Jason stepped into the ring.
He didn't sign up; someone invited him to spar. The other person was an acquaintance, Brisenio, the one with the goatee from the caravan.
The reason the other party sought out Jason was simple: both of them were Midgod specializing in lightning and death.
While the Netherworld primarily cultivates the Edicts of Death, due to the presence of the Undead Realm to the north, there are also quite a few Deity-level who cultivate other laws.
Both parties knew each other, paid the registration fee, and then stood in an empty ring.
Brisenio used two hooks chained together; Jason used two straight knives, one long and one short.
Then, a city guard beside him said, "Begin."
The two hooks were then swung directly at Jason.
Jason hasn't made any breakthroughs in the lightning and death elements over the years. He still extends three bolts of lightning and constantly merges them into the lightning in an attempt to get close to his opponent for close combat.
This move was something Jason discovered when Johanna was assassinated. He saw the assassin use it and it just so happened to fit his own understanding of Profound Mysteries, which is why he figured it out. Of course, it's not as agile and versatile as that Five-Star Fiend, but over the years, with the changes in his own laws, it has been continuously improved, making him one of the best Midgod in close combat.
As for the name of this move, Jason has not yet come up with one because he believes it is not yet perfect and will wait until later.
Comparatively speaking, although Brisenio also practices Lightning Element, he is obviously not as fast as Jason. However, his two hooks seem to be attracted to Jason, chasing Jason with a strange movement, constantly cutting off the electric arcs that Jason casts and interfering with his attacks.
"This is the Electromagnetism Profound Mysteries of the Lightning Element. Although I have also gained some understanding of Electromagnetism, it is far inferior to his. Brisenio must have also fused the Electromagnetism Profound Mysteries with other Profound Mysteries," Jason analyzed in his mind.
Jason was forced back by a hook during another attack, while Brisenio barely moved.
Jason looked at the two hooks. "The purple hook is much faster than the gray one. The gray hook should be a death-attribute Divine Artifact. For now, I'll use Lightning Element Profound Mysteries to activate it. It seems his Lightning Clone has a fast attack speed but weak attack power. Let's test his Death Clone's strength by exchanging soul attacks."
With that thought in mind, Jason stopped dodging the hook and charged straight at Brisenio.
The opponent immediately recalled both hooks to defend, and although Brisenio was much slower than Jason, his ability to control the Divine Artifact was far Jason.
The purple hook snaked across Jason down and avoid a physical collision; the gray hook returned to his left hand, then he threw it with a burst of power.
Jason slashed down with his right hand, wielding his Waking of Insects, cleaving through the purple hook and chain blocking his path, but also halting his charge. His left hand clashed with the gray hook, the two Power of Death surging into their souls in opposite directions.
Jason felt dizzy and staggered backward; Brisenio was momentarily distracted and even lost control of the Divine Artifact for a second.
The two stood facing each other again, having roughly assessed each other's strength.
Brisenio's defense is superior to Jason's, but Jason's speed and physical attack far surpass Brisenio's, and their soul attacks are not much different; however, Jason has a weakness, his lightning-infused movement technique consumes a lot of energy and cannot withstand prolonged battles.
Unless Brisenio can keep Jason at a considerable distance and use his soul attacks to gradually weaken Jason, he will be doomed once Brisson gets close.
Just as Jason had expected, Brisenio wielded the two hooks even more tightly, and in several clashes, both hooks carried considerable soul attacks, clearly showing that Jason was expending a lot of energy, forcing Jason to intensify his consumption of Divine Power and Divine Power.
A friendly sparring match is certainly not worth using such a trump card as the "Thunderwing Angel" form. Jason weighed the pros and cons and finally decided to take advantage of his abundant Divine Power and Divine Power to force his way in; otherwise, once his Divine Power was exhausted, defeat would be inevitable.
The three arcs of electricity that had been extending from his body disappeared, and Jason charged forward with his knife.
Brisenio's face remained expressionless as he used both hooks to defend again. However, unexpectedly, Jason's full-speed attack was slightly faster than the gray hook.
Only the purple hook caused Jason to hesitate for a moment; before the gray hook could be thrown from Brisenio's hand, Jason's black slender blade was already in front of him.
Brisenio, wielding a hook in his left hand, clashed it against a thin black blade. The two soul attacks caused them both to pause for a moment.
However, when it came to close combat, Jason had the advantage.
Three arcs of electricity appeared again, this time encircling Brisenio, and he was no longer able to block them in time.
Jason's figure flickered around, constantly searching for weaknesses; Brisenio held both hooks in his hands, swinging them repeatedly in an attempt to strike Jason, but his close-range movement speed was far inferior to Jason's.
Just as Jason found an opening and tried to end the fight, a tremendous force suddenly struck, causing his body to stagger and break the connection with the electric arc. Brisenio's hook had already arrived.
Being too close and having lost his connection with the electric arc, Jason was unable to dodge. His twin blades slashed down at the same angle, and the soul attack momentarily stunned him.
Of course, Brisenio's soul was also severely damaged, and Jason's physical attack even broke his right arm. But because of this attack, he used the force to retreat to a distance and create more space.
Jason recalled the strange force he had just experienced, which seemed to act directly on his entire body. "Is this a reverse application of Electromagnetism Profound Mysteries? To repel the opponent? Why didn't he use that when we got close?"
Jason looked at Brisenio, whose face was expressionless, but who did not take the opportunity to attack. Jason understood – this move had taken a lot of energy, and he was taking the opportunity to recover.
With this in mind, Jason launched another attack, but this time he did not use "Arc" again, because his all-out attack just now had almost exhausted his Lightning Element Divine Power.
However, Jason also has an advantage: he is stronger in direct combat, and when both sides are nearly exhausted, Jason is more likely to gain the upper hand.
The two hooks were much slower than before. If Jason hadn't lacked the extra Divine Power to unleash "Arc Electricity," he would have already bypassed the defense and closed in on the enemy.
Brisenio repeatedly tried to attack Jason with his gray hooks, as his Death Clone was still relatively intact; however, Jason's Death Clone was equally formidable, constantly wielding his twin swords to repel the incoming hooks.
Brisenio was clearly at a disadvantage, as his double hooks were no longer able to keep Jason out of the defensive line. The distance between the two was gradually closing, and Jason was about to break through the layers of defense and engage in close combat again.
"I surrender!" Brisenio shouted, but the two hooks remained in front of him, as if afraid Jason would lose control.
The Netherworld is home to people of all kinds of personalities. Their Deity-level strength makes it easy for them to disguise themselves, so even if two people know each other, they still need to maintain a certain level of vigilance.
Jason didn't launch any further attacks, quickly stopping his movements. "I should be able to hold out for a while longer."
"It's no use, my Lightning Element Divine Power is almost completely depleted, and I can barely control the Divine Artifact." Brisenio smiled palely, he only had a little Divine Power left to guard against Jason's broken promise.
A fairly enthusiastic round of applause followed.
Judging from the surrounding visitors, both of them were very strong. If they could break through to the Highgod and then spend some time stabilizing their realm, reaching the level of Five-Star Fiend would not be a problem at all, and even Six-Star Fiend was very possible.
"Thank you for your kind offer."
"Thank you for your kind offer."
The two left.