Jax explained to the voice inside his head. "I an the one that has been around from the beginning. The one that grants quests and tasks."
The voice of the woman replied with genuine confusion. "I don’t get a single thing you are talking about. And what do you an by from the beginning I got inside you? Rember, you were the one who walked into my graveyard?"
Jax said. "Graveyard?"
She said with the exasperation of soone explaining sothing to a toddler for the third ti. "Oh god, you are stupid. How did Mother like you? Listen, you dummy. You ca from the place I was sealed in. And from there I have been following you around."
Realization hit Jax. "Wait. Do you an the rumored Witch of Calamity? Or sothing like that?"
"That’s . But I have a far better na and it’s Echidna. Which was blessed to by my Mother Almighty. And she is the one who told to help you."
Jax’s brain was reaching its processing limit. "What’s going on here? First you’re telling so Celestials are hunting for . Then there is so ’Mother Almighty’ of yours who sohow got attached to . And then there is you. The Witch of Calamity herself. Who sneaked into my body uninvited."
He added. "Not to ntion every woman in this world wanting to either slave or cuddle . Why does the whole damn world center around ?"
The voice shot back. "Oi, Mr. Delusional. Don’t think so highly of yourself. I am here because soone told to be here. Soone I can’t turn down. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing so babysitting job for a clueless boy."
Before Jax could squeeze another question out of her, Zharina interrupted by charging at him with another devastating punch.
Jax clicked his tongue and raised his only remaining sword. The one in terrible condition. And hoped to every god that was apparently watching that the unbreakable description in its stats would hold true one more ti.
The punch connected against his blade. His left palm slamd against the top of the sword to brace the impact and the force left a bloody imprint where his skin split against the tal.
But the power behind her fist was just too much. It overpowered his defense and the impact sent him rolling across the arena floor again. The only good news was that the sword was still in one piece. Barely.
He glanced at his HP bar.
[HP: 30,000 / 80,000]
’I didn’t even take a direct hit and it’s already dropped this much. One clean shot and it’s ga over for .’
He planted the sword into the ground and used it as support to drag himself back to his feet.
Zharina was circling him. Moving around him slowly like a predator deciding which angle to strike from next. She fixed her gauntlet casually while talking.
"Professor, you wanted to know why I gave you a fair chance to get out of the ss you foolishly created by signing that blood contract?"
She continued without waiting for an answer. "To be honest, I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know what changed my mind. Or why I felt defeated just by looking at you as a professor."
Her voice carried sothing that wasn’t mockery or taunting. Sothing honest.
"I can’t tell what turned my path of revenge into admiration toward you. Despite knowing what kind of evil person you are."
She stopped circling. "But there is no denying the fact that you were a far better professor than I ever was. I was there every single ti you stood by your students. Every ti they were in trouble. Well, great trouble if we’re putting it correctly."
Her eyes found his.
"You didn’t care about what helping them might cost you. You didn’t care about the tournant that I spent more than two weeks plotting to use against you. You just charged in and did what needed to be done."
She said it simply. "You opened my eyes. Made realize the path I was walking was leading to the complete opposite of what I had dedicated my life to."
Jax was losing his mind. First so ancient witch was ssing with him from inside his own skull. And now this woman was hitting him with an emotional backstory mid-fight. Everyone around him seed contractually obligated to deliver incomplete information followed by a cliffhanger.
Zharina read his expression and smiled. Then her tone shifted.
"You know, I was brought to this land as a slave. A sex slave to be specific. And I was sold to a perverted old man when I was just ten."
The arena felt quieter even though the broadcasting was still off.
"I had nothing at that ti. No parents. No mana. No magic. Nothing except a brutal past. And things would have turned out even worse if the sale had gone through."
She looked at her gauntlets.
"But before the deal could close, the entire auction house witnessed a slaughter. One that still counts as an unsolved mystery in this land."
She paused.
"It was done by a professor of this very academy. He saved along with the others and helped everyone get back to their families or relatives."
Her voice softened.
"But for there was no one to go back to. So he took in."
She clenched her fist.
"I lived with him. And soon the bond between us turned into sothing like a family. He treated like his own daughter. He taught everything about martial arts and battle strategies since my mana core was underdeveloped and magic wasn’t a path I could rely on."
She looked up at the sky above the arena.
"Everything was going too good. I had a master who was close to a father. A place to call ho. Other children I could call friends. But then fate played its cruel turn."
Her jaw tightened.
"I discovered that the man I called master was a Celestial. A being created using the primordial gods’ power and permission. And worse, he had abandoned the Empyrean Realm. Betrayed his kind. And was hiding inside the academy. Or rather, he had chosen to reside here as part of his own plans."
She lowered her gaze back to Jax.
"It was seven years ago when he told everything. Because he knew I was about to be abandoned again. He could feel the presence of his father along with others coming to kill him."
Her grip on the gauntlets tightened until her knuckles went white.
"And in his last monts, he gave these. His divine weapons. And fused every last drop of his celestial energy into them. Because he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against what was coming."
-x-X-x-
[ A/N: Huge Shoutout to Jut_Beanz for the amazing car❤️ and thanks to DaoistbskKra, Outsxder, Katelyn_Morgan_0330, Jut_Beanz, Joshua_Cutler, Eduardo_Vicentini_6015 , Ordici_T and tony_adams_4787 for the golden tickets (sorry if i missed anyone)
(づ*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)づ♡
Also sorry guys for missing yesterday’s update! It was my birthday and so friends ca over — ended up spending the whole day gaming, and well... the hangover did the rest 💀 I know I know, but cut so slack, it was my first day off after writing continuously for 192 days. I think I earned that one 😅]
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