Chapter 92 – Mental Warfare

Jack made his way through the chaotic skirmishes happening around the compound, pushing his way towards Hannah and Gideon, who were doing an impressive job fending off enemy reinforcements.

“About time.” Hannah grumbled as moved past her. “He’s retreated further down the road; we’ll open up a path for you. Don’t miss your chance, idiot!” she called out after Jack.

He gave her a casual wave as he slowly approached the chaotic fighting surrounding the dragon. Gideon moved with a sort of certainty on the battlefield of a man who had been fighting for the past ten thousand years, if Jack had to guess. There wasn’t a single wasted movement as he moved and dodged and swung his sword with unrivaled power, leaving nothing but brilliant golden flame and ashes in his wake.

“I’m… In… A… Lot… Of… Trouble… Because… Of… You…” Gideon said, his words punctuated by the swinging of his enormous scimitar.

“What?” Jack asked, quickly dispatching a group of approaching Crowen soldiers as he weaved his way closer to the dragon.

“This was supposed to be quick and easy,” Gideon said, swiping his claws in a dangerous arc and creating some breathing room. “But noooo, I just had to give you the chance to kill Rodeo. An opportunity which you wasted I might add. And now I’m stuck here making sure everyone doesn’t die!” Gideon complained.

“Hold on, no one asked you-“

“Can you at least make sure he doesn’t escape this time? I’ll finish things up here and come kill him. You seem like you would be a good distraction until then.” Gideon said, voice dripping with fake sincerity.

Jack furrowed his brows, instantly annoyed with the dragon. He suddenly found himself having trouble concentrating on Rodeo and was thinking about killing Gideon all over again. He shook his head free of the thought and redoubled his concentration.

“Just make me an opening. You can at least do that much, can’t you?” Jack said with an eye roll.

Hannah’s [Charge Shot] ripped through the air between them before Gideon could respond, blasting through and creating a small pathway of dead and burned soldiers in front of Jack. Gideon punctuated this by letting loose another dragon’s roar, radiant golden flames erupting from his mouth, chasing after Hannah’s arrow.

“Better hurry.” Gideon smirked.

Jack fell forward, launching off the ground through the opening cut between the approaching reinforcements. He pushed his speed hard as he weaved through soldiers, eventually jumping up to shoulders and bouncing across heads, landing in a roll behind enemy lines. He did a quick scan for any signs of Rodeo or a commanding officer. Several soldiers turned around to attack him, but Jack just ran, springing further down the dirt path.

He quickly found Rodeo at the end of the path that connected to the main road leading towards the castle. Several Crowen soldiers flanked him, each with a menacing weapon of their own, black bird masks covering their faces. Rodeo had a furious look on his face as he slammed back a potion and screamed at someone. It was the advisor who had first led Jack and Hannah here.

Jack was now running full tilt. The world was a blur around him as he pushed off the ground and flew towards Rodeo, daggers at the ready. Ondfauxt noticed first and purple chains erupted out of the ground, flying all too slowly towards Jack. Rodeo’s eyes flashed in surprise as he turned around to find Jack bearing down on him, daggers at the ready. Rodeo responded by grabbing a nearby soldier and throwing him into Jack’s path. Jack landed on the soldier, burying his daggers in his head.

“Jackie-boy. Glad you decided to come find me.” Rodeo said, a cruel smile on his face as he withdrew several of his saw-like blades from his void sack and sent them up into the air.

Jack focused on each one, watching as rodeo’s tarnished silver like mana made a connection with each blade. He squinted at the weapons, searching for any signs of illusion or general fuckery that might wind up with him attacking an explosive barrel, but he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking for.

The surrounding soldiers gave him little time for a thorough inspection as they drew swords and charged him. Jack ripped his daggers out of the dead Crowen he had landed on and went to work. He moved through the attacking soldiers with a ruthless grace. He even found himself trying to imitate Gideon and the efficiency he had displayed earlier before. No wasted movements, every attack a killing blow.

It didn’t work, and Jack quickly fell back into [Storm Stance] and its unrelenting nature. He didn’t need perfect efficiency. Jack just needed to strike down everything that dared to oppose his storm. He deflected blades and severed off the arms of his attackers. He lashed out at legs, ribs, throats, heads with an unrivaled speed. Ondfauxt’s purple chains slithered into the fight and wrapped around his legs, causing Jack to stumble forward. He dropped his dagger and pulled out the flintlock, which he loaded with one of the dragon shots. Now seemed as good a time as any to test it out.

He leveled it in Ondfauxt's direction, uncaring of the two soldiers blocking his line of sight, and pulled the trigger. The runes that ran along the barrel flashed gold and flames erupted out of the barrel like a jet, ripping through the two Crowen soldiers and slamming into a barrier Ondfauxt had erected, launching him backwards and into the field. The chain that was wrapped around his leg dissipated in a second with Ondfauxt out of the picture.

Jack picked up his daggers and looked to Rodeo, who was standing there with his arms crossed, ever the patient observer.

“Not bad.” Rodeo grinned. “Storm Stance of The Lightning Centipede, is it?” he mused, rubbing his chin in consideration. “Fits my teachings well. Unrelenting unstoppable power. I can work with that.” He nodded in appreciation.

Jack groaned in annoyance. Rodeo was still crawling around in his head, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. But he also wasn’t sure it mattered anymore. He flashed Rodeo a smile of his own as he charged down his old master.

Rodeo could read him like a book all he wanted. He could crawl around in Jack’s head and know his every move before Jack even made it. None of that mattered, because he wouldn’t be able to react to any of it. Jack would make sure of it.

Three swords shot out of the air to intercept him, but they weren’t fast enough this time. Jack was inside Rodeo’s defenses in a second and his smile grew deeper as he saw Rodeo’s eyes flash to panic. There wasn’t anything here to get in Jack’s way this time. No Gideon to distract him. Not the chaos of the surrounding battles and intervening soldiers. Rodeo could think ten moves ahead and have ten different plans for every situation, but none of that mattered if he was unable to keep up with Jack’s speed.

The [Storm Stance] resonated throughout Jack’s very soul as he moved faster and harder, pushing out more and more strikes with his daggers, riddling Rodeo’s body with cut after cut. Biting into his armor and lashing out at his joints and tendons, any exposed flesh he could find.

Rodeo would try to draw Jack in with tricks or feints of his own, always with a hidden blade to swing in from his blind spot, but none of it mattered. Jack was moving too fast to be caught.

Rodeo switched tactics, pulling out more explosive kegs, but those moved through the air even slower than his blades did. He was out of their radius before they could properly hit the ground and explode. Jack wasn’t dumb enough to fall for the fake blade trick again either, when Rodeo would send his sword in trying to bait out a deflection from Jack.

Jack found himself disappointed. Not with Rodeo, but with himself. The harder he pushed; the more flustered Rodeo got. It honestly disappointed Jack a little. It was so much easier this time now that he knew what Rodeo’s tricks were. The monster had adapted, evolved, and now Rodeo was the one lacking.

Jack watched as Rodeo’s silver mana flared to life around the blades and he sent all three of them flying towards Jack at breakneck speeds in a final attack, venting whatever mana he had left.

Jack dodged them with ease, once again finding himself inside Rodeo’s defenses. His daggers flashed in with such speed and power that he tore straight into his plate armor, piercing him through the ribs and sinking his daggers into Rodeo’s lungs.

Jack wrenched the daggers hard and pulled back. Blood sprayed everywhere, and Rodeo coughed up mouthfuls of blood as he fell to his knees.

Jack was panting heavily, having long since left Sarah’s refreshing rains. He had pushed himself to his limits to outpace Rodeo, and his body felt like it was on fire. He watched as Rodeo fell face first to the ground, letting out a final wheeze.

You have slain Climber Rodeo

+50,000AP

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Jack grimaced at the notification. Even in death, Rodeo was an absolute cheapskate. He stared at the man’s corpse on the ground, a strange feeling coming over him. Jack wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he found himself disappointed. In what, he wasn’t sure. It was as if the fight had been to-

“Easy?” Came Rodeo’s gravel filled voice from behind him. Jack swung around hard with his daggers lashing out at… nothing?

“I’ll admit?” came Rodeo’s voice again. Jack turned back around to see his corpse standing back up.

“You had the right idea Jackie-boy. I can’t hope to keep up with your speed for even a second. You’ll forgive me. I had to tire you out first.” Rodeo said as he got to his feet. Jack stared at the man. He was bleeding from several cuts, but nothing near as bad as it had been seconds ago.

He makes things seem worse than they actually are, came Gideon’s voice. It had never occurred to Jack that Rodeo might make his own wounds seem worse, more deadly in order to trick him. Jack let out a small, exasperated sigh. This was more in line with what he had been expecting. Rodeo would always be one step ahead, no matter what.

“Now that we’ve exchanged pleasantries. How about round two? Or is this round three?” Rodeo grinned, not waiting for a response and sending his blades flying towards Jack.

This time, Jack was the one on the defensive. His body felt like lead as he dodged and weaved through Rodeo’s onslaught, whose attacks were even sharper now. Their entire first exchange had been an elaborate trap by Rodeo to tire Jack out. Jack couldn’t think past the voices screaming in his head, calling him a fucking idiot.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, kid. I told you; I can read you like a book.” Rodeo said, appearing beside him in a devastating downward slash. Jack narrowly dodged, spinning around Rodeo and launching an attack from behind. Sam was there to intercept the attack, and Jack bit down hard as he ignored the illusion and his daggers ripped straight through a shocked Sam, who fizzled out of reality a second later.

“Ho-oh! No mercy for you friends?”

Jack ignored the obvious taunts as he pressed his attack against Rodeo. Any time Jack thought he found an opening, Rodeo filled it with an illusion of either Hannah or Sam. Jack knew it was a trick, a mind game, but each time they appeared, Jack felt his dagger slow the slightest bit in hesitation.

Jack had no idea how, but he wouldn’t put it past Rodeo to orchestrate some sort of situation where he killed his own friends. He knew Hannah and Sam were nowhere near him, but the hesitation was still there nonetheless. That, combined with his already exhausted body, was enough to easily give Rodeo the upper hand.

Jack swiped through another image of Hannah and found Rodeo standing across the road from him, blade leveled in challenge. Jack accepted, ignoring the protests of his tired body and charging Rodeo again.

Sarah appeared before him. Jack stopped dead in his tracks, mesmerized. Every single warning bell in his body was ringing. Voices in his head were screaming that it was a trap. But he couldn’t move. He wouldn’t dare risk attacking Sarah, even if it was just some mental warfare bullshit Rodeo was trying to pull.

A sword thrust through her stomach, shattering the illusion as Rodeo charged forward. Jack narrowly deflected the attack, but not enough as Rodeo’s blade cut into the side of his ribs. Blood erupted from the cut and Jack launched himself backwards, closing his eyes and ignoring the wound.

“It’s not that bad.” Jack told himself over and over again. “It’s just a trick. Don’t think about it. Don’t think-“ Jack stopped dead in his tracks.

Don’t think.

Jack opened his eyes. Rodeo was standing across from him, swords hanging menacingly in the air as he prepared another charge. Jack glanced at the wound he just received. It looked bad, but it wasn’t actually bad.

Don’t think about it. He said to himself again. The illusion slowly disappeared, leaving Jack with a nasty, but not a life-threatening tear in his side.

A slow smile crept up onto his face as he stared down Rodeo, who tilted his head in confusion.

“How are you doing that?” Rodeo snarled at him.

“Doing what?” Jack asked, a lazy smile still hanging from his face.

“Blocking me out? I can’t read your thoughts.”

Jack just grinned and charged at Rodeo in response. This time there were no illusions or tricks to impede his attacks. He found himself face to face with Rodeo once again, and the two exchanged a flurry of blows before separating again. A cut started to bleed at the side of Rodeo’s neck.

“How…” he growled at Jack.

“It’s easy, really,” Jack said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’m just not thinking of anything at all. Good luck reading my thoughts now, asshole.” Jack grinned, opening his eyes and staring at Rodeo, who wore a dumbstruck look on his face.

“That’s so… idiotic?” He slowly said, face turning angry.

“If it’s dumb, and it works, it’s not dumb.” Jack grinned again. Rodeo had never been a fan of Jack’s antics and had tried several times to beat it out of Jack. It never worked, and he allowed himself a small smile that he could still get under Rodeo’s skin.

Admittedly, this did seem like a dumb idea. But Jack was never the careful tactician that Rodeo was. He operated on pure instinct. Now he was just taking his brain out of the equation and letting his body respond however it wanted. Plans never worked against Rodeo, so the best strategy was to have no plan at all.

Rodeo fell into a stance opposite Jack.

Jack sheathed his daggers and pulled out the flintlock. Rodeo cocked an eyebrow at him.

Jack fished one of Sam’s haste bullets out of his void sack, loaded it into and leveled it at Rodeo.

“You don’t seriously think-“ Rodeo started.

Jack pressed the barrel of the gun to his hand and pulled the trigger, blowing off his ring finger. He bit down hard, burying the pain of shooting his own finger off. He let out a quick, relieved sigh as he felt the haste buff inside the bullet wash over his body. Jack dropped the gun and pulled out his daggers, launching himself at Rodeo with every ounce of strength he had left.

He had 100 points in Dexterity. If he had to guess, Sam’s haste buff seemed to double that. The world turned into a blur as he flashed down the road and slammed his daggers into Rodeo’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Jack pulled out the daggers and slammed them into his chest again, using the daggers to stake him to the ground.

Jack reeled back into with his fist and slammed it into Rodeo’s face. His head bounced off the ground, creating small cracks in the ground below. Jack pulled back and slammed his fist into Rodeo’s face again. And again. And again. He felt his smile grow wide as blood splattered all over his face as he cratered in Rodeo’s head. He pulled back a final time, fist high in the air as he drained the last of his remaining strength and brought it down hard.

Someone tackled him off of Rodeo.

“Jack! Stop! He’s dead!” Came a voice that made his heart stop. He looked up to see Sarah on top of him. She was staring at him with wide eyes. She was terrified.

Jack looked down at his body, covered in Rodeo’s blood. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel the manic smile on his face. He tried to stop it, hide it even, but he couldn’t.

“Sarah,” he gasped, moving towards her. But she pushed backwards off the ground to her feet. Face full of shock and fear. Jack felt his heart shatter at that very moment. She was afraid of him.

You Have Slain Thadius Ondfauxt

+1,000,000AP

+3 Skill Points

Jack stared at the notification, dumbfounded. Then over to Sarah, whose face was both panic and concern. Then down at Rodeo’s corpse.

It wasn’t Rodeo’s corpse he had been slamming his fist into, but Ondfauxt, who had disappeared sometime during the beginning of the fight.

That’s when Jack felt his manic, bloodthirsty smile finally drop. He let out a scream of pure rage, his mind failing to accept what was happening.

Rodeo had ruined everything once again.

----------------------------------------

[Rodeo]

Rodeo whistled to himself as he retreated back to the capital. His plans had been ruined. But that was okay. He got something far better in return.

Ondfauxt had been Rodeo’s first pet project. He had spent every day tormenting the poor advisor’s mind until he had broken the man through and through and controlled his every thought. To his surprise, Ondfauxt was far more useful than he had originally expected.

Ondfauxt had quite the interesting ability - a core of binding. To most, Ondfauxt seemed a simple control mage, able to hinder the battlefield with his chains.

His true talents he had kept well hidden, kept to himself, allowing him to climb great heights within the monarchy. His abilities were similar to Rodeos, in a sense. He could infect a person’s mind. He could create unseen bonds with anyone, binding his will to theirs. His chains of binding would subtlety poke and prod at your wants and desires until you found yourself in constant agreement with the advisor.

His mistake had been in underestimating Rodeo. His ability didn’t work against people with exceptionally strong willpower, which was why he never attempted it on the king himself.

The poor advisor quickly found out that he had bitten off more than he could chew when he tried to bind himself to me, Rodeo thought with a deep chuckle.

After breaking the man, Rodeo set to figuring out the limits of the advisor’s power. Ondfauxt had one truly interesting ability. He could bind his soul to another and swap with them, so long as they were within his line of sight. Rodeo had insisted Ondfauxt use the ability on him, and after some very thorough brainwashing, ensured that Ondfauxt would activate the ability should Rodeo ever find himself in a… difficult situation.

Rodeo let out another laugh, almost cackling to himself. His mouth salivated at the thought of Jack and the torment he must be going through right now. He really had been close. But the ever-dutiful Ondfauxt had hidden himself well and made the swap at the exact right moment.

Fate was truly a peculiar thing, Rodeo thought, his smile turning to a frown. Had Ondfauxt not been there, Jack likely would have killed him. Rodeo tried to pay no mind to the gods, or the Tower itself for that matter, but it was hard to chalk things up to coincidence when you knew for a fact omnipotent beings were somewhere above, pulling at your strings.

Rodeo turned his thoughts back to Jack, and his smile returned. He knew Jack. Really, truly, knew the man. He could tell his favorite disciple was on the verge of breaking. His grasp on reality was always tentative at best, and now Rodeo had broken off another piece of his psyche. Ripped away another piece of his soul.

He would break the man completely, and Jack would be his loyal monster once again.