"You've really done it this time, Kojo. You've gone out of your way to make her mad. Well, this works better for me," Cyranius said. He sat with his legs crossed in a chair atop the arena. A table was laid beside him. He lifted a teapot and poured himself some tea, then gracefully lifted it to his lips and took a sip. An explosion shook the arena. He was, however, unmoved by this and continued.
(She must have maxed out her poison magic abilities using curse magic.)
Kojo punched him to the middle of the arena, holding the hood of his shirt to pull him back before punching him again. He landed on his cloud in midair and surfed away.
"You said curse magic means afflicting oneself in order to manifest the inverse of that phenomena. So all I need to do is stop it somehow?" Jattara made a jade spear and threw it at the cloud, causing it to explode and throwing Kojo away. He flipped and landed, raising his sword just in time to block a downward swing from Jattara's sickles.
(Lemme see. Scanning..... Got it. She's poisoning herself, multiplying the poison in her body and manifesting it outward.)
Jattara pushed Kojo back and made a swing at him. He blocked, then froze her head, delivering a spinning kick that broke the ice, causing her to stagger backward. The sword disappeared, and he hardened his hands, using them to deflect her blows before rushing in and striking her in the face with his knee, then taking advantage of this, delivered a palm strike backed by wind that sent her sliding back.
"I need you to stop this right now. If you continue to increase the poisons with arcana, you'll die," Kojo said.
"Don't give me that. This is a death match; you won't be able to keep me alive like you did for those two weaklings you fought. I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to slaughter everyone in this arena, including those girls." Jattara looked at the VIP section where the girls were. She turned to face them and raised her hand, forming a giant spike behind her and was about to release it when Kojo threw himself at her, knocking them into the wall. He grabbed her neck and began to squeeze. Jattara looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Please kill me," she whispered.
"What?" Kojo said. Her memories suddenly filled his head, and he saw how she was sold as a slave to the Cobra King sect and used as a test subject for their new poisons and techniques. He saw how one day she snapped and killed all the leaders of the sect, becoming the very thing she despised. He saw how Cyranius massacred her weapon and made her his slave. Shocked, he loosened his grip. Jattara took advantage of this to stab him in the side, manifesting a club and knocking him away.
"What was that?" Kojo wondered, holding his wound. He dropped to his knees, then began to vomit blood.
(System diagnostics: Scanning... Confirmed. Deathbrand is spreading through your system.)
Jade-colored runes began to spread over Kojo's body. One of his eyes became bloodshot, and his breathing became strained.
(Skill HEALING active. Skill POISON KING active. Surprising poison.)
The runes began to stop spreading, and Kojo's breathing stabilized. He looked at Jattara and slowly rose.
"Man, this is a pain."
(Analysis of subject complete. Is being manipulated by the HELLSBRAND poison. An amount of Arcana tainted with the Curse has been found. Jattara's body has a total of 110 of the 113 most deadliest poisons in the continent.)
"Die!" Jattara yelled as a magic circle appeared under her. The clouds darkened, and green lightning began to strike around the arena. The ground under them began to crack and erode, sinking downward.
(Subject is attempting to poison the city with # poison 003: Sunderer, a concoction so powerful it can poison the planet itself.)
Kojo turned and saw that some mages had gathered around and were reinforcing the barrier. The poison, however, spread beyond them, and the city began to crumble. Poison raining from the clouds and lightning striking all around.
Giovanni stood at the front line, trying his best to stabilize the barrier with his own arcana, slightly slowing the erosion down. The poison began to affect him and made wounds slowly appear in him, blood coming out of his nose, and his eyes becoming bloodshot.
"We should do something," Leo said, getting to his feet.
Yukio grabbed him and pulled him back into his seat.
"He's got this," she said.
"But," Leo was about to protest but saw the look on Yukio's face and shut up.
Kojo put his hands in the air and cast a spell, causing a magic circle to appear above the arena.
Anti-magic cage.
"My, my. He's copied my spell," Cyranius said with interest.
(The two spells Sunderer and A.M Cage are suppressing each other. Equilibrium of incantation attained. Sunderer, however, is slowly eroding your spell.)
". Wait, it can erode magic too. Even anti-magic? How long do I have?"
(5 minutes until erosion burst.)
Jattara held her head as if she had a serious headache.
"Help me," She said, stretching her hand at Kojo, her eyes returning to normal and filling with tears. They became slits again, and she screamed, releasing an even more intense aura, then charged at him. Kojo also rushed at her, the two of them collided in the middle of the arena, the force of their fists colliding shaking the arena, knocking them in opposite directions.
Quicksilver x3 + Fire Fists + Crystallization.
Kojo appeared in front of her, showering her with blows.
Skill: MERGE has been created.
Merging Quicksilver/ Fire Fists/ Crystallization.
Devastator has been created.
Kojo's fist glowed bright purple, and he punched Jattara in the stomach, knocking her upward, then propelling himself upward with wind and fire, shot some threads from his fingers, binding her and pulling her towards him, delivering another blow to her face that knocked her into the ground. She rose and charged at him with her scythes. He drew out his sword, and the two battled throughout the arena. She knocked Kojo down and sat on him, raising the sickles over her head. She stopped a few centimeters from Kojo's face.
"Please, I can't stop myself." She began to cry.
Kojo turned them and was now on top of her. He put his blade to her neck.
"Do it." She pleaded. "Kill me."
"But,"
"There is no other way." she managed to say before her savage side took over, and she kicked him off her, then threw her chains at him.
"Isn't there some way to save her?" Kojo asked Sysia while he fought Jattara.
(No, she's too far gone. The longer she stays alive, the more she'll be in pain. There is no other way.)
"But she looks cute without her mask, and it'd be a waste of both body and skill. I mean, see how flexible she is?" Kojo dodged as Jattara spun in her hands, kicking her legs out.
(Seriously. See, this is why I call you a -)
"A perv, I know."
(So you agree?)
"Your thoughts, not mine."
(You're forgetting that I'm in your head.)
"Yeah. You're also an entirely different person." Said jumping back and pushing Jattara into the opposite wall using wind magic, freezing her into it and trapping her in a glacier.
(10 seconds remaining.)
Kojo took a deep breath, then ran his finger along the blade of his sword, causing the runes to glow and purple flames to engulf it. Jattara broke free and charged at him.
"I see you're preparing to deliver the killing blow. That's sadly not going to be enough to stop me. I've put a spell on her that will forcibly activate all the poisons in her body, causing an explosion that will wipe the entire province off the map. Then I can take my time searching. For her."
He stood in a quickdraw stance and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. The world around him slowed. Jattara swung her sickles at him. Sparks and lightning danced off him. He opened them, his eyes glowing red. He sidestepped the sickles, then rushed at Jattara, stabbing her. There was a bright flash, and it was sunny again.
The poison that was eroding the city suddenly disappeared as if it had never existed. Jattara looked at him.
"Thank you, for setting me free," she said before dropping to the ground. Kojo stood and looked down at her body.
"I'm sorry," He said before collapsing. He squirmed in pain, the poisoned runes spreading over his body.