The archon's ability to control the flow of battle was quickly reaching its limits.
This time, Ava's claws found success again as the archon prioritized intercepting Diablo's blade and redirecting Eve's follow-up, and the second strike landed deeper than the first.
Again, more energy was taken. And in the distance, a man's pained cry was heard.
Within that exchange, the archon processed the flaw in its earlier conclusion. It learned that it had not failed to strike the phantoms, nor had its attacks been ineffective. It had been cutting them the entire time.
The inconsistency lay in the result. The damage it inflicted did not stabilize within their forms. Where its blade passed through them, the effect failed to anchor, as though their structure could not fully sustain the interaction.
They were similar to living ghosts. But a ghost that couldn't be purified was akin to a Holy Spirit, which the two beings weren't either, leaving them in limbo between the two categories.
