Jane, Aurora, Dulum, Z''ark, Gerard, Jerry, Ivan, Asa, Maro, Beruel, and Ana—all of them gathered around me in an instant. Edward, Ciara, and Lemi were also present


    To say that I was relieved would have been an understatement.


    "Jared, we''re here! Are we toote?!" Jane spoke first, and the rest of her party members stood behind her.


    Apparently, she had already established a hierarchy within the team. As expected of someone as meticulous as her.


    Unfortunately, about her question…


    "Yes. You''rete. They''ve gotten their hands on all the Arcanas."


    "WHAT?! HOW IS THAT—!"


    Beruel, Edward, Ciara, and Lemi were especially surprised to hear this. They searched themselves for their Arcanas and found them, thus driving them into more confusion.


    "He must have used Magic. We can''t think too deeply about how it was achieved and waste our time. The fact that he now has all the cards is what matters most." Karlia stepped in, sighing as she stood beside me.


    "L-Lewis, that''s a member of the Cu—" I noticed Beruel suddenly re up, pointing at Karlia in an usatory manner.


    His eyes were wide with indignation, and I could tell from a nce that he didn''t like her. Or, perhaps he was just being a good friend by warning me about Karlia, and her affiliation to the Nether Cult.


    "It''s fine. She''s on our side now. There''s no time to exin, we have to stop—"


    "You are all fools." The Cult Leader''s voice finally put an end to the fun, little reunion I was having with everyone.


    His pressuring voice had enough weight to silence our words.


    "More of you have arrived, but that changes nothing. In the end, you have alle here to be extinguished. I suppose that makes this all the more satisfying."


    The more I observed the Cult Leader, the more I realized something about him. Perhaps it was irrelevant, but…


    ''He sure likes to gloat.''


    Despite the hopelessness of the situation, there was no way I could ignore what was happening. No matter how many times he talked about how pointless our resistance was. In the end, I would still use all the cards I had to fight for victory.


    ''It''s going to be hard, but…'' With more people serving as backup for Karlia, while having a few to also support me, we had a decent chance.


    It still seemed impossible, considering we were dealing with a mysterious entity who had theplete set of the Arcanas dancing around him.


    ''Alright, guys…'' I used Resonance tomunicate with Ciara, and she used her Mind Magic to link everyone together.


    I could also pretty much achieve a simr effect, but having Ciara do it lessened the burden on me. I would be needing all my focus for Spellcraft, after all.


    ''We''ll be divided into two major assault forces. One will focus on supporting Karlia as she faces the Martial de God. The second team will focus on supporting me as we fight the Cult Leader.''


    ~But, Jared, where''s Neron?~


    Perhaps this was the wrong time, but I noticed how Jane kept calling me Jared and not Lewis. It felt a bit off, but I still felt it was a good thing. As for her question…


    ''Neron isn''t here. We''ll have to orchestrate a n without him present. Ah, also…''


    I brought Serah from my pocket dimension, and I swiftly briefed her by feeding her all the information using Magic.


    ''There''s no further time to spare!''


    It was dangerous to dawdle for much longer, all things considered. I didn''t know why the Cult Leader hadn''t summoned [The World] yet, but I hoped it was because he hadn''t fully limated to thebined power of the Arcanas in his grasp.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    If that was the case, we needed to strike in his moment of weakness.


    "Fools…" As soon as I was done with my ns, and we were all ready to move, the Cult Leader''s words echoed in my ears.


    He suddenly stretched his hands and in a whisper, mentioned something even I couldn''t quite understand.


    ''Is he going for a distraction? Stalling for time?'' I asked myself, deciding that my team should attack immediately before he could achieve his goal.


    However, just as I thought of this, and both sides were about to strike, a sudden pulse spread around us—originating from the Cult Leader. The wave of unknown power went as far as my senses could take me, and after the wave spread, everything around me felt a little odd.


    ''H-huh? What just happened?'' I asked myself, swiftly infusing myself with Aether, and—


    ''W-what?!'' My eyes widened as I realized something utterly devastating.


    "Wait, what…?"


    "What''s going on?"


    "How can this be?"


    "Why can''t we…"


    I heard the voices and whispers of my allies, and I understood their plight. After all, I was experiencing the same thing.


    ''We can''t use Magic!''


    The moment I tried to infuse my Aether into my body, or tried to generate a Spell, it just wouldn''t work. I was beyond confused—especially because I was using Aether!


    Just as I had these thoughts, I saw the Cult Leader smiling. Above his outstretched palm now stood something like a white orb. It was small, but it was ever-growing in size; however, that wasn''t the most spectacr thing about this orb.


    The Aether in it was massive!


    ''Damnit! Is he siphoning all the Aether we''re using onto his palm?!''


    My Aether came from my Arcana, not from within. That meant I had to infuse the energy before I could use it. Thus, anytime [Strength] was to send power through me, or I wanted to manifest its power, the Aether vanished—taken by the Cult Leader, no doubt.


    If things had taken this turn, I had to say goodbye to my initial n—especially to the use of Spellcraft. At this point, I had to give props to the Cult Leader.


    He was right.


    ''This is looking hopeless…''


    *


    *


    *


    [A/N]


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