Chapter 415: New Record

Jayden walked through the gate of the arena, stepping into the ring.

Across the arena, the other three opponents were already waiting.

The first was a broad, heavily built man with grey skin and thick ridges running down his arms. A massive axe rested across one shoulder, its head nearly as wide as Jayden’s torso.

The man looked at Jayden and grinned, revealing a row of blunt, uneven teeth.

The second fighter was a tall woman dressed in fitted black armour. Two pistols hung at her hips, and thin silver markings ran along her forearms. She watched Jayden with a cold, assessing stare.

The third opponent was a lean man wearing a sleeveless black coat over dark armour. He carried a long sword across his back, and a pale scar ran from his right temple to his jaw.

Jayden studied them without changing his expression.

The giant with the hammer was probably built for close combat. His size suggested considerable physical strength, and his weapon would make every direct hit dangerous.

The woman with the pistols looked more disciplined. She kept her weight balanced and her hands relaxed, ready to draw her weapon at any second.

The man with the sword seemed more relaxed. But his agility would be undoubtedly greater than any of the other three fighters.

Jayden’s gaze moved between them, quietly inspecting their stats.

Even if he defeated all three, that didn’t necessarily mean he would win the artifact. Another bidder could challenge him afterward, hoping to take advantage of his exhaustion.

The Grand Exchange rewarded strength, but it also rewarded patience.

But Jayden had no intention of spending the entire evening fighting one opponent after another. He wanted to win the Energy Converter, collect his prize, and leave Zeta as soon as possible.

The host stepped forward, his voice booming through the amphitheater.

"Four participants! One artifact!"

The transparent barrier surrounding the arena strengthened with a low hum. The gates sealed shut, and a countdown appeared above the platform.

Jayden rolled his shoulders. He had spent the entire day studying how the Grand Exchange worked.

And now he knew exactly what he needed to do.

Win quickly. Win decisively. And leave no one willing to challenge him.

The countdown began.

THREE.

TWO.

ONE.

The host raised his hand.

"BEGIN!"

Immediately, Jayden moved.

Or, more accurately, he disappeared.

One moment, he stood near the center of the arena, his hands hanging loosely at his sides. The next, a streak of black flashed across the clearing.

The crowd saw a blur.

A faint rush of air swept through the arena, barely stirring the dust beneath the combatants’ feet.

Then Jayden reappeared.

He stood several meters behind his opponents, his back turned to them, one arm hanging beside his body.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

The broad man with the enormous axe hadn’t even lifted his weapon. The woman in black armor hadn’t drawn either of her pistols. The lean man with a long sword remained exactly where he had been.

None of them had taken a single step.

Then, simultaneously, thin crimson lines split across all three of their necks.

They staggered at once, their hands flying to their slit throats. Black veins spread beneath their skin, branching rapidly across their necks and faces as Jayden’s lethal toxin dissolved their internal systems from the inside out.

The broad man dropped his axe. It struck the ground with a deafening clang, but the sound barely registered among the audience’s mounting gasps.

The woman gasped, her fingers clawing at her throat.

The sword man tried to turn. His knees buckled first.

One after another, all three of them collapsed, dead before they even got the chance to attack.

The match was over.

Silence descended upon the amphitheater.

Jayden slowly turned around.

Just before the counter went off, he had transformed his fingers into lycan claws and coated each one with poison.

He flexed his claws once before retracting them, leaving behind ordinary fingernails.

For several long moments, nobody said a word.

The host stood beside the arena, staring at the three fallen fighters. He looked at Jayden, then at the bodies, then back at Jayden as if expecting someone to explain what had just happened.

Suddenly, the display screen above the arena flashed.

[NOTICE OF ACHIEVEMENT!]

[DURATION OF MATCH: 00:00:03]

Then, a new line appeared beneath the result.

[NEW RECORD — FASTEST MATCH IN GRAND EXCHANGE HISTORY]

The amphitheater erupted in murmurs.

"What the hell just happened?!"

"Did anyone see him move?"

"Three seconds? That’s impossible!"

The reactions came from every direction, overlapping until the entire venue became a wall of noise.

Jayden barely paid attention.

He glanced at the display.

Three seconds.

He had planned to have a quick victory, but even he hadn’t anticipated finishing the match that quickly.

But either way, he got the results he wanted.

From his seat, Kyle was practically vibrating with excitement.

"Nicely done, kid," he muttered.

Jayden looked up at him from the arena.

Kyle gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Jayden responded with a small nod before turning toward the host. He had a feeling the next part would take longer than the fight itself.

And he wasn’t wrong.

The host cleared his throat, apparently struggling to recover his composure.

"W-well! Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have witnessed the shortest match in the history of the Grand Exchange!"

A fresh round of shouting answered him.

"An extraordinary display of speed and lethal precision!" he continued. "Three challengers entered the arena, and not one managed to launch an attack!"

He paused, looking down at the fallen fighters. Then he turned back to face the crowd.

"So, does anyone wish to challenge the victor?"

Nobody moved.

The host waited.

"Anyone?"

Still nothing.

Not a single identification tag rose.

Jayden watched the audience, concealing his relief.

He had expected some resistance. The people gathered here weren’t ordinary auction attendees. Many were criminals, mercenaries, collectors, and underworld figures accustomed to taking what they wanted by force.

Some of them would rather risk their lives than admit defeat.

And Jayden had just killed three fighters who, until a few seconds ago, had believed themselves capable of winning.

Surely, someone would be foolish enough to try. Yet the silence continued.

The host eventually nodded.

"Very well. Since no further challenges have been issued, participant 047 has won the Energy Converter!"

Jayden exhaled quietly. His plan had worked effectively.

Thanks to his ridiculous display of speed and deadly precision, he had won the artifact without any further challengers.

....

High above the arena, inside Box 4, the leader of the Black Cobra syndicate had not taken his eyes off Jayden.

He sat comfortably in his chair, a cigar resting between two fingers. His usual expression of detached amusement had disappeared, replaced by a concentrated stare. He had watched the entire match. Or rather, he had watched the beginning and the end. The part in between had escaped him.

One moment, Jayden had been standing in front of his opponents. The next, he was behind them.Then all three had collapsed.

Xander leaned forward slightly.

"Interesting," he murmured.

His gaze settled on the arena.

There was no confusion in his mind about what had killed the three challengers. He had seen the black veins spreading across their skin. He had noticed the way they had seized their throats almost simultaneously.

Poison, he deduced.

But the poison wasn’t what interested him most.

It was the speed.

He had spent enough years in the underworld to know that a fighter’s reputation and actual capabilities were rarely the same thing. Plenty of people looked impressive until they encountered someone who could kill them before they had time to react.

Jayden had demonstrated precisely that.

Xander watched as Jayden lowered his hands. For a brief moment, he could still make out the tips of his claws before they retracted into ordinary fingers.

His eyes narrowed.

Behind him, his assistant noticed the direction of his attention.

"Are you interested in the Energy Converter?" she asked. "Should I notify our champion?"

Xander didn’t answer immediately. He watched Jayden step out of the arena and take a few steps toward the host.

"No. I’m not interested in the artifact," he said, taking a slow draw from his cigar. "Besides, I doubt Rick would stand much of a chance against that boy in a fair one-on-one fight."

His assistant glanced toward the arena. "Why do you say so? I believe Mister Gallagher is quite agile."

"Rick is fast, yes," Xander said, tapping ash into a nearby tray. "But his fighting style relies too much on physical contact. He needs to get close enough to land his attacks."

His gaze returned to Jayden.

"That would be a poor matchup against someone who is faster than he is and can kill him with a scratch of his claws."

The assistant considered this, then inclined her head.

"That is an astute observation. Forgive my Ignorance."

She was about to turn away when Xander spoke again.

"Wait."

She stopped.

"Look at the boy carefully," he said. "Doesn’t he look familiar to you?"

His assistant studied Jayden from the privacy of their box. She examined his face, his build, and the way he carried himself.

After several seconds, she shook her head.

"I can’t say that I recognize him."

Xander hummed. "Neither can I. But... there’s something about him that’s familiar."

His expression grew thoughtful. The feeling had been nagging at him since the fight began. It wasn’t simply that Jayden looked like someone he’d seen before. Something about the teenager’s presence, or perhaps the combination of his abilities, had stirred a memory he couldn’t quite grasp.

"Look into his identity," Xander ordered. "Dig up anything you can find. I want to know who he is."

The assistant retrieved her tablet immediately and began searching.

Xander returned his attention to the arena.

Jayden was standing beside the host now, apparently unconcerned by the hundreds of people who had just watched him kill three opponents in three seconds.

The boy was calm. Too calm, perhaps.

Xander had met killers who enjoyed making a spectacle of their abilities. Others preferred to hide what they could do until the moment they needed it. Jayden seemed to belong to the second category. That alone made him worth investigating.

A few minutes passed.

Xander finished his cigar and set it aside.

"Well?"

His assistant looked up from her tablet. The expression on her face had changed.

"You were right," she said.

Xander turned toward her. "What do you mean?"

"We have seen him before."

She handed him the tablet.

He collected it.

The screen displayed a photograph of a teenage boy, captured from a satellite feed. The image was slightly grainy, but the subject was unmistakable.

Jayden Starrk.

And he wasn’t alone.

A massive figure stood several meters away, surrounded by the wreckage of a building. Flames and smoke filled the background. The image had been captured during an incident that had attracted considerable attention from the authorities.

It was the night Jayden had rescued Cassandra from an hostage facility and faced off one of the Syndicate’s Pioneers.

Xander stared at the photograph for a second. Then he chuckled.

"Well, well. So it’s him. The boy who killed Scorched."