For most fighters, warriors, and knights alike, executing a final stand meant one of two things. First, it was a chance to unleash their ultimate move, pouring every ounce of strength, skill, and desperation into a single decisive strike, hoping it would be enough to topple their opponent. Second, it was an opportunity to pause, to think their attack through carefully, weighing whether they should continue pressing forward with relentless aggression or instead secure a safe escape route. If escape was the chosen path, they had to calculate which route offered the greatest safety, how to distract or deceive their adversary, and what clever trick might buy them precious time. Either way, one truth remained unshakable: if a final stand was not meticulously planned, the individual attempting it would suffer greatly from the inefficiency of their attack and the weakness of their strategy, for in such moments a single mistake was all it took to bring them down.
Diego had already calculated the probability of the two skeleton knights maintaining their resolve to parry his attacks and fight back. Knowing the odds were slim, he steadied himself for whichever option they chose. If they continued resisting, they would waste more energy, bleeding strength until starvation and exhaustion left them helpless. If they attempted escape, perhaps with cunning tactics like the sand‑woman's diversion, although they wouldn't have to against Diego's fast‑paced, precise, and devastatingly powerful strikes, Diego would still achieve his aim as their escaping him would grant him untethered access to the throne room. Either choice suited him, for his true goal was not their destruction but the answer to a single question: Where was Maru?
Without sparing a glance at the shimmering aura surrounding the two skeletal figures, Diego prepared to strike. After another successful evasive counter against their coordinated defense, he launched a finishing move—swift, brutal, and seemingly unstoppable. Yet to his surprise, the skeleton knight wielding the quarterstaff blocked it cleanly. Diego halted abruptly, his eyes narrowing as he studied them, wondering how they had managed to withstand the full force of his all‑powerful attack.
Then he remembered, shortly before he evaded what he felt was a desperate attempt of an attack by the skeleton knight duo, he saw a receding shimmering aura, a faint yet unsettling glow that seemed to ripple unnaturally across the battlefield. At first, he had mistaken it for the final grasps of energy the skeleton knights held within, the dying embers of their strength, however now that he thought more about it—and with the way the skeleton knights seemed to bounce back after he underestimated them—he didn't think the relationship between the shimmering aura and the newfound confidence the skeleton knights displayed was unrelated. Instead, he felt the aura was the very source of their resilience, a hidden reservoir of power feeding their movements.
All he had to think about was where he had seen such an energy signature before, but he wasn't able to form a clear thought, as the skeleton knights attacked him without reprieve, taking up every single bit and moment of respite he had, trying to pin him down with the relentless force of their weapons. A sharp cutting sound echoed each time the skeleton knight wielding the one‑headed heavy axe swung his weapon, while the skeleton wielding the quarterstaff seemed to anticipate the best possible areas Diego would escape to, appearing at exactly the right place and time to intercept him and inflict his own attacks. The skeleton knights were so coordinated that despite Diego manipulating the energy within and out in the atmosphere, he was not able to evade all the strikes raining down upon him.
Though Diego was much faster than the skeleton knights attacking him, the coordinated assault and the strange new energy they possessed were an anomaly that didn't fit into his strategy, rendering his entire plan undone. Enhancing his body kept him one step ahead of the two opponents, but repeated use of energy was not exactly the best option, because Diego would be using his technique in a way that could eventually destroy him from within. So while he could speed up anytime he wished, Diego regulated his pace, carefully reducing the amount of energy he manipulated and choosing which part of his body to enhance, while using his bare hands and back to parry the attacks he couldn't evade.
Because of this, Diego was becoming battered, grievous wounds opening across his body, altering the structure of the black battle suit he wore. It no longer resembled the pristine armor from when he defeated the sand‑woman; now it was ragged, torn, and gradually changing from a battle suit into an oversized black robe. Still, Diego didn't give up or give in to his injuries. Instead, he smiled at the two knights, as though he had figured out their plan all along. With a triumphant voice, he said to the knights:
[A healing elixir, quite ingenious. Though I wouldn't put it beyond you to ask for some extra help in a battle you are supposed to fight alone. After all, you are battling two against one right now.]
[However, the drawback of the elixir was what gave me the idea. You must feel frustrated that you can't talk back to me right now.
Although I don't know when you took the elixir, that doesn't matter anymore. You've had your fun—now, it's my turn.]
With the grim invitation sent out to the castle guardians, Diego began to act fast, his movements sharp and unrelenting, as he didn't even spare a glance at the expression the skeleton knights gave him. Deep down they knew the time of reckoning had arrived, a dreadful inevitability, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Now that Diego wasn't focused on anything but fighting and winning the battle, he had become a truly dangerous foe, relentless and merciless in his pursuit of victory. The skeleton knights' minds were filled with regret as they realized they hadn't made the right choice—to escape—when they had a chance, a chance that was never coming again. Certain of their defeat, the skeletons dropped their weapons and raised their voices, trying desperately to surrender so as not to face the pain and humiliation Diego had reserved for them.
However, their mouths betrayed them, producing no sound, the fatal drawback of using the healing elixir Diego had explained earlier. Soon the inevitable happened: Diego took down a defenseless castle guardian in one move, a single punch connecting after the layers of beating he had already delivered. Although the healing elixir gave them energy and restored their health, it could not reverse the damage done previously. And so, Diego struck once more, taking down the two guardians in a single blow. They were knocked out, unable to move or even think, trapped in a faint state, a thin thread separating them from destruction and the fragile continuation of life.