Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 214: I am John Mirage, and These are My Deeds!
"That’s none of your business," John calmly replied, slowly arching his back and shifting his weight to his feet.
He was a coiled spring of lethality, ready to jump into action the moment others moved to fight him. The eleven giants stood their ground, their eyes locked onto him, yet they didn’t initiate the strike.
"If you are indeed familiar with our laws," the leader retorted calmly, "then you should know it is our custom to properly introduce oneself before a Blue Sacred trial begins."
"I already announced my name..."
"A name doesn’t matter here," the leader interrupted, his voice growing cold and formal. "In the Blue Sacred Challenge, a name holds meaningless weight. What we seek is your list of achievements. Tell us, fallen human: what have you done in this trial to earn the right to stand before the Twelve?"
"I already brought the head of one of your sworn enemies..."
"That also doesn’t matter," the Twelve leader interrupted John for the second time, his voice a grating rumble that was beginning to wear thin on John’s nerves.
"Any scavenger can find a carcass in the fog. We need to know what you really did in this trial. And killing a single enemy doesn’t make you a giant! Introduce yourself through your deeds. Let us know properly if you are a worthy opponent, a potential future leader, or just another fallen loser who deserves to die here in the dirt."
"Fine," John said, rolling his eyes as he straightened his back. He didn’t lower his guard for a fraction of a second; his Frame Recognition was still locked on the giants around him.
"I’m John Mirage. I’m a human who was brought here alongside four of my friends by force. Since landing, I have fought against the Fog Seekers and won. I fought against five thousand D-1000 machine units and won. I fought against the Bulltors and won. I fought against the Wrathers and the yellow monster tides, and I won."
He took a step forward, his voice dropping into a cold, lethal tone. "Most recently, I walked into the territory of the Mechanical Hiveminds. I spread death and chaos. I claimed their resources and invited a monster tide that is, at this very moment, drowning their territory and killing them in heaps.
I am here to claim your leadership, earn the Holy Right, and lead you to take over this entire pocket trial under my banner. I intend to secure the first-ever human territory in this goddamn apocalypse. That’s who I am. That’s what I’ve done so far. Is it enough for your liking?"
John’s words weren’t loud, yet as he spoke, the raucous jeering and mocking laughter from the walls and the surrounding crowd suddenly died down. A heavy, oppressive silence fell over the southern gate. He didn’t notice it immediately, but the atmosphere had shifted; the casual dismissal in the giants’ eyes was being replaced by a flickering, uncertain realisation.
"It’s easy for anyone to claim anything, yet proof is the currency of the Blue Sacred challenge," the leader started.
"Here," John interrupted, deciding he was done with the verbal sparring. Instead of speaking, he accessed his inventory. With a flick of his thoughts, he began offloading physical manifestations of his claims, letting them crash into the ground around him.
"This is a heavy pulse-cannon I salvaged from the D-1000 units I personally destroyed. And these..." He tossed a handful of glowing, pulsating spheres onto the ground. "...Are the different cores of the monsters I fought and killed back at my territory."
John was confident that the sheer quality of the items he took out was enough proof. He had provided the cannons that couldn’t be acquired unless from the machines.
As for the cores, they couldn’t be gained unless killing the different breeds of monsters he mentioned. And yet, he realised he had slightly misunderstood what the Bulltors were truly seeking.
"That’s indeed true," the fierce-looking Bulltor girl said, stepping forward to inspect the items. She picked up one of the violet-tinted Wrathers cores. After a moment, she turned back to the others and shouted, "These are real! These are indeed the Wrathers and mutated Wrather cores we’ve only heard about in rumours!"
"This..." Even the leader was visibly startled. He moved his eyes from the pile of trophies back to the small human standing defiantly before him. There was a long pause as he processed all this.
"That’s all nice and great. It proves you are a true survivor of the apocalypse, but not a worthy warrior. There is one point that makes all the difference in the ongoing Blue Sacred challenge."
"Which is?" John asked, his impatience finally boiling over. He wanted to get over this useless chitchat and head directly into the combat phase.
"You mentioned doing something at the Hiveminds territory," the Bulltor’s tone shifted, becoming savage and cruel. "Can you prove it? Can you prove you’ve crippled our greatest rival?"
"Not without going there and checking things ourselves," John replied flatly.
"Then..." The Bulltor leader moved his eyes around the circle of his kin, a glint appearing in his gaze. "Let’s do it this way. Let’s go and check what you claim to be true. We shall go to the Hiveminds borders, verify the chaos inside, and then come back here to finalise the trial..."
"Come on, man! Is it too hard to just fight me in this ritual of yours?!!" John shouted, his patience finally snapping. "I walked for two days to get here from my territory. I spent an entire day toying with the Hiveminds. I want to get done with you, then head out to continue my other business in this pocket trial! Can we just skip the travel log and start the fighting?!"
"It’s not what you think," the Bulltor interrupted, slowly shaking his head. When John raised an eyebrow in confusion, the giant continued, "It’s true we have to accept your challenge after you brought the head, yet the Blue Sacred challenge is meant to be more than just a brawl. It is about the destiny of my people here. So, how about this..."
The leader turned his back on John, addressing the other eleven descendants. His voice boomed so the crowds on the walls could hear the new terms.
"Why don’t we set the rules of the challenge like this: If what he claims to have done at the Hiveminds territory is true, if their lands are indeed drowning in a monster tide, suffering tons of losses and damages, then he has already won the Blue Sacred challenge!
If it is a lie, or even half as much as he described, then it is our win by default. He will either become a lifetime slave to the Twelve, or he will die by our hands where he stands. What do you say, brothers and sisters?"
