Something in Rowan's tone and the etherealness of his existence shook the old man to the core and the realization that he was before something that even in a million years he had no chance to understand struck him,

"What are you?" the old man solemnly whispered,

"You know who I am Roael, not consciously, but something inside your blood, the oldest of instinct of your kind knows my presence as surely as you know your own hand. Fight me with everything in your soul and spirit, according to the old ways, and then I might tell you. You intrigue me, Roael."

The old man growled, "fuck you!"

"That is the spirit!" Rowan smiled, and it was beautiful, his consciousness inhabiting this body was slowly changing according to his image, "Come for me, mortal, let your life reveal its splendor at this moment, show me what called you to my gaze."

The old man did not roar, he only gritted his teeth and brought the head of his halberd to his stump, and with a loud sizzle he closed off the bleeding wound,

Rowan's eyes which were as black as the void analyzed these new changes in the old man and he nodded in satisfaction, before he attacked, some part of him acknowledging the fact that at this moment he must sound as crazy as the World Will who butchered him a while ago. The last thought in his heart before he clashed with Roael and left everything behind but instinct was that 'there were always truths behind the madness.'

Although he clashed with no extra force but his mortal body against a Legend Ranked Explorer, the sound of his short blade hitting the halberd was like thunder.

Rowan had access to all the greatest martial arts across many universes, and with a portion of his consciousness always refining the abilities he knew, he had reached such a profound state in his fighting capacity that every move he made carried an untold amount of domination, but for this battle, he drew upon only the smallest of his abilities, but he nearly overwhelmed the old man in the first second.

Rowan's blades were like a whirlwind, always snaking in from unexpected directions, and the old man defended furiously with his halberd, he had to sacrifice little wounds to avoid major ones, as he quickly realized that his greatest weapon, his silver orb, was utterly useless against his foe.

It was an amazing and fearful thing to watch as his foe weaved through the blast of force as if it was pointless, while still punishing him with blows that would slice his body apart.

Roael knew that this outcome was only a matter of time, without one of his limbs he was not properly balanced and it had been a while since he had to fight with his life on the line like this.

As if the blades from the child had multiplied, dozens of them headed towards all the vulnerable spots on his body from his head to his toes, and the face of the old man went pale despite his dusky green skin tone, the moment before his death, his eyes brightened and the arm left on the floor combusted with a silver glow and the gauntlet around the arm released a force field that did not wrap around the body of the old man but Rowan, freezing him in place. The breath of the old man caught in his throat, and he gasped aloud, sweat and blood pooling down his legs. The fight had barely taken three seconds, but he had nearly died a hundred times. In this moment the blades of Rowan had stopped a millimeter from his right eye and his heart, a slight delay in the activation of his gauntlet and he would be dead.

Unexpectedly this understanding did not make him angry, instead, he began to laugh. The eyes of Rowan that had been frozen in place slowly turned towards him, the motion drawing a loud shrieking sound from the gauntlet similar to a fingernail scratching at a board, and his voice emerged from the confines even though his lips were not moving,

"You see... that was unexpected, according to all my knowledge about Explorers, cutting off the limb that had been bound with your Natal Treasure would deprive you of the ability to channel the power of that treasure, that is until you become a Deific Ranked Explorer, how are you able to perform this feat Roael?"

The old man continued laughing, "So there are mysteries that you are not aware of monster."

His left hand which had been sliced off began to rapidly regrow, and when they did they contained faint brown scales like those of a serpent. The gauntlet reappeared in the hands of the old man and his demeanor changed, his skin that was formerly green began to shift towards purple, and his reddish-black hair began to turn golden,

"It is said that we are only able to use these words when we become a Deific Ranked Explorer, and I have waited for most of my life to say them, but for someone like you... I think it would be fitting to use it here, my shame is no longer a burden to me when it can be used against the unknown in this world," the old man spoke aloud, power rippling through his voice,

"I am an Explorer of the unknown and the wicked, and this is my fate."

The force field covering Rowan's body began to creak as sparks leaped out from it, before long he would be free, and the light in his eyes was dangerous and filled with fury.

The old man, filled with new power, disregarded this incoming danger, seized his halberd with both hands and charged forward, driving the weapon down on the forehead of the shackled boy.

However, two small hands caught the heavy ends of the blade and halted it an inch from cutting into the forehead of the child, but the old man grinned and twisted the haft of his weapon and the blade caught between the palms of the boy exploded.

"Today you shall die, monster!" the old man screamed.

"Not today," a calm voice replied through the rapidly facing explosion, revealing the body cradling a silver flame in the center of his palm, "not on any other day. Now tell me, you pathetic mortal... Who claims my bloodline is one of shame?"