A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5230

“Serve you?” Jared snorted, lifting the Dragonslayer Sword so the moonlight shivered along its edge. “I wouldn’t accept you as my errand boy. You’re only at the fifth tier of Earthly Immortal Realm—hardly worth mentioning.”

His words were no idle boast. Back on the Celestial Stairway he had pulled Kishor, Ararat, Zevon, Sidney, and others from the jaws of death—and every one of them had promised centuries of service in return.

Ursan’s grin twisted into a snarl. “Big mouth,” he growled. “Let’s see if your spine is as strong as your tongue.”

He blurred forward. A fist the size of a boulder whistled through the air, trailing a wake that shredded the night. Level-Five pressure slammed down like a falling mountain, squeezing the breath from Jared’s lungs.

Jared raised his blade across his chest and braced for impact.

Clang!

Steel met flesh with a deafening crash. Shockwaves rippled over the ridge; dust whirled into smoky spirals. Jared’s arms went numb, boots skidding backward across cracked stone. Blood jeweled the corner of his lips.

Ursan halted, eyes widening a fraction. “Wandering Immortal Realm Level Seven? You took my punch and lived—credit where it’s due.” Then the derision returned. “But you’re still an insect beneath my heel.”

He charged again, fists raining down like a summer hailstorm. Jared parried, but fresh cuts blossomed across his arms and shoulders. Flaxseed tried to rush in, yet Ursan’s crushing aura pinned him to the spot. He paced in tight circles, powerless and furious.

Just as Jared’s knees began to buckle, a voice boomed from above. “Cub, you’re mauling my benefactor—did you ask my permission?” A meteor of muscle and laughter crashed between the combatants. Nearly three meters tall, Kishor landed in a shockwave of broken stone, arms folded and smile fierce.

“Hardly legendary,” Jared answered, rubbing the back of his neck with a rueful smile. “Moments ago, I was a heartbeat from death.”

Kishor’s grin vanished. He pivoted toward Ursan, and the temperature seemed to plunge. “Blackbear,” he said, each word coated in frost, “what, exactly, were you planning to do to Mr. Chance a moment ago?”

Ursan glanced from Kishor to Jared and felt the ground sway beneath his feet. Kishor—seventh tier Earthly Immortal Realm—had just addressed Jared as an equal, even as an old friend. The boast Jared made earlier no longer sounded like bluff. He stumbled backward, hands raised. “Kishor, do not act rashly! I am lord of Darkwind Ridge. I have powerful—”

“You could have the cosmos behind you and it would not matter.” Kishor blurred forward. One iron fist hammered Ursan in the chest, launching him like a broken kite.