68 Demon-Hunter Marzinus (1/2)

The workers who were trying desperately to pry open or cancel the magic formation trapping Lars in worked double-time, rushing to release the trapped boy who was bleeding heavily by now. Despite his hale constitution, he looked slightly pale from the exertion and battle raging on in the illusory world.

Meanwhile, a panic stricken Mr White had long since come down from the control room, leaving Mitsui to oversee the overall operations.

The senior administrator had held nothing back, using his full force to attempt to open the formation the boy was held within, but time and time again he was repelled! His blows could not even so much as shake the magic field surrounding the boy's body!

In fact, the reflected force caused the Grandmaster combatant to fly backwards and crash into the Stadium walls! He bounced back off the highly reinforced defensive inner walls and fell down in a heap, before springing up to his feet despite the specks of blood on his lips.

”What in the world is going on!?? Can somebody tell me what is happening? Quickly! Sever the mana supply! Cut off all power to the illusion arrays! Hurry!”

”S-sir! Administrator sir! We already tried that! B-but the formation is still running!” A harried and stressed out balding man who seemed to be the supervisor of the Stadium crew answered with a shaky voice.

”WHAT???! Let me see!” He rushed over to grab the power supply control tablet from the anxious supervisor and took a look himself, only for him to turn even paler than before at what was displayed.

[Power supply: Off]

[Systems: Disabled]

[Mana grid: Disconnected]

[ILLUSION ARRAY OFFLINE]

”What the hell is this!!! In what way is this, this, this INFERNAL THING offline and powered down?!!” He flung aside the mana tablet in frustration and ran off to check on the state of the power and mana grid while the supervisor called out to his fading figure.

”Sir! Sir!!! It's useless!!!” But seeing that his head had already vanished off into the distance,he plopped to his knees and mumbled to no one in particular.

”The severed power lines will just grow back... It's absorbing mana from the planet itself...!”

* * * * *

While the great commotion was happening in the real world, an equally pressing situation unfolded in the virtual one.

'Release first seal!!'

Lars undid the weakest and most basic seal on his powers in the real world and felt his strength surge up to the Master level before being bottled up by the next seal.

However, that change of power was restricted to the physical world. To his dismay, nothing changed in the illusion array.

Lars whispered agitatedly in his mind to Kizorik as he watched the last boss emerge from the mists.

'Ki-Kizorik! What do I do now?! I've got nothing left! Even my unsealed powers aren't applicable in this blasted world! Only the bloodline burst worked, and that is already running out right now!'

He said this even as his body's bloodline boost began to subside and his physique returned to it's prior state. His muscles slowly receded until he looked like he had before, a slim but strong teenage boy.

'K-kid... I could give you a temporary boost at the cost of damaging my soul but... It would be useless...'

'Wait, why would it be useless? How can you give up so easily?' While he spoke, he observed the Demon-Hunter who stood where he had appeared, breathing slowly.

The drow male had the characteristic height, pointed face and sharp long ears of his race. However that was where the similarities stopped.

Unlike the slim, lean and athletic frame of the drow hunters or even the death-dancer from earlier, this Demon-Hunter was muscular, ripped even!

Ripped being an apt word as he was so buff that his simple button up shirt and pants looked like they would soon burst at the seams!

His skin was also much, much lighter despite still being characteristically dark. However it was a different form of pigment, appearing to be a rich and deep purple instead of the usual brown.

The most stunning were his hair and eyes.

Stunning violet hair, swept and tied back in a pony tail. The hues were so shocking that it looked as if he were plugged into an electric socket with the power turned on - straight to his neon hair!

But finally, what mystified Lars was the dark elf's eyes.

Earlier, he was sure that he had seen a pair of shining purple jewels staring out of the mists heralding Marzinus' appearance. However, right now he could not see the Demon-Hunter's eyes at all.

The man's eyes were covered by a thick cloth bandana and tied around his head, binding up his vision completely.

'It's over, over!!! How could I, Kizorik, be so lucky to meet one of the 100 Demon-Hunters in the middle of some backwater city's test for babies! Why must tragedy befall me?? What have I done to deserve such a fate?? Woe is me, woe is me!!'

While he was observing the dark elf, Kizorik blabbered on hysterically, contributing to Lars nervousness and anxiety.

Desperate to find a solution, Lars frowned crossly and yelled at the hyperventilating bird who was rolling about on the floor.

'Kizorik! Snap out of it! Tell me, what was it you were talking about that you can do? Anything at all!'

The bird sniffled as it tried to calm down even in the face of what it was certain would be death. Then it explained in span of time where their enemy was still just standing there, as if curiously observing the golden-haired boy before him. He spoke hurriedly as despite the drow's quiet appearance, there was no mistake that he would sooner or later try to tear Lars apart like a rag doll!

'If it were any other enemy, it might work to grant you a demonic awakening. But a Demon-Hunter's abilities work by sealing all demonic powers and dealing even greater damage to beings with higher demonic energies! In other words, it'd be plain suicide!'

Then their waiting time looked to be up.

As soon as Kizorik finished those words, their mighty adversary cracked his neck and moved, starting by speaking in an unknown language.

”Hmmph... Syaitan keji! Patik, Pemburu Syaitan Marzinus, walaupun hanya satu cebisan jiwa, akan menghapuskan segala sisa yang muncul depan patik!” (Vile demon! I, Demon-Hunter Marzinuseven though only a soul fragment, will destroy every scum that appears before I!)

He had a look of condescension on his face as a puissant Myth level supreme being who, despite being suppressed to the Master level, could still crush an Adept like an ant!