Jhonathan woke up in motion.
No transition. No recovery.
Just instinct.
He launched forward instantly toward the green-bow woman, his body still carrying the residue of the previous explosion-rain of arrows. The air cracked as he accelerated, leaving fractured space behind him.
The woman—Jeacee Ann—didn't move back.
She smiled.
Almost disappointed.
"You're still like this?" she said softly.
Then she moved.
Ten kicks struck in rapid succession.
Each one landed on his head mid-charge, redirecting his momentum violently through the air. The impact didn't just stop him—it rewrote his trajectory completely, sending him crashing through one building, then another, then another, like a thrown object skipping through destruction.
Glass, stone, and steel shattered around him.
He finally hit the ground far away, skidding across rubble.
Jeacee Ann appeared above him moments later, floating arrows circling lazily around her like she didn't even need to take the fight seriously.
She tilted her head.
"So weak…" she teased.
Then she fired arrows—not to kill, but to demonstrate. Explosions blossomed around him in controlled intervals, each blast carefully placed just close enough to show dominance rather than finish him.
She walked closer through the smoke.
"My my… how weak you've become."
From her hand, she dropped something small.
A wilted gumamela flower.
It landed near him softly, almost gently, in contrast to everything else.
"You used to smile when I gave you that," she said.
Jhonathan paused.
The smoke shifted.
Her expression sharpened slightly.
"You were my lover," she continued, voice quieter now, "before you became part of the Heroes Party."
The words didn't sound like an attack.
They sounded like something heavier.
History.
She grabbed his neck.
Slowly.
And pulled off his damaged helmet.
For the first time, his face was fully visible.
Bruised.
Worn.
Carrying too many fights that had no real ending.
Jeacee Ann froze.
For a moment, her arrogance vanished completely.
"…Ah."
Her fingers loosened.
She stepped back slightly.
Not fear exactly.
Shock.
Recognition that something had changed in him that she couldn't understand anymore.
Then she laughed.
But it wasn't stable anymore.
It cracked halfway through.
And she ran.
Not continuing the fight.
Not finishing it.
Just escaping it.
Laughing as she disappeared into the distance between explosions and arrows.
---
Jhonathan stayed still.
Watching her go.
His right arm dropped to the ground moments later—detached by lingering explosion damage he hadn't fully registered until now.
He didn't move to retrieve it immediately.
Instead, shadows gathered faintly around him.
Not attacking.
Not healing.
Just… responding.
A new aura.
Unstable.
Unknown.
Jeacee Ann was already gone by the time he stood again.
And he let her leave.
Not because he couldn't follow.
But because, for the first time…
she had looked more afraid of him than he was of her.