The shadow attacked with terrifying speed.
Its wide-open mouth launched toward Jason's face with fast movement and full intent to kill. Jason, still lying on the floor of the alley filled with brick debris, could only raise his arm to protect his face.
"No, no, NO!" Jason screamed as his arm covered his face.
But something happened in the last second. Jason's head light, which had already faded, suddenly shone brighter. The golden light formed a kind of shield, a transparent barrier that formed around Jason's body. The shadow rammed into Jason's light shield and was thrown backward hard.
Jason opened his eyes, shocked at what had just happened. The light shield was still there, still protecting him, but the light pulsed like a frightened heart. Jason could feel energy flowing from the crown, protecting him without being commanded.
"Automatic defense system," the voice in his head explained quickly. "The crown protects its wearer when near death. Use this chance, Jason. Get up and attack again."
Jason didn't know how he found the strength to get up, but his body responded. With awkward and laborious movement, Jason managed to get up on his knees. The light shield still protected him, but its glow was fading. Jason knew he didn't have much time.
The shadow was already getting up again, ready to attack. The shadow looked slightly shaken, as if gathering energy. Its wide-open mouth began to close, and from within that mouth came a sound like a low and threatening hum.
"This is what we call a level-one shadow monster," the voice in his head explained again. "They can't be defeated with just ordinary fire. You need deeper power, more fundamental power."
Jason didn't have time to process that explanation. The shadow attacked again, this time more aggressively. The shadow didn't just open its mouth, but started throwing dark scratches from its body. Those scratches were like dark fire rings that launched toward Jason.
Jason raised his hand and with instinct, tried to do what the voice in his head told him. He imagined not just fire, but something deeper. He imagined stronger energy, more fundamental power.
Jason's hand moved with movement different from before. The movement was wider, stronger, more conscious. From his hand no longer appeared a small fireball, but a large wave of energy appeared. The wave was bright golden in color, the same as the color of Jason's head light, the same as the color of the crown itself.
The wave of energy launched toward the dark scratches thrown by the shadow. When the energy wave met the dark scratch, small explosions occurred in the air. The dark scratches couldn't penetrate Jason's energy wave.
But the shadow kept attacking. The shadow launched forward with constantly increasing speed, moving unnaturally, moving like dark liquid flowing through the air.
Jason stepped back, his steps stumbling because of exhaustion. His head shone less brightly. Jason's energy was running out. He knew his body couldn't endure much longer.
The shadow understood Jason's condition. The shadow kept pushing its attacks, kept delivering scratches and punches that Jason couldn't fully avoid. Some dark scratches successfully penetrated Jason's light shield. Jason could feel the scratches on his skin, felt cold, felt like slowly freezing.
"Arghhh!" Jason screamed as the dark scratch touched his arm. Jason's arm began to form dark lines, like bruises that were forming.
Jason tried to conjure another fireball, but this time the fireball was far smaller than before. Jason's energy was almost gone. The fireball moved slowly toward the shadow, but the shadow easily avoided it by moving sideways.
"I can't anymore," Jason whispered with interrupted breath. "I can't do it anymore."
The shadow stood in front of Jason who could barely move. The shadow left dark trails on the ground as it moved. The shadow opened its mouth again, this time wider than before.
"I'm going to die," Jason whispered those words with a very soft voice. "I'm going to die here, in a dirty old alley, on the first day I got power. How could this happen?"
The shadow's mouth grew larger and larger, becoming a dark hole that seemed like it would swallow everything.
But suddenly, something happened.
A new light appeared in the alley. This light wasn't the golden light shining from Jason's head. This light was white, pure white, colored like moonlight on a clear night. The light appeared from above the alley, from the roofs of tall buildings.
The shadow screamed and retreated, releasing Jason from its target. The shadow was disturbed by the white light. The shadow stared up at the alley, toward where the white light came from.
Jason, through his eyes that were almost closed from exhaustion, could see the silhouette of someone. The silhouette stood at the edge of a building roof, white light shining from the silhouette's body.
"No one is allowed to touch the child of the crown," a different voice, a woman's voice that sounded calm yet full of authority, came from above. The voice sounded like someone who was experienced, someone who had lived a long time.
The shadow looked at the silhouette with fear. The shadow began to retreat slowly, as if considering escaping from this alley.
"Move, Jason," the woman's voice yelled at him. "Take the crown and get out of here. I will handle this creature."
Jason didn't understand what was happening, but his feet responded. With extraordinary effort, Jason started running out of the alley. His body trembled, his arm ached, his head was dizzy, but Jason ran. He ran away from the shadow, ran away from the alley full of brick debris and the smell of fire.
Behind him, Jason could hear a new battle taking place. White light and dark light clashed, creating flashes in the air. The sound of explosions rang out again, sounds of a battle far more catastrophic than what Jason had done before.
Jason kept running, not caring which direction he was heading. He just wanted to get out of that alley, just wanted to get fresh air, just wanted to be as far as possible from that dark creature.
When Jason reached the main street, the world that was familiar suddenly felt very strange. Cars were driving by. People were walking casually, as if nothing had happened in the alley. As if the explosions and battles that took place never existed.
Jason stood at the edge of the street, his breath coming and going very quickly. His head still shone, but now that light was extremely dim, like a candle light that was about to die out.
"What was that?" Jason spoke to himself.
The voice in his head was still there, still giving guidance: "A level-one monster is strong enough to kill you. There is a mentor who helped. The same mentor who chose the crown for you. You must meet with him, Jason. You must learn more about the power you possess."
Jason stared back at the alley. From there, white light and dark light continued to clash, creating explosions that echoed through the night air of Seattle.
"This shadow monster," Jason whispered, "they can't be stopped alone. They're too strong."
And as Jason said those words, he realized something very terrifying: "If this is only a level-one monster, what about the others?"
The distant sound of battle grew louder, more intense, like a war was beginning to rage in the heart of the city.