CORE
Chapter 15 - "Hidden Ventriloquist"

"So, pal, mind telling me what you did to that pile of errors?" Justice spoke, taking a step back as he secretly summoned a small spear of magic right behind his back.

"Short and simple, it was merely a puppet I twisted and bent to fit the satisfaction I desired," The Puppeteer said in a genuinely intrigued and proud tone, as Justice and Hero's face lit up, but for the wrong reasons as they had just realized what they were hinting at.

“First, I start off by using my magic to physically and conceptually twist their Core-” The Puppeteer said before suddenly being struck by Hero, however, they were able to avoid it, with exceptional ease as they started to stare at Hero seriously.

“How rude, have you no manners?” They said in a genuinely offended tone as they crossed their arms.

"...I need no manners for hypocrites," Hero said as he quickly raised his fist, attempting to strike The Puppeteer with an ice-imbued punch as Justice careened into the fight, attempting to send a hook kick towards The Puppeteer's nape, which they squatted, grabbing Hero's fist and Justice's leg before throwing them away onto opposites sides as they landed safely regardless.

"Ah, hot-headed are we? But from what I could see, you seem like quite the hypocrite yourself, I can read people a lot better than you think, and I can tell you are guilty of what you do even if it's for the sake of let me guess... A better world, perhaps?" The Puppeteer said, raising their finger at Hero whose eyes closed for a short moment before opening up again.

"I met many before you, all of them failed, and one thing I see in common for all of them... Is that you wish to save this world, and yet to 'save' it you commit atrocities, that is not quite heroic is it now?" The Puppeteer said as Justice, who was behind them from a far distance looked on in annoyance, are they really taking their time just to badmouth him? Justice thought.

For a moment, there befell a deadly silence upon not only the void but to the three individuals as The Puppeteer waited patiently for Hero's response.

"...I know that better than anyone," Hero said, clenching his fist tightly to the point his palm slightly scratched upon doing so.

"I'm a hypocrite, no doubt about that, even if someone tells me I'm not, I feel like I am, even if one tells me I am, I already do, but in this world, sometimes what is needed to eradicate darkness is to use your own darkness as well," Hero got in a fighting stance as his magic aura grew exponentially larger.

"And just what if you overuse that darkness?" The Puppeteer questioned as he slightly smirked, now interested as he viewed Hero's growth firsthand.

"Then I don't mind having to drag myself to your level if that's what it takes to win," Hero replied.

"...His aura, it wasn't like that before," Justice thought as he also got up, viewing Hero's growth he was actually quite impressed, he had broken past one of the barriers that limited his magical prowess.

"...Now I have no doubt about back then... You really are..." Justice said, before shaking his head and smiling as both he and Hero collectively charged at The Puppeteer with intense velocity, but they only laughed as purple strings suddenly erupted at their fingertips.

"Do entertain me on this dance floor," He spoke as he tugged on his strings as they connected to empty space, suddenly ripping through that space releasing a pressure that was similar to that of a vacuum.

Taking note of this, both Justice and Hero dashed back, as they deemed it too risky, but to compensate, Justice summoned a window of light that was to release a beam of light above The Puppeteer while Hero opted to go for their feet, intending to freeze and shatter them.

But in what seemed like an instant, The Puppeter counterattacked by slicing the ice and light below and above with his strings, but he did not just destroy it, instead the ice melted almost instantaneously down to the atomic level, while the light above dissipated into darkness.

"Is that all?" The Puppeteer spoke proudly as he stretched out his arms as Hero and Justice looked on, thinking of a plan.

The Puppeteer's Inborn Magic, strings that wield the Core's innate ability to 'Distort', and always active, like a passive.

"Most likely he isn't too fond of close quarters, he's purposely distancing himself so his strings are at maximum effectiveness," Justice proposed as he bumped his shoulder to Hero's.

"Good we're on the same page, I was thinking the exact same thing," Hero said as Justice quickly grabbed him the two traveled quickly, appearing behind The Puppeteer as they attempted to destroy him as swiftly as they could before he noticed.

The Puppeteer, upon sensing their magic turned around, narrowly avoiding Justice's roundhouse kick that was to aim at his face, but as he stepped back, he then felt Hero's presence behind him.

"So they are trying to corner me, eh?" The Puppeteer thought, smirking as Hero sent a blast of ice magic, hitting The Puppeteer as it trapped his entire body in a prison of ice.

Upon seeing this, Justice almost instinctually sent multiple balls of light at The Puppeteer, intending to shatter them while he had the chance, but the moment his projectiles landed on the ice, they stopped in place completely.

"Huh?!" Both Hero and Justice thought as their eyes widened, suddenly The Puppeteer broke out of the ice by using his strings, distorting the ice and making it freeze the light as well and they both melted into nothingness.

"It is all futile, both of you seem to be insistent on hunting down The King, and yet you are unable to beat me, pathetic," The Puppeteer said, smirking as he crossed his arms, his strings disappearing as he was purposefully off-guard.

But rather unexpectedly, to him at least, he was struck in the face by Hero directly on his face, and he stumbled back, attempting to retaliate, he was swept off his legs by Justice.

"Your arrogance is your downfall, like all the other Guardians before and after you!" Justice said, grinning as he attempted to blow his head off with magic, but The Puppeteer used his strings to distort the space above Justice and stop his beam from reaching him before swerving away somewhere safe.

"Just like your puppet, you lack wit!" Hero said furiously as he sent a path of ice towards The Puppeteer's legs, who attempted to jump out of the way however, in the end, it was futile as his feet were frozen in ice.

"Bold of you to say," The Puppeteer said, regaining his composure as he cut up the space around him using his strings, thus disabling Hero and Justice from getting near him for the time being.

"...You did this yourself," Hero said, snapping his fingers as the ice that froze his feet suddenly enveloped both of his legs in an instant, and upon realizing this, The Puppeteer before anything else happened, cut up the ice as it melted and turned into a strange blue fire this time.

"Let it be known you are unable to rupture distortion itself!" The Puppeteer spoke in an arrogant tone as he laughed out loud, his arms outstretched as Justice and Hero were both getting clearly ticked, although, in their own way Justice smirked, while Hero's eyes narrowed.

The moment after they had spoken, Justice made a run for them, attempting to punch them away, which they then dodged, and as they tried to cut Justice in half, he responded by sending out a beam in front of him, confusing The Puppeteer as it was aimed at Hero, but suddenly it curved by a large margin as it then headed for The Puppeteer directly, in which they then slashed down the beam.

But just before the light dissipated, Justice suddenly reformed them, turning the small bits of light particles into larger orbs which suddenly detonated like grenades in front of The Puppeteer, who had realized it too late and ended up getting bombed as they were sent flying back.

As they were in the air, now irritated, they tried to regain their balance, but suddenly they were grabbed in the neck by Hero, with it deep-freezing as they both landed on the ground as Hero dragged him across an icy path, wrecking it as he then smacked him up against a hard ice wall.

While their neck was still frozen, Hero tried to decapitate them with all his strength, but their body simply would not budge, however, he had gotten a bit too focused on this and had not realized in time that The Puppeteer sent a thick linear line of string from his fingertip that could prove deadly regardless of the speed it hit him at.

But moments before it landed, Justice suddenly swooped in, and while he flew he simultaneously kicked The Puppeteer in the face, causing the string to malfunction and soon distinguish into magic as The Puppeteer rolled across the ground before getting up, seemingly without much hassle.

"Perhaps I overestimated you," The Puppeteer said, wiping off the white glowing blood that leaked from their mouth.

"He's still yapping?" Justice said, his jaw slightly dropping while his eyes narrowed as he stared at The Puppeteer, he was starting to grow ridiculous, Justice thought.

"Thanks for saving me there," Hero said as he slightly bumped his fist onto Justice's chest.

"Usually I would overexaggerate my reaction, but now is not the time," Justice said, grinning back at Hero as they viewed The Puppeteer from afar, wondering what they could do next.

"He most likely hasn't shown his true power yet, his Inborn Magic is nothing to scoff at but he's been using it on a highly simplistic level," Justice thought from his analysis.

"...And if he has not shown his true capabilities, then we will force him to draw it out," Hero thought as they both took a step forward.

"Is this really all you can do, Justice, was it? Were you not a Guardian in the past..?" The Puppeteer uttered, as Justice stopped in his tracks, causing Hero to turn around in slight concern.

"Or perhaps those 500 years of torment turned you rusty-?" But before The Puppeteer could finish what he wanted to say, he was suddenly punched by Justice, and as he was sent flying Justice quickly caught up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and then threw him towards Hero, he was far faster than before, in fact, Light shouldn't be this fast at this point, both Hero and The Puppeteer thought.

"I've angered you, didn't I?" The Puppeteer remarked with a satisfied grin on his face as he summoned long threads of strings from his fingertips, and just before Hero could reach him in time along with multiple ice shards, they were sent flying away due to a sudden burst of magic The Puppeteer had sent outward, but still, Hero was just barely able to send another blast of magic to The Puppeteer, striking their shoulder, in which they shattered immediately, and used a quarter of their magical pool to regenerate it.

"What? I threw him out fast enough... So how was he able to activate that in time before Hero was to strike him?" Justice said, gritting his teeth as he redirected his direction of flight, immediately charging towards The Puppeteer before they could do anything dangerous, and as he did so he pushed out several homing orbs of light at The Puppeteer, who stared to spin around while his strings were slowly distancing away from him, ripping through the space around him.

And with each tear through space, The Puppeteer made, the more they deflected and pushed away Justice and Hero's attempts to kill him, as they could barely stand up straight without his abilities affecting them greatly.

"Justice... What is he trying to do?" Hero questioned as Justice flew and stood right next to him, however, not without struggle.

"Not sure, but it could be pretty bad if he goes through with it," Justice replied.

"...The thing is, we can't do anything to him in this moment, right?" Hero said as he looked over to Justice his eyes narrowed.

"Unfortunately... Yes," Justice spoke as Hero sighed out.

"In that proximity, all the space around him is getting eaten up, basically creating an unstoppable barrier... That is, in the places, his strings have already slashed through," Justice said as he raised his hand in a finger gun, while Hero, who had recognized what he was trying to do, pulled up his own hand in a finger gun formation as well.

By trying to find any bits of magical presence through any open area around the orb of ripped space, they should be able to send a compressed beam of magic that could attack The Puppeteer directly, however, it would be difficult to do so.

But low and behold, that opportunity arrived as the two finally sensed a small portion of magic leaking through a small area where space still existed, but it was growing more narrow by the second as The Puppeteer continued to slash through everything in a ball-like form.

Immediately Justice grabbed Hero as they both flew over to the spot, and as they raised their hands, they sent out a highly compressed beam of their respective magic, as small as the strings that ripped space but still wielding power that could eradicate a part of The Puppeteer's body.

However, as fast as the beam traveled, it felt like ages, until they felt it hit something, but much to their shock, it was not The Puppeteer's body, in fact, their attack had been stopped by the ripped space that The Puppeteer had slashed through upon realizing the situation.

"This isn't good..." Hero said as he took a step back, he and Justice attempted to search for more openings, but unfortunately, that was the last one, and it had already been closed.

And so all they could do was step back, and wait for the storm to arrive.

"Magic Ultimatum: Rime of the Ancient Mariner!" The Puppeteer's voice echoed throughout...

As the strings spun, the space warped;

Everything had started to pull closer to the center.

It was an unexpected ordeal, unpredictable to the maximum;

But in the end, it had occurred.

A celestial body superior to that of a star.

A body that many feared.

A body that devoured.

And although merely a copy.

Proved to be just deadly, and such a structure is called...

The Blackhole.

Suddenly, in what felt like an instant, Hero and Justice were getting pulled by the intense force in front of them, colored purple and black as The Puppeteer's magic, Justice attempted to escape its range with Hero, but despite his acceleration, it proved to be far more difficult than he had thought.

As everything was getting sucked into the Blackhole, even the buildings that surrounded Area 3, Justice still attempted to fly away from The Blackhole, pouring every bit of magic in his legs to propel himself further, while Hero, out of a morbid curiosity attempted to send a large blast of magic at the Blackhole, but much to his disappointment, it had been absorbed, so seeing no other option, he attempted to help Justice fly away, by grabbing onto him and boosting himself up by sending ice magic through his feet at a rapid pace.

They felt as though their body warped and mangled the closer they got to the black hole, but they were able to protect themselves by casting a thick layer of magic across their body.

"My options are low at the moment... My magic pool is only about 70%, I can't use Magic Ultimatum... So what can I-?" Justice thought until suddenly he thought of an idea as he then looked at Hero.

"You get out first, you're more important, allow me to deal with this-!" Justice said as he suddenly grabbed Hero, who was confused at what Justice was doing as he was suddenly thrown away by a burst of magic, sending him flying to a good enough distance as that light magic ended up getting absorbed into the black hole too.

"Justice!" Hero yelled out, while he could trust Justice, he had no hint of what he was trying to do in this situation...

The best way to counter Magic Ultimatums is to use your own Magic Ultimatum, however, such a moment like this rarely happens.

For 3 reasons alone:

1. The cost is around 90% of your magical pool.
2. You are unable to lessen how much magic you are to use in that Magic Ultimatum, nor are you able to change its innate form.
3. Magic Ultimatums are vastly different from each other.

However...

"...There exists one way to use Magic Ultimatum without much price," Justice said as he formed a hand sign.

"One that only the utmost refined in their craft can do..."

"Magic Ultimatum: Charge of the Light Brigade!" Justice yelled out, however, rather than a star forming immediately, he instead diverted that magic to his legs, sending out a mini-star only as small as a tower from beneath his legs he then used the present magic from the star to propel himself outwards from The Blackhole, all happening in what looked like one fell swoop.

"A Magic Ultimatum that lasts for exactly 0.01 seconds!" Justice thought with a massive grin on his face as he swiftly boosted up his speed, spotting Hero as he flew over to him, and as he landed he rolled across the ground, panting as he just barely made it out alive.

"You gave me quite the shocker, you risky imbecile," Hero said as he slid over to Justice on a path of ice and pulled him back up.

"Well, it worked... That's what matters," Justice said as he rolled his shoulders.

"Now that we are out of that situation, how are we able to match against that Blackhole?" Hero questioned.

"...We'll have to use a Magic Ultimatum against it, but given its form, it will most likely take two," Justice spoke before finishing off his stretching by cracking his knuckles.

"Are you implying I need to awaken such a technique now?" Hero said as he looked at Justice in clear disbelief.

"It's not as hard as you think, it's only difficult refining it, new magic users can't control their Magic Ultimatum, but that doesn't matter now in this situation, you simply think of a form for your ultimatum as long as it's within your Inborn Magic's limits, and pour everything you've got into creating it," Justice explained as they both stood silently, watching the black hole grew bigger as Hero was deep in thought, before gripping his fist tightly.

"...So be it," Hero said as he got in a stance and outstretched his hands, already having figured out the form of his Ultimatum while Justice got into his own stance.

"About time we ended this, he was getting personal too," Justice commented as they both smirked.

"It's not a perfect black hole, meaning it's still destroyable," They both thought as they took a deep breath.

"Magic Ultimatum: Charge Of The Light Brigade!" Justice yelled out as a large star, that of a red dwarf was summoned above him, this time he had used the full cost of his magic.

"Magic Ultimatum:" Hero muttered.

"To a Wreath of Snow,"

Suddenly, a large, ice statue of what seemed to be a multi-armed emperor sprung from Hero's magical aura, as it formed it shook the buildings around and below.

"Interesting," Justice said, and without a second wasted he quickly fired his star at the black hole, which had gotten far bigger in the last few moments.

Hero wanted to use the most of this Magic Ultimatum, but due to this desperate situation and his lack of skill, he ought to go for something more basic, so The Ice Emperor put all of his hands up front, as each hand started to form a large, light blue orb of magic.

"Fire," Hero commanded as they all fired simultaneously, traveling as fast as Justice's star as it surrounded it, similar to how a moon would rotate across its respective planet. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

And so as the attacks hit...

All that there was, was light.

They could not see, but they could feel it being destroyed as everything shook around them.

Soon, they started to feel their bodies transport and warp to a different realm.

That was when they knew...

They had won.

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