532 Disappoint
Saru’s voice seemed to be everywhere at once. It echoed and reverberated as though a single sentence from her was worth the weight of thousands.
The air sung along with her melodic tone, trembling and dulling Dyon’s senses. He couldn’t help but stand there blankly for an instant, mesmerized and enraptured.
Vidar suddenly grinned on the sideline. This was how he had lost! Although Saru hadn’t spoken to him, she had seemingly been able to effect change in the atmosphere, stunting his inner ear. He was disoriented and before he had the opportunity to do much of anything, he found himself kneeling in submission with his life under the full control of the beauty.
It was suffice to say that since Saru went out of her way to speak to Dyon, her attack on him was many times more effective!
This was a music path that Dyon had never heard of before… Something completely new. It went so far as gaining control over an entire sense!
Dyon’s eyes dulled, darkening from their bright hazel green to a murky blackness. It was almost as though he had lost consciousness – losing a tangible understanding of what was going on around him.
Saru floated forward. Her speed was quite fast, and yet she still managed to seem unhurried.
A strange vibration began to compress on her small and delicate palms as she rapidly closed the distance. Her eyes were calm as a lake and her facial features didn’t fluctuate. But, if you paid close attention, one could almost notice the small semblance of loss … No, it was more like disappointment.
Saru lightly stepped before Dyon, the air on her palm oscillating gently as she pushed it forward.
All of her actions were graceful and seemingly without killing intent. However, any expert could see the danger of this attack. Despite all of the great warriors they had seen, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Saru Shruti still boasted the strongest attack power!
BOOM!
Blood flew from Dyon’s mouth as his chest almost caved inward. His body flew backward with such velocity that the back of his clothes were sheared off – first by the wind, and then from the friction, burning them to nothingness.
“Dyon!” Ri, Madeleine and Clara covered their mouths in horror. They had become so used to Dyon having everything within his control, so used to him being able to figure things out before he ever entered any real danger … and yet, he had failed this time!
Even when he fought Femi, although there was a point where it seemed like he might lose, he had at least been able to put up a fight first! What was going on?!
Saru watched quietly as Dyon’s body catapulted through the air. In her eyes, there was no need to attack again. She had no malicious intentions against Dyon. In fact, she cared little for this tournament in general. The only reason she fought was to sharpen her skills. She had thought that Dyon would be someone she would be able to do this against, but it seemed as though she had overestimated him.
In these tournament rules, there was no such thing as out of bounds. In reality, although the stage was quite large in and of itself, fights at this stage were no longer so restricted since they were occurring one at a time.
The battle would end when someone either gave up or lost consciousness. Those were the only two ways. Aside from death, of course.
Saru looked toward Elder Den to call the match. There was no reason to continue. In her estimation, there was no way Dyon had maintained his consciousness. The way her technique worked, it made powerful bodies obsolete. It didn’t matter how powerful Dyon’s body was. In fact, as long as it was within Saru’s range, having a more powerful body might be more of a detriment than a help.
Dyon’s body crashed to the ground, skidding and skipping as though he was a flat rock gliding across water. The tough arena material even broke apart and separated as though it, itself, really was a liquid!
Noticing Saru’s gaze, Elder Den frowned. He had been told, very strictly, by Patriarch Ragnor to maintain absolute fairness because they had been embarrassed enough times. He simply couldn’t call the match even if he wanted to, Dyon still had his consciousness!
The flow of energy within a conscious versus unconscious expert was very clear an obvious. As a peak saint expert, how could Elder Den not be able to tell the difference? If he called the match prematurely, he’d become a laughing stock.
Saru Shruti raised an eyebrow, but, noticing that Elder Den had no intention of calling the match, a rare bit of surprise rippled across her features.
“Oh?” Her voice was light and detached as she looked toward the crater Dyon lied in.
She didn’t hurry forward, deciding to observe the situation first. For him to take the full brunt of her attack like that, there was something off…
A hoarse cough suddenly sounded through the silent arena. The crowd watched with anticipation, wondering just what was happening.
Dyon stood slowly, still coughing. He winced a bit, stretching his back and spitting away the last bit of blood from his mouth.
“That was some attack,” he said, laughing bitterly. The dullness in his eyes had faded, giving them back their previous sharpness.
Clara blushed furiously as she looked at the monitor, looking away to stop the quickening beat of her heart.
“Put on some clothes you pervert!”
Madeleine and Ri giggled at Clara’s innocent reaction. But, what was maybe more surprising was the fact even Saru blushed, averting her gaze in such a way that it didn’t seem like she was embarrassed, but rather that she couldn’t be bothered to look at Dyon.
Looking down at himself, Dyon didn’t seem too embarrassed. The sound of screeching females in the audience, though, awoke him to the fact that Ri would probably kill him if he didn’t put on clothes soon.
Stretching his neck, Dyon’s eyes flashed with gold, replacing his lost clothes in an instant.
Dyon jumped, propelling himself with wind will until he gently fell back a few meters before Saru.
“I have to say… Your technique is quite dangerous. It’s certainly not simple to counter. But, if that’s all there is, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint another beauty today.”