Chapter 241: Rage Mode!
The arena spread out before Jacob. He looked out into the crowd, still trying to shake the feeling of just seeing Elyssara appear in two places at the same time. He was sure that if he kept looking, he was going to see her in multiple other places.
After all, gods and goddesses possessed omnipresence in the literal sense.
Jacob let out a sigh, clearing his mind before stepping onto the flat, clean slab of stone that stood in the middle of the arena, with a bright light shining down on it.
Uga was already gone and had settled into a seat somewhere to watch the battle. Jacob’s opponent had not yet appeared, but from the way the crowd behaved, it seemed as though he had gained some fans while he was clearing the other towers. Somewhere deep in his mind, he had a feeling that he was going to face someone that would pose a problem for him.
He had waited there for a while when suddenly a black portal door opened before him, and out of it stepped a young man. This young man was built even more than Jacob, had long white hair and dark crimson eyes, and there was a smirk plastered across his face, one that suggested that he was ready for this battle.
The man stepped onto the podium. Jacob instantly knew his name, Jareth Veryon. This man was tall, as tall as Jacob, who stood at a towering 6’7". Jareth stepped onto the podium with a presence that suggested that he had been here many times before.
One would think that losing in the tower meant you had to go down a few levels, like it was in video games. But that was not the case. Losing in the tower meant instant elimination, or even death, depending on how ruthless your opponent was.
It was not even long before the battle started. One look at him and Jacob already knew that physical attacks would not work, as this man had a skill that would allow him to redirect physical and magical attacks at will, and at any rate he pleased.
Jacob was very learned and, as such, would properly analyze any battle before charging headfirst into the opponent. He also had full control over his abilities and cheats.
"Are you scared of a little hand-to-hand combat, pretty boy?" Jareth’s voice was as gruff as expected. The young man had a red scar across his chest, and when he smiled, he made obvious a very white set of sharp canines.
"Scared?" Jacob asked, looking at the young man very carefully. He could predict his moves with ease and therefore could already know what his next moves were going to be. "No. Just contemplating if I should kill you or let you live."
Jacob knew it would be extremely easy to defeat an opponent like this, especially since they relied very heavily on physical attributes.
"Kill me? Haha, you wish. When I’m done with you, I’ll cut off your willy and feed it to the dogs." Jareth was very vulgar, and he spoke with a particular accent, one that Jacob could only associate with old English. Jacob’s expression remained unfazed.
"Your parents must not have taught you how to speak in a decent way." Jacob paused, watching the minute changes in the man’s face. How his left eye twitched slightly, a small vein appearing in the middle of his forehead. Jareth was very clearly getting angry and annoyed. "No matter, when I’m done with you, you’ll be shitting out of your stomach."
Jacob smiled mischievously. He could not remember clearly the last time he teased an opponent in this way. In fact, the last person he remembered teasing in this way was Zaheer.
"You bastard!" Jareth growled.
"You know what? Try and land a hit. Let’s see if you’re really able to beat me." Jacob immediately countered, making a gesture for Jareth to attack him.
"With pleasure." Jareth smiled sinisterly and shot off his spot like a bullet, leaving a crack in the ground as a result of the insurmountable force required to move at such great speeds.
He closed the distance between him and Jacob in no time and began to throw punches. But even though he was very angry, his punches were not reckless in any way. Jacob could tell from the way that the man attacked that he was very skilled in martial arts.
Jacob knew that the best way to beat someone who could redirect any attack was to have them attack you instead. At least, that was the right place to start from.
Jareth punched down from the right. Jacob sidestepped to the left, evading Jareth’s attack as a gust of wind blew his hair back as a result of the force. The ground instantly shattered under the weight of Jareth’s fist. The man instantly spun on that same fist, which was lodged into the stone, aiming a kick at Jacob’s skull. But once again, Jacob was too fast for him, and he only missed by a minuscule margin.
The fight continued like that for what seemed like hours but were only mere minutes, due to how fast the flurry of attacks were aimed at Jacob. But just like it had been throughout the tournament, the man was still unable to touch him at all.
The ground was completely cracked and breaking apart under the force of this man’s attacks, which grew significantly more powerful the more he threw them. Jacob had not even touched him once.
"You slimy motherfucker. Stay still!" Jareth roared as he threw a hard fist aimed at Jacob’s face, but by the time his fist connected, it was only an after-image.
Jacob had already been at the other end of the arena, doing the same sign for Jareth to keep on.
At that point, Jareth was furious. His eyes glowed crimson, and his hair floated atop his head, suggesting he had transitioned fully into rage mode.
"I will kill you!" Jareth hissed through his perfect teeth and started making his way to Jacob again, the ground covered in rubble as he moved through it like a raging torpedo.
"If you want to kill me, you’re gonna have to try harder!"