However, successfully evading multiple punches made by Diego didn't mean Sebastian was out of the woods yet, because while Diego was unleashing his punches he was also manipulating the force he used in launching them, carefully adjusting the velocity, precision, and destructive potential behind each strike. Sometimes he regulated the force in his punch to implode over a certain area, creating a devastating localized impact, while at other times he compressed the force of his punch into his fist, containing the explosive energy like a timed bomb that detonated with merciless accuracy when the moment was right—the moment here being the exact instant the punch landed squarely on Sebastian, threatening to overwhelm his defenses and shatter his composure.
So although Sebastian could evade the physical blows coming at him, anticipate the strike before it landed, and defend when the force of the punch was not too immense—or when there was no other choice but to brace himself—Sebastian couldn't do the same for the metaphysical forces contained in Diego's punches. These invisible energies carried a weight beyond mere muscle, striking at his physical body and resilience. So even though not all of Diego's punches reached him, the sheer force contained within each strike caused enough damage to leave him visibly shaken, his body marked by subtle bruises and his movements slightly battered, all while he continued desperately evading Diego's seemingly unending barrage of relentless, punishing blows.
Although Sebastian looked slightly battered now, Diego knew that if he continued his relentless barrage of attacks, Sebastian's condition would only deteriorate further, his stamina and composure gradually eroding under the pressure. Moreover, Diego noted that catching Sebastian by surprise and following through with this one attack kept him pinned in place, unable to change direction or escape the onslaught of blows—even with his mighty foresight ability guiding him. Diego realized that altering his rhythm or changing his attack pattern at this crucial moment might inadvertently create an opening, giving Sebastian a fleeting chance to break free from his cornered position and regain control of the fight.
However, despite the fact that Diego had Sebastian cornered and was soon going to defeat him, he wasn't entirely happy about it, because the events leading to this moment felt strangely unsettling if he really thought about them carefully. First was the fact that Sebastian had supposedly fled from his sight using his teleport ability, vanishing in a flash of distorted space. Yet, despite that, he inexplicably left himself open for attack, assuming a relaxed position and stance that seemed almost careless. He even looked directly at Diego with an expression that suggested he hadn't expected the battle to continue, as though he believed the confrontation had already ended—just as Diego's punch slammed cleanly into his head, a strike that carried both physical force and the weight of unanswered questions.
Second was the fact that, just as he was surprised by Diego's punch lunging toward him, Sebastian made no attempt to teleport away to safety—a choice that would have granted Sebastian more breathing space and prevented him from being cornered so tightly. Instead, Sebastian deliberately chose to face the blows head‑on, risking his life and body in a display of defiance. It was as though he had resolved to endure the punishment, testing the limits of his resilience, even though every strike carried the potential to shatter his defenses and push him closer to collapse.
Lastly, there was a glaring fact: just a few meters near Sebastian, sprawled across the cold floor, lay a skeletal body in a pitiful state. His energy flow pulsed weakly, signaling that he was still alive, though barely, and it was clear he would not remain so for much longer. A grievous wound marred his shoulder blade, accompanied by countless scars and cracks etched across his frail frame. Diego was certain that Sebastian had inflicted this damage upon the subdued figure. Yet, wasn't it strange—deeply unsettling even—that a soul being, one who was not part of any of Maru's official ranks, had somehow waltzed into the castle where they fought? And stranger still, Diego realized with unease, he knew absolutely nothing about this mysterious intruder, a fact that gnawed at his confidence and raised troubling questions about the battle's true nature.
Diego strived to find an answer to the strangeness of the situation, wondering how the mysterious figure had fitted into the battle he and Sebastian were locked in. It didn't take long before his mind provided a convenient explanation, pieced together from his sharp observations throughout the course of the fight. Before reaching Sebastian's position and renewing his onslaught, Diego had noted the weary look on Sebastian's face—tired, disheveled, and strained. He thought that when Sebastian teleported from imminent danger and attempted to hide, he had instead blindly teleported himself into another peril that had just materialized. While Diego searched for him, Sebastian had been battling the now‑subdued soul being, exhausting his strength further. So when Sebastian finally glanced back, Diego arrived at the most opportune moment imaginable, unleashing his own attack upon a fatigued and relaxed opponent, striking with precision at the exact instant Sebastian's guard faltered.
Diego felt his notion was correct; however, there was one detail that remained out of place within the fabricated story he had conjured to make sense of the chaos surrounding him. He couldn't help but wonder: if Sebastian truly possessed the ability to teleport, why hadn't he simply used it the moment he saw Diego, or at any point during the ongoing battle? Unable to find a reasonable answer to satisfy his growing curiosity, Diego settled on the belief that Sebastian's teleportation ability could not be used immediately—that it was locked behind a cooldown, either due to insufficient energy reserves or because Sebastian was unable to fulfill the precise conditions required to activate the power. Alternatively, Diego considered the possibility that Sebastian simply didn't want to risk teleporting again, perhaps because he lacked full control over the ability and feared that another attempt might backfire disastrously, leaving him even more vulnerable than before.
Now that Diego no longer found the information around him strange, and he had crafted answers to the questions clouding his mind, he resolved to take Sebastian down once and for all. While it might seem that it would take a long time for Diego to use his blows to completely weaken and destroy Sebastian, he understood that changing his attack approach could be dangerous, as it might grant Sebastian a chance to escape the relentless onslaught he was enduring. Yet that didn't mean Diego was powerless to accelerate the process. Instead, he chose to further enhance the precision and ferocity of his strikes, amplifying their destructive potential, making the process of beating down Sebastian faster, and ensuring that his suffering grew more intolerable with every passing moment, until resistance itself became meaningless.
So while still punching Sebastian, Diego divided his focus into two distinct phases. One was centered on relentlessly striking Sebastian until his defenses shattered, and the other was devoted to materializing additional hands out of thin air to intensify the barrage of blows. Although these hands seemed to appear suddenly, they were far from illusions. Each was gradually conjured and meticulously designed to mirror Diego's own hands in force, speed, texture, flexibility, length, and raw power. Furthermore, they were not created from ghostly air but from pure energy, carefully drawn and manipulated from the atmosphere itself, transforming invisible currents into tangible weapons that multiplied Diego's destructive reach and made Sebastian's suffering all the more unbearable.