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.