CHAPTER 223: Irreconcilable Enemy
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The one who was caught by the neck was one of the rising stars of the Tournament, Phuroth, from the Phudoclite Team.
He alone managed to pull his team to the 10th position despite initially starting low in the rankings.
No one noticed any abnormality with Phuroth, not even his team members. Jay, too, wouldn't have caught on to it if Phuroth hadn't used an illusion-type ability against his opponent in the 2nd segment.
It was indeed his second Innate Talent, but Jay knew better, especially when that ability was amplified by an external source, a possession seed planted in the soul.
Back when Urzo used Rex to spread the Possession contract scrolls, he wanted to possess outstanding individuals and take over the Trial Zone, but Jay thwarted that plan, and two of his Possession Seeds were wiped away, permanently destroying 2/100th of his soul.
After Jay became an irreconcilable enemy to Urzo, he low-key used the remaining contract scrolls to possess four individuals on the Tournament Island.
One of them was Phuroth. Urzo observed everything happening in the Tournament through them.
He made sure to have them keep tabs on Jay and the Earth's team from farther away.
Learning that one among the Earth team was an Omega Chosen, Urzo dreamed of possessing her but didn't dare to do so in the presence of Jay.
Later, when he learned Olivia has a similar ability as Jay, he gave up the idea of possessing her.
The Tournament in Urzo's Trial Region experienced a similar monster invasion, but the Subsidiary fiend monster that led the army wasn't as strong as the one Jay defeated.
Urzo sacrificed nearly half of his Tournament's participants to defeat the monster threat.
Whereas Jay basically cleared the entire battle by himself.
The Silver-haired form had sent shivers down his spine, especially the catastrophic attack Jay launched in the end.
After noticing that Jay had entered a weakened state, Urzo knew that he had to make a move, or such an opportunity wouldn't come knocking again.
He took the risk and sent Phuroth to backstab Jay despite the ways it could go wrong.
Urzo initially intended for Phuroth to join the ranks under Jay as his spy and flip sides at the last moment.
But he had to play his card sooner than expected and expose his plan. That would be a splendid outcome if he could get rid of Jay.
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Unfortunately for Urzo, Jay caught onto Phuroth before he could even move.
The moment Jay's left arm touched the Phudaclite team member, he entered the other party's spirit space and sealed off the escape route for Urzo's possession seed.
While leaving his grip over Phuroth, Jay shouted, "Rex, Akor, Now!!"
The next moment, Rex closed in, leaving a trail of azure glow in his path.
'Possessed Phuroth' met with a flurry of punches stronger than he could handle, rendering him immobile for two seconds.
That gave just enough time for Akor to conjure a thick Volatile Aqua shell to confine the assailant.
Except for his face, 'Possessed Phuroth' was completely confined within the immovable shell.
The sudden commotion took aback everyone around. They didn't understand why Jay targeted the 10th-ranked team leader.
Before they could come up with something, Phuroth's eyes turned black, and he no longer resisted.
Urzo realised his plan was foiled, and he could do nothing to harm Jay. He was not far from losing another Possession Seed.
Since Urzo lost hold of the situation, he did the next best thing.
He controlled his emotions, collected himself, and mentally changed his plans before greeting Jay with composure, "I didn't realise you noticed my presence. So, you must have been waiting for me all this while."
Jay didn't expect the aggressive and delirious Urzo to converse calmly, quite contrary to how he behaved during their previous encounter.
Still, he didn't destroy the Possession Seed just yet and continued the conversation, "Indeed. I have been keeping an eye out for you."
A creepy smile hung over the face of 'Possessed Phuroth', "Kekeke….as you should…as you should. I will lose another possession seed, but in exchange, I learned a lot about you, my irreconcilable enemy.
You see, last time, you knew a lot about me and not the other way around. But now…..now I have seen what you are capable of. I should give it to you; maybe only 'Regaz, the jack-of-all-trades' could be your opponent.
I might not be a match for you two abnormal Unique Innate Talent users, but only if I confront you face-to-face, and I ain't foolish enough not to realise when I don't have the upper hand."
Hearing the name Regaz rang some bells for Jay. He was none other than the very first individual to undergo Tier-2 Evolution and, ever since, stayed at the top of Trial World Rankings.
From Urzo's words, it was clear he encountered Regaz, who apparently was also a Unique Innate Talent holder and quite a powerful one at that.
Jay wondered if Regaz holds a prehistoric Innate Talent just like his own. Although the probability of someone being able to use Origin Energy was low, he didn't round it up to nothing.
A sense of urgency nudged him at the possibility of someone having access to Origin Energy.
Jay's thoughts were interrupted by Urzo, "If you have thoughts of joining hands with Regaz to take me down, forget about it. His ambitions far outweigh mine, and he is too prideful for his own good. Little does he realise that pride would be his downfall.
As for you, the lack of viciousness will be your downfall. From the beginning to the end of the monster invasion, you took everything on yourself, keeping casualties to the minimum. If you were willing to sacrifice the useless bunch, you wouldn't have been exposed to such risky circumstances.
I bet if you had known your last attack would take a hundred lives, you wouldn't have used it right then and there."
Jay widened his eyes at how Urzo was able to see through him. Jay wouldn't hesitate to kill those who come after his life or his close ones, but he doesn't want to bring needless deaths.
Urzo's smirk widened as he continued, "Seems like I hit the spot. I can see you are no saint, but ain't no sinner as well. You tread somewhere between, along the grey area. Pick one side, or you might stumble. Take it as advice from your dear enemy. Farewell, we'll be seeing each other, a lot."
The next moment, Phuroth's head exploded as Urzo detonated his possession seed.
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