Chapter 334 - Swaying Battle

"What's this? A new trick?"

But Vloz only answered with his claws. He lunged at the man in full-plate, showing full confidence while the man's axe was still a couple of krin away. Black essence coated his claws but so did an ethereal, almost colorless energy. It wasn't thick but it was undoubtedly different. 

The peak-perennial laughed some more, readying a flaming fist in response. 

As they collided yet again, the peak-perennial finally stopped laughing. He wasn't retreating and he wasn't flinching, but he wasn't laughing or smiling either. 

"Soul art? An aggressive soul art?"

"Don't you want to find out for yourself?" chuckled Vloz, lunging in for the next strike. 

The dark claw and the flaming fist collided again, but a similar, ethereal energy gathered around the peak-perennial as well. After the exchange, both Vloz and the peak-perennial felt their limbs trembling. 

"Interesting… You're better with soul arts, but can you last against my flames?" questioned the peak-perennial, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity. "Are you sure you want to find out?"

"Is that your way of surrendering?" Vloz responded with a question of his own.

Scoffing, the man grinned cheekily, "Of course not! I guess you have a death wish after all!"

"Speak for yourself."

Vloz split his body into six, immediately surrounding the man. As each leopard pounced with that same combo of dark essence and soul energy, the peak-perennial was forced to forget everyone else on the battlefield. He pushed his soul defenses to the limits as he forced his way toward the fallen axe. However, one of the six Vlozes had already grabbed it with his tail.

"Nixt!"

Hearing his name, the exhausted Nixt looked to his side. Instantly, he was stunned by what he saw but didn't have much time to take it in. Nixt quickly caught the flying greataxe with a sigh of relief, glad it had no aggressive essence whatsoever. 

"THANKS!"

"So they're not just fakes and you can make six of them… We were misinformed." Scoffing, the peak-perennial shook his head as he let the flames around him grow wild, "Then I'll just take it back the hard way! Try and stop me!"

"With p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e!" Vloz roared.

The encircled man let loose a guttural battle cry as his flames lashed out in all directions, rushing into all six of Vloz's copies. 

But that didn't stop the leopards dr.a.p.ed in darkness. They forced their way through the flames which singed their fur. Each copy lashed out in a staggered pattern, making sure they shared perfect timing in order to not impede one another. 

The peak-perennial's flames only became hotter the closer the leopards were to him. Adding that to his armor and undying will, the man fearlessly accepted the challenge and lashed out against the second leopard in the attack chain. 

He unwaveringly tanked the first blow with his armored back, reaching out to grab the next pair of claws aimed at him, snatching the second leopard out of the air. This shift in momentum continued as the man tanked the third attack and swung the second leopard into the remaining copies of Vloz.

With his tempo thrown off, Vloz had to mix things up. Momentarily, Vloz retracted his body doubles and circled the peak-perennial, curious what the slower man would do. 

"That hurt, didn't it? If they can all attack, then they can all take damage, right?" joked the man, eyeing Vloz carefully with his confident grin. When he got no answer he continued to taunt, "How did that feel? To have your paws and fur burned away? I'm sure you feel great running around on your scarred paws, don't you?"

However, Vloz refused to reply outright. Instead, he focused on trying his next scheme. 

A dark mist began to take shape as Vloz sped around the peak-perennial. It gathered like a horrifying cloud that cut them both off from the outside world, swirling and churning around them.

At the same time, Marsel struggled to catch the speedy wind user. The lava serpents helped keep the enemy from fleeing outright, but it was difficult to pin him down. 

"Holding you both off just means I'll get paid more in the end," boasted the mid-perennial. "Come on, at least keep this entertaining!"

The man zipped and twisted through the air, evading Marsel's attacks while being sure to not get too close to the lava serpents coiled around them. He kept things close but not too close for comfort. And his confidence was unwaning, not even after Marsel switched sides.

"You're both fools!" the mid-perennial shouted, making sure Nixt could hear him from the other side of the serpents. "Maybe with Lambier's help, you might be able to touch me. But Marsel, you know better!"

"Then prove it, you house fly!"

Hearing Nixt's shout from outside the serpent, the man laughed some more as he streaked past Marsel's next attack and zoomed through the snapping jaws of one of the serpents. "Come on! Marsel's only slowing you down, not letting your serpents do anything besides contain me. Without him, they would be able to collapse on top of me, so why bother with him? Why not take us both out if he's not really a member of your side?"

"You know what… Not a bad idea!"

Suddenly, the serpentine forms of the lava became shaky. The one nearest the perennial foe began to lose its shape as the weight of the lava began to collapse on itself.

"HEY!" Marsel shouted, furiously watching things unfold from the inside.

"HA! See, you two can't--"

SHRRRPH!!

As the flying man laughed and evaded the dripping lava, searching for the first opening to be made overhead, he suddenly felt a searing pain in his back. And that searing pain spread from his backside to his c.h.e.s.t without even giving the man a second to comprehend what had just happened. The last thing the man saw was the head of a blazing greataxe jutting out of his torso, engulfing his entire body in flames while also burning away his internal organs.