Chapter 2213: Why should I move when the enemy is targeting you? "What? Am I wrong? What makes you think that you will be able to find and deal with the Anomaly even if you become the Absolute God? Are they not just empty words with no basis whatsoever?" Balance spoke up, not even the least bit intimidated by Darkness’s words. Sure, Darkness was strong—especially with the current state of things, with all the destruction caused by the Anomaly, all the fear and anxiety among the people because of the Universe’s constant anger fits. Darkness was indeed stronger than before and might be able to defeat him. But... Would that happen? No. That simply wasn’t possible. Even if Darkness was strong, the difference between them wouldn’t be that high. Their battle wouldn’t have a certain victor—and that was when things were thought simply and the other two Infinities were not added into the fray. Add them, and everything becomes far more complex—so complex that even though all of them have been alive since the beginning of time, none of them had managed to ’solve’ it, and thus had stayed in this... stalemate. Balance had no reason to fear Darkness. No one here had any reason to fear any other. "Empty words...?" Darkness raised his eyebrow at Balance’s words. "You think I would lose to an enemy who doesn’t even dare to show himself when I have the Absolute Power?" He asked, seemingly offended by those words. But Balance remained calm. "I am merely stating that there is no guarantee that you will win." "If I, even after achieving the Absolute Power, cannot win against the Anomaly, then allow me to be harsh and say this— Even with the state of things as they are right now, we wouldn’t win. If I, with Absolute Power, cannot win—then it would only mean one thing: The Anomaly is impossible to defeat." Darkness declared with confidence, but his confidence— "What an arrogant thing to say." —was soon countered by Light, who just couldn’t take this foolishness anymore. "Arrogant? I am only stating what is obvious." Darkness didn’t back down, and at some level, his words did make sense. If he actually does gain the Absolute Power and still loses against the Anomaly, it would mean that the Anomaly was strong enough to defeat Darkness at his strongest—at a level beyond what any of the Four Infinities, or even Zylarith, had reached. If someone like him lost, then the Anomaly... at a certain level, would become impossible to defeat. But... That wasn’t the main point of the discussion. "You are excessively arrogant and prideful. You move before you think, and that often leads to mistakes. You, Ul’Thakar Darkness, are not fit to hold the Absolute Power." Balance declared, and as he said those words, for some reason, the entire room trembled ever so slightly, as if... he had said something that shouldn’t have been said. Something that... might unleash something better left... leashed. And it happened— "Heh." Ul’Thakar laughed, his ’body,’ which was nothing more than Darkness gathered together, forming something with no certain shape or size, trembled, as if something was changing and then— "I am not fit...?" He began, his voice now much lower than before, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. "Then who do you think... is best suited for this power...?" Again, despite every ominous thing that was happening, Balance was an Infinity. He knew of Darkness’s antics, he knew about the fits he threw, and he had seen them billions of times. This one was no different than the others— It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Balance wasn’t the least bit affected by it. Instead, he answered the question Darkness did not want answered— "Someone who is calmer than you, someone who understands the importance of patience, someone who plans before making a move, someone who calculates and considers every possibility—be it positive or negative—before making a move, som—" "So someone like you." Darkness interrupted his words and asked directly, and Balance— "That would be ideal, yes." Balance nodded, and the next instant— "Pfffttt!" Darkness laughed. "HAHAHAHAHA!!" His empty, dry laughter echoed throughout the large room, his body flickering without stop. "You never fail to amuse me, Equarios Balance. To think you would make such circles, take such a long detour in order to say what you truly desire to say... It is so very like you." Darkness continued to laugh. From his tone, however, it was clear he wasn’t the least bit amused. And from his next words— It became even clearer. "But you really do think you are the best suited candidate, huh? I can see that you are not trying to be amusing." "I have no reason to joke around. I mean what I said." "I can see that." Darkness laughed as he nodded at the same time. "You are telling me that a being who cannot even directly say what he wants and talks in circles instead deserves to hold the Absolute Power?" The more Darkness spoke, the stronger the sarcasm and scorn in his voice became. "Stop confusing yourself, Equarios. You are not calculating, nor do you understand patience or plan every possibility. You are a coward. You are afraid to make a move, and you hide your fears behind your ’plans.’ Your plans are nothing more than excuses—that is all there is to you. Your very existence is that of a being who is too afraid to move. Even if someone like you does get the Absolute Power, you would only ruin it because even when you are Absolute—your cowardly nature will not change. You, Equarios Balance, will not move, let alone defeat the Anomaly." Darkness spoke, and surprisingly enough, the one who agreed with his words was— "That is correct." —Seraphielle Light. The Entity of Light looked at the Entity of Balance and— "Equarios, you live in your thoughts. You are not suited to hold the Absolute Power." Hearing those words, for a moment, Balance remained silent. He could see and understand their thoughts, especially Seraphielle’s, and this time, the one who laughed wasn’t Darkness, but Balance. "I live in my thoughts." He repeated Seraphielle’s words. "And since you obviously do not agree with Darkness’s words, then you must have another answer in your head, correct?" He asked, already knowing what the woman was going to say. "Of course." And Seraphielle nodded, just as Equarios expected. "And my answer will satisfy you." Seraphielle spoke, and Equarios— "Oh?" He let out a voice, acting surprised. "Do speak." He asked, and the Entity of Light began. "As you said, the one deserving of the Absolute Power couldn’t be someone as arrogant and easy to taunt as Ul’Thakar, since the Anomaly wouldn’t take long to sense his weakness, tempt him to make a mistake, and seal his fate. But at the same time—the Absolute Power couldn’t be given to someone excessively cautious as you. Then what’s the answer? The answer is something else, something different from your line of thoughts. It is not about power altogether; it is about the people. And people will only flourish when it is Light leading them. When the—" "Just stop this." Before Seraphielle could even complete her sentence, Darkness interrupted, his tone full of annoyance. "None of us have any desire to listen to your hollow words." He spoke, almost shooing Seraphielle away, and the other two Infinities agreed. They were all familiar with Light’s antics. They had all heard her words about how Light should be spread and followed throughout the Universe to the point they were sick of it— And they had no intention of hearing them again, especially when they knew Seraphielle’s true nature. Honestly, the three found Seraphielle repulsive. At the very least, all three of them were true to their nature—Balance craved balance, Eternity craved knowledge, and Darkness craved death and destruction. But Light— While she talked about spreading light, spreading kindness, gentleness, and ’good’ throughout the Universe, in truth, she couldn’t care less about it. Seraphielle Light did not crave Light, purity, goodness, or such things—she only craved power. And the other Infinities knew it well. "Someone like you shouldn’t even be speaking right now when you have already failed so spectacularly once." Darkness snorted. "How do you guarantee that you won’t fail again even when you are given Absolute Power?" "You..." And this time, Seraphielle lost her calm and reacted to Darkness’s words. After all, she was being denied the power she craved just because of that minor miscalculation. "If you were so confident, why didn’t you move instead? Your true body is still sleeping, isn’t it? Why don’t you wake up and challenge the Anomaly like I did? You talk about bravery and how strong you are, but how come you are still hiding in this little space when the enemy is already out there?" The Entity of Light snapped, but Darkness—he just laughed— "Why should I move when the enemy is targeting you?" And he mistakenly said the words that should not have been said.