Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

"Well? That's it? I thought you were a faster warrior, I wouldn't have expected to corner you after about a minute from the start!" she said, chuckling and earning the applause of the audience, who began to cheer her name again. 

Before Dag could respond, she charged back at him, unleashing multiple fast attacks.

"Three leg attacks and one to the torso. Again, three down and one higher" Dag repeated in his mind, dodging all the attacks, which were repeated with a certain monotony.

"Brother, come on! Show everyone what you're capable of!" yelled Gridd, who stood still by the statue, inciting Dag.

"Captain! Now is not the time to hold back!" 

Dag turned to the crowd. 

Even Reidar was inciting him, attracting the attention of many people next to him, who began to ask questions, after hearing him say the word 'Captain' referring to Dag.

"Don't get distracted, Dag! How many times will I have to tell you?!" yelled Taya, noting that he had turned to his companions among the crowd.

She tried to take advantage of the distraction, throwing a high blow directly to his neck, but Dag blocked the spear with his hand, without even looking.

"Uhm?!" 

Taya opened her eyes wide.

Dag turned his head towards her, looking at her: his arms began to emit the usual greyish smoke, which in a few seconds condensed, becoming liquid and entering his skin, which changed color, darkening.

"What the fuck is this?" Taya said, trying unnecessarily to pull the spear at her, freeing it from Dag's grip as silence swooped through the crowd.

"I wasn't distracted, don't worry about me" he said, who with a quick hand gesture broke his opponent's weapon in half.

After breaking it, he threw the pointy end away, which fell to the floor, while Taya retreated.

"What? How did you do that?!" she said, looking at the only remaining piece of the spear in her hands, in disbelief.

Dag shrugged, giggling. 

He was making fun of Taya, hiding his real powers.

"Grrr! You're just playing, kid! This is a serious fight!" she yelled, throwing the broken spear on the floor, which rolled down the staircase, ending up at the feet of the audience, which was still being waved.

"Take this one" Dag said, throwing his wooden axe at Taya.

"What? Has he gone mad?!" 

"What is he doing?" 

"He had the victory in his hands, he had managed to disarm her!" 

The crowd began to rumor, while Reidar and Karl's faces lit up with smiles, already being aware of the outcome of the fight from the start.

Gridd and Jens were blown away, witnessing that scene.

"Dag... stop making fun of me! To act tough won't help! You managed to disarm me, take back your axe!" yelled Taya, angry.

"It's not an axe, it's just a toy... I don't need it, thank you" he said, in a calm voice, as he stood in combat position with his bare hands, smiling mockingly, provoking his opponent even more.

"All right! You wanted it!" she continued, as she leaped toward him, raising the axe to the sky, charging it with energy.

Dag stood still waiting for the impact.

When she tried to hit him from above, he dodged moving sideways at an unbelievable speed and the wooden axe hit the ground, splitting the tiles below, being soaked in light blue energy aura.

Dag kicked the arm holding the weapon and Taya was disarmed for the second time, losing her balance.

Before she could touch the ground, Dag grabbed her by the jacket, pulling her back on her feet.

Then he stepped a few meters back and gestured with his hand, urging his opponent to continue.

Taya's expression was incredulous: after being disarmed in less than a second, she would have lost the challenge if he had not grabbed her.

When she looked up at Dag, he noticed that her eyes were expressing anger and agitation.

Taya understood that her strength was much less than her opponent's, but the idea of losing a fight in front of the whole of Hevnen greatly frightened her.

"Aaaaagh!" 

He charged back to Dag, but this time with her bare hands.

During the dash, two bright wings popped out of her back, greatly increasing the speed of the run and allowing her to lift her feet off the ground.

Her arm was also surrounded by the same celestial aura, pointing towards Dag's face, who was still standing, waiting.

For a few seconds, the audience began to scream again, excited by the fight.

"Enough!" she yelled again, trying to hit Dag, who raised his palm, blocking Taya's fist.

The impact caused a very strong shockwave, which spread in an instant throughout the square, moving the trees and forcing the citizens to cover their eyes so as not to be blinded by dust.

As soon as her fist hit the palm of Dag's hand, the wings on Taya's shoulders disappeared and her arm bent, losing strength.

She squinted, failing to realize that she no longer had control of her own body.

For Dag, a slight rotation of his wrist was enough to knock Taya to the ground, who could not move.

When the crowd opened their eyes again, and the cloud of dust that had covered the square disappeared, they all remained silent, witnessing that unexpected scene.

Dag's arms were back to normal and he was standing there, still in the same position.

In front of his feet, Taya was lying back on the ground, with a frightened expression painted on her face and her arm still outstretched.

"Whoaaaa!" shouted the citizens of Hevnen, realizing that Dag was the winner of the fight, proving that he possessed extraordinary powers.

At the same time, Jens leaned against the statue, stunned, and Gridd knelt, gasping for breath.

Dag lowered himself toward Taya and picked her up, lifting her from the ground.

"In a few minutes you will return to have sensitivity in your arms and hands, then in the rest of your body, don't worry" he whispered, preventing everyone else from hearing.