"Are there aberrations among the generals? What do you mean?" Lalá didn't respond immediately. She wandered around the room, staring at the liberated virtues, then began:

"Do you know how Lily created you? How is she able to do that?"

"No. I don't even remember her well."

"Well, one of Lily's abilities is soul manipulation; she can take a soul and distort it. However, there are rules. Like the soul must be voluntary, whether for good or bad. If the soul's owner considers Lily their hope, it's the same as donating it to her."

"I knew we had surrendered to her before we died; I just didn't know that's why she could create us. But what does that have to do with what you said earlier? You seemed to imply we have a chance to win..."

"Well, another rule is that Lily can't do whatever she imagines with the souls. They're still too powerful. She can only alter them as far as they allow themselves to be altered. That's why the powers are a reflection of something the person felt, desired, or saw. The limit of what Lily can do with each soul is given by each soul. But this also means that the greater the soul's burden, the more power it carries. Excluding me and Ângela, Lily created 18 generals, most of them carrying a lot. But among them, six had naturally stubborn souls, and this influenced the power they had to the point where even Lily was surprised. Can you guess who they are?"

"No... Wait..." Fernanda paused to think about all the ones she had met, analyzing which ones seemed the most powerful based on her experience with them. "Uomen, Gaya, and Narf are part of them?"

"Exactly. As well as Ordep, Orf, and you."

"M-Me? Are you saying I'm strong?"

"Fernanda, have you ever stopped to think about your powers? You are the strongest of the generals created by Lily." The bespectacled girl just stared at Lalá, speechless. She didn't consider herself weak anymore, but being the strongest? She couldn't see herself that way, after all... she had always been weak. Her whole life, she was trampled by others, never having the power to change anything... the idea of her being strong simply didn't sit well with her.

"And these humans won't be able to defeat the six of us?"

"If they do, I would be astonished. They would need to have a power comparable to Lily's in some way." Hearing these words, Fernanda relaxed for a moment but then remembered that there were still six others among the generals. That meant Misshapp, Tiffany, Chin, Octo, and Lord V'huluver were in danger. And what about Lalá? She wasn't created by Lily; is she on the same level as them? It wasn't time to relax yet; the others might be in danger. "Fernanda, before you do whatever you're thinking of doing, why not cry a little?"

"Cry?" Lalá pointed to the violet sphere on one of the tables, the sphere that Nightmare had destroyed but now stood there like a tombstone. She silently approached the object and, with all the care she knew how to give, hugged it while crying.

Meanwhile...

Lysa, John, Stuart, and James remained paralyzed and kneeling; no matter how much strength they tried to muster, it wouldn't come. Their muscles were like bamboo, trembling as they confronted the wind coming from the breathing of the man sitting on the throne.

"What's happening? My body... doesn't want to move." Stuart said, trying to straighten up and failing miserably. He still hadn't recovered from the effects of the previous poison, so he was weaker than the others. The ghosts could help him if they weren't also petrified.

"Hey, hey. What the hell is this?" Carlos commented. "Why are we being affected too?"

"What kind of power does this man have?" Cyntia asked before Lindsay responded.

"It's not a power. It's us... our instincts are trying to keep us from facing this man."

Lysa couldn't hear the ghosts, but she had already noticed this, or rather, she was seeing it. The colors representing their instincts were materialized as weights and chains; she and all her friends had them around themselves.

"So? How long will you remain kneeling?" The man finally asked. "Know that as long as you stay on the ground, you'll never reach the top. A one-on-one fight against me is hardly a fight, but maybe you can make me sweat?"

"One-on-one?" John said, facing the arrogance of the being above him. He then turned and began: "Can't you count? There are four of us here." The general sighed in extreme disappointment, so frustrated and disappointed was he to hear that.

"You're right, I made a mistake. I had considered that a child, an old man, and a wounded person wouldn't be a real challenge, so I only included you, man. But obviously, I was wrong..." Uomen rested his head on one of his fists in a bored expression. "... The mere fact that you dared to suggest that the four of you had a chance is proof that even you are not a decent opponent. After all, you're nothing more than an retard."

"Wow..." James exclaimed, giving a brief incredulous laugh at the man's attitude. "... You have a real problematic mouth, you know that, young man? Lysa, from what you did with Stuart, I assume you have a power too, right?"

"Y-Yes..." The girl replied, a little scared, slowly regaining control of her body, even though it was still trembling.

"Is it just support powers? Or do you know how to attack too?"

"I-I don't know well how to use it yet, but I can fight. I've already defeated one of them on my own."

"The same can be said about me." The archer affirmed before turning to his friend. "Stuart, you were floating before, you also have something, right?"

"Yes. But I don't think there's time to explain now. Not in front of the enemy, and I doubt this man will let us retreat to gather information."

"At least we don't have to worry about someone falling too far behind." The elder reassured without taking his eyes off the emperor. "Listen, you three, I don't know about the fights you've been through, but I have the impression that my opponent was nothing compared to this man. Be careful."

"So are we finally going to start?" The arrogant man whispered as he adjusted himself in his seat. In a test attack to gauge the enemy's abilities, James created a barrier and launched it at the emperor. There wasn't much strategy behind it; he just wanted to see how the man would react.

As he thought, the man didn't bother to move. He remained still as the attack came with full force, with no apparent concern. The green, transparent barrier crashed with all its strength, raising a cloud of dust. What did it crash into? A similar pink transparent barrier appeared between the attack and the attacked. The fact worth noting here is that while James's barrier crashed and bounced back a bit, the pink barrier didn't even tremble with the collision.

"A barrier?" James exclaimed, fearing the implications of that; they were not good at all. "Don't tell me he copies?"

"Is that all?" With great disdain, the general stood up and began to walk. The pink barrier folded into a dome around Uomen, accompanying his march with all the grandeur he had. He was closing the distance between himself and his opponents. Lysa and James were the ones closest to the enemy, and the girl was tearing up in fear as her body trembled. She didn't know what to do now, while James found the man's complete lack of guard strange.

What was he going to do? Attack the two of them? Attack her or him? Why did he get up from the throne? The man was sure that the general would remain on the throne as an act of arrogance. But so casually, he simply walked. The two of them sweated, uncertain of what the enemy's action would be.

But they feared in vain because he did nothing; he just walked past them. The pair remained static, incredulous at what had just happened. Their minds couldn't comprehend the reason for such an action. People have different personalities, which means their attitudes and reactions to something also change. For example, while James was just confused, Lysa was confused... and humiliated.

He had walked past her as if she were nothing. Was it really because she was a child? Was she that insignificant to him? No, no, no. She had managed to fight one of them; she could prove him wrong. The girl screamed, enraged and embarrassed. Her golden dome formed around her and began molding into her enormous statue. It was so big that it didn't fit inside the palace, causing a collapse. The rubble flew outward, which didn't pose any danger to those inside. But each one had to move a little to protect themselves from the demolition.

But Uomen continued walking, showing no apparent interest. The child's shame intensified, and she tried to stomp the arrogant man, but the barrier didn't even move. I mean, it moved as it followed him, but it didn't feel the impact of the little girl's attack.

Finally, they understood where Uomen was walking. The emperor's march was toward the archer, the only threat there in the monarch's eyes. John was preparing his bow to begin his fight. Stuart, seeing this, also prepared to attack. Lindsay came to his ear:

"Stuart, listen, if that guy can really copy powers, there's a good chance he needs to see us using them to do it. Use Cyntia's invisibility to sneak into the dome and attack him by surprise." The man agreed with the plan internally and prepared to fire, but the general stopped, sighed, and directed his gaze at the widow.

"Woman, let illusions deal with illusions. Stay out of the affairs of the living." The others didn't understand what he meant, but Stuart and his ghosts shivered.

"Can this man see and hear us?" Carlos asked, hiding behind Cyntia, who was hiding behind Lindsay. Being ghosts, they had no blood or any substance within them, making the chills and cold blood they felt from the general's gaze even more terrifying.

"Damn it, CYNTIA, QUICK." The trio's leader yelled. The quietest one just nodded, tried to move to possess Stuart, but they still didn't understand. None of them understood.

James with all his experience, Lysa with all her instincts screaming, Stuart with his knowledge and the advice of three more heads. And yet, none of them understood that it was in vain. Against the peak of humanity, every action is futile. There is no counter, no strength, no speed, no dexterity. For even the great 1,000 is nothing compared to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

"Tsc" muttered the emperor. "Get these ants away from here... Ângela."

At his command, a shadow passed and flew with full force, pushing Cyntia away before she could even touch Stuart. The winged figure spun, slashing all four of them, ghosts and the living, with its large wings.

"STUART!" James shouted, in his perception, the wound had appeared out of nowhere. Lysa, frightened, continued to try to attack the general, but the barrier protected him completely. Impatient, the man made a move, and a giant pink hand, similar to the hands Lysa produced from her statue, emerged with full force against the girl's statue. A slap in the stomach was enough to shatter the astral projection and send Lysa flying to the ground. She would have landed headfirst if James hadn't caught her.

"Who are you?" Stuart asked the angel as soon as he managed to catch his breath.

"MY GOD, SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!" Carlos exclaimed as hearts formed in his eyes, apparently ignoring the attack he had just received. Being ghosts, they didn't bleed, the wounds they received hurt but healed. Ângela simply reacted with a dramatically disgusted expression, something that made Carlos embarrassed and ashamed.

"More ugly ones, why am I not surprised? By the way, Uomen, you don't command me."

"And yet, you obey," he retorted as he resumed walking.

"She managed to attack us..." Cyntia thought.  "... Is she a ghost too?"

"It's the only possibility," Lindsay continued. "This man seems to be able to copy our powers, but there doesn't seem to be a rule for how he copies them, he just... does. But if it's the same power, then they're also bound by the same rules, which means if she hurt Stuart, we can hurt him too."

"Ugh... But I doubt that woman will let us do that..." Stuart murmured in pain as he felt his wounds burn, a massive thirst and exhaustion overwhelming him."... we won't be able to kill her... let's follow the same strategy she used."

"The same strategy?" The three asked simultaneously.

"Don't let her possess him; we don't know what kinds of power that will grant him."*

"You don't need to worry about that," the angel commented, flapping her wings out of habit. "That guy won't need me to possess him or anything like that. The reason he called me is that he has already deduced that he won't be able to kill the ghosts, and he doesn't want to waste time trying to kill the wounded hammer-wielder. This was just the simplest and most practical solution. He has a target; his eyes recognize only one enemy. So don't go thinking you've come up with some brilliant strategy; no matter what you think, Uomen won't fall."

"Aha...Ahaha...Ahahahaha..." Stuart began to laugh, having to stop midway to cough a bit, but even with a dry throat, he couldn't help but laugh some more.

"What's so funny exactly?" The angel asked, offended by the man's mockery. Everyone present, except Uomen and John, looked at him strangely for his laughter. James had never seen him laugh in his life. The older man ran to help Stuart stand up due to his injuries.

"Stuart, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you. James, stay with Lysa over there. I have an enemy only I can see. Listen here, whoever you are, Uomen doesn't fall no matter what we think? You really don't know who that archer is, do you?"

"No... I don't. Who is he?"

"That man... is the most insanely intelligent human being I've ever met in my life. I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you."

Uomen finally marched to a decent distance from the archer, who was waiting with a slight cynical smile on his face.

"Your friend speaks highly of you," the general commented from within his dome.

"Yeah, I heard. But I'm going to have to disappoint him a bit. I've examined everything you do and everything that's happened here in this place. Even so, I can't see us defeating you. I mean, I'm sure none of the small strategies I've devised would work against Your Majesty."

"Why don't you try?" The emperor challenged, staring at the archer. "It would be humiliating if you lost without even trying one."

"Hm... true..." The archer responded, still deep in thought. He wasn't a fool; he had already understood the general's objective well. He wanted John to use his power to copy him. Whether it was out of greed, curiosity, or necessity, he had no idea. But John understood that to win, he needed to take risks, so why not start with a tactic doomed to fail? "You see, my ability is to create infinite arrows with this bow." The man prepared his attack, and a regular arrow appeared in the weapon's notch. John fired it at the dome, and, obviously, nothing happened. It was just a normal arrow. "As you can see, my power is the arrow, not the bow. But I need the bow to create the arrow; it doesn't appear out of nowhere, so I guess that means you can't copy this power, right?"

Uomen watched him for a moment, processing everything the archer had said, and maintained the same indifferent expression as he spoke:

"Lies," the emperor declared. "You just tried to deceive me three times in a single moment." The archer began to sweat cold, as he expected, the man wouldn't fall for such a trick. "First, you don't create arrows with THE bow, but with A bow. The way you phrased it suggests that the one in your hands is the only bow your power would work with, but no, your power works as long as you have a bow. Second, the power isn't yours; it's mine too." The general snapped his fingers, and the dome around him began to shape and transform into a bow.

"N-No way..." James said in disbelief. The man had lived with his power for seven years, and the most he could do was alter the power's size. Even after training, he had never managed to shape the barrier to his will. With the perfect pose of an archer, Uomen pulled his pink barrier bow.

"Third, you tried to make me think you only summon arrows and nothing more, but in reality, the arrows you summon are limited only by your imagination, right? They are arrows, but special..." With that, a light appeared on Uomen's bow, and an ice projectile formed within it. The general fired, and John, in defense, shot a fire arrow in return. The two collided, creating a large curtain of steam. The archer could have seen well with his Eagle Eyes if the gas hadn't irritated them. "Were you their hope? How foolish, let me tell you something, archer. For having thought you could deceive me with such a blatant lie. Indeed, you are quite arrogant."

Before anyone could realize, another arrow had been shot, piercing the archer's abdomen. The shot struck his stomach squarely, this time the arrow was filled with iron spikes along the shaft. Not only did the piercing hurt, but all the spikes continued to tear at the skin as they entered, making it so that even if he tried to pull it out, he would only end up stabbing his own fingers.

The man fell to the ground on his side, seemingly unconscious, but the general knew he was still conscious. The reason he threw himself to the ground was to avoid moving too much and worsening his condition while trying to think about what was happening.

"Well, in any case, he won't be able to do much. Now, as for the rest of you..." he declared, turning to James and Lysa, who remained stunned. Stuart was still engaged in his fight with the ghost of Angela. No matter how much they tried, she simply wouldn't allow them to possess him, and she continued attacking and slashing him with her wings. It seemed she didn't have ghostly powers like Cynthia and Carlos, but simply her physical strength and combat skills were enough to keep them occupied. "...I have no patience to fight with trash."

As he wished, a pink statue similar to Lysa's golden ones formed in front of him. It wasn't an astral projection in which he stood in the center like the girl did; he created a completely separate version of himself. Smaller than the girl's statue, but with James's barriers forming a giant bow in its hands.

The large monster shot an arrow of electricity, against which James raised a barrier and successfully defended.

"That was close..." said Lysa, as the older man stood protectively in front of her.

"Don't worry, Lysa. As long as my barrier is here, he won't be able to break it..."

"A true statement..." declared the emperor as he continued to march. "...your barrier is indeed indestructible. But I don't need to break it, just hurt you. After so many years of experience, you still don't understand that?"

Again, the warrior drew the bowstring, but this time nothing appeared when he released the attack, and in a matter of moments, an arrow appeared inside the dome, between James and Lysa, exploding and throwing them both against the walls of the barrier. Both fell, and the barrier disintegrated. As Uomen continued to march toward the two fallen, Stuart remained engaged in his ghostly battle.

No matter how much the four of them teamed up or what formation they used, Angela was extremely fast and agile. None of them could overpower her in hand-to-hand combat. The ghosts didn't tire or get hurt, which made the battle between them eternal... but Stuart did tire, and he was severely injured, including his throat damaged from coughing and his already weakened state, now also covered in cuts from the angel's wings.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS WOMAN ANYMORE! WHO CARES IF SHE'S CRAZYLY BEAUTIFUL?" yelled Carlos, drowning in frustration from not being able to do anything. Cynthia mentally shot daggers at him with her eyes, silently ordering him to stop talking.

"She doesn't stop..." complained Lindsay. "She doesn't even give an opening in combat. Stuart can't hold on much longer..."

"Why are you looking at me so ugly?" asked Angela. "What am I saying? The ugly remain ugly no matter what happens, and the same goes for the beautiful like me. Each with their own burden, I suppose..."

"How is being beautiful a burden?" asked Carlos carelessly, which only made the angel frown.

"By asking me that, you just prove that you're ugly."

Lysa, feeling the approach of the most terrible enemy she had ever known, got up, with James still lying beside her.

"What will you do? Child..." The comment sounded more like a mockery to Lysa. Oh, little girl, don't you understand yet? He's not mocking you; he never mocks anyone. He doesn't care about you enough to mock. He speaks that way because it's the way he speaks. He calls you a child because you are a child. There's no point in trying to debate or confront him; he doesn't lie.

"GET OUT!" shouted the girl, irritated, scared, embarrassed, and frustrated, just wanting to expel that being once and for all. Uomen then, guided by his instincts, a power copied from Lysa but that in his hands was almost a clairvoyance of seconds, closed his eyes when the girl shone, emitting a light so strong, the same light that had disintegrated and defeated Rhoj. But this light did nothing to Uomen or anyone else. "But... no..."

"Three powers? Wasted on a child who only uses them in desperation. Foolish girl, trying to force herself to fight and invoke them. When will you understand that your abilities are celestial in nature? Therefore, to use them to their fullest potential, you need to let yourself be carried by the moment with calm." Even with his eyes closed, he didn't stop marching, continuing to move forward without any fear. "This light of yours annihilates any corrupted soul that looks at it. However, they need to look. Something so powerful, yet so simple to solve."

Lysa made hands from her statue emerge and advance against the emperor, but Uomen created another pink statue, this time smaller, with the barriers forming a shield in its hands, which allowed him to defend against Lysa's attack.

"Two...? N-No... I'm exhausted..." cried the girl as her light faded and she let herself fall to the ground again. The emperor's eyes slowly opened, with absolute indifference toward the girl. "...I won't be able to defeat him..." Terrified, Lysa began to float and fly away, aiming to escape from there.

"Another power?" the general murmured to himself. But the girl's attempt to flee was in vain, as more pink statues were created in the sky, and like the girl, they also flew. It only took one punch from one of them to send the girl crashing to the ground. "You are a... specimen with great potential, but you throw it all away in a shameful and ridiculous manner."

The child cried, from pain, from shame, from anger, from weakness, from sadness, from disappointment, from fear, from despair. She cried because there was nothing left for her but to cry. And death came marching toward the child and the old man, ready to declare the end.

Uomen's instincts then showed him the future event, and the general dodged a surprise attack. It would have been an impossible attack to dodge because Stuart had appeared out of nowhere, but the emperor's similar clairvoyance protected him. Without any sudden movements, just with simple steps, he dodged the blow the man aimed at his head.

"I haven't forgotten about you, illusionist."

"Damn..." was all Stuart could say before returning to his invisibility. Finally, he managed to merge with Cynthia, for some reason, Angela had disappeared out of nowhere. They were confused for a moment, but Lindsay took advantage of this chance to make them attack. The man was exhausted, so he kept attacking and attacking, disappearing, reappearing, and vanishing again. But Uomen predicted every attack. The instincts warned him, and he knew exactly how the attack would come, and with nearly no effort, he dodged.

"Ow!" cried Lysa from her corner. Apparently, something had cut her arm. The girl searched for what had attacked her and saw only an arrow shot into the wall, and the one who shot it was... "John? Why?"

Indeed, the man had shot her, grazing her, but his attention was focused on Uomen and Stuart's fight. He had managed to pull the spiked arrow out of himself, but the damage was significant to his body, especially for his frail body. He took three times more damage than anyone else from any attack, so a wound like that was already too much.

"It doesn't matter if he's stronger than us; if we play our cards right, we can win..." the archer thought aloud to distract himself from the pain and focus on what mattered, acting as if he hadn't just shot Lysa.

Uomen then did the unthinkable to defend against Stuart's attacks; he transformed his own body into a pink barrier. No longer needing to dodge, he had made his entire body indestructible.

"Damn it..." the man muttered as he turned invisible again. "... What do I do now?"

"STUART, COME HERE!" John shouted to his friend. "Quickly."

Stuart didn't wait to see and went to the archer. The general threatened to run to the man as well, but another green barrier blocked his path.

"Hey kid, don't get distracted like that. I'm still here."

"I see." James compressed his barriers into spheres and threw them with full force against the general, but even the green barriers did nothing to the pink ones. Uomen remained impenetrable. "I'm getting irritated."

The smaller statues advanced with weapons made of barriers in their hands. James began to face them all, buying time for Stuart and John's conversation.

"Speak up, it's good you have a plan, otherwise, I'm out of here." Stuart confessed, showing obvious fatigue.

"Listen, you can talk to the dead; that's your power, right?"

"How do you...?"

"You're talking to invisible people, not to mention I... figured your power would be something like that. Anyway, I'm guessing it's Lindsay and Cyntia, right?"

"Carlos is here too."

"Perfect, even better. Tell me, can you resurrect them?"

"Resurrect them? No, I can't do that. Why?"

"Tch, I do have a single plan, but its entire basis relied on that idea. Besides that, I don't know of any way we can win."

"Stuart, you can indeed resurrect us." Lindsay told her widower. He looked at her surprised, but before he could say anything, she continued. "But it's not what you're thinking; you won't resurrect our dead bodies. You can turn our ghosts into physical bodies for 10 minutes, but if you do that, you won't be able to interact with those you resurrected for 24 hours. I didn't say anything because I didn't think it would be useful to you; it's a very short time."

"You should have told me that earlier, but okay." The man relayed what he heard to the archer, who sighed in relief.

"Resurrect Cyntia and Carlos."

"Not Lindsay?"

"She won't be useful for what I'm planning, besides, I know you wouldn't handle being without her for 24 hours. But do it now, James can't hold him off much longer." A fact. James was very injured, a cut on his forehead was bleeding and didn't seem to stop, covering one of his eyes. His barriers protected him from many attacks but not from the arrows the largest statues were firing.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"It's easy, Stuart." Lindsay began to explain. "You just need to concentrate on what you want, say their names, and command them to appear." Listening to his beloved's instructions, Stuart placed the hammer on the ground as if trying to gather strength, a transparent aura began to surround his body, and then:

"Cyntia, Carlos, APPEAR!" At his command, the aura moved and hit the ghosts of the two, emitting a very strong light, and before anyone could react, the duo appeared in front of their summoner, each holding their respective weapon. James and Lysa were very confused, seeing those who had once died appear intact in front of them.

"C-Carlos?" the child murmured tearfully. The swordsman looked at her, smiled, and gave a big thumbs up.

"HEY LITTLE ONE? You've grown, huh?" The swordsman joked. Before he died, he spent his days with the children, training and playing with them, which made them all fond of him. "But we don't have time to chat now. OH HORNED ONE! Leave the old man alone; we'll be your opponents now. Right, Cyntia?"

"We're probably going to die again..." the woman murmured disheartened, making the man panic comically.

"H-Hey, don't say that. We're the secret weapon no one expected, coming out of nowhere. That means we have plot armor."

"This isn't a story, you idiot." As usual, the emperor scoffed, ordering them to be quiet, and they instinctively obeyed.

"What a desperate move, illusionist. Do you think two clowns will make a difference against me? That's a bad joke."

"Oh..." Carlos raised his finger and opened his mouth to contest, incredulous at what he heard. The words didn't come out, and, in a silly way, he alternated between looking at Uomen and Cyntia, unable to speak. "This... this... this idiot called us clowns?"

"You are one." the woman answered without hesitation or excitement.

"I KNOW, BUT SAYING IT TO MY FACE HURTS! Now it's war. Cyntia, let's tear this imbecile's head off." Carlos duplicated his sword, having one in each hand, while the woman went invisible. In response, Uomen stopped being a barrier, and all his statues began to disappear. With his pose intact, the emperor lifted his head and opened his arms in a glorious way,

"If you cut a single hair of mine, I'll congratulate you with a clap."

"YOU PIECE OF TRASH PLAYBOY!" the dual-wielding swordsman shouted angrily as he advanced. "I'm going to smash your face into the ground."

But no matter how much he wielded his swords, how much he duplicated his agility, his strength, even the edge of the blade, no damage reached Uomen. The man was also an expert in physical combat, being an excellent martial artist, and he maintained a victorious pose. For every strike Carlos missed, Uomen landed three attacks, from punches, knee strikes, kicks, sometimes even slaps.

"I'm not done yet." Carlos duplicated one of his swords again; what would he do with the third one? Put it in his mouth? No, that's ridiculous. Carlos simply increased his speed and reflexes to the point of constantly juggling one blade in the air and catching the other. For anyone else, it would be a stupid action to fight like this, but Carlos had trained so much that it was like he was fighting with three different arms.

Even so, it didn't help; his swords were still miles away from hitting Uomen. Then the general stopped Carlos from attacking. How did he do that? He locked all his swords. How did he do that? He held each one manually. How did he do that? Using the power he copied from Carlos, Uomen created a third arm to hold the third sword.

Something Carlos had never managed to do, duplicate his own body, even after so much training.

"You... are impossible... are you even real? How did you manage to do this so easily?"

"It's simple." The emperor declared. He kicked Carlos with a foot that came out of his stomach, sending him backward and making him drop his swords. Uomen's extra leg and arm moved on his body, until a complete copy of the man emerged, and from that copy, another, and another, and another, each with two swords. "Because unlike you, I am competent."

Each of the copies threw a sword at Carlos, and midway each sword duplicated 7 times, creating a cloud of blades flying toward the duplicator. If James hadn't used all his strength to create a gigantic barrier that defended against all the attacks, Carlos would have died again. But even saved, the man fell to the ground with shaky legs.

"This guy is a monster. It's really impossible to defeat him head-on..." Then the man had a moment of realization. Cyntia was also there, she was skilled at attacking quietly, her power was extremely hard to be hit... that's it! If she could surprise him, they might—

Something exploded on the ground beside him... Exploded? No, it only sounded like an explosion, seemed like an explosion. The truth is that something had flown and collided with the ground with such force that it seemed to have exploded...

Slowly he turned his gaze and saw Cyntia, bloodied and knocked out on the ground. He was about to ask how. What an idiot. How? Look at who they're facing, and you'll see the "How?"

In front of him, another copy of Uomen appeared, but it came out of nowhere because it was in nothing.

"What a foolish woman..." the emperor declared. "She genuinely believed her power was invisibility. Anyone with a tenth of a mind would realize her power was spatial manipulation. She doesn't become invisible; she goes to another dimension. I simply followed her there and expelled her."

Carlos was sweating cold, unable to breathe from sheer fear. They were trying to defeat the invincible, kill the immortal, destroy the indestructible. Trying to reach the sky with a paper tower. It was like nothing trying to bring down a mountain.

Uomen extended his hand to grab the man's neck, when your finger's were really close, both Carlos and Cyntia disappeared, the time had passed.

The swords and clones of Uomen also disappeared, and he allowed the four present to face him. John had run to James and Lysa during all the confusion, while Stuart tried to sneak up behind the man. A child with tears in her eyes, scared and wounded. An old man in no better state. An illusionist, now with much of his power deactivated, tired and faltering. And... the archer, the physically frail one, with a decent wound on his body... and a smile on his face. He then dared to say:

"Finally, it's checkmate."

"Checkmate?"

"Let me explain to you... why you lost, arrogant emperor."

Leave it to me, folks, I'll summarize John's explanation for you.

First, how the emperor's power works. Uomen is able to copy any ability used within a 50-meter radius of him. He doesn't need to see or be aware that the power is being used; if you use an ability near him, he will immediately copy it. And that's not all; he doesn't just copy, he understands the power. All the rules of the ability appear in his mind, so it's not like you could surprise him by using a rule he didn't know. He knows the power as if it were his own.

It would end there if Uomen weren't who he is; being such a genius and exceptional man, he is also capable of using the knowledge of the ability to do things the original user never thought of or could achieve. His ability was perfectly understood by John, both through observation and the general's chatter. But not only that, the archer also noticed the weaknesses of this power.

The pieces started to come together when Uomen seemed to see the ghosts that Stuart saw; this means he copied without seeing or knowing, just being present. But ignoring invisible powers, Uomen only used visible powers after the original user used them. It wasn't 100% certainty, but this fact leaned more towards the idea that he could only copy if the person used the power, rather than just being present.

Following this logic and the subsequent events, John concluded that Uomen copied the powers in this order: Ghosts > Lysa's Instincts > Barrier > Statue > Archer > Light. It was obvious that he had the instincts because he closed his eyes BEFORE Lysa used her light and dodged Stuart's surprise attacks as if it were nothing.

Another thing the archer noticed was that Uomen was not able to copy the power of the dead. When he saw Stuart becoming invisible, he immediately thought of Cyntia, but Uomen only used the power when Cyntia was alive, not when Stuart used it.

All these were pieces to the man's mind, but the main point comes now. Uomen has a limit to the number of powers he can copy; more specifically, he can only learn up to 6 powers. To remember another, one must be forgotten, and he is not able to reuse it.

So going back to the list: Ghosts > Lysa's Instincts > Barrier > Statue > Archer > Light... then Lysa used her flying power, which immediately blocked the ghost power, explaining why what seemed to hold Stuart suddenly disappeared. But the archer wanted to be sure, so he shot a poisonous arrow at Lysa, remember that scene of "Ouch"? She's immune, so don't worry, but with this, Uomen learned the power of immunity and immediately forgot the instincts. That's why he stopped dodging and turned his body into a barrier.

Then came the idea of resurrecting the dead; if Cyntia and Carlos used their power, Uomen would forget the powers of barriers and Statues, and as soon as the dead returned to being dead, he would unlearn their powers as well. In other words, at this very moment, Uomen has only four powers: Archer (but without a bow) > Light (which apparently he can't use as it would kill him) > Flying > Immunity.

He no longer has fighting powers. Checkmate.

The general listened to the entire explanation in silence, and his expression... did not change.

"You are by far..." he began to speak. "The most arrogant man I have ever met in my life."

"Have you ever heard yourself speak?" the archer asked, concerned about the emperor's indifference.

"I am arrogant too. But the difference is that your arrogance is a lie, an illusion; you think you are something you are not. My arrogance is a fact decreed in history. I am what I say I am. Do you know why I didn't worry about the possibility of you raising the dead even knowing my weaknesses?"

"I think I have an idea..."

"Exactly, because I don't care. Let me tell you something before you start celebrating by singing your victory to all the nations. I could have the power to turn into a butterfly, facing 100 of you, and it would still not be a fight. Get off your pedestals and understand once and for all..." The emperor then began to fly, all his enemies with a bad premonition. "...You are not heroes fighting to save the world. You are pigs fighting to survive."

And with that, a cloud of poisonous gas was ejected from the general's skin. The group was caught by surprise, wondering, "What power was that?"

Well, the power of immunity. This power doesn't erase the poison but ejects it out, usually in a broken and rapid manner to avoid poisoning. But Uomen knows how to use the power in a way that ejects the poison toxically. "What poison?" you ask? The human body is full of things that are poisons; pure oxygen is a poison, any substance can be poisonous, and Uomen knows which substances in our bodies are.

James prepared to create a barrier when his body froze, everyone froze. They began to fly. Think about Lysa's flying power: She has no wings, how does she fly? She simply thinks and flies. Her power is actually a poorly developed telekinesis, which Uomen knows how to develop well. The group was trapped in the air by the general's mind, while the poison approached. John, James, and Lysa were in front, while Stuart was behind, but Uomen moved Lysa so that she ended up behind him. There was a reason, and remember, this general is smart.

"James..." the archer whispered. "I have one last plan, but he'll probably notice. I need you to distract him, provoke him."

"Leave it to me, there are some things I wanted to say to him anyway. HEY KID, you talk too much, you should be more humble."

"Humble? Why? What advantage will it give me? Why should I deny that I am special when I am?"

"That's not humility. Have you ever read Galatians 6:4?"

"No, what is that?"

"It's a verse from a book, and it says: 'But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.' That's what I understand as humility, not comparing yourself to others. Humility isn't denying that you have something or are something; humility is not using it to compare yourself. You ask what's the advantage of being humble? It's because a humble person, unlike you, doesn't secretly try to impress others with their abilities. Wouldn't you be happier if you just... stopped worrying about what others think, oh pinnacle of perfection?"

The sarcasm and the jab were spot-on, and for the first time, Uomen felt shame in his life. He tried to defend himself.

"Exactly, the problem with all this is love. If love did not exist, I would not love myself so much or love being praised so much. I understand what you mean; humility is, in a way, forgetting about yourself, stopping thinking about who you are or what you have. Whether you are greater or lesser than others, humility is simply knowing that you are good and also that you are not perfect. Knowing yourself but not thinking about yourself, that is humility. But how am I supposed to stop thinking about myself when everyone only talks about me?"

"Huh. Have you ever asked them to stop?"

"What?"

"If it's the praise and the people's mouths that affect your head, have you tried talking to others? Answer me, why is it so embarrassing to say: 'Hey, I don't know how to handle praise and it's messing with my ego a bit, could you not praise me so much? It makes me uncomfortable.'? Is it so difficult?"

"B-But..." Uomen had never thought about that. It had never occurred to him to simply tell people: Stop praising me. Because as I said, we like praise, we become addicted to it, and unlike other things, we don't see praise as a possible drug. So we don't even consider the idea that praise can harm us. We don't think of trying to cut back on praise in our lives. That was Uomen's problem. It was so comfortable and good where he was and how he felt that he didn't realize how bad it was because of it.

But now, it's checkmate. Because, remember what I said about Uomen putting Lysa behind him? It turns out she had a fatal power for him, one he would not be able to defend against without his instincts. The light that decimates all corrupted souls. He knew the girl wouldn't think of that, so he tried to isolate her from John and place her in a position where she couldn't see if her light would shine.

But while James distracted him, John made a request to Lindsay, even though he couldn't see her. To use Stuart to push Lysa to the general's side. So that Lysa could use her light against a Uomen with his guard down. The request was passed and was fulfilled.

Checkmate. Lindsay pushed Stuart who pushed Lysa, and when the emperor realized, the girl shone as brightly as she could, nearly blinding the others but powerful enough to purify all the poison in the air and disintegrate the man.

The human pinnacle was erased, because even at its peak, humanity is flawed. And seeking perfection, or seeing oneself as perfect, is the greatest illusion a person can have.

The pink light flew through all space and time, restoring love.

Each one saw the person they loved the most.

Lysa saw Emily, her friend.

Stuart saw Lindsay, his ex-wife.

James saw Helena, his niece.

John saw a Japanese woman... the strange thing? He doesn't know who she is.

Emily saw Lysa, her sister.

Clark saw himself, because he was all he had, and if no one loves him, he must love himself.

Pedro saw his father... curious, given what happened... after so many years, he is still his father.

Helena saw James, her uncle.

Lalá saw... all virtues. Just like the balance they bring. A balance that was now broken and corrupted, due to Lily. But her attention was drawn by a slap that made her fall to the ground.

"LALÁ, I'm asking you a question..." the girl cried out in tears.

"F-Fernanda?"

"You said... that they wouldn't be able to defeat us 6. So what does that mean?" She said, pointing to the new pink sphere that was on one of the tables. "WHY DID UOMEN DIE?"

"I-I... b-but..." The girl couldn't say, because she didn't believe it. Who were those humans? Why were they alive? Where did they come from?

"How strong was Uomen, Lalá?"

"Theoretically..." The girl swallowed hard before saying. "...He should only lose to me and you."