Now, Sebastian was in real trouble. Diego was not changing his approach or giving him any breathing space; instead, he seemed to be adding more barrage into the barrage, intensifying the relentless assault with a frightening precision. While Sebastian could evade one or two blows, Diego had conjured three extra hands on both sides, and now together with his real hands they made eight in total, each striking at him with insane speed and carrying enough wrecking force to overwhelm even the most seasoned fighter.
The force of the attacks proved invisible to Sebastian's foresight ability, leaving him vulnerable and causing more injuries to his body even though the blows never really landed, Sebastian's body was frail and numerous cracks were all around his figure.
The battle was reaching its climax, and although both highly advanced soul beings had reached a stalemate in the earlier phases of their duel, Diego was now visibly pushing Sebastian into a corner, tightening the pressure, and steadily securing what looked like an inevitable win.
Sebastian didn't have the time to curse, as that would require him moving his lips—a distraction he couldn't afford, since even the slightest break could shatter the delicate guide his foresight was directing his limbs to follow. His movements were flawless, flowing like water, each strike and dodge perfectly aligned with the invisible path his foresight opened before him.
Yet beneath that precision, Sebastian carried a gnawing fear, a heavy weight pressing against his chest, as he thought inwardly with growing dread:
"How long can I go on?"
The intensity of Diego's blows had only grown fiercer since his newly empowered hands joined the relentless assault, and although Sebastian could still perceive the safe paths revealed by his foresight ability, his body no longer obeyed with flawless speed or precision. Each attempt to evade left him slower, more vulnerable, and now he was absorbing strikes that carried Diego's crushing force, leaving his frame battered, bruised, and in a truly pitiful state of exhaustion and pain.
Sebastian knew he had to act quickly, for if he hesitated even a moment longer, the barrage of relentless punches hurled by Diego would inevitably crush him. Worse still, the only fragile thread keeping him alive—his foresight ability—was nearing its expiration, the countdown ticking ever closer to zero. Staring ahead with grim determination, Sebastian wondered how long he could endure without the guiding intuition that his foresight provided, the instinct that allowed him to slip past countless attacks.
Without it, every strike would become a gamble, every movement a desperate attempt to survive against Diego's overwhelming ferocity, and the thought of facing that storm unaided filled him with dread and urgency.
As Sebastian evaded one crushing blow, twisting his body with precision to counter two strikes using the twin blades he wielded, he weaved past a fourth aimed viciously at his left side, then snapped his neck back to narrowly avoid another strike targeting his head. However, he couldn't evade all eight blows as three inevitable blows slammed into his right side, rattling his ribs with punishing force, yet amidst the chaos he remembered a fleeting moment earlier when he had accepted the idea of dying alongside Diego, so long as he inflicted terrible injury or ensured they both perished together. That grim thought lingered, and he couldn't help but release a dark, hollow chuckle, a sound born of defiance, pain, and the twisted satisfaction of fighting on the edge of death.
Many events had unfolded since then. There was the initial strike Sebastian had aimed at Diego, certain it would end him, but being Diego, he found yet another way to cheat death. He moved on to challenge a being ranked higher than himself, a reckless act that spelled certain doom, and indeed he was subjected to it—his skeletal frame shattered, energy pathways severed, and his body tissues torn apart into countless fragments, scattered like dust across the battlefield. Yet Diego, defiant against annihilation, reconstructed himself from the raw energy coursing through his veins, rising from destruction with terrifying resilience. Even more unnerving, he used the chaos of unpredictable attacks and the dire situation he had hurled himself into as fuel to ascend, achieving a rank equal to, and perhaps even superior to, his rival, a transformation that made him more dangerous than ever before.
The next event unfolded shortly after Diego transformed into a soul vampire. With terrifying speed, he launched an attack that severed several of Sebastian's ribs, his movements now matching and even surpassing Sebastian's own. For the first time since he had begun his assault, Sebastian felt genuine fear—a fear so sharp it blinded him, making him dread Diego's next strike before it even came. Yet, to his astonishment, no further attack followed.
Instead, Diego stood motionless before him, frozen like a statue, his deep blue aura flickering faintly in the silence. That eerie pause granted Sebastian a fleeting but decisive opportunity, a chance to eradicate Diego once and for all, to end the nightmare before it could escalate into something far worse.
Remembering that particular event made Sebastian curse under his breath, the bitter memory of the opportunity he had been given to eradicate Diego once and for all gnawed at him. It was a chance he had failed to seize, a moment he second‑guessed, allowing doubt to creep into his mind and hesitation to take root.
That lapse caused him to abandon Diego's defenseless, aloof figure, if only momentarily, but it was enough to seal his fate. Now, trapped in the dire situation before him, Sebastian wished desperately that he could manipulate space and time, to return to that instant and act without hesitation. He longed to strike Diego down, fully trusting his gut instinct and fueled by the absolute, burning hatred he carried for his rival, a hatred that had only deepened with every passing moment of regret.
Unfortunately for Sebastian, he could not return to the past, but he could still make wiser decisions moving forward. Forcing himself to think calmly, he reflected on the chain of events that had led him into the dire situation he now faced—the reckless choices, the hesitation, and the mistakes that had compounded into disaster.
His mind wandered to the intruder's cryptic message, the riddles laced with hidden meaning, and the haunting confession whispered before the figure fainted. Each memory pressed heavily against his thoughts, urging him to learn from what had already transpired, to sharpen his resolve, and to prepare himself for the next decisive moment that could determine whether he lived or perished in the struggle against Diego.
As Sebastian reflected on the intruder's words, the second message gnawed persistently at his mind, refusing to let go. Though the phrase seemed simple—"We need your help"—he sensed layers of meaning hidden beneath its surface.
Despite the unbearable pain the intruder must have been enduring, he had strained his neck to glance at Diego, who stood frozen in stasis a short distance away, before turning his gaze back to Sebastian. That subtle gesture was deliberate, a silent signal that Maru, and perhaps the intruder himself, required not only Sebastian's aid but Diego's as well. Now that Sebastian understood the true weight of the message, the path forward became clear: he had to convince Diego that their battle was meaningless, that their strength and survival depended on unity.
Together, they would need to set aside hatred, conserve their power, and face the greater conflict looming on the horizon, a battle that would no doubt demand both of them to stand side by side as allies.