Blackwave was not using his Trait.
That was the first thing Elias noticed.
The second was that it didn't seem to matter.
The underground chamber shook as Todd and Chad attacked from opposite directions.
Chad let out a guttural roar, his muscles straining against the invisible pressure as he lunged forward. His Trait, The Temperance, thrummed violently in his spiritual core. His first resonant ability flared to life, casting a translucent, shimmering lattice over his eyes as he scanned Blackwave, desperately searching for a single spiritual impurity, a microscopic crack in the pirate's aura to exploit. But there was nothing. Blackwave's spiritual foundation was like an iron fortress, dense and completely devoid of exploitable weakness. Refusing to yield, Chad lashed out with his whip and triggered his second resonant ability, trying to violently override the space around the pirate with his own metaphysical definition of balance, attempting to force the overwhelming power differential into an equalized equilibrium.
The air warped, bending and twisting as Chad's Trait slammed against Blackwave's Presence and died. Blackwave then tilted his head and caught the whip and yanked Chad towards him before catching his face in his hands and slamming him into the ground. However, Chad wasn't injured as it was Blackwave rather who felt the effect of being slammed. He staggered and loosened his grip on Chad who took advantage of this to jump back. Blackwave regained composure and turned to look at the source of that attack.
It was Todd.
Her trait was the death and she had used it to exchange cause and effect, specifically the effect of Blackwave slamming Chad into the ground back on himself. She drew closer and aimed a spinning heel kick at Blackwave's temple. He caught it but Chad wrapped the whip around Blackwave's hand and pulled it away as Todd attempted to land a drop kick. Blackwave ducked and Todd flew over him, he grabbed her by the collar and threw her but Chad unwrapped the whip and lashed the air where she was.
She caught the whip and he pulled her down into a devastaing strike. Blackwave jumped out of the way and her heel connected with the ground, pulverizing it slightly, he slapped her and sent her flying back but as she did she exchanged the effect with Blackwave and he winced as his face stung while she pulled Chad in for a punch. he attempted to land an uppercut but Blackwave caught his fist. Todd then rushed forward and slid under him kicking his feet from under him while Chad jumped back, infused his whip with energy and lashed him, sending him flying a few yards away. Blackwave however straightened, seemingly taking no damage at all.
The two regarded him for a moment before switching tactics and attacking again. This time instead of one offending and the other defending, they both decided to go on the offensive. Blackwave coughed and blocked their attacks without moving a single step casually deflecting and holding them in place as they danced around him.
At some point, he seemed to have figured out that one of them could exchange cause and effect so, with his superior Saint level speed he would strike twice so that even if the effect was reflected back on him the subject of his attack would also be dealt a blow.
Chad was the first victim and a follow up slap after the first deflection sent him flying.
He struck the ground and rolled several meters before catching himself against a pillar.
Todd's eyes widened.
"Chad!"
"I'm fine."
She didn't have time to be worrying about someone else as Blackwave decide to attack them more and she too fell prey to his strength after he caught her by the heel, raised her up and landed a punch to the gut. she collapsed on the floor. Chad tried to jump and attack from above and Blackwave simply kicked Todd into him causing them both to collapse a few meters away. He scratched his tattoo and picked his nose as the two slowly rose to their feet catching their breaths before lunging forward a few moments later.
A few yards away near a broken pillar, Elias observed the exchange with his arms folded with an expression which was a mixture of detached satisfaction and weary fascination.
"Serves them right," Elias muttered under his breath.
"Ganging up on someone weaker than themselves, now they know what that feels."
He continued to watch as they fought Blackwave.
"But still, Saints..."
As an Acolyte he had fought with creatures stronger than him, the Apex Beasts in the Iron Forest, Tamamo and even Chad and Todd and he had managed to come out of those fights alive due to either preparing contingencies or pure luck.
"Looking at how they are struggling to keep up with Blackwave just as I had struggled to keep up with them just proves that there is no plot armor and there is no luck. If you don't make preparations and put measures in place you cannot overcome the gap in power between yourself and the strong with strength alone."
Elias winced as a sharp phantom pain flared in his ribs, reminding him of the brutal beating he had taken earlier. His wound had healed by now and he had recovered enough of his energy through Flow Circulation.
'It seems I'm able to recover my energy faster each time I almost deplete my reserves. With time I should be able to fully utilize my Infinite Flow.'
He thought as he turned around. The though caused him to remember his curse of immortality and Deus but he pushed that out of his mind and focused on the person before him.
Bound to the broken pillar was prince Raileigh. Elias had dragged him and propped him against the broken pillar. Once he had enough Flow, he healed his wounds before manipulating parameters in order to restrain him the same way he had attempted to restrain the Monocerus Ibex in the forest, by using the wind to make orbital rings.
Each ring spun in a different direction around his body.
One horizontally, two diagonally. Together, they created a constantly shifting cage of pressure.
Elias crouched beside him.
Up close the boy looked surprisingly peaceful.
Too peaceful.
"Oi, wake up."
Nothing.
Elias shook his shoulder.
"Oi!"
No response. The prince just let out a soft, drooling snore.
Elias's eye twitched. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Without an ounce of royal reverence, Elias drew back his hand and delivered a sharp, echoing slap right across the prince's cheek.
SMACK.
The prince's eyes snapped open and he jerked upright, his golden expression. Then his gaze landed on Elias, and a slow, satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Oh."
Elias's brow furrowed into a deep, irritated 'V'. He crossed his arms and glared.
"What's so funny, huh?!"
"Nothing," Raileigh said, his voice still groggy. "You just exceeded my expectations."
He tried to rub his stinging cheek but found that he couldn't move. Elias's frown deepened into a scowl as the prince tried to push himself up off the ground, but his limbs refused to cooperate, pinned firmly in place by the howling, high-pressure wind rings swirling around him. Raileigh looked down at the invisible bonds, then up at Elias with mild confusion.
"Why am I restrained?"
"To prevent you from attacking me again," Elias said flatly.
The prince blinked in confusion, his head tilting innocently to the side. "I would never try to attack you."
Elias gestured toward the ruined chamber.
The prince followed his hand.
The shattered pillars.
The scorched floor.
The cracks.
And the two Votaries currently fighting Blackwave.
He stared. Then nodded slowly.
"Ah." He smiled brightly, as if clearing up a minor scheduling misunderstanding.
Elias stared.
"Ah?"
"That..."
Raileigh smiled.
"..That was the test."
Elias felt his eye twitch.
"Test?"
"The test."
"Why...would...you.. test me..?" Elias asked slowly, trying to understand what was going on. The laughed.
"I don't know."
Elias stared at him.
"You don't know?"
"No."
"Then why did you do it?"
"To see what you'd do."
Elias' expression became incredulous.
"What kind of psychopath tries to murder someone as a test?!"
"I don't know. I've never met a psychopath." The prince said thoughtfully.
"Its you! You're the psychopath!"
"I had no plans to kill anyone." Raileigh said.
"You stabbed me in the chest and your attendants landed multiple lethal blows to my neck and chest, how would that not kill anyone?! I would Have died if I didn't know how to use Accelerate Heal!"
"I suppose it sounds bad when you say it like that, I would have stopped if you were actually going to die. Besides but you survived, didn't you?" Raileigh pointed out reasonably, offering a warm, dazzling smile.
"So it's all good."
Elias stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.
"What kind of bizarre, terrifying social circle did you grow up in to turn out like this? Are all the royals this freaky?"
The prince beamed, shifting slightly against the wind pressure.
"I have to admit, I don't really have any friends. People are usually try to get close to me either out of pity for my circumstances or to try to use me for some goal so I cut them all off, they were boring anyway." He laughed and it echoed throughout the cavern.
" But that was before I met you, Elias! I think we're going to be great together."
Elias blinked, taking a half-step back. "Huh?"
The prince then shifted and straightened his posture as much as the wind bindings would allow, clearing his throat with sudden, regal poise. The goofy, unhinged cheerfulness vanished for a split second, replaced by a deep, resonant charisma.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Raileigh Zeppelin, Twelfth Prince of the Kingdom of Aerthos. Ward of Laplace. The Fool."
Elias blinked.
'Well, guess I have no choice.' he thought with a sigh.
"Elias Linford Dukker. Successor to the Region of Blackwood," the next words caused him to grimace, "Ward of Deus."
He paused, the next words tasting bitter on his tongue.
"The World."
It was subtle—a ripple of something inexplicable, a tremor in the air. But Elias felt it. Raileigh felt it. Across the cavern, even the three combatants—Blackwave, Chad, and Todd—abruptly froze mid-action, turning their heads sharply as they felt the shift in spiritual pressure.
The Fool and the World.
Two halves of a whole, finally reunited.
Elias and the prince stared directly into each other's eyes.
Elias opened his mouth but the prince interrupted him.
"Drop the honorifics. Just call me Raileigh." he said with a smile that now carried a genuine, peer-to-peer warmth. Elias sensed the change in tone and in response offered a brief, helpless shrug.
"Fine. Raileigh..." he tasted the name then glanced at the ongoing fight. Blackwave had Todd and Chad cornered, their attacks becoming more desperate, more frantic.
"...Why did you go through all this trouble just to meet me?"
"Well..."
A violent tremor tore through the cavern floor, sending loose stones tumbling from the ceiling. Raileigh looked over Elias and his eyes locked on Blackwave, as if noticing him for the first time.
"Hey Elias, who's that?"
"Don't change the subject!"
Raileigh blinked.
"I was only asking." he said and got to his feet, the wind rings dissolving into bubbles that floated harmlessly away. He raised a hand and called out, "Chad! Todd! You can stop now."
'Tch, so he could have freed himself all this time?'
The two attendants disengaged immediately, stepping back from Blackwave and moved towards their prince. Their bodies were bruised and their clothes were torn. Todd even had a black eye while Chad's had a tuft of hair missing. Elias looked away so they wouldn't see him laugh.
Blackwave, entirely unbothered with the change of events, walked parallel to them. The three approached the pair, forming a strange, uneasy assembly. Elias watched the pirate from the corner of his eye, still suspicious of his motives but decided to go with the flow for now.
Raileigh snapped his fingers and two chairs appeared made entirely from his bubbles. They were translucent with a faint violet hue, a reflection of his stage as an Acolyte.
Elias stared at the one beside him.
"You're making furniture now?"
"It's more comfortable than the floor or the broken pillars. Please, have a seat."
Elias cautiously sat down on one. To his utter shock, it felt like a perfectly tailored, plush leather armchair, yet retained a strange, buoyant softness that gently contoured to his weight—a cushion made entirely of refined Anti-Flow. Elias wanted to ask so many questions about this but decided to keep his mouth shut for now.
Raileigh crossed his legs gracefully, resting an elbow on the arm of his bubble-chair.
"To answer your question, Elias: I wasn't entirely sure that you were truly The World. Imposters or false heirs are not uncommon and you were the only one who awakened the same day as me. That should have been confirmation enough but I had to make sure..."
"And that involved jumping me in your...," He looked around," Batcave?"
Raileigh raised an eyebrow.
"That's a very...interesting expression, I'm not sure of what it means to 'jump' somebody or what a 'batcave' is."
Elias folded his arms and sank deeper into the chair, looking away.
"Forget it." He muttered.
Raileigh smiled, amused by his 'friends' behaviour.
"We are the same, you and I. Two extremes existing in opposition. If your foundation as The World is strong, you would naturally match whatever force I, The Fool brought to bear. I didn't make the rules; that's simply how these two foundational traits interact with each other."
"Convenient."
"I really don't."
Elias looked away.
"You must be thirsty after loosing so much blood." Raileigh said trying to liven the mood. Elias glared at him as he manifested a table and tea set between them. Todd, despite looking like she had just gone ten rounds with a freight train, dutifully stepped forward and poured the tea.
Raileigh politely offered a cup to Elias.
Elias took one look at the shimmering, bubble cup and shook his head, politely declining.
For some reason he assumed that the tea tasted like dish soap.
Blackwave, however, had no such hesitation. The pirate snatched a cup from the tray without a second thought, raised it in a silent toast, and chugged the entire thing in a single gulp.
"Ah," Blackwave grunted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"For the past few days, I haven't had anything to drink except gutter water and piss. I don't particularly like tea, but anything is better without algae in it. Another!" he said extending the cup.
Elias winced visibly, somehow embarrassed by what the pirate had said. Todd's face twisted into an expression of profound, soul-crushing offense; she clearly had a thousand biting remarks locked behind her teeth, but she clamped her jaw shut, took a deep breath, and silently poured him another cup. They waited in silence as he noisily drank the tea before bursting the bubble cup in satisfaction.
Once he finished, Raileigh gently set his own cup down on the table, looking over at Elias with an expression of absolute, disarming sincerity.
"I genuinely apologize for the theatricality and the... minor physical trauma," Raileigh said, bowing his head slightly.
It was all part of the test. But now that the test is successful, and I know for an absolute fact who you are, I can say this with confidence that..."
Raileigh raised both hands toward Elias, a brilliant, a tender smile lighting up his face as he delivered his final declaration.
"I want you."