Fighting the Star spawn was like fighting water in a cage. Even the weak cracklings quickly adapted to Dallion’s style of fighting, making full use of the environment as they did so. While technically winning, Dallion had to constantly catch up, hunting the creatures one by one, avoiding the attacks of the rest as he did so. Skill bonuses ceased to matter. Whenever he was close to completing a sequence, the creatures would find a way to interrupt.

They’re too smart for cracklings, Dallion said.

That’s because they’re more than that, dear boy. Like cracklings within realms, they gain skills through time and experience. In the real world, time is not enough, but they can make up for it by using the experience of all the cultists they were part of.

It was a scary notion to imagine, and something the Star would gladly do. It wasn’t enough that he was taking the minds of his cultists, gradually making them into puppets, but he was copying their skills as well.

“What were you back on Earth?” Dallion asked.

“Curious?” The Star’s laughter echoed throughout the pyramid. “Even back then, I was special.”

The answer confused Dallion somewhat. From experience, he knew that those who claimed to be special usually weren’t. Swinging along a sky steel rod, he slashed at one of the larger attacking creatures. The harpsisword cut into the monster’s body, stopping suddenly after a few inches. Despite its sharpness, it could not cut through the rebars.

A cutling leapt forward. They were the most annoying of all. They knew that they couldn’t win in a fight against Dallion, so they didn’t even try to, only aiming to wound him with their death. It was a desperate move and one that worked surprisingly much. Combat splitting managed to limit the severity of the wounds, but even it had its limits and without Lux nearby Dallion couldn’t rely on the wounds closing mid battle.

I just need to fight through, he told himself. Even if he reached the Star at a tenth of his health, he still could win.

Another floor of void matter poured from the veiling. That made six floors gone. That meant that the Star was somewhere on the remaining two.

“Watching you is fun,” the Star laughed. “It’s almost like watching the WWE. It’s so one-sided that it looks completely fake.”

“Come down and make it more interesting.” Dallion added as much arrogance in his words as the music skill would allow. The wounds, even if superficial, made him look rather pitiful. With luck, he seemed pitiful enough for the Star to join in the fight just so to gloat.

“Not a bad idea.”

All the Star spawn creatures abruptly leaped back, simultaneously moving away from Dallion.

Dallion held his breath. This was the moment of truth. All he had to do was grab hold of the Star and activate the general’s artifact.

Half of Dallion’s instances focused at the ceiling, looking for the spot his enemy would drop down from.

No such thing happened. Instead, all the creatures systematically merged with one another, creating one giant creature. Entirely black, it had the features of a lion with a large scorpion tail.

“My own, manticore,” the Star announced. “Have fun, Dal.”

Without waiting, the creature charged at Dallion, passing through the sky steel rods as if they weren’t there.

Damn it! Dallion gritted his teeth, doing a point attack combined with spark. The wave of destructive power hit the monster in the chest, then drilled right through it. No doubt it had caused some damage, though clearly it wasn’t nearly enough to make the creature stop.

A giant paw swiped at Dallion, destroying twenty of his instances. The remaining retreated towards the pyramid’s outer walls. Since the start of the fight, those had been the only parts of the temple that had remained intact. There was no telling what material they were made of—it wasn’t metal or void matter—but it was able to withstand any type of attack so far.

Choosing one instance to become reality, Dallion split again. A split second later, the manticore’s tail pierced through the spot he used to be.

I must admit that’s not a creature I’ve seen before, Nil said, deep in thought.

Of course you wouldn’t.

Neither Nil, nor his original had ever been on Earth. They had no idea how creative the artists there could be. There were pictures of thousands of fantasy monsters, each as dangerous as the next, and the Star had the power to bring them to life using void matter.

Yet, even while fighting against such odds, Dallion felt something wasn’t quite right. The Star had the power to create all sorts of modern weapons. Even with restrictions placed on him, he had easily created a shotgun in the phoenix’s realm. Surely, he could do the same here, but for some reason hadn’t.

Watch out! Nil shouted.

Half of the manticore’s mane had extended, targeting Dallion like deadly black needles. Evading them wouldn’t have been difficult, but in the heat of the moment Dallion had acted as if he were still wearing the armadil shield. Twisting his body sideways, he took a position with his left arm towards the monster. Had the shield been there, the hardened strands of void would have bounced off. Since it wasn’t then continued onwards, piercing through his flesh.

Pain greater than Dallion had felt in a long time surged through his body, almost making him vomit. If it hadn’t been for the high level of his mind and body traits, he would have fainted on the spot.

Stupid mistake, a deep said in his head.

It had been a while since the last time he’d heard it. So far, it only came out when Dallion was in a difficult situation, just as now.

Dallion pulled back, cutting the strands with his harpsisword. A new burst of adrenaline filled his veins, while his heart pounded so fast it was hurting his chest. Screams and laughter filled his ears. The smell of blood and sweat filled his nostrils, and then all sensations vanished. It was as if Dallion was torn out of his own body and forced to look upon the scene while time had stopped still.

You really messed up this time, the voice said. Just when you were so close.

Aether? Dallion asked.

You can use him, of course, the voice said. The phoenix will definitely help you. There’s every prospect you’ll find the fight, maybe even get rid of the Star for a while. Is that what you want, though?

I don’t have a choice.

You always have a choice, a real choice. Messing up both our arms wasn’t smart, but it’s not the end of the fight. You can still beat the kitty cat if you want to. After that, the Star will be all that’s left.

All this seemed so familiar. Too familiar, even.

Are you my deus ex machina? Dallion asked.

Wouldn’t that be nice? The voice laughed. All you have to do is focus. There’ll be no hidden wisdom, no secret powers, no deals. Victory is within your grasp. All you have to do is take it.

Did you show up just to tell me that?

It needs telling. The voice moved to Dallion’s left ear. Also, who says I’ve shown up just now?

Dallion tried to pull away, but he found that he couldn’t move his body. The only thing he could do was look around, even if he wasn’t certain how, since his eyes weren’t moving either.

The creature knows all your tricks, but can still be surprised, the voice continued. You’re making the same mistake the Star is—you’re thinking of its form, while you should be focusing on its nature.

What’s that even supposed to mean? Some zen proverb?

Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. I’m sure of it.

Reality stormed back in, as time went on with a vengeance. Dallion kept retreating, blindly leaping back while spitting into instances. His irregular actions confused the manticore. Unsure in which direction to attack, the monster leapt in Dallion’s general direction, only to have its prey evade it by hop-sprinting along the metal reds.

The nature of the creature, Dallion said to himself. What did the voice want to tell him? The creature was Star-spawn, a de facto chainling. The only reason it hadn’t taken Dallion’s arm was because he had purged all the tendrils out of existence upon cutting them with a spark attack. But so what?

“Think! Think! Think!” Dallion whispered, using his music skill to increase his focus.

Chainligns had no shape. They could take on any appearance they wished. The Star had forced it to take on the form of a manticore, but that didn’t make it one. It could change its shape again at any point or even have cracklings leap out from its surface and attack on their own. The only reason it hadn’t done so was probably because of the Star’s orders. Or maybe that wasn’t the case? What if it simply couldn’t, because unlike the cracklings in the awakening realms, it wasn’t composed of a multitude of creatures, but was just one… or even not a creature at all?

You’re a puppet, aren’t you? Dallion thought. That’s why you’re copying me and reacting to my tactics.

Are you alright, dear boy? Nil asked in a confused voice.

There never was a creature! Dallion continued triumphantly. Not a single one. I’ve been fighting brainless void matter, controlled by the Star in the same way I use Lux to fly in the awakening realms. All this time, I’ve been fighting a puppet! A puppet made of water!

You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions. But even if you’re right, how does that—

Before the echo could finish, Dallion struck the nearest sky steel rod as strong as he could. The vibration of the harpsisword was conveyed, causing the entire construct to do the same.

A roar of pain and agony filled the temple as the manticore pulled back its right paw, only to have it get sliced off by the very same elements that had given it such an advantage earlier. It too had realized precisely what Dallion was doing.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Dallion asked. “Now we’re even.”

The manticore growled, though keeping its distance. Both of them had experienced severe pain moments ago, and—thanks to Dallion’s realization—both of them were at a stalemate. Neither could approach the other without risking additional wounds. If Dallion were to attempt to approach, the creature would attack him with its void needles again. However, if the manticore tried to advance, Dallion would use the rebars themselves to inflict damage. Being made of sky steel alloy made them indestructible, but also able to convey the spark for a short distance thanks to Dallion’s music skills.

“I bet you didn’t see this coming?” Dallion shouted. “You’ve trapped both of us here and once I’m done with your puppet, I’ll deal with you.”

“You’re wounded. You won’t last five minutes like that.” The anger in the Star’s voice was palpable. “All I need to do is wait. You’re the one that needs to push forward.”

“Did you just say that you’ll lose in a one-to-one fight?” Dallion struck another rebar. This time the spark became visible, moving along it like a faint glow, before fading out.

So, the distance it could travel is five feet, Dallion thought.

It wasn’t a lot, but enough for him to win. All he had to do was determine how to approach. Chipping away at the manticore’s health was a good approach, but not in the present situation. If there was one thing that the Star was right about, it was that Dallion didn’t have an infinite amount of time. With the amount of wounds that he had, he’d be incapable of fighting in half an hour, maybe less. In order to see this through, he had to destroy the chainling in a third of that time.