Chapter 20 Water and Fire

Zack hesitated. If the war could end with that, it would be very wonderful. But would it be that easy? He wasn’t sure.

He had seen many things after joining the war. And it wasn’t pleasant.

“I…Don’t know…”

He told Jaune honestly. He really didn’t know if introducing a new source of energy would help end this war.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Jaune was confused. Didn't Shinra just want to establish the power plant? And this power plant had drained the life steam of the world, so Wutai didn’t want that.

But if it's an alternative energy source that would be friendly to the environment, Wutai might accept it. Wouldn't it be a win-win situation?

“It was complicated. Even though the war could begin with a petty lesson, when it happened, it couldn’t be stopped that easily. From what I knew, Shinra didn’t just want to establish a power plant. They also want to dominate the world.”

“Oh…That’s…”

Jaune was speechless. If the goal of Shinra was to dominate the world, then there’s nothing he could do about it. Even when they were introduced to the new power source, they would still wage war with everyone.

He could only sigh. The greed of humans knows no bounds.

‘Well, I am also human too, right.’

[Ceil is afraid to tell the host that. The host already stopped being human when the host was killed by the tree.]

‘.......’

Jaune was speechless about what Ceil had said to him, but he moved on. There was no need to think about the final moments of his life during a stressful battle.

“Sorry, but it seems like there's nothing I can do. I am just a second class soldier. Maybe when I get promoted to first class, I might be able to do something. Or if it were that person, maybe we could stop this pointless war.”

“That person?”

Jaune was curious about the person that Zack mentioned. He seemed to have a lot of respect for that person, judging by the tone of his voice.

He wanted to speak with Jaune more, but an explosion occurred at the base he was assigned to.

Zack looked in the direction of the explosion. He shook his head. It wasn’t the time to talk with the enemy. He needed to beat Jaune and went to help his comrade.

“I can’t speak with you anymore. I have to go back and help my friends.”

Jaune heard him nod. He understood him because he needed to hurry to help his friends too.

He held his spear tightly, waiting for Zack to make his move.

Zack shot toward Jaune with speed. he used materia to speed himself up.

Jaune, who didn’t have any buff materia but used pills and potions, was able to defend against his attack. The gap in battle experience was still there, but it slowly closed.

“You are getting stronger and stronger when we fight. I can’t let you become stronger than this. Sorry, but I need to end this fight right now.”

Zack then pulled something out from behind him. It was a materia with red color.

“That’s summon materia!”

Jaune, when he saw the red materia, knew right away that Zack was being serious right now. The cost of summon materia was very expensive, so it should be very powerful.

“Heed my call, Ifrit!”

Then hell broke out. The king of fire had appeared on the field.

“Shit…”

Jaune felt enmity with Ifrit. He was the king of fire, which was the opposite of him, the being of water.

Ifrit roared loudly. Jaune didn’t feel afraid or anything. Instead, his blood boiled in anger.

The two looked each other in the eyes before they crashed with all their might.

Zack was surprised that Ifrit would instantly attack Jaune before he even gave him the command.

“What the hell happened? And why the hell did that guy change so much?”

Jaune was now more fierce when fighting with the ifrit. Water and Fire were sprayed everywhere, creating mist around the area.

Zack had to try and avoid their attack. The boiling water could kill him if he wasn't careful.

“Are they mortal enemies or something? Well, It’s good for me. Please hold him as much as you can, Ifrit!”

Zack used the chance that Ifrit created for him to go back to the base.

Jaune saw that Zack was about to escape. He wanted to come after him, but Ifrit wouldn’t let him go.



“Hell yeah!”

Yang fought with many soldiers and won. She could beat them up quite easily. With her semblance and buff from Ifalna. She was like an unstoppable tank.

Ifalna, when she saw how Yang fought with the soldier, could only sigh. She knew that Yang was strong, but her fighting style always made her feel like her heart was going to stop.

‘Doesn’t she know how to dodge, Why did she have to tank all of the attack!’

Ifalna didn’t worry about anyone in the group because they were pretty level headed and didn’t get angry when their hair was touched.

But Yang was another matter. She loved her hair more than anything in this world!

“What should we do next, Ifalna?”

Weiss asked as she controlled her glyphs to attack a soldier nearby. They need to make haste because they might have already sent a signal for reinforcement.

“We need to go there and destroy that tower.”

Ifalna pointed to a tall tower that had a big satellite dish on it.

“Got it, Pyrrha, are you okay there?. We need to destroy that tower. You are the only one who has a semblance that would be able to do it easily.”

Pyrrha was now beating a soldier who wore a different uniform than the others. He was pretty tough, but she could beat him with her semblance.

Pyrrha heard what Weiss had relayed to her after beating the 3rd class soldier. She went to the tower and then started to destroy the support poles. The tower was destroyed pretty easily.

“Done!”

Ifalna, when she saw that the tower had fallen. She then ran to the control room, where Blake had cleared out the soldier.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Ifalna hacked into the system with the knowledge she got from her late husband. She then forced out all of the authority the soldier had over the system. Now they couldn’t go in and out of the base easily.

If they were to go inside the base without paying attention, they might be attacked by their security system instead.

“Phew~ Finally, we take over the base. Now I need to contact the Wutai to take their people here.”

…

Jaune was now fighting with the king of fire. Ifrit wasn’t that strong compared to him. He could kill it, but

“Why don’t you stay dead, damn it!”

Ifrit would come back to life every time he killed him. His regeneration was insane!

Roar!!!!

Ifrit roared loudly and threw a giant boulder that burst into flame at him. But even if it was very hot, with his water breathing spear style, He could put the fire out without much of a problem.

“Come on, big guy! Stay dead, please!”

Jaune swung his spear, then severed his head clean. His head burned to ashes, then came back to where it once was.

“*Tsk* not dead again. Hey Ceil, is there a way for me to kill it!”

Ciel tried to find a way for him to kill it, and then she found something that might help him. But the price was pretty high. Jaune might be broke once again.

[Please use this, and you will be able to stop it from regenerating!]

[Name: Curse of Death] (5 hours)
[Origin: Arena of Valor]
[Rank: Gold(rent)]
[Abilities: Soul Prison: Dealing damage by skills will reduce 40% of the target's regeneration for 1.5s (doubled duration if by normal attacks).]
[Price: 50 mgc] (50 msc)

“Ugh… Rent item again!”

Jaune didn’t have much choice. He really needed it at the moment. He looked at the coin he had. He thought it would last him very long, but now it’s gone.

“You goat bastard. I am going to kill you once and for all!”

Jaune, who had enmity with Ifrit in the first place due to their race, then rented the curse of death, which was a red dagger. It was supposed to be an item that he should throw at the enemy, but

[Please stab yourself with it!]

“What! Are you telling me to kill myself?!”

[No, I will never think of something like that to my master but please believe in me and stab yourself with it!]

Jaune was in a dilemma now. He thought of what Ciel had done for him. If it wasn’t for her. He might be dead and never be able to come back to life.

‘If she wanted me dead, she wouldn’t help me, right?’