The Unwritten Laws were absolute.
Both Mortals and Boundless entities were subservient to this inevitable force.
As a Mortal, I was bound by the Unwritten Laws.
The Constellations, whom I relied on, were also shackled by it.
However, more than anything, I desired to be free.
As a result, I decided to change myself.
Right now, I wasn't particularly a Constellation. I wasn't born as one, and I never existed as one.
I was merely an entity that possessed their abilities and Representations.
At the same time, I was no longer a Mortal since I had entered the realm of the Boundless.
In essence, a question had to be posed.
Who was I?
'A Grand Constellation is what would best describe my current state.'
It didn't simply mean I was more powerful than the Constellations, but that I was not subject to the Laws that bound them despite my power.
As a result, I could operate the way I used to… but on a much higher level.
'Spellcraft… Unknowable… everything I possessed has now evolved with me to this point.'
Right now, they were my greatest weapons.
'And I plan on using them.'
"That was a lucky shot." Legris' voice interrupted my thoughts, but they did not catch me off guard.
My focus was constantly on him, so nothing he did caught me off guard.
"Was it really?" I responded with a taunt.
"It was. You… you became like a Constellation, didn't you? I can tell that you're stronger, but still… you fall under their category."
Legris was exceptionally brilliant, so I knew he would be able to tell if given enough time.
"What of it?" I asked nonchalantly.
The outcome remained unchanged.
"Then you should know we are in different tiers. Constellations are still inferior to Primordial Entities like the Aether and Nether."
'How brazen…' I thought to myself.
Legris was practically equating himself to the first beings that existed in this reality.
The hubris was startling.
'He's not entirely wrong. But he's not right either.'
Currently, Legris possessed equal authority and power to them, and just like me, he wasn't bound by the Unwritren Laws that restricted Aether.
He represented Nonexistence, and the Unwritten Laws only affected those who existed.
In a sense, he was Primordial of Nothingness.
'But… Aether and Nether have something he doesn't. Or rather, they lead to a source he does not possess, but wishes to.'
I could tell that he desperately sought that.
"I know you're thinking I possess hubris, but you should first look in the mirror, Jared."
Once again, Legris interrupted my thoughts.
"You're challenging me despite the odds of winning. I'm way above your league, yet you still believe you have a chance."
The wound I had inflicted on him had long healed. Even though I managed to damage him by utilizing Spellcraft and concentrating an absurd amount of energy in a single point, he was able to recover very quickly.
The bounds of his power was unknown even to me.
However…
"Of course. I never denied it… my hubris."
To be a Mage meant to possess an absurd sense of entitlement and pride.
Who were we, as mortals, to seek to understand the laws of the world and control them?
Why did we desire to harness the power of nature for ourselves?
Who gave us the right to search for the very depths of Magic and seek out the heights of its power?
The answer stemmed from our hubris.
"There's nothing Impossible with Magic." I told Legris, stretching one hand to him.
"You and I are Mages, and it was our belief in that concept that brought us this far."
We tried everything as Mages, and that led us to this particular moment.
"I see. So you won't stop, even with the odds."
"Would you?" I asked him.
A wide smile formed on his face as my question landed.
"I wouldn't."
Legris was being as honest as he could ever be, and it was a reflection of the heart any true Mage shared.
That was where our connection ended, though.
"Watch me as I defy your flimsy odds." I told him, once again prepared to launch myself into the depths of battle.
"Oh, really?" Legris grinned as he watched me with narrowed eyes.
It seemed he was up to something.
'Hold on… could it be—!'
Right as I figured his trick out, a thick veil of darkness covered me.
"You shouldn't have placed too much attention on me."
Those were the last words I heard from Legris before the wave of nothingness completely shrouded my body and the deep force of Nothingness filled me up from the inside out.
Legris poured an immense amount of his power into the strike—enough to encompass the body I currently possessed.
The result was certain.
… The End.
********
"You've shared the same fate as your dear Constellations." Legris grinned as he watched the darknesses dissipate.
As he expected, nothing remained of his adversary.
"I win, Jared. That was a pretty quick fight."
In the end, Jared's caution had gotten the best of him, and it cost him everything.
"Still… what was with that power?" Legris whispered to himself.
He clutched the eye that Jared affected and squinted a little.
He no longer felt any pain there, and his wound had healed completely. However, something about the damage he had received made him uneasy.
It felt irritating to him.
That he would feel pain from something other than himself…
"I really should… h-huh..?!"
Right as Legris was about to move, he noticed something stir beside him.
It was a fist.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!~
A powerful blow landed on his cheek, dislocating the hand he had used to cover his eye.
"Keuk!"
However, even as he recoiled from this pain, a kick landed right on top of his head, sending sparks flying in his head as his senses completely got messed up.
'W-what in the…?!'
Before he was sent flying downward, another kick landed in his crotch, completely messing up his groin.
"UOOOOOGGHHHH!!!"
Legris sent his two hands flying to his affected gonads, a disgusting screech pouring from his lips.
A strike was sent to his throat, silencing him instantly.
"K-kurgh…"
His eyes nearly watered as his hands now moved to his throat. n.)In
A confused and absolutely discombobulated expression pervaded his face, ruining the confidence he once had.
What in the world was going on?
'H-how…?!' His thoughts trailed as he choked.
His blurry vision caught the figure, and finally the face of the one responsible for his pain and misfortune.
"J-Jared… Leonard?!"
But that was impossible! He had just been killed—no, completely erased from existence.
There was no way he could still be alive.
"You idiot. Still haven't figured it out yet?" Jared grabbed Legris by his collar and brought him closer, preparing another blow to be sent to him.
"I can't die. Not as long as this Aether Tree exists."
That was what it meant to be a Constellation.
And unlike Constellations who could not recover their avatars once they were destroyed, Jared was a Grand Constellation.
Those principles did not apply to him.
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