Chapter 236: A Dance of Fire and Ice
Rowan's Berserker technique was at the Earth grade, but with his current strengths, he no longer found it suitable enough, and he sought to upgrade this Aspect, and what better method to refine his abilities than battle. He could easily kill Dorian using his Serpents, but that was not the main reason he was on the moon.
With four pillars of consciousness and the new abilities granted by his second bloodline he was about to play a game worthy of an Empyrean of his capabilities, and Rowan discovered that he liked this game. Living was not enough anymore, he wanted to thrive!
Lets the game begin!
He wanted to draw someone out; Dorian was just the bait.
Each of the doppelgängers used different Berserker techniques, and although they could only use one at a time, their perfect synchronicity covered any flaws that might have resulted from that action, and their deaths brought a freezing blast holding Dorian in place, and he could see the frustration and uneasiness growing inside the heart of Dorian.
After a few minutes, Rowan frowned, not because of the performance of his doppelgängers, they were doing spectacular for although the technique was still at the Earth level, it was now powered by Rowan enhanced bodily essence at the Rift State, and his more powerful Aether, so it was at least ten times stronger than when he last used it in battle, and with four copies of himself all working in synchronization, Dorian was getting pummeled, which was the reason Rowan frowned, Dorian was retreating and fighting far from his peak.
A swing from the great sword of one doppelgänger sliced a path through Dorian thick red hair, and they floated away into space buffeted by the shockwaves of the ongoing battle.
Rowan thought it was time to elevate the stakes, "You can do better than this Dorian." and with a burst of Telekinesis Rowan ripped Dorian's blade from the place he discarded it, and began running his hands down its length. "This is lighter than I thought."
"Damn you!" Dorian exploded, and like a supernova, a blast of flame erupted from his body, instantly vaporizing the Combo Attack Avatars, the flames even reached Rowan, but a shield of Telekinesis held it at bay.
"Get your fu*king hands off my lady!"
"Wait..." Rowan assessed the screaming Dorian with flames shooting out from his body as if he were a Sun God, "Don't tell me you mean it literally? Damn Dorian you are hardcore, how do you fuc.."
"I told you to stop touching her..." Dorian began to slowly transform as leaves began growing on his head.
Rowan shrugged, "make me." He conjured his Throne and sat down, holding the blade by his feet, Activating Combo Attack once more, the battle began, and this time he asked Eva to attack, it was time he understood the full breadth of her abilities.
Eva pouted, and she snapped her fingers summoning a large black book, and she began making esoteric gestures that made the pages of the book flip increasingly faster until it reached the last page and the book disappeared, and she returns to Rowan side.
After a while, Rowan had to continuously regenerate his Combo Attack Avatars more than a dozen times, and he waited for the effects of Eva spells, and saw no difference, he wanted to ask what she did, when Dorian roared in fury, tearing all the doppelgängers apart and leaped towards him like a rocket leaving trails of flames behind.
When he reached twenty feet from Rowan he abruptly vanished and returned to his previous position.
Before his confusion could set in, he was mobbed by his doppelgängers, even in this short battle Rowan techniques had already improved and unlike before where they could only explode to keep Dorian in place, now their attacks could stagger him, and every time he destroyed one of them, it explodes freezing him in place long enough for Rowan to replace it, and when Dorian used a large blast to destroy all of them and rush towards him, the enchantment by Eva drove him back to the center.
Dorian suddenly roared and pulled out an eye from his socket and he crushed it making it explode into a pillar of flame that surrounded his body, melting all the Avatars near him. The next doppelgänger created by Rowan was filled with Aether, the explosion when it was destroyed snuffed out the flames and froze Dorian in a mountain of ice.
A red glow began to rise inside the mountain of ice and Rowan rapidly created more doppelgängers and they surrounded the mountain of ice which was already breaking to pieces as Dorian shot blasts of flames from all the orifices in his head and shattered the mountain.
He roared in frustration when he found out that the doppelgängers had already returned and surrounded him, and he tore out his newly grown eyes and flung it towards Rowan. The field Eva laid over Dorian could not only send him back to his initial position, it could also reflect techniques.
The eye appeared beside Dorian and exploded, pushing him into the ground, and he punched the ground in frustration before closing his eyes, and the surrounding air changed. He went still and crouched a little bit, and small flames like fireflies began to surround his body. He yelled a war cry and charged.
Dorian began fighting like a storm, and he began destroying the doppelgängers faster and slamming more attacks into the barrier surrounding him. Rowan chuckled as he felt his Berserker technique reaching the peak of Earth level, and with a little more push, it would ascend.
Rowan equaled Dorian's fury and a dance of fire and ice began, as the battle began tearing the surface of the moon apart.
Yet as Dorian began increasing the power behind his blows and getting faster, Eva began to strain to hold on. Dorian, apparently losing patience, transformed into his tree-like form, and the explosion that resulted due to that transformation cracked the barrier and Eva screamed in anger.