"You're better than I expected for a newly risen god," Halmut praised Jack with a laugh.
"And you're less threatening than I anticipated," stated Jack, laughing back at the Sun God.
"True, I'm still underestimating you. I'll continue to do so but I'll show you another fraction of my power." More energy gathered within Halmut's jaws, easily surpassing the strength of his previous breath attacks. Hundreds of holy energy swords dotted the air around both combatants, removing Jack's ability to efficiently teleport away. "Take this and prove to me that I should fight you seriously!"
A stream of multicolored flame rocketed out of Halmut's mouth, rushing for Jack.
Needing time, Jack charged forward in response. As the attack neared him, Jack sidestepped it and darted forward beside the steaming plume of flame, unaffected by the burning heat thanks to his pitch-black flame body.
"See, you merely evade!" Halmut roared, making sure those below heard him clearly. "Like the other false gods of Trodar, you can't defend. You may be able to save yourself but you're unfit to head a nation of people that seek your security!"
"In that case, you're unfit to rule due to insatiable greed and a bipolar attitude!" shouted Jack, slashing forward as Halmut evaded without trouble. "The moment people question you're motives and actions, you simply eliminate them. Is that how someone should lead?"
"It's better to stand firm unquestionably than to rule in cowardice!" Halmut roared again, gathering the same multicolored flame all over his body. "Prove me wrong!"
A wave of those colorful flames exploded across their battlefield, leaving the spectators below in awe.
The other gods understood that Halmut was playing with Jack, treating Jack the same way Halmut would deal with a mid-level god. Moranti understood this the best. Having faced Halmut on multiple occasions and traded blows multiple times, Moranti could gauge that Halmut was treating Jack as a lv. 94 threat. Though it was also a compliment to Jack as a newly-risen god, it proved the difference in their strength very clearly.
[Processing time: 35 seconds]
With the notification at the corner of his vision, Jack kept a close eye on his surroundings. He rushed backward, seemingly trying to outrun the wave of flames. But Jack then vanished in a flash of purple light to reappear beside Halmut with his scythe-like claws aimed at the Sun God's neck.
"That's a different skill?" Halmut asked, tanking Jack's head-on attack. As the long claws collided with Halmut's neck, they barely managed to break the top layer of scales, failing to even draw blood. Unfazed, Halmut continued to evaluate Jack openly, "The skill you just used was space-based, but the skill you were using earlier wasn't? So you can use mage spells along with warrior skills, like Skaryn…"
Swatting Jack to the side with his tail, Halmut lifted one eye in thought. "But do you have anything that can actually hurt me? Sure, you burned and broke some of my self-repairing scales, but you've yet to damage me. Do you have anything apart from tricks?"
While he stared at Jack, Halmut wondered why Jack allowed himself to get hit so easily after all this time. But that question was answered immediately.
Again, Halmut felt a hand fall atop his head. The Sun Dragon snarled and turned his head to chomp down on the invisible body double. He tore the double apart to forcibly fade it out of existence. A layer of holy energy now coated his eyes, allowing him to see through illusions or invisibility.
"But how…" Jack clicked his tongue and mumbled to himself. Seeing that twenty-seven seconds were left, Jack wanted to buy some more time with conversation. "I guess that option won't work… Are you sure I should get serious? I've already surprised you twice so don't expect to survive a third time."
"Do your worst."
"Well, my strongest attack has a charge time. It takes me a few seconds but I can guarantee that it will blow you away."
"Really? I find that hard to believe."
"Then why not test it and find out?" Jack taunted with a smug, disappointed frown plastered on his face. "If you're as strong as you claim to be, then it shouldn't hurt you at all. Then again… I guess you're just not that confident."
"Shut up and do you worst already. I can grant you a few extra seconds so long as you prove to entertain me. The warm-up was fun but I'm growing tired of this."
Hiding his smile under an emotionless face, Jack watched the timer tick down.
[Processing time: 10…]
[Processing time: 5…]
"Aren't you supposed to be gathering up energy?" questioned Halmut.
"Trust me, I am. You'll regret giving me these extra seconds!"
"I doubt that…" Halmut roared with laughter, eager to shatter Jack's false expectations.
Though Halmut did see Jack as a threat, it was Jack's threat as an assassin. The threat of Eedaj's personal skill being wielded by a virtually untrackable and invisible foe was just as threatening as Sterfen. But such a threat was futile against Halmut personally and wouldn't transfer to the current duel either.
As the next five seconds slowly passed by for the spectators below, Jack took a deep breath and put his new skill to the test.
Suddenly, purple flames began to intermingle with the black flames around Jack's body. Within a few seconds, they coexisted equally. Then, those flames pooled inside of Jack's draconic fangs. Unleashing a resounding roar, Jack launched a thin, stream-lined plume of the black and purple fire. It appeared to be weaker and more insignificant than Jack's spectral breath from earlier, at least according to the eyes of mortals.
To the gods, that speeding stream of fire contained an absurd amount of condensed spatial and fire energy. Though there were only two energy types, both of those energies were taken to the absolute extreme before combining them to create a multiplicative effect for the attack.
Even Halmut felt a tinge of caution as that energy condensed and was hurled his way.