Death... and me

Pankun snorted after hearing Phex's words. "Hmph! Who are you trying to fool here? Fikin already knows that you left Celis inside the Bestial Sacred Land. That's the only place where you would be sure that the World Swallowing Tree is safe. Otherwise, we would have found Celis already."

Phex laughed after hearing Pankun's words. However, he didn't try to deny it this time. He knew that his Demon Beast Alliance didn't have Celis. However, if the Zasfins thought they did, that wasn't a bad thing either. "Alright, alright. However, you can forget about having Celis back. After all, it's not like we're holding him in place with formations or whatever. If we try to force anything, he would definitely fight back."

"Do you think I'd believe that?" Pankun asked in response with a dark expression.

Phex couldn't care less, shrugging his shoulders as he said, "So what if you believe me or not? If you want to fight, then you're welcome to try. I don't know how you know about the issue with the Bestial Sacred Land, but that doesn't mean I'm weaker than some puny Zasfins."

Pankun's group understood that there would be no negotiation in the end. Also, there was the fact that the Spiritual Energy Field was being fixed as they talked, so they had to act right now. "Hmph! Do you think we waited to appear for nothing? We selected this exact place because we knew it would be a burden for any demon beast other than Darian himself. We're actually lucky in this regard. Phex, as a Fire Demon Beast, your power is even more affected. Don't blame us for being impolite."

Suddenly, the five Zasfins separated as a faint blue light shone on their feet. At the same time, their Rank Ten Bloodline Marks appeared on their heads, increasing their Soul Power more than two times. 

Seeing that, Phex narrowed his eyes as he muttered inwardly, 'The Shared Soul Battle Formation, huh. These guys are really serious.'

The Soul Battle Formation was able to share the Soul Power between their users to increase their overall strength. It also improved the flow of Spiritual Energy with the assistance of stronger Soul Power. However, it was a very hard formation to be used, and any mistake might injure one's soul. It looked simple, but it was far from simple, that's for sure.

The faint blue light coming from Pankun's group then spread all around, enveloping the entire city. 

'Quagmire Domain!'

At that instant, Rean, Kentucky, and Roan felt their strength plummet. It was as if something was pressing over their Dantian and Soul Power. They might have their power fused naturally due to the connection between their Dantians and Souls, but they were still affected by it. Well, in actuality, the twins and the Minokawa got off easy. The fusion between the two powers reduced the effects of the domain by a lot. If it was anyone else at their cultivation level, they would now be weaker than a Core Formation Realm cultivator. In their case, their power was suppressed to the Core and Soul Fusion Realm instead. In Kentucky's case, the Stage Four level.

However, it only lasted for a second before a fiery red light emanated out of Phex.

'Burning Hell Domain!'

It didn't cover the entire city like Pankun's group did. Instead, it only affected the Palace and its surroundings. That was to be expected, though. After all, Phex's domain was fighting against a domain made by five Zasfins at the same time. Not to mention that the environment was disadvantageous to him.

Phex didn't seem to mind it, though. As long as he could stop the Zasfins' domains from affecting himself, that was more than enough. Of course, a domain needed a lot of Spiritual Energy to keep itself running. In Phex's case, he had to keep it up while fighting the Zasfins' domain to make sure his own domain wasn't crushed. Of course, that made him use even more energy. With that said, Phex didn't waste time and attacked.

'Assault of Phoenixes!'

Immediately, thousands of burning birds took form inside Phex's domain. Each bird looked like him, only smaller in size. Following that, Phex shot forward as the copies followed. He was a demon beast. There was no way he would stay on the defensive.

Of course, the Zasfins didn't feel the least bit threatened. If they were alone, it would be hard, but they were five here. Besides, it was a common thing for Zasfins and even demon beasts to be born with Water Element Affinity. Naturally, this group that came after Phex was completely formed with Zasfins that had that affinity.

'Cyclic Water Aegis!'

'Sea Engulf!'

'Ice Age!'

Kumo and the other two Zasfins used Water and Ice-based defensive abilities. As for Pankun and Suria, they focused on attacking.

'Ocean Rage!'

'Expanding Water Bolts!'

Phex's copies began to disintegrate one by one as Phex himself crashed against Pankun and Suria's attacks. 

*Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...*

Nevertheless, neither side held back as more and more Spiritual Energy was added to the attacks. Unfortunately, there was a limit to how much Phex could do alone, so he began to lose ground against the Zasfins.

Seeing that, Kentucky couldn't help but ask, "Senior Darian, shouldn't you help him?"

However, Darian shook his head as he replied, "I can't stop the repair process of the Spiritual Energy Field. He will need to hold them off on his own for a few minutes until it starts working again."

"A few minutes?!" Kentucky was taken aback. He had never seen such a high-level battle before. In any case, he was certain that Phex was slowly being trapped in a corner. 

Rean and Roan were more worried about something else, though. "What about us? There are five Zasfins there. What if one of them leaves that battle to attack us?"

"There's no need to worry," Darian responded with a faint smile. "This palace is protected by the Spiritual Energy Field. Although it's weaker for now due to the repair process, it isn't something a single Zasfin can easily break. Besides, they're using the Shared Soul Battle Formation. If one of them leaves that formation, it'll break apart. If they want to make it in time, they'll have to join forces to attack the palace's protection together. For that, they need to get rid of Phex first."

That didn't make Rean's group feel any better, though. After all, they could see how much of a disadvantage Phex was in at the moment. 

'Phoenix Dive!'

'Hell Splash!'

'Fire Reborn!'

Phex used his best skills consecutively. Unfortunately for him, the Zasfins were able to counterattack and defend against everything. It was simply the difference in power. The environment didn't help him out either.

'Omnidirectional Water Waves!'

'Water Vortex!'

'Myriad Water Cannon!'

*Arrgh!*

Suddenly, Phex was hit by one of the attacks as he shot back like a meteor. He then slammed onto the palace, or more specifically, onto the palace's protection field. Nevertheless, Phex quickly got up as the next attacks were already coming at him.

'Phoenix Streak!'

His body transformed into a streak of fiery red light as he disappeared from his position. 

*Boom, boom, boom, boom...*

Unfortunately, the attacks that were directed at him hit the palace's protection field, weakening it. If Phex had the choice, he would have blocked them. 'Shit! I can't give them time to attack the palace.'

The Zasfins couldn't see it, but the palace's protection field was really weak, a lot more than they imagined. If they focused on it, Phex would have a hard time. With that said, Phex shot in their direction once again without holding back.

*Creeeee!*

A phoenix cry came out as Phex's body burnt with Fire Element and Yang Energy. His Burning Hell Domain then decreased in size as if it was losing ground to the Zasfins' domain. However, that was wrong. Phex's domain wasn't losing power at all. Instead, it was compressing itself in a smaller range.

Neither of the Zasfins knew of it. No, to be more precise, they didn't know it was possible. 'What's he doing?'

Darian smiled when he saw that, though. "Phex seems to be angry now."

"Angry?" Rean's group didn't understand what he meant by that. "Wasn't he angry from the very start?"

Darian shook his head as he told them, "No. This is what it looks when he's actually angry."

Outside, Phex's eyes turned bright red, just like his burning feathers. Suddenly, he opened his wings, from which several of his feathers spread everywhere. No, to be more precise, they formed an enormous sphere.

The Zasfins didn't know what was happening, and they didn't intend to let Phex finish whatever he was trying to do. That being said, they all attacked at the same time.

Unfortunately for them, their moment of hesitation cost them valuable time. Phex's feathers began to burn together with his body before they all connected together to form a giant ball of fire. No, it would be better to call it a miniature sun instead.

'Dawn of the Sun God!'

That enormous ball of fire then moved in the Zasfins' direction, burning everything to nothingness, even the water itself. 

Pankun understood that Phex was using an attack that none of them knew about and that it was much stronger than he had imagined. With that said, he also changed their strategy, ordering them, "Give up the assault. Focus your full energy on your defensive skills."

Immediately, they followed his orders.

'Cyclic Water Aegis!'

'Sea Engulf!'

'Ice Barrier!'

'Counter Wave!'

'Ocean Repealing Vortex!'

Phex crashed against the defensive attack, and soon, a stalemate was created. Phex's attack was obviously monstrously strong. Then again, he was fighting against five Zasfins at once. It made sense that they could at least hold him back.

However, Roan narrowed his eyes as he muttered, "Weird..."

Rean, Kentucky, and Darian's attention were piqued by his words. "What is it?"

Roan then explained, "Demon beasts and Zasfins haven't fought for millenniums, right? Although it seems that the Zasfins didn't expect Phex's attack, I refuse to believe that they didn't at least consider him to have gotten stronger during this time. I wonder, is this fight really the main point here?"

Immediately, Rean and Kentucky felt a chill on their backs. After all, Roan was very good at those things.