Adrian lost patience.
His fire rose higher around both fists while the flas turned from orange to white-hot. The temperature spiked so fast that nearby car windows began cracking from thermal stress.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
People retreated farther down the street while still filming from behind whatever cover they could find.
The influencer’s voice ca through his livestream shaky and breathless. "He’s—holy shit, the fire’s getting hotter. Everyone move back!"
Adrian prepared an attack strong enough to cripple Jas or possibly kill him if it landed clean.
Even the crowd could feel this was different from the earlier punches because the air itself distorted from the heat while Adrian’s flas condensed into a concentrated point around his right fist.
Jas was too hurt to dodge properly.
He tried to move, but his broken ribs made breathing painful and his burned shoulder wouldn’t respond fast enough.
Adrian’s voice was furious and dangerous. "If you won’t talk standing, you’ll talk broken."
Jas braced himself while raising his sword defensively even though he knew it wouldn’t be enough.
The attack began.
Before Adrian’s fire-charged fist could connect, the flas collapsed.
Not faded.
Collapsed.
The air above the street beca heavy while invisible weight pressed down on everything within twenty ters. Adrian’s white-hot flas flattened and shrank around his fist until they were barely visible.
A TRB Enforcent Captain appeared between them.
He was older, maybe mid-fifties, with gray hair and calm eyes that had seen worse fights than this. His uniform was dark blue with silver enforcent badges on the shoulders.
His power was gravity suppression.
The whole area felt like it was being pushed down by an invisible hand while even breathing beca slightly harder.
Adrian tried to pull his arm back, but his fist wouldn’t move because the gravity around it had increased to the point where lifting his arm felt like lifting a car.
The captain grabbed Adrian’s wrist before forcing it down to his side without visible effort.
"That’s enough."
His voice was calm and professional.
Adrian glared at him while fire still flickered weakly around his trapped hand, but he didn’t attack because the captain’s power clearly outmatched his.
The captain looked at Jas too.
Jas was wounded, bloodied, and barely standing while leaning on his sword for support.
The captain’s expression didn’t change. "Both of you are under arrest for public Challenger combat, property destruction, use of dangerous abilities in a civilian zone, and endangering civilians."
Jas tried to speak. "He attacked first—"
The captain cut him off. "The footage will decide that. Not you."
Two more TRB agents appeared from vehicles that had just arrived. They moved quickly while pulling out anti-skill cuffs designed to suppress a Challenger’s abilities.
The cuffs clicked shut around Adrian’s wrists.
Then around Jas’s.
[COMBAT ABILITIES SUPPRESSED]
[MANA ACCESS: BLOCKED]
[SKILL ACTIVATION: DISABLED]
Jas felt his connection to his necromancy cut off imdiately while the cuffs drained his mana access.
Both Jas and Adrian were led toward separate TRB vehicles in front of everyone still watching.
Adrian’s face was furious, but he didn’t fight the captain because doing so would only make things worse.
Jas was too hurt to resist even if he wanted to.
The livestream caught everything while the viewer count continued climbing.
[LIVE STREAM: 921,330 VIEWERS]
@TowerNews: TRB finally arrived
@GlobalWatch: They arrested both of them
@WitnessAccount: Adrian started it though
@IrishNews: Jas looks badly hurt
@ChallengerFeed: That officer shut Adrian down like nothing
@DublinLocal: Who is that TRB captain?
@TowerGlobal: This is going everywhere
Alia watched Jas being taken away while blood dripped from his split lip and his clothes were burned and torn.
She wanted to say sothing, but her voice wouldn’t co out.
Jas glanced at her briefly while being led past.
That glance showed he saw her and knew she was alive.
Then he was gone.
The street was left damaged with broken glass, burned pavent, destroyed cars, a collapsed lounge wall, and people still filming from behind cover while ergency sirens approached in the distance.
The public scandal was already out of control.
Hours later, Jas sat in a TRB holding room.
His face was bruised with a split lip and swollen cheek. His ribs were wrapped tightly enough to keep them stable. His shoulder had been treated with burn gel to stop the damage from worsening, but the injury still throbbed with dull pain.
Outside the Tower, injuries didn’t heal instantly like they did inside.
Jas’s tone was quiet and guarded when the TRB officer questioned him.
The officer had the livestream footage pulled up on a tablet along with witness statents and Alia’s dical report docunting second-degree burns around her neck.
"Adrian Ganner attacked you first?"
"Yes."
"He burned Ms. Hartley’s neck before threatening the room?"
"Yes."
"You summoned undead skeletons in a public civilian area?"
"To protect people from his fire."
The officer made notes without looking up. "You used combat-class abilities outside Tower jurisdiction."
Jas said nothing because there was no defense for that.
"You’re being charged with unauthorized use of Challenger abilities in a civilian zone and contributing to property damage totaling approximately €127,000. Self-defense reduces the severity, but it doesn’t erase the violation."
Jas accepted the fine without arguing.
He didn’t ntion Derek.
He didn’t ntion Dock 7.
He didn’t ntion Roman.
He only said Adrian attacked him and he defended himself.
The officer told him the fine would be €15,000 plus restitution paynts for the damaged property.
Jas nodded once.
TRB decided not to hold either Jas or Adrian for long because the situation was politically sensitive and already public.
No civilians had died.
Alia and multiple witnesses confird Adrian started the confrontation.
The livestream footage showed Adrian burning Alia’s neck, threatening the room, attacking Jas first, and throwing fire near civilians while Jas’s skeletons blocked flas and kept people away from the fight.
Jas was still fined because he used combat abilities in public and damaged property during the fight, but his actions were treated mostly as self-defense.
Adrian received the heavier fine because he initiated the violence, threatened civilians, injured Alia, caused major property damage, and escalated the fight with increasingly dangerous attacks.
Ganner Corp lawyers arrived within two hours.
Jas’s uncle used his influence to push for a controlled settlent instead of prolonged detention. TRB accepted heavy fines, property compensation, dical compensation for Alia, and public warnings instead of holding both n longer.
TRB agreed because keeping two Ganners locked up would turn the matter into a bigger political fight between Ganner Corp, TRB, and the guild world that nobody wanted.
The fines were paid.
The charges were processed.
Both n were released before midnight.
Jas walked out of the TRB building slowly while his face was still wounded and his movents were stiff from the broken ribs.
His uncle was waiting outside beside a black car with tinted windows.
Adrian wasn’t beside him because Ganner Corp handled Adrian separately with different lawyers and different vehicles.
Jas’s uncle looked at Jas’s face before speaking with fake concern that sounded practiced and polite. "Jas. We should talk."
Jas didn’t answer while walking past him toward the street.
His uncle followed. "The situation beca ugly. Family matters should not be handled in public." He paused. "I helped settle this before it beca worse."
Jas stopped for half a second, but he didn’t look grateful.
His uncle continued, "You are still a Ganner, Jas. That ans sothing."
Jas looked at him once.
His expression was cold.
Then he turned away and kept walking down the empty street while ignoring the car waiting behind him.
"Jas," his uncle called again.
Jas kept walking.
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