Jason had already sent his Phantasm to look into Darius’ life and find anything shady on him, and Jason was more than prepared for what the man would ask.
"Mr. Jason, a question, if I may. I heard from a source that you apprehended a pair of twins who had been working with the previous director during your assessment in the SMD. These twins have been sighted a few times as members of your ’Undead Legion’. Are you trying to lead us to believe that you killed these two?"
"Yes, and what of it?"
"That means you had sufficient power to take out these twins even though they had been aiming to attack you?"
"Get to the point."
"Well, I just find it curious, Mr. Jason. City law dictates that all criminals are to be brought before a jury for judgment by the court, and sufficient punishment would be given out based on the crime. But from what I can hear you saying, it would appear that you decided out of your own free will that you would kill these two superhumans even though you had enough power to subdue them and bring them before the court. I just wonder if this is how you carry out your ’decisions’ at all times. Do you simply kill anyone that you think is opposing you and then use the excuse of them threatening your life in order to justify adding them to your army?"
The silence that filled the street after that question could have rivaled a fucking graveyard. All the journalists couldn’t help but look at the man who asked the question with complete shock on their faces! There wasn’t a single one of them who could have thought about such a question, and even if they did, none of them had the balls to try and ask it! The journalists all turned to Jason to see what reaction he had to that question, and they saw how Jason’s face was still as calm as ever. Jason was staring at the man with complete emotionlessness, and the man stared back unflinchingly! It was very rare to see a man like this! Most regular men in the world now knew the massive gap that existed between them and superhumans, and this knowledge gave them a slight sense of inferiority that would never allow them to face off against a superhuman in such a way! So, to see a man who was willing not only to face a superhuman but also to antagonize that superhuman with such an insane question was very rare! In a way, Jason was almost impressed.
But Jason didn’t let that bother him.
"Your name is Darius Teller, am I right? You went to Greenville High School, and you were the head of the media club. There were a lot of controversies during the year that you were the head of the club, even one where a couple were pictured in a compromising position, and the girl had to drop out of school because you published her nude pictures. You’re no stranger to creating controversy, Darius, but you’ll be wise not to try that shit with me. I’m sure you’ve never been faced with a situation where someone genuinely wanted to take your life."
Doon!
A pressure suddenly filled the entire street, and the reporters all felt their faces turn white as Jason’s power pressed down on them like a fucking building! Darius, who had been standing, felt his entire body lock up like he had just been frozen in ice, and he could only stare up at Jason with wide eyes. Jason still had a perfectly calm look on his face as he continued speaking.
"Now imagine I wanted to kill you, Darius. Imagine I want to take your life for my entertainment and watch the life leave you as you bleed out on the floor while begging for mercy. But I won’t listen to any of your pleas until I have what I want. Do you understand what it means, Darius, to have someone say these words to you? To have someone come to the decision that they would erase your existence for their own benefit?"
Woosh!
The pressure that filled the region suddenly vanished like a breeze on a clear day, and the journalists all took a collective deep breath as they tried to get their heartbeats back under control! Jason tapped a finger on the podium as he calmly waited for the reporters to get themselves back together. He had only used a small percentage of his actual powers back then, but it seemed it had still been too much for regular humans to withstand. Once Jason was sure that Darius wasn’t going to die, he spoke up again.
"Now, Darius, tell me how you would feel if someone were to face you with this sort of intent. It doesn’t matter whether you’re more powerful than that person or not—they came to you after making up their mind that they wanted to take your life, and they decided that they would do anything in their power to complete this task. I don’t know about you, Darius, but I’m not the sort of person to allow such a threat to go lightly. If you are prepared to take my life, then you should be prepared to lose your life in the process. That is what I firmly believe in, and I am certain that any superhuman in the world who has faced off against Magical Beasts inside any Gate would agree with me. Now, are there other questions?"
There was silence all around the conference, and even the superhumans and policemen that had been keeping the peace couldn’t help but look at Jason with complete shock on their faces. Darius was still standing with his notepad held in front of him, but his eyes were wide in shock, and if you looked closely, you would see that he was literally shaking in place! Darius was too terrified to even move! At the side, Juliet had already been very close to passing out, and even though Liam was a superhuman, he had still felt the intensity of Jason’s pressure! So this is what it’s like to stand beside the strongest man in the world! It felt like Liam had been standing in front of a fucking Leviathan Rank Gate Boss! Liam let out a harsh breath and tried to calm his heart before he finally said,
"A-Are there no more questions? If there aren’t, then—"
"Actually, there’s something I wanted to bring up. I’m surprised no one asked me about the otherworlders that came out of the Yellow Gate and destroyed New Jersey."
Jason said this with a small frown on his face, and he watched as a look of confusion passed through the entire crowd of journalists. Many of them turned to each other and spoke in hushed voices as they tried to understand what Jason was talking about, and Jason was shocked when he turned and saw that even Liam and Juliet looked like they didn’t know what he was talking about! Jason’s eyes narrowed as someone spoke up.
"Sorry, Mr. Jason, we don’t really know what you’re talking about."
Jason immediately frowned and asked,
"Haven’t there been rumors of otherworlders coming through the Yellow Gate on the internet?"
Jason asked curiously, and the reporter laughed!
"Haha, oh, so that’s what you’re talking about? Mr. Jason, don’t tell me you’re also one of those who believe those conspiracy theories! There’s no such thing as otherworlders!"
"Yeah, it’s just some joke passed around by kids! A hoax!"
"Otherworlders? Sounds hilarious. Magical Beasts are already bad enough—imagine what people from another world would be like!"
A loud laughter echoed throughout the entire conference, and even Liam and Juliet began to laugh softly when they heard the journalists’ words! Jason was just standing there with a shocked look on his face as everyone laughed around him! Jason looked around at all the people that were gathered, and he could see very clearly that there wasn’t a single one of them who believed what he had just said! As far as the people were concerned, there was no such thing as otherworlders! Jason immediately knew that there was only one thing that could have caused something like this to happen.
’What the fuck did you do, Cersai?’