The room trembled greatly as we witnessed the astral sword before us vanish.
In no time at all, there remained no sign of Edward's existence. It was a simply a blank, empty room.
However...
>FSHUUUUU<
A light hiss slowly filled the room, and the tremors vanished almost instantly.
Instead, power seemed to permeate the surroundings, all emerging from a single direction.
'Edward... did you succeed?' I asked myself as I watched the tear in space that occured right in front of me.
Emerging from the spatial rift was a figure that I could not completely decipher.
He had the same auburn hair as Edward, but his build was completely different from what I remembered.
Rather than the bulky stature Edward before, his physique had greatly reduced. He appeared more like the Martial Blade God.
'Even if his muscles have reduced greatly, why does it feel like they're much stronger and compressed compared to before?!'
His long hair flowed from his head, and a robe of white light shrouded him.
Something bright shone from his forehead, and I felt the same presence of the Constellation Aries within it.
'So Edward succeeded, huh? Don't scare us like that, you big oaf.'
Such a statement seemed misplaced as I stared at him, though.
His eyes were closed, and his lips were shut tight, but I could sense a form of maturity from him that I couldn't have recognized earlier.
Edward had grown.
"Haaa..." He finally opened his mouth, and I witnessed his breath proceed like a heated fog.
He slowly opened his eyes, revealing sparks of blue light from within. The abyss his eyes told of seemed endless.
The power that oozed from his body, and was finally being put into a calm was immensely dense.
Bountiful too.
'He's gotten much stronger. Stronger than I thought he'd ever become.'
Edward's body, previously suspended in the air, finally touched the ground, and all the energy that radiated around the room swirled around him for a few moments before they finally dissipated.
Thus, only he was left in the center of the room.
For a moment, silence permeated the room as I stared at him and he stared at me. I could tell that everyone else was also looking at him, yet no one uttered a thing.
Wu Jie had already passed out, probably due to his inability to withstand the power Edward radiated.
"Edward. You are Edward, right?" I asked, my voice echoing both concern and curiosity.
The power he exuded was unnatural, and his sheer calmness worried me. He felt completely calm.
"Perci is gone. I released his soul since he told me had fulfilled his wish if serving his master, and I no longer needed him..."
'Perci the Dullahan?' I asked myself, still staring at his calm facade.
"In the end, I wasn't able to reach the realm of the Martial Blade God. I couldn't forego everything for power like he did. Still, this much is enough." He stared at his hand, flexing his fingers as his lips curled up slowly to form a smile.
His eyes left his hands and finally settled on me once more. The expression on his face showed me how foolish my question had been.
"With this much power, I can finally help everyone."
This was, without an iota of doubt, the Edward I knew!
"Ed!" I grinned, launching myself toward him in a flash.
"Jared!" He did the exact same thing, and we instantly closed the distance between us.
I embraced my dear friend, feeling his sturdy body hidden beneath his silky smooth kimono, and he reciprocated with a heartfelt hug.
"Jared... >sniff< I missed you and everyone so much. Ana... >sniff< I miss her too! And Lemi too! I've missed you all so much!" He began to sob slightly as he tightened his grip on me.
'This guy... look at him mentioning Lemi's name to me so casually.'
Was he even trying to hide his infatuation with my daughter? I mean, Edward was a good guy, so he probably wasn't going to hurt her
'... I am actually more concerned that she'll hurt him.'
"Well, we missed you too, Ed. It's nice to see you, buddy."
Genuinely smiling, I patted his broad back and kept up the embrace—at least, until it grew slightly uncomfortable.
"Okay. Time out, buddy!"
We were finally able to break free from our embrace after a minute or two, and Edward still looked so emotional.
His expression seemed so cute and childlike, a complete antithesis from the maturity he had displayed not too long ago.
'He's definitely changed in some regards, but it seems his personality is the same.'
"You never hugged me when we reunited..." I heard someone mutter, and when I glanced in the direction of the voice, it was Kuzon's.
'What... did he just say?!'
"It's not like I care or anything, but don't you think it's a bit unjust? You just hugging Edward out of the blue when you never treated your other friends that way..." Kuzon added, folding his hands and looking slightly displeased.
I glanced at Aloe and Ciara for confirmation to Kuzon's words. Had U been insensitive without realizing it?
"I mean, I don't think it's that big a deal..."
"Why would I want a hug from Jared?"
Just like that, the two of them demolished Kuzon's argument.
"W-what?!"
Suddenly, it felt like he was particularly complaining that I never gave him a hug.
'That's so cute, Kuzon. You should have just said so.' I smiled slyly as I stared at his slightly pink cheeks.
"Shut up! I know what you're thinking, Jared. It's not like that at all."
'Sure, it isn't...' My smile broadened and I raised my eye brows to further establish my point.
"Y-yeah! I also thought it wasn't a big deal. I just felt like the others might have issues with it."
For Kuzon, who usually served as the voice of reason, to suddenly flip out like this, it was hilarious beyond words.
"Don't worry about it tok much. I believe you, Kuzon. We all do." I stifled my chuckle and looked at all my comrades.
"Right, everyone?"
Ciara shrugged, Aloe agreed with me while giggling slightly, and Edward made a hearty laugh.
I couldn't help but join Ed in his laugh fest.
"You all... unbelievable!" Kuzon's face was red now, and it only made me want to laugh even more.
'Sorry, Kuzon. I'm just so happy right now.'
After all, we had all mostly reunited. Everyone on the list was present and accounted for.
Everyone except Neron.
