"You want a deathmatch with me?" Bill was a little taken aback by Grey's demand. He originally thought Grey wanted to bet something valuable, he never thought he would want to throw his life away. Yes, he would not deny it, Grey was as powerful as he was, but not in his current state. After Grey's last battle, it was evident that he was not even seventy percent, much less a hundred percent. If Grey fought against the young man he fought against previously in his current state, everyone felt he would lose. "Yes, are you afraid?" Grey nodded as he looked at Bill with a mocking smile. "To think you would want to throw your life away." Bill laughed with a shake of his head. "Grey, you don't have to do this." Sylvia spoke up. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Grey turned to Sylvia. Sylvia saw his face and nodded before taking a seat. "Won't you try to discourage him?" Scott asked. "I tried, he refused." Sylvia replied. "You only tried once." Scott looked at her with an odd look. "Once is enough. If he doesn't listen to me once, then he wouldn't listen to me even if I say it a hundred times." Sylvia shrugged. "You..." Scott sighed before shaking his head, "He's overestimating himself. Sometimes, overconfidence isn't a good thing. Geniuses like him fall too early." The Elders by the side all nodded to his words. It's good to be confident, but one should also know when to give up. On the side of the Nether Faction. The Faction leader had a smirk on his face. Grey had been a torn on their side, if they could kill him, then it was worth it. Bill was powerful, to them, he was more powerful than Scott. As long as he took out Grey, Scott would not be a problem. Back on the platform. "You know, you should listen to them." Bill said slowly. He wasn't in a hurry. Although he was also confident in his strength, he was no fool. There was no way Grey would want to throw his life away. 'He must have something that gives him confidence. If I can find it before we start the battle, then I can make things easier.' He thought as he tried to run through everything Grey had done since the start of the battle. For each battle, Grey has been known to bring one or two surprises. This meant that before making such a request, he already had something that gave him the confidence that he could kill Bill. Bill was not the only one thinking about all these. While Bill was still in thought, everyone looked at the two quiet figures on the platform. No one expected Grey would bring up such a request, nor did they think Bill would take this long against an opponent who wasn't a hundred percent and was still in a lower stage than himself. Grey chuckled, "Are you afraid?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 Bill didn't respond to him but looked around, "Tell me, what gives you so much confidence?" "My strength, what else?" Grey replied with confidence. "Hehe, your strength? You call that your strength?" Bill laughed out loud, "If you want to use your strength, then don't use any techniques to increase it to the Ninth stage of the Sage Plane, that is your true strength." Grey shrugged, "It can't be helped. You're in the Peak, and I'm only in the Fifth stage. I don't even take my strength to the Peak, the Ninth stage is more than enough for the likes of you." Bill looked at Grey, he couldn't refute. If Grey really were to somehow get his strength to the Peak of the Sage Plane, then even he had little confidence in being able to fight against such a beast. "I..." Bill paused and looked at Grey, "decline your request. I'm not interested in killing you, defeating you is enough. We're all geniuses, killing each other wantonly is just stupidity." When everyone heard his answer, the entire place went silent. No one expected such an answer from Bill. His refusal meant only one thing, he was afraid. Even if Grey was not fit, it was obvious that in all the battles he had fought so far, he had almost killed his opponents. If not for the old man, they would all have been killed. If Grey brought this up, then he truly might have a way. When everyone thought more clearly, none of them felt disappointed by Bill. Although those from the Nether Faction were a little annoyed since this was a little embarrassing, it was not too bad. When your opponent was this powerful, then it was okay to take a step back. Being a genius means one has to have great judgement of things as well. No one wanted to die. "To think you're afraid of me. An injured opponent." Grey mocked. Bill didn't buy Grey's mocking, instead he turned to the old man, "Can we start now?" The old man looked at Bill, smiled before nodding his head. He approved of Bill's choice. Even he felt Grey might really be able to kill his opponent if they were fighting a death battle. Grey's killing intent was already very strong, that showed how brutal he was. His previous battles had also told everyone of his personality. So long as the opportunity presented itself, he didn't mind killing his opponents. If they agree to a deathmatch, then the old man wouldn't be able to interfere. The truth was, he was more worried about Grey than Bill. Grey was strong, but he wasn't at his best now. He didn't want such a genius to die over such a stupid competition. He was already annoyed by the people who had been killed, if someone of Grey's caliber were to die, it would be too much of a blow to take for humans. Bill moved the moment the old man told them they could start the battle. Grey immediately used the Fusion State, getting to the Ninth stage from the start. He couldn't dare to be negligent against someone of Bill's level. Bill used the lightning element to attack, but Grey dodged to the left. Before Grey's legs could touch the ground, Bill was already close to him as he attacked again with the lightning element. Grey blocked the attack, but was sent flying by the impact. He flipped mid-air to stabilize himself before trying to counter. However, Bill had already attacked again. Grey's figure shot to the ground after Bill's attack hit him on the back. The speed of Bill was on another level. He was even faster than the young man he just fought against. 'Damn it. I still need to rest.' He thought to himself. He stood up after landing on the ground, blood slowly dripping from the side of his lips. He cleaned it before taking flight since Bill was still in the sky. He unleashed a stream of fire, but Bill cut it open with lightning. Grey tried to use the earth element to use a hammer to slam him down, but Bill dodged it before attacking Grey with a lightning arrow. The arrow shot at Grey with insane speed, Grey created a fire screen to block it, but the arrow broke through it easily. But it was finally blocked by an attack from Grey. The impact of both attacks pushed Grey back. When Grey retreated, he saw Bill standing close to him. He used the gravitational force field, but to his surprise, it had little to no effect on Bill. "Haha, I've already prepared a precaution for this thing of yours." Bill chuckled as he engaged Grey in a close combat battle. Grey's eyes lit up. Close combat would make things easier for him. Bang! Bam! Their fists collided multiple times at an unimaginable speed. Blows were thrown as they tried to overpower each other. Grey had a powerful physical body so he was not in any way weaker than his opponent. Bill was using the help of his elements to improve his strength as they fought. As the battle progressed, Bill's strength increased. At first, it was obvious that Grey was stronger, however, now, they were almost on the same level. Grey soon noticed this as well as his blows weren't pushing Bill back any longer. 'What's happening?' He thought in confusion. Boom! Grey's fist exploded with fire. The force was stronger than his previous attacks, sending Bill flying. "Haha, I never thought you would also be so proficient in hand to hand combat. Come, again." Bill said excitedly. It was evident he was both stunned and excited at the same time. Grey didn't say anything as he rushed after Bill who was standing in the same place. He had already stopped using the gravitational force field since it seemed to be ineffective against Bill. Unlike him, Bill didn't have a strong physical body, he however had a technique that could help boost his physical strength as he battled on. This was one of the reasons why he enjoyed engaging in physical battles. Not just that, but since most Elementalists have weak physiques, he tends to almost always overpower them as they fight.