The thing moved fast.
Not fast like the fragments before. Not chaotic, not unstable. This was controlled speed. Direct. Focused.
Jovian barely had time to react.
"Now!"
Vital Mirage stepped in instantly, intercepting the strike head-on. The impact rang out sharp, like metal colliding under pressure. For a split second, neither side moved.
Then the force pushed outward.
Jovian slid back half a step, boots scraping against the ground. His arm tensed as he held position, eyes locked on the figure in front of him.
Up close, it looked… wrong.
Not incomplete like the others. Not distorted.
It had shape. Structure. Intention.
But no face. No expression. Just a dark, solid form that moved like it understood exactly what it was doing.
"…It's different," Jovian muttered.
"You think?" Iggy snapped, already moving.
Phantom Ember flared to life, heat rippling through the air as he closed in from the side. The figure reacted immediately, shifting its stance and striking outward before Iggy could land a clean hit.
The counter came fast.
Too fast.
Iggy blocked, but the force knocked him off balance, sending him skidding back across the uneven ground.
"Okay—yeah," he said, catching himself. "Definitely not the same."
Alaric stepped forward next, calm and measured as always.
Golden Cavalier manifested fully this time, its presence firm as it entered the fight. No hesitation. No wasted movement.
The clash was immediate.
Controlled precision met something just as precise.
Strike. Block. Counter.
Neither side overwhelmed the other, but the difference was obvious.
This wasn't a mindless attack.
It was a fight.
Lucien moved in silently, Midnight Sontana slipping through the edges of the confrontation, searching for an opening. His attack came from behind—clean, calculated.
It landed.
Or it should have.
The moment Midnight Sontana struck, the figure shifted—not away, not to block, but just enough to reduce the impact.
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"…It's adapting."
Jovian didn't respond. He already knew.
Vital Mirage surged forward again, this time faster, sharper.
A rapid sequence of blows followed—tight, controlled, relentless. Each strike aimed not just to hit, but to test. To measure.
The figure responded in kind.
It didn't overpower him.
It matched him.
Blow for blow. Movement for movement.
Jovian felt it clearly now.
This wasn't just something Voss left behind.
This was something built to fight them.
"Back!" Jovian called suddenly.
The others pulled away without hesitation.
A second later, the space between them collapsed inward, a focused compression that crushed the ground where they had been standing.
Dust rose.
The figure stood untouched at the center.
Watching again.
Iggy exhaled sharply. "So it hits, thinks, and sets traps. Great."
Alaric didn't take his eyes off it. "It's not just reacting anymore."
Lucien stepped forward slightly. "…It's predicting."
That word stuck.
Jovian clenched his fist.
Vital Mirage's glow sharpened, its stance lowering slightly, like it was preparing for something more deliberate.
"…Then we stop being predictable."
No one argued.
They moved together this time.
Not separately. Not in sequence.
Together.
Golden Cavalier engaged first, drawing the figure's focus. Phantom Ember followed immediately, disrupting its rhythm with bursts of heat. Midnight Sontana slipped through the gaps created by both, forcing the figure to adjust from multiple angles at once.
Jovian waited half a second.
Then moved.
Vital Mirage struck at the exact moment the figure shifted to respond to Lucien's attack.
A clean hit.
For the first time—
The figure staggered.
Not much.
But enough.
Jovian saw it.
"…That's it," he said under his breath.
They had a way in.
The figure recovered quickly, regaining its stance almost instantly. But something had changed.
It wasn't just watching anymore.
Now it was reacting faster. Sharper.
Like it understood it had made a mistake.
Lucien exhaled quietly. "…It learns from damage too."
"Then we don't give it time," Iggy said.
Jovian nodded.
"End it here."
Vital Mirage stepped forward again, its energy rising—not wildly, but with control. Focused power.
This time, they didn't hold back.
The next clash came harder. Faster.
And for the first time since it appeared—
The figure started losing ground.