Jayden sensed it.
The feel of Vanis's blood lust had shifted from him unto his father.
Luke was already getting fatigued from using this much mana during the fight.
Whether Vanis wanted to admit it, he had already received some decent blows here, that combined with his internal injuries already reduced his durability and his mana output, at his best, he could have destroyed Jayden as well as his father completely.
And lastly, Jayden, mana wise, he was still good, but he had lost a hand and that was a huge loss.
Calculations were running through his mind on how he and his dad would win before he remembered something, pieces to an old puzzle finally appearing.
"Hey Vanis, did you fight me here before the great reset?"
Turning his attention from Luke, he answered, "Yes, I did. It was a marvellous fight unlike the disappointing one I'm receiving here."
"Then you're the one who killed my parents here last time, right?" Jayden asked, his blood beginning to boil once more.
Vanis smiled, his demonic canines in full view this time. "You're right, I did, what does that change?"
"A lot of things, I'm sorry dad." Jayden apologized, head bowed as appearing before his father, he teleported them to the shelter where everyone else were.
He stared at everyone who gazed back at him in shock.
Many people already knew Jayden, more so from the tournament and one thing they could all attest for was his strength so seeing him with one of his hands burnt away gave the citizens an idea of how strong the enemy was.
"I'll be done with this fight very soon. Trust me and stay here." Jayden said to his father, although he avoided his gaze, right before disappearing again.
"Jayden! NO…"
Appearing back on the field, he breathed out with guilt before shouting out.
"2, I need your help."
As if waiting for the call, a blur of light approached them and 2 stopped, the fading head of an undead gripped tightly in his hand.
"Y'know what to do?" Jayden asked.
"Of course. Full release." 2 grinned, his smile wicked and blood seeking.
"We'll kill this guy now, just the two of us."
Both original and clone rushed forward towards Vanis, who in response began to rain balls of flame on them.
"Lightning rain." 2 shouted.
Sparks of lightnings began to rain across the battlefield and hit all the meteors.
Running towards Vanis, 2 threw a punch, dodged one and blew out a breath of ice.
Vanis pulled back and threw his punch but a mud hand intercepted the blow reducing the force as the attack hit Jayden surprisingly.
This was the plan they had decided to use.
Since 2 was created before Jayden lost his hand, he still retained his right hand, but the disadvantage remained that he couldn't withstand an attack from Vanis since he was a clone.
That was when Jayden came in, swapping at just the right moment.
Jayden could take the brunt of the attack while 2 would counterattack.
A low risk variation of the way Jayden and Luke were fighting before.
Jayden would be the shield with 2, the spear.
"Command skill: Stop."
Not enough to stop Vanis for more than a second but more than enough for 2 to swap back and allow Jayden to deliver a mana charged kick fueled with the combination of different elemental magic.
Vanis flew into the sky but the duo weren't done yet.
Vanis tried to kick Jayden mid air but controlling the air, he was pushed off balance and barely grazed him.
Using that as an opportunity, 2 from below speared him into the air.
Standing in the air, they began to switch to hand to hand combat.
Jumping over a sweep kick, Vanis summoned flaming phoenix birds and aimed it at Jayden.
Tanking the attack with a wind shield, he bent to which 2 jumped over him and landed a kick straight to the jaw.
Falling from the force, 2 elongated his hand and flung Vanis back into the air.
"Were going up, right?
Jayden gave a thumbs up as he then summoned water blades and created a smoke screen.
Meanwhile, down in Avarice.
Luke had run out with other knights as soon as he had regained enough energy and spotted them in the air, feeling the mana pressure from up there.
"They are going to space. I have to help him a little bit more." Luke clenched his teeth as he gripped Xelvicar tightly in his hand.
Summoning the last of his mana reserves, the air around him began to shift violently as he compressed it into Xelvicar.
Running up to him and noticing what he was planning to do, King Clenor decided to aid him and began to feed its mana to the sword.
"Everyone let us help the child that is sacrificing himself to save us." the king ordered.
What started as a simple attempt at strengthening Xelvicar turned into a full scale operation and soon everyone in the centre began to give out their mana, no matter how large or small it was and the sword continued to absorb it.
Alas, mana of different origin could not mix naturally and soon it began to vibrate and spark wildly around Xelvicar.
"Oh damn! Its going to blow up." Luke thought in dread.
Luckily an advisor to the king, one without mana but the magic of catalyst, came forward.
And with the aid of a spatial magic user, Luke was in the air chasing after Jayden, the protector of Avarice.
A flame super charged fist from a pissed off Vanis was about to hit 2 when time stopped completely, excepting Jayden and 2 of course.
"2 titles in one afternoon, can't you humans leave me alone" A white glowing orb that appeared, spoke.
"What are you?" Jayden asked as he looked around, noticing everything had stopped.
"I am fate, a constellation, one of the strongest in history in the past, the present and the future." the voice replied rather smugly.
Hearing it was a constellation, Jayden became immediately alert and moved a bit from the glowing orb.
Observing it, Jayden noticed that the voice sounded like that of a bored teenager as the light lazily orbited around him.
"Don't be so uptight, I just want to tell you about your new title."
"Title?" 2 asked, his mood shifting slightly from tense to curious.
"Ugh, I didn't bother explaining it to the other girl since she was already half dead at the time, but basically it's like the effect of achieving a great feat or what you're seen by the majority or people with higher power, although majority wins more of the time."
The orb stopped talking as if wanting the knowledge to sink into Jayden's head.
"To be put simpler, you earned the title as the {The protector of Avarice}, so basically when in Avarice and when you're doing good, you get stronger. Do you understand?"
"Hmm, so it's basically like a conditioned power up?"
"Exactly, you're quick on the uptake. I like that. Your power up is not going to last long as you're about to leave the range of Avarice. You're planning on taking this fight to space right? So do as much damage to that disgrace for me before you leave, okay?"
"Why are you helping me? Aren't you a constellation?"
"Yeah, I am, but I'm a neutral one, and also I hate weaklings like him, but the most important reason is because…"
The orb got very close to his face and suddenly it's voice became very excited.
"I cant seem to see your fate, I couldn't even influence it, whether you die now or you don't, I can't see it nor do I know what will happen next, so I'm quite interested in what you are, and lastly I can't seem to interfere with humans here. Don't die, human."
The orb began to fade away before it suddenly said " I think you should dodge that, it seems he packed more than it looks. Might break a bone."
Looking forward, Jayden shifted a little as time reverted to normal.
The punch missed and a huge sound wave that shook the air was felt from behind Jayden's ear.
"This is my chance, before we leave Avarice."
Understanding what came next, 2 rushed Vanis and shouted "Three!"
Activating the skill, Doubler, the most complicated skill that Jayden had in his arsenal as of now.
2 shot out a lightning blade that hit Vans straight in the chest .
"Six" And Jayden responded with an uppercut that sent Vanis higher into the air.
Doubler was a complex skill that had conditions attached to it.
It doubled the strength of an attack by the number called at the beginning of the skill which each successive attack.
Then came the conditions; one, the barrage of attacks have a two second cool down, which means that the person has to land another attack within two seconds of the last attacks, lest the caster will be stuck in place for the amount of seconds he started the skill with.
Secondly, the chosen number at the beginning must have its doubled number said by the casters after landing an attack, or else the skill gets canceled out.
It was a high risk, high reward skill that could get you killed if used wrongly.
"Nine." 2 smiled as he threw a punch to Vanis face but expecting it, bent backwards avoiding the attack and using his feet, shot out an attack.
"Switch." Jayden endured the fire attack that slightly burnt off his skin and before he could move he froze.
This was what Vanis had been waiting for, a slip up that would cost Jayden.
He had underestimated humans, that he was aware, so he was going all out, no holding back.
"Meteor of extinction." Vanis said as he brought his hand down and a gigantic meteor, the size of Avarice, began to fall, about to crush Jayden.
2 tried to slow it down, but the superheated air and shock waves were too much damage for 2 and he faded away, unable to stop it.
"Die, along with humanity, Fantasy!" Vanis roared, victory already in his sights.
The three second cool down had ended but the meteor was almost at his face, his ears already bleeding, his skin burning away.
His life began to flash before his eyes, the end looking near.
Suddenly, a speeding blur of green zoomed past him and although his ears were nearly deaf, he made out the words.
"Aura Extension: Endless Winds. Catalyst Execution."
Luke screamed in determination as he began to slice every part of the meteor at the speed of mach ten.
His hands ached and bled, almost to the point of his bones crushing but he kept on cutting and cutting, because if there was anyone in Avarice, no, the whole world who could possibly cut at the speed of mach ten, it was definitely and only Luke Reginald.
"I am the strongest swordsman in the world." Luke hyped himself, his blood boiling in excitement.
The meteor now pieces of rubble falling from the sky, Luke clenched his teeth and raising his sword for the last time, summoned the mana of everyone in Avarice and compressed it into a single line of mana.
The white mana of the fairy queen enveloped him and twisted around the blade.
"This is for kiling Sabrina. Die, you bastard."
The air didn't ripple, it smoothly failed to account for the speed and precision of the blade's path for an instant.
From the middle of his skull till the bottom of his navel, a white line appeared.
No feeling, as if nothing existed there, then after a second, blood began to spray, finally acknowledging the ultimate blade strike of Luke Reginald, a strike that cut on the scale of single atoms.
"Now, it's your turn, Fantasy." Luke whispered as with a gentle gust of wind, he blew Jayden up towards Vanis.
Having exhausted every bit of his mana, grasping Xelvicar he began to fall to the ground, along the rubble from the meteor.
"Xelvicar, protect him and take him down safely." Jayden commanded urgently.
The sword obeyed as releasing itself from Luke's unconscious grasp, it went underneath him and bean to slowly bring it down.
Clenching his teeth, he looked around him and controlling all the falling meteor parts, he sent them back to Vanis.
They slammed back to him with force and not stopping there, they caged Vanis.
Using this opportunity, he gathered mana in his feet and speared Vanis through the cage upward until the ground vanished beneath them.
His breathing stopped and he began to lose grip on Vanis who despite his bleeding injury, tried to attack back relentlessly punching Jayden continuously.
"I can't go out of earth. I won't be able to get back after I kill this fool. I need to stop him." Vanis thought as he noticed himself being hoisted into space.
Suddenly three golden sheets of mana sprouted from Jayden's back.
One wrapped itself around Jayden's neck and suddenly he could breathe again.
The other two held Vanis's hand in place as Jayden continued to blast him out of the atmosphere at light speed.
The line around his neck disappeared yet his breathing remained normal.
This was the first time Logic Disruption had acted without Jayden's instruction, saving him from suffocation.
Reaching space, Jayden spun wildly, clenching a piece of Vanis's cloak and threw him into an asteroid belt.
"Let's end this. NOW" Jayden roared as he charged towards Vanis, the battle about to reach it's climax.