To The Brink

With only mere moments of his transformation left, he descended rapidly with the guidance of lightning, penetrating through multiple layers of Fantasia's sky as sound barriers were broken repeatedly. He touched down on the area of impact from his climactic attack, seeing just what sort of damage was done. 

"..." 

Though he was confident that the valley was barren and left uninhabited, it wasn't a great feeling to see just how much he had destroyed; the vast fields of soil had been burnt to a char and left unable to bear life any further. Embers and remnants of lightning still hovered above the desecrated land along with steam. 

"Nngh…" 

Stumbling slightly, he held his own face as he felt the godly strength evaporating rapidly from his body as it returned to its normal state. 

[Temporary Summon: Over] 

Just like that, he was left back to his original state, deprived of the authority of [Zeus] as he stood there in the sundered field of his own destruction, looking at the main source of the steam–it was no doubt where Constantine had crashed. 

"...That was for you, Gunter," he remarked under his breath, exhaling and inhaling as he found his body exhausted by the extended battle. 

It was perhaps a terrible stroke of luck that this battle of life-and-death occurred within the same day as the Raid Quest, having to deal with the Abyss Dragon and the general of the Reverse King back-to-back. To make matters worse, the mead in his stomach didn't exactly bolter his focus. 

Still, he stood there as the remnants of steam and the passed storm brushed against his light tufts of hair, feeling triumph flowing in his body alongside the feeling of loss. 

'Reverse King…You've made an enemy out of the wrong person. Throw whatever you want at me, I'll trash your subordinates left and right–then you're next,' he promised. 

–Amidst his thoughts, before he could even relax for a minute, he was shocked to be met with a new rumbling before witnessing a burst of fire erupt from the main source of steam in the shattered valley. 

"--?" 

"Raaagh…! Dammit!" 

The familiar, abrasive voice was unmistakable, confirmed by the silhouette within the steam that stood there, swaying side-to-side. As the embers brushed aside, the golden-haired figure was revealed. 

'He's still alive? He's standing, even?!' Jett thought. 

Constantine stood there, a dozen meters across from him, though covered in bruises and cuts, bloody and beaten and clearly exhausted as he breathed heavily as blood dripped from a busted lip. All of that majestic armor was long gone, and all that was left was a half-dead, pint-sized warrior now. 

"...I'm still kickin', so ya better not be believing you won already," Constantine groggily said. 

Jett almost felt like laughing at just how comical the unbreakable spirit and body of his foe really was, though he conjured his dagger and sword into both hands before responding, "I'll finish it now, then." 

Even if the power of [Zeus] was gone now, there was no doubt that his opponent, though more than double his own level, was straddling the line between life and death with how egregious his wounds were. 

'I was hoping that the last attack would've done the job…This guy is something else. I may hate his guts, but even I can admit he's incredibly powerful. Still…I can do this. Somehow, I'm in better shape than him,' he thought. 

Still, even if the golden-haired warrior was covered in wounds, seemingly barely able to stand or hardly hold onto consciousness, there was no doubt in his mind that Constantine was dangerous all the same. 

"Well, c'mon then!" Constantine shouted. 

With nothing else having to be said, it was actions that spoke instead of words as Jett took the initiative, rushing forward as he swung his leaf-made blade against the air. 

FOOSH 

The rangeless slash carved forward, digging up the burnt soil as it howled straight towards the bloody-and-bruised general before he stomped down and swung his arm, deflecting the slash of air with a grit of his teeth. 

"--Rraaagh!" Constantine let out, using his own limb to counter the sharp wind. 

Though he expected a deflection of some sort, he hoped the slash would at least grant him enough time to close the distance, but he found himself on the receiving end of a radiant glare as Constantine' eyes were overtaken by a solar glow. 

"Nnngah!" Constantine yelled. 

–Just then, Jett was forced to duck down and roll to the side as condensed beams of solar energy released from Constantine' eyes, penetrating the air with a burning glare. 

'That was close…! That would've burned right through me!' He thought. 

It was only a brief instance of heat, though, as it seemed to be difficult for the wounded warrior to summon any of his system's strength as he winced after unleashing the solar glare, closing his eyes and shaking his head as steam escaped his eyelids. 

"Nngh…!" Constantine growled in pain. 

There was no better opportunity to get close, having to strain himself as well as his body ran low on mana, yet forcing out a [Wind Burst] to close the distance, relying on his enhanced reflexes to give him the window of opportunity to strike. 

FWISH 

He aimed for Constantine' neck with his dagger of frost, but the bloodied fighter proved to still possess the name swiftness and finesse as before, even with his eyes closed, as he leaned back to avoid the strike. 

'Shit…!' Jett thought. 

Before he could pass by, Constantine grabbed onto his ankle, using his momentum against him to slam him down against the barren soil harshly. 

"--Yer really starting to piss me off!" Constantine angrily said. 

Now that the youthful figure's eyelids were parted again, Jett could see that Constantine' eyes had grown bloodshot, still giving off steam from the solar emission. Even more, the accent that the general had seemed to grow more rough and without manners the more desperate he became. 

Just as Constantine raised his boot to stomp down–

[Blink!]

Jett instantaneously reappeared behind Constantine, having an open opportunity to strike his foe from behind, except one problem:

"Gyak–!"

The strain of continuously pushing the limits of his mana left his muscles to cramp and blood to squeeze out from popped blood vessels in his nose, leading crimson fluid to leak out and interrupt his attack. 

"You–!" Constantine spun around, going for a roundhouse kick straight to the gut. 

Fortunately, Jett managed to defend by crossing both of his weapons, though it only absorbed most of the blow, leaving the aftershock to knock him back. 

"Achilles…! Edith!" He yelled out. 

Invoking the two familiars from [Void Inventory] as he was knocked back, he was caught in the arms of the golden-armored warrior. 

"Gotcha!" Achilles assured him. 

–Meanwhile, the silver-haired spellblade rushed in directly to combat Constantine, enchanting her sword with an aspect of fire as she swung it rapidly at the golden-haired man. 

Constantine was forced on the backfoot with his wounded body, evading the edge of the blade but feeling its heat drawing near, and the heat of passion emitting from its wielder. 

As the one that summoned her, Jett could feel it; Edith was boiling with anger, the same emotion he felt. 

"...I'll kill you! For hurting Master! For killing Gunter!" Edith shouted. 

Constantine sidestepped an overhead strike, jumping back, "It's not very maidenly to make those sorta of threats, is it?! Besides…If your "Master" listened, this all would've been avoided–!"

A lesser radiance armored the knuckles of the reincarnator as he took the silver-haired girl by surprise with a burst of speed, but was intercepted by a unison of Achilles and Jett, who forced Constantine back with an offense of their own. 

"Virale!" He shouted. 

Though he and Achilles had missed their strike, he didn't let up the opportunity as he summoned the elven archer into the fray, who didn't spare a moment already pulling back the string of his bow and unleashing arrows towards Constantine. 

"Nngh–!" Constantine, pushed to his limits, angrily caught one such arrow before it entered his ear. 

SQUELCH 

–Another arrow came, uncaught by Constantine and hitting him right in his left arm, managing to penetrate his skin but failing to go deeper than any deeper than a superficial wound. Even still, it was a sign–a sign for both Jett and those that fought alongside him: the general of the Reverse King was susceptible to their attacks. 

"Tch!" Constantine clicked his tongue, ripping the arrow from the skin of his arm before shattering it in his fist. 

More arrows were launched by the precise, diamond-eyed archer while Jett rushed in alongside Achilles and Edith, coming in from angles all around their foe. They closed in from all around as Constantine looked side-to-side before gritting his teeth and stomping down with a booming force. 

Lifting his foot from the ground, Constantine slammed it down with thunderous force before any of their attacks could reach; with his sheer physical might alone, he created a shock wave that blew outward. 

–Even if he was wounded, even if he was deprived of stamina, the unshakeable reality of it was: Constantine was still [Level 50]. 

"--!" 

The arrows along with those who rushed in were blown backward; though Edith and Achilles caught themselves quickly, Jett wasn't at luxury to waste spells to catch himself. 

'Go!' He thought. 

Aiming his leaf-made blade at the ground below him as he was blown back, he caused the air strike to propel directly beneath him, resetting his momentum with the close-range experience with wind as he bounced to his feet. 

"Just fall already…!" Constantine shouted. 

Before Jett could even get his bearings, he looked up to see the radiant figure forcibly invoking solar power once again as Constantine' stomach housed a visible heat before it rose up his throat then—

"—!" 

Like a dragon, Constantine' shot the beam of pure, solar energy out of his mouth as a roar, swiping it across the valley as it carved against the closest mountains. 

Not taking any risks, he clenched his fist to invoke [Void Inventory], opening the shadowy portals to save his familiars from the scope of the sun-empowered breath. 

"Master–! No!" Edith reached out, not wanting to leave him alone in the battlefield, but alas, she was placed into the pocket realm. 

There was no time to think as he had stumbled forward, falling down purposefully as he both felt and watched the unstable pillar of burning energy soar but a meter over his head. It was so close that he swore some hairs on his head were turned to ash, but there was little time to lament such inconsequential things. 

'...I need to finish this now! I'm burning out! He's burning out! It's a battle of who burns out first—!' He thought.