Breakthrough

Jake immediately released ripples of energy waves as his eyes instantly turned fiery red. 

Rann tilted his head as he observed Jake. Jake wasn't moving as he seemed to be in a static motion. 

"Is he breaking through?" 

Rann was instantly amused. Did he think that as a Sub-Parallel he'd suppress me? Rann laughed subtly as he decided to wait for him to complete his breakthrough. 

"Hey look, Jake is breaking through!" 

Someone within the audience spoke. 

Those who couldn't figure out why Jake had been motionless finally understood. 

"Is that so? Then Rann is finished!" 

"I appreciate him for having such monstrous strength. He could even deal with peak Martial but a Sub-Parallel is another Realm to begin with." 

"Jake's gonna suppress him." 

Even Silverton was completely amused. He did not know that Jake would breakthrough right in the battlefield. Would Rann handle an assault from a Sub-Parallel? Many thoughts went like that. 

After a while, Jake's eyes opened as he exhales letting off all foreign essence energy off his body. 

A smile eluded his pretty face. 

"How about now Rann? Are you confident?" 

Rann shrugged. 

Jake immediately drew his chains. 

These chains as a result of Jake's innate bloodline as Chain Master. 

Jake had wanted to use the chains because, as a Martial it didn't suppress Rann. But as a Sub-Parallel, it might do the work. 

Knowing that the duel was taking another twist, Rann finally grew serious. Jake was definitely going to become difficult. 

As the chain approached him at an insane speed, both the void and the air locked leaving nowhere for Rann to escape through and of course the minute those chains grabs him, then, it's definitely gonna be over. 

Rann let out a small sigh. 

A thousand rivers Shift Space: 

Suddenly, Rann swapped position with Jake who felt that he had gotten Rann only for the chain to grow taut and grab the air. 

Wait, what...

He swiftly turned and that moment, Rann's palm collided on his chest with Starburst Palm. 

A force akin to that of a high speeding train had slammed into Jake causing him to spit a mouthful of blood. 

'How is this possible?' 

Was there still disparity? Yes there was but it was no longer a bottomless pit as it had been when he was a Martial. 

A Lieutenant and a Sub-Parallel and a Lieutenant suppressing a Sub-Parallel when has that ever been possible. 

Rann himself didn't get too cocky. If not for his special technique that allows his essence energy to swap places with another, he wouldn't have been able to escape the chains. 

Jake turned to Rann.

"How are you doing it?" He gritted his teeth and Rann smiled. 

Although he didn't answer Jake's question, that was enough to make Jake even angrier. 

Color Impact:

Jake screamed and everything instantly lost it's color and Jake screamed once again.

Palm Strike: 

The void fluctuated causing the sky to part ways. 

Rann sighed. 

Another powerful technique... how would he dodge this? His initial plan was ruined when Silverton erected a barrier that would prevent them from being caught up with the strange weather changes. 

Immediately, Rann's face lit up. 

Ember of light intertwined with darkness surrounded him. As he watched his body colorless and the palm Strike descending, the ember of light caused Rann's color to return while the ember of darkness formed tendrils that formed a barrier. 

When the palm Strike landed, the barrier of tendrils shattered and at the same time the palm Strike was neutralized. 

If he had allowed that palm Strike to land while he still lost his color, it would have been easy for Jake to defeat him. 

'Why did it seem like things just got even difficult?' 

Rann massaged his temples with a small sigh. 

Star Art: 

A strange star materialized in Rann's palm through his essence as it orbited around. It made for a beautiful yet strange scene of space and the celestial bodies. Just one star... 

Jake froze as a sense of crisis overwhelmed him. 

What the hell is that feeling?

The star was enlarged as his essence of life filled the Art before him. The art of a star... no, the art of stars. He managed to manifest just one star and it was enough to create foreboding in the heart of anyone looking at such mighty star. 

When Rann felt that it was enough, he turned to Jake who stilled. 

Is this guy really a Lieutenant. How can a Lieutenant cause him to feel crisis? 

Is he a Skymender? No! Maybe he's parallel and he sealed himself. But... what was this power? 

"Will you give up or should I send it down?" 

Jake's eyes twitched. 

And then, he frowned. He was never accepting defeat. And with the look on his face Rann could tell. 

"Ok, suit yourself!" 

He sent the first star which moved toward Jake at an alarming speed. Rann wasn't done, he manifested another star. Jake's eyes bulged out. 

Is he really going to defeat me with stars? 

When the first star neared Jake, he had caught it, but the gale from the star pushed him back. The light from the star instantly scorched him. The force from the star immediately pushed him backwards. 

Another star was added to the fray.

It was as though the heavens was colliding on him. 

What kind of a technique was this? 

And yet another star added. 

From the sideline, Rann was controlling the stars. It was as though he was playing with it not exerting even a bit of strength at all while Jake felt as though the entire world was closing in on him. 

One star was powerful enough to send him into misery and here was three stars. 

"You wanna give up honorably or be defeated in shame?" Rann still asked hoping that Jake would be rather thoughtful. 

"You cannot defeat me!" Jake gritted his teeth. 

Rann smiled. 

"Ok!" 

He immediately detonated the first star and an excruciating pain wracked Jake's whole being. An explosion from the first star caused the air to split in two and space froze. 

Jake's body was charred by the intense heat. 

The barrier broke only to be restored. 

Rann immediately detonated the second star. 

Boom! 

The force caused Jake to crash into the ground as a large crater was formed underneath him. 

Rann lowered the third star. 

By now everyone was quiet not knowing what to think entirely. 

He was a freak! A freaking freak! 

The moment the star lowered, Jake screamed:

"I give up!" 

His body disintegrated into dust returning him straight to the ancient stone at the bottom of the hill just outside Heaven's Monument.