~WHOOOOOSSSHHH!!!~
Legris lunged at Jerry, becoming a jet black blur as he blended with the distorted space riddled with heat.
Several blasts were shot at him from the orb high above, but he expertly dodged them all as he closed the distance between him and his adversary.
Despite the certainty of his victory, Legris was curious…
'What more tricks do you have up your sleeve?'
After dodging the attacks a few more times, finally reaching Jerry, Legris teleported right behind him.
'If he expects me to attack him in a certain direction, his guard will be lowered in the opposite one.'
Legris grinned as he saw Jerry's glowing back, reaching out to it.
'I'll rip out your heart and that'll be the end of it.'
Just as he was about to touch him, though, the strangest thing occurred.
'H-huh?!'
Several arms made of flaming bones held onto Legris' legs.
They belonged to Jerry's undead minions, and the way they tightly gripped Legris reeked of desperation.
'Ah! Did he prepare a defense just in case I strike from behind?' We're his initial thought.
However…
"H-huh?!"
… The flaming undead began to drag him down, specifically towards the rising sea of flames.
That was when Legris realized it.
'They're not for defense, but rather offense!'
In the first place, Jerry had been awfully closer to the sea of flames than Legris. He was probably seeking a chance for the latter to draw closer so he could drown him in the lava.
'He didn't react to my teleportation at all. It's just that his plans directly interfere with mine.'
Legris found himself gritting his teeth as he easily knocked away the bones that held onto him, shattering them instantly.
The annoying beam of energy from earlier rained down on him, but he was too annoyed to dodge this time.
Instead, he used his darkness to consume the blast.
'I'm killing him now!'
Refusing to budge from his original plan, Legris reached out to Jerry, his hand already dyed in darkness,
This was the end!
~SQUELCH!~
The sensation felt a little off, but Legris succeeded in his action.
He grinned victoriously, crushing the heart he gripped tightly, while ensuring his corruption spread through the entirety of Jerry's body.
However, the moment he did that, Legris quickly realized…
'Something is off!'
Before he could completely wrap his head around it, the 'Jerry' he had pierced suddenly began to leak out a dangerously strong surge of energy.
Any second now and it would—
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!~
The eruption pervaded the immediate area, mimicking a blast of sheer destruction.
As if that wasn't enough, another beam descended from above—this time more powerful than anything that had descended before.
~WHOOOOOSSSHHHH!!!~
Another round of disastrous explosions rang out, parting the burning sea of chaos.
However…
~SHUUUUUUUUU~
… Once the smoke and dust settled, Legris stood at the center of the blast, completely unscathed by the explosion.
His dark cocoon slowly dissipated, returning to his attire as if they were dark flames licking his body.
"I see. So he tricked me." Legris murmured, sighing at himself.
'What did he do? Most likely a mirage? Since his heat grossly distorts space, he probably used it to distort the imagery around him to make it seem like he was the one present, but it was a placebo.'
Legris felt embarrassed to have fallen for something like that, but it couldn't be helped, especially given the nature of the situation.
'He probably did it when I wasn't really paying attention. Either when he activated his Original Magic or shot that blast from above.'
Those two moments stood out to Legris, since he had been paying rapt attention to Jerry during the other opportunities he could have had.
'Well, there's no use dwelling on the past. Right now, I have to find him. Where is he… I wonder.'
Even though Legris told himself that, he still felt plenty upset about how the situation had turned out.
Sure, he wasn't physically injured by the trap Jerry had set for him, but he felt immensely bruised—at least, his ego did.
'I even went through the trouble of evading those annoying beams of his, rather than simply absorbing them, so he would think they could be effective on me…'
The only time he decided to quit the charade was when he was about to eliminate Jerry. He let go of his cover since there was no need for him to do so any longer, but that revealed a fatal flaw that he had been trying to hide.
A fatal flaw that he had no idea Jerry had also noticed.
"I've got you now." A voice suddenly echoed from underneath Legris, causing his eyes to bulge in shock.
Emerging from the depths of the flaming sea was Jerry.
His flaming hands tightly gripped Legris, and his grinning face was covered in the same properties. His entire body oozed with both natural and magical flames, and to an overwhelming degree.
As Jerry gripped Legris, so did several other flaming hands that belonged to a myriad of subordinates.
That all rose from the lava and flames, gripping Legris wherever they could.
They grabbed his coat, his other leg, and everything they could lay their hands on.
"Tch! You…!" Legris gritted his teeth as he glared at the smiling Jerry.
"I noticed it from the very start, but… your recent actions just convinced me."
Legris instantly realized what Jerry was referring to. The fact that Legris avoided the sea of flames and lava, showing those to be undesirable dangers.
'I tried to hide that by evading the blasts from above, but since I was able to absorb the blast, and I remain unscathed by his explosion, he must have realized that my real weakness is his sea of flames.'
Everything that had happened thus far had culminated into this very moment.
'He played me!'
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