In heavy silence, broken only by his ragged breaths, Saruto stood in the middle of the Time Chamber, his body drenched in sweat, his hands trembling with exhaustion. Dozens of attempts to activate the Astrazine technique had failed. He closed his eyes, clenching his fists, and said in a low voice, his defiance unbroken, "I won't give up… This time, I'll succeed."
Saruto spoke to Void telepathically: "We haven't found a way to implement it, Void. What do you suggest?"
A flash of thought came over Fowd, and he said, "What do you think about using the skill of shared awareness and letting Side take care of the rest? Perhaps he will find a way."
Saruto agreed to Void's idea; he had nothing left to lose. He raised his head, his eyes gleaming with a dark light, a mixture of determination and madness. Then, he and Void murmured simultaneously, "Shared consciousness… absolute!"
Suddenly, a vortex of black energy erupted, engulfing him completely, and his body began to transform. His flesh, blood, and entire being fused with Void, forming a new entity: Sid. Dark wings extended behind him, and a dark aura enveloped him. He opened his eyes, and his voice, a blend of Saruto's and Void's, said, "Finally... after all this time."
Side smiled and waved his arms in the air, and black sparks erupted around him. He began to demonstrate his skills: movement, thrust, twist, a leap into the air, an aerial strike that created a vortex of energy. Then he stopped abruptly. He looked down at his hands and whispered to himself, "It's time... Astrazine."
He raised his hands forward, focusing all his energy on a single point, recalling all of Saruto's attempts to execute the skill. Then, slowly, with growing confidence, he said, "Now... I understand."
A massive burst of dark energy erupted from his body, gathering around him, first enveloping him in a dense aura, then separating from his body and growing larger and larger until it formed the gigantic form of a legendary knight with a dragon-head helmet, surrounded by a black halo. Sade looked at the enormous sculpture surrounding him and smiled. "Astrazine..."
Sade moved his right hand, and the astrazine's hand moved with perfect precision. He turned his wrist, and Astrazine turned his wrist as if it were a reflection of his own body. "I can control it as if it were a part of me..." he said with obvious admiration.
He raised his arm, and Astrazine's hand transformed into a massive sword, emitting deadly energy. Sid gripped his real sword and began executing rapid combat movements, each action mirroring Astrazine's form. With his final strike, he channeled all his energy into the dark sword and roared, "Haaaaaah!"
The sword crashed to the ground, shaking the entire Time Chamber. The floor exploded into a massive crater, and waves of energy shot out in every direction. Side took two steps back, stunned by the force of the blow, then smiled. "Wow... this technique is truly amazing!"
He gazed at the deep crater before him, a glint of challenge in his eyes. "I must try it against Adrian... the Fourth Founder. I won't rest until I've tested it in real combat."
As he contemplated the destruction, the Time Chamber slowly began to repair itself, mending the cracks and the crater, returning to its former state. Side sat down on the floor and began to analyze the Asterazine skill, his calm voice filling the space. "This technique perfectly combines offense and defense... but it consumes a tremendous amount of energy. In Consciousness Mode, I was only able to sustain it for fifteen minutes."
He frowned slightly and added, "If Saruto uses it alone, without Void, he won't last more than seven or eight minutes."
He raised his hand, staring at the lingering traces of dark energy around his fingers. "It can be controlled through thought or direct action."
Then he took a deep breath, deactivating his shared consciousness, and his body returned to its original state. Saruto opened his eyes, looking utterly exhausted, but a faint smile graced his face. "Asterazine... I finally understand its essence."
He gazed ahead, his eyes burning with determination, and said in a resolute voice, "The next step... to increase its duration, until I achieve complete mastery."
Then he stood, enveloped in darkness once more, and whispered to himself, "And when I'm finished... I'll come to you, Adrian."