’I’ll have to talk to Jason about this. I don’t like how Stella is shadowing me like I can’t take care of myself. It makes me feel inadequate.’
Gina felt irritation growing in her heart, but she was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Stella speak up from the side.
"That was an amazing attack, Gina. I didn’t know you could ignite your mana like that, and the trick to use it as a smokescreen was also good. I suppose I should at least expect this much from the woman chosen by my prince. Hmm..."
Stella folded her hands and nodded sagely, like she had just discovered some hidden truth, and Gina felt a strange feeling of pride rising from somewhere deep in her chest. Gina’s cheeks grew hot, and she waved Stella’s compliments away to try to hide her embarrassment.
"T-That was nothing. It was just a regular attack."
"That wasn’t regular. It was amazing. I know many warriors from the Period of Lawlessness who don’t have half the quality you possess. You and Jason must have faced a lot of enemies in your journeys. The way you fight shows just how experienced you are."
The absolute ease and sincerity that Stella used in giving these compliments was enough to break straight through Gina’s defences, and Gina had to put her hand to her face to try and hide her widening smile! Her cheeks were red, and she couldn’t believe how easy it was for her to feel happiness just from these few words! Gina knew that Jason had always complimented her fighting style many times before, but Jason was usually busy controlling the Legion, so he could never give her a detailed breakdown of her fighting style the way Stella just did! This was the first time Gina would hear someone outside the Legion telling her that she was actually a good fighter, and since Stella had once been a warrior in an army, it was even better! Stella’s innocent words made Gina feel extremely happy, and Gina decided at that moment that maybe Stella wasn’t so bad! Gina turned away from Stella and cleared her throat.
"W-Well, thank you for the compliment. I’m glad you enjoy my fighting style. Uhm... come on then, let’s go..."
Gina quickly took off before Stella could see how embarrassed she was, and Stella grabbed another mana stone from one of the dead prisoners and bit into it before she took off after Gina. As they flew, Gina noticed that the black ball in the sky was starting to open, and she realised that Jason was about to return. She watched as the [Land of Lost Shadows] vanished, and she saw Jason standing on a black platform floating in the air with the corpse of a bald-headed man who had runes covering his body lying on the floor beside him. The man’s soul was standing on Jason’s other side as one of the Legion subordinates, and Gina felt a smile bloom on her face when Jason turned towards her and winked confidently. Gina’s cheeks reddened, and she was about to wave, but she stopped herself and shook her head!
’No! I’m mad at him!’
Jason raised a brow when he saw Gina turn away from him with a pout, and he decided that he would talk to her about that later. Gina was probably just annoyed about something he did again. Jason chuckled at his own thoughts before he turned his attention towards the central region of the battlefield, where the most fighting was taking place, and he saw that his Legion was slowly starting to push back the prisoners. The prisoners were starting to notice that they couldn’t kill the Legion members no matter what they did, so some of them were already attempting to escape from the cube prison. But no matter what they did, the cube held strong, and when Jason spread his hand out towards the cube to analyse its structure, he was surprised when he noticed that the cube was actually stronger than before! What the hell?
’Azrael. What happened to the cube? I thought you were working on taking it down.’
Jason spoke up with a frown, and his frown only deepened when he heard Azrael’s answer.
’I don’t know exactly what happened, my king. I was working on it, but it suddenly grew stronger. I think there was a blood tie attached to the cube, and it activated and increased the cube’s defences the moment someone was killed.’
Jason turned towards Vana for a moment as he thought that Vana was the one who caused this, but Vana responded that he didn’t have any knowledge of a blood tie, and another voice echoed in Jason’s head.
’I am the one responsible for it, my king. The artefact I used was tied to my life force, and it was rigged to increase the defences of the shield if I died.’
The person who spoke this time was Destro, and Jason clicked his tongue in annoyance. Jason asked Destro if there was a way to turn off the shield, but Destro said that there wasn’t. The shield had been created in a way that things could only get in and nothing could get out, and the shield would only naturally fade away after a week. So if Jason wanted to get out, then he would have to wait for a whole week.
’Yeah, I’m not doing that. Destro, go help Azrael with figuring this shit out. If you don’t find something in the next hour, then I’m going to start blowing things up.’
Jason’s answer was immediate, and he watched as Destro took off to do as he was told.
——
The user has killed [25] SSS Rank Black Enigmas
+750,000 Kill Points
——
The user has killed [5] TITAN Rank I Black Enigmas
+500,000 Kill Points
——
The user has gained [25] Bishop Rank I subordinates
+3,750,000 MP
+0.5% Strength
+0.8% Stamina
+0.6% Agility
+0.5% Durability
——
The user has gained [5] Bishop Rank II subordinates
+1,250,000 MP
+2% Strength
+1.5% Stamina
+1.1% Agility
+2% Durability
——
Once he left, Jason finally turned back towards the battle, and his eyes trailed over to the prisoner who had been sitting inside his cylindrical pod all this time. There was a wide circle around the prisoner where no one dared to approach, and Jason narrowed his eyes in curiosity. Jason could already feel that this prisoner was the strongest person here, but why were the others avoiding him so much? Jason sent a mental command to one of his subordinates, and the subordinate took off straight for the prisoner, but the moment the subordinate was about to touch the prisoner, the subordinate suddenly turned to smoke and vanished.
’Huh... that was unexpected. Is his ability something like disintegration? He can eradicate anything that comes close to him? No, if that’s the case, then he would’ve disintegrated the prison he was staying in. There has to be some sort of condition that makes his abilities activate. Should I even bother with this?’
Jason watched the prisoner with a critical gaze and wondered if he should bother trying to attack him. The prisoner hadn’t done anything to bother Jason yet, so it was likely that the prisoner just didn’t want to fight. But just as Jason was thinking this, he could feel a great tension travel across the entire region as the prisoner slowly began to open his eyes. It looked like the prisoner was only just waking up from a long nap, and the moment he was fully awake, his eyes turned and focused directly on Jason’s narrowed gaze. At that moment, every other fighter in the world realised that something far more dangerous had appeared, and they turned towards the prisoner as he slowly began to lift himself out from his pod. He floated in the air and looked out over the region like a messiah gazing down on sheep.