"Let's go!"
Power surged from all three of them—Kuzon, Serah, and Edward.
Fragments of light and clusters of Aether danced around them, blazing and roaring with such intensity that the entire world within nowhere began to tremble.
The exalted force that their combined strength generated was beyond frightening.
It was definitely more than enough to collapse their target.
'N-no… no don't…!' Ciel begged, seeing so much power that she could not comprehend.
She knew that this time, for sure, they would achieve their goals.
'Please don't!' She pleaded profusely.
Her thoughts went unanswered since she was unable to turn them into words.
~VWUUUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!~
The power acclimated to new heights, reaching the precipice of unimaginable pressure.
'DON'T DO IT!!!'
And then…
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!~
The eruption finally manifested, rupturing any significant fragment of anything that occupied the target area.
Flashes and echoes rose to an unfathomable degree, and then everything shattered, all in the span of an immeasurable fragment of a second.
The explosion radiated far beyond the reaches of the universe, now consumed by the sheer radiant power and force of the trio.
The instant they completed their tasks and witnessed the cocoon shatter before their very eyes, Kuzon, Serah and Edward ascended to meet the rest of their allies.
It was only at this moment that Kuzon let go of Ciel, throwing her into the broken furnace that was now reminiscent of her shattered dreams.
The trio reunited with the rest of their comrades within a moment, and together, they made to retreat from the doomed world.
~VWUUUUUSSSSHHHH!!!~
As they escaped through the portal, watching it close on itself as the last member of the team ventured within, they were able to steal a glance at the ensuing aftermath of their purposeful chaos.
Destruction. Terror. Nothingness.
Ciel was being consumed by the immense pressure of the blast, doomed to death, while the cocoon was as good as vanquished.
A fine conclusion to their task.
The mission… was complete.
**********
"Haaa… haaa…"
Heavy breaths leaked from the lips of the exhausted members of the team.
"T-that… that was a close one…" Ana mumbled, and the rest who listened to her could not agree more.
The speed at which they had to travel in order to escape the resultant explosion was by no means achievable by regular standards.
Only with the combined power of their Aether were they able to barely reach the required level of speed needed, and even then it was a close call.
"We would have been consumed if we hadn't retreated at the exact moment we did."
The ones who seemed most exhausted were obviously the trio who dealt the finishing blow.
Not only did they have considerably more distance to cover than the rest, but they had just expended a beyond phenomenal amount of energy.
That definitely took its toll.
"Everyone is… haa… present and accounted for… haa… and we were able to complete… haaa… the mission…"
Kuzon's breathing was uneven, but he had the brightest smile among everyone present.
This was something he had been extremely anxious about all this time, and right now he felt relieved from it all.
As he closed his eyes, the image of a certain yellow-haired blond boy appeared in his mind.
'Looks like we didn't need the backup, after all.'
As everyone around Kuzon laughed and chuckled, so did the Constellations who now echoed their thoughts in the minds of their Hosts.
Everyone was relieved.
The worst was over, and the best was yet to come.
… Or was it?
********
Nothing.
Outside the bounds of existence exists a concept called Nothing.
Not darkness. Not light. Not anything else. Something that defied proper description because it did not dwell in the realm of attribution.
Nothing was just as it sounded.
"That final blow was intense…" A voice emerged from the deep.
To say it sounded a certain way would contradict its nature.
"… Just what I required."
Only when heated in the best of furnaces could the perfect entity be forged.
The cocoon was merely a shell—an ingot that contained the potential to harness all of nothing.
It required the heat of perdition to coalesce into its purposed form.
And it now stood at the center of the chaos—Legris Damien.
"Haa… this feels much better."
The final embers of the destructive flames had died out, leaving seemingly just him in the high infinite expanse of nothing that dwelled around him.
His entire body was coated in an indescribable aura.
No… that wasn't quite right.
He wasn't coated in it. He was it. Every fiber of his being had now taken on the mantle of the nothingness that filled the world around him.
… His domain.
"Ciel must have died protecting me till the very end. That's sad, I suppose."
Legris' eyes flickered for a brief moment before he continued speaking.
"Stefan is also gone, I see. They're both a part of me now… a part of the nothingness that is my nonexistence."
As the only one who was left of his teammates, he now had to lead a lonely path to his goals.
'I would have loved for them to see the end with me. But I suppose I'll have to do this alone.'
At the very least, he had to carry on their desires.
'I'll be sure to reunite you with the Nether, Ciel. When he becomes a part of me, he'll become a part of you too…"
Once he concluded his train of thoughts, Legris heaved a shallow sigh.
"The [Amalgamation] is complete. All the final pieces have converged at long last."
A single step forward caused the eternal nothingness around him to tremble at his command.
Just like Aether ruled the Aether Tree, and the Nether governed his territory… he now had his own realm.
This hollow land that was not part of existence…
… It was now his domain.
At long last, his [Original Magic: Who Am I?] had evolved from his restricted domain of limbo to encompass all else.
It had transcended the pinnacle.
"[Primeval Magic: The End]." Legris whispered.
With this, he could finally achieve his goals.
"But first, I should tie up the loose ends."
There were still a few nuisances that existed beyond his domain. Legris knew he could choose to ignore most of them.
But why would he choose to do that?
"This should be fun."
*
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Thanks for reading, everyone!
The final phase of the novel has finally arrived!
Hang on tight!
