Chapter 35: Mediocre
Rex had turned into a living torch, screaming in agony. He flailed his arms wildly, still lunging at Finn in a desperate bid to take him down with him.
Finn spun aside to dodge the attack, channeling his Profound Energy to intensify the torrent of flames pouring from the Skybearer Sword.
He gripped the blade like a flamethrower, the blazing fire leaping and dancing as it completely swallowed Rex. The man thrashed like a madman, rolling across the ground and howling while he tried to smother the flames, but it was useless.
In the end, the towering figure of fire crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, still writhing in the blaze until he burned down to a charred corpse.
Once Finn confirmed there were no other threats nearby, he turned and helped Jimmy to his feet. Jimmy’s face was filthy, marked with the clear traces of being slapped. His injuries hadn’t fully healed yet, and his ankle was still twisted at an awkward angle.
“Bro, I didn’t drag you down, did I?” Jimmy grabbed Finn’s outstretched hand tightly, puffing out his cheeks as he asked.
“Nope, you did great. Sis Avasarala was right about you!” Finn nodded.
Finn really had to admire Sis Avasarala’s judgment. Every member of the Spacetime Destruction Bureau was anything but ordinary.
At first he’d thought Jimmy was a bit unreliable, but watching him rise to the challenge in the middle of a crisis and launch that fierce counterattack had still managed to pleasantly surprise him.
“By the way, what about Olivia? Is she okay?” Finn suddenly remembered Olivia Hill. She’d lost an arm in the explosion, so she had to be in rough shape.
He turned to look and saw her lying motionless on the ground, face as pale as paper. She had passed out from blood loss. The wound on her right shoulder was deep enough to show bone and was still bleeding steadily.
Finn pulled out two Nine Revolutions Resurrection Pills. He handed one to Jimmy and slipped the other into Olivia’s mouth, sending a thin strand of Profound Energy in to activate the medicine.
Olivia’s complexion quickly improved, color returning to her cheeks. Flesh and bone began to regrow from her right shoulder, and in moments a brand-new arm had formed, perfectly intact. The bullet fragments lodged in the wound were pushed out by the regenerating muscle, and every injury on her body healed in an instant.
Jimmy swallowed his pill too, and all his wounds vanished without a trace.
“Bro, how expensive is this pill? Can I buy a couple?” Jimmy asked, excitedly rubbing his smooth, flawless new skin.
He was already thinking that if he could snag one of these pills and take it back to his own world, selling it for millions would be easy—hell, even a few hundred thousand would be no problem at all.
“Even if you sold yourself, you couldn’t afford half a Nine Revolutions Resurrection Pill,” Finn said bluntly, crushing Jimmy’s little daydream on the spot.
“Life is priceless,” Jimmy muttered.
“Priceless? In some people’s eyes, it’s just a number,” Finn said, shaking his head as he lectured him. “How many Nine Revolutions Resurrection Pills have you eaten already? This is a divine medicine that can regrow flesh and bone and bring the dead back to life. If I kept a running tab, you couldn’t pay me back even if you worked for me for thousands of years.”
Jimmy knew he was completely in the wrong. This whole operation had relied entirely on Finn protecting him—if not for Finn, he would have died who knows how many times.
He quickly put on a flattering smile. “Bro, from now on you’re my big brother for life. Big Bro, please accept your little brother’s bow!”
The words had barely left his mouth before he dropped to both knees, ignoring the filthy ground, and kowtowed three times, forehead thumping the dirt in sincere respect.
Finn was momentarily speechless. “Get up. I don’t want a weak little brother like you. Just do your job properly from now on and don’t disappoint me.”
Jimmy nodded eagerly and jumped to his feet, beaming. He was about to launch into some over-the-top speech about following Bro to the death when Finn cut in.
“Go back and study hard. No more dropping out.”
Jimmy deflated instantly. He had been planning to cling to Finn’s coattails and upgrade from street hustler to player in the Endless Worlds, but Finn was telling him to get his ass back to school like a good kid.
Despite that, Jimmy pulled himself together and answered earnestly, “I’ll study hard for real this time! I’ll get into Paris Dance Conservatory!”
Olivia had already stirred awake. She pushed herself up from the cold ground and realized her right arm was completely bare, the skin smooth and flawless like a newborn’s. Every injury on her body had vanished without a trace.
It took her only a second to understand that Finn had saved her again. Gratitude flooded her. She thanked him over and over, practically ready to offer herself in repayment. Finn simply waved it off like it was no big deal.
The three of them headed downstairs together. The street outside was in total chaos. Squads of Refuge Security Force warriors roared in on motorcycles, firing shots into the air to enforce the bare minimum of order.
Distant explosions rumbled. Olivia grabbed one of her colleagues and asked a few quick questions, learning that the surviving members of the Demon Gang had rallied under Simpson Browne and were holed up in a nearby ruin, putting up a last stand.
“Finn, can you help us one more time?” Olivia asked cautiously.
“Sure. Let’s go finish this guy off,” Finn nodded, thinking the whole mess finally needed to be put to bed.
“Thanks!” Olivia suddenly leaned in as if she were about to kiss him on the cheek, but the moment she met Finn’s calm, steady gaze she froze and pulled back.
She flagged down a heavy motorcycle, swung her long legs over the seat, and sped off toward the Demon Gang holdout with Finn and Jimmy riding behind her.
……
This was an abandoned chemical plant. All the hazardous chemicals had leaked out long ago, leaving nothing but an empty shell. Collapsed chimneys lay scattered across the ground in every direction.
The once-dominant Demon Gang was now reduced to a dozen elite survivors. They had taken cover here, using the terrain to mount a stubborn defense.
A burly Refuge Security Force warrior rose to his feet, rocket launcher balanced on his shoulder, and squeezed the trigger toward the gang’s hiding spot.
Bang! Bang!
Two sharp gunshots cracked from the Demon Gang’s position.
One bullet slammed into the spiraling rocket, detonating it in midair. The second punched clean through the warrior’s skull and took his life.
Behind a barricade of stacked sandbags, a dust-covered officer crouched low and said urgently to Olivia, “Chief Inspector, what do we do? Without heavy weapons we can’t break them. We’ve already lost more than a dozen men!”
“Don’t worry.” Olivia lifted her head and stared into the distance, her blue eyes bright with hope. “He’s here.”
……
Flames surged and blood flowed.
A cold wind laced with the smell of gunpowder swept across the battlefield. Finn walked through the smoke and carnage, more than a dozen bodies sprawled behind him in disarray.
Last of the Demon Gang—and its leader, Simpson Browne—leaned against the corner of the wall. Blood smeared the edge of his mouth. He gripped an empty rifle, still yanking the trigger even though nothing came out.
Finn walked straight up to him and drew his sword. “Let me finish this mediocre fight with the mediocre ending it deserves.”
Simpson coughed out a mouthful of blood, his voice low and raspy. “You won’t stay smug for long! You killed the high priest of the Radiant Path. They won’t let you walk away from that! And Holy Radiance is coming. When Holy Radiance descends, it will be the day of the Great Judgment!”
“Holy Radiance?” Finn shook his head lightly. “You’re dying and you’re still buying this crap?”
“The Holy Pontiff has received a divine oracle!” Simpson scraped together the last of his strength and lunged at Finn. “In three months and seven days, Holy Radiance will descend! When that day comes, you can go straight to hell!”
Finn drove the sword into his heart, pulled the blade free, and watched Simpson Browne slump to the ground, dead.
Three months and seven days? Such a precise timeline? Finn mulled it over. A prophecy that exact actually sparked his interest.
If a god really was going to show up, that would be something.
“I hope Holy Radiance shows up right on schedule,” Finn said. He flicked the blood from the Skybearer Sword and turned to walk out of the ruins.