Chapter 103 - Strange Happening

After adjusting his state of mind, Jason quickly moved on as he took the path before him that led him to where a silver chest was, and with a bright smile on his face, Jason began to rub his hand in anticipation.

"Finally my hard work has not gone to waste" said Jason happily as he approached the silver chest ready to open it but before he could, the bracelet told him to stop.

"You are not being cautious here, what if there is a trap hidden somewhere that will trigger once you open the chest" asked the bracelet.

"I don't believe that there is going to be a trap anywhere near the chest, just think about it. What is the need of placing a trap here when there is already a difficult one in the entrance" replied Jason.

"I am just saying that you should act with caution since the unimaginable can happen" said the bracelet.

"Relax man, this chest is trap free okay" replied Jason with a smile on his face.

Places his hand on top of the chest as he looks at the roof to see if there is anything suspicious around before raising the lid of the chest only to see that it is empty.

Looking at the empty chest, Jason was unable to say a word as he just continued to look at it until finally the bracelet spoke up.

"The chest seems to be empty".

"Do I look blind to you for you to say that" asked Jason with a frown face.

"Of course you can see. I am just sounding it out since I remembered telling you to ignore it and search for other stuff but you refused" replied the bracelet with a chuckle.

"I can see that you are happy that I am not able to find any treasure" said Jason he close the chest. 

"How can I be happy about it when you would be benefiting a lot if you were to find any treasure inside but unfortunately, someone else beat you to it" replied the bracelet.

"That is exactly what is confusing about the whole thing, since someone else has already been here, why is the array still active" asked Jason.

"Maybe the array was normally set here to protect the chest and even though it is gone, it will still remain active unless this whole place scrumble" replied the bracelet.

"I can't believe I went through the stress of getting past the array only to end here with an empty chest. Whoever that took the treasure better pray that I don't find them" stated Jason.

"Give it a rest since there is no way you will be able to tell who it was" replied the bracelet with a laugh.

"Well that is why I said they should pray for whoever that has a treasure on them will be my prime suspect" said Jason.

"What if it was Austin who has the treasure on him" asked the bracelet.

"Come on, both we know that there is no way Austin will be able to make it past the array, so think of someone else" replied Jason.

Since there is nothing left for him to do, Jason activated the lightning boot once more before he ran past the array formation as he continued looking around for treasure. After searching for two hours, Jason came across someone who was wearing the Fox family attire.

"Isn't that Henry the guy that used to side with Steven" asked Jason in confusion since he was just fine before they left the darkroom.

"That's him alright and if you take a closer look at him, you will see that he also has the same blank look on his face like the member of the Phoenix family you faced" replied the bracelet.

"Something is not right about this place for someone who was normal a few hours ago to be acting strange all of a sudden" said Jason. 

"If I am not mistaken, there seems to be an evil entity who has taken residence in this mini world" replied the bracelet.

"I have to get out of here since it is no longer safe for me to hunt anymore" said Jason as he took the halberd when he saw Henry coming his way.

"I don't think you will be able to leave this mini-world of your own will, the least you can do is try to hold on until it is time for everyone to leave" replied the bracelet.

"I can't leave and now I am being forced to fight one of my own. Anyways let's get this over with" said Jason with a smile as he pushed his feet off the ground with the halberd raised high above Henry who quickly stepped back causing the halberd to strike the ground as it became stuck in place. Not giving Jason the time to pull the halberd off, Henry quickly dashed at him with two swords held in hand.

Left with no choice but to let go of the halberd as he began to dodge the attack while creating a distance between them, and unlike with his previous opponent, Jason was finding it difficult to hold his ground against him without the halberd in hand. 

"Who would have thought that Henry could be this strong" said Jason as he continued to dodge the attack until he was hit by a kick which sent him crashing into a room as he let out a painful moan from his mouth. 

"I think he is getting external help from whatever is controlling him since he and Steven are at the same level and if Steven finds it difficult to hit you, then he should be the same with him" commented the bracelet.

"Now it feels like I am battling with a beast that is a realm higher than mine" said Jason with a smile on his face as he stood up and ran out of the room in which he crashed into.

Henry ran after him when seeing him going in the opposite direction as he came in front of Jason ready to launch an attack on him only for him to see a bright smile on Jason's face.

"Since your strength was enhanced, I thought maybe your brain would as well but it was quite unfortunate that it was not" said Jason as he performed a butterfly twist with his legs gathered in energy as He landed a hit on him.

Since Henry was already on the verge of attacking him, he could not avoid the kick as it hit him squarely on the chest making him fall on one knee. Raising his head roar at Jason but that is when another kick crashed into his head as he was sent flying before falling on the ground.

"I think this should be enough to put him down" said Jason as he just stood while waiting to see if Henry will get up.

"You could have used your full strength on that attack" advised the bracelet.

"There is no need for me to be that hash on him since we are both allies and besides I believe he will be able to regain himself after this" replied Jason.

Right after the words left his mouth, Henry who has been laying on the ground motionless suddenly stood up with a half-destroyed face as he let out a mighty roar before coming at him.

"It seems like there is no way on earth you will be able to save him Jason" said the bracelet.

Taking a fighting stance as he waited for Henry to get closed before he smashed the ground causing a little quake which slowed Henry down as he went back to where the halberd was and forcefully pulled it out of the ground before swinging it at Henry who has caught up to him as their weapons collide together. 

Flipping the halberd up as the button hit Henry with great force which pushed him back a little before swinging it at him once more but this time it was a feint as Henry ducked to dodge the attack only for the halberd to land on his head as it was busted open with blood flowing out at an insane speed. 

The moment that Henry died, the same black smoke that came out of the body of the phoenix family member, also came out of Henry's body before fading into the thin air.

"And what is it with that smoke anyways" asked Jason as he raised his head to look at the smoke.

"I think it is related to what is causing them to lose their mind" replied the bracelet.

"I need to find what is causing all this and put an end to it before it gets out of control" said Jason.

"If Henry and the other can't stop it, what makes you think you can" asked the bracelet.

"That is because unlike the others, I have the advantage of breaking through to the next realm" replied Jason with a smile before bending down and placing his hand on top of Henry's body as he begin to absorb his blood.