A huge explosion of stone dust scattered into the air as Zero's Annihilation Beam shot through Dorian and melted into the ground. The dust mixed with frozen particles of ice, obscuring Dorian's form from even the strongest eyes for a few scant moments.
Dorian felt an overwhelming sense of loss. His abnormally powerful willpower allowed him to remain conscious as the totality of the injuries he had suffered settled upon him.
He had tried to shift forms six times before the beam hit him. Unfortunately, the trap Zero had set had taken its toll and prevented him from escaping.
For a short, frozen moment, Dorian felt his body tremble on the edge of death.
'Ausra, heal me. Use my Growth Points, now!' Rapidly, he issued a mental command without hesitation.
'Acknowledged.' Ausra didn't question him as she automatically set about using the vast store of energy Dorian still had left in his soul.
A frighteningly large amount of Growth Energy vanished as Dorian forcibly regenerated, his body healing at a visibly fast rate. Strands of flesh shot upward as his organs began to reknit themselves, expelling the traces of Annihilation Energy. An unsettling, crawling sensation flooded into Dorian's chest as he began to rapidly heal.
Meanwhile, an onerous feeling of strain settled upon Dorian's soul as he acted as a conduit for this torrent of energy. The regeneration process took only a couple of scant seconds, but the amount of energy expended reached a huge sum.
This type of regeneration wasn't something Dorian had pulled out of a hat, nor was it something he could do over and over. He had used his Growth Energy, in the past, to regenerate before. Never had he done it for something of this scale, where his body had to reject traces of powerful Law Energy that were set trying to ravage him from the inside out.
WHOOSH
Dorian's body flashed with light as the huge hole in his chest vanished and his body was almost completely healed. A burst of wind cleared the air around him as he healed, scattering the cloud of dust.
'Ausra, what's my remaining Growth Energy at?' The moment he finished healing, he sent a mental query over to her.
'Roughly 178,398 Growth Points remain in store.' Ausra replied coolly.
Dorian couldn't help but frown fiercely. From millions of points of Growth Energy just a short while ago to less than 200,000… he wouldn't be able to use his Growth Energy to regenerate again.
After Zero had launched his all-out attack, he had returned back to his Humanoid Form. He stood floating in the air as he looked down at the remains of his attack, waiting for the cloud of stone dust that had formed to clear.
When Dorian cleared it after healing, Zero finally managed to see the end results of his handiwork.
"Oh?" Zero blinked slowly as he saw Dorian come back from what should've been death, a small frown appearing on the Anomaly's face. The attack he had used was imbued with his Angelic Class grasp of the Law of Annihilation. It was not something that could be easily recovered from or blocked. Even a being with the Strong Constant Regeneration should've died.
Dorian's ability to regenerate his body so quickly through the use of Growth Energy was only possible because of Ausra. The complex calculations and cell-by-cell restoration was not something even a person with an Angelic Class Soul Spell Matrix could so easily handle. Ausra was uniquely positioned, with her huge store of data and calculating nature, to be able to handle such a task.
"You just don't know when to stay down, do you?" Zero's body shot down to the ground and landed on it with a resounding thud.
"I've never been one to follow…" Dorian's will burned with fighting spirit as his heart pounded. A lot of the worry and fear that had begun to build up in him through the course of this brutal battle seemed to have dissipated with his near-death experience.
Off to the side, hundreds of Grakons were slowly moving towards the battle site. By this point, everything within a hundred meters of here had been completely flattened, leaving only rubble and ruins.
Dorian stretched out his hand to the right, towards the mass of growling Grakons.
"I look at myself more as a leader." He smiled.
'Lesser Magnetic Manipulation!' As he activated the Ability, he pulled hard on the energy in his soul, once more driving a torrent of energy through his body.
WHOOSH
He jerked his arm forward, pulling along a full 200 of the undead Lord Class Grakons. Most of them had yet to Expand and were in their normal state, surprised by his sudden appearance. With bodies that were covered in metal and massive metal swords they wielded in their hands, they were extremely easy to latch onto.
As he pulled them forward, the ground beneath him shattered anew, stone and rock shards shooting off into the air. He exerted a huge amount of force just keeping himself still, relying upon his extremely strong physical body. The sheer force required to throw so many Grakons was considerable, enough so that Dorian's body creaked under the strain, even in its highly enhanced state.
In mid-air, all 200 Grakons Expanded, transforming into towering behemoths. They carried the same momentum they held from when they were small, however, still hurtling towards Zero.
All of the Grakons may have been Lord Class, but none of them possessed any flight related Abilities. In fact, most of them were rather helpless to slow themselves, relying upon brute force for almost everything. At best, they could use the energy of their soul to resist Dorian's Lesser Magnetic Manipulation a little, but not enough to make a difference.
All 200 of those huge, Lord Class Grakons sailed through the air towards Zero in mere moments, blotting out the proverbial sky.
"Hmph. Insignificant worms." Zero's frown deepened as he clenched both of his fists. The Angelic Halo around his head flashed with light as he then knocked his two fists together.
Blood red energy shot out from Zero, covering him in a huge suit of red armor. This towering, 8 meter tall creation then physically separated itself from Zero, moving seemingly autonomously. A pair of large, energy swords formed in each plated hand of the red energy golem.
BOOOOOM
The red energy golem leapt up into the air and intercepted the Grakons.
BOOOOOM
BOOOOOM
Several explosions of energy rang out as the energy golem sent out several sword strikes at the Lord Class Grakons. Each strike from the golem obliterated half a dozen Grakons, the destructive Annihilation Energy it was imbued with tearing apart its enemies.
"My will cannot be stopped, brother. This is something I must do. I am sorry." Zero's body was covered with a sheen of energy once more. This time, however, the energy was a pale pink instead of a vibrant red.
As undead Grakon bodies fell to the floor, Zero shot forward at an extremely fast pace. The energy coating his body appeared to be some sort of enhancement power, rapidly boosting his speed.
It took him only a split moment to cross the distance between Dorian and himself.
When Dorian saw how easily Zero handled the Grakons, using a method that didn't even require his attention, he felt a string of panic creep its way into his heart. He didn't let it control him as he forced himself to remain calm, his Empyrean Vampire form standing strong.
In the split moment it took Zero to reach Dorian, Dorian recognized Zero's attack and adapted.
Dorian abandoned his focus from most of his Laws, and amped up his focus on two Laws in particular. The Law of Lust and the Law of Pride, two Demonic Laws he had a strong grasp on.
'Time! Slow down, now!' He pulled as hard as he could on the Law of Lust, enchaining his perception of time as much as possible. His Law of Pride helped compound the effects of the Law of Lust, not only allowing his body to handle its increased strain, but also enhancing his raw might.
The world around him shifted and slowed down. Zero's blurringly fast-moving form slowed down to one that was still extremely fast but visible.
By this point, Zero had already arrived.
"Woah!" Dorian ducked to the side as Zero punched out at him, narrowly dodging Zero's fist. The enemy Anomaly followed up the punch with a roundhouse kick, one that Dorian had to throw himself down on the ground to avoid.
A second later and Dorian was forced to dodge 7 different attacks, each one an attack he barely avoided by the skin of his teeth. His body tingled with exhaustion as he was stretched to his limits.
Meanwhile, Zero seemed to be, of all things, growing faster.
"Arrrgh!" Dorians left arm cracked as one of Zero's punches glanced off it. The slight contact was enough to break it, a few hints of Annihilation Energy knocking against it and blasting through his defenses.
The glancing blow sent him tumbling backwards more than a dozen meters.
'This isn't working! I need more speed!' Dorian's eyes blazed with light as he drew even harder on the energy in his soul, pulling upon the Law of Lust with all his might.
'More. More! MORE! Give me more! I need it! I must have it!' His desires grew overwhelming as blood began to drip down from his eyes. He was overextending both his mind and soul, stretching them to the absolute limits.
Dorian saw Zero's fist come rushing in towards his face. By this point, Zero was moving so quickly that Dorian, with his injuries, was unable to dodge in time.
This single fist looked like the kiss of death to Dorian, piercing through the air with inevitability.
'MORE!' As Dorian saw the fatal blow crash towards him, he felt a reaction set off in his soul.
A light, warm feeling abruptly began to swarm him. Not a moment later…
A feeling of epiphany settled upon Dorian's shoulders.
'I need more. And by needing more, by desiring more, by wanting more, I can draw more from the world around me. And from that, I gain more of what almost no one can get.' His body trembled as he closed his eyes.
'Time.'
Dorian felt as if he was one with reality around him. He could innately feel the flow of energy in his body and soul, tracing every iota of power, every minute particle. In particular, Dorian's soul seemed to be adapting to this energy perfectly, allowing him to continue his epiphany past normal, reasonable limits.
In what felt like hours, but happened in an instant, Dorian's understanding of the Law of Lust shot up.
Its first spurt of growth brought it all the way to 50% understanding, growing without pause in Dorian's mind till he reached this point. However, as the energy flowed in Dorian's soul without pause, his epiphany continued.
He broke through to 60%.
And then to 70%.
And then to 80%.
At this point, reality around Dorian had slowed down to roughly half speed.
Zero's fist was a quarter of a meter away from Dorian's face, crashing towards him with abandon.
Despite that… Dorian continued to breakthrough.
From 80% to 90%.
And then from 90% to 95%.
Energy vibrated in Dorian's soul without pause as his Energy Levels expanded. This was an epiphany the likes of which Dorian had never seen. His powerful soul could handle King Class understandings already, making him a vessel that was ready to be filled. As an Anomaly, he had a much easier time understanding any Law. This combined with his powerful desires, and led him to where he was now.
From 95% to 100%, Dorian broke through and mastered the Law of Lust to Completion.
Dorian opened his eyes.
And gazed upon a world that had been slowed down to the absolute maximum his Law of Lust could currently boost his speed by, a value made possible by his abnormally powerful body that could handle the enormous strain.
A world where time was slowed down to a mere 10% its normal speed.
Dorian smiled.
.
