The Almighty Ring

“What’s going on?! Answer me, 0543!” Jiang Fei roared repeatedly. As a Metahuman, losing one’s power was akin to being stripped naked. It was not so much about the shame as it was the feeling of vulnerability.

Unbeknownst to Jiang Fei, the ring was now an empty husk of its former glory. 0543 was no longer in the ring as she had integrated with Braveheart. Her allegiance was now with Akatziris.

Just then, while Jiang Fei was still shouting at the top of his lungs, a few more figures flashed into the room.

“You guys?!” Jiang Fei puffed when he saw Neptulon as well as the others who were with him.

Upon taking control of the ship, Akatziris had quickly used all of Braveheart’s powerful facilities to trap and teleport the three Elemental Lords, as well as Veigar and his men, into the prison.

“Oh, no! This is the ship’s prison!” Ragnaros cried.

“What are we going to do?” Neptulon asked Therazane when he noticed that they were not alone. Even so, he was less concerned about Jiang Fei and his army than the current condition they were in. Everyone in the room was rendered powerless.

To be fair, Jiang Fei, Neptulon, and the others who were human had it better. They were living beings with cells and blood flowing in their veins. The three Elemental Lords were humans since they had used Jiang Fei’s Bio-pods to create living bodies for them to reside in.

However, Veigar and the other Unknowns had it worse. As soon as they entered the prison, their batteries were immediately deactivated. Unless they were removed from the prison room, they were all literally just scrap metal now. Even their most basic functions had been shut down.

“Hehehehe…”

When everyone in the room was stupefied, Akatziris’ evil chuckle rang.

“My sweet loving master, I am now giving you one last chance to redeem yourself to me. Kill the three of them, and I shall grant you your freedom!” said Akatziris. Her laughter and tone completely embodied that of an evil empress.

“What on Earth do you mean?!” Jiang Fei roared. He was not pleased about being captured as well as imprisoned, and he was much less happy about being forced to do her bidding.

“Oh, my? Does speaking work? Didn’t I make myself clear? Only one of you can get out of the room. To live is to kill the enemy. Neither of you is getting out of that room!” Akatziris howled. Everyone in the room was powerless, including Isabella with the Core of Life, Jiang Fei with the Core of Will, and Neptulon with the Core of Time.

“Dammit!” Jiang Fei grunted as he slammed the walls hard. The pain he felt in his hands was a pure indication that his powers had been stripped away. To make things worse, Akatziris had no intention of letting both sides free. She had forcefully placed everyone into the Thunderdome; only one would walk free.

“Love, what are we going to do?” Ariel asked in a calm manner. Even though everyone had just lost their powers, the fight between Jiang Fei and the Unknown would be short. They only had the three of them while Jiang Fei had over fifty of them!

Jiang Fei alone could fight all three of them; even though he was powerless, he still possessed martial skills that he could use. Sylphy had the movements of an assassin, while Isabella had the muscles for strength. Despite their weakened state, they could still fight the three Elemental Lords without breaking a sweat!

“Calm down!” Jiang Fei cried. Even though fighting them would be an easy win, Jiang Fei did not want to comply with the rules Akatziris had imposed on them.

“Sister, what should we do? Do we fight?”

As Jiang Fei discussed the matter, so did the three Elemental Lords.

“Think this through. They have a bigger group. We will easily be overwhelmed by their sheer number,” Therazane explained.

“What do you suggest, then?” Ragnaros chimed in.

“Delay them. We still have enough time to think of something,” Therazane replied. Right then, they were out of options. The room was sealed tight, and there was literally no way out of there.

…

Seconds past and minutes after. The room was still quiet and calm.

“Oh? What’s this here? Does either of you want to fight? That’s alright, I guess,” said Akatziris in a playful tone. After that, she spoke again, and this time, her voice sounded like she had something up her sleeves.

“I forgot to mention that the oxygen in the room will only last for twenty minutes. If I were you, I would act now! Fight and kill, or die together. The choice is yours!”

“F*ck!” Jiang Fei slammed the walls again. His usual punches would have caused a crack in such a wall, but now… he could not leave any mark.

“Darling, what should we do?” Sylphy asked worriedly. When they were still powerful, they could simply use the powers within them to recirculate vital resources to keep themselves alive. After being stripped, they became ordinary humans beings who required oxygen to survive!

“Killing them won’t do us any good!” Jiang Fei exclaimed. Even if Jiang Fei killed them, Akatziris could break her promise and simply hold them there!

There were more than fifty people there in the room, and killing three of them would not save enough oxygen to make a difference. On top of that, fighting would only exhaust their air faster!

“We need to make a move now!” screamed Ragnaros when he heard what Sylphy said.

There were only three of them, and Jiang Fei had over fifty. If somehow, through a miracle, they won, they would be killing over fifty humans. Just imagine, the amount of oxygen they could spare! They had a genuine belief that if they followed what Akatziris had decreed, she would spare their lives!

“Mhm, may as well die in battle than die without a fight!” Neptulon agreed with Ragnaros even though he was not fully on board with the idea of fighting in a cage. First of all, they were powerless and technically equal in level of strength. Then again, Jiang Fei had over fifty good men. The chances of them actually winning the fight against Jiang Fei was absolutely zero.

“Very well. It is rare for us to actually fight and die together!” said Therazane as she accepted Ragnaros’ notion.

“Sister, don’t think of it that way. To die on Braveheart is an honor on its own! We should bring as many of them with us!” said Neptulon before he charged toward Jiang Fei with fists held high.

“I guess they’ve made their decision,” said Jiang Fei when he saw that Neptulon was approaching him. Even though he did not want to fight as it would burn away his oxygen quickly, they were already coming at him! How could he just stand there and allow them to throw the first hit?