Chapter 233: Come Back Safe
Mira stepped closer to her son and spoke in a low voice as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Jason... where are you going?"
Jason blinked in surprise when his mother asked him this. Jason hadn’t said anything about going anywhere, so how in the world did his mother suddenly know about that? Jason ran a hand through his hair and released a calm sigh before he gave his mother a smile.
"I’m not going anywhere dangerous, mum."
"Don’t you lie to me, Jason! You’re lying to me! You look like you’re about to disappear!"
Mira could see the hard resolve in Jason’s eyes, and she knew that he only had that look when he was completely dedicated to doing something. She felt like this might be the last time she would see her son!
Jason took his mother by the shoulder and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. Mira joined her hands together and put them to her chest, and she closed her eyes desperately as she listened to Jason’s heartbeat. It was the only thing grounding her at that moment and preventing her from breaking down. Mira didn’t know what she would do if Jason vanished like Richard.
"I’ll be back before you even know I’m gone, mum. Don’t worry about me."
"Promise me... Promise you’ll come back."
Mira said this while putting her hand over Jason’s heart, and Jason looked up at the figure standing on the other side of the living room. His sister was leaning against the door while watching the two of them, and Jason felt his eyes narrow into a glare once he saw her. Jason had to bury the anger in his heart as he turned away from her and spoke to his mother in a soothing voice.
"I promise, mum. I’ll be back before you even know it. And when I come back, I’ll make sure everything goes back to the way it was."
...
Jason walked out of his mother’s apartment at the same time that the Rook he had switched places with returned. The Phantom’s Rook slid out from the shadow, and Jason told it to make sure it watched over his mother and sister carefully. If anyone with a mana signature comes within a thousand meters of the house, then they were to be on guard immediately! The Phantom nodded seriously, and Jason turned to glance at the house once more before he said,
"Also, keep an eye on Janet and listen to any phone calls she makes after I leave. Tell me what she talks about when I get back."
The Phantom nodded to Jason once again, and Jason pulled his cloak up to cover his lower face while releasing a calm sigh. There were a lot of things Jason needed to take care of here on Earth, but he wouldn’t be able to do any of that until he got Gina back. Jason finally turned away and he started walking down the deserted street. It had only been about ten minutes since Jason left Liam in Greenville, and Jason was sure that Liam would have warned the appropriate forces about the incoming danger by now. Jason was a little pissed that he wouldn’t be here to handle the Yellow Gate himself since he knew that it would have helped him grow even stronger, but he had to focus on his priorities. And right now, Gina was at the top of his list.
Jason grabbed his phone and made a quick call, and the phone rang for a few seconds before someone picked up.
[Jason, is that you? I’m watching the news now and they said you were at the BloodRaven raid! Are you still there!? I’m on my way to Greenville, so make sure you don’t give anyone any interviews!]
Juliet’s voice rang through the phone in concern, and Jason had to put it away from his ear with a grimace from how loud her voice was! Didn’t she know he had superhuman hearing? Why the hell was she shouting?
"Calm down, Juliet. I left already. You don’t need to go to Greenville."
Jason managed to calm Juliet down with that one sentence. Juliet stopped just before entering her car and looked at the phone in surprise. Juliet had been standing outside Jason’s apartment as she prepared to leave but she let out a sigh of relief once she heard that Jason was no longer in Greenville. There were just too many things that could go wrong if the reporters and news stations managed to get Jason on television right now. It was better for the media to continue speculating and assuming things, and then she would go on air later and give them a well-crafted reason for Jason’s actions!
Juliet closed the car door and spoke calmly.
[Are you on your way back already? Griselda and I managed to sort things out with the guild formation, so if you come back, we can fill you in—]
"Juliet, I’m going to be gone for a while."
Jason suddenly cut Juliet off, and she blinked in surprise and said:
[What? Gone? Gone where?]
"Somewhere far away. I can’t really explain it to you over the phone, and I don’t have time to come explain it in person. I need you, Griselda, and Riyala to stay inside the house until I get back. You’ll see the news on TV talking about something in New Jersey soon, but don’t you dare leave the house, do you understand?"
Juliet was starting to get more worried the longer she heard Jason talking. It was sounding like there was a war coming or something!
[Jason, I still don’t understand. What’s happening in New Jersey? Why won’t you be here?]
Jason ran a hand through his hair, and he decided that it might be better to just come clean with Juliet. His next words shook Juliet to the core.
"A Yellow Gate is going to appear over New Jersey."
[W-What!? Yellow? But... But—]
Juliet was so shocked that she couldn’t even form a coherent sentence! The mere thought of a Yellow Gate appearing in any part of the world was enough to shock anyone, and Juliet was no different! She had read about the appearances of Yellow Gates before and just how many superhuman lives were lost every time! This was not the sort of thing anyone would joke about, so Juliet knew that Jason was telling the truth. But what she was actually stunned by was the fact that Jason had said he was going somewhere!
[You’re not going to help!?]
"Like I said, I’ll be busy. I already told the authorities what’s going to happen, so they’ll take care of it. Just follow my orders for now, Juliet. I’ll see you when I get back."
[Wait! Jason!]
Juliet quickly called out to Jason before he could cut the phone, and Jason hummed into the phone. Juliet bit her lip worriedly for a moment before she spoke.
[Be careful, and please come back soon.]
Jason nodded with a quick ’sure’ before he cut the phone. Jason then turned and spoke to the system.
"Where do I need to go?"
[The Lich is located three Dimensional Leaps away from Earth. To open the first Dimensional Tear, the user must travel to the location [39°04′N 75°10′W] on Earth.]
Jason immediately brought out his phone to set his GPS to that location, and he saw that it was the Delaware Bay, a few hundred miles away. He set his phone to show him the right direction before he fell into the shadow and began making his way out of Riverdale.