"Step down on your own, boy, spare yourself some dignity!"
Perched high with his lamppost as support, Jax spoke with the air of a tyrant. To outsiders, his words dripped with arrogance, yet beneath the mask his eyes remained calm, his expression utterly unshaken.
"The people of Demacia… would rather die than yield!"
The warrior, bracing himself on his longsword, rose to his feet. He wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand, his eyes burning with unyielding defiance. Jax met that gaze and gave a low murmur of appreciation, but almost instantly shook his head.
"Good eyes, but the man himself falls short."
"Demacia!!"
The warrior roared like a tiger as he charged once again. Jax stamped down on the bridge, his figure flickering in an instant. The lamppost in his hand thrust into the warrior's chest.
With a sudden surge of strength, Jax lifted the lamppost and flung the man into the waters below.
"Hope you can swim."
Glancing at the splashing soldier thrashing in the river, Jax leaned once more upon his lamppost. Within its lampshade, the Eternal Flame burned with unwavering brilliance.
From his perch on the bridgehead, he swept his gaze downward. "Who's next?"
Though his face was hidden, the weight of Jax's gaze swept over the crowd like a palpable force. Not one dared to meet his eyes.
On a carriage nearby, Duke's cigar had burned down to the stub. Rolling his shoulders, he felt the stirrings of eagerness. He wanted to see just how far his Fist-Gun Style could take him against Jax, or at least, how long he could last.
Many techniques of his art had yet to be tested in battle. Perhaps now was the time.
"What do we do now?"
"Galba lost!"
"But he's a soldier of the Dauntless Vanguard!"
"Then who else can stand against that monster?"
"No one knows!"
"Dylan, weren't you here to protect your fiancée? As a scion of the Crown Guard, surely you can, "
All eyes turned to Dylan. He let out a deep sigh, about to ask for a weapon, when a figure leapt past the crowd.
"Duke?"
Dylan's eyes widened. How had that scholar stepped forward? This was no place for bookworms, battle-hardened warriors had already fallen. What could a frail academic do?
Sure, Duke had once claimed he would compete in the Tourney of Glory, but Dylan had never believed he was serious.
A thin scholar wielding sword or shield? Impossible.
"Hey, Duke!"
As Dylan called out, Duke, now adjusting his vibranium trigger-rings, turned his head with a calm "Hm? What is it?"
"What are you doing? Get down, quickly!"
"Relax, I'm just testing something."
Shedding his lab coat and tossing it aside, loosening his tie, Duke's eyes sharpened with determination.
"I want to see how far I can go against a master like him."
"Good eyes, boy," Jax said with genuine approval as he watched Duke step onto the bridge. But his lamppost slammed against the stone with no hint of mercy.
Rolling his shoulders, Jax faced him squarely. Duke raised both hands high, stretching leisurely before loosening up his body.
"When we're done… can I ask you a question?"
A thought had struck him: perhaps Jax, who had lived for over a thousand years, could identify the mysterious Uroya elixir in his possession.
"That depends if you're still standing when we're done," Jax chuckled, beckoning him forward with one finger.
Duke grinned, baring his teeth.
The very next instant,
Whoosh!
Duke's figure flashed. His fist clenched, air ripping apart before him, the crack of a gunshot echoing across the bridge.
Fist-Gun Style, Flintlock Shot!
His fist tore forward like a fired round, aimed straight at Jax's face. Jax's eyes gleamed beneath the mask, and for the first time his laughter was excited.
"Haha! At last, someone worth watching!"
Clang!
The lamppost intercepted the blow. The instant the vibranium rings met the Eternal Flame's steel, Duke felt a tidal force crash down upon him.
"What strength!"
Retreating quickly, his boots carved deep prints into the bridge. He bent his right arm tight against his body, forearm locked against bicep, his fist shrouded in compressed air.
Then,
He punched.
A thunderous roar erupted from the bridge, shockwaves rippling outward. Onlookers below clutched their ears, gaping in disbelief.
A raging airwave surged forward, the void itself rippling with layered shock fronts.
Crack!
A spark ignited. A blinding blaze surged skyward.
Fist-Gun Style, Carpet Bombardment!
Flames rolled like a tidal flood, but Jax spun his lamppost with unyielding power, parting the fire as though splitting the sea itself.
When the firestorm ebbed, he lunged, lamppost crashing down toward Duke.
Duke sank low, knees bent, left hand splayed like a scope to align his aim.
"Fist-Gun Style, Anti-Air Battery!"
BOOM!
His fist roared like a cannon blast. To Jax's eyes, Duke had become a living artillery piece, his fists firing like shells.
The lamppost and fist clashed, yet a gap still yawned between them, bridged by a rippling shockwave.
A gale burst outward, forcing the crowd to shield their eyes.
Jax withdrew smoothly, lamppost carving a crescent arc through the air and slamming into Duke's chest.
"Cough… cough…"
Blood seeped through Duke's cracked knuckles. His body, though enhanced by the super-soldier serum, was straining to keep up.
His foes were growing stronger. His body was not.
And unlike Captain America, he had no protagonist's halo to save him.
"I need a way to push myself further," he muttered, shaking blood from his hand.
Jax had already noticed the weakness. "You've potential, but you need discipline, persistence, training. Only then will you become a true warrior."
"Sorry," Duke said with a wry smile. "I'm a scientist. I've no ambition to be a warrior."
"Science, hm?"
Jax shook his head, stepping forward, relentless. His lamppost swept mercilessly for Duke's head.
Duke bent back to the limit, narrowly avoiding the strike, and countered with an upward hook. The vibranium ring clanged against the lampshade with a shriek of metal.
CLANG!
He kicked upward, flipping back, but Jax hooked his leg with the lamppost. Smoke burst from Duke's grasping fingers, veiling Jax's vision. The lamppost suddenly felt light, Duke had slipped free.
Emerging from the haze, Duke unleashed another Carpet Bombardment. Flames surged like a tide. Jax split them apart once more, only to find Duke lunging close, palm aglow with crackling sparks.
"Fist-Gun Style, " Duke exhaled, voice low, ", Cloudburst Detonation!"
His hand swept, scattering sparks like starlight. Air itself combusted, oxygen drawn tight and ignited. A chain of explosions engulfed Jax.
BOOM!
The bridge vanished in fire. Duke staggered out, his arm blistered with burns, but his eyes remained calm, fixed on the inferno.
That move had mimicked a thermobaric bomb, concentrating oxygen into a high-density zone before detonation. It was a killing strike meant to shatter fortresses.
"I must find a way to enhance myself further…"
Spraying cool medical mist over his scorched arm, Duke forced his wounds to scab and heal.
From within the flames, a vortex roared skyward.
Jax emerged, cloak still smoldering, casually brushing away the fire. His eyes blazed, not with fury, but with admiration.
This boy's techniques had stunned even him. No magic, no tricks, only raw craft and invention.
The body was weak, yes. But that could be trained.
This was the kind of warrior he sought, one to fight by his side against the Void.
"I am Jax," he said at last, revealing his name for the first time. His voice carried weight, respect, recognition.
"And you, young warrior, what do they call you?"
End of chapter....
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