In the ninth chamber, the ruins finally demanded more than just their physical presence.
Two High-Gold guardians materialized from the floor and immediately fused, twisting into a massive, jagged cyclone of razor-sharp rocks and howling pressure.
For the first time in actual combat, Ren drew the Mantis crystal.
He left Sirius's core safely tucked away. He wouldn't dare use it for battle, nor would he try to fuse his mantis one with it. Using it as a weapon meant treating a person, the father of someone incredibly important to him, like a disposable field tool. Even if the crystal was still partially corrupted, even if the man was currently trapped in the petrified statue they had left behind and even if he could repair it later, Ren refused to cross that line.
The Mantis crystal, however, was entirely different.
