The blinding flare from the curved sword was bright enough that even through his closed eyelids Jahar felt a spike of pain lance through his head.  Small retina burns danced before his vision as he opened them an instant later, though muted enough that he could see his opponent having similarly avoided the flare.  His lips twisted into a disturbingly contented smile as he simply released his hold on Nicoli's sword and stepped back, his own blade held before him defensively in a two handed grip in case Nicoli simply attacked.  His real eye glittered almost as brightly in the light of the blood moon as did his false one.

"You have no idea how many men have fallen to this sword's ability, simple as it is."  It was clear from his tone that Jahar was unnervingly pleased with the outcome of the clash.  "I think its safe to say that I finally have your full attention."  As he spoke, so long as the flare did not affect Nicoli for the worse than it did Jahar, the Veiled-One would likely see the tattoos upon his face and left hand, the only places where his dark toned skin was visible, writhe and change over the course of a few seconds.  Each vine grew dozens of small tattooed thorns, appearing to pierce the killer's skin anywhere the vines crawled.  Most visible would be the blooming of the two black rosebuds upon his face and hand into beautifully inked flowers, each with intricate gradations of black that clearly defined the separate petals.

A small wince was all that showed on Jahar's face as the brief but intense pain of the tattooed thorns washed over nearly his entire body, but it was a familiar, welcome pain.  He had been convinced by the last exchange; this man was truly excellent at his craft, able to read his opponents movements and react almost instantaneously to avoid danger.  His defenses were impeccable, but he was clearly holding back in attempting to kill his opponent, likely held back by his desire to unravel some sort of imagined plot.  That simply wouldn't do, not for today, not for the fruition of weeks of waiting.  Patience had never been Jahar's area of strength, and he had decided to force his opponent's hand.  The wash of power from the tattoos felt like vibrant liquid fire across his skin and in his veins, though there was no associated pain other than that of the thorns.

For D'Angelo, his charm would certainly sense the intense flare of magic as the darkly beautiful tattoos began to gather the ambient energy in the atmosphere, easily found most everywhere but especially so in areas such as this one which were mostly untouched by men.  The process would take a few precious seconds before Jahar could begin to actually utilize his abilities, and so he was prepared to defend himself during the entire process, ready to buy himself the necessary time.