.

A split second later, however, both Jiro and Taemin spun around, going on full guard, shock painting their faces as their eyes popped. Both of them looked over to where Sun Wukong had appeared, not having detected his presence in the slightest.

“Oh, hi, by the way.” Sun Wukong waved nonchalantly at the two, sitting down peacefully on a rock not far from them.

“Nice to meet you two.”