Chapter 1026: Edward Versus Jared
[Moments Later]
Edward and I stood in Kuzon's realm, The Emperor's Domain.
Rather than staying in the Golden Palace, Kuzon took us outdoors and even his the Golden Palace away, though I didn't know the reason why.
"Since you two are going to fight while going all out, I'll serve as the impartial judge." Kuzon said as he hovered above us.
That was also why he chose his domain as the battle ground.
'Using my special dimension would give me advantages, and Edward's Martial Zone could be said to give him advantages.'
Besides, even if we didn't gain anything from using our domain as a battlefield, it would take up energy to maintain it—energy that would have best been used to fight.
'That's why Kuzon is doing this for us instead...'
"Thee rules are there are no rules. You can fight to the death if you wish. It doesn't matter. Just give it your best so you don't complain later on." Kuzon declared.
Ciara and Aloe were right beside him, and they nodded in agreement.
'We're seriously doing this, huh?' A wry smile formed on my face.
When Edward asked me to fight him, I already knew I couldn't refuse his offer. It was due to two major reasons.
The first was due to Edward's perception of me. He probably saw me as a wall he had to challenge some day.
It probably even served as fuel to motivate him in his training.
'And now that he's gotten stronger, he wants it to be me he fights.'
The second reason was my perception of Edward. I still remembered what I told him during the Ainzlark Demonic Incident.
'I said he was too weak. He's gotten a lot stronger since then, but...'
I needed to see for myself. I needed to burn the memories of his new strength within me to fully change my perception of his status.
And... well, there was a third reason.
'It's been a while since I've fought seriously. I might as well go all out now.'
Hopefully my battle senses hadn't dulled. Tok much power had a way of making one rusty in actual fights.
I just hoped I could fight at top form.
'There's only one way to find out.' With a smile on my face, I focused on Edward's wide grin.
"Looks like I won't be able to face you with a blade this time, Edward."
The first time we fought, I achieved overwhelming victory by defeating him using Martial Arts.
It was a point of humiliation for him. But now, I couldn't dare use sole Martial Arts to defeat him.
Edward was far stronger than that.
If I was going to win, I needed to use all my power for this. I required my absolute focus for this.
"I'll be using Magic."
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" He responded, raising his hand slowly.
Instantly, a blade appeared, and he tightly gripped it.
"Alright, guys... you may start..."
'Going over his abilities, Edward uses Martial Arts, but I am unaware of what he's truly capable of in his current form. To be safe, I'll just equate him to the Martial Blade God.'
He had a Constellation as a Familiar, but I did not know the capabilities of said Familiar.
'There's only one way to find out!'
"... Now!"
The moment Kuzon's words echoed across the field, he and all the spectators vanished from our immediate vicinity—most likely deciding to watch from a further distance.
That was most likely the best option. After all...
>VWUUUUSSSSHHHHHH!!!<
... This fight was going to be very intense.
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<
Edward had swiftly closed the distance between us and deftly raised his blade to cut me down.
Fortunately, I had also raised a barrier to protect myself from harm.
'[The Pope]...'
My Original Magic: [Great Sage's Memoir] was already active, and one of it's capabilities was the automatic calculation and implementation of the appropriate Spell at the appropriate time.
Usually, it would be fast enough to catch up to the speed of my opponent, but this time it barely reacted to Edward's speed.
'And this is him in his base state?!' My eyes widened as the supposedly absolute barrier shivered in response to Edward's blade.
>VWUUUUUUUUSSSHHHHH<
In a flash, Edward's body turned incorporeal, and he instantly passed through the barrier, his blade nearing my neck at breakneck speed.
I swiftly teleported away using [The Tower], finally maintaining some distance between me and Edward, but even that didn't last very long.
In a swift motion, Edward vanished from his earlier position and appeared right behind me.
'He's too fast!' It didn't seem like teleportation, but a testament to his sheer speed.
>WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH<
The sheer might of his blade rained down on me, but I instantly used [Unknowable] in order to pass through his strike.
However...
>FWISH!<
... I wasn't able to avoid it!
'What?!'
The blade cleanly landed a hit, severing the Magic Barrier I placed on my body as a failsafe in case my defenses got beached.
All it took was one strike for the entire barrier to shatter.
'[Unknowable] doesn't work?! Is it because he can turn incorporeal too?' My thoughts echoed, and I instantly teleported to retreat.
Unfortunately, Edward followed me, deftly catching up to me as soon as I arrived at my position.
'Would you look at that? He's pretty good.' I grinned, feeling excitement slowly rise from within me.
'Alright, then...' With a smile still etched on my face, I widened my eyes and decided to get a bit more serious.
"[The Star]. [Strength]."
Using the power of [Strength] to vastly improve the activation of another Arcana, I sent Edward crashing to the ground by exponentially increasing the gravitational pull around us—of course, leaving me as the exception.
"[The Sun]. [The Magician]. [The Devil]. [Strength]."
Using these four to create a very explosive surge of energy, I flipped the pages of my Memoir and sought out the perfect new Spell I had been working on.
"You better avoid this one, Edward..." I smiled, my hand lifted to hold the incredible mass of darkness that hovered above me.
"[Swallowed Star]."