When Jason’s father, Richard, was still on Earth, he had helped Cersai in hunting down various interworld travelers that had found their way to Earth, and after finding out the best way to sedate them, Cersai would send the interworld traveller to the lab for testing. The things done in that underground lab were far too gruesome for anyone to speak about. Torture would be a far better description for it than experimentation! But Cersai knew that it was for the greater good. The experiments they carried out there had allowed them to not only figure out how to improve the power level of the superhuman agents in the organization, but they also gave them new insight into how to build better biological weapons that they could use against various interworld species! It was nasty work, but Cersai knew that it was necessary for the greater good.
But the fact that Jason knew about it put all of that into jeopardy. No matter how useful their research was, there was no way they wouldn’t face serious backlash if the government learned about the truth. Cersai narrowed his eyes and spoke in a serious tone.
"How did you find out about those labs?"
Jason shrugged nonchalantly while looking down at the rune in his hand again.
"That isn’t important. What’s important is that I know exactly what sort of person you are. You portray yourself as this savior of humanity — the last stand against the evil otherworlders. But in truth, you’re just scared, Cersai. You’re so scared of the other worlds that you’re willing to dip your soul in darkness while hiding the truth from the rest of the world like some overprotective father. Your heart is in the right place, but it’s time you realized that things have changed. The future is here, Cersai, and if humanity doesn’t learn about what’s out there, then we’ll all be destroyed. I won’t deny that your role in our survival is an important one, but you can no longer be allowed to just do whatever you want."
Jason grabbed Cersai’s shirt and raised it up to reveal Cersai’s chest, then he immediately slapped the rune paper right over Cersai’s heart! Jason knew that he could kill Cersai at any time. He didn’t even need to stress himself by looking for Cersai — he could simply use one of his Phantoms to kill the man. But Jason also knew that the visual promise of death was a far better way to keep Cersai in check than his Phantoms ever would. This rune would form a permanent scar on Cersai’s chest, and anytime Cersai looked at it, it would remind him that Jason had his life in his hands.
Jason couldn’t just allow Cersai to continue down the path he was going. Jason knew that Earth needed to grow stronger if they were going to survive against the other worlds out there, and hiding the truth about the Primordial Expanse from the superhumans and civilians was only going to set them back. Jason needed them to be ready before things actually got serious — and for that, he needed to take control of Cersai.
Cersai had been completely powerless to even try and fight back against Jason with how much power he had, and there was a sudden jolt of electricity that passed through Cersai’s body when the rune slammed into his chest! The inscription in the rune paper immediately transferred itself over to Cersai and formed a circular hieroglyphic on the left side of his chest, and Cersai gritted his teeth in pain as he felt something slithering into his body.
BA-DUMP!
Ten thin purple chains traveled through Cersai’s body, and he screamed as the chains began to twist themselves around his heart like snakes. The chains tightened around Cersai’s heart before their tips formed into ten daggers that pressed against the surface of his heart.
"AHHH!!!"
Cersai screamed in pain as he lost all his strength and fell to the ground while holding his chest. The pain in his chest felt like someone had driven a sword through it, and he gritted his teeth while trying to withstand the intense pain. Jason stared Cersai down with a calm look on his face. As the chains around Cersai’s heart tightened, another chain slowly formed on Jason’s left hand and wrapped around his wrist like a snake. The chain glowed with a bright purple light at the same time the chains in Cersai’s heart glowed, and Jason looked down at the rune before nodding to himself.
Azrael had introduced Jason to this rune when Jason asked him for a way to keep Cersai in check. The rune was simple enough — it allowed the Runecaster to hold a leash that would connect to whoever he placed the rune on. With that leash, the Runecaster had the freedom to kill the other person at any time he wanted, but he also had the ability to cause unimaginable pain to keep the other person in line. All it would take was a single thought, and the chains would destroy Cersai’s heart.
The pain in Cersai’s chest finally calmed down, and he looked up at Jason with a hard glare on his face. Cersai was breathing heavily, and he seethed at Jason like a wild beast.
"What the fuck did you do to me?"
"The rune on your chest is called the [Binding Chains], and it formed an unbreakable bond around your heart. That rune isn’t recorded in any magical journal or gate, so don’t bother trying to find out what it is. All you need to know is that a single thought from me is all it will take to end your life. Cersai, I am not an evil person, and I derive no joy in seeing the suffering of others. But if you push me to the brink, then I don’t mind killing you without a second thought. Your role might be important to humanity, but I promise you that your death will not cause the end of the world. Humanity will simply move on, as always. The only reason you aren’t dead now is because you didn’t go after my family directly, so you should thank your god for that. Now, before tonight is over, I want you to go back and unlock the memories of all the civilians you manipulated. I don’t care how you do it, but you’d better make sure the people know about the existence of other worlds by the time the sun rises tomorrow. If you haven’t unlocked it by tomorrow, then you alone will be responsible for the consequences. Do not force my hand more than you already have, Cersai, or you will regret ever crossing me."
Cersai’s eyes were wide in shock as he listened to what Jason was saying, and when Jason was done, Cersai slowly raised his shirt to take a good look at the rune on his chest. The skin around the [Binding Chains] rune was red and sore, and the rune itself looked like a circular tattoo that had been hot-branded into Cersai’s skin like he was some sort of cattle. Cersai felt an intense anger rising from deep inside him as he looked at the rune. Cersai had no idea that Jason was even capable of something like this, and for a moment, he thought it was just a lie. But Cersai could literally feel the chains that had wrapped themselves around his heart. Each time Cersai’s heartbeat, he could sense the chains tightening and loosening around it — almost like a warning that each one of those heartbeats could be his last.
’How in the world did Jason learn to do this? This is high-level runecrafting. Jason has only been a superhuman for a month. Even if he learned how to draw runes from day one, it shouldn’t be possible for him to have gotten this good at runecrafting already!’