Sparta was a broken titan. Under the immense weight of Jee-shahn's aura, the
bronze-scaled Lizardman trembled, his bones groaning like tectonic plates. Despite
the crushing gravity, Sparta forced his body forward, taking agonizing steps toward
Jee-shahn with a roar of pure, desperate rage.
Jee-shahn, lounging in a way that suggested he was more interested in a nap than a
duel, let out a lazy, sharp smile. "You're quite interesting," he rumbled, his azure eyes
flashing with a spark of genuine curiosity. "Absolute silence."
Snap.
With a casual flick of his fingers, a wave of shimmering azure energy rippled outward.
It wasn't a blast; it was a cosmic deletion. The wave flowed through the canyon like a
scythe, bypassing Sora and Leo entirely. In a single heartbeat, the heads of Valerius
and every one of the 100,000 kneeling soldiers were neatly severed from their bodies.
Sparta, who was inches away from Jee-shahn, was cut clean in two. His massive body
fell to the ground, scales clattering against stone as his vertical slit eyes remained
fixed on the "Monster" standing over him.
The Blood of Rebirth
Jee-shahn looked down at the dying general, who was taking his final, ragged
breaths. "I'd have loved to see you as my student," Jee-shahn remarked, his tone as
casual as if he were discussing the weather.
Sparta's voice was a guttural wheeze. "I also... would love to be your student...
perhaps in the next life."
Jee-shahn's grin widened. He picked up a rusted dagger from the dirt and made a
small cut on his own finger. The wound healed instantly, but not before a single,
pulsing drop of azure blood fell, landing directly into Sparta's mouth.
"What about just one more try in this life?" Jee-shahn asked.
The reaction was violent. Sparta's severed halves didn't just join; they dissolved into
light as his body reconstructed itself with terrifying speed. He rose from the dust
stronger than before, his bronze scales hardening into obsidian and his wings
erupting into massive, leathery sails that blotted out the stars.
The Titan of the Canyons fell to his knees by choice this time. "Yes, Master," Sparta
roared, his voice a deep, vibrating chord of loyalty.
The Departure
Jee-shahn let out a long, thunderous yawn, his "cultivation fatigue" returning in full
force. "I'm tired of all this. I need some relaxing cultivation. I'm taking my leave now."
He glanced at the carnage. "Sparta, you come back when the Lizard is done eating."
The sapphire crown on Jee-shahn's head dissolved into the small Azure Lizard, which
jumped onto Sparta's newly armored shoulder. "I don't think it'll take much time," the
Lizard chirped telepathically, "but I'll try to be back in a few hours once I've finished
my meal.""Take your time," Jee-shahn muttered, already climbing back into the obsidian
carriage.
Sora, ever the eficient subordinate, quickly grabbed the severed head of the "Pervert
Wolf" Valerius and stufed it into a chest, while Leo sat in the carriage in a state of
catatonic shock.
As the carriage began to roll back toward the capital, Jee-shahn was already fast
asleep, his snoring drowning out the echoes of the massacre behind them. Sora
rested his feet on the chest containing Valerius's head, whistling a cheerful tune as he
calculated the rewards.