The appearance of the Sphinx image, caused the distasteful clamors to subside abruptly, as the spectators watched on with high anticipation, hopeing immensely for their heated expectations to come true, with Philemon Hendrickson's next course of action.
Philemon Henderson's gloomy face lightened up, upon seeing the technique in full display. He wasn't shocked, unlike the nobles of Jogota and the disciples and elders of the sect. That was because he had personally taught Hendrickson this technique.
Now, normally this was a taboo. Only the high priest of the sect had the permission to learn and practice this divine technique, because this technique basically embodied the sacredness and the peak prestige of the sect. It should have been passed down to Hendrickson, if he had succeeded him and was coronated as the high priest, which he would eventually, in a few years time. But, he had gone against the norm of the sect to reveal it to him earlier than expected. Such was the favoritism and love he showered upon his beloved grandson.
He should have been enraged by his grandson's impulsiveness, to reveal their 'little' secret to the public, especially to the elders of the sect, but instead he nodded in approval to this decision. Sure, he would be reprimanded by the old fogeys, and even though he wouldn't suffer severe consequences, like been stripped of his title and crown (which was supposed to be standard punishment), due to his efforts over the years in strengthing the hold of the prestige of the blue wind sect in Jogota and even exporting it's culture to areas in Arges, but he would definitely face sanctions and lose some certain benefits. But he didn't care about this right now, and he was certain that neither did the elders and high elders. Because he was sure, without an iota of a doubt, that he shared the same desperate opinion, as this elders and the high nobles of Jogota; the Bermudian scum had to be eviscerated by Hendrickson, to restore the dignity of the province!!
And, this had to be done by any means necessary!! Even if it meant revealing the most sacred technique of the sect for the whole world to see!!
"HHUUAAA"
A gush of blue air proceeded out of the mouth of the Sphinx. It slowly opened it's shut, tired eyes, revealing its pure white iris, reminiscent of the undiluted cloud in the sky.
Then, it immediately began to spin. The eye-catching spiral began slowly, but with each revolution, the velocity of the rotation increased. And with every complete revolution, the frame of the creature increased in size.
Round and round it went, faster and faster, it became!
The spectators watched in bated breaths as the size vastly increased, expanding exponentially, as the rotation became quicker.
Ten seconds... Twenty... Twenty-five... Thirty... One minute...
"FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!"
In one minute, the creature had transformed into a humongous, blue tornado, spanning a width of close to seven thousand meters and at a gargantuan height of more than twenty thousand. The aura of this great tornado was terrifying, as it revolved with the insane velocity of more than a thousand helicopter blades fused together. It was indeed a terrifying spectacle. The sheer humongousness was a sight to behold. It almost spanned up to more than half the size of the arena itself!
"Hah!! Hah!!! Hah!!"
Hendrickson panted forcefully upon the completion of the technique. Hot sweat was pouring torrentially like rain, onto the red sands in his vicinity. It showered down from every sector and angle of his epidermis. He was completely drained of energy and stamina. He had about five percent of his mana left. He couldn' t even stand upright anymore. He crouched his back, his hands desperately clutching his knees, as he kept on panting furiously, like a dog in heat.
If this didn't work, then he was utterly done for. It would surely be game over.
But that elated grin was still etched on his lips, only growing wider and wider by the second. He had the face of one that had finally achieved a long, sort after ambition of several decades. The satisfaction of overcoming a conundrum, that previously seemed insurmountable, was so sweet, he couldn't describe the sweatness in appropriate words.
He had suffered humiliation upon humiliation, endured unending embarrassments, the likes he had never imagined he would face in his lifetime. But now he was finally here. At the precipice of victory.
He could smell it, he could taste it, his skin was breaking out from the immense sensation!
Because no matter how fast or how deft, the sneaky little piece of shit was, there was no avoiding this. Never! He would have no choice, but to counter it and that was no different than courting death. Well, not like he was ever going to survive anyways. The fools death was set in stone, right from the moment he displayed his cockiness!
Normally, he wouldn't have used this technique, if he was in a heated battle of attrition, because the technique took some time before full completion. He would have been severely attacked, with no room to defend himself, before it's completion. But, he wantonly used it, because he had gotten wind of Douglas's evil plan. The scumbag wanted to humiliate him thoroughly. The Bermudian shit wanted to prove that all his moves and attacks were second rate and nothing of his, thrown at him could touch or faze him, not to talk more of hurt him. He wanted to prove that he didn't need to exert effort, nor even need to activate his mana, to defeat him.
This was the highest form of disrespect to a proud, esteemed mana practitioner, like himself. An affront to his personality. It was no less humiliating than hurling bags of fresh, steaming feces at his face. It was a direct attack to his status, confidence and more importantly, his very foundation, as a mana practitioner. The absolute worst kind of attack! The kind that would leave a scar on one's mental perception for the rest of his life, if not properly dealt with and nipped in the bud. Especially when such an attack was coming from a second-rate, piece of garbage Bermudian!
So, he believed that Douglas wouldn't confront him yet, not until he was done exerting all his mana and options. His line of thinking was right all along. He took a correct gamble.
He was going to take advantage of the bastard's foolish conceitedness and eradicate him from the face of the earth. Though, he could only manage to bring out thirty percent of the potential of this technique, due to the technique been way too advanced for his age and his mana not mature enough to fully execute its destructiveness, but he was so confident that what he had mustered, was enough to get the job done and restore things back to normalcy. For the sake of the sanctity of the tournament and the restoration of his dignity and sound mental health.
Hendrickson weakly pointed his sabre, at his opponent, whom still had on his calm and casual demeanor, despite the literal, humongous danger ahead.
"HAHH! HAH!! WHEN YOU REACH, HAH! R-REACH HELL, HAH! TELL THE DEVIL HAH!, I HAH, I SAID HI!!!"
Hendrickson yelled in between pants.
SPHINX SWERVE