Chương 12: Jason’s Fight

"Now, we introduce Jason Newborn, the man with the largest core in the world. Today, he will fight five Rank 6 reapers. He lacks skill and finesse, but his raw power is so high that there are three barrier masters, including me, on call to block his attacks. Let's begin!" Jason stared at the five Rank 6 reapers with a fierce gaze, but it wavered when he felt Sara's eyes burning through him. That gaze made him unexpectedly wild. Furious.

The moment one of the reapers moved, Jason dashed forward with blistering speed and swung his sword. A massive sickle of raw mana hit a reaper's barrier, nearly cracking it. That was the first attack. Speed. Strength. Endurance. Dodge, strike. Aura sickle. Fireball. Smash. In less than a minute, the colosseum's sand had turned to glass from the heat of his attacks. It took fifteen minutes, but he managed to shatter the barriers of three, making them tap out.

The fourth's boot melded with the molten sand, and Jason bashed him in the face with a cracking punch. That's when a reaper hit him from behind, sending him flying forward. Jason was like a ferocious beast when he stood and turned around.

"You backstabber!" Jason turned, lifted his sword, and then saw Sara's face. Her judgmental face was absolute. It made his mana lose control. Jason suddenly felt stronger, and his sword glowed with vibrant white light. Sara yelled something incomprehensible. So did Aelia. But it was too late. He swung down, and a fifty-meter arc of mana tore through the ground, five meters high. The fighter was okay, of course. Aelia blocked his blast with a barrier, and that made it cooler.

The molten glass completed a full Y shape. Gorgeous. Jason got a standing ovation as the match was called and he returned to the line after a bow. It was a perfect demonstration. Everything he wanted. Until the nobles fell still. Why are they…? Jason turned and saw Sara stepping into the center of the ring.

"Despite being on a month-long journey, Edico Sullsburg has assured us that Lady Sara Reece has continued her studies in combat," Aelia announced.

"So she will participate in the tournament. Wait, what? Jason asked. He snorted.

"Okay," he said aloud.

"Let's see it." —Sara Reece— Sara did not want to participate in the Markinoa Festival. One fight could trigger more of Jason's memories, and given the overwhelming might of his last display, which was five times grander than it was in the original timeline, it would only make the kingdom's situation worse. That said, she needed natural access with various nobles—corrupt nobles—who were present.

If she searched them out, it would lead to questions, and she was currently the most watched woman in perhaps all of Veridia. Therefore, if she wanted access to them, she needed to earn their patronage. Once she had it, she could meet with them as many times as she wanted without anyone expecting what she prepared to force them to do. Unfortunately, given the grand displays the Hero's Party members put on, she couldn't do "just enough." She had to make a grand declaration of her power.

Aelia listened to an order through a telepathic link, indicated by her silently touching her head.

"It seems that, due to our limited insight into Lady Reece's talents in combat, we are to send out a junior sycount to fight solely with sword techniques and essential spells. If she manages to land a single hit on him, she will have the option to participate in the semi-finals." Sara walked into the center of the ring, and a man with a red cloak and a charming smile came out.

"It's a pleasure and surprise to meet such a hero today," he said.

"My name is Jiki. It's a pleasure."

"Likewise," she said, nodding and unsheathing her sword.

"I'll warn you that I'll be using acceleration, fortification, and perception spells, as my muscle memory is not strong enough to compete with a refined fighter."

"Hoh?" Jiki mused.

"You'll be using perception spells… I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given your peers' performance." He glanced at Jason and Raul. She did, too, and then looked back.

"Whenever you're ready," she said.

"On you." Sara chose minimal input for maximum output. She ran forward. Anthrozi, her speed boosted, closing the gap in the blink of an eye. Jiki was surprised, but cleanly deflected her attack.

"Wow," he said.

"I wasn't expecting—" Eímasan, she thought. Sara's perception slowed to a crawl, making Jiki's words blur to an elongated yoooooouuuuu as she called her next spell. Migma. Sara's arms accelerated as she prepared the cutting motion. Jiki dodged with shocked eyes, using an acceleration spell of his own. Rihiki. Sara summoned a horizontal block of solid mana and kicked off it to avoid a strike. Shooting left unnaturally caught him off guard. He used another acceleration spell to block her attack.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Morian. Sara's sword glowed with fortification magic that sharpened the blade and fixed the handle to her hands. Her arms and sword became a single object as she slashed down with bewildering might. Her sword sheared straight through his. He stared at the blade in shock as she jumped backward.

"And it… looks like it's over!" Sara heard Aelia say as she released her perception spell. There was a moment of silence—and then a cratering blast of applause.

"What a wonderful performance," Jiki said.

"It's no surprise, given that you're the head sycount's disciple."

"Thank you."

"I can't wait to see what you do next."

"I can't wait to see what you do with sycount training." He grabbed her hand and lifted it, smiling brightly as he humbly crowned her the victor. Sara swept her gaze on the crowd and avoided looking at Jason. Yet she could feel the tyrant's burning gaze.

"Do you want to take part in the semi-finals?" Aelia asked.

"No," Sara said.

"I believe that's enough for—""Yes!" Jason shouted.

"She has to. This tournament's about patronage. Someone might choose her because she seems like she has potential, not because she's powerful."

"That's exactly what we want," Aelia said.

"You've only had one month of training."

"Yes, and we can already crush junior sycounts," Jason argued.

"We've exceeded the potential stage. Now it's about talent and raw power."

"Rank 6 reapers and sycounts are hardly a challenge. A rank 8 like myself can cut through a mountaintop." Jason gritted his teeth.

"But still! We're equals. You can't just give her privileges. It's an unfair advantage." Sara exhaled and almost lost it, but when she heard the nervous ruckus of excitement from the patrons, she closed her eyes and accepted that one of her chosen patrons might go to Jason because she didn't fight him. She might look unreliable, or scared to fight people stronger than her.

"Then I accept," Sara said.

"Okay," Aelia said, and then turned to the crowd.

"Today, we will watch a battle between Jorga Morn, a Rank 7 reaper, Lord Raul Martinez, Lord Jason Newborn, and Lady Sara Reece. This lineup comes from an agreement among weaker Chosen not to fight Jason or Raul. The matchup will be random. We will flip a coin between Lords Martinez and Newborn, and then a coin between Lady Reece and Reaper Morn. We'll start with Martinez and Newborn." She flipped the coin. It sang in the air before slapping onto Aelia's hand.

"It seems Lord Newborn is fighting first." A shockwave of drunken yelling and cheering followed her words.

"He will be fighting against…" She flipped the coin and frowned.

"Lady Reece." Aelia wasn't excited about the matchup, but all of the patrons were. They were like wild animals: barking and snapping and howling to see the fight.

"As a reminder to both contestants, if I see a deadly or maiming blow, I will intervene. I'm more than capable of seeing such attacks, so if one occurs, I will stop the match and declare the winner. There will be no whining or complaining. Is that understood?"

"Understood," Jason said, flashing a bright white smile.

"Understood," Sara drawled. His eyebrow twitched, but he soon became visibly delighted by the crowd. Most people believed he'd be the victor. That was natural, given that he decimated a team of midranked rankers by his lonesome and created a molten river of lava that mages had to cool with ice magic. Sara also got her praise, but Jason couldn't hear it. He was still manic from his ovation. Still jovial as they squared off, he flashed a smile when Aelia said, "Begin."

Jason walked in a straight line, blade's tip dragging across the ground. The earth quaked underneath the blade as he walked, creating a stir. So that's what he remembers, she thought. Jason stopped and stared at her with an annoyed gaze.

"What? Are you just determined to ignore me?"

"On the contrary," Sara said.

"I plan to watch over you. Because you used an intentionally lethal attack on someone, and you don't seem the least bit bothered by it." She glanced at the obsidian Y melted into the ground. The atmosphere in the stadium fell eerily still. There was still shuffling and mumbling, but a tight compression seized everyone's chests, leading many to question Jason's actions, which had just been reframed. Jason, the Hero, had just now been declared a potential danger to the kingdom.

"First off, Aelia told us not to hold back," Jason said, eying the patrons nervously.

"Second off: are you just dead set on ruining my reputation? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You almost just killed a man and then reveled in the crowd's cheering. A human life meant nothing to you. You didn't even look to see if he was okay." Jason vibrated with rage.

"This is a controlled battleground," Aelia said woodenly.

"We told everyone to use the full extent of their might."

"Yes, but he didn't even register it," Sara argued.

"If I didn't bring it up, he wouldn't've even considered the gravity of his actions. I wouldn't trust you to make a barrier in time. My concern for life is too high." Jason seethed, blowing hot breath from his nostrils.

"I'm going to get people killed. Is that what you think? That I'll just get you all killed?" So he remembers that, too, Sara thought. She'd think that it was a good thing. But for someone like Jason Newborn, who couldn't apologize or tell people they were right without taking a massive blow to his ego, and only conceded when his reputation was on the line, being consistently blamed for anything could trigger erratic behavior. That's where they were.

So far as Sara was concerned, they were beyond the point of no return. You can't just give a pathological narcissist the power to create missile-esque meteor strikes that can destroy high-rise skyscrapers and then expect them to turn out alright. No one could survive the temptations and terrors of having too much power. Sara was no different.

The tithes of war are massive, and the only reason she felt like she could live with herself was because somewhere, someday, she was going to kill Agronus, and it would save hundreds of millions of lives. She did just that. That's why all rulers can live with what they do. It's for a cause. With Jason, he was his cause.

And while this was another timeline with a different Jason Newborn—one who could be taught to be a great leader (or at least become someone like Peter the Great, who could modernize feudal society by beating dissenting politicians with a club)—the memory-triggering system all but ruined that possibility. The second he remembered her skewering him with the corrupted half of the Nikaria sword, he would go off the deep end and try to kill her.

If he remembered all the glorious battles he won and the way his soldiers cheered for him, he'd go right back to being the tyrant. Only this time, he would know what was coming and prepare. She wasn't the only one with a second lease on life. If he regained his memories, it could be catastrophic. Hell, today he could remember everything. He was a ticking time bomb. That's just how it was. The question was: How the hell am I supposed to do this without triggering his memories? Sara wondered. No stabbing motions. No…

I could just lose. Then again, it takes more skill to lose on purpose. Jason was on his rise to power, but at present, she still had the power to fold him like a lawn chair. Unless, of course, he regressed further. If he unlocked more power, it would require real magic to fight him. Unchained magic. Laid bare.

"That I'll get Emma killed?" Jason barked suddenly. All the muscles in Sara's shoulders and neck tightened in an instant.

"Because it's all me, right?" Jason asked.

"Everything. It's all my fault. Me. Jason Newborn. As if you're not swinging a goddamn sword you hypocritical—""Start the match!" Sara barked. Aelia raised her eyebrows and did just that.

"If that's your desire, let's begin! Fight!"