The Burning Fiend

Reynolds and the Lord Prefect were flying at high speed only to stop hundreds of kilometers away from Crystal Cave City. Reynolds was excited for the battle to come, he knew that he wouldn't necessarily gain the insight he was looking for but it might help enormously for his future grow.

The City Lord was floating a few dozen meters from him, he smiled and said. "Kid, show me how far you have gone with the Elemental Laws before using the runic formation". He knew himself well, if Reynolds started with the runic formation and it had really reached the Asura rank as he said, then he would become a battle maniac and it would be difficult for him to be of any help to the kid.

Reynolds nodded and a black spear with purple patterns appeared in his hand as he prepared himself for the battle to come, Kendrics smiled but before they could start he observed the spear feeling that a shiver was running through his spine and couldn't help but ask. "Kid, was that weapon made of divine sparks? What relationship do you have with Beirut?"

Reynolds was startled, but he did not fear the gray haired man in front of him. He chuckled and said. "Yes, this weapon was a gift from Lord Beirut. He gave it to me a few days before I left the Yulan Plane where he is the ruler". Kendrics blinked unsure of what to think. 'The demon Beirut is the ruler of a lower plane? Besides being the ruler of the Indigo Prefecture? Why?' It then dawned on him. "The Necropolis of the Gods!" He muttered in disbelief, he had heard legends of that place. He chuckled and decided that he would have a long conversation with the kid after the battle.

Kendrics also took out his weapon, it was a dark red heavy sword that seemed to burn the very air just by its mere presence. The next moment Reynolds seemed to became translucent as he became one with his spear dashing at incredible speed towards Kendrics who blocked the attack by placing his great sword in front of him, the impact propelled Reynolds back and was not able to stop until the distance reached a few tens of meters.

Reynolds was shaken from the impact and a little disoriented, but he did not receive any damage, while the gray haired man was frowning and looking at him with surprise in his eyes. That attack had hurt him! He was barely hurt, but the difference of power was too much. Kendrics finally understood how terrifying the purple flames were, the attack itself was barely at the 7-star Fiend but the addition of the purple flames took it to a whole new level.

Kendrics did not have a soul defense artifact, he did not like the feeling of depending on artifacts and considered them foreign objects, but after this clash he decided that he would get his hands on one. The damned flames were constantly attacking the divine power barrier that he had constructed to protect his soul and it would take a while to put them out. He understood that, in a prolonged battle, the flames attacking his soul would acc.u.mulate and it might finally become his downfall. Of course, he could escape without any trouble or forcefully suppress Reynolds and force him to flee... he was on a different level and was stronger than Reynolds.

Reynolds did not give him more time to keep thinking, he appeared behind him exchanging places with a fire feather construct he had left the moment the first attack landed, and delivered a barrage of spear attacks using the incomplete fusion of four laws. The surprised Kendrics blocked a few attacks with his great sword but frowned as the flames attacking his soul defenses grew in intensity and started to avoid clashing with his spear while using his superior speed provided by the 'Explosion' mystery as well as using the impact of the explosions to propel Reynolds backwards without touching his weapon.

He looked with interest realizing that the kid was indeed only a step behind completely fusing the 'Fire Essence', 'Flame Body', 'Heat' and 'Mirage' mysteries. Kendrics smirked and started using the complete fusion of those same mysteries as he attacked with his great sword producing slow attacks on the moments after he avoided Reynolds's offense with the 'Explosion' mystery or when Reynolds was forced back by the expansive wave created by the explosions.

Reynolds was falling in a trance as he kept attacking, at this moment his three divine avatars were working on several simulations and comparing them with the attack the Lord Prefect was performing. He understood that the gray haired man was helping him to understand the complete fusion of the four laws, Reynolds was deep in his own pondering that was completely unaware of a lightning bolt that was approaching them at incredible speed only to stop a few hundred meters from them revealing a muscular man with short dark red hair who looked puzzled at the scene. The Lord Prefect only sent a warning look to the City Lord who nodded at him indicating that he only wanted to watch the battle.

Alfont was surprised as the battle was not what he expected and felt annoyed and disappointed at the thought of having left behind that beautiful pink haired toy of his to watch a low level battle. He sighed in frustration and was about to turn around when his attention fell on the purple flames and the two combatants again leaving him frozen in place.

Those purple flames sent shivers to his very soul and suddenly understood that the Lord Prefect was not avoiding them to play with the kid, he didn't want to touch those flames! His eyes were wide open in disbelief and then understood, he could see that the Lord Prefect was not playing... he was indeed helping the kid to gain enlightenment, but it was not easy to do so. "A soul mutate". He muttered to himself increasing his interest on the kid who was barely able to keep with the attacks delivered by Lord Prefect.

As the battle progressed, Reynolds's attacks was becoming more solid on the use of the 'Elemental Laws of Fire' and the flames flowed more natural through his spear as he attacked and parried, but he was being completed suppressed by the superior power and battle experience of the gray haired man. The Lord Prefect and the City Lord noticed the elated smile on the kid's face, and they thought that he might have already found what was lacking to complete the 4-way fusion of laws. It would take him a few decades, but he had achieved the breakthrough he was looking for. They did not know that he had used his three divine avatars to focus completely on deducing the fusion by examining the demonstrations provided by the Lord Prefect.

The gray haired man was satisfied as he felt that he would have a difficult battle soon, when the kid completed that 4-way fusion and use it in combination with his flames... then he would have a worthy opponent and a difficult battle. "Enough kid, show me the runic formation you mentioned". Kendrics's voice was happy as he used the mystery of 'Explosion' to propel Reynolds a few tens of meters creating enough distance between them.

Reynolds shook his head to clear his slightly disoriented bearings due to the concussion caused by the explosion and smiled again. Not only he had gained the final insight he was lacking, he also obtained insights on the mystery of 'Explosion'. Reynolds felt gratitude toward the gray haired man, he nodded and took four bracelets from his interspatial ring.

A moment later he created four flame doppelgangers that wore the bracelets while surrounding him, soon they started to circle around him and the space was soon filled by purple flames blocking the view. The fabric space, where Reynolds was, seemed to tremble and the flame bodies blurred transforming into a 20-meter long 'Ba-Serpent'.

The Lord Prefect and the City Lord looked stupefied at the flame construct in front of them, it was not precisely made out of divine power but by the purple flames that were powered by divine power. It seemed that flames used the incomplete 4-way fusion Reynolds had showed before to create the body of the serpent, but it was condensed to a new level due to the use of runes. Space trembled with the every breath the behemoth took and the two Asuras felt as if they were being locked on by the eyes of an ancient demon.

The Ba-Serpent seemed to disappear and the Lord Prefect released one of his most powerful attacks out of pure instinct. The fusion of 5 laws clashed against the snake tail that was moving as a whip already in front of him. They both were propelled backwards, the Lord Prefect growled in pain as the purple flames had become more invasive than before, and he felt perplexed when he saw that the small wound he had created on the serpent was already disappearing.

The impact had caused distance between them, but the snake only had its tail propelled back while its head moved forward to press the attack, then Kendrics started laughing maniacally. 'The kid was right! This is an Asura level combatant in all aspects'. Under the eyes of the stupefied City Lord, the Lord Prefect started attacking like a madman but was unable to create real damage to the 'Ba-Serpent', Kendrics was trying to use his superior speed, but he could not approach the 'Ba-Serpent Attack Formation' without increasing the intensity of the flames that tried to breach his defenses and burn his soul.

Reynolds have learned a lot by watching how Koral fought in her dragon form and emulated the moves using the tail and fangs as a true beast would. He used serpent's tail as a whip to send the Lord Prefect flying while he was trying to put out the flames attacking his sea of consciousness, only to find out that he was surrounded by the coiling body of the serpent and that its head was approaching from below showing the sharp fangs ready to fest on him.

The gray haired man smirked and disappeared leaving behind a fire bird construct that exploded propelling the snake's head downwards and creating great damage to the coiled body that Reynolds had used to block his escape. But the 'Ba-Serpent' was not even disoriented and its body was healing at visible speed, it only gave the Lord prefect time to take a breath before the snake was completely fine and ready to attack again.

The gray haired man smiled happily, and they both attacked again without wasting time, Reynolds was delighted because the Lord Prefect had fused the five laws he was comprehending and manage to gain a glimpse of what the 5-way fusion will be once he manages to complete it in only 10,000 years or so. He laughed at his own joke and continue to pay attention while the City Lord decided that he wanted to fight with the kid as well, but he could only wait.

Alfont knew that in a few decades, the kid will complete his 4-way fusion and with the help of the purple flames he would reach the Asura level, then he would have the opportunity to fight against a powerful soul mutate. His blood was boiling, he knew that chances were that the runic formation would increase in power at that moment and perhaps he would only manage to face it by joining forces with the Lord Prefect. And that was a battle he was looking forward to participating on... the idea had awoken the old monster that thirsted for battle.