But at the moment he was about to receive the full brunt of the force, he whispered quietly.

"Demon-Hunting Arts: First Seal! Silence!"

The moment he triggered the esoteric, invisible sealing art, he felt an invisible, nearly undetectable circular rune form in the air around him, sealing off his body and the surrounding s.p.a.ce from any vibrations or shaking of any sort.

Even the winds that hit the area enveloped by the rune died off instantly, not even leaving a whistle of the wind when they impacted!

He briefly looked at the rune around him, in awe of the sheer effectiveness of the rune. He had put in no power at all but it already had enough power to subdue a Grandmaster-level storm...? In fact, he didn't even know what sort of energies were used by the Demon-Hunting Arts, much less what the see-through rune was made of!

And he realised quickly that it was only he who could see the rune, for Kizorik gasped in surprise and asked him, 'Kiddo! What did you do? Is this the work of the Demon-Hunt Arts? A spell of silence...?'

Lars nodded, glad that he could still hear his buddy speaking in his mind.

Then his eyes lit up with a smile.

Time to end this match!

* * * * *

Darius struck the ground behind where Lars had been standing with a boom, cracking apart the surface of the arena ring.

He landed with a look of shock and disbelief, looking lost and despairing as Lars popped out of the hole in the ground behind him. Darius' body trembled and could not react as he had expended almost all his energies and needed time to recover; he was only in time to turn around...

And flash a confident, triumphant smile at Lars as the sonic boom that followed in his wake engulfed the blonde mage!

'It's too bad for you, little bro Lars... For you're not the only with a trick hidden up your sleeve!'

'I still win!'

Darius' eyes lowered down to his own body as he relaxedly raised himself up and began to dust himself off; while the swirling storm of sound swept around him but did not affect his body at all - he, as the user of the soundwave attack had long prepared the necessary defences and would not be troubled!

He regulated his breathing, keen to recover his stamina and energy especially his divine power before the next and final match, the Grand Finals with Vignis Jamal. Though, if her strength were not significantly greater than the compet.i.tion 2 years back, he was rest a.s.sured that he had a 90% chance of winning!

Then before even a second had pa.s.sed, he heard a questioning voice call out to him from the midst of the whirlwind of soundwaves; one he could

"Where are you looking...? Do you think it's already over...?"

His heart fell in dismay as he watched a bruised but not defeated Lars racing towards him, hands still blazing orange-red with twin fireb.a.l.l.s, ready to be launched!

"NO!! HOW--"

"You're already finished!!! TWIN FIREBALL FUSION - FIRE STRIKE!!!"

When he was about 3 metres away from Darius whose legs refused to obey him to dodge, Lars clapped his two hands together to combine the Level 3: Fireb.a.l.l.s in his left and right hand into a compressed ma.s.s of molten flames.

These flames then exploded forwards through the opening of his hands - aimed directly at Darius' torso!

Needless to say, the exhausted Darius could only muster enough strength to defend his body from critical injuries as he was blown sailing out of the ring to flop down onto the ground...

Defeated!

Lars, the victor, panted heavily. He looked to be covered in cold sweat and swayed dizzily from the loss of orientation as a result of the sonic boom. But he was still lucid and remained on his two feet, albeit shakily.

He allowed himself a slight smile even as a doubtful Mr White who had been standing stock still began to walk over to confirm whether what his eyes were seeing was true or an illusion.

What had just happened? How did Lars who had received so much damage from the first soundwave attack manage to come out relatively unscathed from the second, much more powerful sonic boom...?

The same question surfaced in the minds of the various spectators. Whether they were supporting Darius or Lars, they all had the same thought - just what in the h.e.l.l had happened??? How did Lars win???

Mr White stopped by Lars'side and saw that the paramedics had already hurried over to check up on Darius. After a brief examination of the fallen but conscious boy's body, the lead paramedic gave a big thumbs up to Mr White, indicating that the boy genius was fine!

Mr White let out a breath when he heard that, and then turned to face Lars with a questioning look on his face. He found himself crossing his brows in curiosity and clenching his fists as he could not figure out just how Lars had won!

After all, there were no fluctuations of mana or signs of any form of power being used, whether from his own skills or from an item... So how had he defended himself?

"Ahem... My boy... Just, just what did you do just now...? Was the first round of injuries to the sound attack just a ruse...?" Mr White asked under his breath as the crowds murmurs of confusion began to reverberate through the Gorun Stadium.

Alas, the answer would elude him as well as the entirety of the city for a long time to come, as Lars smiled enigmatically and did not speak a word about his secret!

He merely shrugged and gave a sheepish look to the tournament administrator as he rubbed his nose in embarra.s.sment.

Seeing that he was reticent to speak about it, Mr White's mouth opened wide as he was just about to press further, but then he stopped himself as he realised that everybody would have their own share of secrets.

Finally he just nodded and patted Lars firmly on his shoulder, saying, "Good job, boy! Now, it's time to present the audience with their winner and challenger for the Grand Finals...! Are you ready...?"

Lars nodded, though he did shoot a glance over to Darius - and saw him begin to stir as he lay outside the ring on the paramedics stretcher.

* * * * *

Darius looked up at the sky blankly as he wondered what just happened.

He lay stunned on the floor outside the boundaries of the wide battle arena, face troubled and unable to accept this ending.

He heard some voice announcing something and quickly realised that it was an amazed Mr White making the announcement of his loss.

"Ladies and gentlemen... I'm sure that you've thoroughly enjoyed the exciting and nail-biting match that has just concluded... Though we are not sure of just how the victory was wrought, be a.s.sured that there was no foul play involved! I can personally vouch for this on the honour of the Gorun Stadium and our n.o.ble city! Therefore... I am proud to present to you..."

At first, the crowds were confused, disbelieving and incredulous with some people even angry and upset over what they perceived as an unjust end to the fight Darius had dominated. They were complaining and murmuring their grievances, but not daring to sound out their full objections as they were not sure of what had transpired.

However, once they heard the Grandmaster expert Head Administrator give his a.s.surance of the win being fair and square, they could only swallow their discontent...

And even if they weren't satisfied, they would still be drowned out by the resounding roars that met Mr White's announcement of the winner!

"Your winner and the challenger to Vignis Jamal for the Grand Finals... Miller Knight Larsson, Lars!!"

And as the crowds started off with slightly unsure and restrained cheers and gradually grew to a crescendo of deafening applause and voices, they were still wondering and curious about how things had turned it this way.

Just what had happened...?

* * * * *

Up above, a not-so-slightly unsure Vignis Jamal sat stunned and shaken. Her father who was seated right beside her on her long and wide sofdivan was also bemused at the outcome of the fight.

"W-well... Ahem, erm... Beloved d-daughter, don't worry I, I guess...? Even if they're both formidable... I mean, even if they're quite capable but not quite as good as you... I guess that boy will be exhausted before the Grand Finals start...? You'll sure be able to--"

"No."

Yusof was interrupted by his daughter's terse response. He looked on with concern as Vignis shook her head slowly and her gaze looked worried.

She slowly turned to Yusof just then and asked him, "Father... I know I rarely ask things of you but..."

"Please, before the Grand Finals start in 3 hours... Please allow me to undergo the full enhancement surgery...!"