The Gods Decree - Chapter 189 Pathogen

With haste, Taf dodged an attempt by one of the sentient scorpions to dretch him in lava and stab him with its stinger, before calling forth in his mind,

Elemental Art (Fire) Embodiment

His hands became engulfed in flames before he swiftly grabbed the flaming stinger then subsequently lifting it in the air.

Seeing the other incoming scorpion aiming to take advantage he swung the scorpion violently in the path of its other counterpart…

WACK!

It smashed against the hardened exterior of the red scorpion sending it spiraling through the air. However, with the sentient beast in his hands and a glimmer he saw in the eyes of Dar, Taf felt there was something off.

Then Dar for the first time during the battle had a smile form on his face as he uttered to Taf.

“Got you!”

Sentient Sacrifice

The flames of the stingers within Taf’s hands were vanquished and surprising the beast similar to a lizard relinquished its stingers.

“Shit!” Taf shouted.

This could be nothing good so as quickly as possible he sought to through the stinger away and flee as far as possible. However, he was too late with the stinger being thrown within a mere foot of his body it exploded.

Boom!

It was not a grand explosion as Taf expected. There were no flames of any kind and neither was he sent flying through the skies due to the repercussions of the explosion.

All it did was explode into a red powdery substance that covered him from head to toe. In some ways, he felt this was an even worse fate.

Below the grand elder shifted her attention to the second elder as he beamed with joy from head to toe.

“I thought this would be a proper bout, not biological warfare.” Still, she was calm as she uttered those words.

Apparently her query wasn’t seen highly in the eyes of the second elder who still had a smile plastered all over his face.

“We both know a battle is only limited to what the mind can conceive. Whoever said there was such a thing as a fair fight. I think you should make the proper arrangements for the handing over of the child. This battle is lost.”

Above if these words were uttered to Taf personally he would totally understand the reason the second elder was so confident in his words.

At the moment he was frozen in place and his body felt as though he was paralyzed. Not one of his muscles functioned in their normal manner.

“You poisoned me? Here I thought you and I were a bit of the same. Lovers of close combat, I guess this was your means to drive me into a false sense of security. Not bad I must say. ”

He uttered in the direction of Dar.

“Is this your method of stalling as you seek to find a counter to my pathogen?

Well, let me dose those aspiring hope as a sense of mercy. I am sure you have observed your dantian realizing not an ounce of qi can be emitted thus your paralysis. ”

As Dar spoke Taf knew he told the truth, his dantian being the first place he checked. Although he tried no qi was being expelled from it.

This was perplexing which was the reason Dar seemed so confident in his destined victory. Throughout his body were foreign entities whose sole purpose was this. This apparently was the pathogen Dar spoke of.

They flooded his system and was the bane of his qi apparently stifling any attempts to break free.

“Don’t you worry however we are not enemies. After I have claimed my victory you will be given the antidote.” He ended by saying.

“How kind of you. I guess all my previous plans on arriving at a victory have been thrown out.” Taf responded as he sighed.

Below all the elders were in glee as they saw the results of the battle. Not only was Dar arriving at an overwhelming victory but now they felt true justice has been dealt.

How could an outsider be put on a pedestal by their so beloved sect? The heavens are just indeed in their punishment.

“Save some face and forfeit,”

Dar uttered as he saw the black lightning and iron sheen slowly fading from Taf’s body.

With a chuckle, Taf responded, “I’m sorry that word is not in my vocabulary.”

“Very well, I hope you learn from this defeat.”

Seeing as how his kind words were frowned upon Dar could only shake his head.

BOOOM!

He and his two scorpions tore through the skies. One whose stinger had been sacrificed and the other fully intact.

As he sped through the skies Dar saw flashes of his ascensions to the top along with his family.

He saw the approving look within the patriarch’s eyes. Jason his junior looked at him with such admiration as a true role model. This was all that he yearned for and it was but a few seconds away from his grasp.

“My ascension is inevitable! Just like your mask be torn down to the earth.”

He shouted as his flaming fist pummelled toward’s Taf’s purple mask that ironically had that smiling face.

With his fiery arm a millisecond away from sealing victory he was startled as Taf sought to hold him with this bare hand.

Was this guy insane? At this point, he was similar to a defenseless pig before a butcher. Yet still, he tried to defiantly stall his inevitable demise.

This Dar saw as comical, however, his expression swiftly changed when he saw the previously harmless pig’s lightning once more reignite.

BOOOM!

Taf’s body became shrouded in violent black lightning as they twisted the air around him. for visiting.

“Impossible!!!”

Dar became lost for words seeing what unfolded before his eyes. This was absurd, no one should be able to relieve themselves of the pathogen without the antidote.

“Guess I am not in need of your antidote after all. Now it’s my turn.”

As Taf spoke his iron sheen was swiftly recovered as he pummelled the startled Dar in his defenseless gut which caused him to spontaneously cough up blood.

Seeing the tide of the battle beginning to turn he summoned for his scorpions to once more attack. They swiftly aimed to come to his aid.

“No you don’t, I’ve seen through your ploy”.

However, Taf instead of relinquishing his hold on Dar he then smashed his head atop Dar’s skull. Blood oozed all over his forehead and oddly the movement of the scorpions became sluggish.

“Guess I was right after all,”

Taf uttered as once more he smashed his iron head covered by the purple mask atop Dar’s skull before feeding his body with kicks and punches in his vulnerable areas.

He then gave one final punch to Dar’s stomach before twisted his body as the lightning built around his iron feet, which smashed against Dar’s shoulder before he could react.

Wack!

Dar was sent smashing into the barrier’s exterior as lightning coursed through his body.

All who had cheered for a Dar’s victory previously were now silent as the tide of the battle had changed so swiftly.

In fact, most could not understand what had just taken place. How on earth did Dar lose so badly after being in such a commanding position?

“That black lightning is very unusual. It feels so familiar. What is it?”

The second elder asked now truly understanding this was no ordinary lightning.

“Everyone has their secrets, Zaro. Now about that bet of ours.”

Without answering his question the grand elder deflected and demanded her winnings.

Above Dar spat blood but surprisingly was able to find his feet.

By his facial expression, he was not only broken physically but also took a mental beating. However, there was one question he sought an answer?

“How did you…?” He struggled to speak as he questioned Taf.

“You were right when you mentioned I was stalling in order to find a means to counter your pathogen.

Understandably you thought you had me in a situation whereby I could not offer any resistance. While you basked in your glory, through a series of trial and error I noticed a weakness.

Within its molecular composition, it was susceptible to electrical discharge. I hypothesized this to be true after observing the particles of your pathogen that had covered my clothing and hands.

Just as your pathogen is the bane of my qi, so too with the proper amount of discharge would your pathogen become neutralized.”

“….But you had no access to your qi so how could you use it to muster the lightning?”

Dar uttered evidently feeling Taf’s explanation made no sense. To this Taf smiled before replying.

“You are right indeed I had no access to my qi. So I sought to set it free with my lightning. I simply flooded my system with the lightning I had at my disposal.”

Dar then recalled when Taf’s lightning had been extinguished.

However, at that point, he thought it was because of his qi drying up. Who would have thought this was only a ploy to attack his pathogen internally.

“I knew next I had to rid myself of your pesky scorpions. So similar to you luring me in with a false sense of security I did the same.

You see you tried to mask your weakness as your greatest strength and I am far too familiar with such a tactic. However, as a show of good faith, I will not disclose this”

As Taf spoke he descended from the skies to a quiet chamber where he became the center of all conversation.

To be continued…

Unedited Version