Chapter 164 - The Lunar Flame (Part Two)

Everyone saw him screaming and holding on to his head. He was on his knees, and the way he was clenching his head made everyone concerned for him.

"It is the process of a Half-Mystic Mana. It invokes great pain, as it was never able to attain the Mystic Realm. But the beauty in this is, they might attain the Mystic Realm only during awakening, and I am trying to make just that", she said.

Maxine was very worried about her brother, and she wanted nothing more than to stop it. When she was about to step onto the platform, a hand stopped her.

"You are no match for him right now. He is at the epitome of strength and power, and I can sense it reaching the limit. That is when I am going to send in Xerxes to attack, and help boost it to the Mystic Realm", she said.

"Please be safe, Zeph", she prayed inside. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Jasper and Vanessa looking at her. She leaned back into Jasper, and he wrapped his arms around her as she closed her eyes, unable to see what her brother was going through.

Vanessa had her eyes peeled open on him, and she was looking at every subtle change that was happening to him. She noticed something on his forehead, and it was a horn made of the blue flame.

"What is happening?", she thought, and to that Athena gave her answer. 

"This is the true might of the Lunar Flame, and the previous wielder of the flame has descended. Now, the fight for control begins. Let's just hope that his mental fortitude is as strong as him", she said.

"Xerxes, pin him down now. If the other guy gains control, it is not going to look good for his friends",  she commanded, to which all of his arms and legs were wrapped with sand, and was fortified to the point it was unbreakable.

"If this succeeds, I can give him The Eye", she muttered. Vanessa heard what she said and kept silent, as she was wondering what the eye she talked about was. 

(Zephyr's Eye Of The Mind)

He was laying on the side of a lake, and the serene atmosphere made him want to relax. But everything changed once he felt the Lunar Flame devour everything around him, and the scenery was slowly changing into something he never wanted to see.

The place was now burning, and everything in sight was chaos and destruction. And from it emerged a person, who had two horns on his head. 

One of his hands had the Lunar Flame, and he had a sinister smile across his face. There was a glint in his eye, and the way he was walking was menacing to him.

"Finally, we meet. My name is Aldreus, The Lunar Demon. I do not know how you manifested my flame, but I will make sure to take back what is rightfully mine", he said as he walked towards him.

With just a flick of his finger, he began to burn Zephyr down. His body was burning, and he began to feel immense pain. 

"AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!", screamed Zephyr from the top of his lungs, and he was laughing at the sight. He moved and was in front of him in a split second, and kicked him straight in his face.

Zephyr was flying towards the empty ground when a pillar came from underneath. He crashed into the pillar, and it was blown to bits. 

He coughed out blood, and the flames had died down from his body. He looked at Aldreus and had a smile on his face, which startled him.

"You are not the only one who can use flames. Let me show you how much I can crank up the heat", said Zephyr as he released the flames all around him. Bright orange flames began to devour him, and his skin began to crack.

Both of his eyes were crimson, and Aldreus had a smile across his face. He liked the person he was facing now, and he was ready to unleash his flames.

"Let's go, Aldreus. May the stronger person win", said Zephyr as he dashed, leaving a line of flames behind him.

His speed was tripled to that of which he had shown before at the desert, and Aldreus couldn't keep up with his speed. The faster he went, the more he was unable to keep up.

Zephyr had built up enough momentum for him to strike and went in. He had his fist out and punched him in the face. 

The force from the punch sent him backward, and he was rolling on the ground as he was moving. He felt something crack inside him and began grinning. 

"You are the first person to injure me to this extent. And by that I mean, human", he said as he disappeared in a smoke of blue flames, and reappeared behind Zephyr. He ducked and avoided the attack that was headed for him.

Aldreus was impressed with his reflexes and felt a punch land on him the moment he dodged. He was now taken aback by the speed he showed and decided to unleash everything inside him.

He was erupting with flames the same way Zephyr was, and he began to math Zephyr's speed, and his strength was much higher than before. The advantage which Zephyr had over Aldreus was lost in a second, and it was now a one-sided pummelling.

Zephyr was sent into the ground more times than he could keep count. But his determination was unwavering, and the will to become stronger was burning like an unending flame. This impressed Aldreus even more, and he stopped attacking him.

"You remind me of my younger self, Mr. Heart. And for that, I have the utmost respect. Now, summon your weapon of choice and I shall summon mine. Let's see who shall win in one strike. A battle of Honor, and technique", he said as he looked at Zephyr in the eye.

He never stopped the flames erupting from his body, but right now there was a tinge of blue hue within the flame. Aldreus had a smile on his face, and he was willing to share everything with Zephyr after the duel.

Zephyr had a smile and he imagined his weapon of choice, which was a Ninjato. It was a sword that was one and a half feet long and had a very sharp blade. It was light and durable and used very prominently by Ninjas.

Aldreus summoned his weapon, which was a double-sided battle axe. He twisted the handle and the battle axe split into two, which he was holding with both of his hands. 

He spun it twice and adjusted to the weapon before he looked back at Zephyr with a smile on his face. He took his stance and was ready to make his move the moment Zephyr made his.

Just like they had some sort of agreement, both of them moved at the same time. Zephyr used the power of his flames to propel forward and was moving at high speeds. 

Aldreus was doing the same, as his skin turned the same way Zephyr's skin was. The both of them were a few meters away from each other when Aldreus began to spin around with his arms outstretched.

The flames around his body began to protect him in a tornado, and Zephyr was looking at it intently as he was nearing it. He pulled out his Ninjato, and made a quick slash as he circled past the Flaming Tornado.

The both of them stood after their attacks, and neither one of them was falling to the ground. This confused both of them, and they turned around to see what the results would be.

Aldreus didn't expect the human to be standing after facing against his Flames, and Zephyr thought that his attack had gone through. The both of them laughed out loud and took their stances again.

"Seems like until there is a clear winner, the fight must go on. I, for one, am curious as to how this will turn out to be", he said with slight blue flames coming out from his mouth as he spoke.

Zephyr smiled as he took his stance, and pulled out his blade. He nodded his head in agreement, and the sword was covered with bright orange flames.

Aldreus did the same and covered the edge of his axes with Blue Flames, and the moment he did that was when Zephyr made his attack. He slashed straight at his chest but was blocked with one of the axes handles. 

Aldreus then unleashed a wave of attacks, which were expertly deflected by Zephyr as he was pushed back. The smile on both of their faces never faded, and the skies began to change around them.

Aldreus was channeling all of his might into the fight, and his past was being revealed to Zephyr who was fighting against him.