Vieira barely had time to catch his breath before the Emerged Shadow moved again.
A blur of motion..... Vieira threw himself backward just as the creature's clawed hand tore through the air where his chest had been. The shockwave from the swipe sent dust and debris flying, the tiles beneath them cracking.
"Tch.... how the hell do I fight this thing?" Vieira gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay focused. He had no sword like Kenji, no threads like Aya. Just his fists.
And right now, they weren't enough.
The Shadow vanished from sight..... then reappeared behind him in an instant.
"Too slow."
Vieira barely turned before a crushing kick slammed into his ribs, sending him crashing through a rusted hospital bed. The impact rattled his bones, pain flaring up his side.
His vision blurred for a second. Damn it...
The Shadow slowly approached, its grin never fading.
"You're weaker than I thought. Pity."
Vieira coughed, wiping blood from his lip. Weak? No.....this wasn't just about strength.
This thing is fast, its movements unpredictable.
I can't just react.....I have to predict.
He forced himself to stand, fists clenched.
"Alright, let's see how you handle this!"
The Shadow lunged again.....this time, Vieira was ready.
At the last second, he sidestepped, twisting his body to avoid the attack. The creature's claws barely missed his throat, carving deep gashes into the wall behind him.
Vieira countered immediately.....pivoting on his heel and slamming his fist into the Shadow's ribs.
A clean hit.
But, it did nothing.
The Shadow didn't flinch. Instead, it looked down at the spot Vieira struck.
Then, its grin widened.
"Interesting."
Without warning, the Shadow drove its knee into Vieira's gut.
Air rushed from Vieira's lungs as he was launched backward, his back smashing against the cold floor.
He gasped, coughing violently. It felt like his insides had just been rearranged.
Vieira staggered to his feet, chest rising and falling as pain spread through his body. He knew he was at his limit.
The Emerged Shadow didn't slow down.
In an instant, it was in front of him again. No time to react.
Its clawed hand pierced forward, aimed directly at Vieira's chest.....a finishing blow.
A flash of agony.
Vieira's body was sent flying. He crashed into the wall with a sickening crack, stone and debris shattering on impact.
Dust filled the air.
The Shadow watched for a moment, then grinned.
It stepped forward, amused. "That should do it."
Vieira's body lay in the rubble, unmoving. Blood trailed from his lips, his arms limp at his sides.
The Shadow crouched down.
"Now, then… let's see what your soul tastes like."
It reached out, fingers gliding toward Vieira's chest.
The moment its hand touched Vieira's skin....
Something changed.
The air grew heavy.
A pulse.
The Shadow froze.
Its eyes widened as it felt an unfathomable force.....something suffocating, and beyond comprehension.
It tried to pull away...but it couldn't.
A hand gripped its wrist.
A cold, merciless grip.
The Shadow's breath hitched.
Vieira's eyes snapped open.
But they weren't his eyes anymore.
Deep, piercing gold, glowing like molten fire emanated from his pupils.
The pressure in the room skyrocketed.
The Shadow stumbled back, yanking its hand away.
Its chest tightened. What is this…?!
The power it had sensed before.....the reason it was drawn to him....this was it.
But now, it was unleashed.
And for the first time…
The Shadow felt something it had never felt before.
Fear.
Vieira's body...no, Azazel.....rose to his feet.
The cracks in the wall behind him sealed themselves as if time itself was bowing to him.
The atmosphere was crushing.
Azazel lifted his gaze to the Shadow. His expression unreadable.
Then, in a voice that was both Vieira's and something far, far older, he spoke.
"Have you had your fun."
The Shadow flinched.
Its instincts screamed...run.
But it couldn't.
Not anymore.
It was already trapped.
The Emerged Shadow's entire body was locked in place, its form flickering as if rejecting reality itself.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go.
It had separated them. It had them trapped in its domain. It should have had the upper hand.
But now...
Now, it couldn't even move.
Azazel slowly turned his back to the Shadow, scanning the broken hospital surroundings as if he were seeing the world for the first time in centuries.
Then, he spoke.
"What era is this?"
The Emerged Shadow stiffened.
It barely processed what had just been said before its confusion twisted into pure rage.
He wasn't even looking at it.
It was being ignored.
"You dare turn your back on me?!" the Shadow roared. "I'll make you regret that!"
It charged, its sharpened claws gleaming with raw soul energy, aiming straight for Azazel's spine.
Faster. Faster.
Just a few inches.....
But then...
Its body stopped.
The Shadow's eyes widened in horror.
It couldn't reach him.
Not because Azazel dodged. Not because some force physically restrained it.
No.....the very air around Azazel repelled it.
His soul aura alone was enough to hold it at bay.
The Shadow snarled, pushing harder.
Nothing.
It wasn't allowed to touch him.
Azazel let out a small, disappointed sigh.
"Idiot."
Before the Shadow could react, a fist slammed into its gut.
A single strike.
But the moment it connected.....
The world shattered.
The Emerged Shadow's body was launched out of the hospital, tearing through walls, through the very fabric of its own domain.
And then...
The domain collapsed.
The distorted reality twisted in on itself like glass breaking in reverse, returning to normal space.
Kenji and Aya.....who had been trapped in separate areas moments ago.....suddenly found themselves back in the hospital halls.
Kenji spun around, sword drawn. "What the hell just..."
Then he felt it.
Aya felt it.
An overwhelming pressure filled the entire hospital.
A soul energy so immense that it made their bodies feel weightless.....no, helpless.
Kenji's grip on his sword shook.
Aya's threads trembled in the air, reacting on instinct.
They didn't even need to see it.
They just knew.
This wasn't Vieira anymore.
This was something far worse.
And neither of them could move.
.....Because something inside them told them that if they did, they might die.