There was no doubt he was burning through all of the money he had accumulated for his efforts, though there was no greater purpose than that moment.
‘Should I use my SR ticket now? Maybe…There’s almost an endless catalog of things to choose from though,’ he thought.
[New Weapon Obtained | (R) Ethereal Spear | Special Traits: Duplication!]
[New Weapon Obtained | (R) Onyx Bracers | Special Traits: Tough & Mean!]
It was the first he had seen of such a result–from the Standard Weapon Banner, he obtained jet-black gauntlets that naturally replaced the gloves he wore on his hands.
‘Nice, this can work!’ He thought.
It was almost an automatic process for him: the unwanted, at least for the moment, results from his summons were instantly stored into his [Void Inventory], unless they were spells or skills, which naturally etched themselves into his body.
While most of his familiar summons resulted in goblins that would be of no use to him in the battle against Constantine, especially one on dragon back amidst the clouds, two special summons arrived as pillars upon the grand beast’s back.
[New Familiar Obtained | (R) Diamond Eye Virale | Special Traits: Accurate!]
[ATK: 15 | DEF: 10 | MAG: 30]
An elven archer with sapphire hair and two different colored eyes, with the right being yellow and the left being unique in itself, dazzling like a diamond. The red-and-brown uniformed archer immediately drew his bow and arrow, aiming towards the radiant warrior evading the dragon’s breath.
“Ready at your side, Master,” Virale said, seamlessly transitioning into battle upon being summoned.
[New Familiar Obtained | (SR) Peerless Champion Achilles | Special Traits: Impervious!]
[ATK: 35 | DEF: ??? | MAG: 20]
A proud warrior manifested with an emerald-tipped spear in his left hand and an immaculate shield with imagery of cities of people and worldly constructs etched onto it. He wore dazzling, golden armor that was placed over black leather and wore an air of confidence that came with his recognizable origin.
“Achilles?! I summoned Achilles?!” Jett reacted.
“At your service, Master,” Achilles winked, “So, who am I slaying on this fine night? Upon a dragon’s back, no less.”
“That shining bastard in the sky!” Jett pointed.
Achilles squinted in the distance, seeing the radiant figure that danced around the dragon’s steaming breath, “I see. Leave it to me, then. I will bring honor and triumph to your name.”
“Hell yeah! Let’s get him! You hear that, Virale?!” Jett looked over at the elven archer.
“Loud and clear,” Virale quietly responded, squinting as he aimed with his diamond eye towards the swiftly flying enemy.
The arrows released by the diamond-eyed archer launched with small sonic booms, released from the string with a chime of the air before the arrow penetrated the air swiftly and with mystical precision.
–Close, it came to reaching the rapid, shining figure, though it failed to land as Constantine proved too elusive even for such precise sharpshooting.
“Tch,” Virale clicked his tongue.
“Don’t worry about it! Just keep pressuring him!” Jett called out.
There was no way he was going to sit there on his rear and let his familiars fight for him as he stood on the top of the dragon’s head, wielding the Ethereal Spear and thrusting it through the clouds and towards the figure.
FWOOSH
Through the sky it went, missing Constantine by not a close margin, though the ghostly, light-blue spear reappeared straight into Jett’s grip.
‘Nice! It has a rebound effect!’ He thought.
“How do you like this, you shining bastard?!” Jett shouted through the sky, “My System is pretty kickass, isn’t it?!”
It seemed his provocations were met with a response that should’ve been expected as the radiant fighter flashed through the sky, evading both the dragon’s breath and Virale’s arrows as he appeared right in front of Jett.
“--!”
As he used his spear as a last-second block in front of himself, he was aided by the decorated hero of mythos he summoned, who used his spear to also block the flashing kick from Constantine.
“Nice save, Achilles!” Jett called out.
“Of course!” Achilles responded.
Though he intended to keep the fight up on the vanguard, naturally, it was Achilles that met Constantine in open combat, using his unbreakable spear to continuously clash against the radiant figure.
While the warrior of Greek origin–as questionable as that very concept was to Jett, saying as he existed in an alternate world–presented an indomitable presence on the battlefield, able to block and even deflect outright some of Constantine’ attacks, it wasn’t pure physical might.
It was skill; supreme technique that was forged from unquestionably grueling effort.
‘He’s the real deal–Achilles is awesome!’ He realized, witnessing the clash.
Nonetheless, the clash upon the dragon’s back was something of a challenge on its own for all involved as the proclaimed “Ruler of Mountains” bent and curved his serpentine body amidst the clouds, causing Achilles and Constantine both to struggle with proper footing.
“Alvera!”
Virale shouted a chant from a foreign tongue, unleashing an arrow engulfed in soft, verdant light that bounced off of an impossible angle in the air in an attempt to pierce Constantine from behind amidst his clash against Achilles.
“Nice try!” Constantine shouted.
–Of course, it would never be so easy to catch the overleveled reincarnator off-guard as he spun around, knocking Achilles back and blasting the arrow away with wind.
Constantine didn’t wield any weapons of his own, only shrouding his hands and feet in a bright aura that seemed to infuse his limbs with great power.
Though the radiant warrior managed to blitz through the impressive defense of Achilles multiple times with shining blows that left a fiery impact, Achilles remained standing, on his feet and with an undisturbed look on his face.
‘How?!’ –This thought crossed both the minds of Constantine and Jett in unison.
It was then that Jett realized what the true strength of Achilles was beyond his warforged skills: the warrior of legend was, simply put, impervious; or at the very least, he was incredibly tough beyond normal means.
“Hell yeah! You’re way too strong, Achilles!” Jett complimented in excitement.
“I appreciate your praise, Master. However, right now calls for action rather than words,” Achilles smiled.
There was no doubt about that as Constantine was unrelenting, forcing a collision of blows once more.
Amidst the hectic clash as he jumped in, storing his Ethereal Spear and instead equipping Nature’s Wrath, he fought alongside Achilles while Virale provided them support, all in an attempt to override the insane speed at which Constantine was able to counter their attacks.
“Push…though!” Jett forced out.
Achilles rapidly thrust and spun his spear with extreme skill, “--It’s not so easy! If this guy was in the Trojan war, it would’ve gone a whole lot differently!”
He swung his sword and Achilles pierced forward with his spear, yet the smiling, golden-haired man overrode such assaults with his precision and speed.
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“Better than before, but still–useless!” Constantine shouted.
“Oh, yeah?!” Jett responded.
–Just then, as the wielder of the summoning-based system prepared to conjure his stored familiars, a unique sensation overtook him.
‘Huh?’ He thought.
There was a weightlessness that filled his stomach with butterflies, feeling nothing beneath his feet and little control over his own functions. In fact, it wasn’t any different for those around him; in that split-second, they all held the same expression of bewilderment.
[Temporary Summon: Over]
‘Oh crap…! I forgot about that!’ He realized.
The colossal dragon the fight occurred on disappeared into nothing but a cloud of smoke as the temporary summon had reached its end, resulting in a fall from the clouds themselves.
“Was this planned?!” Achilles yelled out.
“Doubt it!” Virale shouted.
Jett huffed, raising his hand as he manifested the abyssal forces of his unique skill, “--Store, Void Inventory!”
At least for the moment, he relinquished his two, new familiars into [Void Inventory], leaving him the only one falling as, of course, such problems were not inherent to Constantine, who flew like a dazzling star.
“What now, Jett Levine?!” Constantine screamed through the open skies, “Option after option, failed attempt after failed attempt–you’ve tried again and again, yet this is where it gets you?! Falling through the sky?!”
While flailing through the air, he got his bearings, flipping around so his back was to the far below ground and he faced upwards, seeing the shining warrior above him as if mocking his inability to fly.
“--Do you ever stop talking?!” Jett yelled.
[Lesser Bolt!]
Shooting through the clouds, he aimed the thin strands of lightning towards the radiant figure, though failed to land any hit as Constantine curved around them, descending rapidly to confront him.
“Tch!” He clicked his tongue.
[Wind Burst!]
Before Constantine could crash into him, he met him halfway at the last second as he flipped his body, aiming his feet towards the ground and propelling himself upward with a howl of wind supplementing him.
Both [Nature’s Wrath] and [Frostfang] were wielded in both of his hands as he met Constantine face-to-face in that moment, attempting to cut the skin of the golden-haired, youthful reincarnator, but failing.
“Ghh…!”
“You can’t hurt me–huh?!” Constantine reacted.
–The attention of the malicious figure was taken as a sensation of bitter cold sourced itself on his right arm, which was where the ice-forged dagger attempted to cut him.
An icy cold manifested through a layer of mystical frost that stretched from the point of contact on Constantine’ arm, attempting to completely subdue his limb with the biting cold.
“Tsk! That won’t work, ya bastard,” Constantine growled.
It wasn’t apparent what it was exactly that the figure did in Jett’s eyes, but a heat was emitted from Constantine’ limb that completely melted the frost, prompting the arrogant, yet powerful youth to slam his foot down against Jett’s stomach.
“Pyuh–!” Jett spit out.
The impact resonated through his internal organs, permitting not a single breath from returning to his lungs.
“--Fall!” Constantine shouted.
A cloud-parting shock wave howled outward from the kick, causing Jett to rapidly descend from the skies now. Even though it was clear to him Constantine was both holding back and even fatigued by the previous shock to his soul, the aftershock of the kick to his stomach felt to him as if his body was screaming at him in pain.
‘I’m going to die at this rate…! If not even a “UR” ability can do it…I need something more! Like that one time…against the orc…I need an “LR”--that’s my ticket to victory!’ He thought.
However, it was easier said than done when knowing full-well that even temporarily manifesting an [LR]--a “Legendary Rare] summon result–was something only possible through ungodly luck.
Either way, for the time being, there was another, more immediate issue at hand: not becoming red paste on the ground.
‘Land…I need to land!’ He thought.
As he rapidly approached the ground, he needed to perfectly time his action, knowing full well Constantine was waiting for him to do so–he needed to do it anyway.
Below him was a vast, open valley of luscious grass looked down upon by the night stars; as it quickly came closer, he drew in whatever breath he could into his lungs before–
[Blink!]
It was just a few meters from splatting onto the ground that he invoked the instantaneous, but short-ranged movement, resetting his momentum and flipping onto the ground. Even as much as [Blink] could help in regaining his own momentum, it still resulted in an abrasive crash to the ground, though unlethal and only briefly knocking the wind from him.
‘I made it!...I made it!’ He thought.
–The celebratory feeling of life wasn’t held very long as the moment he picked himself up from the field of grass, a flash of bright, golden light crashed down before him. After running through so many options, it began to feel hopeless for him against the seemingly unstoppable foe before him.
“...Constantine,” he said under his breath, feeling as though he could never escape.
There he stood, the golden-haired fighter dressed in exuberant armor of quartz, standing upon a self-made crater in the field as his locks flowed.
“I’m tired of this. I hate to admit it, but you’re a royal pain in the ass, Jett Levine,” Constantine said, raising his left hand as it became engulfed in dense radiance, “...I don’t care if it’s against my mission–I’m going to end this.”
By this point, Jett felt his body deprived of mana, running through it more than ever before as everything ached and his strength felt fleeting, yet he had no choice but to stand his ground and defend himself.
‘...This feeling; it’s like trying to hold your ground against a violent tornado; attempting to fight back against a natural disaster…How do I do that? I’ve tried everything,’ he thought.
The foe of his didn’t even bother to rush him, only closing the gap by walking over with thunderous steps as his entire left arm was shrouded in that powerful, golden light. There was no mistake about it: Constantine intended to kill him, right then and there.
‘I can’t die. Not here–not now, not after I was given a second chance like this…I just need to–!’ He convinced himself.
–Though it was too late for any such resolve as the moment he looked up, Constantine was already in front of him, thrusting that impervious fist towards him with lethal intent.
SQUELCH
Blood fell, dripping onto the verdant blades of grass below. However, Jett Levine found himself utterly perplexed in that moment–left boundlessly confused as a knot was felt in his stomach.
“...Gunter…Why?” He managed to ask as the words escaped from the lump in his throat.
In front of him, intercepting the fist with his own body, the burly, eccentric warrior stood there as blood seeped from the wound bore through his torso. The radiant fist of Constantine could be seen penetrating through the figure’s body, painted in crimson fluid, though even the amber-eyed warrior seemed confused by this development.
“...Huh?” Constantine quietly let out, realizing he missed his target.
Gunter coughed up blood as his organs were no doubt obliterated by such a blow, yet he stood tall, “Stupid…Jett. Ya think I was just gonna stand around and watch ya die? None of us were…The girlie…Edith, she almost beat me to it…but I guess I was the one most eager to die.”
“Gunter…” Jett spoke in disbelief still.
It was utterly perplexing to him just what sort of selfless action was taken by his companion–no, one of his only friends in this foreign world. A “forced manifestation” from [Void Inventory], something that shouldn’t be normally possible.
As Constantine withdrew his fist from the chest of the bearded warrior, Gunter fell to his knees as his physical form began to diminish, quickly dwindling into particles of spiritual light.
“Gunter…!” He called out.
Attempting to embrace his passing companion, all he could grab onto was the fading light of Gunter’s spirit as he tried to hold his shoulders, unable to even grasp his friend as his very essence slipped through his fingers.
Gunter looked at him just as his body all but faded, “...Don’t die, Jett. Just make sure…to drink yer fill for me.”
–Just then, the warrior who very first greeted him in the world of Fantasia vanished completely into particles of soft light, carried off by a subtle breeze of the nightly wind.
‘Why?...Why did it come to this?’ He questioned.
Fallen to his knees, he gripped the soil beneath him as he looked upon the spilled blood, all that remained of his companion, finding his heart throbbing in his chest.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
Standing over him, blood dripped from Constantine’ fist as he held almost a look of pity in his amber eyes, “Too bad. That’s what happens when you’re stubborn and don’t have the strength to back it up.
“...Shut up…”
‘That’s right. I was too greedy–no, I wasn’t greedy though. I need to want it all, at any cost, no matter what. Even if I have to give everything up, I need to do it, even if it all falls on the roll of a die–I have to do it,’ he resolved.
“Everything…” He whispered, “...System, use everything! Every coin! Take my exchange ticket, too! Put it all into one temporary summon!” He then screamed.
“What…?” Constantine witnessed, confused by the orders that left the man’s lips.
[Temporary x1 Summon Initiated]
Every piece of copper he had obtained so far, supplemented by the nearly priceless [SR Exchange Ticket], was combined into one, brief summon–even then, it still fell to chance. However, with grief fueling him, Jett Levine took that gamble, knowing nothing else would come close to the foe before him.
“A waste of time,” Constantine remarked.
–However, just as the golden-haired figure raised his hand to strike down the knelt man, he stopped as something “sparked” in the air; a brief tingle of electricity. Not a moment after, light raindrops began to descend, swiftly increasing into a rampant downpour as Constantine looked up.
‘Screw whatever training you went through. Screw your motives. Screw the strength you worked hard for. That’s right–that’s what my system is; it embodies the unfairness of both extremes–misfortune and fortune–and the ability to overcome that all with one, unchangeable concept between worlds: the power of money. When it comes down to it, I can pay to win!’ He thought.
Just a few moments prior, the night skies were clear, yet now a bundle of swirling, ominous clouds overlooked the valley, roaring with powerful thunder.
‘What’s going on here?...Don’t tell me he’s responsible for this?’ Constantine questioned.
It was just as Constantine looked over at the man, who was now standing on his feet, did a colossal lightning bolt strike down from the heavens, landing directly upon Jett with a sublime flash.
“What?!” Constantine called out, raising his arms as thunderous winds formed.
The lightning continuously struck down upon the summoner, forging a swirl of divine electricity around himself as the wind roared and lashed out. It was that godly lightning and thunder that echoed like a worldly drum that shifted Jett’s body internal and externally.
[New Skill Temporarily Obtained: (LR) Pantheon Shift | The Fulminating King of Gods: Zeus | Special Traits: Divine Power]
[ATK: 5000 | DEF: 5000 | MAG: 8000]