Flashy but Impractical Moves

Bens was indeed quite strong, but the strength he had displayed was merely close to that of a Six-star Demon.

Of course, this was only Ailin's judgment based on the strength Bens had revealed. If he was concealing anything, that would be another matter.

Hearing Ailin speak, Bens's expression darkened slightly. "Hmph, you don't know what's good for you."

In an instant, Bens directly unleashed his Divine Domain. Within it, water divine power formed countless threadlike curtains, creating an external layer of defense.

From afar, it looked as though an enormous Ripple Sphere made of water divine power had appeared, with Bens standing inside it.

Ever since he had begun fighting on the Blood Battle Stage, Bens had never taken the initiative to use a defensive move. Even when facing Nom, he had simply allowed the attacks to strike him.

But now, against Ailin, he had taken the initiative to deploy a defensive technique.

For one thing, Ailin had displayed formidable strength earlier. If Bens did not wish to reveal all his strength, he needed to use some moves to block his opponent's attacks. Moreover, he wanted to personally experience Ailin's attacks.

Although he too cultivated the Water Law, what he excelled at most was the application of the Water Body Technique and the Round Softness Profound Mystery. Ailin, meanwhile, was clearly exceptionally skilled in the Ice Sharpness Profound Mystery. Bens hoped that this battle might give him some insight into the Ice Sharpness Profound Mystery.

Therefore, even if he could defeat Ailin outright, he intended to spend some time "dueling" with him.

"Snap~"

The barbed Long Whip in Bens's hand flicked, sending ripples trembling through space.

Then, the Long Whip seemed to transform into a long serpent. Yet rather than lashing directly at Ailin as it had during Bens's battle with Nom, it seemed to turn into countless flood dragons and merge with the enormous Ripple Sphere.

The moment the whip flood dragons appeared, they formed some kind of "connection" with the Ripple Sphere. Their fluctuations became strangely synchronized, making the Long Whip seem as though it had concealed itself within the Ripple Sphere.

At the same time, as Bens stood within the Ripple Sphere, the constant "fluctuations" of water divine power across its surface instantly blurred his figure. No matter which direction one observed from, Bens's form inside appeared extremely illusory.

Even the spectators could not make out Bens's exact location. It was as though there were countless duplicates of Bens within that Divine Domain. Under such circumstances, if one used a move from outside, setting aside whether the defense could be breached, even hitting Bens accurately would be a problem.

"Crash~"

In an instant, dozens of enormous Long Whips appeared outside the Ripple Sphere, like countless "tentacles." As the massive whips swung, tiny cracks even appeared in space.

This sudden change startled all the God-level experts in the spectator area.

After all, Bens had never used such a move in any of his earlier battles. More importantly, those Long Whips had actually lashed cracks into space?!

This...

For a time, the cheers for Bens around the arena grew even louder.

You should be satisfied that I had to use this move against you.

Through the Ripple Sphere, Bens could clearly see Ailin's position. With a thought, the enormous Tentacle Whips outside the sphere coordinated as they lashed toward Ailin.

After all, he had watched Ailin fight before and had a rough estimate of Ailin's strength. That was why he had used this move right away.

"This Bens is probably exceptionally powerful even among Six-star Demons!"

In the spectator area, Ek's expression could not help turning grave as he watched Bens's move.

The space of the Netherworld was extremely stable. Ordinary High-Gods could not tear cracks into space in the Netherworld. One generally needed strength close to that of a Six-star Demon to do so. Ek had previously guessed that Bens was a Six-star Demon; now, he could be certain.

However, Bens's move was not a direct attack using a Divine Weapon, but a special technique performed with the aid of a Divine Weapon. For this move to lash cracks into space, however tiny they were, was already terrifying.

After all, there was a difference in power between a move that directly attacked with a Divine Weapon and one that used a Divine Weapon to unleash divine power for an attack. It was like how someone could easily send a small stone flying with a slap, but if their palm did not touch the stone, the force of the slap could at most blow away some dust.

The gap between attacks using Divine Weapons and divine power would not be so vast, but the principle was similar. If divine power controlled by a Divine Weapon could tear cracks into space, then a direct attack with the Divine Weapon would only be more powerful.

"Water Element, the Round Softness Profound Mystery, and the Water Body Technique."

With just one glance, Ailin saw the three Profound Mysteries fused into Bens's move. Even an ordinary human without a special bloodline would possess the strength of a Six-star Demon if they could completely fuse three Profound Mysteries.

Not to mention that this fellow might possess Divine Beast Bloodline, which would make him even stronger.

"He really is confident."

Ailin secretly shook his head. Using such a flashy but impractical move?

In truth, Bens's combat technique would yield excellent results when used against opponents weaker than himself, or when facing a group attack. But when fighting an expert of the same level, it was not the best choice.

The stronger one became, the less often such moves were used.

After all, sustaining this technique consumed an utterly terrifying amount of divine power.

Battles between experts of the same level were generally very direct. The more ornate a move was, the more useless it tended to be. Even if its power was sufficient, how long could it last?

Of course, judging from the power of this move alone, combined with Bens's own strength, his true power should not be far from that of a Seven-star Demon. If Ailin had merely been an ordinary Six-star Demon, even if his attacks were somewhat stronger than those tentacles, dealing with this move would still have been troublesome.

Unfortunately, Ailin was not a Six-star Demon.

This fellow may be holding something back as well.

Ailin secretly speculated. With a thought, he used a technique similar to his previous one. Countless ice flowers appeared out of thin air around him, and the temperature of space plummeted. At the same time, the ice flowers rapidly spread in every direction.

"Crack, crack, crack~"

After the ice flowers spread a certain distance, an ice wall suddenly emerged before him without warning. In the blink of an eye, it had grown dozens of meters tall. Once formed, the ice wall gleamed brilliantly beneath the light.

In terms of nature, Ailin's move was similar to the one Bens had used. It was equally flashy but impractical, a move that relied on the strength of one's own realm to "bully the weak."

Whether it was the earlier challengers or Bens, all of them were "weaklings" to him.

He isn't even using a Divine Weapon?

Seeing Ailin use his technique, Bens snorted inwardly. Did Ailin really think he was like those people who had challenged him before?

In that case, he would make him recognize reality.

Almost at the exact moment Bens's Tentacle Whips lashed toward Ailin, Ailin's ice wall formed. Everything happened nearly instantaneously.

"Crack, crack, crack~"

Under the attack of those Tentacle Whips, cracks instantly appeared across the ice wall. Yet it did not shatter outright.

Such a hard ice wall!

Bens was shocked. He had used this move to avoid revealing all his strength through a direct attack, but even so, it was comparable to an ordinary Six-star Demon's attack. Yet this attack had failed to break even the ice wall Ailin had created?

This was not Ailin's Divine Weapon, but merely an ice wall defense formed through divine power and Profound Mysteries!

How could this be?!

Before Bens could think further, countless ice blades formed at the instant his Tentacle Whips struck the ice wall.

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh!"

As streaks of light flashed past, these ice blades actually sliced cracks into space as well, cutting directly toward the enormous tentacles!

Noticing this, Bens hurriedly controlled the tentacles to block them.

But he had still underestimated how terrifying those ice blades were.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

After streaks of light circled the Ripple Sphere several times, only two or three of the dozens of tentacles remained. All the others had been severed by the ice blades, reverting to water divine power and dissipating.