A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5441

Jared clenched his jaw and poured out another dozen blows. Sweat soaked through his tunic until it clung to his back like a second skin.

He understood the gulf between them was a chasm. Onneas was sparring, almost teasing him with effortless grace.

Desperation kindled a memory of the dormant dimension and time nascence hidden deep inside his marrow. That was Jared's most secret trump card.

"Spatial Fold!"

Space around him rippled like water in drought. For the briefest heartbeat, Onneas' outline smeared into a shapeless blur.

Jared lunged through that single crack, Dragonslayer Sword carving a golden arc that thrust for the very center of her chest.

Onneas merely flicked a finger against the branch. A jade-green flash burst forth, crumpling the warped space. "Space nascence is promising, but your grasp rests at the surface."

Undeterred, Jared summoned time nascence, willing the world itself to slow around her.

Air thickened like syrup, yet Onneas still moved like dew on the breeze. The twig—alive, precise—met Dragonslayer again. "Time nascence bends only with the Heavenly Law. Forcing it will wound you first."

The double strain upended Jared's composure. Conventional swordplay would never graze Onneas. That truth rang painfully clear.

He watched Onneas stand serene beneath a drifting petal. A reckless idea ignited behind his eyes—one gamble, all or nothing.

Jared sprang backward. Every shred of dragon bloodline, every mote of spiritual energy, even the wisp of nascent power he barely controlled, flooded straight into Dragonslayer Sword. The blade shrieked. Gold light forged itself into a tight, dragon-shaped arc that tore toward Onneas, ready to rip the sky apart.

The strike emptied Jared. If it failed, he would crumple where he stood, his very essence in tatters.

A flicker of surprise crossed Onneas' eyes. She only shook her head and swept her branch-staff sideways. A teal waterfall of power crashed down, obliterating the golden dragon-shaped sword energy in an instant.

As the sword energy blew apart, Jared spun with the recoil, hurtling at her like a kite whose string had snapped. The last filament of sword energy riding Dragonslayer went for the silk at her collar.

There was no form, no discipline—only one final, reckless wager.

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