Having crashed through all three hundred floors of the tower, I removed the tons of debris from atop me, freeing myself while rubbing my head. "Tsk, that fucking hurt." Standing up, I dusted myself off, only to look to my left, where I saw Jellal emerging from a similar pile of debris.
Clicking my tongue in annoyance at how he was still alive, I grabbed a piece of debris and threw it at him, causing it to collide with his head before bouncing off while he stumbled backwards. Lunging forward, I outstretched my hand, taking advantage of his state as I clutched his face before thrusting his body into the wall.
The force of the impact was so strong that the entire tower trembled, and Jellal coughed up blood; clearly, whatever injuries he'd suffered from the fall had only been further worsened. Unfortunately, unlike Jose Porla, he had the title of Wizard Saint for a reason; just as I grabbed his head, he had manifested a yellow sword of light before stabbing it into my stomach.
Grunting, I reached down, grabbing ahold of the sword of light and crushing it before tossing Jella, causing him to skip across the ground like a stone over water before he finally stopped himself on the other side of the tower while I dropped to one knee.
"Hehe, in the wild, a wounded beast is as good as dead, Cooper." Jellal's cruel, mocking voice resounded within the destroyed room, causing me to raise my head and glance at him while he wiped his bloody mouth, limping his way toward me. Seeing his confident expression, I scoffed before standing him and flexing my stomach, forcing me to suppress a grunt of pain, but now, I didn't have to worry about the bleeding.
"Whether it's wounded, old, exhausted, or simply starving." Stepping forward, I fiercely smiled, showing not an ounce of worry or fear, not as an act of bravado, but because I simply wouldn't lose. "A Dragon is still a Dragon." Jellal was briefly frozen before he erupted into maniacal laughter. "Hahaha! The audacity! It's hilarious, honestly."
Wiping his hand across his face, Jellal grinned like a madman before raising his head, staring up at the numerous cracked floors, while his expression was replaced with one of indifference. "The tower has suffered too much damage; even if I defeat you, the sacrificial ritual won't be able to succeed." "Hmph, that's a massive 'IF'." Scoffing, I lowered my stance, digging the nails of my feet into the ground while staring at Jellal.
Shifting his gaze to me, Jellal performed a few hand moves before outstretching his limbs, standing perfectly like the diagram of a human body. "Since my plan has failed, I'll destroy everything and start over." His voice contained no emotion as a small, black dot manifested above his head, only for it to suck in objects while rapidly expanding.
Losing my footing from the debris beneath me, being sucked into the rapidly expanding black hole, I quickly stabbed my nails into the ground, stopping myself from being sucked into the spell. As the moments passed, Jella's spell continued to grow in strength, reaching the point where it was even beginning to rip chunks out of the ground, forcing me to slowly climb, horizontally, to the wall of the tower, which was strong enough to resist the gravity. For now, at least.
'Tch, this isn't good.' Realizing time was now of the essence, I grabbed a flying debris and huked it at Jellal, but I should've known that wouldn't have worked as it simply curved into the blackhole, the gravity around it too strong. Clicking my tongue, I tried a few more times, but it was useless; no matter how hard I threw it, nothing would touch Jellal.
"Troubled, Cooper?" This time, his voice wasn't mocking or cruel; it was simply curious. "You know, while you're an incredibly troublesome opponent, you're not very threatening… You're a one-trick pony. You're powerful, but your power means nothing if you're unable to fight back." His voice, his tone, everything about the way he was speaking was thoroughly pissing me off, and it was because he was partly right.
"You think I don't know that you fucking bastard!? You think this is the first time my enemies have pointed that out?" Growling, I glared at Jellal, who seemed genuinely surprised at my response. "Hmm, now I really wonder how you were able to survive for so long." Honestly, I also had the same question; I should've died so many times, but in the end, I'd always emerge victorious and survive.
"However, you know the cool thing about one-trick ponies?" Jellal simply raised an eyebrow at my question, causing me to smirk as I let go of the wall, prompting me to fly towards the black hole. Passing by Jellal, I flashed him a large, massive grin before getting sucked into the blackhole, my vision turning into darkness while immense pressure slammed onto me from every direction.
Though even through the pressure, I channeled my magic power and continued to grin.
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Jellal's POV
My eyes couldn't help but widen when I saw Cooper willingly get sucked into my blackhole, and to make things even more confusing, his expression was one of absolute confidence, causing me to furrow my brows in concern. Even if I called Cooper a one-trick pony, he was still a powerful opponent, one that I didn't underestimate; though in the end, I shook my head.
'Whatever plan he has, it doesn't matter, now that he's inside the blackhole, he'll die.' It wasn't my arrogance speaking; I was simply confident in my strength and the power of this spell.
Exhaling a deep breath, I ignored Cooper, pushing his demise to the back of my mind as I continued to cast the spell, causing the walls of the tower to shudder as small chunks began to be ripped from it. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before I manage to absorb the entire tower; once the base collapses, the rest of the tower will collapse onto itself, making it much easier for me.
However, while the spell continued to expand, I sensed a faint fluctuation, causing me to furrow my brows as I raised my head, staring at the blackhole above me, only for the fluctuations to grow. 'D-Don't tell me… Cooper!?' Gritting my teeth, I wished to channel more magic into the black hole, but this spell required a delicate balance, so I wasn't able to do anything while the fluctuations continued to occur.
"Damn bastard!" The black hole began emitting a faint golden aura; then, as the seconds passed, it began to converge into two points on the other side of the black hole. The aura grew thicker, turning from mere light to jet streams of magic power that were spewing from within the blackhole.
I could vividly hear my teeth grind against each other from fury as I stared at my spell, which was beginning to destabilize; the two jet streams of magic power continued to expand, causing the black hole to start cracking, allowing golden light to shine from it.
Feeling my connection to it break, gritting my teeth, I cast Meteor and tried to gain as much distance, but I barely made it a few meters before the blackhole violently exploded; the wave of magic power hit me with terrifying force, breaking a few of my ribs as I slammed into the wall, creating a deep crater as I nearly smashed through it.
Although disoriented, I was still able to make out Cooper's bloody figure standing in the single piece of ground that hadn't been erupted previously, where I had been standing. As my senses came back, I pushed myself out of the wall, collapsing onto the ground before quickly standing back up while furiously eyeing Cooper, who faced me, his bloody grin nothing but a mocking expression to me.
"Why bother learn another trick if one is all it takes to stop you?" His mocking words filled me with fury as I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my own palms. "C-COOPER!" Knowing it must've taken everything he had to break out of the black, I cast one of my other strongest spells, Grand Chariot.
Above us, my magic power poured out of me and created seven stars of light, only for them to shoot down with immense power, enveloping Cooper in a powerful explosion of light. "Hahahah, die! Die. Die. Di-" Feeling a familiar hand clutch my face, I stared at Cooper with shaky eyes, watching as his smile deepened while he raised me.
"It was a fun fight." Before I could even mount a counterattack, Cooper released my face, only for his fist to slam into my face. As for what happened afterwards, I had no clue, as I lost consciousness.