In the meantime, Bazren was now approaching the corridor that led to the vault.
Upon arriving at the vault's location, she notices the door that Tentoria had marked with three question marks. It was different from the other doors -- instead of wood, it was made of stone, and it had no lock or handle. It somewhat resembled the door that she had to go through when entering the fortress' storage room, the one that opened only with the use of a glyph. She decided to ignore it, as that was beside the point of her mission. She quietly heads inside the room to the left of the vault door.
Bazren: Raxyas, I made it to Okir's chambers. So far so good, he doesn't suspect a thing. I'll let you know once I'm inside the vault.
She inspects the wall that is shared between the room and the vault. The bricks that Tentoria had dislodged weren't difficult to miss, if one knew what they were looking for. Gently and carefully, she starts pulling them out one by one. After some time, there was now an opening large enough for Bazren to fit through. She goes inside, and is immediately greeted with an overwhelming scene. Bookcases and bookcases filled with purple boxes, whose glow lit up the otherwise dark room. She had finally done it.
Bazren: Raxyas, master Qu, is anyone there? I'm in... I'm inside the vault!
She carefully places the bricks back in their place. There was no point in leaving an exit point, as there was only one corridor that led to the vault... If she was spotted, any attempt to escape would be fruitless. As such, she deemed it wiser to conceal her current whereabouts as much as possible. A shifting sound is then heard from the adjacent room. Not Okir's chamber, but the one with the locked door. Something was moving... The sound of footsteps seemed to be approaching the room's door. Then, another sound. The sound of a big slab of stone being lifted, and brushing up against the walls. Whatever was inside that room, was now making its way outside. More footsteps are heard, this time approaching the vault door. They stop, right in front of it.
A young child's voice: Oki...! Oki! There's something inside the vault. Oki!
Its voice was projected loudly and clearly. Moments later, the thunderous sound of large, armored boots could be heard. Okir was coming, fast.
A young child's voice: Oki! Come on, hurry!
Okir: What's the matter, Neio?! Have you heard anything?
Neio: Inside... Hurry!
Okir begins opening the vault door. Bazren uses her exoskeleton to quickly climb up the room's walls, sticking as close as possible to the ceiling. The door opens.
Okir: Alright, let's see here!
Okir enters the vault, with the young undead close behind. It was no taller than Okir's leg.
Neio: I know I heard something Oki, something moved!
Okir: Maybe something fell... See if there are any boxes on the ground.
Okir searches the ground, but the child is not convinced. It stares everywhere. At the corners of the room, at the walls, at the ceiling... The ceiling. He spots something.
Neio: Oki, look! Up th-
Before he finishes his sentence, Bazren's flail hits Okir straight in the neck, decapitating him with massive force. His soul is immediately expelled from the vessel. She descends from the ceiling, and captures the soul using her sphere.
Bazren: Look kid, this didn't need to happen.
Neio: Oki...
The child looks at Okir's soulless vessel.
Bazren: Just sit in the corner over there, and let me do what I came here to do.
The child looks at Bazren, dead in the eye.
Neio: Just sit in the corner over there, and let me do what I came here to do.
In his right hand, he summons a mirror. He holds it up to his face, toward Bazren.
It's surface was crystalline. She looks directly into it, and sees a perfect reflection of herself.
Neio: Is that a soul weapon...?
Bazren: Is that a soul weapon...?
It said exactly what she was thinking before she even said it herself. Before her eyes, Neio's vessel morphed and transformed. Bone and tissue twisted and turned to mimic Bazren's vessel as close as possible. Within moments, Neio had become a near-perfect clone of Bazren. His eyes turned crystalline, as crystalline as the mirror itself.
Neio: You're gonna end up hurt, kid.
Before Bazren could utter those words, she stopped herself. If it knew what was on her mind... Then did it also know that she was about to jump to the right?
Neio: I do.
Neio summons the flail, and intercepts Bazren's jump mid-air, sending her flying outside the vault. Luckily, Neio's flail did not seem to have as much power as her own. Bazren hurriedly gets up as Neio slowly approaches her.
Neio: How far ahead can he see? Does he know about Raxyas? Shit! I can't think about him right now. This kid is gonna find out everything!
Neio laughs histerically.
Neio: Sir Ilkatorza will not be pleased when he finds about this, you know... But that's okay. I'll hand him your soul on a silver platter, that will surely make things right.
Those weren't Bazren's thoughts. This kid could not only peer into her main, but maintain full control over his own, simultaneously. Who was he...?
Neio: I am Neio. The youngest member of Incola. I was the last to get a soul weapon, but you see... It was deemed as the most dangerous weapon of all our members. Sir Ilkatorza himself had me locked up inside that room, until I learned to control it. It was only recently that I was allowed to exit it...
Neio prepares to use the flail again. Bazren knew it was useless to try to dodge him.
Neio: You will be the perfect training dummy. I will use you to prove that I can control my powers to their fullest, beyond any doubt!
He hurls the flail toward Bazren with maximum speed. She braces for the attack and is sent flying backward, deeper into the corridor.
Neio: You're not even trying to dodge? Oh, come on! At least make this somewhat fun...
Bazren could see him approaching. There was no use in facing him head-on, when he knew all that she could do. The only other viable option... Was to run.
Neio: Hey, where are you going?!
She gets up and sprints down the corridor, away from Nero's sight.
She stops running only after there is a significant distance between them. With the blueprint in her mind, she attempts to mentally locate the storage room, according to her current whereabouts. Hopefully, Neio did not have access to the glyph, which would buy her some time to think of a better way of handling him. Although...
Bazren: Shit... What's the point, if he already knows I'm going to do that?! Raxyas! Master Qu! Can you hear me?
Right after uttering those words, she covers her own mouth.
Bazren: FUCK! No, I can't reach out to them, I can't think about them, he's gonna know!
A voice echoed throughout the corridor Bazren had just come down from.
Neio: Bazren...! Where are you...? Come out already!
Shit, he was coming! But wait... Was he... Teasing her? Making a fool out of her...? Why would he ask that? He had to know where she was, if he could peer into her mind.
Bazren: This shit is driving me crazy... Fuck it!
Bazren makes a run for it regardless, dashing straight for the storage room. As she passes by countless corridors, her mind races. How could she beat him? Was it even possible? After running for a while, she finally sees it: the massive door that led to the storage room. She pulls out the tool she used to draw the glyph... The glyph was still there. The door slowly opens... Too slowly. He could come at any moment...
Neio (distant): Bazreeen...
The doors open up just enough for her to go inside. She enters, and slowly closes the door behind her.
Qu (comm): Bazren? Sorry for the delay, I'm ready to receive the transcriptions now. But... Nothing has come through yet.
Bazren: Master Qu! I'm sorry, I couldn't do it. I was spotted, I managed to take one down but there's another one who is just like me and I don't know how to def-
Qu interrupts.
Qu (comm): Calm down, Bazren. What have I always told you? In times of despair...
Bazren: Victory will always be but a mirage. I know, master...
She takes a deep breath.
Bazren: But... I don't know. I just don't know how I can get out of this one... My opponent seems to know my every move.
Qu (comm): Well, if that is so then you might as well surrender. Defeat is all but guaranteed if your opponent already knows your entire hand. But, if you think there's even the slightest chance that they may not know everything...
Bazren thinks back about what the encounter with Neio was like.
Bazren: It's possible... He doesn't seem to know where I am. But at the same time, he could just be bluffing.
Qu (comm): Well, if he is bluffing then it is hopeless, correct?
Bazren: Correct.
Qu (comm): So for the sake of hope, let us assume that he isn't bluffing, and does not know everything you are thinking. Then... How much does he know?
Bazren thinks back again. When Neio first entered the vault, he didn't know where she was. He looked around for a while, before he spotted her. So at that point, he was not inside her mind. But then, he summoned the mirror. And that was when he was able to read her moves.
Bazren: The mirror...
When he transformed into her, the mirror was gone. However, he could still read her moves. Could it be time-based? Maybe he could only read her moves for a certain amount of time. But that doesn't make sense, given how Neio was taking his time battling her. With a time-based ability, he should want her taken down as fast as possible. No... It had to be something else. Something that made him confident enough to play this game of cat and mouse with her.
Bazren: I have no choice, master. I have to inspect him more closely... I don't have enough information to know.
Qu (comm): Be very careful Bazren. Running away may not be so easy next time...
Bazren: I know... Don't worry, I have a plan.
She summons her flail and pounds it against the large storage room door. The sound of the impact echoes through the fortress. Moments later, the sound of running footsteps grew increasingly louder. Something bangs against the door on the other side.
Neio: There you are!
Slowly, the door begins to open. Neio did have access to the glyph, after all. Bazren had strategically hidden herself in the same spot as the last time she was there. She could see Neio, but it would be incredibly difficult for Neio to notice her.
Neio: Come out already...!
Neio looks at the corners of the room... Then at the walls... Then at the ceiling. He doesn't see her anywhere.
Neio: A trap...? Was she just tricking me into coming inside?
Then, a beeping sound is heard outside, like an alarm clock. Neio's attention is promptly shifted to it as he runs outside to follow the noise. Bazren had planted another one of her gadgets out there, anticipating that she might need to lure the enemy at some point...
Bazren: So... Being close doesn't trigger his ability either. If it's not time, and it's not related to our proximity...
Bazren makes her way out of the storage room, using her exoskeleton to cling to the dark ceiling of the corridors. As she moves, she thinks harder about their encounters. She replays her encounters with the child endlessly, analysing them time and time again in her mind. Until finally...
Bazren: That's it. I've got you figured out... You're as good as dead, kid.
She was almost absolutely certain of how his weapon worked. Every time Neio battled her, his primary concern was eye contact. When he first entered the vault, he desperately scanned the room to find her, and once he did, he locked eyes with her practically for the entirety of their clash. Then, once inside the storage room, Neio once again frantically scanned the area to locate her. He seemed to be entirely dependent on his eyesight to not only locate Bazren... But also to read her mind.
Bazren: The eyes... As crystalline as the mirror's surface itself. The mirror didn't disappear, it's in his eyes. He must need to use it to read minds...
Bazren takes out the same orb she used to light up the dimly lit corridors of the fortress, the first time she explored them. She moves carefully through the ceiling, attempting to pinpoint Neio's current whereabouts. Close to one of the corridor's junctions, she hears footsteps. Neio was running, clearly desperate to find her. He was going to come through the nearby corridor intersection in mere seconds, she didn't have much time.
Bazren: The game's over, Neio...
As soon as Neio makes the corner, Bazren activates the orb by channelling an immense amount of energy into it. She shuts her eyes, and proceeds to throw it at the ground by Neio's feet, with her full strength. The orb emanated light like not unlike a small sun.
Neio: AGHHH!
Blinded by the orb's light, Neio stumbles back. Overflowed with so much energy, the orb breaks shortly after hitting the ground. It was time. Bazren descends from the ceiling quickly, landing behind Neio and grabbing the back of his skull. With all her might, she pummels it repeatedly onto the cold, stony floor. Bone and tissue fly everywhere. 5 times. 10 times. 20 times. 30 times. At some point, there was practically no skull left. Neio's eyes had all but been completely destroyed. His vessel was nearing the point of unlinking from his soul... It couldn't hold Bazren's form any longer, and quickly reverted back to its child-like appearance.
Bazren: See Neio... We only become true masters of our abilities once we are face to face with failure.
She stands up, and grabs Neio by the neck, holding him up. He was still conscious.
Bazren: I would know. You can be the best fighter around. You can have the strongest abilities of them all. Without tasting defeat, you grow complacent and overconfident. And the longer that goes on, and the more you get accustomed to taking success for granted every single time...
Bazren grips his neck tighter.
Bazren: The harder you crash when failure comes knocking.
She grabs Neio with both her hands, flips him upside down and makes him dive head-first into the ground. What little was left of his skull cracks. The impact was so great that even his spine broke in half. His soul is immediately expelled from its vessel.
Bazren: And today you crashed... As hard as you could.
Bazren pulls out her soul sphere and sucks his soul into it. Two members of Incola, downed in a single day... And she had the vault all to herself. Things were shaping up... Though, she suddenly realized the absurdity of what just happened.
Bazren: As if it wasn't enough that you beat a kid up, you also had a full-on victory monologue as you did it... Good job, Bazren. Truly the climax of one's life as a redeemer...
She lets out a deep sigh.
Bazren: I seriously need a long break after we're done with all this...
Bazren activates her communicator.
Bazren: Master Qu, Raxyas... It's all taken care of. I'll be making my way inside the vault, now. The transcriptions should be arriving soon.
Bazren was about to fulfil her mission.
Meanwhile, in the jungle of No Man's Shore...