Chapter 86: A Truce
Jim just moved to the side, clearing a path for the girls to use their spell. The light coming from their bodies intensified to turn the two into a small shining star in the ground of the arena.
"So this is the fusion spell of the little star," Jim muttered before laughing, "this is a real killer move indeed."
He watched like others in the arena the two girls getting obscured with the growing bright light. Once the star took its full shape, the light then created a phantom image of a giant angel with golden rays emitted from it.
"Amazing," he muttered, "this is strangely perfect to them."
He turned his gaze to see there was only one opponent left. Mench was still immersed in his spell, but Jim wasn't interested in watching him fulfill it. "Kill him now," he simply shouted and gave the order to the girls who instantly unleashed the wrath of the spell.
He didn't see what they did but the next moment the giant angel phantom flew in unparalleled speed to reach Mench in fraction of a second. Mench got hit with the phantom which engulfed his entire body and started to shine the same way the two girls did.
"What will happen now?" Jim was curious as he waited patiently for half a minute while the bright light shielded everything from his eyes.
"Rumble."
Suddenly a soft rumble came from the front while the light started to be tainted with a red color of blood. "Is he dead?" Jim muttered while watching the entire phantom change into a red color in no time.
"Boom!"
Then it simply exploded and all he could see was fragments sent to fly everywhere while a body was tossed backward like it was a bag of sh*t.
Jim turned towards the two girls to see the light vanishing from their bodies and the next instant they just fell on the ground motionless.
"I hope this didn't kill them," he moved at once towards them while everyone around was still in their shock. "Deno, go and finish that bastard if he is still alive," he shouted to awaken the stupefied Deno and make him move.
Deno's body jolted awake when he heard Jim's shout. "I never thought you had such a crazy attack hidden," he muttered in disbelief while running towards the knocked out and motionless body of Mench. "But it's my task to make sure this arrogant giant won't see the light again."
Jim reached the girls and found them closing up their eyes with no signs of activity at all. "Phew, they are alive," he checked their breathings and luckily they were still alive. "This spell has much more toll on their bodies than the one I use," he sighed while checking the fatigue he was starting to feel on his body.
"It seems we have a very long path to be able to use these spells without much hiccups."
He turned his gaze the next instant towards Deno to find him raising up his giant hammer high in the air before landing it massively over Mench's head.
"Scram!"
Yet before the hammer could land over Mench's head, a sudden shout came accompanied by a giant shadow that stood before the hammer and the knocked out disciple. "Go f*cking away," the giant bellowed while Deno was hit violently to be tossed aside and turned around himself for many times before finally landing motionlessly on the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Jim was about to explode on the face of this barbaric intrusion but Dolly was the first to act as she moved at once to stand above the giant who just appeared.
"The kid has apparently lost. No need to go for such lengths," the giant shouted back while he was acting like Dolly wasn't there to hold the helpless body of Mench.
"How dare you to interfere in my arena?" Dolly shouted in extreme rage while the next instant a giant stick descended heavily from the clouds to shake the entire arena. "Imprison him now."
The voice of Dolly showed how angry she was, even though Jim felt a cold chill running back at his spine. He watched that giant master stopping in his tracks unable to move a single step forward anymore.
"Dolly…" the giant roared, "don't go too far. The kid is lost, no need to kill him."
"This isn't your decision to make," Dolly answered in a rivaling coldness, "this kid entered this arena voluntarily knowing what's on stakes here. Go screw someone else away from here for this loss or else…"
She didn't complete her threat but Jim was pretty sure this sexy master would turn into a vicious beast if that giant didn't retreat and apologize.
"This…" the giant stopped in his words as if he was struggling with something. "Kid, can you let him live?" he suddenly turned towards Jim as he asked boldly this question.
Jim's thoughts first threw him into instant refusal, but he didn't do that. His mind started to give him more options here. "I can do that," he slowly answered, "but what is in it for me?"
"For you?" the giant master muttered before swallowing his rage inside, "I can promise you that no one else will challenge you this day."
"That won't be enough," Jim calmly shook his head before waving both hands around while adding, "as you can see I can easily crush anyone without the help of others."
"You… good, I heard a lot about your arrogance from Pol but it seems you are ruder than he mentioned."
"If I were you, I would select my next words very carefully," Jim sneered while adding, "after all I hold the life of your dear disciple in my hand."
"This isn't getting us anywhere," before he could answer Dolly stepped in to remind both of her existence, "the rules were broken and if Jim here didn't accept the defeat and asked to continue the fight then you will be punished."
"Dolly, this is too much already," the giant gritted his teeth as he tried to respond in the politest way he could muster.
"Too much? This me doing you a favor, humph."
Yet Dolly seemed more arrogant than the giant and didn't accept to budge back a single step.
"Alright kid, name your price then."
Jim had many fantasies about his demands but he knew he should be realistic. If he asked for something unique like the tokens his demand would instantly be denied.
He thought and he only could think of one thing. "One year truce between me and my enemies, here and at other places," Jim boldly declared his condition.
"One year?" the giant sneered as if he just heard a joke. "I can rule over the giants, but can't rule over the other clans. Besides I can monitor the masters of my clan here, but not the disciples. Disciples are rash and can't be controlled… adrenaline and stuff."
Jim grinned as he was ready for such an answer. "I don't care about what you'll do, but no one of the masters is allowed to touch me during this year."
Dolly turned to gaze at him in a weird way. "The rules of the academy are strict, no master would be crazy enough to break them."
"I don't doubt the rules of the academy," Jim calmly and respectfully said, "but I'm speaking about here and other places."
"By other places you mean… the outer battlefield service?" the giant asked before laughing in a mocking way, "don't tell me we should also send an escort to guarantee your safety there."
Jim only glanced at the master and didn't open his mouth. His words and request was simply clear to that giant master but he preferred to play dumb.
"Will you do it or not?" Jim asked in a strict way while the giant kept laughing for a while.
"If you are so carefree about it, then we should continue the fight."
"…"
The giant stopped laughing at once while his face changed. Despite him trying to act strong and high, he knew to save the life of Mench he had to deliver what Jim asked.
"I… agree," unwillingly he said and then Jim turned to Dolly who smiled and then pointed towards the giant stick in the middle of the arena as she said:
"Swear an oath on the guardian soul of the esteemed fairy here and no one will break it without losing his life in return."
Jim watched the giant master swear the oath before he also did his part by simply saying, "I accept the deal and will let Mench live."
The next moment the giant stick vibrated before Jim felt his body being pierced by a hidden needle. He glanced all around but he couldn't spot it and the needle suddenly vanished from his body.
"Don't worry, it's the stick oath needle," Dolly chuckled before turning towards the giant, "you are free to take him. He is heavily injured, you should hurry."
The giant didn't say anything as he simply held Mench and the next second he vanished.
"Now, it's your win," Dolly turned to Jim as she announced his victory, "you have the right to accept one thousand academy coins from Mench or his team. If they can't pay, your rank will be upgraded to be a core disciple of the academy."
"That works fine by me."
Dolly then turned towards the defeated members of the Mench team before speaking in a warning tone: "Pay the coins now or else…"
The four living members exchanged silent glances as they felt weird about this. Mench was their master, the one with power and wealth not them. They had no money to spare, not even to mention the extravagant amount of coins Jim was expecting to receive.
"Hurry, pay now or…" Dolly said and didn't continue her threatening words as she spotted something in the far distance.