by Pegaz A
At first, Jonathan only heard the sound. He was deep within the walls of the auction hall, faced in the opposite direction. The most he felt was a gust of wind.
But then the ground underneath him shook like an earthquake had started. He glanced back behind him and saw, through the opening, a yellow ball of light expanding. With the shaking of the hall, more of the walls crumbled. Without even thinking, Jonathan teleported further away from the yellow ball of light, using the broken walls as a guide. However, as he attempted to teleport beyond the outer walls of the hall, he found the red shield once again blocking him.
By that time, the explosion had completely triggered.
The force of the explosion generated hurricane-grade winds in every direction. It slammed Jonathan back against the red coloured wall. The force of the explosion couldn’t injure him because of his immunity, but it could knock him around.
Above the explosion, the ceiling of the red coloured wall was bending in an arch. The wall wavered to and fro, though it did not flicker. Still, the people who generated it with the runes thought it would collapse any second. The entire thing had transformed from a dome-shape to that of a bullet.
It took over 10 minutes for the force of the explosion to dissipate. When the force disappeared, dust covered the entire area. Nobody outside could see what was going on within the red walls.
Through the Scan, Jonathan could see a giant crater of a couple of hundred feet wide at the base of the red wall.
Jonathan remained laying on the floor for some time. It took him a minute, but he eventually was able to think and see clearly again. He allowed the system to heal himself a little, then stood up and knocked the dirt off his shoulder.
Even a Rank 9 shouldn’t survive that explosion. It’s definitely the sword’s security system that set it off. Now I know it’s the rank, rarity, and material of the sword—and not the rune—that determines how powerful the explosion is.
With his Scan, Jonathan could see three of the Rank 9 people had miraculously survived.
He trudged towards the three people, looking at his nano short sword in his left hand.
I will have to make a new nano longsword with my 2 runes. I don’t have any spares of the other 3 runes I used in the sword either, so I’ve got to purchase them, too. These people are giving me a headache.
I’ve got to be careful now, though. Without the nano swords, it will become much harder to kill a Rank 9. They’ve got keen senses for danger so without surprising them or having them stay still for a long time, then the threads won’t catch them. If the threads can’t catch them, I can’t absorb the elements from their bodies to kill them.
As Jonathan got within 50 feet of the three injured people lying down, he smiled and generated a rope made of his million threads.
But when the rope got close to his victims, the fallen foes sprung to their feet and rushed at Jonathan in full force. While Jonathan knew they were conscious, he didn’t expect them to attack him again. They each avoided the rope with ease as they dashed forward.
One of them made a grab for John’s short sword, using the same method that the leader had. One punched Jonathan in the chest, trying to force him to let go of his sword. The last person had his own weapon, and at the same time that his teammate punched Jonathan’s chest, he stabbed it deep into Jonathan’s stomach. As Jonathan was pushed backwards, his rope made of threads disappeared.
The third attacker didn’t feel his sword cut through flesh, but the joint force of Jonathan being pushed backwards had caused his weapon to fly out of his hand, which meant it should have gone through. He made eye contact and nodded at the first attacker. Their blows met their mark.
The man who had grabbed the nano short sword by the blade dropped the sword and warned the other two not to touch the handle.
All three men carefully walked towards where Jonathan had landed.
Jonathan laid on the floor, a sword going straight through his black t-shirt and deep into his stomach.
Chapter 44
His Limit
As the three men approached, they could hear Jonathan’s laboured breathing. The blade in his stomach was moving up and down ever so slightly as Jonathan breathed.
“I think he’s unconscious.” The man closest leaned further to confirm as he spoke, “Go put the Life Cuffs on him before he wakes up.”
The other two fighters hesitated to follow the order.
“You go,” one of them said hoarsely. “I’ll watch your back.”
“Why doesn’t he go?” The other referenced at the man closest to Jonathan. “It’s his sword.”
“Yeah!” the other replied with a sneer. “It’s your sword, Levoi! Were you planning on leaving it behind? Go grab it and slip the cuffs on him while you’re at it.”
“Will one of you grow a pair of balls and remove this sword?” Jonathan’s sudden voice chimed in, almost a bit too casually.
Levoi and the other two fighters instantly froze in place.
“Come on, it hurts like hell,” Jonathan continued with a whine. “I’m out of strength, injured, and you’ve got Life Cuffs to boot. So what the hell are you waiting for? An invitation? I just gave you one.”
Seeing the nervous glances between the three of his opponents, Jonathan would have heaved a sigh had the sword not impaired him from doing so.
“You’ve won the fight,” he said, patience wearing thin. “I know this is rather shameless but hurry up, I don’t want to die from the likes of a sword wound.”
Life cuffs, huh? I’ve read about them. They’re able to stop immortals from using Life Power. It’s like the deflecting metal, but it spreads throughout the inner branches of the body. If they put them on me then it’s game over.
Gritting his teeth, the man called Levoi walked up to Jonathan and wrapped his fingers around the sword’s hilt.
Gotcha.
Threads instantly sprung from the metal handle and wrapped around Levoi’s entire arm. The man hardly had a chance to scream as his body shrivelled up in a matter of seconds. His partners could only watch with a guilty mixture of horror and relief, daring not to lift a finger to help.
As the last piece of ash drifted onto the ground, Jonathan pulled himself upright with some difficulty. The sword was still stuck inside him. Looking up at the two remaining men, Jonathan jerked his head back with a menacing smile. The sword disappeared as did the hole in his t-shirt.
The whole thing was a disguise. He had constructed a perfect replica of the sword out of his threads. His nano armour adapted to make it look like there was a gaping wound in his chest, too. The real sword was tucked away safely inside his Storage Space.
After the whole disguise melted away, Jonathan staggered toward the last two people. The fighters could only clutch onto their weapons and back away from the desperate creature before them. Head hanging low, he came closer and closer, backing the two fighters into a wall. When he was about 40 feet away, he stopped.
The air was thick with tension. A bead of sweat drizzled down the side of one of the fighters’ neck. Jonathan raised his head.
“AHHHH!”
With a rush, Jonathan let loose a spine-numbing battle cry. His right hand propelled forward, a hundred ropes gushing through his palm and right at the men before him.
His targets tried to dodge, they really tried. They split up and dashed in the opposite direction of each other, forcing Jonathan to choose which one to go after. He picked the one on the right, threads twisting and straining to curl around an ankle, then a wrist. It wasn’t long before they got a firm grip around his neck, and by that time, there was hardly anything but bone and skin left. The bones crumbled moments later.
Jonathan looked over at the other man. He was standing on his left, just over the 100-foot radius of his threads range.
With a piercing pain in his lungs, blood spurted out of Jonathan’s mouth. The broken down man stumbled. His arms swung by his sides; they were too heavy to lift now. All of his strength went to holdin
g his gaze, watching the last fighter with every last ounce of his strength. His vision blurred and he stumbled again, feet skidding on his own blood, but he managed to stay standing.
The remaining Rank 9 man cautiously made his way towards his opponent. In the haze of his vision, Jonathan watched the man take out a pair of thick, steel cuffs.
Those must be the Life Cuffs. It’s over. I can’t move at all and fighting is out of the question.
“It seems killing a dozen Rank 9 fighters is just beyond my limit.” Jonathan’s voice was raspy, but he had a smile of utter resignation on his pained face. His words were sharp, but they sounded weak and empty of life. “So you’re the lucky one, huh? It’s a good thing I used everything I had in this fight. Otherwise, you’d be dead too.”
As the man took his final steps toward him, Jonathan opened his system and turned the Absorb option off. There was a ‘clink’ sound soon after and he felt a cool, smooth surface pressing on his left wrist.
That would be the Life Cuffs.
Jonathan tried pushing Life Power through his left arm, but nothing happened.
The man put the other cuff on his right wrist, a sigh of relief passing through his lungs.
Abruptly, the man furled his brows and, with a grunt, buried a furious fist deep into Jonathan’s stomach. Unable to even stand upright, Jonathan came crashing down. Another mouthful of blood splattered onto the dirt floor. Again and again, the man kept hitting and kicking him, angry tears welling up as he cried out his frustrations. Jonathan’s hearing was fuzzy and he was unable to even make out the stream of words that his assailant threw at him. He assumed it was probably things like “you killed my comrades” and “they’re all dead because of you.”
A minute of this torture went by. Jonathan could no longer hear or feel much of anything. The iron taste of blood in his mouth and the blurred images in his fading vision were all he knew. He wasn’t even aware that the red walls containing him were disintegrating. The last thing he saw was a pair of bloody boots standing above him.
He was unconscious.
Those who entered did so with caution. They’d seen bits and pieces of the fight from their positions on the other side of the red wall. Having to maintain a steady stream of Life Force to keep the barriers intact, they were quite close. In other words, they’d had front row seats to the fights outside the auction hall and were horrified by Jonathan.
Alongside these barrier attendants, the Adventurers Guild’s staff also approached the wreckage of the auction hall. Their eyes widened as they took in the scene, especially at the sight of Jonathan lying on the ground, unconscious and cuffed. A member even spotted the nano short sword and walked toward it, but the sole survivor of the fight advised him against it.
One staff member began rummaging through Jonathan’s robes and bags. He found Jonathan’s ID card and a few nondescript items, but no map.
When the staff member stood back up, the Rank 9 fighter retrieved a metal contraption from his bag. It was a metal wheelchair with something that resembled a spikeless and headless iron maiden torture device attached to it. It was into this menacing chair that he placed Jonathan, lining his limp limbs up with the correct parts to completely detain him. The chair was then locked down using five different padlocks, runes, and straps. Jonathan’s body was completely covered in metal, save for his head, which hung. Blood dripped from his face, landing on the metal with a small patter.
“Is this the device used to transport dangerous criminals?” one of the Adventurers Guild members asked. “I’ve never seen one.”
“It is.” The Rank 9 nodded. “The life cuffs this man has on stops him from using any Life Power, but this iron maiden amplifies those cuffs’ abilities. It also has a lie detecting rune inside it.”
The fighter stood up straight, now addressing the crowd.
“This man will stand trial for the accusation of destroying the Anti-Assassin Sect’s planet, killing millions of innocent people. In addition to his crimes, he will also be charged with the brutal killing of eleven high ranked members of the Adventurers Guild by use of demonic techniques.”
The crowd of officials and staff members stood in silence. The Rank 9 continued, head held high.
“While he’s contained by this device, he is like a newborn baby. He can no longer defend himself, so he can forget about attacking anybody or breaking out.” A sadistic smile crossed his lips, though it did not seem to match his sad eyes. “The only drawback is that I have to push him all the way to the teleport rune so I can take him to the justice department at headquarters.”
And so he did.
The Rank 9 walked behind Jonathan’s chair and pushed it using the handles at the back. This wheelchair prison was what the Adventurers Guild used to transport prisoners. If the prisoners were too dangerous, they would even leave the prisoners inside the wheelchair once they got to the prison.
It was a procedure and a device that the Rank 9 was familiar with, yet being in such close proximity to the person who’d killed his entire squad brought a whole new level of restraint to the game. How he loathed this man before him. How he wanted to take out his pain and heartbreak on him. Yet, he somehow stilled his racing mind.
It took over an hour to reach their destination. When he arrived inside, the Rank 9 told one of the staff members to send his report to the justice department. He waited in the secure lobby for backup. Jonathan was unconscious, but by no means was he the only threat in the vicinity. Should the prisoners somehow manage to escape their holding cells and interrupt with the submission of the new addition to their circle, it could mean a fate worse than what he’d just been through.
When the report about the battle and the death of eleven Rank 9 members reached the head of the justice department, they immediately ordered over a hundred men to help transport the prisoner.
The head of the justice department read the report over ten times, each time having to convince himself that it was real. No matter how many times he read it, the words escaped him.
Finally in the presence of backup, the Rank 9 decided to see the trial himself. He had to make sure the justice department made no mistakes during this trial.
Chapter 45
Escorted to Trial
When Jonathan woke up, he was inside a small room. The man who cuffed him was sitting on a chair in front of him. Looking around, the room was fairly small—only about 50 square feet. It took him a moment to look down and see the contraption he was strapped into, and when he did, it all hit him at once.
Closing his eyes, he could feel the cuffs around his wrists. His feet were strapped down. His arms and legs were immovable. At most, he could only shuffle a few centimetres. His lack of movement didn’t tie the knot in his stomach, though; it was the fact that he couldn’t use his Scan and Defensive Veil. None of his Life Power fuelled techniques would work no matter how hard he tried.
He tried pulling his cuffs apart with his strength. He thought that, maybe, it would work since it was physical power and not one that utilized Life Power. If he could just even make a crack on the metal, he could use a fraction of his power to escape. Unfortunately, he couldn’t so much as budge the metal.
The man sitting across from Jonathan noticed.
“Don’t bother trying to escape.” His voice echoed off the stone walls. “You can no longer use Life Power. Even with brute strength, a Rank 9 couldn’t break through the cuffs.”
“Doesn’t hurt to try.” Jonathan would have shrugged if he could move his shoulders. “I will get out of this. It’s only a matter of when.”
DING.
The noise made Jonathan jump a little and look around.
The man’s face turned pale.
“You speak the truth.”
“Truth?” Knitting his brows, Jonathan looked over at the man. “A lie detector? Well, shit, didn’t think you had that kind of technology or rune.”
DING.
“So, what happens now?” Ignoring the noise, Jonathan continued,
“I was only defending myself. Anyone would do the same if a dozen people with inflated egos abused their power against them.”
DING.
“See?” Laughing at the noise, he said, “I speak the truth.”
“Nonsense!” The man grew angry. His face turned red as he yelled, “We were there to ask you to come with us for questioning!”
“Nonsense?!” Jonathan spat back with a look of disgust. “You approached me in front of everyone inside the auction hall. Even if I went with you peacefully and cleared my name, do you think the people would forget? You basically announced to the world that I’m a criminal before determining if I actually was!”
There was a light rekindling deep within Jonathan as he let his words come pouring out.
“You slandered my name, and I wanted to throw you around a little. Who knew that one of your men would go in for the kill at the start? What do you expect me to do? Lie down and die?” Jonathan rolled his eyes at the very idea. “Anybody in the universe would have done the same thing I did. This all happened because you thought you were all superior, looked down on me, and didn’t have the courtesy to approach me in secret!”
Jonathan’s face curled into a snarl.
“You’ve made an enemy out of me now.” He showed his teeth, gritting them in anger. “When I get free from this place, I will find you and kill you.”
DING.
The man sprung to his feet, raising a fist as if he was about to punch Jonathan in the face. However, as he raised his fist, the door opened.
“Help!” Jonathan cried out to the open door. “This guy’s a madman that finds pleasure in torturing me!”
DING.
The man went pale again, freezing in place.
At the door was a man standing almost 7 feet tall. Behind him was a whole group of people, each wearing full plate armour with a GH symbol on the left chest area.
“We’re here to transport you.” The tall man looked at Jonathan. If he took any heed at the scene before him, his expression did not give him away. “We’re taking you to the courthouse where you will stand trial for your crimes.”
