~WHOOOOOSSSHHH!!!~
Legris lunged downward, his trajectory seemingly pointing at the couple who were prepared for his onslaught.
However, they were wrong.
He sharply turned, swiftly heading for the morphing Core of ORIGIN that promised infinite power…
… [All Things].
With a brilliant smile on his face, he rushed for his prize.
'They won't be able to get too close to [All Things], so I only have to advance closer to it.'
That was the most efficient way to get rid of them.
Lewis and Karlia appeared flustered by Legris' sudden move, and considering how much faster he was, there was very little they could do to stop him.
However, their determination ran deep.
As such, the two desperately swam against the tides of the overflowing power of [All Things].
~Wait! The two of you can't—!!~
The voice of The Ursula couldn't reach any further thanks to the overwhelming interference of the deeper strata of ORIGIN.
Lewis and Karlia were, quite literally, on their own.
Their bodies could barely handle being inside ORIGIN, but the closer they came to the brimming and infinite cluster of power that was [All Things], the further they broke down.
"I… I don't think I can make it any further!" Lewis yelled out, his body already being pushed back.
Karlia was already way ahead of him, but he could no longer keep up.
"Go ahea—!" Before Lewis could complete his sentence, the strangest thing happened.
Lewis appeared right in front of him.
"H-huh…?!"
He could not even move, talkless of properly reacting to the sudden manifestation of Legris.
He had been distracted, and the current state of his body made it impossible for him to do anything but widen his eyes.
"You're too far in for your Automaton to save you now…" Legris smiled, grabbing Lewis by the throat.
The man could not resist.
He barely struggled as he choked, and Legris watched every process in stark enjoyment.
"LEWWWWIIIIIISSSSSS!!!" Karlia's voice rushed forth.
The desperation contained in her tone reverberated in the blank space, but Legris paid her no mind.
She wouldn't be able to make it in time anyway.
~WHOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!~
She rushed towards the two, her frightening speed exceeding her previous limits.
Her body was brimming with heat, and the cackles of energy from her was unreal.
With desperate eyes, she stretched out her hand to reach her one and true lover.
However…
~FSHIIIIIII…~
Right in front of her eyes, he turned into dust.
Legris completely erased him, leaving dissipating particles that soon vanished.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Karlia screamed.
Tears flowed from her eyes as she helplessly watched Lewis vanish in horror.
However, this pain and sorrow that overwhelmed her heart was not allowed to remain for very long.
"Your turn." Legris took advantage of her grief and appeared right behind her.
"Euk!"
Before Karlia could even react, or transform her bereavement into rage, Legris had already placed his hand on her head.
It was too late.
"This has been a long time coming…" He whispered.
Right there and then, Karlia's body began to turn into the same black substance that her man had become.
"L-Le… wis…"
After uttering that final word, Legris fully destroyed her body. n/-O1n
There was no need to absorb them, especially since he was about to receive all of the power in the world.
~SHUUUUUUU~
Once the hissing sound of death and nonexistence died out, Legris looked around and found the last one on his bucket list.
The Ursula.
"You must be surprised, little machine…" Legris floated from his depths and approached the stunned Automaton.
"The rational choice would be for me to ignore my adversaries and go after my objective. They wouldn't have been able to stop me anyway."
Once he reached a certain threshold, they could only watch him from a distance.
He knew that fully well.
"But you see… I'm very petty. I actively dislike it when someone gets in my way." Legris smiled, his gaze fixating on The Ursula.
"That's why I returned… to finish the job. That's why I can never be stopped."
It didn't matter what happened—he would always win.
"And now, it's your turn…" Legris now stood in front of The Ursula.
There was nothing she could do.
Not only was she not very combat-oriented, but Legris exceeded her in every capacity.
There was no version of this confrontation where she could win.
As a result, The Ursula closed her eyes and accepted her fate.
~Forgive me for my incompetence…~
If she could cry, she would.
The sadness within her, despite being synthetic, was as real as it could possibly be.
The same applied to her regret.
Deep within herself, this Automaton remembered her selfish desire—the only one she really had.
'I was never able to understand love, after all…'
Right as Legris was about to touch her, a bright light shone from the Automaton.
And then—
~FWUSH!~
It completely vanished.
"This is surprising. A safety protocol, maybe?" Legris murmured to himself.
It was probably her creator, Lewis, that implanted such a bothersome thing within her.
'I'm surprised she could escape ORIGIN, though. Maybe she's in a special dimension. Well, whatever…" Legris didn't mind all of this now.
It was all inconsequential at this point.
"Once I have [All Things], I'll just get rid of her alongside everything and everyone else."
With that in mind, Legris returned to his initial plan and allowed himself to descend.
Now so close to his goal, with everything already set, Legris approached All Things at the center of ORIGIN.
His eyes sparkled with each distance that was covered, and he stretched out his hand in pure desire.
All knowledge, power, and everything with no limits—they were now within reach.
He had fought everyone, faced everything, just to reach this point.
Nothing could stop him now.
Not anymore.
"H-huh…?"
Legris was stopped in his tracks as he noticed someone waiting for him right in front of his grand prize.
"You…?"
To say he was surprised would be an immense understatement.
His bulging eyes turned bloodshot as he took in the complete form of this person, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"You can't… you shouldn't be here!" Legris spouted, his voice turning hoarse with every syllable he spat out.
"And yet… here I am."
The young man before him spread his arms and smiled.
As his blond yellow hair floated and his golden eyes shimmered in glee, he opened his moist lips and spoke.
"Tell me, Legris… did you also see this coming?"
*
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