'Oh that must be his innate ability,' Tamashi thought... but whether it was spacial manipulation, darkness manipulation in general or a mixture of both, he was not sure. What he did know for a fact was that Purple Coat had an absolutely massive amount of mana. So much mana and with such refined manipulation to top it all off. The young mage did not waste mana, whenever Purple Coat launched an attack he always absorbed the expelled mana immediately afterwards. He was already a force to be reckoned with, even some guild masters didn't have the young mages current level of refined mana manipulation. There was only one individual which Tamashi knew of who was somewhat closer to Purple Coat's generation of mages who had such precise mana control... and that person's innate ability was mana manipulation. So it was understandable that his prowess was beyond that of the eighteen year old.
From what he recently sensed Purple Coat's mana reserves were beyond that of many of the guild masters. However most of it wasn't stored within his body, it was locked away in that impenetrable darkness that had appeared on one half of his body.
Tamashi watched as his daughter swiftly withdrew herself from the darkness and dashed away from her opponent to stand a few feet out of his immediate vicinity.
Her opponent meanwhile, disassembled the spider silk arm and the suffocating aura which had permeated the arena before dissipated as the darkness which had manifested on one half of his body faded out of existence. He righted himself and stood facing towards Death Web and her permaclone while Stream was swiftly carried away by hers. Just like that the tournament was down to two contestants. One mysterious young prodigy standing aloof and Tamashi's daughter accompanied by her permaclone.
Death Web's gears must have began to turn ceaselessly by now. Despite the fact that her opponent had either countered or evaded her light based attacks throughout every encounter they have had so far, he apparently hadn't needed to do so. His innate ability was fully capable of countering hers, as a matter of fact he hadn't even needed to do anything but manifest that dark abyss on his body and every feasible type of projectile based attack would have been swallowed up by it.
At least that's the conclusion Tamashi had come to and he hoped she was thinking the same. Purple Coat meanwhile turned his head slightly more towards Death Web then said: "Oh well, i guess a little demonstration was in order. However that could have killed you if you had made even the slightest mistake, so i don't recommend that you try to get another serving of it. What i want to really test against you is my speed, so how about it?"
Tamashi's daughter stood facing her opponent not showing even the slightest interest to engage in battle with him.
However he was sure what was taking place in her mind was the exact opposite because Death Web had her mothers temper.
"Supreme magi, do you mind if i challenge that young man in place of your daughter?" Tamashi turned to address the guild master who had spoken to him, it was Dominaire. "I would be interested in seeing the result of that particular scenario... Permission granted, however kindly remember that despite his already superb prowess as a mage you should not overdo it."
Dominaire raised an eyebrow at him then replied; "With all due respect Tamashi that young man to whom you refer is at least relative to, if not already more powerful than some of us guild masters. I believe we should be both nurturing and cautious of him in equal measure. Besides i think he'll be just fine." Apparently the rest of the guild masters had come to the same conclusion as Fukutsuno.
Tamashi agreed so he didn't offer a rebuttal to him. In the next moment Dominaire was standing before his seat, seaming to have defied the laws of physics and skip over the necessary steps to stand from a sitting position.
Tamashi glanced at Purple Coat's apprentice whom he was certain had been paying attention to the new developments, to his surprise she was completely relaxed. 'How curious, maybe she knows for certain that her mentor will be in no danger regardless of the fact that Dominaire will be his new opponent or she expects me to step in if the guild master gets carried away. If it's the former.... that could potentially be a cause for concern.'
He looked down at the center of the arena and projected his voice with the assistance of mana reinforcement then said: "Death Web, you may withdraw from the tournament now. A guild master has requested to take your place." Without replying she slowly hung her head low, then turned into a beam of light and disappeared with her permaclone following suit.
Next to him Dominaire flickered out of existence appearing infront of Purple Coat with a kick aimed towards his abdomin, before the kick could connect though a white ball came into existence stopping it in it's tracks.
By the time that attack was countered the guild master's hand began flying towards the young man's face, this attack was swiftly dodged with a slight tilt of the head. In the next several minutes there was an unceasing torrential outpouring of mana as they exchanged attacks, counterattacks, faints and dodges across the entire arena. One moment the would be in the air unleashing attacks upon each other then they would blink out of existence and reappear on the ground blocking or evading another incoming attack.
With each passing moment their movements were becoming increasingly difficult to follow. Tamashi couldn't help but look on in awe of the sheer amount of precision and refinement which must have been required to keep up with Dominaire in his own element for the current duration of time.
Even as he thought this the young prodigy and the guild master began to move even faster, by this point everyone watching who couldn't continuously amplify their sight must have only been able to see blurring afterimages. The arena floor was littered with the debri produced by the sheer force of the impact caused whenever the magi collided with each other.
The mana in the arena was in a chaotic state as it was repeatedly ripped apart by Purple Coat and Dominaire's movement and attacks, as ripples ran through it producing a cacophonous medley.
There was a massive surge of mana being emanated by the opponents, Tamashi could only ponder at the amount of mana which must have been continuously poored into Purple Coat's beast bond ability to achieve such speed. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't utilized his innate ability to counter any of Dominaire's attacks, it would have been a completely nonsensical decision to even attempt to siphon mana at this point. The speed with which this battle was taking place simply didn't allow enough time for either opponent to employ such a tactic.
As Tamashi watched both opponents came to an abrupt stop mid air then descended to the arena floor, took an offensive stance and began to flicker from one point to the other. With every contact they made with each other there was a thunderous boom, the atmospheric mana trembling and sending ripples outwards from the point of contact.
Throughout all of this neither combatant seemed to waver for a moment. Purple Coat wasn't losing any ground whatsoever, even against a guild master. Not just any guild master at that but one of the most powerful and lethal ones. It seemed he was indeed relative to them in at least certain areas, as he was currently holding his own using refined mana manipulation, sensing and a beast bond ability while one of his senses was permanently impaired.
In the next moment as Dominaire appeared before Purple Coat's face he stopped abrubtly then his body sank through the arena floor. He was apparently using the facet of his speed which allows him to phase through solid objects, in the next moment his hand resurfaced beneath the young man's feet. Purple Coat had already anticipated the attack and jumped into the air.
As the guild master's hand reached within striking range of Purple Coats feet there was a massive surge of mana, Dominaire quickly withdrew his arm returning to the surface of the arena within an arms length of Purple Coat a moment later.
The guild masters mana signature flared as he grew angry and yelled: "Did you intend to maim or outright kill me young man?" When Purple coat didn't reply Dominaire pointed a finger at him threateningly and snarled then asked: "What is your purpose, what is your goal?" His voice growing more harsh throughout the enquiry. "You're quite powerful enough as you are, why are you just now revealing yourself publicly to us magi of the upper echelon. Do you have some other goal to assassinate one of our members and decided to use this opportunity to get close to us?"
The young man in question stood at ease, not seeming to feel threatened in the slightest. "Answer me this instant young man," Dominaire bellowed. Purple Coat finally moved then replied: "there's no need for hostility guild master Dominaire. My goal, my only goal in life is to eradicate the entire demon race." Tamashi observed from his peripheral point of view as every guild master present nodded their heads. Purple Coat continued in the mean time: "The few measly S class missions available to free lance magi are insufficient to satiate my desire, so i need access to the unlimited S class demon hunting missions. Those are only available to members of the Elite Force. I want to kill demons, i want to kill them all."