Chapter 708 - More and More Surprises

While Jack struggled to keep his proud face, Halmut clutched Jack's hand and tore off the hero's storage rings while breaking his hand in the process. "How dare you hide your card?! COWARD!!"

But Halmut's face suddenly shifted as well. From seething rage, Halmut's frown became deeper and now showed fury of disbelief. "WHERE IS IT?!?!"

"What?" Jack laughed again, enduring the pain as he limply and willingly lifted his other arm to the dragon. "Go ahead… Check my other hand… I don't mind…"

Halmut did just that. He savagely broke Jack's other hand as he ripped the rings from Jack's fingers, again stumped and infuriated.

"Can't find what you're looking for?" Jack chuckled again.

Burying his claw back into Jack's torso, Halmut twisted his claws around, tearing away at Jack's internals. "WHERE IS IT?!?!"

"I should ask… the same… about your… map?" Jack managed to utter his sarcastic question.

"HOW--"

"Then I must be right…" Jack laughed more as Halmut tortured his physical body. But Jack's laughing suddenly ended as his mind was racked with pain from his double's torture. To Halmut, it appeared his attacks were finally working but Jack soon disconnected his mind from his second body and smiled again. "If you're angry at that… then you have to have one… There it is…"

"THERE'S WHAT?!" Halmut shouted, covering Jack in more flames.

However, Jack's flame body made of combined spectral flames and hellfire burned Halmut's claw while negating the brunt of Halmut's attack.

"Thank you…"

That was the last thing Jack said before he teleported away.

"JAAAAAAAAACK!!!"

Halmut scanned over Jack's rings again and again but failed to find anything inside of them, not even a single gold coin. Also, Halmut refused to believe that Jack still had the energy to use his attacks and teleport after what should've killed most gods.

'FOOL!' a voice shouted within Halmut's mind, instantly forcing Halmut to stop his tantrum. 'Check your map!'

The next second Halmut went from quietly obedient to passionately fuming. "HOW DARE HE?!?!?!"

The accompanying Flood Dragons were terrified as they backed away from the raging Sun Dragon. Tralbok was hesitant to say something but soon realized what had just taken place. "Your excellency, we must hurry!"

"I KNOW!!"

Without giving any order, Halmut rocketed away while covered in lightning and wind energy. He showed no care for those in his party, letting them straggle along behind him as he raced toward the end of the maze.

*****

'Jack, we've found--'

Before Lunara could report their find, an unexpected flash of spatial energy let Jack plop onto Moranti's back. And before Lunara finished her report, she immediately pulled out her most powerful potion. "JACK?!"

"I'm… fine…" Jack tried to tell his mom not to worry but she was already forcing the potion down his throat. The hole in Jack's torso and most of his burns were already healing, but now they were speedily repairing themselves at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. "Thanks, Mom…"

"What in Kartonia were you doing?!" Lunara shouted, looking over Jack as if he was just revived from a corpse. "With injuries like that, how are you even alive and in the competition, let alone--"

"I just needed to confirm something…" Jack interjected, not wanting her to freak out too much. "It paid off…"

"And your storage rings?! What about those?!"

"Don't need them… right, Moranti?" As the Spectral Dragon laughed, catching onto Jack's hint, A tightly wrapped scroll appeared in Jack's hand.

Lunara was puzzled. "B-but… How--"

'Ever heard of the skill 'Pocket Dimension'?' Jack joked, continuing the conversation telepathically. 'All that matters… Is that we have a map now…'

'A what?!' Both Lunara and Moratni questioned, failing to grasp what Jack meant.

Before saying another word, Jack unfurled the scroll and allowed his system to scan it. The next moment, Jack stored it away again and chuckled. 'Moranti, make two lefts, a right, and then go straight… We'll reach the treasure chamber.'

'Jack, who did this?!' Lunara demanded an answer to her worries. 'How could you let this happen?! If you can teleport and escape, why would you allow yourself to get captured?!'

'For Rikko's theft skill to work properly and steal the right item… I need to be in physical contact with Halmut for quite a while…'

'YOU LET HALMUT DO THIS TO YOU?!' shouted Lunara, sharing Moranti's shock. 'You could've died?! How would we have ever--'

'Calm down, Mom. I'm not so easy to kill…' Jack sighed, forcing his body to sit up so he could put his hands on Lunara's shoulders. 'Right now, Halmut and no other one-star cosmician should be able to kill me. Sure, I'll still feel the pain… But they won't be able to kill me. Trust me, okay?'

'I--'

'Mom, please trust me,' Jack insisted. 'I may choose some tactics that greatly harm my body, but I'll only do so if I believe the risk is worth it.'

'We can trust him, Lunara,' Moranti added, catching the goddess off guard.

'What do you mean?! Have you two--'

'I'll explain everything after we finish the challenge, Mom. But for now, you'll have to trust me.'

With Lunara forcibly talked down and Moranti nearing the next section of the keep, Jack hurriedly contacted Daruun. 'Gramps, we've got a major problem! I got caught the moment I entered the chateau by a shadowy man named 12-13.'

'WHAT?!' Daruun shouted in distress, the first time Jack had ever heard such a thing from the all-knowing Daruun. 'Are you sure that's what he goes by?!'

'Yes. He made a barrier restricting telepathy passing to the outside of the chateau and asked about a nexus. Also, Halmut now has two-star items that Oli banned and a map of the keep.'

'WHAAAT?!?!' Daruun's shouts grew even louder. 'I'll handle it from here! Go ahead with your plan, but don't make a move on Olympic Chateau. Leave that to me!'

A sigh of relief left Jack's mouth as Daruun finally agreed to take control. Knowing that alone was the greatest relief, giving the strongest of everyone the ability to finally act without any holds barred.

*****

Back in the waiting room, everyone had been horrified of Halmut's treatment of the captured Jack, but they were also curious what that purple core was supposed to be. Yet they were all puzzled when Jack proved able to escape all along.

While most cosmicians were in awe of both Halmut and Jack, the legendary gods who had already been sidelined were amazed to see that Jack was still breathing and alive while in Halmut's clutches. They were further convinced that facing Jack and the other gods was becoming more and more futile, on top of what they had learned from Oli about their so-called stimulants.

'OLI!'

Alerted by Daruun's anxious tone, Oli hopped to his feet and smiled. 'Does this mean--'

'I'm still too far out. You're up against who I believe is an ISA agent who goes by 12-13. A replacement is already inbound to host the challenge and send you to deal with the problem,' stated Daruun, being succinct yet extremely detailed. 'He has my son, so I expect no mercy.'

Still in his draconic, gorilla-like form, Oli pounded his chest in excitement. 'Consider it done!'