anwhile, the two were already far from where they’d tricked Nephralis and Varkhaal. This region stretched endlessly and the edge of the formation that bound it was still nowhere in sight.
Silence lingered for a while... until a sudden sound broke it.
"Pfft..." Marie’s voice crackled through the comms, trembling with suppressed laughter.
That was all it took.
Lucien followed. First with a snort then with a full-bodied laugh.
"HAHAHAHA!"
The echo of their laughter rang across the empty sky.
Marie nearly choked on her own breath as she mocked the Nephralis and Varkhaal’s pompous tones.
"’Who would’ve thought this would be so easy? We should’ve talked earlier,’" she said, perfectly mimicking their deep voice and smug arrogance.
Lucien laughed harder. "You even got the stupid grin, right?!"
Their plan had worked. Flawlessly, from start to finish.
The origin core fragnts the enemies now held... were fake.
The mont Lucien turned his back to "press" the fragnts on Marie, he had already switched them out.
Marie had trusted him enough to hand over her real fragnt beforehand, placing it in his hands.
The reason Nephralis and Varkhaal couldn’t sense anything from them wasn’t because of luck.
It was because the fragnts were now hidden inside the Obsidian Tower. It was sealed beyond any perception.
Lucien had discovered by accident that the tower could suppress all aura leakage.
Now, he had four genuine fragnts resting quietly within.
But it wasn’t only the tower that made their ruse possible.
Without the skill False Genesis, none of it could have worked.
Though Lucien had so understanding of the Law of Creation, he was nowhere near powerful enough to forge a true origin core fragnt. He could glimpse its existence and its divine threads of reality... but to replicate it completely would require the energy of an entire world.
False Genesis changed that.
It allowed him to imitate creation. To shape sothing that looked real.
The only problem is that the imitations were imperfect. It looks hollow and lifeless. But Lucien was quick to adapt.
By combining his Law of Reflection, he mirrored the real fragnt’s aura onto the copies and with the Law of Creation, he imbued them with a subtle pulse... a rhythm that mimicked vitality.
They were still leagues below the real thing...
But thanks to his reasoning that "the fragnts’ essence would weaken after detachnt," the enemies accepted it without question.
Even the equipnt he handed over, Morphis and the Genesis Set, were perfect counterfeits.
Lucien would never part with the real ones.
Now, there was only one thing left to do.
The last symphony of their plan.
"They’re coming," Lucien said. His eyes narrowed as he sensed movent from miles away. "Leave the final blow to . Actually, I can also grow stronger by killing."
Marie’s voice ca through the comms.
"I knew it! You still haven’t revealed part of your cheat."
Lucien smirked. "Isn’t being mysterious part of a man’s charm?"
"Fuck you," she shot back.
Lucien ignored the retort.
Through his spatial intuition, faint signatures appeared. Multiple life forces were approaching fast.
The reinforcents of Nephralis and Varkhaal.
Neither Lucien nor Marie looked worried. They have predicted that this might happen.
The only real threats had been those two Ascendant peaks. But now... bound by the Soul Contract, they couldn’t interfere.
The rest were free ga.
Marie slowed the mobile suit to a hover. Dust and soil swirled beneath its tal feet as Lucien leaped off to the sky. His steps rippled the air as he began to Skywalk, descending like a predator spotting prey.
They stopped.
The enemy forces soon erged over the horizon, dozens of cultivators from both sects. The earth trembled under their advance.
Lucien and Marie shared a nod.
This ti, they wouldn’t run.
They would harvest.
The battlefield was already changing.
Marie extended her arm. The ground responded to her command. Mountains of stone shifted. They rose into jagged ridges and earthen spires. The terrain itself bent to her will, forming the perfect battlefield for her fighting style.
Inside the mobile suit, her Terra Sync ability ignited. Every gear and every tallic plate resonated with her essence, doubling its power output.
Knowledge surged through her mind, courtesy of her Geo-Link. She could now feel the machine’s will, maneuvering it as if it were her own body.
Lucien, anwhile, stood calmly in one corner. His hands were loose at his sides, waiting.
He didn’t need to move first.
He preferred to strike when his enemies least expected.
The enemies closed in.
Marie’s grin widened. "Let’s make this quick. I’ve been wanting to test this thing out."
Lucien cracked his neck. "Then let the curtain rise."
And so... The Last Symphony began.
...
The sky rippled with tension.
Dozens of Nephralis and Varkhaal closed in. Their combined presence warped the air and the pressure alone was enough to crush mortal mountains.
Above... Wings of fla unfurled. The Nephralis, the half-dragons, exhaled plus of fire that could lt tal.
Below... the Varkhaal, the shadows incarnate, slithered across the ground like living darkness. Their blades drew no light and their movents left afterimages in every direction.
And in the middle of it all... stood two humans... laughing.
Marie raised her hand and the ground answered.
Her own system cheats pulsed in synchrony with the mobile suit. Every rotation of its gears resonated with her heartbeat and its every motion mirrored her intent.
Lucien watched from her flank. His body was calm yet he was ready to strike at any mont.
The first wave ca.
The Nephralis roared as their flas shaped into dragons that dove from the skies. Each fla-dragon scread with resonance carrying the mark of the Law of Fire.
The Varkhaal followed, blending into the shadows of those dragons. They rode the collapsing air currents to descend unseen. Their blades sought the gaps and the blind spots.
Marie’s voice rang through the comms.
"Luc! Take the left flank!"
Her mobile suit moved before the words even finished.
The ground surged, forming a colossal wall of earth. It deflected the descending flas. The tal of the suit turned gold under heat but Marie grinned, unshaken.
The fla dragons crashed, exploded and were redirected.
She twisted the suit’s arms, channeling Terra Sync... and the mountain-like armor responded. It absorbed the kinetic shock, dispersing the heat into the ground.
A single step of the mobile suit... and the earth erupted. Spears of stone jutted upward. They skewered the descending shadows.
The air bood.
"I’ll go for the KS!" Lucien shouted.
His figure blurred and space itself twisted.
And then... a line of light cut across reality.
The Varkhaal hidden behind Marie’s flank was bisected. Its body and shadow was cleaved in one motion.
"Grow stronger by killing, huh..." Marie muttered through the comms. "Guess I’ll leave the last bites to you."
Lucien smiled faintly. "Good girl."
"Call that again and I’ll bury you under this mountain!"
...
The second wave arrived.
Dozens of Ascendants now filled the air. The sky turned red from Nephralis fla and the shadows of the Varkhaal stitched through it like a living wound.
Lucien and Marie moved perfectly in sync.
Whenever a fla beam shot from the heavens, Marie redirected it with a sweep of her tallic arm. Lucien then used the opening to dart forward. His blade sliced through the aftershock, ending the caster before they could even scream.
Every strike they made was a dance. Marie crushed mountains, Lucien harvested souls.
At one point, five Nephralis Ascendants descended together. Their combined fire ford a dragon spiral that could scorch the continent.
Marie grinned.
"Oh, you wanna burn ? Let’s see you burn this."
She slamd her gauntlet into the ground.
The land howled.
The dragon of fire collided with a rising titan of stone. It caught the firestorm in its massive hands and in a mont of furious brilliance... it devoured the fla.
"A golem? She can make that too?!" Lucien’s eyes widened.
Marie then launched the entire stone titan forward. The colossus stone still blazed with the Nephralis fire it devoured. It slamd into the enemies in midair with vigor.
Lucien used the explosion as cover.
He vanished into the debris and reappeared behind the stunned Ascendants.
A single whisper.
"Reflect."
Their own flas rebounded... turning upon their masters.
The sky blood into fire and screams.
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