'Yes, I did it!'
He thought he already had the upper hand of the battle. But it was too early for Julius to celebrate as Cadmus powerfully swatted him away from his sides and he rolled over after taking that push.
"AAAAAAARGHHH!"
The rage of Cadmus is evident from his voice, and as if his old-man arm wasn't a big issue, he continued to launch consecutive attacks at Julius, who is barely able to keep up with the hits.
His sword clashed with Cadmus' spear, and they exchanged several heavy blows. Whenever Julius spots an opening, Cadmus easily parries his swing with the length of his spear, and launch a counter-attack just as swiftly as after he managed to defend himself.
There was a subtle change to the power of his hits though, so Julius was lucky enough to block him with his gladius. Then Cadmus stopped and resumed another stance. He gripped his spear with two hands, and Julius was now sure that trouble is coming.
The spear is primarily a stabbing weapon. True kill shots will be to the face, the throat and groin. Julius knows that Cadmus is aiming either of those spots, so he readied himself to teleport further from his enemy.
'Shit.' As he clenched his hand, he could not feel the tight feeling in his guts whenever he does his space magic. 'I'm running out of magic!'
Then Cadmus pointed his weapon towards him and there was nothing he can do but to block it using his short sword.
The power of a spear comes from its momentum, and greater ability to generate it. One increases the thrusting power of a spear by gripping it at its center, which is the point behind holding it lower and using two hands. This is what Cadmus did, as he used his advantage of having a greater reach, control, and use of spears with longer shafts.
He spun the spear around and launched stabbing attacks from various directions. Julius was getting pounded from all these successive attacks. It won't be long until he's fully covered in blood if this keeps up. Cadmus is definitely upping his spear game and demonstrating to him the difference in their skills of using weapons.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His sword continued to clash with the spear and suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his thigh. 'Shit, shit.' Julius thought. 'He got me!'
Cadmus smiled in satisfaction after seeing his form drop to the ground. He was about to point the spear's shaft in Julius' throat, when suddenly, the young man disappeared again.
"COME BACK HERE!" He roared in frustration after seeing his prey escape right under his nose. He's definitely sick of this guy's strange powers.
A few meters away, Julius struggled to get up, but he kept himself alert for Cadmus' movements. The Dragonslayer was moving again towards him now in a mad rush to end his life.
He knows that in a showdown between these two weapons, the spear is the better choice. And given his current opponent, this battle looked like a fight between a knight and a lowly commoner.
'But lowly commoners can fight too! Fight, Julius, dammit!' He said to himself.
In that flash of moment, he realized just how angry he was to be put in this kind of situation. He, who was only living a peaceful life just about a week ago, recently lost his father, and got caught up into this mess. Right after the man who raised him was buried, he found himself transmigrated back to the beginning of Time, in Ancient Greece of all places.
He was cursed with a prophecy so daunting that it never left his thoughts since they interpreted it. What the fuck is he, the Son of Time? He can't accept this destiny. He doesn't understand why it had to be him.
Then, he's stuck on a quest in the goddamn Underworld to retrieve a daughter of a mad goddess whose wreaking havoc on the Earth's surface. And now, he's fighting to death against a dead man.
He has to get out of this stupid place, and proceed with the next steps to bring himself home to Boston. His business is not yet finished with his father's killer.
'What a load of bull.' He channeled all this anger into his weapon, and it glowed a darker shade of purple. He met Cadmus' advances with the same tenacity head on. 'Fight!'
Meanwhile, in the shadows, Rexis noticed the change in the aura of his friend.
"Something snapped." He said, earning Corinna's looks. "It's his eyes. They look darker somehow. This isn't like him at all. Damn." He finished, not taking his own eyes off Julius' form.
Then Julius lifted his hand and pointed his sword at his foe. "CADMUS!!" He yelled with uttermost spite.
"YES, SHOW ME! SHOW ME WHAT MORE YOU CAN DO, CHALLENGER!" The other replied, equally spiteful.
Their weapons once more met in the middle in a close combat, and none of them was giving the other an opportunity to rampage. They were exchanging blows like there's no tomorrow. Without Julius realizing it, he began to grow more and more steady with his comebacks.
Fight.
Cadmus thrusted his spear forward, and sliced the flesh just below Julius' right ear.
Fight.
Julius moved so fast as he dived low and swung his sword to hit Cadmus in the stomach.
Fight.
Cadmus parried another attack by Julius and used the butt of his weapon to throw him to the sides. Kicking him also in the process.
Fight.
Julius immediately picked himself up and appeared in front of Cadmus in a blink of an eye, giving his healthy arm the same fate as his other hand. This time however, Julius wasn't as merciful as before, for he didn't let the aging reach to Cadmus' fingertips. He completely severed it.
Fight.
"AAAARRGHH!" Cadmus' scream echoed throughout the chamber when he realized his forearm was now off his body. "YOU BASTARD!" Using his free hand, he stabbed his spear to Julius' exposed dominant arm. It punctured a deep wound and the shaft went through all the way his biceps.
Fight.
Julius dropped his weapon after receiving that damage – the worst one he'd taken in this battle. Without any weapon on, he should be feeling helpless. Strangely, he wasn't. He can still go on. With Cadmus this close to him, he can only think of one thing he can do, and he did it. He headbutted the dragonslayer, crushing his hard skull against his mouth.
Fight.
Cadmus fell over after the headbutt, and he too let go of his weapon. His smiling mouth was bleeding black and he barely got out his words for Julius. "Ha-haha... Y-you b-bastard…. y-you son… of a –"
Julius picked up his gladius using his left hand, and coldly said, "Son of Time. And shut up." His patience is running thin. Cadmus wasn't able to finish his sentence because Julius cut off his head in one fell swoop.
The whole Arena was silenced.
Corinna and Rexis were horrified. Hermes was pleased yet dumbfounded too. Persephone feels conflicted. And Hades…. was emitting a bloodlust so strong you can almost smell it.