An immediate reaction, the second sleeve opened, the second batch letting down its aroma. As soon as the Phantoms tried to deliver a strike across its cookie-like legs, they stopped. It was as if they died again on the spot, the energy quickly parting away. Criollo backed himself as he'd show the candy's color: White. A candy unlike the others he's seen weaponized on his axe. The tired state the man was in implied for Harvard that such is a heavy cost, a toll at the body, a chance for him to block further. He'd try to set up some chains to wrap around his hands, attempting to crush the candy within the sleeves, but such an attempt would fail as soon as the chains touched, dissolving away once more into energy, parting off across the body. Something was wrong. "You noticed it. It's been a while since anyone has found out how my candy works, let alone one as young as yourself..." the Guard uttered, as he'd steady his legs, his arms dangled down, his axes ready to slip out of his grip at a moment's notice.
"It's... dissolving." Harvard replied, watching the energy disappear into the sweet air, slowly bonding with the environment, allowing the House to cast its own magic, as small creatures began to come out from the earth, supposedly the way such people within Candartha were created: Three animal crackers and two Gummy bears, the former being of a sparrow, a lizard, and a squirrel.
"Mhm. White Candy allows me to dissolve any spell or ability into energy. Pure, white energy. Of course, this won't hold up for long, and once it's gone, my body will be worn down, but I don't think you want to simply wait for such a calm, do you?" The boy's eyes widened upon hearing Criollo words, bringing concern to the group, Solomon and Tsukiya especially.
"Harvard.... Whatever he's saying, do NOT-" Solomon's warning fell on deaf ears as Harvard held up his hand, pausing him.
"I know what you are. The one that rushes. The one that seizes the very moment of a peak. The chance to take it one step further. The smart option here would be to leave me be. This mist is not going to last forever, and when it runs out, You win. I ask of you... Is this really how you wish to achieve this victory?" The question lingered in the boy's mind, prompting Solomon to try and cast his shadow so that he can grab and shake some sense into the child, yet Harvard was quick on casting a spell, de-casting the Shadow and forcing it back, letting Criollo move and open his arms so that the aroma spreads around him, a wall to prevent such magic from casting.
"HARVARD!!! IF YOU THROW THIS, YOU ARE GOING TO BE SORRY, YOU KNOW THAT!!?" The Biblical Sorcerer screamed, shocked and disturbed that he was willing to consider this option.
However, through such fear, Harvard's question would relieve the boy momentarily. "Depends... Are you forfeiting?" That question was a dagger for Criollo, a chuckle out of the guard. He read his movements. He read his thought process and wanted to set up a guarantee. Even without his cards, he was still a manipulative bastard. Harvard gave a cheeky smirk as he'd realize he's got him in a corner.
"You really are a tricky bastard." The Guard replied, as he'd be quick to answer the boy's question by gripping the white candy, crushing it into his palm, and letting his energy properly escape. Based on Harvard's own experience, he noticed that his own output and reserves were somewhat lowered upon entering the area. While the spells he casted were low enough to be casted freely, he still had to conserve his energy, droplets coming down on his face, jelly-like sweat that dribbled on his forehead. He can infer that whatever Candartha was, it made sure to keep such devastating magic styles at a lower level in comparison to the actual spells. So when he felt the extreme surge come out of Criollo, his eyes widened, seeing the white aroma depart and melt along with his energy, letting the Guard's body properly be toned, crumbs cracking as if they were bone, as he'd get into a stance. "Let's keep playing then. I believe I have wasted enough of your time." He'd state, sweat drops finally beginning to be made, now pushed into the same equilibrium as the Card Magician.
Harvard simply casted three cards, wrapping a set of chains around the Automaton, switching the monsters once more, and letting it link with the boy as he extracted the monster inside. "Fu....Sion." He'd state, watching his monster be pulled in and inserted into his own body, one with visible flora growing out from the steel as it integrated into him. Once inserted, Harvard's body began to twitch, moss blossoming out from his dough-like body, slowly cracking it apart and forming as a proper human shell. Branches and leaves began to grow from his arms, twigs through his fingers, clawed like a wolf. The head began to deteriorate, absorbing the candy and growing a proper tree around his skull, his jaw visible, his eyes sinking back into hollow sockets. Fruit began to be born from such confections, all under the same color, texture, and even taste, moreso growing candy apples rather than regular ones. The most noticeable, however, was the branches pulsing, as it began to attach itself onto his inner body, slowly tethering to his nerves and blood, his heart now protected and fueled. A flower began to bloom from one of the sockets, a black orchid with white petals. Once such a flower opened, it revealed a small face. Cartoonish, with two petals as eyes, and a row acting as a mouth.
Once it blinked, it looked around, bound to the body. "Wh... OH C'MON! I'M STUCK AS THIS!?" It shouted, Harvard's voice being audible. The body was stationary up until the flower pulled it along, like a harness on a horse. Such a fusion made it so that his mind and body are now separate, the former being visible for everyone to see. Solomon palmed his face in annoyance, watching Harvard struggle in even standing upright due to such partition, whilst Stolas and Zazel were more amazed at how such a fusion was possible.
"I've heard about this... These are your cards, right? What creature is this?" Criollo asked, eyeing at the group's reactions, noticing Tsukiya's being tense, a stark contrast from her cheery self. Envy's was much the same, implying that the Kitsune knows more regarding the Guard. He keeps himself firm as he'd try to walk up to the boy, hoping to tag him as he was occupied with his new form.
"SUPPOSED to be Tomberry, but I wouldn't have picked it if I'd known it just split me like thi-" A pause. A stunt in his mind, as Criollo was quick on tapping his shoulder, prompting the body to fall over on the ground. It wasn't the tap, however, that made him hold still.
A beat was heard. A beat only the boy could hear.