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Chapter Theme Shift: Gods of Protection (27468) ~ Martin Hasseldam

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"It's time to finish this fight for real!" Through with the empty chant of his words, Jane pulled her daggers and charged towards Danton on foot. Being as close as she already was to Danton, Jane used her Leray energy from the tips of her blades shooting both Mako Beam spells and Mako Strike projectile spheres of magic towards Danton, but Danton dodged each of these ranged attacks easily, sliding and sidestepping without having to tense up in the slightest, barely moving from original position. Jane finally got into close range and prepared to slash Danton with her blades, just as she planned to with all of her charge attacks near their end sequence.

But Danton was much faster than Jane when it came to reaction time. Since he was no longer riding Entiene, Danton has changed his entire battling strategy to fit the floor evenly, balancing evasion protocols with counterattacks that Jane had yet to see or learn about. It wasn't surprising at all for Danton to watch Jane miserably miss the edge of his skin with a simple slide backwards, which was both quick and well timed. After having Jane nearly stumbling on herself, Danton expended proportionally no magic at all while blasting it from his left open hand. Using the magical spell of Push Wave, Danton sent a powerful force, which aimed at Jane, shoved her far backwards and off of her feet.

With Jane now on the ground, Danton began placing some of his MP energy into his Mega-Staff, which also has the power to conserve used MP energy at the same time it is being used. Towards the fallen Jane, he yelled out, "You are a fool to come here!" With the staff now powered and glowing with a thin red transparent aura of magical build up, Danton concentrated on his magic, encasing Jane's body in the same red aura around her. Then without moving any body parts, Danton had full mental control over the aura's telekinetic capabilities, which he used to lift Jane off the ground, ascending her body up to three meters high and holding there for one full second. "How dare you make such demands from me!" Using the same magical power, Danton effortlessly commanded the magical aura around Jane to slam into the ground at a very high speed, making it impossible to track the actual acceleration used. Danton made Jane slam into the hard metal floor with the inability to cover her own face or chest, the aura preventing much of her ordinary body movements. Danton then lifted Jane up again in the same way, keeping the aura active to continue humiliating Jane. "You are no soldier! You wouldn't know the first thing about making sacrifices!"

Jane felt excruciating pain in her entire face, bottom arms, chest, and in her knees. A red aura around her completely locked her out of physical movement while the aura forced Jane to ascend high off the ground and smash back into the pavement over and over again. After hitting the floor for the second time, Jane found the whole thing unbelievable by concept, and panicked without the knowledge to escape this. While being driven back into the ground for a third time, Jane shut her eyes and braced herself as the solid metal floor scraped her skin in all of the affected areas. Pressurized pain built up everywhere from each hit, since the force of each fall was much greater than gravity would normally allow.

While Danton continued to lift Jane up and smash her into the ground, he continued his unfinished ranting, wondering if his truth was actually demoralizing her. "You really want to help out?! Go back to where you came from. Nraaagh!" Danton forced Jane down against the ground again with the telekinetic aura, using as much force as possible before lifting her up one more time. "And let the soldiers handle military business!" After slamming Jane into the ground one more time, Danton disconnected his focus with the magical aura, allowing the staff magic to reset and recover while he assessed the damage it caused to Jane.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/FsZvmndQ/S3-Jane-N-071.png]

Jane's face was slightly bruised on the left cheek, and bloodied up down the right side of her jaw. Small cuts and abrasions collected elsewhere, as the rest of the damage was hidden beneath Jane's white and green dress sphere, but the bright circular glow from the top of her right hand was still pulsating. Jane learned how to quickly ignore the pain and continue to get back up. Despite Danton's move dealing low damage overall, being smashed into the ground five consecutive times dealt Jane a lot of pain and some real time damage as well. Though aside from that, her MP status, which was recently drained by a rapid amount was still climbing high with a short period of time, the phenomena mysterious to Danton though well known to Jane from experience in the situation.

As Jane slumped back to stance without the slightest hint of physical exhaustion or depression, Danton was left to wait and assess her next move. She smiled again, coming one breath close to laughing at her opponent's remarks. Jane responded to Danton's pitiful attempt to make her give up while creeping to her left to gain some distance between herself and Danton. "You think I'm naive huh? You really think I don't know the meaning of sacrifice? Why else then would I be putting myself on the battlefield with you?!" Jane used her hands aiming outward while casting her next spell. Though she did so without any verbal chant, Jane's Tri-Attack came alive quickly as the three different glyphrings of elemental energy formed a triangle around Danton, firing their payload close to a synchronized time.

"Hmph!" Danton lifted his staff again, clasping the tip with both hands and spinning the rod around in place. As his spin became more rapid with his hand motions, Danton simply held on tightly while the Fire Bolt and Ice Bolt both collided into the circular arc created by the rod's same motion. Using a type of deflection-based force uncommon to most, Danton's rod managed to completely absorb the magic without allowing himself or his weapon to take on any form of damage. The Lightning Strike from the third glyphring was absorbed just as well, with Danton feeling no virtual effects of pain or damage from Jane's last attack. While the glyphrings around him faded, he noticed Jane's smile deteriorating to a more serious look. "Even if you and I can survive the dark zone, you plan to use the rest of my soldiers left without elite level training on a field of the most devious and dangerous monsters yet to be studied. With or without your knowledge of the dark zone, you will be of no assistance to us, and neither will the intention of speeding up an operation which is already in grave jeopardy."

"Safety in numbers Danton!" Jane remarked. "The creatures there don't spawn in heavy density, which means regardless of training and endurance, we won't be outnumbered." Jane noticed Danton's nod of pity, and discontinued her useless attempt to talk him into it. The only way to make this work is to defeat him in battle. "Whether I win or lose Danton, I'll be going in to make sure the mission is complete. Your personal cooperation is but voluntary."

"So you plan to go alone if you lose this battle? Even though it proves you're too weak?!" Of all the idiots in the world, Danton had never seen a woman so stubborn to go and get herself killed over something that isn't even her cause.

Jane corrected Danton on the spot. "I won't be alone. I've got powerful protective magic, and JDT on my side."

"You still keep going on about that," Danton pointed out. "Tell me then Jane. What does JDT stand for? Why do you have it tattooed on your chest in big bold letters? Hm? Come on; tell the whole world why you're up here wasting your time!"

Forgetting that the entire conversation and fight was still being watched live, Jane grew a little tenser. The flying drones were getting a little closer downwards, possibly because they heard Danton's verbal request. With much time passed in silence and anticipation, Jane realized that Danton was serious. Now that she dug herself into a speech, she had to at least get back to business without raising any suspicion. "My dream is to become a strong Leray wielder, but with all dreams, there are obstacles in the way of reaching our goals. Defeating you in battle is but one of my many obstacles. Protecting the people of Lennith City is another objective of mine." With one moment to think about where to go next, and another to make sure that her words fit with what Danton was trying to drag out of her, Jane lifted both of her empty fists up in preparation to continue the fight. "So what will it be Danton? Are you going to keep standing there and talking? Or are we going to battle like never before?"

A taunt! There was no other explanation for the method Jane used to shift from being placed into the spotlight to coercing Danton back into the worthless battle. Having no choice but to look bad on his part, Danton held up his staff again, but infused magical energy only into his left hand instead of the staff. "Have it your way. Lightning Strike!" With a jade glyphring forming around his left wrist, Danton ended up creating a lightning arc which traveled all the way to where Jane was standing, zapping her in place for a full two seconds.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/Kj72100B/S3-Jane-N-072.png]

Jane felt a tingling sensation all over, but none of it was actually painful. At the same time, she failed to notice any particular energy drain or adverse effects from Danton's Lightning Strike. The energy scope above her reported no damage, and Jane sensed no additional pain on top of what she already had from before. Was that a different version of Lightning Strike?

"Now how did an attack like that leave you unharmed?"

Jane glanced over to the glowing essence of her symbol on her right hand, but concluded that it couldn't be the cause of temporary invulnerability. Jane defiantly took the Lightning Strike, but it wasn't powerful enough to harm her. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just used to those by now."

"You're used to being electrocuted with powerful magic?" Danton's question was rhetorical, challenging Jane's logic.

"Were you not paying attention to how much experience I've had? Or did you simply think you could knock me down with one little ol' lightning bolt?"

"It's your funeral." Danton concentrated after his remark with powerful magic, going straight into his Mega-Staff to amplify the damage and conserve energy at the same time. "Photon Wave!" Though the spell requires the creation of a glyphring, Danton's technique involved using the staff to create its own artificial glyphring of the same elemental type, forming above the base of the crystal. Danton then waved his wand forward blasting the magic outward. Sending six oversized, barely visible photons of powerful non-elemental magic in Jane's direction, Danton continued his concentration to direct the flow of magic to ensure they lock onto Jane's physical presence.

"Farshield!" Using Leray magic of her own with only a tiny amount already charged into her hands, Jane held out a shield wall two meters in front of her, immediately blocking the path of the oncoming photon projectiles. The small spheres were fast in the air, but Danton wasn't fast enough to do anything about the shield wall Jane just created. All of that powerful magic ended up being absorbed by the shield, which ended up failing just as the last photon filled it with hexagons. Despite the shield collapse, Jane stopped the entire attack without failure. She charged up more energy, creating a red glow around her hands and in her eyes while Danton was left surprised that his attack was blocked out by a Farshield spell. "Voltage!" she cried. Jane aimed her hands just above where Danton was standing, forming a blood red color glyphring aimed vertically down towards her target. In under two seconds, two red Lightning Strikes each zapped Danton where he stood for two seconds. Demonstrated in the difference of power level from where Jane learned this ability, the tactic proved to be much more effective in damage than a normal Lightning Strike spell would have been. As the Voltage glyphring faded, Jane counted the damage on Danton's energy scope, and was thankful that her version of a spell originally derived off of dark magic had still not triggered any other alarms.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/SKYJtpZr/S3-Danton-N-006.png]

With his heart rate faster than it was since the entire battle began, Danton gripped his staff tighter with a further will to win against this mad woman. It was soon clear as to how Jane quickly overcame the training from the other four elites. Her high amount of endurance mixed with her speed and ability to constantly shield against attacks automatically makes her a powerful Leray wielder, but her training can't be complete if her age is as far as she looks. "Fire Beams!" Danton's magical infusion had the crystal in his staff glowing brilliantly. He quickly used the spell and expended the energy of fire, forming five spread out Fire Bolts five times their original size as he swept the wand from left to right. He then swept again from right to left, forming five additional Fire Bolts flying forward on the field. As the attack left him and flew at top speed towards Jane, Danton was sure her shield wouldn't be able to hold up to the attack despite her current distance. Fire Beams summons five to ten Fire Bolts all with five times more size and power than one single Fire Bolt has, all while retaining their original speed as well. Just three of them would bust through a magical shield from Jane, and Danton made ten of them in formation for an unavoidable pandemic.

"Return!" As Jane held out both of her hands, she used the magic of her free form spell to telekinetically take full control of Danton's magical spell, holding every single Fire Bolt from Fire Beams in place. Jane then sent them all back in the other direction dropping her control over the fiery spheres just as she had designated their new target, for which the Fire Bolts all had homing capabilities attached. In one simple burst of energy, Jane managed to turn all ten Fire Bolts around while keeping them in formation and making the new intended homing target Danton himself.

"A spell called Return..." Danton only had less than two seconds before being bombarded by his own spell, but it took him much less time to analyze the potential power Jane just tapped into. The Fire Bolts all formed an impossible blue aura around them just before being deflected back towards him. Since no other properties were observed, he can only conclude the use of telekinetic auras through Leray magic. Jane was very strong if she can just take control of that much energy all at once and then go further to control each separate bolt of unnatural energy. But Danton knew of his own strength, his memories a constant reminder from the trials taken at the summit of Eupharus's volcano. "Return!" Danton tried the same spell himself, after guessing the similar properties Jane used to invoke such powerful magic. While chanting the name of the spell needlessly, Danton expended magical energy from his staff while focusing on a concentration aura that allowed him to imagine telekinetically taking control of Fire Beams. After opening his eyes and spotting all of the projectiles he needed to grab, Danton used the magic and concentrated as much as he could to control the spheres.

"What?!" Jane couldn't believe Danton's trick before her eyes. All of the Fire Bolts Danton created from Fire Beams became surrounded by a coat of blue colored Leray energy, jumping the trajectories backwards towards Jane again just before the blue auras faded around them. Jane believed only she could have used Return, since it was an unofficial spell made of her own design and intent, but now Danton just used the same spell, sending back the Fire Bolts again - all ten of them still flying fast in formation. They were actually flying twice as fast as before. Using return often doubles the power of the same spell by velocity, and Danton didn't put the brakes on the spell by sending them towards Jane again. He instead shoved them back with all of his might, now carrying three times the normal power level they are supposed to possess. Panicking from the unexpected tactic, Jane held out her hands again and chanted, "Return!" Barely making the force in time before the impact would have affected her, Jane took control of the first Fire Bolts most near her body, and sent them back towards Danton by using a telekinetic push the same way Danton did a moment ago, but just as Jane sent the first five back towards Danton, she still had to concentrate on the other five, which did not form a blue aura of control just yet. In the blink of an eye, those five Fire Bolts all hit Jane's chest and feet, after which the impact created a fiery explosion that consumed a tenth of the entire visual field from above.

Danton reached out to control the five Fire Bolts sent back, willing to play Jane's version of Ping-Pong, when his opponent's position exploded into a fiery cloud of smoke and dust. The brightness of the blast rendered the unignited Fire Bolts coming his way invisible to the eye, and allowed Danton to remain vulnerable with his spell affecting nothing around him. Not expecting Jane to take a few hits from half of the spell, Danton became engulfed in a separate blast of five Fire Bolts multiplied in power level. The second explosion carried the same effect in blasting him back while dealing heavy fire elemental damage. Danton also became the center of a large cloud of smoke left over, the status of his opponent somewhat unknown.

Since both of them took hits from the same spell, Jane and Danton were both suspect to damage. The aerial drones flying around were capturing a battle of the century and transmitting everything live. The audience was left guessing downstairs while both heroes were submerged in powerful blasts of energy that brought enough heat to carbonate the air with a black haze. The haze eventually cleared from both warriors, though much of its thickness rose to the top of the room and clouding the view. As the smoke cleared on the ground below however, Jane and Danton were still conscious though heavily damaged and beaten up by the blasts of fire.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/0QgrTHFq/S3-Danton-N-007.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/kMW9Y57G/S3-Jane-N-073.png]

As Jane and Danton were left to assess the health power and endurance rating of each other, Jane watched as the last bit of light from her right hand faded completely. Her symbol well hidden under her apparel finally deactivated from the constant energy expenditure of battle, and the sensation left Jane feeling somewhat weaker than before. It wasn't a sensation enough to bring her down or out of the fight. If anything, Jane felt more stressed than ever before after seeing Danton begin to fight like she had been this entire time. Just like she learned to in all battles, Danton was beginning to grow and adapt to the present situation as well. That means the only way left to win is to give him all the power and skill Jane possessed in her. While taking out both of her daggers, Jane stood back up to with Danton listening from afar. "You're not winning this battle Danton! Charge Attack!" Immediately pouncing from the bottom of her feet, Jane launched herself into a fast sprint while using no magic to assist her or her blades. A physical combination of close range combat was one thing Danton shouldn't have over her.

Seeing Jane charge at him with two small blades made her a more tempting target. Danton stood back up himself, holding his staff tightly with just his right hand. He too began to rush forward in a sprint, facing the girl head on. "Charge Attack accepted!" Though his strategy failed to make Jane think twice about her motive, Danton managed to deal the first hit. He swept to her side just as Jane rushed into range, and hit her with the blunt side of his Mega-Staff. Danton then fired a low power Fire Bolt from the tip of the same staff.

Jane however lifted her upper torso high and back just enough to evade the path of the Fire Bolt. Jane then tossed her left dagger into Danton's chest, knocking off one health point to Danton. Jane then got in closer, exchanging punches and kicks while Danton evaded some and returned the same type of attack.

The combinations eventually turned into a constant battle, Jane and Danton both evading a few physical hits and counterattacking with more afterwards. Jane and Danton both periodically exchanged damage from some of their punching and kicking. Jane dealt most of her damage with the slashing of her daggers against Danton, while Danton dealt even more physical damage to Jane just based on how faster he was in this type of combat. The entire exchange of physical attacks and swings lasted for ten long seconds at a near stalemate, but Jane wasn't as fast as Danton was to dodge some of the moves and tactics Danton threw at her. In the end, Danton lifted his right leg in a swinging motion, hitting the back of Jane's left knee and slowing her down completely. In the same motion, Danton lifted his right fist up and threw his entire muscular force into an uppercut action. Hitting Jane straight under her breasts, the force that Danton's punch drew lifted Jane two feet off the ground and back six feet in the air. An irrecoverable hit from Danton was all it took to end the close combat strategy, proving who was better in that field. Danton was polite enough to slowly back away from Jane for distance. He knew he could have continued to end her right there, but he had not yet thought of a best-fit idea of powerful magic to use should she survive a close range attack.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/G2k9dxnT/S3-Danton-N-008.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/HsHmqCL2/S3-Jane-N-074.png]

Danton was soon regretting his decision to give Jane much more time to retaliate. She was just sitting on the ground in front of him, doubled over in severe pain. Something about that one spot must have dealt heavy blunt damage to some sort of pressure point, because Jane was nearly out of her own breath, visible from where Danton was stationed. Figuring he could use an ability right now against her, Danton thought of another idea to ensure his victory over his opponent, something that wouldn't involve damage to either challenger.

Jane had little explanation for why being punched without any magical assistance could hurt her this badly. She had trouble getting air into her lungs, though struggled to face Danton's position and slowly get back up. She had to fight through all of her pain just to move a muscle, and try harder to allow herself to breathe. The spot under her chest would be bruised for a long time by the way it felt. Danton on the other hand was taking advantage of the opportunity while Jane was down to invoke another spell. Though this time, the magic encased Danton with a visible green colored aura of magic. Danton had himself surrounded by this aura, while his MP energy dropped fast to ensure the success. Jane struggled to get up while Danton invoked his next power.

"Healing Aura!" Just as Danton's power came online completely, the green aura surrounding his body intensified its power and radiant light, immediately making him feel and respond better to the environment around him. In just one second flat, the health on his energy scope jumped up, while the aura itself faded away to signal the end of the invocation cycle.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/wMgMvR9f/S3-Danton-N-009.png]

It's a rare healing ability that has a one-hour refresh rate. Danton would only be able to invoke this spell again should the battle somehow drag out for an extra hour. Since it takes much training and MP energy to heal one's self with a support aura, he knew it was quite a stretch to waste it on this battle. Still, not many challengers were capable of making it this far. Not to mention that Jane defeated Entiene while holding her own.

Jane couldn't believe it! Danton just recovered 12% of lost HP in one instance. She had seen similar spells that require longer regeneration times with specific weather effects, but the power level for that would be low in response. Though it isn't displayed, Danton must have a very high endurance. Therefore, to return 12% of HP energy just like that had to mean that the spell designated as Healing Aura must have a very high power level...

Upon standing up completely and barely overcoming her painful sensation, Jane remembered something form before with regards to special weather effects. Some spells rely on weather conditions to work, while others can invoke those weather conditions to match. Still full of plenty of ideas, Jane lifted her arms up again, preparing to charge Leray energy for the continued battle.

Danton noticed how undeterred Jane was, her eyes steady and focused entirely upon himself. "I'm amazed by your level of valor Jane. But surely you've realized by now that a battle with me is suicide for the under-leveled."

"Moonglow!" After creating a small blue glyphring, Jane's expended magic didn't have much of a visual show while the light and aura faded from the glyphring. Jane knew about the fact that the environmental spell takes some time to activate. "Will you just shut up and fight me, champion?"

"I'm through holding back," he claimed. Danton charged a small amount of energy into the crystal of his staff and yelled, "Multi-Cast!" Using the magic to create a small glyphring around the base of the staff again, Danton used it to fire sixteen total spheres of electrical energy. Similar in power and form to Electro-Ball, Multi-Cast sends out multiple projectiles of the same spell with increased magical power while adding homing properties to each ball of electricity, at least for Danton anyway.

Seeing Danton accept the challenge, Jane powered herself another shielding aura around her body, standing strong to await the imminent impact of the electric magical barrage. While Jane was watching the electric spheres of energy disintegrate into the aura of her shield to leave behind medium sized hexagons, she noticed the visual changes near the roof above her. The room became much darker despite no physical changes in the lighting built into the walls. At the top of the arena, a black essence formed there, negating all light, soon to be populated by a vast array of artificial dots resembling stars, and the power of the moonlight beaming from the other side of the planet. Since the official time of day was nowhere near the evening, Jane's weather changing effect only manipulated that of the room itself, while the artificial moonlight from the crescent shaped sphere would only provide a third of its usual power with the spells relying on Moonglow.

When Jane lifted from her power shield unharmed and safe, she knew that it was the right time to use the ability and get one particular upper hand against Danton. With the top of the room resembling a deep night sky and the ceiling itself removed from view, Jane aimed her hand high above her head while absorbing that moonlight energy she simulated. "Moonlight Shadow!" In just two seconds, Jane's entire physical body disappeared from view over time, rendering herself completely invisible to the eye and undetectable should Jane not make a sound.

Danton saw Jane disappear completely, but was more than prepared for the eventuality. He had witnessed this spell before, as well as other derivatives that yielded more powerful effects in the system. Since Jane relied on the weather for the spell, Danton could simply change the weather to negate that effect, but Jane's invisibility would linger on for the same amount of time regardless, as would the Moonglow effect fade away the moment she becomes visible again. So the tactics available for him to use were widely available. Danton felt confident, but continued to take precautions in his current battle strategy. If Jane is invisible, he would have a hard time aiming at the target correctly, making his area attack spells more useful. Jane likely didn't prepare for his readiness to the situation, and Danton decided to gamble with that assumption. "Blizzard!" Only using a fraction of his MP energy supply, Danton quickly began a climate spell that rapidly began to lower the base temperature of the room. It went from 70oF to 40oF in under three total seconds. Jane would certainly be feeling this, and if his training knew as much as he felt it did, the effect would defiantly slow Jane down whether she is visible or not.

Jane covered her arms tightly from the rapid loss of heat in the area. Jane still found it very weird to touch any part of her body when she could barely see her own self in the same process. The user of invisibility spells can still see themselves with 10% opacity after enough training, but Jane still had to both adjust to the new situation and adapt to fight in the cold. "Spirit Arrow!" Charging for a spell that would further help Jane turn the tide of battle in her favor, she spawned a bow and arrow both glowing with a pink essence of energy. As Jane quickly took aim and fired the sharp projectile into Danton without delay, she noticed as the pink arrow became completely opaque as it left her hands, alerting Danton to the danger of visible light that was about to stick inside of him.

Danton cringed at the tiny pinching pain in his upper arm, the impact area of Jane's Spirit Arrow. He then laughed while touching the arrow and pulling it out of him, which was easy because of the phasic design of the arrow only made entirely out of Leray energy. Incidentally, Danton's HP stats didn't decline whatsoever, and he threw the arrow on the ground where it dissolved into nothingness. "You really think that was going to work? I've been training since I was a kid. I have decades of experience against spells that attempt to disorientate their targets, and none of that works on me." Danton traced the last known location of the origin of Jane's Spirit Arrow once it was fired. After she gave away her immediate position, Danton had every opportunity now to strike back with any area attack of his choice. He began charging energy while pinpointing the most probable location. "I don't need my eyes to find you Jane! Photon Burst!" After lifting up and whooshing down his Mega-Staff, Danton created a barrage wave of photons all flying downwards from the dark sky, his idea taken from Jane to increase the power level without sacrifice to MP energy reserves.

Jane noticed the aerial photons, realizing that Danton must have learned quickly from Jane's upgraded version of Photon Blast to cause more explosive damage in a better-concentrated area without using more energy in the process. Since Jane was invisible and had moved from her last position by a few meters, she was initially certain that Danton would miss with his next attack, but the area spell coming her way has a wider spread of effectiveness and range, forcing her to take evasive action. Jane turned around behind her and dashed away from the conflict, since a simple jump would not cover nearly enough distance to get out of the oncoming area attack. Just as the Photon Bursts slammed into the metal floor behind her, Jane could hear some of the impacts and shockwaves right behind her. She turned around immediately to face the Photon Burst, learning just how close she was to remaining inside of the unspecified field of danger in front of her. Danton was now further away, but Jane's body was still completely invisible from before. At the top of the room, the cold fog became stronger, while the simulation effect of the night sky indoors was being covered by the spell.

Danton didn't see any abnormalities involving his Photon Burst spell slamming the ground bit by bit. Nothing indicated that Jane took any hits, but it wasn't easy to tell either. Both Jane and her personal energy scope were completely invisible, the effect of the artificial moonlight from above still in bloom despite his Blizzard spell. By the time his Photon Burst had ended completely, Danton refused to believe that he managed to hit Jane at all, since it seemed too easy at this point. Besides, those who use that spell become visible the moment magical attack damages them in the slightest, less they run out of time.

"Mako Beam!" Using the tips of her daggers for firing arcs, Jane took aim at Danton from afar and fired concentrated blue beams of weak Leray magic towards him. Even from this distance, Jane was very accurate in her aim, and the beams would travel to infinite distances to ignore the factor of range. Jane cycled between her daggers, shooting at most four entire Mako Beams of energy to slowly deplete Danton's health. But as expected by her logic, the spell is also very weak and hardly helpful to the cause.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/QCmtWNtX/S3-Danton-N-010.png]

Danton didn't feel very much pain from the beams of energy digging into his skin. Jane was playing dumb using an ability with such a low power level. On top of that, Jane literally just made her last known location completely visible by using beams connecting the impact point with the blades attached to her body. Danton took immediate action and fired his magic towards her, hoping to score several hits of powerful magic on the invisible opponent. "Prism!" Expending a large amount of his remaining MP, Danton began to feel exhausted from the prolonged battle as he charged his next spell. Using the staff to amplify the damage, Danton's multi-colored glyphring formed at the tip of the red crystal, firing several randomized bolts of elemental energy at will. Since there wasn't a visible target to home in on, Danton had to additionally control the directional arc of each energy sphere going forward. He made more use of fire and Ice Bolts than Lightning Strikes, since it would end up becoming a narrow beam with a lower damage potential.

Jane ducked her head to evade the oncoming Ice Bolt that was too close and accurate for comfort. Even though she was still invisible, Danton had a relative location of her whereabouts thanks to her last spell of Mako Beam. Jane brushed off her mistake and dodged as many magical spheres as she possibly could. Danton was rapid firing his fire and Ice Bolts in her direction, making it hard for her to slide out of the way in time. Each sphere became a close call for her. After the third Lightning Strike, Jane lost her momentum just long enough for a Fire Bolt to brush the tip of her arm. The fire from the sphere spread outward to deal half of the damage, while the light itself alerted Danton that he scored a partial hit in that location. Since there was another incoming Fire Bolt already under his control, it only took another fraction of a second for Jane to take the next Fire Bolt straight to the face.

The explosion of fire pushed Jane back without tripping her, causing minor damage to her health on the invisible energy scope. Jane simply tried to recover herself, soon to realize that Danton's Prism spell came to a quick end just as he managed to locate her. With Jane burned to a minor degree and the cold from Blizzard's spell making her freeze, she shook off any sensation she was feeling and put all of her concentration into an immediate spell. With her daggers still in hand, Jane infused additional energy into the blades, running up towards Danton to make the target less evasive. "Splice!" Jane drilled her blades and magic through the air in the shape of a crossed X. The two dimensional lines of drilling magic flew towards Danton faster than he was able to react, but not fast enough for him to realize what pain he was in for before the spell hit him.

Danton couldn't stop the drilling of powerful magic cutting through his own skin, well-placed right at the center of his body to maximize all of the pain spots and damage afflicted areas. Danton's health dropped dramatically, and so did he skid to his knees. Unable to fake his way past the intense cutting pain of Splice, Danton had to wait for a chance to catch Jane off guard. But just as he glanced forward again, the outline of a physical body began to form light into the opaque object again. Jane was now completely visible along with her energy scope. The dark night spell hanging over the ceiling came to an end. The Blizzard spell was subsiding as well, heat building back up into the room from before. It was as if the entire battle parameters reset for him.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/ryNzHj9v/S3-Danton-N-011.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/g22W0q8L/S3-Jane-N-075.png]

"Time's up!" he announced. Charging little energy into his Mega-Staff, Danton picked up on his feet and charged towards Jane again. With everything reset, Jane wouldn't have the ability to make herself invisible, and should she power shield once more, Danton already prepared and memorized the attack spell of Dimensional Strike. Dimensional Strike is a refined version of Splice that will cut through any particular shield output; Jane would be powerless against it. Jane was standing her ground by the looks of it. Holding both daggers in hand like before, Jane prepared herself for close combat, forgetting last time that Danton had beaten her with additional skill and speed.

As Danton rushed in a few feet from Jane, he lifted his staff in the air and brought it back down on top of her, using the stiff rod as a blunt object of brute force. Jane reacted in time to lift her blades up together with her wrists crossed, blocking the rod with the force of her arm strength alone. The clash of metal made a loud and distinct clanging sound that echoed throughout the room, and gave Jane little time to think of a way out of the situation, but Danton made sure she was too late. Prepared for the eventuality, Danton lifted his left leg and kicked Jane backwards and away from him. In the same swinging motion, Danton aimed the tip of his Mega-Staff forward and shot a prepared Fire Bolt from the tip of the crystal. As Jane was hit in the face with another blast of fire, Danton continued his advance towards her. He lifted his rod again, crashing the metal staff down on Jane's shoulder with as much physical strength as he could conjure. The hit to Jane's bone bounced some of the kinetic energy back into the rod and assisted in Danton's continuation of the combination attack.

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Jane felt an intense bruising pain in her right shoulder, followed by another hit to her back, which she made vulnerable by cringing away from the first hit. Danton continuously beat on Jane with the Mega-Staff, mixing some of his movements with fire and Ice Bolts coming out of the same rod. He delivered physical and magical damage in a combination that had Jane beat by the pain in each strike, the pain just as bad as the damage dealt to her. Danton didn't let up for a moment, shifting between evasive sweeps to additional physical attacks. After several more blunt hits to Jane's defenseless body, Danton jumped back and threw several tiny knives towards Jane, all of which stuck into the left side of her chest while drawing a small amount of blood at the points of impalement. Danton used that moment to end his unique combination and retreat backwards to give himself some time to recover more Leray energy. Since it was already low, he had his own problem keeping up his stamina and adrenaline filled movements.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/cJVyTpjf/S3-Jane-N-076.png]

Jane felt her heart rate rising fast as she struggled with the intense sensation of the small knives digging into her skin with an ultimate stinging sensation. It wasn't that uncommon for Leray damage to draw blood and cause real time damage without jeopardizing the health of the victim, as the Leray veil of protection only blocks out a heavy portion of non-lethal real time damage, and a lower portion of the pain inflicted from that damage. Danton was somewhat retreating to a safer distance in front of her, while his movements preserved a fair amount of his own MP energy. With everything going on, Jane would need powerful spells fast. The symbol likely wouldn't come back to assist her again so soon, nor did she want to risk the exposure before the end of the battle.

Overcoming her damage quickly, Jane poured a ton of Leray energy into her next spell while speeding up the invocation and keeping the spell's effects deep in her imagination to boost the success rate of an underused Leray ability. "Ultima!" Refined from Mega-Flare though popular and well known by the higher-level elite warriors, Ultima is one of the highest power level versions of a light screen attack with an area effect of the entire field on a full dimensional level, dealing non-elemental magical damage with the added factor of heat in the same screen. Danton wouldn't have any way at all of dodging this attack, though interrupting the initial process is the only way to stop it. With Jane's focus intensifying quickly, she released all of her charged energy into the powerful spell, blasting the entire field with a blinding white light that also heat up the area quickly. Unlike how it affected her before, Jane was immune to the damage of her own area attack with the amount of concentration she placed for the screen to specifically damage the champion. Danton became just as invisible as the world around her. Jane had to wait and see if her Ultima spell did any real damage. By the time the light faded in just one more second, Danton was positioned where he was before, though hanging on his knees with one hand barely propping him up. His cloak and dress sphere were smoking from evident heat and magical damage from the full area attack performed by Jane, and she got to see just how powerful her spells were becoming at large.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/Gh39nD79/S3-Danton-N-012.png]

He got himself back up in a mere moment, shaking off the burning sensation of his flesh. Danton aimed his rod at Jane again in one straight direction, waving the wand to expel more invisible magic. "Creshendo!" Forming seven spread out pillars with only half the normal opacity to surround Jane from only two meters away, Danton quickly prepared to force all of the energy stones protruding over ten feet tall to collide together on one fixed point and crush Jane where she stood by dealing magical blunt damage. His control over the pillars didn't take long, and he allowed all seven of them to come together on top of Jane in no delay. The crashing force from all of them nearly created another cloud of dust, while the rumble from the collision was as loud as a large explosion carrying force through the ground of the battlefield. Unfortunately for Danton, he was soon able to spot another power shield protecting Jane from all seven of those pillars, the shield standing strong and blue like before.

Jane dropped her shield and prepared for an immediate counterattack. "Deep Strike!" Throwing magic into the field as quickly as she was capable, Jane created the next area attack spell, which spawned explosions all over the metal floor. By usual design, each explosion came closer to the target, growing less random and more powerful at the same time they were trying to converge.

Danton immediately used his staff and formed a stone pillar in front of him, which was nearly reduced to rubble from the change in force of the ground. He summoned an Earth Glave spell with a stone wall at the top of the base to try and slow down Jane's Deep Strike. Knowing it wouldn't be enough, Danton also threw himself into a high jump backwards at the same time, getting clear of the final powerful explosions just before the wall crumbled and flew outwards from the incredible force put into the spell. With the final explosion happening too far away to affect him, Danton remained undamaged by Jane's attack, which she should have made more randomized to prevent his evasion.

Danton landed again with ease, pumping more conserved magic into his staff and into his left hand as he prepared to hit Jane from a distance. "Blitz!" While forming a machine gun in his left hand from a small yellow glyphring, Danton also used his staff to shoot Magical Blitz spheres as well. Jane would be forced to evade those while dealing with the barrage of speeding bullets. Danton aimed and held down the trigger one-handed, controlling the other magic simultaneously.

"Not this time!" Jane invoked another shielding aura around her, still relatively easy from the amount of energy she still had stored. Bullets were bouncing off the front end of her aura, while Magical Blitz spheres pillaged the shield from above. Hexagons formed everywhere to pinpoint damage indications, but such hexes were also larger in size. Jane could keep up the shield longer at this rate.

Noticing another shield, Danton took his chances, using a tiny amount of magic with his staff to teleport himself behind Jane's physical position. After his teleportation was complete, he aimed the staff as close to Jane's power shield as he could, infusing the staff with additional Leray energy. "Multi-dimensional power – come forth!" Using the end of his crystal to fire a Lightning Strike with a modified energy signature for multi-dimensional purposes, Danton's magic drilled through Jane's shield as if it were nonexistent. The event happened so fast that Jane failed to respond to the situation even in thought, and the electrocution to her body forced her to lose focus on the shield and keeping herself together while taking more damage. Danton then lifted his weapon higher while keeping the aim on Jane, blasting her with a barrage of magic from the spell Scatter Beam! The several hits pushed her down, while Danton charged up more energy for another spell.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/JhyCNrT1/S3-Jane-N-077.png]

"Thunder Flare!" With almost the last of his MP energy, Danton used his staff to formulate a bigger and stronger sphere of electrical auric energy surrounding Jane inside of the same bubble. Before she could recover from the last damage dealt to her, Danton had her in lock, electrocuting her where she stood. His modified version of Thunder Flare lasted for six long seconds, while the power level was amped up from the original design. Such was evident in Jane's pain induced screaming distorted by the serious level of concentrated vibrations in the electrical field itself.

Jane's body heated to the level of receiving first-degree burns, while a powerful sensation of needles poking everywhere into her skin had Jane wanting to scream louder. The amount of time she was electrocuted was much longer than she was used to, as was the intense level of damage and pain put together. By the time the blue bubble disappeared and Jane was dropped, she felt drained like never before, being brought to her knees while feeling faint. Her skin was seeping small amounts of smoke while the pain was still lasting with the drain to her stamina.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/6pbN42fj/S3-Jane-N-078.png]

After seeing Danton warp away for a further distance, Jane gave herself as much effort as she could to stand back up and continue fighting. The motion alone had Danton yelling at the top of his lungs.

"You're not coming out of this battle intact Jane! I don't care how brave and enduring you are! I will not lose to some cheaply trained bitch!" Danton rushed forward again, charging despite having teleported a long distance away. "Rrraaaaaaagh!" Increasing in momentum and speed, Danton quenched the last of his remaining Leray energy into himself instead of the staff, giving charge to an unseen spell.

Jane saw Danton raging towards her like a brute on fire, and she reacted with additional attacks. "Armor Breaker!" Infusing her daggers with a red glow of energy, Jane threw her spinning blades forward. Though it took time for the spinning daggers to reach Danton, he spun his staff a few times like before without changing his pace or movement, the spinning formation of his metal rod deflected both daggers as if they were rubber toys. Jane's blades flew to the ground behind Danton as he continued to rush forward, closer to half the distance he was before.

Jane quickly decided on a better attack spell, putting more effort and energy into the current blue aura building around her body. "Quantum Beam!" Combining all of the energy from her aura, Jane fired an intense wide range beam of blue Leray energy that coursed through the air and smashed into Sir Danton. Without even trying to deflect the beam in the same way, Danton was now taking damage over the time the beam affected his body. However, Danton continued running forward as if no damage was being taken to him at all. Jane watched the stats on his energy scope deplete with the firing of her Quantum Beam, though Danton was just getting closer and closer, absorbing some of the power thrown at him with a now evident white aura building up around his moving body. Like a rhinoceros set to rage, there was no stopping this guy!

image [https://i.postimg.cc/7YBhHLd9/S3-Danton-N-013.png]

"Smite!" he hollered into the air. With only a dozen meters away from Jane, Danton was increasing in speed while using the last of his magic to create a powerful aura of force negation around him. Smite is a spell that maximized power levels, a best refined version of Flash Charge that makes the user so fast and powerful that their entire body becomes a bolt of non-elemental magic of blunt force. With Danton now maximizing his skill and just a few more seconds away from destroying Jane where she stood, he had to face another challenge.

Seeing Danton continue had Jane grasping at further attempts to try and stop him. After infusing all of the remaining energy she had available to her, Jane tried a last attempt trick to stop Danton in his tracks before it was too late. "Redemption!" Forming around her five vertical beams of light, Jane's formation of the spell emitted a high-toned noise increasing in pitch. The beams of light began to spiral outward by design while homing forward in front of her.

Danton noticed the beams of Redemption, analyzing the rate of speed and shift in directions. Though Redemption beams are the most powerful form of compressed Leray energy, Danton realized that his current trajectory didn't have a collision course with the beams, since they were more randomized in movement and formation. He could only hope at the same time that his calculations were not off just a second before his impact with Smite. If he was right, Jane's mistake was soon to be her last.

Jane watched in horror as all five of her beams zipped past Danton without the correct collision course to his straight line. After using all of the remaining MP energy she had, Jane froze in place as there was but one second left for Danton's massive aura field charged in her direction like a speeding bullet. Before she could continue keeping track of what happened, a force of brute strength followed by intense pain had Jane's vision black, and her senses all confused.

Danton finally came to impact with Jane's body, using no direct measure of force as it was already existent from the aura surrounding him. Danton continued running, after watching the exterior white aura around him push Jane high into the air as she flew backwards veered to an angle. Danton's speed did not reduce in the slightest, and he resembled the situation as if running someone over with a gravity-defying vehicle. Just as Danton ran out of energy completely, he soon came to a stop, catching his breath while watching Jane plummet into the ground defenseless and dejected. Her crash into the floor was perhaps just as painful by the sound of the blasting force it gave off and the dust that scattered everywhere in the process. Seeing the change in competition in front of him, Danton ceased his motions and relaxed for a moment, knowing that Jane wouldn't have very much more she could do at present.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/V6nyh7Qp/S3-Jane-N-079.png]

Jane already forgot what just happened. She was face dug into the solid metal floor of the champion's arena, lifting her head up carefully. She hurt everywhere, her stamina reduced to nothingness as Jane struggled just to remain conscious. The sensation of passing out came on quickly, as did a headache more intense than she ever felt before. As Jane slowly and carefully glanced around herself with her belly flat on the floor, she remembered the battle she was in with Danton. Since he was standing with so much health left, she could only assume from this evident headache that he was now winning the fight. So much hurts! Jane found it tiring just to even think about moving a single muscle of her lower body.

Danton slowly paced towards the spot where Jane had collapsed. She was still somewhat conscious and alive, her HP stats above zero percent. Jane could technically choose to continue battling even now, though in her state it would do her no good. With his energy drained as well, Danton kept the staff firmly in his right hand for insurance, as he kept some distance between himself and Jane while addressing her only remaining option. "You're done here Jane." Danton winced slightly without showing much expression. Jane's entire body was beaten up badly. It was a miracle that her energy scope did not yet turn red to indicate a critical state of conditioning. "You no longer have the strength to face me!"

Come on! Activate! Activate Symbolosis! Jane tried desperately to call for the assistance of her hidden symbol like before, feeling that it was her only remaining option, but nothing came of her constant attempts. Her body wracked with pain, her head full of intense pressure and damage, Jane really was about to be finished off right here and now.

"It seems like I was correct about your initial aptitudes. You are indeed strong and skillful, but still inexperienced as you are. Whatever JDT stands for, you're fighting admirably without the proper amount of battling experience."

No! Jane tried even harder, giving up on her symbol and pushing her body upwards to get off the ground. Her muscles were weak already, but with several long seconds, Jane managed to at least make it to her knees. She then tried once more to stand up from that position, which took her forever with current levels of disorientation. She nearly stumbled downwards with little balance available. Jane's MP was regenerating very slowly, giving her one last chance to end Danton in one shot, but the amount of energy she had could never be used to invoke a powerful skill right now. Danton wasn't about to give her that chance either.

Seeing Jane struggle to stand up pitied Danton to no end. He took two steps closer, slamming the bottom end of his staff to the metal ground to alert Jane of his presence. "Why the hell do you insist on being knocked out? You could forfeit the match and go out with some dignity!"

JDT. Danton truly didn't understand a single meaning of the word, nor would he with the unabbreviated meltdown of the acronym, but Jane knew it all along. From the moment Danny and Taylor arrived in Sprawn Valley, nothing in this country has ever been the same. Things were changing without their influence, but Jane knew she had grown more than ever thanks to their support. The love all based around each other was even stronger than any support could have ever given. Jane saw them as friends in the beginning, but Danny and Taylor constantly risked their own lives in here for her. Jane's safety, her mission, her success and vision... Danny and Taylor fought even in the dark zone to pull her out alive and continue helping her out. Nobody else in the world would have done that for her.

Even right now, in front of the whole world, Danny and Taylor are counting on her alone to win this fight and complete phase two of the mission by securing top position of the leader of the General Army. Phase three will be preparations, briefings, and training if required, but Danton is so stubborn that he will not allow it unless truly defeated in a fight. He doesn't see any of the things Jane felt since her friends came to the country, that powerful uplifting feeling she gets when faced with impossible difficulty, a sensation that forces her to keep trying until victory. The victory isn't for the title or the glory. It's for those same people that put her here in the first place. Jane was fighting for her friends, for the people she met in Lennith City, and for the lives that will be lost should she fail. It was reason enough to come up here and battle Danton in the first place.

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Chapter Theme Shift: For All Eternity ~ Epic Score

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My hands and legs are shaking. Jane noticed the tremoring in her own body, barely capable of standing, fragile from the minimal MP and HP remaining inside of her. Even her own symbol was giving up on assisting her fight, and Danton, the man standing tall and collective in front of her seemed strong at the moment. She caught on to his high rate of breathing, brought on from his low state of MP energy, but his higher HP gave him every edge in battle through any period. He is currently ten times stronger than herself...

But none of that matters. A battle for winning and a battle for love are not the same things, nor are they won the same way. Jane concentrated, focusing her eyes and dedication to the foe in front of her. Her headache grew stronger with the pain gradually rising as Jane stood firmly enough to speak without scraping her throat. "I'm fighting for people that I love, people I don't ever want to see hurt or miserable. I know you still can't see that right now Danton, but I don't need you to. If there is anything I've learned in my training, it's that my will to win is strong enough. I don't care if I lose this fight!" she shouted. Putting the surprised expression back on Danton's face again, Jane continued giving herself all the reason to keep going, the energy around her building up in compression while her pain grew more and more intense. "I'm still taking you out of the picture if it means I can accomplish my goal of protecting the people I care about. I'd gladly give up my own life for the sort of thing!" Her teeth clenched in response to the painful strain she pushed on herself. "That is why..."

Danton backed up one step after noticing that Jane had secretly been charging energy around her. A bluish transparent dome of anomalous air was building around Jane, the aura around her skin intensifying as it warped the visual reality nearby like some kind of radiation. She inhaled intensely to continue her crazy speech.

"I will never give up!" Without understanding why, Jane felt a powerful uplifting presence take control of her senses. All of the pain in her body went completely numb with the exception of her severe headache. The slight sensation around her body felt familiar to that of charging energy. Jane unknowingly began to compress the small amount of energy she had built up, feeling everything with her head and her heart. Though she didn't know or understand what was happening, the powerful emotion of her bravery and determination took over to a point of no return. Becoming less conscious of her own actions, Jane continued this charge of energy, building a power never seen or felt before, alien to her knowledge. With the slight glow fading from view, only Jane's eyes took in the visual effects of the compressed magical built up, her green corneas turning to a dark blue glowing color that intensified with her concentration aura.

Jane's entire aura didn't appear to resemble anything Danton could recognize, as the glow was mixed in with a glowing type of thin fog that surrounded Jane as well. Danton backed away inconspicuously, shouting at the aura he could already feel in front of him. "Whatever you're about to try, you don't have the energy it takes to knock down forty percent of my entire health capacity. Can you hear me? You're only straining yourself!"

Ignoring all of Danton's words, Jane continued building power, sensing something she had never felt before inside of her head. The physical sensation both unknown and indescribable to her, Jane continued to focus on this sensation while ignoring the massive pain from her headache continuing to build. She felt as though her body could begin levitating, her weight as light as a feather. The only conscious thoughts in her mind were of the same words she just used to will herself back into the fight. Hidden to her own knowledge but not to Danton's, Jane's energy scope began to shift in the levels of available energy as well.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/3RMV2g4B/S3-Jane-Red-007.png]

"Damn maniac!" Danton muttered. Using what left MP energy he regenerated in the short period of time, Danton used his staff again, forming six large energy spheres of blue light, capable of heavy magical damage. He then sent them to Jane in order to stop her magical charge, shooting each projectile in the form of a non-elemental bolt attack.

Jane couldn't see very well in front of her, the visual field fogged up with distortions, but in an indescribably way, Jane could feel the power and energy of six amplified magical spheres heading her way in the form of speeding projectiles. Danton was attacking her again. Inexplicably and unconsciously to her own mindscape, Jane could feel the position, energy signature, and surrounding displacement all around her, not that of just the six magical spheres on approach. As a result to the imminent danger to her health, Jane ended up creating a Farshield in front of her without any extraneous effort or body movement, the projection field automatic and easy. Even the Farshield created was about ten times the usual size of Jane's signature Farshields, and the wall of energy completely absorbed all of Danton's attacks without any signs of struggle. The Farshield defused the attack in less than two seconds, making Danton's strong magic seem laughably weak. The shield disappeared and collapsed as soon as Jane no longer sensed any more of Danton's magic, and she continued to concentrate on the newfound energy inside of her.

Danton took another step back, surprised by the sudden appearance of a Farshield that ended his attack without even disrupting Jane's efforts. What spell was she casting? Why was it taking so long to build up its energy? And why wasn't Jane moving anymore? Defeated by the logic that he just spent the last of his remaining energy all over again, Danton had no choice but to stand firm and take the unknown attack. He should have plenty of stamina to survive any spell.

With a solid ear-piercing scream escaping her breath for three full seconds, Jane could barely ignore the intense pain in her head anymore, and she simultaneously used that moment to release all of the energy around her. Still unconscious to what she was doing with the compressed magic she built up, Jane felt all of the magical essence inside and around her suddenly shoved outward and expanding. The energy she launched was totally invisible to sight, and inaudible to the ears. Jane however could feel where it was and how far it was spreading. The spherical wave of energy spread in all four dimensions, going all around, up and down, everywhere while expanding in size.

Danton watched Jane fall to her knees, failing to understand what was going on. She hadn't taken any additional damage, though her MP energy was drained all the way down to zero percent in the process. There was nothing around to indicate any sign of magical essence or imminent damage. Only after one second, Danton felt a pain inside of his head so compelling and powerful that his focus on everything else was immediately erased. Holding his head in response, Danton sank down to his side on the floor, grinding yells of intense agony as the damage level intensified so quickly. While Danton was feeling the massive headache Jane had been feeling, his health status began to decline rapidly and dramatically, though yet unknown to his current knowledge.

Jane continued to trace the output level of the directional energy she telepathically sent outward. It eventually reached the very edge of the Siriean dome, colliding with the shield and attempting to expand despite the sudden obstruction. Because the energy expanding had not yet taken the full shape of the inner field of the Siriean dome, a little more time passed before Jane could detect a sudden surge of resonant energy. The energy of her last used power and the energy of the Siriean dome were in direct opposition, canceling each other out in annihilation. By the time it was over, Jane sank down further, capable of feeling all of her other pains again, her headache subsiding only in part, while her strength declined rapidly.

Danton was only capable of letting out painful groans, indication that something unknown to him was wrong. He had never felt something this strong before within a Leray match. The pain eventually began to subside, giving him consciousness of his surroundings again, but just as Danton took notice of the environment around him, everything had changed. The entire Siriean dome around them was collapsing, visually apparent by the degrading hexagonal fields climbing downward. Jane was still alive though barely capable of moving. She didn't call off the fight, and neither did he, so why did the dome fail?

image [https://i.postimg.cc/SxJsJhph/S3-Danton-N-014.png]

With an expressive surprising wince, Danton read back his energy scope three times carefully. Jane's unknown spell chipped off 35% of all his health, leaving him with just five percent left. The physical fatigue involved seemed delayed when he came to realize this. Danton was still capable of rational thought, but everything hurt, much more inside of his head than anywhere else. As he struggled to stand back up, so did the fragile girl in front of him.

Though it was nearly impossible to continue, Jane gathered the strength and will she needed to stand back up, pulling out both daggers from her dress sphere. With both blades steady in hand, Jane's trembling limbs stood before Danton, who also looked as if he just went through hell. It was in this moment where Jane realized that he somehow took a severe amount of damage, though the reason was entirely unknown to Jane. It took her a little longer to notice the complete and total collapse of the Siriean dome. Several flying drone cameras were falling out of the air from the same damage, while two remained unharmed, the spares kept on the outside of the dome shield for this round.

"Take me out then!" Danton threatened. "Even if I drop here right now, I'm not crowning you queen of the General Army! You don't deserve its title!"

"Resistance only works if you can truly stop me." Jane lifted her blades up, slow to move and react from the low stats of her energy scope. Jane knew she could pass out any second, she felt so dizzy and uncontrolled. But she had enough strength to aim and throw two small blades at a standstill target. Magical energy wouldn't be needed. These blades have seen a lot, and know just where to hit in order to do enough. "I am going to fight. For JDT!" Jane threw her daggers forward with all her might, swinging both of her arms from left to right to give the blades the horizontal spin she desired. As the blades left her hands, Jane lost balance again and shuffled to the floor, though remained there for a moment to recover.

Danton saw the metal blades heading his way in midair. Though he wanted to dodge, moving a finger required a lot of effort. Since there was no auric glow around them, Jane obviously did not infuse magic into the blades either. Danton was certain that with only 5% health, he could survive the impact... But then what?

The slicing of Jane's blades through Danton's skin made a loud scraping and cutting sound that made him cringe at the thought of the damage. The pain that shot in his chest and arms afterwards also drained much more of his physical stamina, bringing him to a sinking motion to float on one hand.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/Znx9FFfz/S3-Danton-Crit-001.png]

Now he was also at risk of health problems should additional damage follow. Critical condition on either party normally means the fight is forced to end. But Jane and Danton both have about the same stats. After all this time of fighting too...

Danton summoned his most powerful assistant to battle. Entiene; the spiritual essence dragon bonded only to one person at a time who also passes the sacred trials at Eupharus. Jane had so much trouble just damaging the creature, but eventually adapted to the situation and discovered weak points. Even then, she adapted to Danton's perpetual evolving battle style, and came up with her own to match. How was she so powerful to destroy an entire Siriean dome? How could she possibly become too much for the champion at such a young age? JDT... What does it stand for?

Jane kept breathing, over and over inhaling and exhaling. She felt like collapsing and giving up so badly right now, but could still give it all she had if Danton was ready to. He didn't look very good right now, but it wasn't enough to call a match just yet. Either Danton has to give up, or Jane must deplete his health all the way to zero, despite the risk to both of their lives in the process.

With his vision blurring and the lightheadedness intensifying with his headache, Danton pounded on the metal floor with his fists over and over. "Dammit! This doesn't mean anything Jane! But..." Danton's voice changed as it was slightly muffled through his shut teeth. "I can't keep fighting like this... I hereby forfeit the match! You hear me?!" After another attempt to ignore the strong urge to vomit everywhere, Danton lifted his head up to the flying cameras now descending down for confirmation. "I hereby forfeit the match, and demand immediate medical support to this location!"

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Chapter Theme Shift: Voices From The Past ~ Two Worlds 2 OST

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As soon as Danton spoke those words, the white lights built into the walls of the cylindrical room changed in color to green. It's the color they turn to when victory to either side is declared and the match officially ends. Normally the dome would collapse too by controller request, but it already happened from that unknown energy surge Jane felt momentarily. With the announcement finally made official, Jane relaxed all of her nerves and sank down to help rest herself in the process. The muted announcement was forced to unmute in this situation by protocol, with the official declarations pending to be shouted to the audience below.

"That ends the match of the championship! The challenger has defeated the current champion of Brash Danton! What a stunning performance to behold! And the crowd downstairs is going wild with the unexpected turnout and excitement! Leray wielder Jane Venn has defeated the last challenge and has advanced in rank to Leray champion status! The victor will also receive nine hundred thousand electronic credits to assist as seed money for the new operations. With a close call between powerful warriors, former champion Brash Danton has declared a withdraw with only two percent health remaining!"

He sounds so excited. Jane knew that Danny and Taylor were down below, part of that cheering crowd, likely eager to bust their way to the top of the tower for a group hug if they had the clearance level to do so. With that came the delayed realization of what Jane had just done. She won! She won the battle against the champion of Leray magic, defeated the elite five in the most spectacular combination of battle skills, magical spells, and determination Jane has ever brought out in herself. The concept of becoming the champion alone had Jane feeling overwhelmed with high honor.

"Mute that Harold!" Danton barked. Just as the medical team came in to deliver very rare healing orbs of magic to both Jane and Danton, he stood up and accepted treatment, but remained wary of the girl in the distance. After the camera speakers were muted once again, Danton issued another command to the team assisting Jane. "Don't let her heal!"

Jane accepted the special healing orb just as Danton was lashing out against her attempt to get better. It was most surprising to her completely. Did Danton really think he was still in charge? After she just won the fight of all fights? It really was difficult!

"What have you, lost your mind?!" the team member retorted. As staff of the medical unit assigned to assisting Jane heal her endangered stats, the man in uniform stood slightly in front of Jane while assessing the mental health of the former champion. "We're going to make sure the winner is in good health, and that includes you. We don't deny medical treatment to those who need it."

"She isn't authorized!" Danton cried.

"What do you mean she isn't authorized?" the man repeated. "Let's let you heal before you start getting all cynical. The girl won man! That's just how it is!"

"I don't care," Danton phrased. "I am not handing over my title as champion to some senile witch who wants to run the military into the ground!"

"Danton!" Another team of the medical staff challenged his very words just by calling his name in aggression. This also prompted Jane to hurry her use of the healing orb and offer her more realistic offer.

The bright light from the red and yellow colored orb had Jane's health regenerating quickly in no time, while her MP levels charged back up as well. Danton was doing the same, but was less distracted in the process.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/2yYpN4C6/S3-Jane-N-080.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/0yFNSB8J/S3-Danton-N-015.png]

After the orbs worked fast, Jane and Danton both put away their energy scopes by habit, but Jane stepped away from her medical team and approached Danton a little more closely. He still gave her his eyes of denial, but Jane remained perfectly calm. "How about a different proposal?"

"Huh?" Danton wasn't sure what she was saying. Jane's shift in her accepting attitude had the people all around her confused and bewildered. The remaining drone cameras hovered high in the air recording, and the teams waited for Jane to continue.

While Danton awaited Jane's new terms, she simply repeated the same line she used before they battled. "I am in agreement with one very particular thing Danton. I don't know much about leading Sprawn Valley, much less the political aspect of it all. Personally, I don't think I am ready to stay champion of Sprawn Valley."

"So you're giving up the power you just obtained, after coming all this way and defeating me in battle?" Danton rationalized. "What does it matter anyway? I meant what I said. I'm not handing you control of the General Army."

"If that's what she wants," the female member interrupted, "then you don't have a choice in the matter." Who does Danton think he is anyway? This has been the tradition of Eldora Tower since the beginning of its construction.

Jane elaborated on what she meant. "I want Sir Danton to remain as the leader of the General Army, but I make that agreement on the basis that he accept my terms about reforming the strategy and plan of the current operation of the GA with regards to Alpha Zero."

"What?"

Danton had never felt so angry in his life. For Jane to say all of that, daring not to even watch her tongue while revealing sensitive information over live transmission! Only the speaker output to this room was muted, not the recording input from the last two drones. "I will once again deny your stupid request."

"Know that since I fairly defeated you in battle, I'm not giving you any other option," Jane reiterated.

"And I'm not giving you power to make that choice."

Jane's face hardened, giving Danton two extra seconds to change his mind... "Everyone?" Jane shouted aloud. "Leave this vicinity at once! I think Danton and I have a few more things to discuss... It may get a bit loud and explosive in here."

"Forget that!" the other man ordered. "Danton? You don't have the—"

"No, you don't have the right!" Danton shouted his tone at a volume surpassing the staff by a factor of five. "How dare you begin taking orders from an irrational punk! But Jane is right about one thing. You all better leave the room right now!"

"Danton!"

"I will personally see fit to attack anybody who dares get in my way. This includes the one designated as Jane Venn. All of this can only be the work of a setup."

"It's okay everyone," Jane announced aloud. "Please evacuate the scene."

"Fine," he replied. "But I'm calling the emergency council immediately. Danton can't withhold the championship title from you. It's illegal!"

"Jane is what's illegal here. I know something doesn't fit! No girl your age has that kind of power naturally!"

Jane shuttered at those words, realizing how true they were deep at core. She noticed that only half of the medical staff began rushing towards the emergency access elevator, while the rest of them only gained a bit of distance, just enough to continue hearing the exchange of words. Most of the security detail was missing too, taking Jane's advice and not siding with Danton on this issue. Before Jane could say anything, Danton summoned his Mega-Staff weapon again, preparing its charge, likely as a show of strength.

"I can do this all day!" Danton dithered through his teeth. "And I won't allow those idiots to heal you a second time."

"I can't comprehend why you are so against fixing Alpha Zero's problem."

Danton lowered his physical intensity, trying to remain calm since Jane wasn't battling just yet. "There is no solution to the problem. I don't trust you to be physically capable of taking on the Dark Zone with or without my soldiers. And say you could somehow pull it off. How high would the casualty count become in result?"

"That's not a lot of faith for someone who managed to overcome you and your other elites in only half a day with a limited time of training." Jane comprehended another fact from before. "You know, you and your elites combined with the main force stand about as much a chance as I do when by myself, maybe more. Haven't you at least tried to risk your own lives if not your soldiers? Or did you simply forget to ask Mainne and the others about it?"

Danton stamped his staff on the ground. "Don't you dare talk about my elite team as if you know what we've been through! Our involvement as a team to infiltrate isn't up for discussion - because it is too dangerous even then. If you want to rush in and get yourself killed like you tried to last time, then so be it. You're not part of this team Jane! Not before, and not after!"

"I know it's dangerous," Jane agreed. "But I also know what's inside of that zone, more than you and the General Army realize with combined knowledge. I know our team can get your team by without any casualties."

"That is a risk I cannot allow you to take for the others."

"Dammit Danton! I'm not asking you for permission to make the operation work! I was only wondering if you wanted to be part of it!"

"Ha!" Danton exhaled. "You expect me to hand you the keys to the army just like that? I wasn't onboard with that idea before we battled, and I still am not onboard with it right now." With his strength and stamina mostly recovered, Danton managed to physically stand taller and use more of his hand gestures to defend his honor as champion. "You may have a lot of power Jane, but you're just some kid! The army isn't for kids. It's for powerful and mature adults! For soldiers!"

Jane was shocked that Danton could turn himself into a villain even with the last two flying drones picking up everything live. Even if she walked away from this, Danton would be destroyed politically, but that still isn't going to help. "You want a soldier?!" Jane chased. "I'll give you a soldier. Let's say we go at it again? Forget rules and protocols! I'll either knock your health down to zero or kill you right here with dark magic! Your opposition is treason Danton! I won't let you destroy all of those lives."

"I think it amusing that you actually blame me for such a cruel fate threatening Lennith City," he responded. Danton lifted his staff up, and then placed his left finger on his ear. "This is Brash Danton to security detail. I want units G through L to floor 950 on the double. Now!"

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Chapter Theme Shift: Oath Brand ~ FFXIII-2

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"Can't even fight your battle alone?" Jane challenged.

"You're the one who said to forget about official rules and protocols. I'll bring up the entire elite security detail and fight five against one if that's what it takes to stop this intrusion. And just so you know, the units I've called up here are not like those cowards you shunned away; they remain loyal to me always."

Jane fought back his opposition. "Listen you! I don't need evened odds to put you down. I won the fight like I was supposed to, and I'm not even asking for permanent status as a new champion. The least you could do is step aside. If you really don't want to use the army to invade Alpha Zero, then at least let all elites with fair training take part in a teamed effort."

"What part of hell no did you not understand? This is your last warning!" While Danton stood his ground in front of Jane, he could hear the sudden stomping and rushing boots of his soldiers running behind him. The security unit from his communication.

Jane was impressed by the design of the area. Danton's security team was already here, rushing to his side, and they had really big machine guns, assault rifles that appeared to be made of highly advanced technology. Has it even been thirty seconds? The soldiers all aligned themselves in formation just behind Danton in a wide line, taking stance and aiming their fully loaded weapons in Jane's direction. Those guns still could only cause Leray damage, though it may be high in scale.

"Just the men I was waiting for. Guards? I will attempt to detain aggressive actions by the subject. Do not fire unless I give the order."

Jane heard several "Yes sir!" responses, given there were six entire soldiers all wearing impressive body armor with retractable electronically assisted helmets. They looked scary, though Jane wondered what their lone power is compared to creatures of the evil spawns. "You don't scare me Danton." Jane lifted her left dagger from her dress sphere and held it forward, bringing Danton and his troops to a heightened state of defense. "I'm through playing games with you. You want to see the source of my power?!"

Danton waited for a moment, somewhat confused by a potential confession that something unusual was afoot. "Are you going to show me?!" Despite being close enough to use indoor voices, Danton felt as threatened as he could be.

Jane glanced up at the drone cameras, all of which were hovering pretty close to all of the drama, with most of them staring at Jane directly. Danton knows something was suspicious, and was willing to go this far on that hunch. Oh well. He brought this much on himself. After her final consideration, she swallowed her spit and fought her own fear. None of this is working. Now is the right time - plan B. "I'll show everyone my true power. Everyone watching!" Jane lifted her right arm up high, sending as much of a pulse of energy as she could to intentionally activate the crest again. Despite wearing fingerless gloves on her hands to hide it before, Jane knew of the symbol's potential to holographically project far above the layers of her own clothing. It became easier to show off when Jane wanted to do so, and though she wasn't able to self-invoke it mid-battle, she has been feeling much better from that healing orb.

Jane's breathing rate got faster from her rapid heartbeat, but also more intense as she had to really focus to activate the symbol inside of her. Finally sensing the tingling sensation coursing through her entire body, the light from the top of her hand faded in quickly, blinding the men in front of her while the light began to take shape and form. The design pattern of the light became visible from the outside of Jane's clothing, holographically and magically projected as the symbol Jane always knew since she obtained it. A slight oval with another small perfect circle in the center. On the sides were acute curved lines connecting to each edge, giving the overall design a ring shape, which made the entire symbol seem like some kind of planet with outer rings, all dark pink in color. After the symbol became totally visible through the blinding light, the brightness of the overall crest faded in part, but Jane kept the symbol activated for her own purpose.

This was it. This is proof that Jane had been set up for something specific, and she chose something else to fight for instead. While the men garbled in front, stumped by the illegal sight before them, the cameras also zoomed in completely, all of them swarming towards Jane's hand without getting too close. Danton immediately realized much of the situation, and lifted up his com interface. "Cut the live feed! Do it right now!" With his staff aimed high, Danton shot several bolts of ice and electricity towards the cameras, making Jane bounce away to avoid the damage. Every drone nearby plunged to the ground and exploded into scrap metal gears and blades as their carcasses. Danton intentionally destroyed several floating drones in front of him to prevent the media access to get ahold of this information, knowing full well that the drones are not actually immune to magical damage. The light coming from Jane's hand is a symbol, an illegal mark! A symbol wielder in the sacred tower! This was beyond explosively devastating to hear for himself. Why the hell did Jane Venn just show the entire world she is marked?!

"We have to move! Get security over here now!" "Danton's going to fight a marked one?" The fearful cries coming from the lingering medical staff burned in Jane's ears, while they turned tail and ran towards the exit door for their own safety. They won't even stick around to see how safe symbols really are.

While holding her hand up eye level, Jane gave her best-fit explanation in the most summarized version she could provide. "This symbol wasn't imbued onto myself willingly. I got this tattoo by mistake. But it is my tattoo all the same. Brightworth is rouge, so I can't remove it as a symbol. This mark gives me an incredible edge in battle, unfairly so." She lowered her arm slightly to show how serious she was to him. "And despite all of that, I'm choosing to use this symbol for the purpose of good. I can use this to defeat the powers of the dark zone!"

"You think I care about that?!" Danton stressed. "I can't believe this! How could you even say such things yourself? You're a marked one! That means you're carrying around an illegal symbol on your arm. And to make matters worse, you just broadcasted that to our entire audience!" Why didn't they let feed delay occur for his battle? Why make it live for security purposes? It doesn't fit well as a good idea now!

"It's your own damn fault for not letting me have my way."

Danton collected himself more, giving physical clarity to his soldiers. "You're a marked one Jane. That means two things. Your victories here are hereby invalidated and illegal. On top of that, you are required by law to comply with our next demand. I have no choice but to take you into legal custody!"

Jane inched closer, causing Danton's troops to step back in fear, all raising their weapons higher. "Fuck that! I'm showing you this to announce that a lot is happening in Sprawn Valley, things you continue to ignore, still the reason I'm here right now!"

"Nothing you say can be trusted. I can't believe what is happening here." Danton sounded defeated in his tone, though his expression and body language shifted fast with the raising of his staff. "I'm going to apprehend you. You'll be arrested and tried in a court of law as an adult with compliances to your present situation. And if you so much as show any hint of refusal, though it may be difficult for me and my team, I will kill you Jane!" Danton glared at her dead in the eyes as he spoke, feeling sick with the truth to his words. "If you so much as resist at all, I cannot allow you to live."

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To be continued...

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