As the two glowing tendrils struck Silas' core, little motes of essence shot off from the impact like sparks. After the molded appendages latched on, Noah attempted to siphon back Silas' essence into his own core, like a leech.

Manipulating his essence and performing such complex actions for the very first time took a toll on Noah. Naturally, he was already expending his most valuable resource—essence—without yet gaining anything. But that mattered little; Noah believed that in order to win this duel, he needed to reduce Silas to a weakened enough state that he could snuff him out like the parasite he was, and this would not be possible without expending essence first.

'It's working!'

Streams of essence began to flow through the tendrils, feeding Noah's core.

"Not bad, kid." If Silas was concerned, he certainly wasn't showing it. "What will you do now?"

Thin wisps of essence sprouted from Silas' core, coiling around the two tendrils and halting the flow of essence.

'He's toying with me...'

It already took a great deal of effort for Noah to maintain and control the tendrils; however, this was do or die. Noah would rather have a pack of rabid monsters tear him to shreds and devour him than let Silas take his body and wear his skin. And so, Noah mustered all of his willpower and formed a third tendril.

The newly molded appendage whipped against Silas' core, destroying the wisps of essence coiled around one tendril, then struck again, freeing the second. Now all three latched onto the green orb once more, resuming the flow of essence into Noah's core at a greater pace than before.

If not for a splitting headache, Noah might have forgotten there was more to the world than this black void and the two green orbs locked in struggle. It took everything Noah had to control three tendrils, but he could feel the power being sapped from Silas and absorbed into him.

"I'm not gonna lie, this is pretty impressive, kid."

Noah did not like Silas' tone of voice, not one bit. It was bad news.

"You know, I didn't mean to deceive you, Noah. If I could, I'd do what I promised and turn some bad guy into my meatsuit, like those Blazing Path zealots that tried to murder you."

"As if you're any better!" Noah scoffed.

"I suppose I can't argue with that." Silas chuckled bitterly. "Me turning all incorporeal? Unfortunately, it's not repeatable. If it was, I would have used it to create an army of powerful Touched that might have had a chance at fixing this broken world. Alas, it was my last-ditch effort. A one-time thing."

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The essence within Silas' core began to swirl, forming a vortex.

'Something bad's about to happen...'

"I'm not afraid of dying, you know? But there's something very important I've got to do first. You're a good egg, kid. I hope you can forgive me... and if it's any consolation, I'll make sure your grandma's taken care of when I get back to The Arc."

Silas talking as if he'd already won was infuriating Noah, yet he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling of dread creeping in.

'What is he...'

The essence swirling within Silas' core moved upwards, causing a shape to emerge from the orb.

'Is that a... person?'

An ethereal, partly translucent, green head emerged from the orb, followed by the rest of the torso. It was a broad-shouldered, bearded man with a grizzled-looking face.

'Silas? Is that what he looked like?'

At that moment, the realization dawned on Noah that he never stood a chance. The tendrils he painstakingly formed were akin to a silly party trick in the face of a real master like Silas, with who knows how many years of experience in utilizing his Touched ability.

'It was all for nothing? Everything I've gone through... the hell I've suffered. It was all just to keep my body warm for him?!'

Silas' ghostly hands clutched one of the tendrils and violently tore it away from Noah's core, tossing it aside to disintegrate into motes of light.

'Gahhhh!' Waves of pain engulfed Noah, unlike any kind he had felt before. It was almost as if his soul was suffering.

Next, Silas clutched the remaining two tendrils with both of his arms, forcibly detaching them from his core. Just like that, the flow of essence reversed—instead of absorbing Silas' essence, now Noah's own was being drained at an alarmingly fast pace.

'No... I refuse to let it end like that.'

Mustering all of his willpower, Noah resisted as hard as he possibly could, slowing the rate at which his essence was being drained. At the same time, he molded two additional tendrils, at the cost of feeling as though his head was about to explode like a ripe melon.

"I don't want to hurt you, kid." Silas sighed. "The more you resist, the more painful it'll be. If you just stop fighting, it'll be like falling asleep..."

"Why don't you go fudge yourself, you mother lover! Like heck I'll roll over and give up!"

With his two free tendrils, Noah whipped at Silas' smug, ethereal face, causing fragments of essence to shoot off into the black void.

***

As the deathmatch unfolded within Noah's thorax, he remained seated atop the rock. Blood trickled from his nose, across his lips, and down his chin, staining his ragged shirt. Despite Noah's eyes being shut, a pale green light still shone through his eyelids.

Steve still stood in a fighting stance, his greatsword raised, poised to strike when the time came, as the undead warrior's glowing, empty eye sockets remained locked on his master.

The remaining minions formed a tight circle around Noah, ready to slaughter anyone or anything that dared to interrupt his battle.

Every time Noah and Silas exchanged blows in their duel, shockwaves of essence rippled across the slopes of the mountain range. Most beings would only sense a great danger as the echo passed through them, fleeing to safety. However, far off in the distance, a powerful entity had awakened from its slumber. The shockwaves called to it like a dinner bell, promising worthy prey.