Celebration was imminent.
The potential greatest threat that the Aether Tree had ever encountered had been squashed.
The home world that they feared for had been protected in their absence by the unyielding resistance of the ones they left behind.
Everyone they loved was safe.
Both the mortals and Constellations were incredibly joyous.
However, this happiness was cut short almost as soon as they gave their sighs of relief and congratulated one another.
After all, the darkness… the abomination… the end…
… It was coming.
~VWUUUUUUUMMMM!!!~
A stain in reality suddenly manifested.
It had no shape or form, almost like fluid that was in constant motion.
At first, no one noticed anything.
Their senses had not advanced to the point of detecting absolutely nothing.
They continued their celebration at the edge of existence, relieved by the destruction they could perceive from their safe distance.
Kuzon, Edward, Aloe, Ciara, Serah, Maria, Ana, Aurora, Lemi, Jerry, and Beruel.
The twelve Constellations too.
Their rounds of tired laughter and relieved words echoed in the vastness of space.
Until…
"This is strange."
… A voice emerged from the deep.
One after the other, they turned to look in the direction of the one who spoke.
As they saw him, their eyes widened. Their jubilation fizzled out, and the relief vanished.
All in an instant.
"You all seem really happy. Mind if I join you?"
The one who was meant to have been destroyed—Legris Damien—now stood in front of them.
He had something strange covering his entire body. It seemed black and oily, but not quite.
It seemed like his entire body and outfit was made up of the unknown properties that oozed from him, but no one could properly decipher it.
They could only gawk in shock at his revelation.
"L-Legri—?!"
The fastest among them, Kuzon, tried to back away while uttering Legris' name, but he was nowhere near fast enough.
Not even close.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!~
The brilliance of destruction spread from Legris, much faster than any of their minds could process.
Death and the erasure of the tiniest fragment of their existence approached without any respect for time and space.
It was quite literally the end.
However….
~VWUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!~
A bright beam of light interrupted the process, instantly causing the eleven to suddenly vanish from where they would have died.
In their place were twelve celestial figures that seemed to radiate nothing but pure power—the Constellations.
In that split-moment, where time and space was irrelevant, they had made their entry.
"Ahh… the Constellations." Legris smiled as he watched them manifest before him.
"I see what you did. You sent them to your domain, didn't you? Isn't that interesting…?"
Despite being in the presence of such overwhelming power, Legris displayed no fear or caution.
In fact, he had the opposite expression plastered on his face.
The man—if he could even be called that anymore—seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Once I am done with you twelve, I should pay your home a visit. Your Hosts won't be safe for lon—"
~WHOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH!!!~
Interrupting Legris' incredibly confident words, a combined beam of what seemed to be pure Aether emanating from all of them rained towards him.
The Aether defied space and time as well, and even broke everything down to the conceptual level as it reached Legris.
However, with a mere sleight of his hand…
"Weak."
… All of that energy turned into nothing.
Legris still stood before them, unharmed. The defiant smile on his face remained too.
"Is this the best you can do? I expected more, considering you can attack me now."
As a being that was now completely disconnected from reality—both the Nether and Aether Tree—Legris had become exempt from the Unwritten Laws.
They did not apply to him, therefore he was a perfect target.
The Constellations took this as an instant opportunity to eliminate him themselves.
Not only were their Hosts too weakened to put up a proper fight, but even at full strength, they stood no chance.
Legris had far surpassed the level that mortals could ever hope to reach.
He was beyond that now. He was Boundless… just like the Constellations.
"Your powers operate on the scale of reality. You are only as powerful as you are allowed to influence…" Legris smiled at the twelve before him.
They all had determined demeanors which told him they had every intention to eliminate him right there and then.
Could they, though?n/.OIn
"I am exempt from every concept in your existence. As a being above that strata, none of your Representations affect me." He smiled at them.
Authority. Life. Death. Creation. Destruction. Balance. Corruption.
… And so on.
None of them would serve to be useful to an entity such as him.
"The authority I possess is no less than yours. No… in fact it is much higher."
Right now, the Constellations were Boundless entities who still had invisible chains tied to them.
But he was truly free.
"You tried so hard to stop my ascension without properly understanding what it entails. Do you even know what [Amalgamation] means?"
The Constellations were silent. Whether they were conversing in order to strategize on how to win, or they were running through a series of information in their mind, it was impossible to tell.
"I am now one with the nigh infinite versions of myself. All of those variants… they are now me." He raised both hands, spreading them out as if expecting an embrace.
The look of ecstasy in his eyes as he made his declaration was glorious.
"I was incomplete, but now I am whole. I was lost, but now I am found. I was weak… but now I am strong."
His gaze settled on the Constellations, who now seemed to be shining brighter than ever with pure Aether.
It seemed that the only strategy they could come up with after considering the situation was one.
To simply overwhelm their opponent with Aether.
However, even in the face of this, Legris wss unfazed.
Why?
"I am now perfect."
