Spirit Hall Move (Part 5)

Alexian smiled lustfully, expecting an easy win. He pounced forward without utilizing any strength of spirit power. Although he never ingested Ambrosia like Long Feng and felt jealous of that, he had very rare martial spirit.

Molten Core.

It was a variant of tool spirit but gave a tremendous power of molten magma on par with the strongest beast spirits of this attribute. His body was small and agile. Still, he vastly underestimated the girl in front. He suddenly felt extreme danger, but as one of the Zealot Division 9, he was still able to shift his body and cover it partly in magma.

Still, he was injured and enraged.

Na'ers daggers find their target, but still only cut a wound on his side. As a high-ranking spirit ancestor, Alexian was fast in his own right, but not fast enough to catch evildoer like Na'er. Still, his magma coating and second spirit skill that created fireballs were a pain to take care of. They quickly entered stalemate and battle developed into the hit-and-run game of tag in which Alexian was absolutely focused on her.

"Na'er, don't let anyone escape." – Aiden ordered, and she immediately felt a surge of unprecedented power inside her body. It was Tree of Life buff. Her speed skyrocketed and the other eight assailants were killed under the watch of the two zealots in a matter of seconds. They simply could not cope with her tremendous speed.

Needless to say, two dudes were enraged and surged with killing intent.

While Na'er stalled for time, trying her best to find an opening, Aiden flashed forward with sword move Arrival, yet didn't use wings and buff from Tree of Life.

Long Feng was worthy to be a demonic essence possessor. It gave him overwhelming battle prowess way above the norm. He unleashed his spirit and rings, two of which were greenish-purple and others in optimal age configuration. His spirit came to life at his feet, growing to become a beautiful black and green lotus flower.

A plant master in the forest and control type at that.

"I will baptize you in light." – Long Feng said eerily through clenched teeth as first ring light up and ground beneath him shattered under the assault of vines, which slashed forward.

Aiden moved forward with certain footwork. He avoided several brutal attacks that looked like shadows of wind and scattered raindrops and slashed them apart while at it. Vines fell down and evaporate in a burst of spirit power, but extra ones grew out.

Long Feng shifted his position and with-it drifted vines closely following. He ignited the second ring, covering vines in strong lethal venom that forced Aiden to retreat.

'Let's see what you can do with this.'

He always wanted to try the external outburst of the power of his physique, but never had a reason for using it. Now, however, was the time.

Eleven purple marks trembled, exuding an aura of elemental suppression, and gave birth to the domain, that literally wreaks havoc in surrounding elemental space, disrupting and evaporating any harmful substances. That was the domain of resistance, but also Aiden noticed something else, a kindling of chaos within the order, that defies all.

'This body mark surely has its own set of secrets.'

But with that, he arched closer to Long Feng, who immediately used the next ring, and that one gave off an aura of corruption and demonic might. He grew vigilant this instant. He still remembered vividly the battle prowess of a demon that up to this day surpassed any opponent he faced.

Vines transformed into demonic ones with horrendous scythe-like blades on each end and with tremendous speed slashed down. He backed off with Storm Steps to see the place he was before obliterated. Blades shone with green corrupted might and cut out, severing trees of the path.

As they were about to mince the target into a pile of meat, dozen shields similar to ice and lightning petals stopped their blurry assault.

Dong* Dong* Dong*

The metal sound of collisions filled the air, shaking vicinity with shock waves. Vines kept fighting against lotus petals, while Aiden amid this menace blurred forward to end it all now. His sword shined with platinum brilliance in a straight line.

'So fast!'

Long Feng knew for certain, if he was to fight Aiden while the latter broke through to even spirit ancestor, he would stand no chance at all.

'What a monster! Surely no human can be so strong! Could he be a true devil? A reincarnation of evil? Yes, he should be! He needs to be killed for the goodness of light!'

He wasn't able to dodge, only to activate another corrupted ring. Platinum light was as sharp as a razor, severing his arm and sending a stream of blood in its wake.

"Not the end, filthy devil, you will not defeat the light!" – that severed arm suddenly became a piece of wood, shot out roots to Long Feng, and reattached itself, effectively healing all and again becoming flesh and blood.

'What a troublesome fellow.'

Aiden twitched his lips in annoyance and glanced at Na'er battle. With him stealthily buffing her with Tree of Life, she could give a couple of new wounds to Alexian, but the latter had a very particular ability and although he was clearly a power-oriented fighter, the magma was a troublesome entity on its own, that could always be used as a source of control even without proper skills.

No matter what one thinks of Spirit Hall, their unknown in canon Zealot Divisions seems to be a congregation of monsters and these two were talents in their own right. Talents that even Shrek academy will be happy to have.

'But this regeneration should cost quite a lot of not only spirit power, but life force too.' – Aiden looked around subtly while again going for a killing blow. – 'No matter, both of them are lacking in close combat capabilities.'

Suddenly he understood what it means to underestimate his opponent.

Clank!

"External Spirit Bone!" – his sword was blocked by a long snake-like bone whip, coming from the outer part of a forearm on which a chitin protrusion appeared. – "You, Zealots, are really a bunch of trouble."

"Haha, die heretic and be cleansed in eternal light." – laughed Long Feng on the verge of hysteria. He seemed to be taking pleasure in battle and was basking in pain with a sadistic smile.

'Never in my both lives, I saw someone so twisted in the head. It is almost surreal how unreasonable that fellow is. He is a damn psycho!'

His sword danced in simple yet effective strikes, covered with Dragon Sword Aura. Although sharpness was very high, external spirit bone seemed to be very tough.

= Master, that bone belongs to a thirty thousand-year-old spirit beast. It would be extremely hard to destroy.

'Is it extractable?'

He asked that because in canon external spirit bones were so closely connected to the user, that they dissolved with his or her death.

= No. It is too closely connected to spirit and neurons system. Yet it's a good sample for scanning.

'Good enough.'

Their battle left the forest in immediate closeness in shambles and Aiden noticed that Long Feng never used his last black ring despite him falling into a disadvantageous position. But, as a zealot he is, it was not a question of hesitation. There must be…

"Damn! That sneaky prick!" – Aiden realized something and charged his sword, yet Long Feng smiled cruelly.

"Too late, die, you devil!"

His Black ring lit up accompanied by a severe wave of pressure as he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of pure life force, which he secretly transferred from all the plants around that they decimated. It was fuel for his last sure kill move.

The ball entered a ring in breakneck speed and a huge tree-like arm appeared out of it wielding a colossal hammer. It was pitch black all over and burned with green corrosive flames.

Aiden didn't wait. He wanted to see whose skill more powerful in a frontal assault? Sure thing, bring it on.

Dragon Claw.

Although the name of skill wasn't very earth shattering, the effect of it was anything but humble.

His third platinum-purple ring shined and suddenly it looked like night became day. Behind Aiden, a huge lifelike manifestation of a dragon appeared amidst the storm of cloudy platinum energy. It looked down with tremendous oppression, covering half of a battlefield with its head.

It didn't show disdain or apathy, nor rage, but only an unprecedented feeling of purity and righteousness seeped through its gaze. All world seemed to freeze in reverence to a noble existence as if welcoming its ruler.

And then claw descended.

Shattering any opposition with tremendous force and destructive power, it annihilated wooden hammer in mere moments with no resistance and mowed the ground meters deep, sending a shock wave that uprooted trees all around.

The entire forest shook under a single step of a mythical being and then all disappeared, while the night descended again.

Aiden was sure that the guy died. He panted heavily. Dragon Claw took a tremendous amount of spirit energy, effectively emptying him out. He turned his head to see Alexian running away with all his might, while Na'er watched his back with a pensive look. She was very exhausted too.

"Let him be. We need to escape too. This last move caused too much of a commotion." – Aiden walked over and they ran away while supporting each other.

= Master, I found a suitable hiding place, but there seem to be others inside. Not enemies from the caravan.

"Lead the way."