Chapter 1217: Abrupt Interruption

"Haha!"

"What's wrong, Kuzon?"

"Not so confident anymore?"

Legris Damien's voice echoed in the crumbling expanse, sending shivers down Kuzon's spine as he listened to every word.

The three opponents before him were overwhelming. He knew that much.

Still, he could not afford to retreat.

"[Original Magic: Marionette]" He whispered, causing golden threads to manifest around him, like puppet strings that danced at the owner's whims.

Some of the threads gathered together, shimmering brightly to form an arm and leg, replacing the ones he had already lost. He could control them with Magic, and while they didn't feel as natural as his own limbs, they were effective.

This was all he could rely on at this moment.

"Well then, Kuzon... let's see how long you can struggle against me."

"Make this fun, okay?"

"Don't you die so soon!"

~WHUUSH!~

In a flash, two of the Legrises vanished from their position, and the final one lunged at Kuzon with a crazed smile on his face.

The darkness around him ignited like exploding flames, growing more intense as he brought himself closer to Kuzon.

"Tch!" In an instant, Kuzon teleported from his position and reappeared at a much further location from his foe.

Space warped as he reappeared, barely escaping the dark embrace that would have been his fate if he had wasted any more time.

However...

"Predictable!"

... A voice was waiting for him at his new location.

~WHOOOSSHH!~

This time, his opponent was too quick for him to evade entirely, so he did his best to defend himself from the inevitable hit that was about to reach him.

Whether he would survive or not, or if he would be able to escape with even more permanent injuries, was up for debate.

All Kuzon could think of at that moment... was how dark the world had become.

Then—

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~

In the blink of an eye, faster than both Kuzon and Legris, a brilliant surge of blue light burst through the dimension.

Sounds of shattered glass, similar to the one Kuzon made when he initially confronted Legris, echoed far and wide.

And a powerful arc of energy, one that could only be produced from a powerful slash, was already right in front of Kuzon, separating him from Legris.

"What the—"

~WHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~

The shockwave sent Kuzon flying backwards, and the strike successfully connected to Legris, pushing him further away.

In the end, that single attack had managed to deter the enemy, and also send Kuzon flying in the direction of safety.

"Keuk!"

It took a while for him to regain his composure, but Kuzon forced his body to come to a halt while slolwy opening his eyes to take in the sudden damage that the new intruder had wrought.

"Kuzon... mind telling me what's going on here?" The deep voice of the greatest Martial Artist that he knew rang in the air.

It instantly brought a smile to Kuzon's face.

"Took you long enough... Edward."

Right beside Kuzon's now stable form was an insanely well-built young man. He had very long brown hair, with beards covering a majority of his face.

A few small scars decorated his face, but even more of those were stuck all over his immensely thick and muscular body.

He was by no means a hulky figure. Instead, he stood at the epitome of perfection, with abs, biceps, triceps, and everything else toned to perfection. He had no shirt on, and he only wore very short tights, thus revealing most of his body to anyone who saw him.

"It's a relief to see you, man. But... why don't you put something on?" Kuzon's voice reverberated across to Edward.

If Edward desired it, he could even use [Marionette] to sew a proper attire that would size him.

"No. It gets in the way..." Edward's reply was vague and brief.

Whatever that could mean, it was made abundantly clear that the young man had no need for proper clothes.

Kuzon found it absurd, but now wasn't the time to dwell on anything like that.

Instead, his eyes trailed to Edward's hand, where he saw a glowing sword in his tight grip. The blade had some runic inscriptions on it, and it felt special.

Blazing amber light, as well as cool azure energy emanated from the weapon as it warbld, leaving even Kuzon enamored by it.

"Don't look at my sword. I'm not lending it to you."

"W-what?"

"Well... I'm not."

"Why would I... why did you even... argh, never mind!"

Kuzon felt slightly embarassed, but more annoyed by the fact that Edward would think he wanted his sword.

More importantly, he was annoyed that he kept losing track of the most important issue of all.

'I should be on edge, but... why do I feel at such ease?' Kuzon's thoughts trailed.

Had Edward's presence suddenly restored some measure of his confidence? If that was the case, then Kuzon felt both relieved and threatened.

'He's gotten that strong, huh?' That was certainly helpful for them at the moment since Legris was a force Kuzon knew he could not handle alome

However, his level of strength brought another worry to his mind.

What if Edward had also surpassed him?

'Now isn't the time to worry about that. Let's focus on our adversary!" At this point, the three Legrises had gathered once more, all three of them grinning at both Kuzon and Edward.

"What's the situation?" Edward asked, his tone displaying not even a modicum of the playfulness from earlier.

Now that he was now in 'serious mode', Kuzon chose to do the same.

"Legris Damien has that strange black energy that can negate and suck in all energy and attacks that we throw at him. It seems he can also bring suplicate versions of himself to reality, though I am still unsure of his limits."

Kuzon made sure to divulge the rest of his knowledge to Edward through a mental link, ensuring the privity of their discussion.

"I-I see..." Edward whispered. "You even lost your arms and legs..."

Kuzon could feel a portion of Edward's attention on him, and it felt unpleasant. He didn't want to be considered handicapped in such a battle of pertinence.

"That doesn't matter. Right now, we only need to focus on one thing..."

Edward slowly nodded in agreement, and both of them looked at the sole entity they had to give all their attention to.

"... Legris Damien!"

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[A/N]

Thank you all for reading!

It seems we will be having a two versus three. Unless... something else happens!