The creature stepped inside, each footprint leaving a shadow that stayed on the floor, as if gravity had no authority over it. The cracked walls trembled faintly, like even the air wanted to get away from the thing.
Kael raised his resonance meter only to watch it melt in his hand.
"…great. My tool literally gave up first."
Rhen swallowed hard, eyes locked on the creature. "That's not a cult soldier. They don't even have aura this"
The creature turned
slowly
so slowly
as if its head was studying how humans move.
Its gaze landed on Mira.
"Vessel… synchronized."
Ensaria's light exploded across Mira's body, glowing from her collarbones to her fingertips.
Eren spoke only one word:
"Prepare."
Rhen launched first his sword slicing clean toward the creature's neck.
A cut that should've severed anything.
But not this.
Rhen's blade passed through its body…
…and came out the other side like slashing mist.
"No no freaking way!"
The creature rotated its arm, black shadow trailing behind it like living ink.
In an instant
its counterattack struck like lightning, slamming into Rhen's chest and flinging him against the wall with a THUD that made Kael scream.
"RHEN! BRO, GET UP!"
Eren closed the distance in a single step, his sword cutting the air and driving into the creature's torso. But the creature didn't dodge it simply accepted the slash, its body rippling like the surface of a pond struck by a stone.
Then its body responded.
The shadow thickened and hardened forming a black blade along its arm.
Kael trembled. "It's adaptive… it learned from Rhen's strike!"
Without warning, the creature slashed back toward Eren.
Eren blocked it, but the creature's strength was monstrous he was shoved back several steps and nearly lost his grip.
At that moment, Ensaria's voice emerged from Mira's body sharper, more defined.
"This is not a lesser entity. This is a First-Tier Messenger."
Mira stiffened. "Messenger?! Like the ones from Eden legends?! The ones that"
Ensaria's voice drowned hers out:
"If you do not allow me… we will die."
Mira stared at the battle Rhen collapsed, Kael powerless, and Eren struggling to fend off increasingly faster strikes.
Mira's hands shook violently.
"If I let you… will I still be me?"
Ensaria answered softer than before.
"You are not lost."
"You are only opening a door."
The creature turned to Mira again, its silver eyes flickering like a frequency trying to lock on.
"Guardian… synchronization required."
It shot forward toward Mira.
That speed wasn't human.
Kael screamed, "MIRA, MOVE!"
But Mira couldn't move fast enough.
The creature was inches away
and in that same instant, Ensaria whispered:
"Let me."
Mira bit her lip.
"FINE TAKE IT!"
And the world…
changed.
Mira's body jolted, golden light erupting from her spine like invisible wings. Her hair lifted, gravity gone, the air around her vibrating like a giant gong had just been struck.
Ensaria's voice echoed:
"Half-synchronization linitiated."
Mira's hand rose on its own, beyond human control.
The creature froze mid-air pulled by an unseen force. Its body was dragged backward, halted by Ensaria's raw power.
Eren looked at Mira not with shock, but with profound respect.
"The Guardian… has awakened."
The creature thrashed, its body cracking like black glass forced to withstand pressure.
"NO… VESSEL… NOT… STABLE…"
Ensaria replied:
"Stable or not… you will not touch her."
The golden light in Mira's hand solidified into thin lines like Eden carvings, tracing down her arm and chest. The room filled with energy that made Kael collapse to his knees while cursing science.
A blended voice Mira and Ensaria spoke together:
"Leave."
The creature's body snapped backward not exploding, but blasted out, crashing through three warehouse pillars, tossed like a cloth doll hurled by a giant.
Rhen crawled up with a grimace. "Bro… Mira just… flicked that thing out of the room without touching it?"
Kael shook his head rapidly. "That's… that's Eden-tier telekinesis. That's not human anymore. That's"
SUDDENLY…
The warehouse ceiling cracked.
Black shadows poured down like rain made of ink, swirling into a dark vortex. The creature began rising again, its shadow reabsorbing itself, restoring its physical form.
Eren cursed under his breath. "Messengers can't be killed."
Ensaria directed Mira's body to focus on the creature.
"Yes. But they can be sealed."
Mira jolted inside her own consciousness.
"S-SEALED?! How do we seal it?!"
Ensaria answered flatly:
"With something you do not possess."
"…what?"
"Full control."
Ensaria's light dimmed slightly not fading, but held back, as if restraining something far greater.
The creature straightened, its silver eyes glowing again.
"Synchronization… incomplete."
It prepared to strike once more.
Eren lifted his sword ready to die if he had to.
Rhen forced himself to stand though his bones cracked.
Kael pulled Mira behind him, shaking.
And Ensaria said:
"This battle… is only the beginning."