Chapter 1277: The Losers
"Fine. Let's end things already."
Serah's response to Kuzon's words were met with a nod from Edward.
All three of them seemed to be in agreement as they looked at Ciel, and beyond at the cocoon.
"Perfect! Let's begin."
As already established by their past encounter, raw power mixed with the sheer energy they possessed was the best way to ruin the cocoon.
Unlike using regular Spells, this was much more difficult to do—especially considering the size of the cocoon was as big as a universe itself.
This was precisely why all three of them had decided to time their blows in order to achieve consecutive strikes.
And now, that time had come.
The scepter on Kuzon's hand slowly turned liquid. It wrapped itself around Kuzon's fist, causing it to shimmer even more than the rest of his body—if that was even possible.
Serah's dominant fist was now blackened intensely, with black and red energy dancing around it like a rabid storm.
Edward's muscles bulged intensely, with glowing veins pulsating underneath his skin.
Clearly, they were prepared.
"Let's go!"
~WHOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHH!!!~
They lunged forth, instantly tearing through whatever fabric of reality that stood in their way.
Space shattered, and every law of the world was broken around them as they neared the black sphere.
Until finally...
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~
... They landed their hit.
Kuzon used his immensely glowing hand to land his most powerful strike, while Serah used her devastating strike to pound the cocoon.
Edward clasped both hands together and crushed the cocoon's surface.
All of this happened simultaneously, in different areas.
The darkness shattered like glass, unable to handle the combined strength of the three of them.
And just as expected... it exploded into sheer oblivion.
~WHUUUUUSSSSHHHH!~
Kuzon, Edward, and Serah were instantly teleported to the border of the neighboring universe, all according to the plan.
The universe which housed the cocoon was also pruned, leaving setting it apart from the rest of the Aether Tree.
All of this happened in an instant, leaving no time to fully bask in the success of the mission.
"Haaa..." Kuzon heaved a sigh of relief, almost as if a heavy burden had been removed from his shoulders.
As he stared at the drifting universe, cut off from the rest of reality, his smile widened.
"That was easier than I thought."
Somehow, he had been worried that the plan wouldn't go accordingly, and they would somehow be too late.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
"We succeeded? We really did it...?" Even though Serah's words seemed more like questions than actual declarations, she had a relieved smile on as well.
As far as their knowledge served, no one else had to die, and there were no hidden surprises they could not handle.
In the end, they won.
"We should probably go and assist the o—"
"Shouldn't that universe have exploded by now?" Edward's question caused Kuzon to cease his own suggestion.
"What?"
"I mean, with the cocoon being destroyed, shouldn't it's contents spill into the universe and consume it?" Edward added.
Right now, they stood at the edge of the Aether Tree, watching as a universe got pruned from the collection of nigh infinite branches.
Surely, the universe in question had to be destroyed... right?
"You're right. It should be destroyed at this point." Serah murmured, turning her gaze to Kuzon.
He gave her a confused expression, almost as if dread was slowly catching up to him.
"What's going on Aquarius? Why isn't the universe being destroyed?" Kuzon yelled, his voice traveling into the abyss.
For a moment, there was silence.
And then, a voice emerged.
~The universe has been pruned. We no longer hold any influence over it, neither can we sense what goes on within it.~
The moment Aquarius said that, something tightened in Kuzon's chest.
"N-no..."
He instantly realized the truth.
"We've been played."
Right now, the pruned universe was separate from their reality—stopping them from properly interfering with it.
"That means we can no longer return there..." Kuzon whispered, staring at the world from a distance.
"... Even if the Cocoon was never destroyed."
"What are you talking about? We destroyed the cocoon!" Serah swiftly objected, a frown instantly appearing on her face.
"Did we? Or did we destroy a cocoon?"
Once Kuzon said this, Serah's eyes twitched, and she too began to realize what the situation was.
"You were right. I should have been more cautious about Ciel. Her Original Magic could perfectly replicate anything, so it's possible that she could have replicated the cocoon."
"What's going on? I don't understand what you mean." Edward was the only one still left out of the loop.
Even though he was the first to notice something was off, he still did not understand the severity of their blunder.
"A cocoon as massive as a universe would be more effective in drawing our attention—enough for us to neglect the real one." Kuzon sighed, holding his head in disappointment.
"Where could it have been? Behind? At the side? Or... don't tell me...!"
With widened eyes, Kuzon finally understood.
"Inside. The Cocoon was inside all along!"
"Inside what?" Edward asked, still slightly confused.
"Inside the massive cocoon. The real cocoon was most likely being protected by the massive one. So, when we destroyed the massive cocoon, the real one was still safe!"
It was just a theory, but Kuzon's gut feeling told him that was indeed the case.
"We got played. This was their plan all along!" He gritted his teeth, his eyes nearly producing liquid to show just how pained he was.
"It's our loss."
Ciel's acting had convinced them that she was desperate, but it was all to manipulate them and lower their guard of her.
They were so sure of their strategy that they fell for the grander scheme Legris cooked up.
"What now? Now that it has been separated from us, there's no way to reach the real cocoon." Serah groaned, also feeling the weight of disappointment on her.
It was at this point that the reality finally settled on the three of them.
"There's really... nothing we can do."
It was game over—and they were the losers.
*
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading, everyone!