...…
Diablo could not help but stare at Julius intently after the intense battle. He knew that he was on the losing end in any of the exchanges earlier, but he remained calm as he was confident that he believed that he could still turn things around.
The problem was his current assessment of the opposing party. Based on the initial assessment of his Demon Eyes, the latter had yet to fully showcase his true power.
The earlier skills and techniques that Julius had shown earlier were just the tip of the iceberg, yet Diablo was already having a rough time surviving in those exchanges.
The way Julius utilized each spell to their fullest potential along with other magic-related combat techniques reached a certain level of perfection, making it harder to deal with.
Julius was also quite good at fusing and linking his spells, which further increased the difficulty of dealing with him.
Fortunately, Diablo’s advantage lay in ’time’. The longer he fought, the ’stronger’ he became due to the special features of his Demon Eyes. So long as he managed to survive a little longer and let his ocular skill gather more data and analyze his opponent, his chances in turning the tide would increase by a huge margin.
The issue was what the other party was thinking. From what he could tell, Julius seemed to be aware of his plans.
Even if Julius had no idea about the Demon Eyes that Diablo possessed, he could still tell that the latter liked to drag his battle a little longer after reading through the data their team had gathered about him.
Moreover, based on his vast experience, Julius was no stranger to this kind of playstyle or situation. He had already met and fought multiple types of people, and among them were those who had a slow start because they needed to ’heat’ their engines first before slowly ramping up their tempo.
From his initial assessment, Diablo most likely fell into this category of players.
This was the reason why Julius wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible, but Diablo always got away from his grasp with the tiniest margin.
Diablo’s speed was one thing, but this guy’s survival instincts were not a laughing matter either. From the earlier exchanges, Julius could tell that Diablo had encountered multiple situations where he was always threading his way between life and death.
Julius did not know what Diablo had experienced, but he could at least tell that it was not something pleasant – torturous even.
At the same time, Diablo was somewhat thinking this same. He could not help but recall the torturous experiences that he had suffered during his sparring matches against the Monster Trio, who were always finding a way to deal with his Demon Eyes.
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The calculations that his Demon Eyes made were always somewhat off the mark. Despite considering all the situations and battle scenarios that it had foresaw with the help of all the data that it had collected from all his battle experiences, this monstrous trio would always surpass its expectations and find a way to win the battle.
Even though he had won a few rounds against those guys, all those victories felt like a fluke amid his fierce struggles.
"I guess it was all worth it," he mumbled while mocking himself a little. "Or perhaps, I am relying on these ’eyes’ a little too much."
He had already told himself that he would limit himself in using the advanced abilities of his Demon Eyes after experiencing that near-death experience after he had overdriven his mind during his battle against Shin.
It felt like frying his brain during a battle, which could affect him negatively in the long run.
But it seemed like plans never caught up to changes. It was hard to kill such a habit in a short time, so he had to work a little harder.
He then closed his eyes, relaxedly and inhaled deeply while recalling the words that his father had left him when he had created these ’Demon Eyes’ and during the times he was being guided to be a good player.
– "You can’t always rely on these eyes of yours as it can make your ’early game’ somewhat predictable." –
– "Your assassination techniques are not that bad, but you always fall out of tempo once you are being rushed by your opponent, to which you are responding in kind and turning the battle into a duel." –
– "Your dueling abilities are quite strong too, but it is not your strong point. There are still those who are a better duelist than you, especially those who had advantage in this area due to their classes." –
– "You better find a way to strengthen these two points, and you will be fine in every situation. Even if you encounter those who can counter you." –
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– "Taking advantage of your speed is quite good, but you still must find an additional card that you can play because the moment when you encounter someone that can restrain your movements, even in a certain degree, you will be having serious troubles." –
At this moment, Diablo already had those cards that his father was talking about, yet he was still subconsciously relying on his father’s creation, which was most likely due to him achieving the ideal Hyperactive Immersion that his old man had always dreamed of.
After refreshing his mind, Diablo reopened his eyes as the expression on his face suddenly changed.
Total calmness was reflected in his face as if the thing that was constantly deluding his mind suddenly became clear before his eyes, and swiftly wiping it away.
…
Shin, who was watching from the team’s booth, could not help but lift the corner of his mouth when he saw this. "This is going to be more interesting."
…
David took advantage of the sudden pause that the two combatants on the arena had made to explain to the viewers the earlier exchanges.
At this point, he saw the changes in the air surrounding Diablo, making David’s brows rise. Somewhat surprised, he could not help but comment. "Now, the real battle will start."
…
While everyone was still confused at the sudden change in David’s tone, Julius, who was currently facing Diablo, also sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere.
Diablo might have briefly closed and opened his eyes, but the series of changes that he had undergone were too sudden that it caught Julius a little off guard.
"Am I wrong?"
While Julius was doubting his initial assessment about Diablo, the latter had suddenly made his move.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
With he opened his arms wide as a group of shadow daggers fanned out behind him. He then waved his hands forward, commanding the daggers to fly forward.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Seeing this, Julius swiftly waved his hand, summoning an equal number of ice arrows behind him before also sending them forward.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After a series of clashes between the two sides, a thick fog suddenly covered the entire area of collision, blocking the line of vision of the two.
Seeing this, Julius swiftly retreated. He cast a series of Blinks to get away from this place as soon as possible and land on top of a tall boulder in the distance.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Just as he had expected, he could not find a trace of his opponent after the fog slowly dissipated.
He did not even wait as he raised his staff and pointed it into the sky.
Whoosh!
Immediately after, a huge magic circle suddenly appeared on the ground, covering a huge area that almost reached a radius of a hundred meters.
This spell was not an offensive one despite how stunning and scary it looked. Instead, it was a detection spell that let Julius sense the movements of mana in the surroundings, which pointed him in the direction of his opponent.
After sensing the slightest movement within the air, Julius swiftly turned to face that direction and pointed forward.
Swoosh!
An array of magic circles suddenly appeared in a certain direction, all facing a single spot, before firing a barrage of icicles that bombarded that seemingly empty space.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Before the barrage of icicles could hit their target, someone suddenly materialized from that spot and dashed out of the array of magic circles.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Diablo moved at extreme speed, leaving a series of afterimages behind alongside a barrage of explosions created by the icicles after hitting the ground.
Julius skillfully controlled his spells as he locked on Diablo’s silhouette that was dashing through the grassland.
He knew that he had the advantage if this continued a little longer as the surroundings were gradually transforming into an icy field filled with ice spikes sticking out of the ground and frozen land.
The temperature within the grassland was rapidly dropping due to the ice spells of Julius, slowly affecting the movements of his opponent.
The moment when Diablo showed some signs of slowing down, Julius suddenly increased the pace of his attack, sending an even stronger spell in the mix.
"Hmm!?"
But when he was about to focus his mind to prepare the advanced spell, he suddenly sensed a sneaky movement coming from another direction.
Without any hint of hesitation, Julius ignored the previous target and suddenly turned around before pressing his palm forward.
’Ice Mage Spell (Tier 2): Repulsive Mirror’
Swoosh!
A smooth wall of ice suddenly materialized in front of his palm, acting as a shield that suddenly blocked the incoming ambush.
Bang!
Another Diablo suddenly materialized before Julius, stabbing his stiletto forward, which was stopped by the ice mirror.
Bang!
Almost instantly, that ice mirror suddenly released a strong repulsion that pushed Diablo and sent him in the air.
Julius was about to throw a spell, taking advantage of the opening that he just created. Given that Diablo was still suspended in the air, it would be difficult to dodge his spell.
But he was interrupted once again as his earlier target suddenly took a sharp turn and swiftly sprinted toward his direction, transforming into a shadowy line that flew through the grass field.
Swoosh!
Julius was caught in a brief dilemma, delaying his offensive spell. This short delay was more than enough for a Shadow Dancer to turn the tables, so this Wizard King decisively abandoned the idea of attacking both sides and decided to take the defensive stance instead.
’Ice Mage Basic Spell: Cold Swallow’
Bang!
An icy fog suddenly surrounded Julius, blocking the view of everyone. He was attempting to delay the attack of his opponent by obstructing his line of vision.
Diablo decisively made his move as well.
The ’Diablo’ that was being sent flying suddenly ’melted’ and transformed into a cluster of shadow mana. They flew forward and turned into shadow tentacles that charged through the icy fog, attempting to find Julius.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
But before they could even find their target, a series of flashes suddenly cut through the fog and sliced the shadow tentacles.
The attempt might have failed, but it was more than enough for Diablo to pinpoint the exact location of his opponent.
Swoosh!
He further increased his already insane speed as he charged straight to the icy fog while pointing the stiletto forward.
’Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): Flickering Stab’
His figure pierced through the icy fog, which was swiftly scattered by the gust of wind accompanying Diablo.
Bang!
But when the fog was cleared, everyone saw an ice golem standing before Diablo, directly receiving the earlier attack. It stayed for a couple of seconds before shattering into multiple pieces.
Julius, on the other hand, did not care about this as he was currently hovering in the air. He seemed to be at the final syllable of his chants, completing his spell.
When everyone finally noticed him, it was already too late. He was swinging his magic staff down while a gigantic iceberg materialized in the sky and fell like a meteor.
’Ice Magister Spell (Tier 3): Secret Method – Winter Burial’
Zong!
The sonic boom reverberated in the entire battlefield as the iceberg fell from the sky.
Diablo raised his head when he saw the giant shadow cast upon him from the sky. When he saw the gigantic iceberg, he knew that it was already too late to dodge.
He still kept calm despite the predicament while commanding the shadow underneath his feet.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The huge shadow moved and converged toward him, wrapping itself around his body.
’Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 3): Shadow Equip – Divine War Robe’
Not long after, Diablo’s figure was revealed before everyone’s eyes, donning a majestic robe made of shadows.
His head was hidden underneath the hood hanging over it, only revealing a pair of purple eyes peeking below the shade.
Diablo raised his head a little more while gripping the dagger in his left hand. He then put more strength into it before throwing a powerful slash in the air, summoning all his might.
Swoosh!
’Shadow Dancer Skill (Tier 2): (Reinforced) Shadow Cut’
Shing!
A black energy flew out from his dagger, which enlarged into a giant crescent wave that flew straight to the gigantic iceberg and shattered it into multiple pieces.
Boom!
...…