They stood shoulder-to-shoulder amidst the false realm resembling their original homeworld, facing the enigmatic Faceless One that ominously stood there with the disguise of the Devilheart.
"What do you want?!" Emilio shouted to the Faceless One, "Are you mad I figured out you were a slimy, scheming manipulator?!"
The Faceless being stood there, peering without eyes and speaking with absent lips, only glistening teeth, "Ethan Bellrose; Emilio Dragonheart. Asher Morrows…Asher Devilheart. It's nice to see you two getting along so well. To answer your question…I mean not to slay you, Ethan; no, no, no. I mean to take away the gift that Adam gave you, and take Asher's body as my own."
"What?..." Emilio responded.
"This is only a small fraction of my true self; worry not," The Faceless One spoke, "The Primordials that govern the After would never let more than an ounce of my being enter this land. But…that's enough. Help me obtain the Devilheart's body and I will help you achieve your goals, Emilio Dragonheart. You'll find my wisdom as sufficient as Adam's. How about it?"
–The answer came swiftly as both the Dragonheart and Devilheart responded in unison with the activation of their systems, side-by-side, spurring on their transformations.
The black, demonic flesh wrapped itself around Asher's body in sturdy armor before the skull helm clasped around his head; draconic scales stretched over Emilio's body, snapping on and hardening.
[Devilheart System Activated] [Dragonheart System Activated]
[Current Stage: 3/10 | Hell Walker] [Current Stage: 3/10 | Dragon Warrior]
"To hell with you and your schemes," Asher said.
"I'll burn you away–once and for all," Emilio claimed.
The Faceless One's ever-present, unsettling grin only widened as he seemed prepared for combat, waving the sword he held around, "Don't mistake yourselves into thinking this is the end. This is just the beginning–perhaps you'll stop me now; perhaps not…but I'm always watching, always planning, always weaving history, always moving pieces. I hoped we could play a bit longer as friends, Ethan, but it seems now is your time for graduation."
Relinquishing the disguise of the Devilheart, the Faceless One instead took the shape of a creature of a blinding complexion; skin that glistened like snow yet with the spark of stars, taking the physique of a lanky humanoid, devoid of any features beyond cosmic eyes that opened and closed all around its body.
Emilio and Asher both already knew it well; what they faced wasn't the "true" form of the Faceless One, yet, it was an unbelievable enemy nonetheless. Even more important, it was an important proclamation–a declaration of war and separation from the whims of the conniving god.
It felt nostalgic, even if not too long ago, the wall between life and death made them seem long apart; standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a kindred spirit in the face of an otherworldly horror.
"Go!"
As they both burst forward with unrestrained speed that shattered the concrete at their feet, rippling shockwaves that burst the hollow windows around them, the Faceless One waved his hand forward, revealing an opened eye on its palm.
"Do you comprehend what it is you stand against?" The Faceless One asked in a silvery, but skin-crawling voice.
"--!"
The air against his ears completely stopped for a moment as a sinking feeling swam through his body, halting his movements during that brief period.
–Before either of the reincarnators could reach the entity with their blades, a mere meter away, the raise of its hand contorted the realm to its whim, twisting the streets and the plethora of architecture that lay on the region.
The false reality rumbled and quaked as it was reshaped without any regard for its stability, causing buildings to split and crash into each other as the flat city was forced to form a spherical region.
Gravity itself seemed to flip as the two found themselves "falling upward", finding the sky above only being more of the hollow cityscape of a fabricated Earth, twisted and altered by the entity's action.
"Emilio!"
"I know!"
Meeting hand-in-hand before somehow crashing upward into an upside-down skyscraper, the Dragonheart manifested a condensed burst of azure flames at his heels, jetting downward and adding enough momentum to launch the Devilheart down to the Faceless One who remained standing in the same spot.
The Faceless One pointed its other hand up at the descending Devilheart, looking straight at Asher with the eye on its palm, "--You do not. If you did, resistance wouldn't be considered an option."
"Enough!" Asher yelled.
Infusing his claymore with a throttle of devilish energy, he slammed his claymore down upon the Faceless One without any mercy, causing the powerful force to ripple through the block, tearing through the asphalt and splitting through nearby cars.
–Yet, it did not seem to hit its mark as the Faceless One appeared beside him, pointing its palm-eye directly at Asher.
"What you face is what you can't understand; attempting to calm an earthquake, overpower a tornado, cool an erupting volcano…Such things are known impossibilities to mankind; it's the same against me," the Faceless One said.
Just as the eye blinked with an unknown force releasing, Emilio crashed down just in time, using a burst of wind and fire to tackle his comrade out of the way just as a thundering hum emitted from the enigmatic being's palm, rippling through the street with an eradicating effect. Everything the ripple seemed to touch disintegrated, left as nothing more than dust in the sight of the cosmic eye.
Witnessing the effect of such casually released power, and how close they both came to being in its path, was telling as they landed atop one of the neighboring skyscrapers for a momentary breather.
"I knew it would be trouble…but even just an aspect of it, is this strong?" Emilio questioned.
Asher relinquished the skull helm of his Devilheart armor, "Seems like you have a history with it, too."
"Yeah, you can say that," he nodded.
"Well, we can discuss it once we wipe out its parasite here," Asher said, wearing his helmet again, "--Focus on overwhelming it with wide-ranging attacks. It's hard to hit, but I imagine it can't take much of a beating."
"Right. Let's do this," he agreed, readying himself as his draconic armor glowed between its cracks with an azure shine.
There was no more time to chat as the building they hid on began rumbling before suddenly snapping in half, being flung through the air by a simple gesture of the Faceless One.
Though they both leapt towards the same target, jumping from the shattered buildings, a "glitch" in reality flickered like static as the faceless entity vanished.
"What were you two discussing?"
–Between both reincarnators, it reappeared, whispering into their ears and forcing them both to flip around and respond with attacks in that same moment.
The power wielded by the Faceless One could hardly be described as the same "power" wielded by others; it existed on a different plane entirely, unpredictable and imperceivable.
Twisting both of its arms so that its eye-bearing palms looked at both Asher and Emilio, the eyes blinked, causing both of them to be stunned immediately.
'Can't move!' Emilio thought.
'I'm stuck…!' Asher thought.
It wasn't just as though movement of their own muscles were stunned, but they were suspended in the air completely as the pale-skinned being, layered in primordial eyes stood on the space between them.
"I did not wish for things to become so violent between us," the Faceless One spoke while the two were suspended, "Alas, I'll make sure you won't remember this encounter–after I take that curse from your eye, Ethan. On the other hand, Asher…You won't be with us long enough for a grudge to matter."
It was a horrific, unstoppable sight; from the eyelids present on the snow-white palm of the enigmatic figure, abyssal tendrils extended, possessing a monstrously large size that would be impossible to fit within the entity's body. These tendrils crawled in the air towards the unmoving Devilheart, seeking Asher's body.
"I will begin the assimilation of your soul; with your body, reincarnated child, great things will begin," the Faceless One spoke quietly with a grin.
Though he couldn't move his lips or emit a single breath, he instead called upon one resource of his own, calling upon it in a way he never thought to–drilling the intent through his mind:
'...Help me, Soulbound Spirit!' He urged.
–Before the abyssal limbs could reach Asher, the inner call was heard from Emilio as a spirit manifested right then and there, one of the six he was contracted to but didn't recognize: a tall, broad-built knight in violet armor, wielding a massive, studded hammer.
"Hyraaaah!" The unknown spirit leapt through the air itself before smashing its hammer down against the Faceless One.
While the attempt to assimilate Asher was halted, the bludgeoning weapon did not crush the entity as the snow-skinned, malignant figure stood there, holding its palm out as if completely solidifying the space between its hand and the hammer like an impervious barrier.
"Begone."
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