The figure adjusted again.
It didn't panic. It didn't lash out. It simply changed.
Jovian noticed it immediately. The rhythm they had just established—the one that gave them an opening—was already slipping away.
"Don't fall into a loop," he said quickly.
Vital Mirage stayed close, its movements sharp but controlled.
Alaric shifted his stance, Golden Cavalier stepping slightly to the side instead of pressing forward again. "It's reading repetition," he said.
"Then we stop repeating," Iggy added, already moving.
Phantom Ember surged forward, but instead of attacking head-on, he circled wide, forcing the figure to turn. Lucien followed that motion, Midnight Sontana slipping behind the figure again—but this time he didn't strike. He waited.
The figure hesitated for a fraction of a second.
That was enough.
Jovian moved.
Vital Mirage closed the distance in a blur, landing a clean strike to the figure's side. The impact echoed, stronger than before. The figure staggered again—this time more noticeably.
It recovered quickly, but its balance wasn't perfect anymore.
"…It's cracking," Jovian said.
"Not fast enough," Lucien replied.
The figure retaliated.
The ground compressed outward in a sharp wave, forcing all of them back at once. It wasn't wild—it was calculated, pushing them into separate positions.
"Stay close!" Jovian shouted.
Too late.
They were already split.
The figure moved instantly, targeting Iggy first. Phantom Ember flared as he blocked, but the force behind the attack drove him back hard.
Alaric stepped in, intercepting the next strike, Golden Cavalier absorbing the impact.
Lucien reappeared behind the figure—this time striking clean. Midnight Sontana landed a precise hit at the center of its form.
The figure froze for a moment.
Then something shifted.
Its shape tightened. Became denser.
"…It's stabilizing," Lucien said.
Jovian clenched his jaw.
"Then we break it before it finishes."
Vital Mirage surged forward again, faster than before.
This time, the hit didn't just stagger it—
It cracked something deeper.
A faint fracture spread across its surface.
For the first time—
It looked like it could actually be destroyed.