Though Sebastian possessed the resolve to act and the self-belief in order to attempt to teleport away from the approaching danger, he was simply too slow. He found himself unable to phase out before Diego struck him and even after the blow Diego dealt had been done; the intricate mental sequences and physiological shifts required were far too demanding for that frantic, split-second window. Furthermore, his grasp of the arcane mechanics of teleportation remained tragically incomplete, leaving him fumbling with complex spatial calculations he hadn't yet mastered under pressure.
While the intricate mental sequences and physiological shifts were a significant hurdle he lacked the knowledge or time to master, they were not the only barrier Sebastian faced to teleport. Watching Diego reconstruct himself from mere energy—methodical, structured, and experienced—gave Sebastian a vital key to implementing the ability. He realized he had to intimately understand his own physical form, knowing its limitations and capabilities. Crucially, he identified that his body was absolutely unique; it was not equal to any other death knight, soul being, or living presence. His body was a personalized, singular vessel, and learning to command it necessitated accepting its specific, incomparable nature rather than merely imitating another, forging his own path through the knowledge of his physical form, his limitations and capabilities.
The next step involved fully knowing his body's capabilities and anatomy. While he needed to understand every aspect of his structure, he also had to learn the intimate mechanics going on within, from foundational bones like the skull to minor structural components like the appendages on his wrist, and from complex, robust bones like the ribs to simpler, linear bones like the femur. Although he possessed no blood or soft tissue, he needed comprehensive knowledge of the pathways energy traveled, avoiding any error in mapping the electrical flow. Because his body comprised mainly hard tissues, such as synthetic bone and a skeletal framework, he also needed to understand the mechanics allowing his joints to stand upright and move. These structural nuances were essential to master, as he could not afford to miscalculate a single, intricate connection if he wanted to achieve teleportation, ensuring every component materialized precisely where it was intended.
Sebastian had to perceive the microscopic reality of his own body: the gingival tissue anchoring his teeth and the resilient fibrocartilage cushioning his joints, which acted as biological glue to prevent bone-on-bone friction. He needed to map these precise coordinates within his mind's eye, a spatial processing feat requiring him to calculate the exact volume and depth of every cell to ensure a clean molecular shift.
All these and more were what Sebastian had to do in order to successfully manipulate his spatial ability into performing a function similar to teleportation ; manipulating space to move his body into a prepared place. It was a process akin to the deconstruction of his body from where he was to reconstituting it where he wanted to be—a feat achieved earlier by Diego when he reconstituted himself from pure energy and was born anew as a soul vampire. However, now time was not on his side as he pondered deeply on how he could teleport away from Diego's strike. With the blow only a nanosecond away, the complexity of reassembling his physical form in a new location proved too great for the ticking clock. Failing to form an immediate defense or evade the trajectory, Sebastian could only close his eyes as Diego's hand struck deeply into his open rib cage, shattering the structure and wrenching a number of ribs away from their articular joints.
Dazed and gripping his remaining ribs to keep from collapsing, Sebastian gazed upward at the towering silhouette of Diego. He watched through blurred vision, his eyes twinkling with a strange, feverish light while he remained acutely wary of the next lethal slash. He knew a single strike would undoubtedly sever his skull—a final, decisive blow that would mark the definitive end of his existence. He remained certain that the dreaded impact was imminent, a cruel inevitability lingering in the heavy air, yet he found himself anchored in a state of grim, paralyzed acceptance, knowing there was absolutely nothing left in his broken body to stop it.
However, as he watched Diego's towering figure looming before him, a primal fear of the imminent attack clawed at his chest. Seconds bled into minutes; the expected blow never came. He reached a point where he began the agonizing mending of his broken ribs, visualizing the jagged bone slowly fusing back to his rib cage as he resigned himself to a life defined by this searing, white-hot agony.
Soon he was able to stand, groggily at first due to a cocktail of terror and physical trauma, but later with an unnatural, utmost grace—as if he had not been shattered mere moments ago. Facing Diego once again, Sebastian looked deep into those vacant, lost eyes. He forced his mind to go still, systematically rooting out the dread that had taken hold when he first glimpsed his own demise. Now, however, he noted a shift that renewed his spirit: Diego was paralyzed by a strange, internal lethargy. He would not be attacking anytime soon. All that remained was for Sebastian to finish him off while the destructive brute remained blissfully blind to the strike descending upon him.
However, before Sebastian struck the numb figure of Diego, he paused to contemplate the gravity of his next move. He had dedicated every fiber of his being to dismantling Diego's influence, yet their conflict had resulted in nothing but a grueling stalemate. Ironically, the one maneuver Sebastian believed would be a definitive finishing blow had served only as a catalyst—a violent spark that pushed Diego to transcend his mortal limits and be reborn as a formidable soul vampire.
Calculated and ruthless, an apex predator of that caliber does not simply freeze mid-motion or allow their momentum to dissipate without a strategic reason. A warrior possessing such overwhelming, newfound power wouldn't just stop abruptly when delivering a strike to his enemy; therefore, it was glaringly obvious that something was fishy about the whole situation. Sebastian sensed a trap hidden within the silence, realizing that Diego's sudden hesitation might be a lure into an even deeper shadow.