Lewis had a conflicting thought within him.

He had been burdened by it ever since he knew the truth about Legris and the kind of existence he was.

Of course, he had the resolve to stop him—no matter what.

However, he first wanted to talk.

To do his best to stop this madman from doing what he planned.

“One Scholar to another… please cease all of this.” Lewis asked, his expression as serious as possible as he gazed into Legris’ empty ones.

They were both within ORIGIN, and while no time or moment truly passed, it felt like they stared at each other for an eternity.

However, eventually… someone had to speak.

“I absorbed Aether earlier, so I know everything about you, Lewis.” Legris spoke.

His smile had vanished, and he had just as serious an expression as Lewis.

“I know you led a similar life to me. I know you see yourself in me, and you empathize with my position…”

Lewis’ eyes lit up the moment he heard those things.

He had feared that Legris could not be reasoned with, but this was a relief.

“If you do, then—!”

“But I do not feel the same when I look at you.” Legris concluded his words, interrupting Lewis in the process.

“W-what?!”

Lewis’ widened eyes displayed just how shocking it was to hear his interlocutor’s conclusion.

He should have expected this, yet hope had blinded him.

“When I look at you, I see weakness. You led a pretty pathetic life. If you had just chased after Magic, instead of letting yourself get distracted by momentary pleasures… perhaps you could have avoided a lot of your life’s misfortunes.”

Those words hit Lewis deep, but Legris was not done.

“Instead, you settled for the happiness you could gather, and the small power you could muster, and you decided that was enough for you. You remained pathetic and weak until the very end.”

Legris was now frowning. He was staring at Lewis with pure disgust.

“Unlike you, my hunger knew no limit. I did everything! EVERYTHING! All to get to this point!” A fiery rage burned within his eyes.

“I pushed aside all distractions. Sure, I was miserable for a moment, but look at the fruits of it.”

Lewis opened his mouth to speak, but words could not come out.

What exactly was he supposed to say to this man?

“Do you not remember our dream? Did you forget? Because I didn’t!” Gritting his teeth, Legris growled with every word he uttered.

“We made a promise! That we would dedicate ourselves to Magic! That we would understand all of it! That no one would know Magic more than us!”

It was clear that Legris was as passionate about the subject just as he had a burning hatred for the one who chose a different path.

“Do not compare me to you. We’re not the same at all.” Legris sneered.

“I continued down the path… and I still am. But you… you decided to throw it away for this… THIS?!” He pointed at Karlia, and flailed his arm around.

“All of this will fade away! Generations upon generations… up till infinity… will come after us. Once we are gone and forgotten, Magic will keep advancing. More will be unraveled, until even our current concept of reality is surpassed to an unimaginable degree.”

As Legris kept ranting, Lewis felt a slight pain within himself.

Everything Legris said tugged at him deep within his soul.

He had also had these thoughts.

“Are you not curious? Are you not hungry? Does it not drive you crazy that there is tons more Magic—infinitely bountiful—that you will never study or even know of?!”

Legris’ bulging eyes glowed as he spoke.

“Well, it drives me insane! I can not bear to live knowing that there is some method I am unaware of… or some means that I do not understand! It threatens to consume me from within!”

That was why he was doing all of this.

“I can’t stand it!”

“So what? You want to destroy all of it? Is that really the solution?!” Lewis yelled, finally finding his voice.

It wasn’t like he didn’t understand the implications of everything Legris was talking about. He had also thought of it countless times.

But it was truly impossible to know all the Magic.

“As time passes, life will evolve. We grow… we learn… it will happen forever and ever, until life ceases to exist.” Lewis said in his own form of passion.

“And as long as that is the case, there will always be Magic that exceeds the present. We will always have new knowledge that exceeds our current understanding. Life is progressive, and so is Magic. As long as existence remains, the possibility of a gap in our knowledge will always be the case.”

“EXACTLY! As long as that is the case, it will always be impossible to keep my dream.”

Lewis’ heart ached even more as he heard these things.

It felt like he was bleeding within.

“For you, this realization made you give up on that promise, but for me… it only strengthened my resolve to do what needs to be done.”

Legris grinned, stretching his hand outward as he opened his lips.

“I will obtain All Things, and I will possess all the knowledge and power that exists and will ever exist.”

However, that wasn’t all.

“And after that… I will end all of it!”

That was his goal.

“All Things is in constant flux because there will always be more. It is infinity pressing upon infinity. It never ends.” Legris explained.

In order to get rid of that paradox, only one path existed.

“I will eliminate the potential of more. The unknown variable of continuous existence… I will consume all of it.”

In the end, there would only be one.

“The one who possesses All Things.” Legris laughed in both madness and utter seriousness.

“ME!”

*

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A

/N

What do you think of Legris’ plan?

I mean, it’s a selfish move and all… but this is it.

What he wants…