"Raaa!" Percy's muscles swelled as he swung his two hammers. A tornado appeared right in the center of the street, sweeping everyone near him away. The scarlet-red coated men and women were sent flying away while the Metal Paladins flew through nearby buildings.
"The Charismatic Lion!" Percy raised both his arms, and his golden pupils began to glow. The two long-shafted hammers began transforming. The sledgehammer part started molding into the face of a lion!
Both hammers began to resemble a lion with paws hugging the shaft.
As the nearby Archers shot their arrows from the building roofs, Percy swung the lion-faced hammers and created a strong wind, which shattered the nearby windows. That wasn't all. The strong wind gushed through the building, attacking the pillars that kept it standing.
As a result, all of the nearby buildings collapsed, and the Archers fell into a pit of debris. A cloud of dust filled the street as the groans of pain came from the ruins.
"Whoo..." Percy exhaled and looked around the streets. Fights raged everywhere. He witnessed his subordinates dying by having arrows stab their hearts or swords decapitate them.
'The war ends today.' Percy screamed internally and smashed both his lion-faced hammers into the ground. The asphalt ground cracked, and then the street suddenly split into two. Several Scarlet Arrows and Metal Paladins fell into the pit, as they weren't prepared for something like that.
'Whoever baited us into this war shall feel my wrath.' Percy's golden eyes glowed dangerously.
...
"Whoa, heavy." Perseus climbed the stairs with three heavy bags. He unfortunately had to leave some money behind, as he couldn't take it all with him. However, he took all the potion recipes as they would help him grow stronger.
After arriving at the lounge, dead guards littered the ground. Their eyes were still wide open, as though they weren't ready to die. At the front desk, the beautiful young lady was impaled on the desk with a sharp knife going through her head. Her face was devoid of life, and blood was dripping from her mouth.
'I wish I could see my brother's reaction. Heh, heh.' Perseus snickered as he imagined his brother's reaction. He wondered what his brother would think if he knew that it was his brother who was the mastermind behind the war. Who caused so many deaths and destruction.
Perseus cast his gaze over the lounge and the stairs. He took one good look at the place where he had spent most of his life. He hated being here. Even before the Horror Realm, he was a source of mockery among his peers. No one ever respected him, and he never had someone to call his friend.
'This place is just a bunch of chains entangled together. Here, I would never reach my true potential. When I am ready, I will come back to visit my brother and tell him what really happened today.'
Perseus scoffed and turned to the door. At that moment, his body froze. There was a familiar figure standing at the entrance, looking at him with surprise and confusion.
"Hah, it's you." Perseus clicked his tongue. "Jason."
"Perseus... what in the hell." Jason looked around the lounge in shock. Everyone in the lounge was killed by a sharp knife, most likely the result of a surprise attack. And, at Perseus' waist, there was a belt full of knives.
"I honestly thought you wouldn't survive out of the conference room once everyone starts fighting." Perseus chuckled. "You are indeed one slippery eel."
"Perseus, what is the meaning of this?" Jason narrowed his eyes and moved his hand toward his waist. However, nothing was there. He forgot that he didn't have his revolver or the knife. He didn't have any weapons with him!
"As you can see, I killed them all." Perseus kicked the corpse beside him. "You may wonder, why? Well, the simple summary is that I came here to rob my brother."
"Why?" Jason asked with a surreal expression. He thought Perseus lived in his brother's shadow but was eager to prove himself. From the things he heard, everyone mocked him behind his back and sometimes openly. However, he never expected Perseus to do something like this.
"Why?" Perseus pursed his lips before laughing. "Well, I hate my brother and everyone around him. I wanted him to suffer, like I have since my birth. This is not some pitiful rivalry; this is to prove to my brother that he isn't invincible.
"He shouldn't underestimate the weak!" Perseus roared. "You remember when I looked at you with contempt and treated you harshly? Well, my brother taught me that. He told me that the lives of the weak are worthless. Only the strong should be cherished!"
Jason listened silently while taking a deep look at the lounge's interior and memorizing every location of a knife or some sharp object.
"In his eyes, I am as worthless as the weak." Perseus sighed. "I don't have my brother's talent, even though he wished me to have it. Well, I might not be as good as a fighter. However, I am as smart, maybe even smarter!
"I plotted this war all by myself. After the exploration of False God's tomb, I had the first idea of doing this. I didn't have the balls to do it at first, but then, when the ridicule turned into physical bullying, I lost it. Since I hated them all, I decided to make everyone else hate them as well.
"Therefore, after noticing that the hostility between Metal Paladins, Scarlet Arrow and others started to die down, I decided to put more heat into the flames. Therefore, I met with Rook and Red secretly.
"I told them what "actually" happened in False God's tomb. I told how my brother laughed and told me how they killed Rosa and Ryan. I told how he and Nicholas took turns r*ping Rosa's dead body. How North and the rest tortured Ryan.
"Their reaction... was even better than I imagined. It appeared that Red was actually Rosa's secret lover. How convenient, and I nearly burst out laughing. You should have seen his face when I told him what "actually" happened; it was priceless!"
Perseus combed his hair and chuckled. "Then, the rest was easy. Their anger had reached a boiling point. Now, I only had to frame someone for all the stolen goods, and that's where you stepped in. Didn't you think even once why you got the mercenary job during such a risky time? You could have been a spy."
"Because you recommended me." Jason said coldly. "You told me to keep my eye on the rumors... You planned me to become a spy so there was clear evidence that I was the responsible for everything."
"Yes, you are a smart one." Perseus nodded. "I sneaked into your room and tried to force you. But you are indeed a slippery eel and managed to escape. I was quite surprised to hear that you spent the entire night waiting for Percy.
"But then, I heard that the meeting was arranged between all guilds. All because of you. Oh, I was surprised, but thanks to you, my plan was moved forward sooner than I had anticipated. Since I was an ally of Metal Paladins and Scarlet Arrow, it was easy to plant bombs there.
"Then I rushed here, robbed the vault and met you." Perseus sighed with a smile. "What a brilliant outcome."
"Why are you telling me this?" Jason asked as he slowly clenched his fist. He slowly moved his right leg as he took a slightly wider stance.
"I was looking forward to seeing your reaction, and you did not disappoint." Perseus laughed. "Haha, I am so smart. Honestly, I am even scaring myself. Now, please excuse me; I have other matters to attend to."
"I am afraid I can't do that." Jason massaged his neck.
"Oh, don't act like a hero." Perseus rolled his eyes. "Fine, you want a few potion recipes? Take them."
'He knows about the Rule of the Universe? Hmph, the potion recipes can prove that I am quilty as well.' Jason smirked as if he had heard a funny joke.
"No can do." Jason put his hand forward and said. "Give me the bags, and I'll let you leave."
"Oh, don't be like that." Perseus dropped the bags and pulled out a pair of knives from his waist belt. "Did my brother already make you his loyal follower? How pathetic."
"No..." Jason grinned and dashed forward. "I plan to take all those bags for myself!"
"Huh?" Perseus flinched in surprise.
"I won't be cleaner any longer!" Jason leaped off the ground and sent a hurricane kick toward Perseus' neck. The wind howled as his kick closed the distance.
Perseus quickly bent his back and dodged the kick by a small margin. He then quickly straightened his back and threw several knives at his attacker. Jason weaved past the first knife and caught the second.
However, a smirk appeared on Perseus' face as he spoke. "Kill."
The knife in Jason's hand began to fight back. His knife-wielding hand slowly started to approach his neck as he couldn't stop the knife from moving!
'Shit, it's the strange ability again.' Jason quickly let go of the knife and ducked underneath it. The knife flew by him, but it did a sudden U-turn and headed towards his exposed back!
Jason rolled to the left as soon as he ducked the knife. Then he noticed that the knife was still following him. He quickly grabbed the nearby dead guard and put him in the way. The knife stabbed into the corpse and got stuck in the middle of two bones.
"Argh!" Jason dropped the dead guard, somersaulted forward, and threw a quick punch. Perseus crossed his arms and blocked the punch. He didn't even flinch, as his physical strength was vastly greater than his enemy's.
Perseus then opened his clenched fists and said. "Come."
Jason's eyes widened as all the nearby knives that were stuck in the corpses flew into the air and headed straight towards them!
'Shit!' He quickly launched a kick at Perseus' leg, but he had quickly stepped back and steered all the flying knives towards Jason.
Jason did a quick roll to the side, barely dodging the first two knives. Then he did a sideways roll as another pair of knives stabbed into the floor next to him. He quickly placed his hand on the floor and flipped himself up. Before he could relax, the last three knives surrounded him from all sides.
At the last moment, he rolled backward at a small enough angle that the knives barely missed him and stabbed into the ground before him. He quickly grabbed one of the knives, swung his arm around, and threw it straight at Perseus.
"You never learn." Perseus put his hand forward and stopped the knife before it could come anywhere near him. However, then a black blur flashed by him as Jason suddenly appeared next to him. He had already thrown a punch.
Perseus panicked as he put his arms in the way. However, the sheer strength behind Jason's velocity sent him tumbling backward. He barely managed to keep his balance, but his forearms were stinging with pain.
'I need a weapon...' Jason looked around in a hurry. His mind raced. 'It seems that there are limits to what Perseus can control. There must be a reason why he has to use knives since he used spear previously. He can't control objects above a certain weight limit. At least for now. Maybe he can if he were stronger.'
At that moment, he saw a shiny object lying next to a dead guard. The blade reflected the sunlight. It was a one-handed sword. Without further ado, he rolled forward and snatched the sword from the ground.
After acquiring a weapon, he turned to Perseus and saw him summon the knives back to him. The small-bladed knives circled around him.
"Tch." Perseus licked his lips as he said. "I didn't take everything from the vault. There is still a chance to back off!"
"Oh." Jason's lips curled into a mocking grin. "Could it be that you are afraid of me—a mere System Apprentice? Your guildmates were right, you are pathetic!"
"F*ck you!" Perseus screamed and sent the knives flying forward.
"Ha!" Jason lunged forward and swung the sword in a crescent-shaped swing. The one-handed sword deflected all the flying knives, slingshotting them all across the lounge.
With one kick to the ground, Jason dashed across the room, closing the distance to Perseus with one quick burst. As he placed the one-handed sword above his head, he let out a powerful cry and hacked it down at Perseus.
Perseus spread his arms around and sent all the fallen knives straight to Jason. This time, it wasn't only the knives. All the nearby items that weren't too heavy flew directly towards Jason as if he were some kind of magnet.
However, Jason didn't stop the swing. Instead, he increased the strength. As the blade shredded through the air, Perseus' eyes started to show signs of hesitation and panic.