’HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND!?’
Esdath’s scream was loud enough to send a tremor through the entire Alternate Dimension, and even the system spoke up in sheer disbelief.
[The system does not know if the user is a genius or simply insane. Such a thing has never been done before, and the system does not know if it is even possible to survive it.]
Jason’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the Grim Reaper in the distance, and Jason asked.
’But do you think it’s impossible?’
This question was spoken with the gravity of a man who was willing to risk it all, and both the system and Esdath realised that Jason was not going to back down! There was silence from both the system and from Esdath as they mulled over what Jason had said. Esdath was obviously not in support of this, and Jason could tell by the way Esdath was grumbling in annoyance, but the system didn’t seem to show any reaction for a few more seconds before it finally responded.
[Although the chances of success are unpredictable, it is not impossible.]
Jason’s lips split into a smile! That was all Jason needed to hear! Esdath could immediately sense Jason’s excitement, and Esdath knew that it would be impossible to convince Jason not to carry out the plan now! Esdath put his head in his hands, and he groaned while turning around! This was it! This is where his life ends! Of all the crazy people he could meet in his afterlife, why did he have to run into this bastard! Esdath wanted to scream about the injustice of life to the world, but there was no time for something like that! Esdath immediately let out a harsh breath, and he narrowed his eyes in concentration before he spoke to Jason!
’Fine, I’ll do what you need me to do. But I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep the connection closed. At best, I can give you about five seconds before I lose my grip on the power.’
Esdath stared at the darkness and frowned! From what he could see, Esdath knew that whoever had bitten Jason was far stronger than he was, so if Esdath tried to hold this power back, then he would only be able to do it for a short time! Jason nodded and thanked Esdath for his help, and Esdath let out a sharp breath! This was absolutely insane! Absolutely insane!
Jason’s plan was a simple one. Although Jason knew that it was impossible to try to stop this power from corrupting his body once it began, that doesn’t mean that Jason was helpless. From what Esdath had explained, there was a small window of opportunity during the transformation when the person who was being transformed could still be killed. This meant that, as far as Jason was concerned, he was still a mortal and he could still be killed! Jason decided that he was going to take advantage of that small window of opportunity to carry out one of his most daring acts yet! Jason was going to kill himself!
Yes, it was an insane plan, and the chances of it working were almost zero! But the alternative right now was for Jason to allow the Grim Reaper take his soul to be tortured and for him to lose his mind and become a slave, and it was obvious which of those two was the better choice! If anyone else had tried to do what Jason was about to do, then they would simply be speeding up the process of losing their soul, but Jason wasn’t just anyone, and he was not going to go down without a fight!
’I need you two to go to your positions. We’re starting right now. System, just make sure you’re on standby for when I need you. Esdath, you’re in charge of making sure I don’t lose my mind in the process. Just help me hold on for a few seconds.’
Esdath clicked his tongue in disapproval before he just closed his eyes and allowed his subconscious mind to travel up into Jason’s mental region! Once Jason noticed that Esdath was already doing his part, Jason closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to travel back towards his real body! Gina and Stella were currently working together to try and pour as much mana into him as possible! Neither of them knew if this would help to cure Jason or not, but they had sensed that the transformation slowed down greatly when they did this, so they were just doing everything they could to try and help! Jason knew that it would be impossible to try to explain what he wanted to do to the two girls! His body was so weak that he could only barely raise his hand and trying to talk would just take more of his energy! So Jason was going to have to scare them a little. Jason suddenly unleashed a massive blast of mana from his body that slammed into Gina and Stella, and the two women were thrown back by the sudden shockwave! Stella slammed into the wall on the other side of the cave, and Gina fell to her back with a grunt! Gina quickly scrambled up again –
Squelch!
But Gina felt her eyes widen in shock at the sight that greeted her! Jason was still lying on the floor, but he had used his own hand as a blade to pierce his heart! The dread that filled Gina at that moment was enough to make her entire world turn red!
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Gina screamed as she raced towards Jason’s body and grabbed him! Stella looked up when she heard the sound of Jason stabbing himself, and her eyes also widened in shock when she saw what had happened! Jason stabbed his own heart! Why!? Why would he do that!?
’... You need to stab the heart before they change. It’s the only way to save them.’
This thought suddenly passed through Stella’s mind as she remembered what her comrade had said a long time ago, and Stella grit her teeth hard as she quickly scrambled to go toward Jason! Did Jason do this for them!? Was he trying to make sure that they weren’t attacked when he changed!?
Stella reached Jason a second later, and she saw that Jason’s eyes were open as he looked towards Gina with a small grin. Gina was crying inconsolably, and Jason only spoke two words to her.
"Trust... me."
Just those two words were enough to take all the energy away from Jason and Gina’s tears fell even harder as she pressed her face into Jason’s neck and cried even harder!
Jason knew that he had no other choice! There were times when you needed to hurt those around you in order to do what was best for them, and this was one of those moments! Jason had been thinking of an artefact he could use to kill himself all this time, but no matter how much Jason thought, none of the artefacts in his arsenal seemed like they would be good enough, and Jason ended up having to stab himself with his own hand! It hurt like a fucking bitch, and Jason hoped he never had to do something like that again, but it worked, and Jason could feel his life force draining away!
Within the Alternate Dimension, Jason could see the darkness approaching him at an even quicker pace once again! There was a sense of urgency within the darkness as it corrupted Jason’s mind, and Jason could see the Grim Reaper staring at him with a strange expression on its face! Jason wasn’t used to reading the expressions of skeletons, but right now, Jason could tell that the look on the Grim Reaper’s face was definitely one of confusion!