Kuzon's jaws dropped at the sight.
Where he stood, with Aloe and Ciara, he had witnessed the fight with some degree of suspense, but also of certainty.
He has honestly thought Jared would emerge victorious.
'But what's with this surprising twist?'
In the end, Edward won. How was this even possible?
'If it's like this, then how could you say I might not win against Jared, Leo?' Kuzon found himself questioning his Constellation Familiar.
For a brief moment, Leo said nothing. It was almost as if he was sleeping.
However, the moment he uttered his response, Kuzon found his eyes widening and his thoughts taking a different turn.
Those words the Constellation uttered were simple.
~Are you sure... Jared has lost?~
*********
As Edward watched Jared's body turn into nothingness, he wondered how they would revive him, considering his attack would have destroyed Jared's soul with his body.
'Jared said he has a countermeasure for that, but still...'
He had technically just killed his friend.
'No! I have faith in Jared. Besides, this is a match to the death. I'm sure Jared would have done the same to me if he could.'
Absolving himself of any guilt, Edward watched the empty space before him, and a small smile formed on his face.
"Thank you, Jared... for allowing this fight."
Edward still felt dissatisfied since he wasn't able to use everything at his disposal, but it was a great fight nonetheless.
"You're welcome, Edward." A voice suddenly appeared from behind Edward, and as soon as he heard it, he felt a sensation on his shoulder.
'H-huh...?!'
Edward's neck mechanically turned to his shoulder and found out a hand was gripping it tightly.
'I... can't move...??' His thoughts echoed as he barely moved his head.
"You really wanted to kill me, huh? That's so harsh, Edward."
'I-is that... Jared's voice?! H-how...?!' Edward's thoughts echoed.
He was sure he struck Jared down. He had seen the path, the flow... and they never lied.
Everything was supposed to flow in that order, and he knew his actions were truly fatal. There was no way Jared should have survived the hit.
'Was there a second Jared? Was this Jared a clone?'
No! That couldn't be! His Martial Sense would have picked it up.
Edward was locked in a very confused line of thought, unable to fully decipher how his opponent got the better of him.
"You seem dumbfounded, Edward. You want to know how I was able to survive despite all your efforts, right? Well, the answer is simple really..."
Edward couldn't see Jared's face, but he knew the boy was smiling behind him.
He wasn't wrong.
"... Magic. I won using Magic."
**********
'He really thought I didn't know he would strike me with a surefire hit.' I smiled as I held Edward's shoulder, forcefully suppressing his power while making him completely immobile.
Using [The Hermit] at the earliest point in our match, I had pretty much seen how everything would go.
Sure, I encountered interference with my perception of the events thanks to Edward's Aether disrupting most of it, but I still got the full gist of what would happen.
'All I had to do was prepare for it.'
I knew Edward could read the future and past like the Martial Blade God could. I had to account for that, so I couldn't act conspicuously, this limiting my actions.
'That's where my Original Magic's automatic function comes into play.'
Even though I used Martial State and Mage Mode, I knew Edward could have seen the flow of it, and would probably strike me down in the split second where I would be transforming.
As a result, I chose to let him.
The moment he struck me down, my Original Magic activated an Arcana that I hadn't used in front of anyone.
[The Papess]
It had a very simple, but crucial function. It had the power of Absolute Regeneration and Restoration.
As long as [The Papess] had Aether flowing through it as a fuel source, and had a record of how the structure was, it could regenerate and restore it.
Of course, this only accounted for my body. What about my soul?
Well... [The Papess] could also regenerate or restore Souls.
As long as I had left my imprint on it, and it had energy to fuel it... I could regenerate any part I lost.
'It's different from [The Hanged Man] which needs at least one of the elements—Soul or Body—to be present.'
In a way, that made it better. But, it's energy consumption was stupendously fraudulent.
I could never use it to revive anyone other than myself, and only as a final resort.
Plus, since it required the materials to have been prerecorded, it wasn't good for emergency situations.
'Finally, if I don't keep updating it frequently, it'll regenerate me to resemble a past version of myself.'
That meant any new information or growth I had amassed after recording myself would vanish.
I would lose memories, abilities, and pretty much anything that was obtained after recording my structure.
'That's why I have to constantly update it.'
It had it's flaws, but it was also an indispensable tool for restoration—and not only for living things.
"H-how did you... evade my detection?" Edward croaked, his voice trembling as he tried looking at me, but was unable to properly move.
To be honest, it was already plenty impressive that he could twitch and speak in his current situation.
"That's a trade secret." I smiled at him, a twinkle in my eyes.
Since I realized that the use of [Unknowable] was rendered obsolete by Edward's ability to turn incorporeal and even detect me in this state, I had to come up with a theory on the spot.
He could only detect me because I generated a different signature from him, and as long as I was a distinct entity, I couldn't evade his surveillance.
Which was why, after he destroyed me and [The Popess] was activated, my Great Sage's Memoir used Spellcraft as was preprogrammed, and shrouded me in Edward's Aether signature, while also using [Unknowable] to hide my presence.
By making myself one with his Aether, masking my 'distinct' presence, while also erasing my existence from the observable scope, I was able to create a new Spell.
[True Unknowable]
'Looks like I haven't completely lost my touch...' I smiled at Edward, watching his powerless frame squirm in my grasp.
"I know you weren't going all out, Edward. Even now, you're yet to use your full power, right?"
My grin widened as I loosened my grip on his shoulders. Teleporting in front of him, I slightly stretched my hand towards him, as though welcoming a challenge.
"The thing is... I'm yet to use mine too."
That's right! I had a lot left to test out, and it seemed this was going to be the perfect chance to do so.
"So, Edward... don't disappoint me this time. You should use everything you have... or you'll die."
[Important Note below, check it out!]
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[A/N]
Were moving to the climax of the battle, and I have decided to post below the list of Arcanas and their functions...
.... For the readers who might get a little confused, or perhaps are unclear about their functions.
[Arcana List]
0 The Fool: Memories/Reality Perception Manipulation
I The Magician: Break down Aether into Nigh-Infinite Mana
II The Papess: Absolute Regeneration/Restoration
III The Empress: Absolute Immunity From External Influence
IV The Emperor: Absolute Influence or Domination
V The Pope: Absolute Protection
VI The Lovers: Perfect/Sustainable Merging
VII The Chariot: Technology Manipulation
VIII Justice: Balancing The Playing Field
IX The Hermit: Time Manipulation
X Wheel Of Fortune: Luck Inducement
XI Strength: Arcana Boost and improving other effects
XII The Hanged Man: Revival/Resurrection
XIII Death: Attribute Death to anything
XIV Temperance: Induce any kind of Emotions in Targets
XV The Devil: Break down Aether to grant Nigh-infinite Miasma
XVI The Tower: Space Manipulation
XVII The Star: Gravity Manipulation
XVIII The Moon: Perfect Duplication
XIX The Sun: Destructive Power
XX The Judgment: Mind and Thought Manifestation
XXI The World: Connecting Branches In the Tree and beyond.
I hope you all get it now!
