CHAPTER 283: THE BACKUP PLAN

"Who are –!"

"Shut up."

Jason turned to the man who spoke with a glare! The man was already reaching for a weapon behind him, but he froze once he saw the intensity present in Jasno’s eyes! The man suddenly felt a blade press into his neck from behind, and his body locked up as he wondered how someone had gotten behind him! The man dared to glance at who was there, and he saw a figure in all-black holding the dagger and staring at him with eyes that were devoid of any light! There were more figures holding weapons to the necks of every single person on that rooftop, and the man cursed internally! How the hell did these many assassins sneak up on them like this!? Was Jason’s mana so potent that they didn’t notice the assassins until they were right on top of them! Jason’s red eyes pinned the man down as the assassin’s dagger dug deeper into his skin, and the man slowly raised his hand in surrender. Jason then turned back to Fredrica, and her entire body shook as he addressed her in a calm voice.

"You’re coming with me."

Fredrica’s eyes widened, and she was about to ask for help, but before she could even produce a single word, she was pulled down into the shadow below her feet, and they vanished from the rooftop!

...

Fredrica was roughly pushed out from the shadow inside an empty office building, and she stumbled forward before falling to the ground with a grunt! She turned around while breathing heavily, and she watched as Jason calmly walked out from the shadows with his hands in his pockets. Jason’s face was set into a calm look of complete disinterest, and if anyone saw him at that moment, then they would never think that he was angry! But Jason’s mana told a completely different story! Jason’s mana had spread across the entire room and it was pressing down on Fredrica with enough force to make her sick!

Fredrica swallowed as she tried to get to her feet, but Jason doubled the pressure from his mana, and Fredrica fell to her hands and knees as she felt all the breath leave her lungs! Fredrica felt like she was going to die! How in the world did Jasn have this much mana!? Didn’t their spies say that Jason was still just an S Rank!? This wasn’t normal! Not even an SS Rank should have this much mana! A pair of shoes came into view, and Fredrica looked up in dread to see Jason staring down at her with those same impassive red eyes! The emptiness in those eyes sent a shiver through her body! Jason’s message was as clear as day, and Fredrica knew at that moment that this was not going to be a conversation between equals. Jason was the one with the power here.

"I warned you, didn’t I? I told you that we would have a problem if you dared go near Riyala."

Jason’s voice floated through the air with a terrifying calmness, and Fredica swallowed. For a second, she wondered who Jason was talking about, but it didn’t take her long to figure out that Jason was referring to the dragon princess that she had tried to hand over to the dragonriders. Fredrica swallowed once more before trying to find her voice.

"W-We did what we had to do... to save the world. We aren’t afraid to do what’s necessary for the sake of humanity."

Jason crouched and grabbed Fredrica by the hair, and she let out a cry as he pulled her up so she was staring him right in the eye.

"If you were looking for a reason to do what I say, then you should have thought about what I would do to you. You broke into my house, threatened my guests, and kidnapped my friend. Any one of those crimes would have been enough reason for me to kill you, and the only reason you’re alive right now is because Riyala is still on Earth. If I had come back here and she had been taken away, then you and I would be having a very different conversation."

Fredrica glared at Jason with a pained expression on her face, and Jason tossed her back to the ground and stood up calmly. Fredrica held her head in pain from how hard Jason had grabbed it! It felt like he was trying to pull out all her hair at once, and Fredrica was thankful that he hadn’t. Jason spoke up again:

"Call Cersai."

Fredrica was shocked when she heard this, and she looked up at Jason with wide eyes. Fredrica didn’t want to involve Cersai in this at all since she knew that it would seriously affect Gaia’s relationship with Jason, so she spoke up with some effort.

"Cersai wasn’t involved in this. I did it on my own."

DOON!

Jason’s mana suddenly pushed Fredrica to the floor again, and Jason’s eyes narrowed in rage as he commanded once more.

"I said call Cersai. I will not ask again."

Fredrica’s entire body was trembling from the intensity of the mana in that room, and she felt her hands slowly moving towards her phone to make the call, but before she could even reach it, Jason’s phone rang and Jason looked down at it calmly. Jason took out his phone, and he saw that it was an unknown number calling him. Jason picked the call, and he heard Cersai’s voice coming through from the other side.

[You’ve really done a number on my agent, Mr. Marc. I understand that you are angry, but this is no way to treat a woman. Can I ask you to let her go?]

"Shut up, Cersai. You should thank all your gods that you’re not the one standing in front of me right now, because your head would have been torn off your body already. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t find and kill you this moment."

The voice on the other side of the phone was silent for a few seconds before Cersai’s voice came through.

[Killing someone for trying to protect their world is the greatest honor a person can receive. You were not here, Jason. And no one knew when you would be coming back. If I had placed blind faith in you, then there was every chance that the entire country would have been destroyed before you arrived. I did what I did because I thought it was necessary. If you wish to make me your enemy for that, then so be it.]

Jason’s teeth tightened in anger, and he spat out his next words.

"Don’t play that shit with me, Cersai. You think I’m a fool? Protecting the country? Dying for the country? Is all this bullshit really coming from the same person who was preparing a nuclear strike to take out the entire city as a backup plan?"

Both Cersai and Fredrica felt shock pass through them when they heard what Jason just said. Cersai had been standing on a balcony on top of a skyscraper, and he felt his brow furrow in shock as he looked around him for any sort of listening device. Jason was right about Cersai planning to take out the entire city and everyone in it if his initial plan had failed. Gaia’s goal as an organization was to protect humanity, not to protect a single city. If they allowed the interworld travellers to get out of New Jersey, then it would have caused unforeseen problems for everyone, and the best course of action that Cersai thought about was to take out the entire city before things got out of hand.

But the question now was how the hell Jason knew about that! Cersai had made sure that only a select group of people knew about the Nuclear strike, but all those people were government agents with the highest clearances, and he was sure that none of them would speak to Jason about the plan!