Conquering The Novel

After watching the highlights of the match, Jessica fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.

"...Both of them have the same fighting style as Mika, and they even possess Bianca's signature skill, Atomic Slash," she finally muttered, clearly taken aback.

"But you missed the part where they switch places, President," Mina pointed out.

!?

"What do you mean? Does Marz also use that location switch skill?" Jessica asked, looking puzzled.

"Did you not watch the assessment video in its entirety, President?" Mina asked, a blank expression on her face.

"...."

Jessica suddenly realized that she had missed several crucial parts of the video, including the section where Marz used his location swap skill. Worried that she might have overlooked other important details, she quickly rewound the video and began watching it from the beginning once again, paying closer attention this time around.

...

After watching the entire footage again, Jessica let out a breath of surprise. "How intriguing!"

"Do you think there's a chance they're the same person, President?" Mina asked with a concerned look.

Jessica took a moment to consider before responding, "...No, I don't think so," she said, shaking her head.

"...."

"But with all the similarities in their skills and fighting style, don't you think it's possible?" Mina pressed.

Although Marz and Ares' skills and fighting styles were strikingly similar, Jessica's confidence in her own ability led her to remain unconvinced that they were the same person.

"As you may recall, I first encountered Ares when he successfully cleared that mysterious black gate. However, I can say with confidence that he wasn't nearly that strong back then.

At the time, it seemed like he had only just reached the level of an A-Rank," Jessica clarified, her expression serious. "While that is certainly impressive for someone his age, I don't believe it's enough to take down a Demon Lord," she continued, deep in thought.

Mina raised a possibility, "Maybe he was concealing his strength at the time, and we simply couldn't discern his true abilities?"

"Are you suggesting that he was able to hide his strength from me?" Jessica asked, pointing to her patched eye with a neutral expression.

"...."

Mina quickly apologized after a sudden realization. "Ah, sorry. I forgot about your ability for a moment."

'Yeah, It's impossible for him to hide his strength from her all-seeing eye,' Mina reflected on Jessica's powerful skill, the All-Seeing Eye, which granted her the ability to see through almost anything.

The skill allowed her to penetrate solid objects, barriers, and illusions, and detect hidden objects, traps, and enemies. Jessica could even see faraway locations and also identify the strengths and weaknesses of people and objects, making her a formidable opponent in combat.

Despite its many benefits, there was one limitation to the skill - it couldn't penetrate the powers of demon lord contractees, as their powers are shrouded in a strong demonic aura that blocked Jessica's vision.

As Mina thought about it, she realized there were probably many other uses and applications for Jessica's All-Seeing Eye that she wasn't even aware of yet.

Mina's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Jessica's voice. She seemed unfazed by Mina's mistake and quickly reassured her not to worry.

"Don't worry about it. I don't believe he could have become that powerful in such a short amount of time to defeat a Demon Lord and wreak havoc on the Abandoned Kingdom," Jessica said, interweaving her fingers as she began to contemplate. "But the question that's really puzzling me is how both Marz and Ares can possess such strikingly similar skills?" she wondered aloud, her mind racing with possibilities.

'Could it be a coincidence? Was it possible for two people to develop such similar fighting styles and abilities independently of each other? Or was there something more at play?'

"...Have you done a background search on that Marz?" Jessica suddenly asked, looking at Mina.

"Actually, I did. But the results are not satisfying," Mina said.

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mina hesitated for a moment before replying, "There's not much information available about Marz. It's almost like someone is intentionally hiding his background."

Jessica's expression turned serious at Mina's words. "That's concerning. What did you manage to find out?" she asked.

"Well, I did come across something interesting. It seems when Marz was just 10 years old, his master left him in the gladiator arena as part of his training, but never came back to check on him. Witnesses say that there was a handsome eye-catching black-haired boy who frequently visited him during his time in the arena, and it matches Ares' description," Mina revealed.

Jessica's eyes widened. "So Marz and Ares have a connection that goes back years?"

"Yes, and according to my sources, Ares helped Marz a lot during his time in the arena, with the help of his ex-fiancée Silvia," Mina added.

"I see. Do you have any footage from his time in the gladiator games?"

"No, I couldn't get my hands on any of them. It seems that Silvia had cleared all of his records," Mina replied, sounding frustrated.

Jessica paused for a moment before asking, "Anything else you found out about him?"

Mina hesitated before adding, "Well, I have a theory based on my investigation."

Jessica leaned in, intrigued. "Let's hear it."

Mina took a deep breath before explaining, "From what I've gathered, I assume Mika has two disciples. One is Marz, who she abandoned in the gladiator arena for some reason, and the other is Ares, who she adores. Despite Mika's abandonment, Ares remained close to Marz and even visited him secretly with the help of his ex-fiancée, Silvia."

Jessica nodded, following Mina's train of thought.

"After Mika's loss against Tania, Marz decided to leave the gladiator arena for some reason, maybe due to a falling out between them, or maybe Marz discovered something about Mika that made him leave. Either way, with the help of Ares and Silvia, he was able to exit the gladiator arena without much issue, and then decided to become an adventurer with Silvia as his sponsor.

Also, the eradication of the demon colony in the Khaldor kingdom seems to be Marz's doing, as his adventurer assessment was on the same day in the Khaldor kingdom, and the letter and video clip you received also came from there.

Though someone tried to hide the traces, we were able to deduce that the whole demon colony was eradicated in a single sword strike similar to that of Mika's signature move."

Jessica's eyes widened as she realized the implications of Mina's theory. "Where was Ares while the attack on the demon colony happened?" she asked.

"He was also seen in the Khaldor Kingdom's warp port on the same day of Marz's ranking assessment," Mina informed her.

!?

"It ...all makes sense now!" Jessica muttered thoughtfully, nodding her head in agreement.

'It seems Ares was the one who informed Marz about the location of the Demon Lord's dungeon with the help of his Demon servant.

And seeing Marz going out of his way to clear demon colonies and Demon Lords, his personality contradicts that of Mika's 'don't give a damn' personality, which is actually a relief.' Jessica mused.