After the barrage of rock golems attacked Diego, the environment of the inner courtyard was unusually eerie, the air carried a strange tension and a slight shift, and the thorn bushes around the courtyard swayed differently as the unseen currents shook them. A few of the leaves clinging desperately to life around the bushes fell onto the stone floor, scattered by the power of the wind, yet Diego pressed on unshaken, as if he didn't notice the subtle signs the environment was signaling to him. He behaved as though it was nothing more than a light breeze brushing past his black battle suit, his expression calm, unwavering, and almost defiant against the ominous atmosphere.
A few more steps brought him to the road leading outside the inner courtyard and into the passage, where majestic pillars rose high and beautiful ancient designs were matted across the walls, guiding the way toward the throne of the "Prince of Darkovia." However, before Diego could leave the courtyard, one more adversary awaited him—an enigmatic soul being with a feminine physique and wild, unrestrained eyes emerged suddenly from the shadows, appearing at the path that led to the throne of Maru. She wore a flowing purple robe embedded with shimmering gems and precious stones, and several necklaces dangled loosely across her bony neck. Yet beneath the robe, leather straps bound her joints and bones tightly, holding her together like an Egyptian mummy. She smiled mysteriously as Diego's gaze fixed upon her, halting his stride. Sensing she had captured his full attention, she tilted her head, her grin widening, and spoke in a lustrous yet commanding tone:
[You are strong, I like you.]
She then cackled softly, her voice echoing unnaturally against the courtyard walls, and shifted into a battle stance, waiting with predatory patience for Diego to make his move.
Despite the mounting tension, Diego maintained his eerie composure. He neither flinched nor shifted into a defensive stance; instead, he remained anchored in his original posture, appearing almost spectral as he drifted forward toward the edge of the inner courtyard with a cold, predatory grace. He fixed his gaze upon the soul being obstructing his path, his eyes clouded with a somber, judgmental weight as he spoke:
[What are you supposed to be—'Maru's beloved,' or merely another one of Maru's unnecessarily fattened-up servants?]"
The soul being withered under the frost of his words. Her expression turned ashen, fueled by a sudden, jagged hate, and her confident grin collapsed into a bitter frown. Though her confidence faltered, her stance remained unwavering—she was a coiled spring, ready for whatever malice the rude figure before her might unleash.
[Can't a girl enjoy a few diamonds and gems?] she hissed in response.
[Just because I desire to look and feel radiant, you claim I have committed a sin? Do you truly deem me so unworthy to cross your path or even appear before your face?]
With a sharp, defiant motion, she unbuckled her purple outer robes and cast them aside. However, as the fabric pooled on the ground, her true form was revealed to be grotesquely disfigured and hauntingly hollow. Stripped of her finery, she stood adorned only in shimmering necklaces, her skeletal frame tightly bound in weathered leather straps like a forgotten, desecrated mummy.
Fueled by the hate and the unrelenting desire to end the nuisance known as Diego in one fell swoop, the soul being began to transform from her grotesque, bony rag doll form into one of immense weight and structure. She became a towering golem, a "Sand-woman" if you will, her new body radiating raw menace and elemental fury. The structure she transformed into had overtaken her completely—she looked no more like a soul being, instead she resembled a buffed‑up colossus with the same rune markings etched across her body as the rock golems Diego had earlier fought. Even the markings were in the exact same places, glowing faintly with a sinister energy. As her transformation completed, she stopped standing idly, assuming a battle stance brimming with confidence and primal rage. Without hesitation, she sprang forward to attack the cowardly figure of Diego, utterly convinced she could win and crush him beneath her newfound strength.
As she closed in on Diego, he finally made a move. He thrust out one hand and used the other to pull forth a blue energy whip, shimmering with paradoxical brilliance. The whip appeared ethereal, as if it wasn't real and yet undeniably tangible at the same time. It was clear he had tapped into his deep knowledge of energy manipulation to not only enhance his body but also to conjure weapons, shaping raw energy into usable constructs. Yet the transformed soul being neither sensed the weapon Diego had summoned nor prepared herself for resistance. In her eyes, sheer force and the full weight of her body would be enough—slamming into the weak, cowardly apprentice soul vampire would surely stun him, move him out of her sight, and perhaps even end him then and there. However, when she hurled herself against Diego, she was shocked at the outcome. Instead of triumph, she was the one forced to retreat—not out of fear of his attacks, but because she had come so dangerously close to death in her very first move, realizing too late that her arrogance had nearly cost her everything.