Seeing the middle-aged man's expression, Jason couldn't help but feel irked.
However, instead of commenting on the challenge he received, Jason got up from the chair he was seated in before entering the combat arena.
A moment later, Byakur manifested in his hand.
Tightly grasping it, he swung it around a little before looking at the middle-aged man.
He seemed to be seething in anger because Jason didn't show him any respect.
It was considered a tradition to show respect to the elderly on Argos by giving them a light bow, however, Jason couldn't bother.
First of all, they were not on Argos anymore, and second, the middle-aged man was less powerful than he was.
As such, Jason would clearly show him that age had nothing to do with gaining respect.
It was your persona and your achievements that would command respect from others naturally without the need to actively seek it!
After entering the ring of the combat arena, the middle-aged man sent everyone else out, and even before someone started the countdown, the shape of his body was slowly changing.
The middle-aged man was undergoing a soul fusion, which was something Jason had expected to happen with every single messenger.
However, what astonished him a little bit was the fact that the soul fusion didn't look completely natural nor was it completely forced. It looked like a mix of both which confused him.
This was interesting, but not to the extent that he would be distracted from fighting his opponent.
Rather, he looked at the man, who had turned into a being that looked eerily similar to a werewolf as he mumbled.
"Be careful, it's hot!"
Saying so, Jason smiled lightly as he allowed Solaris to enter his mana core.
Just moments later, hundreds of black flame spears manifested in Jason's surroundings, heating up the entire combat arena.
He threw them towards the middle-aged man, who started to rush after Jason gave him a provocation. And, the black flame spears reached the man in huge batches of attacks.
They pierced into his thick fur, slowing him down.
Yet, the middle-aged man didn't even think of doing anything to deflect the attacks.
Instead, he threw himself ahead, and leaned forward, increasing the speed at which he shot towards Jason.
Seeing his reaction made a sly smile appear on Jason's lips.
The middle-aged man didn't even realize that he had already fallen into Jason's trap.
After all, he had been pierced with several of Solaris' black flame spears that burned through the thick wolf fur, reaching his skin within seconds.
The number of black flame spears that pierced into the wolf's fur was gradually increasing. And, it was not long after they began fighting that the middle-aged man was lit up in flames like a living torch.
In fact, owing to Jason's slow retreat and zig-zag motions, his opponent had been unable to get hold of him. An extra layer of hurdle was the protective layer of fur that burned like tinder and reached his skin.
WIthin moments, the entire arena was filled with the smell of charred skin, and it was crystal clear where this smell came from.
The flames and smoke enveloping the man were hard to miss.
The black flames burned the arrogant middle-aged man, who had tried to suppress the other messenger with his overbearing behavior.
This was quite normal to happen during the messenger gatherings, but the middle-aged man, who was currently burning, was an extreme case.
Because of that, nobody showed him any sign of mercy or felt sorry for him, except Jason.
Solaris had burned the majority of mana enveloping the middle-aged man, and by exerting the Hermes Celeration technique followed by replacing Solaris with Petri, he appeared in front of his opponent only a moment later.
There was no need for him to use any additional mana, the moonlight affinity, divine energy or any of his special traits.
All it took him to defeat the middle-aged man was a powerful punch right in the center of his abdomen. In order to increase the attack's lethality, he manifested small scales on the back of his knuckles which cut through the wolf's skin.
After all, Jason's strength was out of the ordinary, which was clearly visible when the middle-aged man was flung out of the arena in just a single punch.
'Did I go over the top?' Jason suddenly thought while looking at his blood smeared first.
He couldn't believe that he had just hurled a burly middle-aged man through the arena ring.
This was weird in his opinion.
Yet, considering that Solaris flames had burned through all of his opponent's defenses, it might not have been that shocking after all.
He didn't expect to have gone overboard with such simple means to attack.
But upon looking around, he noticed that only Jan, Jennifer, and Elder Ben, who had just entered the combat arena, were unfazed by his attack.
The messengers were staring at him as if he was a monster, but he didn't even think that he did something grand.
His mind was now conditioned to the strength and level of the beings belonging to the Primordial races.
His fight with the lesser replications had made him glaringly realize that he was no match to their strength without his soulbonds.
Smiling dryly, while thinking about the miraculous racial abilities of the Primordial races, it was impossible for Jason not to think that he was, at most, slightly above average.
Yet, in front of the messengers, he had been elevated to being a lethal threat, a prodigy with God-like combat talent and powerful soulbonds.
Some even presumed that he had a unique constitution or a soulbond that allowed his physique to grow stronger than the others.
There was also the possibility that he had an extremely strong physical soulbond which made the shocking velocity he reached possible, including the powerful punch he had dealt.
However, that was only the thought of the messengers, because Jan had already once fought against Jason, while Elder Ben had gauged his strength to be higher than that of every messenger.
Thus, he was not surprised by the end result of the battle, which was the only thing he had seen of the entire fight.
He had arrived late, but instead of commenting on the fight, Elder Ben allowed Jason to release the frustration of the earlier day, clearly knowing that he had promised him to be able to fight the Elite of the settlement.
At this moment, Jason turned towards the rest of the spectators and asked casually,
"Who's next?"
This simple question caused the messengers to be pulled out of their stupor as they stared daggers at Jason, wanting to snap his neck like that of a ragdoll.
Unfortunately, all of them were aware that Jason's simple demonstration was more than enough to defeat the majority of them.
As such, they were reluctant to fight right now.
They felt as if allowing others to wear him out would be the best, and that they might have a better chance if they were the last to fight him.
Little did they know that it was more difficult to wear Jason out if nobody wanted to fight him first.
In the end, this was also not completely true because there were a few messengers who were confident in defeating Jason in the state he had fought the middle-aged man.
Yet, at the same time, they were sure that Jason was still holding back. It made them want to see more of his combat prowess before joining the fray.
Thus, everyone waited for someone else to step forward, and ten minutes passed as Jason kept waiting for a response.
After ten minutes, Jason felt bored and couldn't wait any longer.
Meanwhile, the used-up mana had long since been replenished as he announced.
"If nobody dares fight me, I will consider this as your surrender. That means all? of you can go home and tell your lovely masters how great your failure in the messenger gathering was!"
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