The Aethermimic lunged at Shichiro. And phased straight through him.
"T̷̝́̚͜h̴͚̅į̶̺̃ş̸͗͂ ̶̧͈͂h̵͔̖͒̅e̷̲͚͆̀a̷̖̽̓r̷̨̘͊̌t̴̻̽̆…̸̯͌ ̴̼̞̿Į̷̫̂s̶̯͋̽ ̸̡̺͆p̴͔̺͛͒ě̴̼̓ṟ̶̆f̷̟͙́͂ĕ̵̹͝c̵̠̈́ẗ̷͖̲́.̵̨͠"
It crept forward, its voice glitching through the air.
Shichiro clenched his fists. "It just… copied my heart. AGAIN."
Kentarō laughed under his breath. "Wait, so does that mean it gets your heart but like, twice as strong?"
Aegis pressed a hand on Kentarō's shoulder. "Not now, bro."
Rokuro rolled his eyes. "Whatever, bro."
He cast both of his ice archers and lunged forward.
But the Aethermimic slipped past him with ease.
"n̶̰̥̉o̴͎̪͌̊t̶̠͕̦́̚…̶͙̈́ ̴̢̪̘̂̌N̸͇̈ͅo̶͈̔̍t̴̩͋̂̆ ̸̢͍̝̆̈́i̷̽̈͜͠m̷̛̭̭̰͆p̴̛̰̒o̸̗͇͋ṟ̷̮̏̍t̵̹̯́̂̄a̶̝͑n̸͔̑t̸̯͈̼̋͘.̷̪͔̐͋̾"
Rokuro lunged again."NOT IMPORTANT?!"
The Aethermimic dodged and snatched Rokuro's staff mid-swing, then crushed it in its hand.
Katsu's eyes widened. "He just… broke that staff. The staff from the trials…"
Kentarō tightened his grip on his daggers. "Keep cool. We already fought this guy."
But the Aethermimic turned its eyes toward Kentarō. It crept forward, twitching.
"K̶̡̺͆̅̆ê̸̡̩e̶̩̟͎̕p̸͙͠…̵̰̄͊…̶̝̱͐ ̷̦͓̓̇̌c̷͖̀̐͗ö̸̰̘̝́́ơ̶̲̄̉l̸̦̆͘…"
It repeated his words back at him.
"Uh? Is anyone gonna stop it? "Kentarō stepped back, eyes darting around.
Katsu stopped time. But even inside the stillness, he hesitated, the Aethermimic had already shifted once.
"What if it moves again…? "He muttered.
1 second passed.
Katsu approached it and threw a punch. but his hand phased straight through the creature.
2 seconds passed.
The Aethermimic's head twitched…and slowly turned toward him.
Katsu's eyes widened. "Yeah. I knew it."
3 seconds passed.