"Oni... chan?"
"Hey, tiger. How’re you feeling?"
Maya put her hand to her head and groaned miserably.
"My head hurts, oni-chan. And my body feels strange."
"I know, just take it easy. Here, eat this."
Jason handed Maya another Magic Crystal, and Maya looked at it in confusion. It was a piece of rock, and Maya wondered why her brother would want her to eat something like this. But Maya trusted her brother more than anyone in the world, and if he was telling her to eat something, then she knew it would be for a good reason. Maya took the crystal and chewed it like rock candy before swallowing it, and she stuck her tongue out at the terrible taste of it! But all of a sudden, Maya felt an intense surge of energy filling her body, and she gasped as she raised her hand to take a look at them.
"What happened to me?"
Jason smiled when Maya said this, and he leaned down to kiss her head before he let out a tense sigh and spoke softly to her.
"I’ll explain everything later, okay tiger? For now, I need you to help me look after Janet. Here, take these crystals. Five are for you, and the other five are for Janet. Make sure you eat all of yours, and when Janet wakes up, give her the others and make sure she eats them, alright?"
Jason caressed Maya’s cheek softly and smiled kindly at her as he said this, and Maya couldn’t stop herself from blushing as she nodded to him. Jason pressed his lips into Maya’s hair and he squeezed his eyes shut with a thankful look on his face. Jason really didn’t know what he would’ve done if anything had happened to his sisters, and he was just glad that they was okay. Jason told her Maya loved her before he stood up calmly and turned around.
Once Madam Rose saw the expression on Jason’s face, she couldn’t stop her feet from taking a step back in fear. All the kindness on Jason’s face had bled off into nothing, and now all that was left was pure anger! Jason got a message from Jaraht telling him that they had found the rest of the New Order bases, and Jason tuned Jaraht out. Jaraht already knew what to do, so Jason just gave the subordinates around his sisters an order.
"Make sure no one gets close to them. If anyone tries to force their way through, kill them."
The subordinates all accepted the order immediately, and they gave space for Jason to pass before they stood around Janet and Maya in a protective circle. Rose moved back as Jason walked past her without a glance, and she could only pray silently for the man who had attacked them. Just from the look on Jason’s face, she knew that the man was not going to be dying a pleasant death.
....
Up in the sky, Yuslev was fighting for his life!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three massive sonic booms exploded around Yuslev as Gina unleashed massive wind arrows that nearly skewered him to death, and Yuslev felt genuine fear fill his heart as he slid across the water to try and avoid it! Yuslev called on a massive dragon made from water, and he shot it towards Gina at rocket speed! The dragon roared as it approached, and just before it hit, it transformed into ice with multiple sharpened spikes all around it that would have been enough to seriously injure any SS Rank!
Slam!
Shatter!
But the dragon never even got a chance to reach Gina at all! Just before it hit, Gina formed a wall of wind in front of her, and the dragon shattered into billions of pieces the moment it slammed into the wall before raining around Gina like diamonds! Gina swung her arm around in a wide arc, and the wind around her sharpened into thousands of blades that shot forward like arrows! Yuslev immediately brought up a large wall of water to form it into a shield, but he was shocked when the wind arrows easily pulverized his water shield!
Ratatatatatatata!
The wind arrows were like an unstoppable force of nature that created sonic booms every time they slammed into the water, and Yuslev immediately used the water as a platform to shoot off away from Gina! The wind arrows continued to chase after him like they were honing in on his location, and Yuslev turned around sharply and swung his arm to the side to create a massive tsunami of water that immediately turned into ice!
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
The ice wall blocked the wind arrows, and it also prevented Gina from seeing him, so this gave Yuslev a second of calm where he could take a breath and regroup, but Yuslev had forgotten one important thing. By creating such a massive wall around himself, Yuslev had not only blocked Gina from seeing him, but he had also blocked himself from seeing Gina! And that was a fatal mistake!
WOOSH!
Yuslev put his hand up to his face as an intense wind suddenly blew over him! It felt like the entire world had suddenly sped up around Yuslev as the wind began to swirl around in a circular motion! The water responded to the call of nature and began to rise and swirl around as well, and Yuslev cursed as Gina took control of both the wind and water and created a massive tornado that tore through Yuslev’s defensive wall like it was made from paper! Yuslev quickly tried to bring up another defense, but he was suddenly blindsided by a massive windball that slammed into him like a truck!
Bam!
Yuslev lost his concentration for a moment, and that allowed Gina’s tornado to grab him out of the air and suck him up into its vacuum! Yuslev felt vertigo rush through his head as he was spun around, and he quickly hurried to reach for an artifact that was tucked into his pocket! Once Yuslev grabbed the artifact, he quickly sent mana through it and activated it, and the artifact glowed with a blue light before it unleashed hundreds of gallons of water that formed a wide protective ball around Yuslev! The ball of water prevented the harsh winds from reaching Yuslev, and Yuslev used that chance to quickly bring his hand down in a massive chop!
WOOSH!
Yuslev’s mana surged out from his body like a blade, and all the water that was inside Gina’s tornado immediately responded to the mana and cut a straight line through the tornado! The wind was still rushing quickly, but that cut gave Yuslev a window of opportunity that he used to quickly shoot out from the tornado, and he slammed into the water below! Yuslev was breathing heavily from the strain of using so much mana, but he still managed to pour out even more mana and formed another protective shield in case Gina was about to attack him again. But when he didn’t hear anything from behind him, he quickly rose above the water and prepared to run away! It was obvious that he had seriously underestimated Gina, and he needed to escape and come up with a new plan! Yuslev put his hand to his ear to tell his partners to retreat—
DOON!
But Yuslev suddenly paused when he felt death standing right behind him. The entire world suddenly became very silent, and Yuslev realized that he could no longer hear the screams from the bridge or the sound of the massive tornado behind him—it was almost like the entire world had abandoned him in that moment, and he was standing all alone in the darkness. A hand gently landed on Yuslev’s shoulder, and Yuslev felt his entire body shiver with dread! A bead of sweat gathered at the edge of Yuslev’s brow, and it slowly dropped down his cheek as he swallowed. Yuslev knew without a doubt that if he took even a single breath, then he would die.
Behind Yuslev, Jason had a perfectly expressionless look on his face, but the mana he was releasing would tell anyone that he was anything but calm!
’Jason...’
Gina called out through her mental link with Jason, and Jason could sense the strain in her voice from the pressure he was letting off. Jason gave Gina a simple order.
’Go and look after them. I’ll take care of this.’
Jason didn’t bother to say anything else and Gina could sense that Jason was not in the mood for a conversation at that time, so she decided that she would talk to him later. Gina followed Jason’s orders, and she flew off towards where Maya and Janet were lying. Once she left, Jason pressed his hand down on Yuslev’s shoulder, and Yuslev grunted in shock as he was immediately forced down to one knee! What the hell!?