Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn! 119 Round Three: Looks Can Be Deceptive 2

"Impossible! You're just bluffing!" Quagmire Jameson sneered as he stated his rebuttal strongly. "If you had already figured it out, you wouldn't be in such a sorry state, half defeated already in just 2 minutes! Hah!"

But even as he spoke so, his brows formed a furrow, a valley running between the lines of his eyes and over his forehead above the bridge of his nose.

Whereas Darius' expression remained unperturbed, looking full of confidence in his declaration. This made Jameson even more worried. Was it true...? Had his trick really been discovered...?

"Really, I would not have noticed it if not for the last move..." The corners of Darius' mouth began to curl upwards in a smile as he spoke. "...But it's already over! Heh, I must commend you for such an ingenious tactic... Now I know why you use such a strange name, Quagmire..."

Then Darius' eyes turned sharp and piercing as he tilted his chin up and raised his gaze to the sky.

"Because it's all just a misdirection to deceive your opponents! What restraining, suppression technique! It's all just a smokescreen for your real strategy...!"

Then to Jameson's shock, Darius made an incredibly bold move.

He shut his eyes!

'Crap... It can't be! No, no... Calm down, Jameson... He's just bluffing, he's definitely just bluffing...! Or maybe he has some idea already but he's trying to bait me...? But then why would he be so confident as to close his eyes completely...? Has he truly caught on... Damn, DAMN!! I can't risk it!!'

This time it was Jameson's eyes that turned sharp and gleamed with a sinister light and he flashed a grin.

'...It's time to finish things!'

As soon as he had determined his heart to call Darius' bluff, he threw his head back and roared with laughter - though Darius still could not ascertain just where the laughter was coming from.

"Hahahaha! Very good, very good! I like a challenge! Come, come! Come, show me what you mean when you say you've figured it out! Or..."

"SHUT UP AND LOSE!!" Then Jameson who was still hidden to Darius' eyes shot forward straight at him... From behind his back, from the left side!

All this while, the god-blooded descendant merely stood still and continued smiling. Nevertheless, he was charging up the cells of his body and the almighty bloodline that flowed through his veins, building up power for one puissant move...

One move to end it all!

'Closer... Not yet... Just a bit more... Come on Darius, don't chicken out... You gotta wait for it...!' Darius' thoughts raced through his mind furiously as he prepared for the deciding moment of the fight.

It was time to test his hypotheses - and whether he would win or lose, succeed or suffer a humiliating defeat without even using any of his strength...

All of it would hinge on this one bet!

But he just needed one more push to make it all tie together... So he opened his mouth and tossed in one last quip which, if he were right, would seal things for sure!

"...You want to know your mistake...?" Darius smiled nonchalantly despite his furiously beating heart and put on a smug look on his face.

"SHUT UP!!!" Jameson's voice echoed out from every direction at the same time as he refused to be distracted by his opponent's provocation.

"...I'll tell you anyway! It's because... It's too quiet!!!" Darius shouted out with as much gusto as he could muster, belying the fact that his breaths were coming short and heart racing as he wagered his victory on one bet!

And at the same time, Quagmire Jameson's heart too was pounding too as the muscles on his legs, back and on the right side of his body hardened and stiffened. He continued his steady advance as he made sure, double and triple checked that his skills were still functioning and applied correctly onto Darius.

One youth held his ready stance, stock still and not moving a millimetre, but highly strung and ready to burst forth with destructive power in a single move; while the other was hurtling over the surface of the stage, building up his momentum and ready to unleash a crushing, skull-breaking blow in one fell swoop...

And both their minds raced to one conclusive thought: 'I've gotta make this one move count... I only have this one chance...! Just one move to finish it all!'

Then at the moment when the mace-wielding stealthed boy entered the striking zone, both boys exclaimed out loud simultaneously in their minds.

'NOW!!!'

In that instant, Jameson erupted with power, swinging a full-powered colossal strike arcing towards Darius' neck and spine! He yelled out silently as he grit his teeth and triggered his finishing move!

'I call your bluff!!! MIST-TIDE PENDULUM!!!'

And in that same instant, Darius' eyes flitted open and revealed golden-infused pupils swimming with glittering specks - the sign of the god's bloodline being activated to the fullest!

Then Darius immediately spun around to face the thin air behind him on his left side, a move that filled Jameson with dread and caused him to scream in unwillingness.

"HOW COULD YOU--" His eyes bulged madly and became distended, every vein in his body and neck bulging as he desperately gave every effort to smash down Darius before the boy made his move!

But he was beaten to the count. He could not even complete his question as Darius' lips parted to roar out loud, "God-cleaving Boundary!! CRUSH!!!"

Suddenly and abruptly, the silence and stillness surrounding them shattered and crashed open as the sound-waves from within met those from outside the destroyed illusion barrier.

And the sounds of the audience's warning cries were once more heard.

"WATCH OUT, DARIUS, BEHIND--"

"No, how did he know! Is he a god??" Many members of the crowd were stunned when they saw the boy who had looked eithered blinded and confused for the past few minutes suddenly react perfectly, spinning round to face his foe and lock eyes with him.

"He is!! He's the god-blooded genius, Darius the Prime!"

"Darius!!! You're the greatest!!!"

"Finish it! Finish it! FINISH IT!!!!"

Then the great shockwave of sound, mana and divine power crashed outwards to collide with the wall of sound from the audience, cancelling out every voice and leaving only the sound of the roar of a god-like being!

"...Boundary! CRUSH!!!"

The great booming roar swallowed up the surrounding audience, causing their ears to ring and even reducing some to giddiness and vomiting!

And with such severe consequences for the audience members just from some peripheral collateral soundswaves.... Just how much more serious was the impact on Jameson...?

Faced with the full-onslaught of Darius' sonic wave focused entirely on him, a scene of horror ensued.

Jameson was flung backwards a full 25 metres, pin-balling off the hard surface of the ground and shattering it even as the sonic-boom was enough to leave cracks all over the arena grounds!
Even as he hurtled through the air and bounced off the ground, the internals of his head, chest and body were shaken up so badly that his visceral organs and lymph system began to haemorrhage, all his five orifices immediately gushing forth with great flows of blood!

In the aftermath of the great blast of almighty power from Darius, the True Heaven's Scion, his opponent was left frothing at the mouth and bleeding profusely, all the while still muttering in his unconscious state, "How...? How...? How...? How...?"

Before he fell completely silent as his head slumped to one side.

"Quick! Get the medical team!!" Within moments after Jameson's body came to a rest, Mitsui had already reached his side. He, too had been shaken slightly by Darius' sonic attack - despite being a peak Master-level practitioner in his own right!

Of course, he had also forced himself to stand nearby, thus being exposed far more to the brunt of the force. Nevertheless, even while he released healing flows into Jameson's heavily injured body and attempted to repair his innards, his confidence was shaken no small amount.

If he were the one in the ring facing the Elite level boy... Would he have fared any better...?

Granted, he had a completely different fighting style and a much higher defence as well as his own potent trump cards, yes... But even then, it wasn't clear whether Darius had exposed his full capabilities yet or not...

He cast his thoughts aside as he handed over the task of stabilising the defeated boy to the medical team who scurried over and then stood up to announce the winner of the battle.

"Your winner... With a spectacular turnaround and demonstrating tactical and strategic superiority as well... Darius!"

His words triggered a renewed wave of clamorous and raucous cheers, the members of the audience rising to feet in a standing ovation at the rousing conclusion to the cerebral battle!

"Serves those doubters right!! Who said that Darius is all brawn and no brains!!"

"DARIUS!!! You're the best!!! The best of them all!!!"

"All the way to the Battle Through The Heavens!!! Make us proud, son of Gorun City!!!"

Endless applause and jubilation swept over the crowd as Darius waved and bowed in succession to the four cardinal directions, then confidently made his way back to the waiting area.

And he made a beeline straight for Lars' seat, not limping or shaky in his steps at all despite the hits he had taken.

He stopped before Lars and gave him a once-over as if though he were a high-and-mighty being looking down on a detestful piece of scum, before he raised a hand to flick his medium-length black hair aside and let out a condescending, "Hmmph." sound.

"Do you know how I won that fight...? Did you even know what was happening through-out...?" Darius cocked his head slowly in a questioning manner, a provocative smile on his face.

"Or... Was everything just too complicated for your tiny, untalented brain to comprehend...?" He sneered brashly as he spoke softly, not loud enough for anyone outside of the contestants waiting area to hear.

But Lars just smiled as if though nothing had happened; as if though a fly had just buzzed by.

He did not even respond, not even looking up to acknowledge the existence of the divine-blooded boy before him!

After all, who was he? A tiny 17-year-old Elite-level ant daring to flaunt in front of Lars who could easily level the entire city at a whim?

Seeing that there was not even a whit of a reaction from the golden-haired boy who was so handsome that he bordered on being beautiful, Darius could not help it anymore and his whole face turned blue as he held his breath in rage.

But he realised that he had not yet reached his limits of anger and that Lars had not yet shown his the maximum of his disrespect - when Lars yawned and dug his ear right in front of him!

"I--! You--!! I...!!" Darius turned blue then black then red as he felt dizzy from anger and lost for words to even express the fire in his belly. Then he finally decided to just stomp heavily on the floor and flick his sleeves nonchalantly and walk on by as if though the embarrassing incident just seconds earlier had not happened!

But even as he passed by Lars, Darius finally could not bear it anymore and still had to slip in some last words which he spat out venomously: "...Just you wait!! I'll beat you down so badly, you won't even recognise your own face in the mirror!!"

And Lars just continued smiling - looked like he would need to add one more name to his list of overbearing people to teach a lesson to...

Chapter end