"Do not show it any mercy," Pop advised. "Not until you are certain it had been defeated and stripped of all its power." He surveyed them for a little while longer, and then nodded. "That will be all, then. And--"
"Actually," Spectrum Owen said, raising a claw. "I sort of... had a question about something. It had to do with the fight at the Colosseum."
Pop listened.
"A few of us suspected that something about it was... unexpected. We thought the Miracle Matters would be strong, yeah, but not that strong. But then, when we kept going, it seemed like... they got a lot weaker, too? In the middle of the fight. Was that... planned? To give some morale to Cibus? I thought it was going to be a true fight."
"It was both," Pop replied, bowing his head. "I'm sorry for not telling you the full context of the battle. The Miracle Matters were too weak to put up a fight on their own after their great travels. I powered them with my own Divine energy. However, I never intended to take it away from them. This was a battle to usurp my own power, and to test how great Cibus' strength can be when unified.
"I broadcasted that battle to all corners of the world to make sure all of Cibus was watching, hoping to see the best from their saviors. It was a test to strengthen you as much as I could... if Team Spectrum was capable of grasping at that power. Telling you about it, ironically, would lessen your chances. Knowledge of that power makes it more difficult to activate, and therefore difficult to test."