I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 139

Silence seemed to permeate the air after I spoke out. I hadn’t expected my words to cause so many shocked faces, but it wasn’t like I minded.

“You intend to fight for first place?” The person who asked was a man I didn’t recognize, but he was sitting in the same box as Lady Stride, so I guessed that he was part of the Stride family. “You wish to battle Jordan Stride?”

“This guy has grown a big head. He thinks he earned first place.” Countless people were muttering similar sentiments.

“He must have seen Sammuel the broken fight above his station and felt motivated. What a fool.”

“Didn’t you say you had no interest in the first place?” The person who spoke up was none other than Huntington.

He had been ‘cured’ of his poison and was watching the remainder of the match. Naturally, he was unhappy that I had made it to the top three. In his mind, that should have been his spot. Of course, he hadn’t been poisoned, but infected with my cells. A poison was merely a chemical that could cause damage in the bottom, often by triggering blocking, or enhancing the communication between cells. For example, if someone wanted to use a paralyzing poison, they’d need one that blocked the signals from the brain to the muscles. On the other hand, if someone wanted a poison that induced pain, perhaps something that targeted and enhanced the pain receptors would do.

My cells were more like a disease, and while I had them briefly given him poison-like symptoms, I didn’t want to reveal what I did, so I deactivated them shortly after he had eaten what I presumed were curative medicines. His ‘poison’ could flare up again at my will, but for the moment, my cells were hiding deep within his body, sitting in a protected and encapsulated inert position that even his body couldn’t fight off.

I hadn’t done the same for the last guy I defeated. He wasn’t part of one of the families, so I saw no reason to set up such a trick for the future. With him, I merely injected a poison directly which accomplished the same goal of convincing everyone I was some kind of poison fighter. Everyone was waiting for my answer. I could feel a piercing gaze specifically from Mara.

I shrugged and answered honestly. “I need the money. I was originally going to skip first place since I have no interest in marriage, but since she can pick anyone she wants, there is no reason I can’t obtain first now.”

“Money, spoken like a true commoner.” One of the paragons sneered.

“This guy, is he trying to insult Lady Capala on purpose?”

“Have it your way. If you wish to fight, let’s get this over with.” Jordan spoke up. “You should know, however, that even though we’re both in the third evolution, every evolution has three divisions. The lower, middle, and upper tiers. I’m in the upper tier, while you are only in the lower tier. Although Sammuel was able to jump a realm, this was undoubtedly from countless years of refining a unique martial art. I’ve already seen enough to know that you lack any form at all.”

I chuckled. “Who says I need to be skilled to defeat you?”

“Ah, yes, your poison.” He sneered. “If you were someone of note, you’d already have known that the Stride family is a family of alchemy. Although we have no one of Grandmaster Bai’s talents, our family still has several masters. Our bloodline has a mutation resistant to poison, and we have no shortage of medicines that can negate or block anything a commoner like you could through our way. In short, you won’t be able to defeat me as you did the others.”

“That just means I need to defeat you in a whole new way.” I grinned.

“Arrogant! Fine, learn just what kind of power a paragon truly has.” Jordan pulled his blade.

“Spirit! You may need this this time.” Although he hadn’t recovered as much as Brandon, Sammuel had woken up and was watching things play out from his stretcher.

The doctors had given preferential treatment to Brandon, but at least on the surface, this was still supposed to look like a fair competition. After doing everything they could to make him comfortable, they finally began to care for Sammuel’s wounds. Samuel handed his blade over to one of the doctors taking care of him, and the doctor took it to the stage, handing it to me.

“Thank you.” I nodded, taking the blade.

Sammuel gave a nod, looking just as carefree as he always did. I still wasn’t sure what he suspected of me. At the least, he didn’t seem to hold any worry in his eyes, not that anyone else there looked worried. Even Mara watched only with complete trust that I could handle this fight.

Of course, I had no doubt I could defeat him. No matter how powerful he was, my true realm was far greater than anyone assumed. No matter what techniques they studied, none of that mattered against true power. The only reason I remained cautious was because I didn’t want to expose my true ability. I had already gotten practice on quite a few fights though, so I was getting the hang of it. This time, I couldn’t depend on some gimmick though. I had to defeat him, and I had to make it look like it was an even fight.

I pulled the sword from the sheath. A pleasant ringing sound came out. I didn’t have a belt or anything to attach the sheath to, but there was a strap so I pulled it over my shoulder onto my back. There was some snickering, as I was sure I was holding the sword like, I had never held a sword before, which was accurate. I had held a few knives and guns, but even then, I hadn’t used them all that much. When you were in a gang, weapons were 90% intimidation. I had been in a few knife fights and shootouts, but it wasn’t like I had any formal training like a knight.

“Die!” he shouted, lunging at me with his blade.

This time, I didn’t bother to dodge since I had a blade of my own. I merely blocked his strikes. He was trying to overwhelm me with his superior strikes, hitting harder and faster, but his status wasn’t superior to mine, so it was all rather useless.

I let out a sigh, wondering how to win this without being too suspicious. It would be easy enough if I just used my whole strength, but right now, it was more like a puzzle than a battle. My opponent moved like he was fighting through the mud. I could see the way his muscles moved, giving away every move, and the way his foot shifted. He was skilled and had a lot of power, but my perception and reaction time were just too high.

That’s why I could see him reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a bag, and I could tell there was some kind of substance in it. He thrust it out in a throwing motion. I had a feeling that it would probably be bad if it landed. Thus, I used the broad side of my blade and slammed it into his palm. His eyes widened in shock as the back seemed to trigger. There was a flash of an explosion, and even I felt the heat of it as I backed up a few feet.

When my sight cleared, Jordan was on the ground, a stunned expression on his face. He lifted his hand, but his hand was now missing. The bag he had tried to use was some kind of alchemic explosion, but when I blocked it, it went off in his hand. I checked out Sammuel’s sword in worry, but was surprised that the blade only had a little ash on it, but otherwise looked unharmed.

“Jordan!” The man from the Stride family who had spoken up earlier let out a cry. “You dare harm my son!”

I was shocked to see the man leap from the audience box. He took a single step to reach the stage. His hand was coming out like a claw toward my throat. His speed wasn’t too fast to handle, but he was using mana to amplify his speed and he was quite a bit stronger than the third evolution. If I tried to fight him, my strength would be revealed.

“Spirit!” Mara cried out in horror.

“Magistrate!” It was Abigail who cried out. “Do something!”

It wasn’t certain whether the magistrate planned to move, or if her words triggered it, but he disappeared a moment later.

“Zaren!” just as the old man was about to reach my throat, the claw struck an invisible wall, and the magistrate appeared between the two of us. “What is the meaning of this?’

“He mutilated my son!” The man named Zaren roared.

“This is a tournament. Accidents happen. Every participant prepares themselves for this possibility. Do you think you’re above the laws of Stormberg? Do you spit in the face of Lord Nikola’s rule?”

The man named Zaren blinked a few times, seemingly growing calm. “No… I’m sorry, I overreacted. My apologies.”

“Since no one was hurt, I’ll overlook this.” The magistrate huffed.

Although Zaren backed down, he shot me a threatening look before kneeling and picking up his crying son, pulling Jordan off the stage.

“In that case,” The Magistrate turned to the audience. “It appears that the number one victor this year is Spirit!”