~BOOOOOOOM!~
The heavy impact of Kuzon's strike dealt a massive shockwave to the entire area, causing Legris to spit out blood, and all his internal organs to instantly shatter from the blow.
However, this was not to be celebrated as the second Legris was already breathing down his neck as he appeared right behind him.
His fingers were glued together as if forming some sort of blade, and the dark energy around it generated a saw-like projection as it proceeded towards Kuzon in a clean arc.
~WHISH!~
Slicing through the air, and most definitely hoping to slice through Kuzon as well, Legris sent his arm flying in the former's direction.
However, once again, Kuzon was too fast to be hit.
~WHUUM!~
Deftly raising his unoccupied fist, he struck Legris' elbow joint, instantly dislocating it in a flash. With his arm now flailing uncontrollably, like a mash of stirred pudding, Kuzon proceeded to dash behind him before he could even let out a scream.
Forming a palm with his hand, and concentrating a phenomenal amount of Aether into it, Kuzon sent his Core into overdrive and unleashed a devastating blow in a concentrated region.
~SNAP!~
The moment Kuzon's attack hit Legris, his entire spine shattered, causing him to be paralyzed instantly.
With one Legris having his internal organs redesigned by Kuzon's heavy strike, and the other being absolutely helpless thanks to his counter, the outcome was already decided.
Midair, Kuzon twisted his body once more, sending kicks flying towards both Legrises as he sent their heads spiraling out of control until they popped out of their respective bodies.
Juicy black blood gushed out, leaving traces of Legris' spewed essence all over the distorted space, almost like molten tar was sprayed across the vicinity.
With the two Legrises already dispatched, Kuzon remained on his guard, his eyes darting in multiple directions as he stabilized his breathing.
'What will you do now, Legris…?' He found his thoughts trailing.
The ideal thing to do was to capture Legris—at least, that was what he thought initially. However, after being caught off-guard a few times, before being aided by Edward, Kuzon no longer had that sentiment.
'Legris wants to be here as much as we want him not to. Even if we do wound up killing him, there's a possibility he will reappear.'
That was why there was no use pulling his punches.
'We should dispatch all the Legrises, make him get desperate until he uses most—if not all of his cards. Once he's done, we eliminate all the variants and capture the last one standing.'
Of course, there was also the possibility of killing all of the Legrises, and in the past, Kuzon might have avoided that, but now…
'I guess I'm desperate too.'
If Legris was going to be too difficult to capture, killing all of his variants, and leaving no room for a prisoner, was also a valid option.
After all, the primary assignment was to defend the Constellation Realm and prevent Legris from getting what he wanted in the fist place.
'Jared already has a valid plan to stop him. Killing and not capturing him might just be postponing the inevitable, but we will still win in the long run.'
There was no need to be fixated on capturing Legris.
… At least, not anymore.
"You're quite formidable. Hehe…" Kuzon heard a voice echo throughout the blank abyss, instantly recognizing the owner.
"Where are you hiding, Legris? Come out and play." Kuzon smirked as he spoke.
Even though he knew how he sounded, Kuzon was not conceited at all. Caution lurked within his heart as he weighed his options.
"What does it matter? You can't beat me, Kuzon… none of you can."
Legris appeared a short distance from Kuzon, floating above him while smiling with a curled up evil grin.
"No matter what you do, you can't—"
"Kill you? I doubt it." Kuzon's sharp response and confident smile caused Legris' mask of malevolence to falter a little.
He raised a brow as he stared curiously at Kuzon.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said, Legris. I've realized your trick now…" Kuzon's smile was growing at a faster rate.
"I'm afraid I am not following…"
"Oh, you should be afraid. After all, I know your little secret."
Kuzon knew it was unwise to dispense information, but now wasn't the time to consider hiding it either. After all, to make Legris as desperate as possible, it was strategically positive to rile him up as much as he could.
"The reason you keep appearing despite how many times I kill you is simple. You are alive somewhere."
For a moment, silence pervaded the expanse. And then…
"What?"
Legris' face morphed into that f confusion, but anyone with enough insight could already see this as a facade to hide a growing insecurity.
"All those times you were killed in the past, you never reappeared in the same location. That was because your tether to reality was cut off. You would appear in another place at a different time. Yet, you keep spawning here despite how many times you are killed, and that's because at least one version of you still lives."
That version served as his tether!
"How do I know this? Well, I have a Marionette Butterfly clinging onto Edward, and my threads are directly connected to it, so I have full control over its actions… as well as its senses." Kuzon began explaining.
"Even after I kill all your versions here, at least one would keep its distance from Edward until you respawn. Rather than diving headfirst into danger, like you should since you have seemingly unlimited lives, you exercise caution on one end when the other end has eliminated all your versions."
After observing all of that, the conclusion Kuzon made was quite simple.
"If we kill all your variants at once… you will cease to exist in this realm!"
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[A/N]
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