Chapter 292 : Every God Has A Chin Worth Punching

Jax was frustrated. Genuinely frustrated. He asked Echidna inside his mind. "I’ve fought a Celestial before. But right now a mere weapon of a Celestial is giving me this much trouble. It’s just a cheat. Hercules must have been some kind of rank holder among them."

A laugh echoed through his skull. Childish, The kind of giggle that belonged to someone who found stupidity genuinely entertaining.

"Do you really think you could survive a Celestial? Dear, you can’t stand in their gaze for a single minute, let alone fight one. I mean, struggling against a mere weapon tells me exactly how pathetically weak you are."

She added casually. "And just to mention, no Celestial can leave the upper realm unless they are granted permission by the primordial gods. So whoever you encountered was probably an ascendant."

Jax said. "Ascendant?"

"Somewhat like an ascendant Celestial. They are chosen by the real scummy Celestials who don’t have direct authority over the mortal realm. In exchange for power, these ascendants monitor the mortal world and help maintain balance. Either by acting on the Celestials’ behalf or by the Celestials descending themselves through granted permission if things gets worse."

She paused.

"Well, that’s the official purpose they were given permission for. In reality, there are plenty of shady things they’ve been using that access for."

Jax processed that and said. "So you’re telling me that these godlike Celestials are on a hunt for me?"

Echidna confirmed. "Yup. That’s the reason why Mother told me to help you."

"But who is this Mother? And why are these Celestials after me?"

"I don’t know much about it. But when you were sitting around my sealed soul back in that graveyard, I felt Mother’s presence inside you. When I tried to investigate, I finally found her after all this time."

Her voice softened for a fraction of a second.

"She told me to help you. And gave a message for you. That the primordial gods didn’t appreciate you cheating in the game. You’ve been intervening with foreign powers that don’t belong to this world and the game. And so they are balancing things for you."

She added. "Or rather, giving you a handicap."

Jax looked ahead at Zharina who was recovering her stance. And a devilish smile spread across his face.

"Then let them come. I’ll show them exactly what I do to the little handicaps they send to balance my game."

His internal voice hardened into something that carried the weight of a man who had been pushed to his final threshold.

"If the world stands against my dream, then I will crush it. Whether it’s a Celestial or an ascendant or even those primordial beings themselves. And I will leave a message for whichever pest they want to summon next. That they aren’t sending me a handicap. They are just choosing who gets to die first."

His jaw tightened.

"I swear I will weave absolute terror into their very existence. I will scar their minds with the brutal reality of what happens when you dare to rip away a man’s love, his dreams, and his world. If they wanted to strip my life down to nothing, then nothing is exactly what I will reduce their entire realm to."

A demonic grin escaped his face as he cracked his neck.

"So the game is shifting to hellish mode? Beautiful. Because that is my exact specialty. It’s time to take off the chains and wake up the monster I’ve been forced to suppress just to play fair in this boring easy mode."

Echidna laughed again after hearing his words. Her voice came through in bursts of genuine amusement between the giggles. "You— pfft— you fool— hahaha— do you really think you can take on primordials? Bahahaha! Just look at how a weak little dragon is bashing you around right now!"

Jax shot back without missing a beat. "Says the one who got her ass beaten by mere mortals."

The laughter died. Instantly. Like someone had pulled the plug on a music box.

Her voice came back in the tone of an angry child whose favorite toy had been insulted. "You don’t know a single thing! And besides, that Odin bastard was the one behind sealing me away! Those kings, those mortals were nothing but his pawns! Also... well, scratch that. A maniac fool who thinks he can stand against even the primordials will never understand the glory of this Echidna!"

Jax positioned himself for the incoming attack from Zharina who had started moving toward him again. He said in his mind. "Every being has weaknesses, troublemaking drama queen. Whether it’s a mortal or a god. Every being can be beaten. You either shatter them from the outside with overwhelming violence. Or you hollow them out from the inside until their mind collapses."

He gripped his damaged sword.

"It’s just the mindset that decides whether you’re the one holding the hammer or the one waiting to shatter."

No voice came back. For once, Echidna had nothing to say to that.

Jax looked ahead. Zharina was moving slowly this time. Deliberately. Each step measured and controlled. No more reckless charges. She was adjusting to him the same way he was adjusting to her.

He said internally. "Let me give you a demonstration first. By defeating her."

That gave Echidna enough fuel to recover. She said between renewed giggles. "Really? All I remember is that you weren’t able to land a single hit on her. And trust me, you won’t be able to even make a dent with how weak you are right now."

Jax said. "Wanna make a bet on that? Also about the weak part, I get it now. I understand exactly how weak I am right now. But you see, after winning this fight and claiming something, I will max out my stats and climb the ranks soon enough."

Echidna said in confusion. "Max? Stats? What does that even mean?"

Jax said. "Leave it. Your stupid brain can’t handle the explanation."

"Tsk."

Jax watched Zharina close the distance further and said. "If I can’t land a hit while she’s holding onto those gauntlets, then why not just steal them and make it even? Also, I want to test this overpowered celestial power for myself."

Echidna burst into laughter so hard she practically choked on her own amusement. "Steal?! As if she would let you take them! And besides, even if you somehow managed to rip them off her hands, it wouldn’t matter! That artifact only acknowledges its master! The mana signature of that dragon has been bound to the gauntlets! If you try to force them on, they’ll just reject you while giving you some lovely pain as a parting gift!"

Jax grinned. "Thanks for the info. Now I know exactly how to make these two pets obey their new master."

Echidna’s laughter stopped.

"All I have to do is copy her mana signature."

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Sorry for the delay on the second Chapter guys, been slacking a bit lately but I’m locking in now. Got some peak smut and a whole new arc of romance and action lined up so it’s about to get good🔥

Also a special thank you to Ordici_T for the magic castle, that genuinely meant a lot and made my day more than I can say 🏰❤️ and thank you to Outsxder for the inspirational capsule, appreciate you too 🙏

As for the golden ticket shoutouts, I’ll be mentioning all of you in the next Chapter as there are quite a few names and listing them here would just spike the word count and coin cost!]