Emanating power with nothing but three words, this was what a god was. Everyone would bow before this mind-melting display of authority.
Everyone, except a kid named Viv apparently.
There were sparkles in his eyes instead of fear. A skip in his step instead of a quake. He was jumping up and down instead of falling to the ground.
Jaden should have seen this coming.
As Jaden floated in the air, power swirling around him, Viv began to get hyped: "Yes! Yes! I can't believe it! Someone finally is playing the game properly! You're waaaaayy better at this than the last guy, he just gave up. So lame~!"
Excuse me! The proper response to your opponent getting a new form is to get at least a bit scared! Those webnovels had lied to him once again.
And then Viv grabbed Jaden's cards. He was pretty short and Jaden was floating so it was a bit of a jump. It was time for the Tenma Shuffle. Viv smiled bigger than before. "Get ready everyone, you heard him! Round two….staaaart!!"
Viv threw the cards in the air. Cards are made of paper, so they don't reach the ground right away. But for Jaden, it was a bit ridiculous. They were practically suspended in the air! Could this be? The sort of almost time-freezing ability of one granted extreme speed? This God Mode was something serious.
And then Viv met his eyes. His smile grew. It was the sort of look of someone who had finally met someone kind of at their level. Like when Messi finally faces up against Ronaldo.
"Ah ha ha ha! This feeling…it reminds me of popsicles!!"
…Huh?
Jaden could never understand this kid.
The two of them began moving at exactly the same time. To the other passengers, it was like two flashes of lightning flashing forward.
Viv pulled out a knife and held it in his teeth. One, two, three, four, five…twelve more knives somehow positioned themselves through his hands. Jaden felt like using knives like that had to be a natural talent, he was sure he could never learn.
As for Jaden, his system was his only weapon he could think of. Was there any sort of move that God Mode could use? Somehow he felt Black Slash and that fire one weren't quite right for this situation.
[Activate skill: God's Sword Destroys Those Who Defy Him]
That was more like it.
In one instant, even faster than Viv could pull out his knives, a golden sword appeared in Jaden's hands. It was jagged and rimmed in black metal, altogether as terrifying as it was divine.
What was he even supposed to do with something like this!?
Even as his mind thought that, his body was already readying the strike against Viv.
They clashed, the card flew back into the air. They never even got the chance to reach the ground in the first place. Viv swished a blade attached to his foot and kicked it towards Jaden.
Sneaky, but Jaden was fast enough to bring his sword down in a clean parry. However he had learned to do these moves, he was a lot better than he had any right to be.
One, two, three…
Jaden gave up counting the stabs. It must have been a hundred stabs Viv sent flying towards him which he had no choice but to block over and over again.
Enough defense! Bring on the offense!
Jaden raised the sword up in the air and it began to glow pure white. It rapidly darkened to a shimmering black beam piercing through the roof of the airplane. Jaden desperately hoped no one would see it in the sky.
He brought it down with a yell that was like thunder crashing across the Earth.
Viv's eyes wild, aiming for the kill, he pulled two long needle-like knives from his boots. Crossing them across himself, he jumped up not to block the blow, but to go straight for Jaden's throat.
As the sword came down, a pulse was sent through the airplane, causing it to shake through the air as if caught in a terrible gust of wind. This pulse surged forward for many miles, causing ordinary citizens going about their normal life to slightly glance at the sky wondering what the strange shaking was.
And somewhere far away, a deep brown eye opened.