Chapter 319 - The Old Man
Crossing his arms in front of him, Rade whispered, "Death Parade."
The dolls ceased the activation of their spells. Aquarius breathed for a moment, but the air he exhaled went right back in when the dolls opened their mouths and conjured spheres with the color of their affinities.
With a clanking sound, the spheres shor towards Aquarius. Sybyl could only watch the man being overwhelmed by the magic, his figure disappearing as the dust from the ground formed a cloud around him.
"No!" Sybyl yelled.
"Don't worry," Rade said without looking at her. "You're going to be next, so you can look forward to that."
Sybyl's eyes looked like they were ready to pop out of their heads. The smell of death entered her nose like it was a stench of a dead flower. She looked at the direction where Aquarius was, covering her mouth when she saw that the ground was opened up with a crater replacing it.
"He was turned to nothingness after my attack," Rade said. "For whatever reason, I do not feel comfortable about this."
Aquarius's head and torso appeared behind him. The half of his body was replaced with a flow of water that was connected to a small vortex behind him. The blue haired man formed his hands from the water, opening his palm as his trident rose from the vortex.
"You cannot get rid of me that easily," Aquarius yelled. He thrust his trident into Rade, successfully piercing his stomach. "Around the Current–"
"Looks can be deceiving."
His eyes widened after he heard Rade speak beside him. Aquarius looked at the boy he stabbed, only to see a wooden doll.
"Old man," Rade called out, this time he was on the dolls that were in the air. He continued on transporting to different places as if he was telling Aquarius that he can't catch him. "You cannot catch me if you're that slow."
"He can also switch places with his dolls?!" Aquarius gasped in his mind. He narrowed his eyes while looking at Rade, the angel still kept on switching places with the dolls.
Aquarius was now confused as to what the actual nature and limits of Rade's power was. Amplification could not mean that he could use the power he amplifies. The ability only serves as a boost for other people around them.
There were too many thoughts building on the man's head while he tries to decode Rade's power. Controlling of a doll could also be doubtful. If he could indeed control a doll that has an ability inside it, what kind of ability would that doll have?
Among all the skill he showed, spatial magic, full control over magical dolls, switching places with the dolls, and amplification, choosing one would be the end for the other. If Aquarius could know what Rade's power truly is, then the battle would be over the next moment.
Casting spells and skills isn't a measurement of magic, tactic and battle strategy is. Even if a man could conjure a volcano in his sleep, if he doesn't use his powers to his full potential, then he would be beaten by a child who could only cast a simple earth spell.
Using that analogy, Aquarius was thinking in how to beat someone that could conjure a volcano like Rade. The angel was no doubt one of the most powerful person he ever met in his life.
Aquarius even recalled meeting with the Deep Sea Wanderer and he could tell that that experience was nothing compared to this. The Wanderer was strong, but he didn't stop. He persevered until he took the final blow, killing the beast with his trident.
"Perseverance," Aquarius whispered. "The only reason I was able to deal with all these stress and reach new heights was because of perseverance."
Rade was slowly raising his hand and was preparing for an attack. He quirked his brow up and paused after seeing Aquarius with his grand soliloquy. The angel flew closer to him, trying to listen what the man was saying.
"What are you talking about?" Rade asked.
This made Aquarius smirk and shrug, "It's something that I told myself."
"If it's a plan against me, then it will all be in vain," Rade said. "You cannot defeat me, and there will never be a day where you can."
"You," Aquarius pointed at Rade with his eyes locked with the angel's. "You're right, I cannot beat you. You're too strong even for my level. But I was left wondering how."
Rade twitched his eye, "What do you mean, how?"
"I cannot beat you one on one…" Aquarius said. "Because I'm not fighting against one on one."
Rade switched his place with the doll closest to Aquarius. He hovered closer to the man, breathing through gritted teeth. "What do you know about me?"
"You just said your magic was based on souls, right?" Aquarius smirked. "Since it's like that, then you're not the real Rade. You're someone who's a coward who hides himself under the impression that he's a young charming looking boy."
"How dare you?!" Rade yelled. The doll hovered behind him, all opening their mouths and pointed at Aquarius. "Kill him! All of you, make sure to kill him this time!"
The dolls fired their beams at the area where Aquarius was. Their beams once again created the dust cloud that hid Aquarius's figure from them.
Feeling the doubt, Rade snapped his head in Sybyl's direction. He roared so loud and went straight for the woman, his hands raised in the air as he tried to strike the woman with the attacks from his dolls. "I'll kill you!"
Just when his hands were about to let the dolls fire their attacks, in the hallway of the stadium, a man was lying on a single bed. He had orbs hovering around him while tubes were connected from his body to the orbs.
"H-How?!" the old man yelled. "But I am Rade, the strongest one in the world."
"You've been alive for too long," Aquarius whispered. "You need to rest."
"But the Twilight Bless, I will get it and gain my youth once more," thr old man argued. "I will take that bless and bully the weak."
"Enough old man," Aquarium whispered. One by one, he took the tubes off the orbs, making the old man widen his eyes and gasp in shock. "Or should I say, Rade?"
Rade's other body that was on the field of the stadium, yelled. Sybyl was watching him get mad, like there was something that he was watching in horror. A second later, all the dolls fell and a burst of white transparent orbs flew from the stadium.
Sybyl watched the orbs float, bowing her head slightly as she watched the orbs fly in the air. "Goodbye, Angel's souls."
"But to be honest, you're the strongest opponent I ever had," Aquarius spoke, watching the old man slowly close his eyes.
The old man coughed, "You can still improve and surpass me. But how did you know where I was?"
"I followed the aura of the dolls," Aquarius chuckled. "All these years, they're still this messy. You need work, old man."
"Rain," the old man croaked. "He's a young boy that I took from the streets. He has the amplification magic. Please take care of him."
"I'm already taking care of one delinquent," Aquarius sighed. "I don't know if I can take another."
"Then I'll give you an information against the Man," the old man said that made Aquarius's ears twitch. "Now you're interested?"
"I thought you were dying, but please tell me," Aquarius said. "What's it with the Man."
"Years ago, the Man was a member of a guild in Terra."