[A/N]: We are finally at Chapter 100!! All i can say is thanks for being a part of this Journey with me!
The four masters, now refreshed and empowered, moved to surround their apparently defeated opponent. Victory was within their grasp.
That was when they saw Jay's smile.
It wasn't the grin of a beaten man. It was the predatory expression of someone who'd been holding back.
"My turn!!"
He closed his eyes and reached for two abilities that none of the masters had ever seen him use in combination.
First came Kim Il Sung's functionality manipulation, the power he'd stolen from the South Korean M-Gang leader months ago. Under the constant pressure of his Adaptive Power perk and the intensive training at Kamar-Taj, the ability had evolved far beyond its original limitations.
Then his power theft ability's null field expanded to its maximum fifty-foot radius.
Separately, neither power would have been enough to turn the tide. But Jay had spent weeks in secret, learning to weave them together into something entirely new.
The null field deployed first, creating a sphere of power-nullification centered on Jay's position, even though it could not interfere with mystics. The masters felt it immediately, though they weren't affected at all.
Then Jay incorporated Kim Il Sung's evolved functionality manipulation into the null field.
What happened next shocked everyone in the hall, including the Ancient One.
The mystical formations that Wong and Hamir had so carefully constructed and not just the central ritual circle, but the boundary protections, even the basic environmental regulators, began to develop cracks.
But these weren't physical cracks. They were functional ones.
The formations didn't break. They began to work backwards. Energy that should have flowed toward the masters began to flow away from them. Protective circles became conductive rings that drained power instead of containing it. The environmental pressure that had been crushing Jay suddenly reversed, now pressing down on his opponents instead.
"Impossible," Hamir breathed, staring at the spreading dysfunction.
The central ritual circle simply collapsed, its carefully constructed matrices unraveling. The backlash hit the masters simultaneously, draining away not just their enhanced reserves but leaving them weaker than they'd been at the start.
Jay straightened as the oppressive atmosphere lifted, his adamantium form gleaming, his breathing easy.
"You wanted to see mystical arts versus conventional power," Jay said. "But what you're really seeing is the evolution of power itself."
The masters found themselves in a position they'd never experienced. Their carefully constructed advantages turned into active disadvantages, their teamwork disrupted by the simple fact that they could no longer trust their magical ritual to provide buffs.
For the first time in the fight, Jay reached for the weapon across his back.
The sound of Murasama being drawn was crystal clear. The katana's black metal seemed to absorb light itself, and the moment it cleared its sheath, the oppressive aura that had been contained was released.
Every person in the hall felt a chill. This was the feeling of standing next to something that existed purely to end life.
But Jay wasn't finished with his reveals.
He released his adamantium form, letting Carl Creel's power shift into something entirely different. Instead of absorbing the properties of a metal, he absorbed the properties of the weapon itself.
The transformation was stunning. Jay's entire body became black as midnight with a red sheen that seemed to move beneath his skin like flowing blood. Red lightning crackled around him. His eyes became pits of crimson light, and when he moved, afterimages of dark energy trailed behind him.
If Jay could see himself now, he would see how closely he resembled Armament Haki from One Piece.
"Magnificent," the Ancient One murmured, though her expression was troubled. She could sense the weapon's nature now. Not just its cutting ability, but its fundamental opposition to all mystical forces.
But Jay had spent months bonding with Murasama, feeding it small amounts of his negative emotions while learning to master its hunger. The weapon had accepted him as its true wielder and soul-bounded to him.
The combination of his absorbed properties and his null field created something unprecedented: a warrior who radiated anti-mystical energy so intensely that mystical energy itself seemed to bend away from him.
"Now," Jay said, raising Murasama to a ready position, "let's finish this properly."
The masters tried to regroup, but their coordination was shattered. Kaecilius conjured his strongest mystical barriers.
But Jay cut through them like paper.
The blade, enhanced by Murasama's anti-mystical properties and further boosted by the weapon's ability to feed on negative emotions, simply negated the barriers' existence.
Master Hamir threw up his most powerful defensive construct again, but now improved from their last fight, a barrier that had once withstood the breath weapon of an actual dragon.
Jay's blade passed through it without slowing down, the edge of Murasama opening a clean line across Hamir's chest that sent the master stumbling backwards. The wound wasn't deep. Jay had pulled the strike. But the message was clear.
"One down," Jay said, spinning to face his remaining opponents.
Kaecilius, desperate now, began weaving portal after portal, trying to use dimensional displacement to throw Jay off balance. But Jay had learned from their earlier exchange. Instead of avoiding the portals, he struck directly at them with Murasama.
The sight that followed was breathtaking and terrifying.
Each portal, when cut by the anti-mystical blade, split cleanly in half. For a brief moment, impossible worlds were visible. Half-gateways that showed bisected views of other dimensions before the disrupted magic caused them to collapse. The effect looked like space itself was being edited.
Kaecilius stared at the impossible sight, his concentration completely shattered. Jay stepped forward and delivered a headbutt that his Murasama-enhanced form made absolutely devastating. The impact sent the master crashing to the ground, unconscious.
"Two down."
Wong and Mordo exchanged glances and nodded grimly. If they were going down, they'd do it together, fighting with everything they had left.
Both masters began channeling their most powerful techniques simultaneously. Wong called upon mystic forces that would serve as an all-or-nothing attack, while Mordo drew on the cosmic energies that powered the Staff of the Living Tribunal. Their combined assault would have been enough to level city blocks.
But Jay was no longer thinking tactically.
The trauma from his enhancement procedure, the pain of his breakup with Domino, the rejection he'd faced from the Fantastic Four, the video of Doom casually devastating his life, the soul-crushing monotony and agony of his previous life in the hospital. All of it came flooding back at once, feeding directly into Murasama's hunger for emotional darkness, forming an endless feedback loop.
The weapon's power spiked beyond anything Jay had previously experienced. Red lightning began arcing between his fingers, his eyes blazed like crimson stars, and when he raised the blade, the very air around it began to distort.
Jay moved into a fluid stance that combined elements from every martial art he'd learned at Kamar-Taj. His breathing fell into the rhythm the Ancient One had taught him. His muscles coiled with the precision Master Mordo had drilled into him.
Then he swung.
The technique was reminiscent of Getsuga Tensho from Bleach, but this was no mere imitation. This was something entirely new, born from the fusion of advanced martial arts, mystical theory, anti-magical weaponry, and raw emotional trauma refined into pure destructive intent.
The blade cut through the air itself.
Not metaphorically. Literally. Reality cracked along the path of his swing, mirror-like cracks spreading outward like breaks in glass. The fissures continued to spread, threatening to cut the entire section of the Mirror Dimension away from its anchor points.
Wong and Mordo's combined attack simply ceased to exist as the wave of disruption passed through it. They stared in horror as the cracks in the dimension continued to spread.
The Ancient One appeared between the spreading cracks and the rest of the hall, her hands moving in patterns so complex they seemed to exist in more dimensions than the human eye could process. Dark energy flowed from her fingers to seal the breaks in reality, requiring tremendous effort even from someone of her capabilities.
"We yield!" Wong called out immediately, his voice cracking. "We surrender!"
Mordo hesitated for a moment, his warrior's pride warring with his survival instincts, then reluctantly lowered his staff. "I... we concede defeat."
At that exact moment, Jay's playlist shuffled to the final theme of Ashita no Joe, the soaring vocals and triumphant orchestration filling the Mirror Dimension.
Source
Jay remained in his follow-through position, Murasama extended in a perfect vertical cut, his entire body radiating dark energy and crackling with red lightning. His breathing was steady, his posture flawless, but his eyes had gone completely blank.
The Ancient One finished sealing the reality fractures and turned to examine her student more closely. She realized that Jay had used absolutely everything he possessed in that final strike. His body was still standing through pure muscle memory and stubborn will, but his consciousness had shut down from the sheer effort of channeling that much power.
He'd literally passed out while standing up, locked in the position of his ultimate technique.
"I declare Jay the victor," the Ancient One announced.
The assembled students erupted.
Cheers, applause, and amazed shouting echoed through the impossible architecture as hundreds of voices joined in celebration. Some students were crying, most were laughing with pure amazement, but almost all were already planning how they'd retell this story.
The Ancient One approached Jay carefully and tapped him gently on the forehead. He collapsed immediately, Murasama clattering to the ground as his enhanced form returned to normal. She caught him easily.
Looking out at the celebrating crowd, then down at her unconscious student, then at the four defeated masters who were helping each other to their feet with expressions of amazed respect, the Ancient One allowed herself a small smile.
"Well," she said quietly, "I suppose this settles our bet. You won, my handful and utterly infuriating student."
As the celebration continued around them and Jay's music played on, she made a mental note to have a very serious conversation with her student about the responsible use of such devastating techniques.
But that could wait until tomorrow. Today belonged to the impossible victory, the stunning display of growth, and the story that would be told in the halls of Kamar-Taj for generations to come.
The day a student with no mystical talent defeated the four greatest masters of the mystic arts, using nothing but determination, preparation, and the will to surpass every limitation placed before him.
The day Kamar-Taj witnessed the Impossible.
[A/N]: This one felt pretty intense to write, both for the fight and the emotions running through it. I'm really curious how it came across to you guys. Did the tone and pacing land the way I meant it to? Did you feel what I was trying to convey, or did something miss the mark? If it didn't fully click, I'd love to know why and what you think could be improved.