Jean watched Reiko continue merging with the enormous mass surrounding him.
The matter was no longer gathering without purpose. It was taking shape.
Jean understood immediately.
If Reiko succeeded in completely creating that body, fighting him would become far more difficult.
I can take this time to charge my attack.
Jean steadied himself.
"Elemental Soul Magic: Five Forms. Ground, Water, Fire, Ice and Air."
Five different elemental forces gathered around him.
Normally, Jean could only use one elemental form at a time. But Partial Soul Release had pushed his abilities beyond their ordinary limits.
The five elements condensed around him, each merging with his Soul Power until they formed massive spheres of energy.
Jean released all of them at once.
They tore through the air toward Reiko.
Jean followed behind them, rushing forward with the support of his sword.
Reiko responded immediately.
An enormous surge of energy exploded from his forming body.
The elemental spheres collided with it.
Then disappeared.
Jean's eyes widened.
"No way."
Reiko's power continued expanding.
"Are you telling me Reiko's Atomic Mass Creation is almost as strong as my Partial Soul Release?"
Jean tightened his grip.
"Then I must kill you, Reiko."
Reiko's fused body finally completed itself.
It towered over the battlefield, nearly eighty meters tall and around fifty meters wide.
Then something else appeared.
A huge chain wrapped itself around Reiko's massive body.
"Perception," Reiko said.
The chain coiled around the fingers of his fused form.
It began glowing.
Perception was Reiko's ability to observe the future indirectly through another person.
He could not simply look into his own future.
Instead, he could observe another person's possible futures. If he remained connected to that person, he could see multiple possibilities involving them, including those where he himself was present, and decide his actions accordingly.
Jean understood the danger immediately.
If Reiko uses Perception, then this is going to become an even bigger problem.
Years had passed since the two of them had last truly faced one another.
Now both were using their strongest forms they possessed.
Neither intended to hold back.
Jean closed his eyes.
"Partial Soul Release. Summoning Technique: Summon."
For a moment, even Jean did not know what would answer him.
Every Soul Release summon was different.
I don't know what will be summoned. Everyone's Soul Release summon is different.
Jean waited.
I'm just hoping I get a flying one.
A deafening sound rolled across the battlefield.
Something enormous emerged.
Jean looked up.
A mysterious beast floated above him.
Its form resembled a dragon, but its body was different from any ordinary creature. It possessed a long airborne body and no visible legs, moving freely through the sky.
Jean stared at it for a moment.
Then smiled.
"Let's name you Leo... I think."
He gripped his sword and jumped onto Leo.
"Leo, shoot him with the most powerful attack you have."
Leo opened its mouth.
Energy gathered.
Reiko moved one hand forward.
Leo fired.
A massive beam of light tore toward Reiko.
Reiko raised his second hand and rotated it clockwise.
Space distorted in front of him.
The beam entered the distortion.
And vanished.
Jean noticed immediately.
"Leo, move!"
Leo changed direction.
Another distortion opened directly beneath it.
Leo escaped before it could be caught.
Jean watched Reiko carefully.
I cannot attack him like that.
They still had not found the Soul Stone.
Jean was already consuming enormous amounts of power.
My Partial Soul Release uses far more energy than Reiko's Atomic Mass Creation.
There was one advantage.
Reiko could no longer move normally while maintaining such an enormous form.
But Perception complicated everything.
Jean narrowed his eyes.
He cannot see everything about the future continuously in this state.
There had to be a limit.
A cooldown.
Jean tried to remember.
I forgot the exact time. It used to be five minutes.
His gaze hardened.
So now it should be less than that.
He needed to find that interval.
And strike during it.
Leo continued flying around Reiko while Jean observed.
Massive attacks followed them.
Leo avoided one.
Then another.
Reiko's fists tore through the air, each strike carrying enough force to destroy everything around them.
Jean remained focused.
One mistake would end the fight.
Then he saw his chance.
Reiko's movements changed.
Only slightly.
But Jean noticed.
I have just this opportunity.
His eyes remained fixed on Reiko.
If I fail to determine the timing, he'll understand what I'm trying to do.
Jean breathed slowly.
Three attacks.
I have to finish him in three attacks.
He raised his hand.
"Divine Soul Technique: Divine Arrow."
An enormous arrow of energy formed behind Jean.
Its presence distorted the air.
Jean increased his energy output.
A second Divine Arrow appeared.
Then a third.
Pain spread through Jean's body.
Partial Soul Release was already putting tremendous strain on him, and forcing out three Divine Arrows made that strain even worse.
Still, he did not stop.
"Strike."
The Divine Arrows launched.
Reiko barely reacted.
The first arrow expanded as it travelled, becoming so massive that it covered nearly all of Reiko's vision.
Reiko raised his hand.
"Atomic: Black Hole Cloud."
A black sphere appeared above his palm.
It was only around the size of a football.
The Divine Arrow struck it.
Despite the enormous difference in size, the arrow was dragged inward.
Its energy twisted.
Collapsed.
And disappeared.
Jean watched.
Reiko created another Black Hole Cloud in his other hand.
The second Divine Arrow came.
It too was absorbed.
Then the third reached him.
Reiko had no Black Hole Cloud ready.
The arrow crashed into his massive body.
Reiko endured the attack until he could form another Black Hole Cloud and consume the remaining energy.
His voice thundered across the battlefield.
"You cannot defeat me, Jean."
Jean did not answer him.
"Leo."
The beast responded immediately.
"Divine Cloud. Make it."
Leo flew higher into the sky.
Clouds began gathering.
Jean looked upward.
"Soul Air Magic: Haze."
The battlefield disappeared beneath a thick veil.
Reiko could no longer see clearly.
Jean watched him from above.
My second-last attack.
Reiko created another Black Hole Cloud.
Unable to see where Jean would attack from, he kept it ready, almost casually moving it around his hand.
Jean remained above him on Leo.
He could feel the strain throughout his entire body.
If only I had trained more.
If he had mastered Full Soul Release, he could have used far more of his soul's power.
But this isn't bad.
Jean prepared his next move.
A Divine Sword formed.
He sent it toward Reiko.
"Leo, go."
Leo rushed directly toward him.
Reiko sensed the incoming attack.
He increased the strength of the Black Hole Cloud.
The Divine Sword reached it.
But unlike the earlier attacks, it did not disappear immediately.
It pushed against the Black Hole Cloud.
Energy twisted violently between them.
Reiko strengthened the pull.
The Divine Sword slowly began getting dragged inward.
Jean watched.
This was what he wanted.
"Leo."
Jean looked at the flying beast beneath him.
"Turn into the sword."
Leo's body changed.
Its form collapsed inward, condensing rapidly until a weapon emerged in its place.
Soul Release had another ability.
The creature summoned through Soul Release could itself become a sword.
One of the strongest weapons available to the user.
Jean caught Leo's transformed form in midair.
"Leo..."
The sword expanded.
It became enormous.
Jean drove it forward.
The blade pierced directly through Reiko's massive body.
At the same moment, the Divine Sword was finally swallowed by the Black Hole Cloud.
Jean's attack had already landed.
"Leo, do it."
Something changed inside Reiko.
He looked at Jean.
Jean looked back at him.
Then Reiko's enormous fused body began to disintegrate.
Leo's power spread through him like poison.
Pieces of the Atomic Mass Creation broke apart.
Matter separated.
Energy collapsed.
Reiko's gigantic form started disappearing.
Jean remained in front of him.
"Reiko."
Reiko looked toward him.
"Is your motivation still the same?"
For a moment, Reiko said nothing.
Then his expression changed.
"Jean..."
His voice had lost the rage it carried through most of the battle.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
His body continued breaking apart.
"I lost her."
Reiko looked down at what remained of himself.
"And now I've lost myself."
He laughed faintly.
"I couldn't revive her."
His voice weakened.
"If only I could have gotten my hands on the Soul King's power..."
Jean remained silent.
"I would have completed my motive."
Reiko paused.
"But the Soul Prince..."
His expression tightened.
"He was too strong."
Jean's eyes changed.
"I lost to him."
Then Reiko smiled.
"Jean."
Jean froze.
"He is alive."
The battlefield suddenly felt silent.
"And he is waiting for you."
Jean stared at him.
"What?"
"The Soul Prince is alive."
Reiko's body continued disintegrating.
"I fought him."
His voice weakened further.
"The boy... he was still not resurrected."
Reiko breathed heavily.
"He chose a body as his vessel."
Jean could not speak.
Reiko laughed softly.
"It doesn't matter to me anymore."
His remaining form began fading faster.
"I wish you die soon."
Even now, there was bitterness in his voice.
"If only you had seen me... you could have done something in the past."
Jean stared at him.
"But you chose that boy."
Reiko's voice became faint.
"The one you sent to the Soul Prince."
A final smile crossed his face.
"And later, because of him... you lost your position too."
Almost nothing remained of Reiko now.
His body was scattering into the air.
Then his lips moved one final time.
"Sera..."
A breath.
"Sera..."
His eyes slowly lost focus.
"Sera..."
Those were Reiko's last words.
Then he disappeared.
Jean remained completely still.
The Soul Prince... is alive.
His Partial Soul Release began collapsing.
The enormous power around him vanished.
Jean returned to his ordinary Soul form.
His body immediately felt the consequences.
Blood ran from his nose.
His muscles refused to respond properly.
The aftereffects of Soul Release struck all at once.
"Soul Prince... is... alive..."
Jean's voice was barely audible.
"If I knew this..."
He struggled to remain standing.
"I wouldn't have fought Reiko and used Soul Release."
Then he sensed someone approaching.
James had felt Jean's presence.
He rushed toward the battlefield.
When he arrived, Jean was still standing, but he was no longer moving.
Blood ran down his face.
His body looked ready to collapse.
"Jean!"
James rushed toward him.
Not long after, Harry and the others returned as well.
Together, they carried Jean back toward their camp.
The battle was over.
Jean had won.