However, although he slashed forward, nothing happened. His expression darkened, grim with frustration, yet he resolved to try again. This time he thrust forward with his sword, followed by a swift cleave, prepared to parry any sudden strike. But once more his blade met no resistance, slicing only empty air. Doubt crept in—was his spatial ability deceiving him, or was the enemy truly there? Determined, Sebastian activated it again, and the familiar energy signature pulsed dangerously close, so near it made his skin crawl. Instinctively, he slashed at his own shadow, fearing an imminent attack, yet the shadow remained still. The chamber around him was eerily quiet, its silence painting a false image of ordinary calm. But Sebastian was not fooled; he had learned that places appearing ordinary often concealed the greatest horrors. With burning resolve and unshaken confidence in his ability, he shifted his stance, deciding to move toward another area where the enemy's presence lingered, ready to confront whatever hid in the unseen veil.
Sebastian had moved no more than a single step when he felt it—lying beneath his floating body, energy coursed through something alive. This was no plant, no machine, no lifeless construct; it was the body of a soul being. Certain of his discovery, Sebastian did not linger on where the figure sprawled. Instead, he shifted aside, confident he had finally located the mysterious intruder. Slowly, he brandished his sword, lowering his hand to deliver a downward thrust, aiming to sever the pathway of energy flowing through the intruder's body along with the bone of the shoulder blade. The strike was calculated, designed to pin the invisible figure down. With burning focus, Sebastian raised his second sword, aligning it with another vast energy pathway near the shoulder he had just targeted. He was moments away from bringing the blade down upon the neck of the soul being when, suddenly, the mysterious attacker shimmered into visibility once more. Sebastian froze instinctively, his breath caught, as he realized the figure was about to speak, the silence of the chamber breaking at last.
***
The figure lying on the floor groaned with a pained expression, partly due to the immense pain he felt due to the sword lodged into his shoulder blade, a strike that clearly broke of his energy flow, however that was not the only reason the mysterious figure was lying on the floor in a weaken state, first the soul being bones appeared soft and fragile, their fragile state not hiding the cracks that ranbkn every part of the soul being, making him feel immense pain any time he moved or flex his muscles, either to contract or relax the muscles, this pain eventually made it hard for him to even move the muscles in his mouth in order to speak.
However, the figure lying on the floor did speak, though his voice trembled with strain. He paused for a long moment, wondering what questions he could answer, knowing each word would be brief and fractured by torrents of pain that surged through him whenever he tried to talk. Yet despite the agony, he understood that even a short response had to be precise, carrying the weight of truth and the essence of his purpose. It needed to reveal the core reason for his presence, the identity he concealed, and the mission that had brought him to this place. So when the words finally formed at the edge of his mind, he resolved not to delay again, forcing his battered body forward to utter the truth about why he was there, who he truly was, and what he was doing here.
He said:
[Maru is alive...]
The mysterious figure groaned weakly as he tried to swallow, each motion performed with agonizing discomfort due to the sword pinning him to the floor and the deliberate severing of his energy flow. Sebastian, however, did not waste his strength attempting to ease the intruder's torment, for he knew better than to show mercy to his enemy as that was a perfect opportunity the enemy could use to strike him at the back. Instead, he fixed his gaze with rapt attention, waiting for the words that would follow. The figure, sensing the tension and the unwavering focus Sebastian had placed upon him, realized he still had much to prove before he could be accepted as Maru's ally. With another pained gasp, his chest heaving and breath held tight, the mysterious figure forced his cracked voice forward, trembling yet resolute, and spoke the words that carried the weight of desperation and truth:
[We need your help.]
Leaving the mystery for Sebastian to unravel on his own, the mysterious figure let out a stifled yelp as his gaze shifted between Sebastian and Diego. He stopped briefly, studying them both with a bittersweet expression before continuing, his breath ragged and uneven. A cough or two escaped his lips, yet he refused to let his face betray any plea for pity from Sebastian or anyone else. Instead, he held his pained expression firmly, as though it were a fragment of his very identity, projecting the false impression that he could mend the damage to his body and energy pathway alone. His voice, cracked and trembling, finally broke the silence as he croaked, each word dragged out with effort:
[I... thought I could... use my ability to stop... you]
[...But my energy is... slipping away, draining faster than I can hold it.]
Now he had already admitted to the attack inflicted upon both Sebastian and Diego, confessing that he was the one who froze them in place, though Sebastian had somehow escaped his grasp when the figure's energy slipped away like a faintly glowing candle wick sputtering in the dark. Yet the mysterious figure could not form rational thoughts; each attempt to speak brought a litany of coughs and piercing pain, the result of his severed connection to the energy pathway within his body. His weakness was compounded by the unnatural softness of his bones and the mild cracks splintering across his skeletal frame, each fracture echoing agony with every breath. As his strength ebbed, the figure's eyes turned an eerie, vacant white, and with a voice that seemed to carry the weight of grim omens, he spoke soullessly:
[He is coming...]
And then he fainted, no longer able to endure the torment coursing through him, or perhaps unwilling to reveal anything more, surrendering to silence as the pain consumed him.