Chapter 99: Mysterious Flame

"Howard, we can't beat him without teamwork," Alrok looked down at Howard who still seemed to be stuck in a dream. "You're going through a nightmare for thirty seconds, and I'm fighting a monster for 30 seconds."

Alrok turned back and watched Reece slashing out fire at the two Aresoul students that had surrounded her. With every movement, the Aresoul seemed completely contained, her fire dancing around her body like snakes, while the two facing her tip-toed against the ice.

'Our best hope is that all four of us can face Nellon together. I just have to not die, hahaha!" Alrok's left arm seemed to twist from him activating the second level of awakening. 'Ugh, my wife is going to kill me if I die! Just 20 seconds until that little monster wakes up yet?"

Alrok stepped off his back foot and shot towards Nellon who had started to rise up from the ground. His eyes seemed contaminated with pure hatred, and the most unadulterated power seemed to swell in his fist.

His hands seemed to almost grow and shine with a white mist that seemed to blanket the space around him. With a single step, he appeared in front of Alrok who'd already made it over 200 meters towards him.

A doorway appeared behind Nellon and a large fist shot forward, crashing into Alrok's soaring body.

Boom!

The fist made out of the purest Ki collided with the flesh and blood of Alrok. The ice underneath them instantly shattered and a cloud of chipped ice cut into the features of the landscapes. A few boulders from a nearby mountain collapsed, a large geyser of water seemed to rocket into the clouds, but only one body shot in the opposite direction.

Alrok looked up at the sky and then gently felt his body skid against the ground. He'd just used his maximum power to attack an Aresoul magician, and still got sent flying back. Crashing into the cold water, he stared up at the clouds spreading out in the sky. What the hell just happened?

'Did-did he just use a Ki Manifestation Doorway?' Alrok's body saw a bright light swimming towards him as he crossed his arms. 'Impossible! He shouldn't be at this leve--"

Boom!

Three dozen white beams of light shot into Alrok's torso before he burst back up into the air. Crashing back through the ice, he felt dozens of more whips of light shoot into his body. Boom! Boom! Boom!

After a few seconds, Alrok had gotten bounced against the ice multiple times. His torso began to bleed uncontrollably on the floor. Thus, he began to feel no point in standing up.

'Howard, He's already in the middle part of the A rank! That-that had to be the 9th door! We-we have to leave… now…'

"Heh, you made me reach into a part of me I didn't know existed," Nellon cracked his knuckles and jumped into the air, opening a 9th door behind him. "Wow, I really hate you. I guess I grew stronger just to kill you."

"I-I can't give up," Alrok finally managed to stand, channeling Ki faster and faster into his body. "You're a monster. My wife is scared of the dark. You need to die."

"What a pathetic Mocralin." Nellon unleashed all his energy and shot it right at Al Roker direction. A massive palm that seemed to dwarf the sun behind it and cast a shadow of death on the field below. Crossing his arms, Alrok saw his wife smiling in the distance.

'I'm sorry, honey. You won't be getting a home cooked meal ton--"

Boom!

A large cloud of dust shot up into the air, a surge of water following and spreading against the ice, as Nellon smiled and rapidly descended. He seemed to have gained the ability to fly through the air. With a single step, he seemed to cover a massive distance, reaching into the water and pulling Alrok out by the neck.

"Hoh, still alive," Nellon tossed Alrok on the floor. "Heh, just remain there, okay. I'll have a few words from you after."

"No! I won't! I won't! Howard wiped a tear off his eyes. "I won't let you do it Vicky! Not again!"

"What a little monster," Nellon gently ambled over to Howard with a smile on his face. "Hmmmm, it's been 15 seconds and you already broke free. I can feel that damn Dark Ki spreading around your body! Ha, your death is about to come. How does it feel?"

"Nooo! I won't let you do it! NEVER! I'm in control! I'm in control!"

Boom!

A large black flame burst around Howard's body that instantly shattered all the ice in almost 100 meters. His horns shot almost a meter above his head while an extremely disturbing force spread out from his body. At the same time, the water beneath him seemed to melt, evaporating so fast that he seemed to clear a path to the bottom of the sea.

Plop!

Howard's body fell slowly down towards the water while his eyes kept trembling.

Vicky had once shown him a video of his parents dying, about how he could've prevented it, in order to conduct an experiment. The feeling of anger he felt towards himself rose to such a level at that moment that he'd set the entire cell aflame. For two days and two nights, they hadn't been able to extinguish it. Yet the strangest thing about this flame is that it didn't spread, it merely stayed in one place burning the same thing over and over again.

This energy, this fierce flame that had spread across his body, had been the target of the experiments by the Exland Empire. They spent over 6 months figuring out a way to change Howard permanently so he'd never be able to access that door again. However, unknown to them, Jenny had unintentionally reopened that door a few months ago when she was with Howard. Now, at this moment, that same flame burned around Howard's body, melting the water in all directions for almost 50 meters.

"What the hell? He's still dreaming?" Nellon smiled and opened 9 doors behind him. "Wow, he's more of a monster than I expected. I guess using 25 percent of all my remaining power to kill him might be worth it."

Nellon saw Monica rushing towards him and simply flipped his hand before a hand appeared behind him and sent her flying into the distance.

Reece, who appeared on his right, sent a palm towards his face before he simply stepped back and jabbed her in her neck. She spun in the air once before he simply tapped her body and caused her to disappear into the rising stream.

Boom!

Reece crashed into a nearby boat, shattering it into pieces, before Nellon turned and saw Alrok scrambling towards him.

"Seriously? You're all so persistent," Nellon seemed to dance off the ice before he spun twice and smashed into Alrok's body. He didn't even watch him crash into the mountain, nor listen to the shattering of his bones.

Instead, he just appeared above Howard, a massive attack forming behind him.

"Lance Light Death!" Nellon screamed, a surging energy shooting out of him. "Nine ways of Fury! Ignite!"

Boom!

Nellon's 9 doors opened and nine balls of light appeared in his hand before they shot foward. Those fusing nine attacks all instantly seemed to grow in size before they shot right into the mysterious flame that Howard had ignited in the distance.

Howard, opening his eyes, saw a terrifying storm surging towards him. He could barely blink before the massive force crashed into his body!