Chapter 538 – Victory & Mouth 14 – The battle’s centre

Chapter 538 – Victory & Mouth 14 – The battle’s centre

John stepped out of the forest and onto a central plaza. The fact that there were no pathways leading up to it meant that this barrier predated the building of the real-life counterpart of it. ‘Does this put the barrier at over a hundred years of age then?’ John wondered. Given that DC was the capital and population centre of the Little Maryland, it wasn’t too surprising that a barrier on a tactical spot this close to the White House had been in place for this long.

Indeed, the fact that there was a monument here at all was more surprising, since the barrier so clearly preceded the erection of the Theodore Roosevelt memorial that should have been standing around there. To be fair, the large statue of tarnished copper was presenting someone John didn’t know, as he approached the plaza, following him sighting a large gathering of people there. Aclysia was still missing from his mental connection, so that was slightly worrisome, but he didn’t have the time to investigate. Although this was a cleaner cut than he was used to, he was still paying the usual mana cost for her, so he had no reason to believe she had perished.

If she had, he would have approached the plaza in a less calm fashion. Especially once he spied the short, broad man in his suit, standing at the foot of the plaza. John recognized Abraham first, although the flowing water elemental at his side made him an easily identified target. The president walked towards him in a calm fashion.

“And the great traitor shows himself,” Abraham spewed the second John was in shouting range. “I have to compliment you, I did not expect you to be this ruthless.”

“You can drop the act,” the Gamer returned, glancing towards the remaining people. John had to assume that the president was the strongest member of his guild; the fact that he was here, guarding the Fateweavers under his employ on his lonesome, was testament to that. It would be difficult to take Abraham captive under these conditions. Much harder than killing him, even. “Or maybe not, last thing we want to happen is that your people learn the truth about your game, right?”

Abraham pushed air out of his nose in a mocking manner, with his stature that made him appear like a bull ready to charge. Every moment that passed, the guy only seemed to become more muscular. “You trying to pin Imerella’s murder on me is unbelievable. I have nobody in my ranks that could create the raw destruction that levelled the fortress. It clearly came from a mixture of elemental forces at a strength only you could create in such a narrow timeframe.”

“And who aside from your secret service measured that destruction?” John growled back. “A great claim you have there. Too bad the photos just show a destroyed landscape. Those could have been faked just as greatly as they show nothing clear pointing towards MY involvement.”

“Those sly words are exactly why I acted immediately,” the president of the Little Maryland stopped, between the two of them were now ten steps. Duelling distance, if nothing else. “You would just continue spouting your message of a peaceful election until you could hit another one of my allies-”Alll latest novels on novelbin/(.)com

“YOUR allies?!” John interrupted. “Imerella declared herself neutral, you arrogant-“

“She was my teacher!” Abraham shouted back. “I served in the military under her! Don’t tarnish her name after you have violated her trust like that and put her into an undeserving grave!”

Grinding his teeth, John stopped this useless line of conversation. “Even if you aren’t guilty, you made it impossible to stop this now.” The Gamer was convinced that Abraham was putting up this act, it all fit so perfectly into the narrative of him as the invader. He could have sent more questions the president’s way, but Abraham was obviously prepared for the big ones. “Then let’s play the game you want.”

The Gamer was momentarily distracted by a robotic voice entering his mind, ‘May Undine be sent over here?’ Along with it came an image of a hurt Ted. Very hurt, but still standing. Nothing that required immediate attention.

‘Sorry, not right now,’ John answered as quickly as he could. A minute earlier and he would have hurried over, but he was sure he would need the help of Undine in this engagement. ‘You’ll have to come to me.’

‘Understood,’ Beatrice answered and dropped away again.

“Nano Mana, son,” Abraham hovered a hand over his heart and slowly stretched it out. His white skin turned purple following the motion until he presented a completely covered fist. “It hardens my skin in response to physical trauma. You are immensely mistaken to think my Innate Ability extends beyond the first part you mention. All I can do naturally is generate my own mana from other people’s spending.”

John was about to entangle the president in further discussion, but Abraham didn’t want to play on time. The moment a massive explosion in the sky distracted the Gamer, he was getting charged again. Since Mana Protection would only empower his enemy with every successful strike he landed, the Gamer kept it deactivated. The alternative was what happened next though, which was him and Undine doing all they could to block.

“MUSCLE MAGIC!” Abraham shouted as his fist crashed into John’s raised forearms. “RECONVERSION TECHNIQUE!” A spinning kick splattered Undine’s slime body out of his way. “MANA SKIN!” John had no other choice and released Salamander back out of item form. With a short-lived cackle, the endflame elemental locked arms with Abraham, only to be found the weaker party, lifted up and slammed into the ground like a rolled out carpet. “AND THE PERPETUAL SURROUNDING AWARENESS TO TRIGGER IT BEFORE I GET HURT!” Siena rose from Abraham’s shadow in a sudden strike, only to be grabbed by the throat and tossed into the sky.

Abraham pulled his weight down in a martial art pose John was familiar with. Ascending Cut, the technique that both Rave and her father had used on separate occasions, each time to devastating effect. In a desperate move, John darted forwards and rammed his opponent. Although this only made Abraham straggle, not fall, it was enough to let Siena land on top of their enemy without any retaliation.

John’s reward for this was being pinched between an elbow and a knee, his ribcage getting squeezed suddenly in a way that these bones definitely weren’t supposed to. Something may have broken, but he didn’t notice. All he was aware of was the mouthful of dirt that manifested the moment he was thrown to the ground elsewhere.

He looked back just in time to see Siena’s claws scratch inconsequentially over Abraham’s face, her legs closed around the man’s neck in the least erotic application of thighs. His defenses were steadily refilling in the shape of his muscles bulging from all the mana John was passively spending at any given second. The Gamer was fuelling his enemy’s strength due to all the summons and familiars he paid in upkeep the entire time.

Abraham caught one of Siena’s legs, ripped her off himself and turned several times around his own axis, before sending the shadow spirit flying into the forest. “I needed dozens of years to learn all of these techniques,” the president turned to John again, “to make them work together and learn different things that filled the gaps in my skill set. You might be a latebloomer, but I got seventy years on you, Newman!” Abraham rolled his shoulders, flexing his overabundant form. “When faced with hard work and dedication, you talented, Gaia-gifted individuals should find yourself humbled more often!” Like a bulldozer on legs, the president came running.

John expected a swing, but instead Abraham just kept charging with an outstretched arm. It caught the Gamer at the chest and dragged him along until he was rammed back-first into the rough trunk of a pine tree. There was no recuperation period, the smaller man using the momentary confusion that John felt from the impact to grab him by shoulder and leg. Lifted in his entirety, John had his spine bent into a very unhealthy V shape by the knee that was rammed into the path of his descent.

Undine and Salamander came to the rescue. A whip of water pulled one leg away from under Abraham as a massive fireball hit him. Finally, John got an indication of damage, the smell of burning hair alongside a pained groan as Abraham’s balding head caught just a bit of fire. There was no way that he generated more mana than John was spending. Even if the president used it more effectively, the Gamer should have won eventually.

Hopefully before his own HP depleted; it was already down to less than half. What was worse: Reveal still didn’t work; for all John knew, Abraham could still have been hiding things. This fight was bound to be a headache. Abraham delivered a strike to Undine that made the slime girl explode from within. It was a shower on the surroundings, but it didn’t hurt the defensively weighted water spirit too badly. The president came back on his feet a few metres away from John. They eyed each other up, unsure of the next move to make.

“This looks like fun!” An ecstatic voice out of nowhere arrived at the scene, accompanied by the sight of a storm of grey metal and swiping strikes arriving out of a tear above the battlefield. Metra lost no time in assaulting Abraham, who kept a surprising calm and simply stormed towards John.

The Gamer was somewhat ready for the strike this time, meeting it headfirst. Rather than a successful counter hit, what John met was air. ‘Fucking Shift!’ John thought; only the martial art could be responsible for that. Now he knew how all the normal people in Dragonball felt whenever those overpowered bastards in that show started moving at untraceable speeds.

He already weathered himself for the hit in the back that had to follow, but instead he heard the sound of ringing metal. “I am sorry that I return this late, Master,” Aclysia’s voice reached him, greeting him with the sight of Marath’s flat side stopping the president’s punch. “I am furthermore sorry to have used this cooldown without asking first.”

John hadn’t even noticed her returning to his consciousness since he was getting slapped around for a bit there. The tables were clearly turning in his favour now.



Abraham realized this as well, as he quickly threw an arm into the air and vanished.