[BOSS: “Constantine, The Twelfth General of the Reverse King | The Erupting Star” | Lv: 50]

‘A general of the Reverse King?...What’s that level?! This is a starter town right–this is way too early!’ He panicked.

There was no doubt about it, the golden-haired youth was registered as such before his eyes; such a level of reverence was undeniably fitting for his exuberant equipment.

The amber-eyed stranger looked around the tavern before his eyes laid directly on Jett, holding a smile as he found the man, “There you are.”

It was the very moment that the uninvited guest took a step forward that they were blocked off from approaching Jett–both Jiao and Gunter blocked the way. The booze-loving warrior, even with a belly full of mead, was able to flip the switch in his mind to become serious as he rested his axe on his shoulder, looking down at the one named “Constantine” who was hardly half of Gunter’s towering height.

Jiao had yet to draw his flaming greatsword, though the embers naturally emitting from his body as a manifestation of his power were more than enough of a “holstered weapon”.

“I dunno who ya are, but ya ain’t a friend of Jett’s–that’s for sure,” Gunter said.

“Not a step closer,” Jiao said adamantly, peering at Constantine with his fiery eyes.

The tavern was dead silent amidst the tension-filled atmosphere, yet Constantine remained holding a confident smile across his lips.

“Looks like you’ve already made some friends, Jett Levine. I’m jealous,” Constantine said, speaking to the reincarnator despite being blocked.

Jett was left perplexed still as to why somebody directly affiliated to the Reverse King was there, trying to figure out his best course of action, yet finding himself unable to imagine an outcome where he could repel such a high-level combatant.

‘A fight would be bad…It took everyone in this tavern to defeat that Abyss Dragon, and this guy is double its level–if he chose violence…It wouldn’t end well,’ he thought.

“Master,” Edith whispered his name, seeming to sober up quickly as she kept her hand ready on the handle of her sheathed blade.

“It’s fine–I’ll handle this,” he assured her, walking forward.

It was surprising to him just how sharp the instincts of those in the tavern were, whether they were his familiars or the adventurers of Merdlum, it seemed instincts were enough to perceive the stranger as a threat.

Vildren had his hand ready by his sword as well, along with the other patrons of the tavern; it was heartwarming in a way, to know he was already “one of them” in such a way to welcome a response in his defense, but he knew a fight was the last thing needed.

Still, he approached, patting both Jiao and Gunter’s shoulders for them to move out of the way so he could talk to the uninvited stranger.

“It’s alright. If he wants to talk to me, then we’ll talk,” he said.

There was some hesitance from both Jiao and Gunter, but with a nod, they moved to the side, leaving him face-to-face with the golden-haired, almost divine in appearance, figure.

“Good choice,” Constantine said, looking directly at him with a smile, “You can see reason, at least. Or maybe you understand just how out of your depth you really are. Either way, a commendable decision.”

“Just tell me what you want,” Jett demanded.

Constantine waved his hand, “Impatient, are we? Well, that’s fine–I’d like to get this over with quickly and smoothly–but that just depends on you. Are you a reasonable person, Jett Levine?”

“I can be,” he said.

“I think this is one of those situations where you should be. I think we both know what happens if I’m the one who decides not to be reasonable,” Constantine told him quietly, maintaining eye contact, “--So, play along or that’ll become reality.”

“...Sure.”

Though all eyes were on them, Constantine kept his words quiet, or at least tried to as he had no problem asking out loud what left his lips next:

“I’m here because the Reverse King has extended an invitation to you, Jett Levine: come to the Reverse Kingdom and join his forces,” Constantine told him, “We know what you really are.”

“Invitation? What the hell are you asking me…? Join you?” He repeated in disbelief.

The offer wasn’t silent to those around him, as immediately, the adventurers of Merdlum surrounded Constantine, along with the familiars of Jett all having their weapons ready.

“Jett, step back. You don’t have to listen to this man–he is an enemy of humanity,” Vildren said.

Constantine looked around, “Seems like your pals here don’t understand the weight of things here. Why don’t you tell them to stand down?”

“Why should I?” He asked, growing frustrated himself.

“Huh?” Constantine looked at him with a raised eyebrow, nonchalant as ever despite the rising tension.

Jett’s words came out without any restraint, “If you think I’m joining your bullshit group, you’re dead wrong–!”

The tension reached its peak; sharp enough to be felt like a dense wind as the entirety of the tavern now surrounded Constantine and Jett, fully backing up Jett against the uninvited general of the Reverse Kingdom.

Jett was ready; electricity coiled at his fingertips as he prepared to unleash a spell at any moment. However, Constantine looked at him with a sly smile, cracking his neck side-to-side as he clenched his fist.

“Wrong answer.”

–Just as those two words left the lips of the golden-haired figure, a devastatingly fast and powerful force could be felt arriving from beneath Jett’s chin.

In that split-second, he opted to create a [Power Air Shield], though it did nothing to stop what was coming before in the next moment, he found himself flying upward, crashing through the roof of the tavern and now looking up towards the clouds.

He had lost consciousness for a few moments there, blinking a few times as he felt himself utterly perplexed by his position in the sky now, flipping around and feeling his stomach stirring side-to-side from the high-octane fall.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

‘Huh…?’ He thought.

Those clouds he watched in the night now neighbored him; he was flung up into the sky by whatever force had knocked against his chin.

It was an uppercut; he realized it after a confusing few seconds–the youthful figure had slammed his knuckles against his chin, and somehow that resulted in him now being sent high enough to touch the clouds.

‘What the hell?!...The shield must’ve taken the brunt of the damage, but still…!’ He thought.

His chin throbbed, clearly going to bruise soon enough, though even his glide through the night sky of Merdlum wasn’t left unimpeded as he witnessed a flashing light shoot up beside him. That light diminished, revealing itself to be the quartz-armored figure.

“Yo,” Constantine greeted him with a fiery smile, “Surprised you’re conscious so quickly. You’re pretty damn tough. Still…!”

Before anything could be said in response, all he could do was conjure another shield of air in front of himself before Constantine swept his leg forward, shattering the shield and kicking his side, flinging Jett back down from his sky-high fall. There was something about the attacks that Constantine launched; so swift and sharp like a flash of light, they felt impossible to stop.

In the next second, he felt himself crash land back down into Merdlum, cratering the ground as the air was completely knocked from his lungs, leaving him gasping.

The civilians scattered, though some curiously watched; some passing adventurers rushed over to check out and help, though there proved to be little room for such help.

“...Hyuh…!” He gasped.

‘I need…to counterattack!’ He thought.

Attempting to jump back to his feet, he was immediately greeted by that dazzling light crashing in front of him; Constantine landed with his fist slamming into the paved, stone street, holding a vicious smile as he looked up at Jett.

“To me…!” He invoked.

In that split-second, the only familiar he could summon was the cyclopean warrior, Jugu, internally calling upon that colossal strength as the club-wielding fighter immediately rushed towards Jett’s enemy.

“Interesting!” Constantine called out.

Jugu swung his club with a wild arc, though Constantine leaned back with insane flexibility, evading it before countering with a flip of his body, curving his leg into a flashing kick against Jugu’s side. The impact created a shock wave, flinging the cyclops to the side violently.

“Away…!”

Before his familiar could crash harshly into a nearby cottage, Jett brought Jugu back into [Void Inventory], though it left him completely open as Constantine appeared in front of him, slamming his fist straight into his gut.

“Pyuh…!” Jett spit out a mixture of oxygen, saliva, and blood.

Even as impactful as such a blow was, he could sense that the golden-haired, fiery-eyed figure was merely toying with him; playing with his food. Repeatedly, Constantine’ swift blows came in, leaving Jett unable to defend against them as they were far too quick and precise to guard against in succession.

‘Is this the difference…between our levels?’ He questioned.

“Jett!”

–Rushing in to intercept the relentless beating, Vildren jumped in with an overhead swing, getting between the two and forcing Constantine to step back.

“I admire your courage for helping a friend, but…” Constantine began to say.

As Vildren swept his sword towards the neck of the malicious stranger to Merdlum, Constantine responded by knocking his knuckles against the blade, shattering it completely with nothing but his own fist.

“Huh?!” Vildren reacted in disbelief as his sword was utterly defeated.

“...You’re interrupting me!” Constantine shouted.

A seraphic light engulfed Constantine’ fist as he prepared to swing it with malicious intent towards the knightly adventurer, who was left defenseless with his shattered blade.

[Burst!]

“Ngh!”

–Before any such blow could land against Vildren, Jett amped himself with [Burst], pushing his physical abilities to their limit in that moment as he intercepted Constantine’ attack, slamming his fist against the figure’s chest.

“...Oh?” Constantine reacted in surprise, seeming to feel the blow.

Jett kept his knuckles pressed against the quartz breastplate of his foe, “Lesser Bolt!”

The violent lightning struck Constantine directly, pulsing through his armor and shooting against him, though it failed to even knock him off of his feet as he stood his ground.

Constantine smiled, “I felt that!”

“What?!”

It was utterly dismaying to see even that combo fail to wipe the smile off of his enemy’s face, witnessing Constantine about to strike him with that devastating flash of his.

“Everyone!”

–Before he could be attacked, he intercepted it by summoning every familiar to him once again, disrupting the space between himself and Constantine as he was completely surrounded now.

[Silent-Footed Khan] [Booze-Loving Gunter] [Holy Spellblade Edith] [Demonkin Youth Alex] [Cyclopean Warrior Jugu] [Crimson Swordsman Jiao] [Blue Slime]

Constantine whistled, landing on his feet after jumping back, “So, is this your ‘System’ then? Some sort of summoning ability?”

“System?...Wait, you know about it?” Jett responded in surprise.

“There’s a whole lot you don’t know, huh?” Constantine muttered before properly responding, “‘Course I do, because I’ve got one myself!”

There was no time to question the sort of knowledge that Constantine had as time was merely a privilege against such a swift and fearsome foe; even as Gunter rushed him, roaring out, Constantine blew the warrior back with a single blow.

“Gunter!” Jett yelled out.

–It didn’t stop there; Khan attempted to take Constantine by surprise with his silent approach, aiming his dagger for the figure’s throat, but Constantine merely elbowed his stomach before then grabbing Alex by his arm, slamming him into the ground.

‘They don’t stand a chance…I don’t stand a chance!’ He thought.

“Master, stay back!” Edith called out.

Jiao rushed in alongside the spellblade, “Leave it to me–!”

A dance of steel began throughout the once humble town as both Jiao and Edith closed in on Constantine, who watched them approach with a passionate smile, thriving in the heat of battle.

“I’ll back you up!” Edith called out.

“‘Preciate it!” Jiao responded.

There was a natural coordination between the two most elite of Jett’s familiars, with the flaming swordsman leading the way as he presented elegance in his swordplay, flipping forward and slamming his massive, crimson greatsword down where Constantine stood.

[“Blazing Pillar!”]

The result of Jiao’s sword slamming into the ground manifested in a geyser of flames erupting upward, though it missed the mark as the blade never reached Constantine, who sidestepped it completely as a flash of dazzling light.

“You’ve got some real firepower there–too bad you’re way too slow to catch me,” Constantine playfully said.

Even Jiao struggled to perceive the monstrous speed of the powerhouse, only evading the incoming blow by a hair as he ducked down as Constantine’ shining fist pierced the nightly wind.

Before Constantine could follow up with another strike, the silver-haired spellblade intercepted, swinging her enchanted sword as a slash of holy light cast itself in the direction of the assailant.

–However, rather than outright evading it, the golden-haired figure simply blocked it with his fist, which produced steam after guarding against the strike.

“Not bad. That stung a little,” Constantine playfully said.

In that moment, all Jett could do was watch as Constantine launched his own counterattack; the figure became shrouded in dazzling light as if embodying the essence of a radiant star before space itself seemed to contort around him.

–It was true speed that was reached at that moment.

Before the movement of Constantine could be perceived by any eyes, the blows already landed on Jiao and Edith with thundering force. The concept of “speed” hardly seemed to apply; it was instantaneous; precise; powerful.

Once more, upon looking at the radiant figure, the status appeared again as if his very own System was affirming this was the enemy he must face:

[BOSS | “Constantine, The Twelfth General of The Reverse King | The Erupting Star” | Lv: 50]

‘...How do we win? How do I come out of this alive? How do I win this without losing everything around me?’ Jett thought.